EEG Princess...

"The Sweet Life" because even though ours is crazy it is oh so sweet!

   Sorry that it has taken me a few days to write about this...I think we all were catching up on some much needed sleep :) Doug is home now for a whole week!!!!! It is heavenly having him back and at the same time so strange to have help with stuff!

Ravenna and Parker with their "Sheens"

     Overall, the EEG went really well. God was so gracious to us and it went as smoothly as possible. The kids were angels staying up until almost midnight the night before so that their little sister could have a "sleepy brain" the next day. Ravenna and Georgia were actually up in their room playing dress-up at 11:30! The next morning when I scooped Georgia out of bed at 3:45 she leaned her sleepy cheek on mine and looked up at me with a big sweet smile. It was her dream come true, she got to cuddle in bed and watch Diego for hours with Mama! Keeping her awake on the way to the appointment was a bit tricky but a few lollipops at 9am accompanied by Mama singing "5 little Pumpkins...or dogs or daddies or anything else I could think of" did the trick! We got to the hospital early and she made the rounds in the cafeteria bobbing her ponytailed head up to each table and proudly telling them, "I see doctor! Stickers on my head!" and then she was off to the next one.

Miss Georgia "resting" between dress-up shows at 11pm!

     The EEG itself was a lot more involved than I thought it would be. Georgia hopped right up on the bed showing off her sparkly shoes and Dora stickers. First they measured every inch of her head and marked it with a wax crayon, then they scratched off the dead skin, cleaned the spots with antiseptic gel (which stung) and then glued about 30 metal EEG receptors to her head, face, ears and chest. Then, they wrapped her whole head in gauze all the way down to her eyebrows! She kept saying, "I no like it, I go home!" but true to her nature, she would then bravely sit and do the next thing they asked her to do. I have pictures on my phone and if I can figure out how to put them up here I will.

Ravenna the late night princess...

     It took about 45 minutes to get her all marked, scraped, glued and wrapped. Then they needed to try to induce hyperventilation! So they had her blow on pinwheels for 3 minutes straight. She was hilarious! Here she is all wrapped up and blowing like crazy which made her dizzy. So she would blow and blow and then tip over on her side giggling. I would pull her back up and try to get her to blow some more. For most of it we were face to face and cracking each other up because that meant we were blowing at each other! Then, they did a series of super bright strobe lights inches from her face. They got faster and faster. The technichian would do one series and then give her about a 10 second rest before she did the next one. Georgia just laid back, closed her eyes and little smile puckered on her lips. After all of this commotion, the tech looked at me and said, "Now we'd like her to fall asleep." Are you kidding me? Georgia was at that rummy silly spot by then, thinking all of this was just hilarious. So, I curled up next to her and began to pray. To begin with she kicked her sparkly shoes and giggled and talked. Finally I remembered how Doug gets her to sleep when we are camping. Ever since she was little he would play this game with he where he would say, "Can you say..." and she would repeat it until she fell asleep. When he first started this game she could only say a few words, now she jabbers back at him!

Literally running into the couch!

    So we cuddled up, her gauzed head tickling my cheek and I started with kids in her classroom, "Can you say Gunner? " Her shoulders shook with giggles, "I love Gunner!", "can you say Miss Coralyn?", I love Miss Coralyn!" and on and on until there was more and more space between each question and . Knowing that in that antiseptic white room, on that big white bed, my daughter and I were far from alone. This is not a journey that I ever would have chosen to be on but the gem that constinues to rise out of the ashes is that God really, truly has never left.

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” 

Deuteronomy 31:8

*** We will have results from the EEG in a week or two, thanks for your prayers!*****

All recovered and pretending they had "super-duper-melty-hands" as the first snowflakes of winter fell today!