August 8

Hmm. Today was a rollercoaster.

You know how we've been doing all kinds of tests to determine if there's anything wrong with Daisy? Well, today was the doozy test that we've been putting off for a while - a chloride sweat test to rule out cystic fibrosis. We had a 9:00 appointment at the big hospital downtown, and my mom and Ryan graciously agreed to come over and spend the morning with Caleb so that I could focus on keeping Daisy happy.

At 9:00, we signed in for our appointment. At 9:20, the receptionist finally got to us. She informed me that Daisy's doctor had never sent in the lab orders for the sweat test. No orders = no test. I called the doctor to have them verbally order the test, but the office was closed. At 9:30 on a Wednesday morning. They didn't open until noon.

At this point I was livid. Really? We had come all the way out there, and the doctor couldn't even call in the order? And they weren't open? I was ready to cry with frustration. 

I called the after-hours exchange, but had to leave a message. I waited around for a while, but then I gave up. At 9:45, when we were already on the road home, the exchange nurse called me back. I explained the situation, and she said she'd see what she could do. In a matter of thirty minutes, she called Daisy's doc repeatedly until she got a response, called me, called the big hospital, called me, faxed in a lab order, called the big hospital to make sure it went through, and called me back with all of the details. I have no doubt that God put that woman on the exchange that day, because she was such a blessing to me. Not only did she take care of everything with incredible thoroughness, but she was kind, reassuring, and had even been through a very similar situation with her own daughter. What a blessing it was to hear words of encouragement from someone with knowledge and experience!

So Daisy and I went back to the big hospital and did the sweat test. It was pretty bad. They strapped some big electrodes to one of her arms and zapped it for five minutes to stimulate her sweat glands. Then they removed the electrodes, taped gauze over the zapped area, and repeated the process on the other arm.

On the first arm, Daisy cried. Luckily, I was prepared: I pulled up my shirt and nursed her until she was calm.   On her other arm, Daisy wasn't so easily assuaged. She screamed and screamed until the tech got out a roll of cat stickers. Then Daisy was happy as could be!

After they were done zapping her, we had to wait thirty minutes while the gauze absorbed all of her sweat. Luckily, the hospital is a haven for children, so we found plenty to entertain us. She loved the aquarium, but she was really captivated by this contraption:

It was a Rube-Goldberg type machine with balls that rolled and flipped and pinged. She loved it. Sorry for the blurry photo, but I only had my cell phone. See her sweet Wonder Woman wrist guards, though? That was the tape that held the gauze in place.

The rest of the test wasn't that big of a deal (except when the tech removed the gauze and commented that it looked dry, and we may have to repeat the test another day if they didn't collect enough sweat. Then, I nearly lost it. But there was enough sweat, so heads didn't roll.), and we left the hospital at noon and were home by 12:30, four hours after we left for our appointment. Ugh. But babygirl was sound asleep, so everything was ok.

As I was making dinner tonight, the doctor called: Daisy's test was negative. She does NOT have cystic fibrosis. Praise the Lord. Now the question is, what is causing her to be so skinny and sick and have such weird diapers?

Regardless, we decided to celebrate by grilling burgers at the pool. We invited my mom, Emily, Ryan, and Max to join us.

Fun was had by all!

Daisy is totally into swimming.

(psst...  remember this picture, from nearly a year ago?)

Caleb found a toy semi truck, and spent the whole time driving it around the water.

Also, a recent discovery about Daisy:

the gross motor delay has been masking the fact that she is a climber.

Lord help me. I have a climber.

Also, she is cruising now! Big girl! So what if stupid BabyCenter says that 90% of her peers are walking by now. When she walks, she will walk with style!

Max is suspicious of the water and suspicious of me. Or maybe it's my camera he's suspicious of, not me? 

Ryan played and played with the kiddos. He's so good with them, and they adore him!

The kids ate their dinner picnic-style, on the ground. Everything is better picnic-style!

Max didn't want to swim, but was happy to lounge poolside.

It's official: Ryan is Daisy's favorite. She preferred him over Grandma, Daddy, and even me!

After dinner, the big boys had a diving contest. 

Chris had some good moves,

but Ryan's boldness blew Chris out of the water.

Daisy and Grandma laughed at the boys.

Daisy also taught Grandma her favorite game, called, "Hi, Plane!"

Eventually, Grandma even persuaded Max to join in the pool fun. 

What a great day!