Ava on Stimulants

2 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

The pic attached to this post is Ava crashed out in the back seat of the car on the way home from the hospital. She was up all last night.

Yesterday she went to a birthday party at one of those air jump places... Monkey Joe's... out in Douglasville. When she got home she seemed subdued to me and I concluded that she was sick or something. A couple hours later, past her bedtime, she was fidgety and wouldn't settle down. We generally assumed that the cake she ate at the party and the milkshake she got coming home gave her a sugar rush. She doesn't eat a lot of sugar and we expect her to be a wild child when she does.

Terp stayed up for a couple more hours watching tv with her. At about 11:30p she was still up. Terp noted that her breathing was quick and that at times she took big deep breaths. I checked her pulse and it was 124bpm sitting still. Toddlers have higher heart rates than adults. At 124bpm she wasn't off the charts but it certainly wasn't normal. I also noticed that her pulse felt very strong where I took it on her wrist... like her heart was pumping hard. Her pupils were responsive. She kept moving her hands all over the place.

At that point we figured she got into some caffeine at the party. Coca Cola or similar. Maybe somebody made the cake with some sort of cocoa that had caffeine in it.

She was up all night with only a short rest around 4a. At 5:30a we headed to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. Ava was wide awake through all of the check-in stuff and nurses collecting vitals.

When we described the birthday party to the doc he asked if we thought there could have been cocaine present. Yes, there could have been. These party places are run by low wage college kids and this was Douglasville. No disrespect to Douglasville but it's known as a meth and drug area.

The doc wanted to get a heart scan, some urine and some blood. First nurse to arrive was for the heart scan. "No thank you," said Ava, forcefully. She went fairly erratic from there forward. Lots of yelling. Hiding. Stuff that isn't really Ava. Normally she'll say "no thank you" and then you can talk to her about it. She wasn't having any of it and was essentially freaking out. She didn't want to take off her shirt. Didn't want to take a picture of her heart. Didn't want to get healthy. Etc. The nurse eventually backed out and got the doc to agree to not do the imaging.

Next up was blood. The room was hectic with two nurses, two parents and two kids. Emme and I went for a walk just outside the door. Little Aves yelled and cried a lot but they eventually got the blood. Poor little rat.

By this time it's about 8:30a and Ava needs to pee into a cup. She's not having any of it and is still amped up like crazy. We're trying to get her to drink water but she won't. An hour goes by and we can't get her to drink or pee. The nurse comes in and tells us that they may have to put a catheter in. Ava apparently understood and decided to pee. Finally. Nurses cheered when she did.

So then we wait for a while. Doc comes back. Positive for amphetamines. "In 20 years this is a first," he said. Great. While the doc only mentioned amphetamines we learn later that the positive test only indicated a stimulant, not amphetamine specifically. Could be speed, cocaine, meth, adderol or any of a number of other prescription/illicit drugs.

Bottom line is that Ava will be fine. The drug will run its course. She's starting to get to sleep right now (although her tired eyes do pop wide open every couple minutes.)

A social worker came in to talk to us. We asked her to report it to the police. The Douglasville police called me after we got home. I don't want other families to be at risk.

Ava's very good about not eating strange things. She'll barely drink anything besides water and cold milk. We asked her 20 times throughout the night, in various ways, "did you eat any candy off the floor?" or "did anybody give you anything?" or "did you take any vitamins?" She says she didn't.

What likely happened is this. Parents/adults are allowed into the air jump things. One of them had some meth, coke, speed or other drug on them and when they jumped some of it fell out and got onto the surface. Ava got it onto her hand and absorbed it or later ate something that rubbed it. At this point we have no proof, of course. But the three calls I've gotten from the police mean that at least somebody's looking into it. And we'll do whatever we can to provide names, descriptions and details about anybody who may have been in the air jumps. Security cameras. Monkey Joe's employee records. Do these places do background checks? Drug checks?

I feel some anger right now. But I can't direct it to anybody. And it's not the sort of anger that I'd actually act on. It's frustration anger. Pity, almost. That some people are such bad parents that having drugs around their own kids seems acceptable. That some people are such bad citizens that having drugs around my kids seems acceptable.

I feel some fear right now. That even with her mom watching over her Ava can get hurt.

Strange things happen in the world and it doesn't mean the world is a bad place. Mostly I'm just glad that Ava's going to be ok. Even on stimulants she's a little sweetheart who hugs her DooDah, makes jokes and smiles a lot. Hopefully she can get some much-deserved rest. Poor little rat.

