Moses' Baked Milk Challenge at Johns Hopkins

Yesterday was Moses' baked milk challenge. First things first, he fared pretty well. The goal was 1/4 cup of baked milk (1 1/2 cupcakes). He made it to a full cupcake before he started having problems. Watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, some itchiness, and coughing. Nothing a little Benadryl couldn't fix. He was fine after 30 minutes. And even with the reaction, the nurse said he did really well. So we've been approved to continue testing him at home, starting with 1/16 of a serving of baked milk. However, we have to finish out his at-home soy test first. AND then start and complete his at-home wheat test as well. THEN we will do the at-home baked milk. So it may be awhile yet, but things are looking up! And just so you know, Moses is up to 3 oz. of soy milk as of today... the goal is six total. Maybe by the end of February? Cross fingers!

Okay, so getting to yesterday's doctor appointment was so stressful for me. I am lucky in the fact that I decided to leave WAY early for the appointment. I was on the road at 11 a.m. for a 12:30 p.m. appointment (it's only a 30-ish minute commute to Johns Hopkins). I figured if I got their really early, Moses would be asleep in the car and could catch some much needed Zzzzzs before being up for his afternoon-long appointment (his normal naptime). There was some kind of traffic hang up and it took me about 50 minutes to get to the hospital. I get to the regular parking garage and drove around for 20 minutes following the green arrow signs - all for compact cars - and only 5 total! As soon as I'd see someone heading to their car, I'd be either too late, too far away, and not quick enough. I exited the garage and asked the attendant where there is additional parking. She said the garage was definitely full, and that it had been full for about an hour - um yeah, I figured that out. She said street parking would be impossible, but I could try the other parking garage. She gave me the directions. I headed over.

Okay, so about 6 freakin' blocks away (I may or may not be exaggerating), I find the garage. I had to park at the very top floor. Another 20 minutes wasted. At this point I'm late for my appointment. I get into whatever section of the hospital I'm parked at and ask the info desk how to get where I need to go. He says, "you're gonna walk there?! No way, it's too far." All this as he's looking at me lugging my gigundo baby, a backpack, a bag full of food and drinks, and another bag loaded with books and toys. And no. I didn't not have a stroller, because we've always been able to park right by entrance of our building. And we took out the strollers when we went to visit my folks and never put them back in. Doh.

Anyway, the guy says he can call transport to send a courtesy shuttle - it will be about 15 minutes. I say okay. Then I call the doctor's office to ask if it's okay if I get there at 1 or if I have to cancel. They say, no problem. I wait. And I wait. I keep asking if the transport is coming. Oh yea. 5 more minutes. I wait more. In the meantime. Moses has soaked through his diaper. I'm at the entrance though, so no private place to change him (I fear creepers) AND he's completely uncooperative having exhausted all interest in the toys I had brought to entertain him during the appointment. Plus, I just knew I'd get him in the midst of a diaper change and the shuttle would show up. I also kept in contact with the doctor's office and they kept assuring me I could still come. Thank god, because you have to schedule these appointments a year in advance and some!

At this point, Moses being overly tired, restless and irritated, is inconsolable. And I'm at my wits end. I could have walked to the damn building two times by now! At this point my arms are already sore from wrestling/carrying a hefty, angry toddler, in bulky clothing no-less. I pack up my stuff to, somehow, find my way and the shuttle shows up. So after a 45-50 minute wait for the damn shuttle... we hop on and head to our building. The shuttle driver was super nice, it was nice to have a distraction from my annoyance with Johns Hopkins at that moment. So we get to the front of our building. I've never been to the front, we always come in from the back, through the parking garage. And the shuttle driver says, "you know, there is a parking lot across the street." WTF?!?! I was soooo pissed. She said she didn't know why the parking attendant sent me all the way to that other parking garage, "she musta been new." Poop. Now I know.

So we actually didn't get into the exam room until 2 p.m. But I must say I was grateful for Nurse Holbrook because she really seemed to tell I was tired and frazzled. Moses had pee on his onesie and pants, but I forgot to bring a change of clothes for him. Crap! How could I forget that! I figured we'd be there long enough for it to dry out before heading back out in the cold. When they brought in his first dose of baked milk, they also brought in a cup of water. And he completely doused both of us and the floor in it. I was about to breakdown at this point. I was just so tired (and sore from carrying Moses and all those bags around). They were really awesome about cleaning it all up for us. Moses and I dried out nicely though. I'm sure running up and down the halls trying to escape mommy for the next 3 hours helped. My God, the kid doesn't sit still! It didn't help that all the distractions I had brought, had worn out in interest during our wait for the shuttle. Poop!

Another plus to balance out the crappy parts: the nurse brought us 6 cans of formula to take home with us. We're still in the midst of the soy challenge, and we're about to run out. She saved us about $500.00, since we started our deductible again on the first of the year. But at the same time. My arms now felt like Jello, and I was wondering, oh crap, how am I going to carry all this back to the van. And how am I going to get to the van.

We were the last patient to leave. The nurse said, "Don't wait for the shuttle. It's gonna take forever. It may be a hike, but I can walk you to the other end of the hospital, where your parking garage is." Her office was that way anyway, "just a bit out of the way." What a saint! My arms really were soooo tired though. I wasn't sure how I was gonna do it. BUT she had a wheeled brief case! She offered to put my bags on there. I stuffed the formula into my backpack to even out Moses' weight on my front (kind of). I'm so glad she showed me the way, because I was lost. It was quite a trek, about 20 minutes or more. At least we were inside and not in the cold. I didn't put Moses down at all, because my arms were locked and I was afraid I would not be able to pick him up again! Haha! Seriously.

She helped me all the way to the door. Really. I swear she's an angel on earth. So we managed to trek to pay for our parking. Then out to the car, which seemed like it was 5 miles away, even though it was just across the top of the parking garage (longest walk ever!). I was so relieved to be back in the car.

I switched on my phone's GPS to head home. And it was taking me on a different route to avoid a traffic jam. I had no idea where I was and then I got a low battery warning - 14% remaining. Then, 4% remaining. I was just praying I would at least get to an I-95 sign. And whew! I just as it powered down I was on MLK boulevard. Thank you! Whew! Due to a stalled vehicle 95 South - coulda been worse, I could've been that person - it took me an hour to get home.

Long day, indeed. But I must say the pluses and minuses helped even it all out. And in the grand scheme of things it wasn't the worst day ever, just tiring, stressful and frustrating. But we survived, healthy and a wee bit cranky.

Richard bought me a piece of chocolate cake in the evening. Sometimes, he just gets it right! :-)

My arms and legs hurt soooo much today. No high fives today, I can't pick them up over my head. I'm like a little T-rex.