Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July! I can't tell you how exciting this is, it's our first big holiday OUT OF THE HOSPITAL in months!!! We're so pumped we're making all the stops this year. Well, not all, but many. We were actually invited to three fourth of July parties, we'll stick to Aunt Peg's big party for tonight. There's always a ton of people, food, and of course boat rides. We don't think Chelsea is quite mature enough to make it until fireworks time, maybe next year. We'll make our "appearance" then head home for a big light show in the street, Branam style! Tomorrow night is the big show at the lake, so we'll head over to grandma and grandpa's house for a lunch and hang out to watch the fireworks with them. Watching the show at the lake has become a bit of a tradition. We fight the bugs and the traffic, squeeze into the best spot we can find and enjoy the fireworks display set to some good old American themed music on the truck radio.

The last few days it seems Chelsea's virus has just been hanging on. Her nose is runny, she's still got a nasty cough, and she's still very tired. I suppose this is just to be expected for someone recovering from what she's been through this past year. I'm sure her immune system just isn't back to par and it will take longer for her to recover from things like croup. Today does seem to be a little better though, so we're very happy about that! Her next clinic visit is next Wednesday, so we'll get her counts checked then and see where she's at.

I got a call from the nurse at Children's yesterday. She called to tell me Chelsea's cultures were negative from last week, understandably so. The other reason for her call ... well I was quite surprised. The pharmacy from the hospital called her to notify her that the prescription for zinc that they had filled for Chelsea had extra high levels of zinc in it, and that she should stop taking it immediately. Hmmmm. Fortunately, I stopped giving it to her three weeks ago when she was on that nasty antibiotic. I just wasn't up for crushing zinc pills and trying to get her to take that in addition to that disgusting medicine three times a day. Good thing I'm absent minded and forgot to start the zinc back up when we finished her course of antibiotics. The nurse feels good about the fact that Chelsea hasn't had any of the zinc and told me I needed to throw the rest of it away. We'll check her zinc levels Wednesday to see where they're at. Remember, she's only on zinc as a supplement, like many people with Down syndrome her zinc levels are low, and some believe that low zinc levels can contribute to their short stature.

I know I've already mentioned it, but gosh darnit I'm extatic to be home for this holiday! Ryan has a three day weekend, the kids are both healthy (mostly) and we're just enjoying being together. In fact Daddy and Chelsea are taking a nap together right now! I want to leave you with a link to my dear friend Renee's blog. Her family has spent their share of holidays in the hospital, and I'm sure they thought they were done with that, but her little darling Kennedy needed neck surgery and is recovering at the hospital right now. Please pray for this family, they have been through so many struggles but have remained optimistic throughout every hurdle. Renee, Kennedy and family, we are thinking and praying for you often!