Lots of Praises!!!

Ella had a check up this morning with her pediatrician, and we have so much to praise God for! She is doing great and the doctor is very impressed with her development. The first thing the doctor said was that Ella’s skin looked the best she has ever seen it look! Sometimes Joe and I get so focused on making sure her blisters are popped and that anything open is wrapped and infection free, that we forget how far she has come. It is always nice to hear from an outside source how good she looks. Ella was holding a pen and drawing, and the doctor said that she has great fine motor skills. Ella was also talking up a storm, and the doctor was impressed with how many words she says at such a young age (17 words). She was able to look at the picture on the wall and say “quack quack” because she knew it was a duck. I don’t know if I’ve told you or not, but Ella is a genius.

As far as her weight, Ella has gained 3 pounds since her 12 month visit! This is such great news! And she has grown 1 inch in length. Ella LOVES macaroni and cheese, Spaghetti O’s and Yo Baby yogurt, which are all high fat foods, so this has definitely helped in the weight department. At least she loves her veggies too. Last night all she wanted for dinner was corn. I figured that since she ate an entire container of Spaghetti O’s for lunch, then corn was probably a good dinner. She also had yogurt for dessert.

The best news we received was that Ella’s iron levels have gone up! She has been anemic since May and we have had her on iron supplements and increasing her iron fortified foods (I’m so glad she loves Cheerios). A lot of EB kids struggle with anemia, and long periods of anemia can lead to a host of other health problems. The average iron level for “normal” kids Ella’s age is 11. In May Ella was at 9, and in June she was 9.2. Today when they checked her levels she was at 10.8!!! WOO HOO!!! This is such a huge praise for us! We will still be giving her iron supplements, but we are so glad that her iron levels are almost average.

She did get one shot, which was a bummer. Hopefully she’ll recover well and not have any side-effects. All in all, this was the best pediatrician visit yet. We love Ella’s pediatrician! She is always very open to our ideas and fully hears our concerns. Whenever we’ve had something come up with Ella she doesn’t come across as critical, but just gives us ideas for things we can do to help. The best is that she recognizes that Ella’s EB is rare and really lets us take the lead as far as knowing what she needs. She has never come across as the “know-it-all” doctor who tries to tell us what to do, but listens to the ideas and suggestions that I get from other EB parents, since she knows that we are the ones who deal with this every day. We are really blessed to have found her.

Ella's sleeping has also been much better the past couple of days. We have started giving her baths in Epsom Salt, which I hear helps with itching. We have also been trying a new concoction on her boo boos. Last night was a great night, so hopefully it will keep up.