Chug-chug-chugging along

Well, Lily's MRI was cancelled at the last moment due to her having a cold a few days prior. The anesthesiologist was concerned as it can complicate sedation, and since he's not right in the room by her, he just felt the (small) increased risk wasn't worht it for what is, ultimately, an elective procedure.

So, we're rescheduled for 4/29.

We've increased Lily's ketogenic ratio to 2.5:1. So far, so good. One really great thing is that I've finally figured out a way to get Lily to drink the cream! I figured out the right combo of dilution (to make it the consistency of milk) & flavoring (a little sugar-free vanilla syrup + 5 drops of bickfords banana flavor). I also created a couple meals with some of her favorite foods. She's now having some Cheerios occasionally (there are actually a good amount of Cheerios in only 6 grams!), and I also found out about Miracle Noodles which are basically just soluable fiber (thus, no calories or carbs) shaped noodles. So I was able to make her a fairly tasty Mac 'n Cheese meal. It has a really good volume to it, so I think she actually *felt* full for once in a long time.

She's drinking water very consistently (hooray!) which is great as we learned recently that her last round of labs indicated some dehydration.

We started the paperwork to transition Lily in to the developmental preschool in our school district. She'll have the full round of evaluations in the next month, and then at the end of May we'll meet to discuss her eligibility. Finally, in mid-June we'll meet to draft Lily's first IEP. I'm already gathering all my information, and formulating what I want on her IEP right now. I'm talking with lots of friends who have knowledge of the process, and getting my arsenal of advocates in my bag.

Todd & I are heading out this weekend to Vegas for our 1st vacation since having kids. I figured out it has been nearly three years since we've been on a vacation of any sort. I'm very much looking forward to leaving the twins with my parents, and being able to just turn off my brain for three days. blissssss

Still not much to report!

We had our 1st diet follow-up appointment about 10 days ago. Her labs all look great, and we could probably move up in ratio if we wanted. We haven't pushed for that yet, but may next week.

While we haven't seen a big change in #'s of spasms, we have seen an increase in Lily's alertness, and engaging with us. She's also fairly consistently signing for "more"! This is a HUGE accomplishment for Lily, and really indicates she's learning cause & effect. Naturally, she associates it with food which we want to get away from, but for now we're just enjoying the accomplisment and not trying to change it too much.

Lily has an MRI tomorrow (Tuesday, 4/1). It's just a routine MRI, to make sure the changes Lily experienced while on Vigabatrin are still gone (the Keto diet can make these changes re-appear), and also just to check for any abnormalities now that her brain is a bit more developed. She hasn't had one in nearly two years, so it's kind of a big deal.

Other than that, we're still going to start the transition to the school district next week, and get the process going for Lily's first IEP! YIKES!