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Sea World San Antonio

4 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

Mimi, Mark, Terp and I took Aves to Sea World today. We saw the Shamu killer whale show. And some sea lions. And we pet the dolphins. In the car on the way home we asked Ava "did you enjoy Sea World?" "No," was her only response. But she did... she was just in tired "No" Mode and needs a nap. I had a great time hanging with Aves.

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Ava at the San Antonio Zoo

4 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

Mimi, Mark and I took Aves to the San Antonio Zoo. If you like the zoo, get somebody pregnant! The zoo is a lot more fun with kids! When we got there Aves wanted to see a bear, so we did. Then on to some 'mingos (flamingos for those of you who don't speak 3 year old.) When I went to the restroom Mark and Mimi took her to see the komodo dragon and a huge python. She loved it! When I got back she wanted to show me the dragon. Then she wanted to see "mo snakes." Finally inside the reptile house and looking at tons of them she wanted "mo big snake" and spread her arms out wide! She loved the big snake! Then into the butterfly cage... we got one to land on me. From there we saw a hippo. And a jaguar. We asked her if she knew what a jaguar was. Of course she does! Diego rolls with a tiny jaguar by his side (again, if you don't get it, go get somebody pregnant.) After that Aves hopped into her stroller and got a bit sleepy. But she loves the zoo! Thanks to Mark for taking the pics!

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Ava's First Flight on the "Big Airplane"

4 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

It was really cute hearing all about the Big Airplane for weeks leading up to today's trip to San Antonio. She did a great job. On the runway she kept asking "are we flying yet?" We'd look out the window at the ground and conclude that we weren't. Throughout the trip I explained what was coming next. Waiting for the people to load the plane. Driving around in the plane ("why do we share the runway DooDah?") Going fast. Taking off. When we finally got off the ground it warranted a look or two out the window before Aves fell asleep... it was a big day! She slept for about half of the 2 hour flight. Emme cried like crazy early which spooked both Heather and I but after a little nursing she fell asleep too. White noise rocks! When Ava woke up I pointed to things outside the plane. "Why the clouds in the ocean DooDah?" We're flying in them! "Yeah," she'd say! As we came in for landing she saw houses, lakes and trees. I explained that we'd feel bumps and then drive around for a while. Nothing spooked her. Both of the kids did a great job!

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Ava's Got Pink Eye/Conjunctivitis

5 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

Poor little kiddo. She's on day two. On average it lasts a little over five days without antibiotics. The bacterial version causes the gunk around her eye. Right now it's her right eye and we suspect that her other eye will get infected too. I watched some Backyardigans with her tonight and she was reserved but positive.

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"So it Can Visit the Other Pee Pee?"

5 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

We're working with Aves on potty training. Not because we're good parents. Because we're completely out of diapers. We put Aves in a pair of underwear and told her that she needs to use the potty because she's a big girl and we don't have any more diapers. She's already made three trips to the potty and is more than happy to explain the situation to me. I just helped her down off the potty and asked her if she wanted to flush (it's the highlight of the event.) She looked at me as she flushed and asked "so it can visit the other pee pee?"

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Ava's Sick

5 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

Came down with something today. Fever and all.

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Ava's Third Birthday Pool Party

6 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

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Happy Birthday Ava! You're Three!

6 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

My beautiful daughter Ava is three years old today! What an amazing little kiddo!

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P Double Oh with the Fam

6 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter

We spell out "pool" as "p double oh" when we want to talk about going to the pool without Ava knowing what's up. Today I ran and Heather drove to Matt and Kendy's pool for some good family time. Knox, Matt and Kendy swam too. Ava swam on her own in her floaty vest. It was the first time she had to kick or go under a little and so she kicked. She was scared at first when I stepped away from her but she kicked hard and smiled when she stayed up. Then she'd say "I can't swim." But I stayed at it and after a while she said "I can swim." Which is all pretty cute. Emme sat by the side of the pool with mom until I got out and mom got in. Aves mini melted when it was time to get out, of course. She loves the p double oh.

The most amazing part of the experience was seeing Ava's emotions. When she was afraid I wanted more than anything to help her, but I didn't because I knew she could do it. When she looked at me for help I felt like a daddy. When she started to smile it felt great. I was proud of her. When she finally made it to me and clung to me I felt her love.

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Ava and Emme in the Pack N' Play

7 Months Ago | Posted to: Ava, Our Daughter