The Bear is Back

After nearly two months of strange random fevers followed by a round of abnormal fatigue, the Ellie Bellie Bear is back in action.  Full of Bear-i-tude.  Full of energy.  Full of life.  Up to her usual sassy antics.

Seriously, Bear?  The green chalk?
This is what happens when Ellie doesn't sport her totally groovy chewelry.

Let's do the happy dance and make sure that the first aid kit is fully stocked.



The act of scheduling an appointment with Infectious Disease seemed to have cured Ellie of her random fevers in that she has not had febrile episode since the end of June.  However, one day after her visit with the folks in white coats toting big needles, Ellie started to sleep.  A lot.  Those of you who know me, frequently hear me lament "it all depends on if Bear naps".  Not when, but IF. As in my precocious little 3.75 year-old Bearity Bear was attempting to drop her nap.

In this photo: Ellie is modeling the "bendy pretzel" sleep position

I watched my typically hyperactive spider monkey lose energy for no apparent reason.  Her naps ballooned into 3+ sleep marathons with the occasional 2nd nap.  For the first time ever, my daughter "slept in" until 7am (as opposed to the usual 5:30/6:00am) . . . and went to bed earlier than usual.


At first, I did what any mother would do--I rejoiced!  And finally caught up on much-needed sleep.  And started contemplating her new wardrobe because surely this child was growing several inches with that much sleeping.


Until the sleeping cycles happened every day.  For 2.5 weeks.  My daughter has been in my life for nearly 4 years and I have never ever witnessed a growth spurt like this.  Not to mention she didn't grow during those 2.5 weeks.

Sleeping 12 hours at night.  Going down for a 3 hour nap sometime between 10:30am and noon.  Falling asleep in the car.  Wanting to be carried from the car to the curb--and I am not talking Boneless Toddler Syndrome.  I am talking exhausted-please-carry-me-or-I-will-take-a-nap on the asphalt needing to be carried.

Perhaps the most alarming: no climbing.

Yes, you read that correctly, no. climbing.  Ellie Bear seemed normal if she was watching TV or sitting quietly (yeah, I said quietly), but anything that required physical exertion was too much for her.  I would take Bear to a play scape and she would just sit on the ground with her baby dolls.  If she mustered the energy to climb, she would then lay down for a minute before going down the slide.

Preschool and Therapy both reported that she seemed really draggy and would "lie around".

Top Left: attempting to take a nap on the floor of Quiznos.  In front of the door  because that is the safest place to just nod off.

Top Right: attempting to take a nap at Speech Therapy.  This is after she took a 3 hour nap and at the beginning of therapy.  We were still in the waiting room.

Bottom Left: The pre-zonked out car nap

Bottom Right: attempting to take a nap at Target. You know, the place that Ellie usually screams at and wants to run like a wild-banshee-child at.  The handle bar of the cart = pillow

What. Happened. To. My. Little. Girl????



You think I would have learned from the last Googling incident.  Child + Fatigue = scary things

Physical exam, normal.  No other symptoms.  No fever.  Normal appetite.  Just exhausted.


Clearly it was the thyroid or a funky virus like mono but without the swollen lymph nodes.

After our pediatrician brushed me off, I went all Mama Bear and contacted her Developmental Pediatrician who nearly had a heart attack when I described what was going on with Ellie.
Here is what we found out with the labs she ordered:

This is very anticlimactic.

Normal thyroid function.
Normal CBC--no virus, no anemia, or the big L
Normal electrolytes
Normal blood sugar
No Lead Poisoning.

Yes!


Yesterday, Ellie woke up at 7am and lasted until 7:45pm.  She took ONE nap.  That nap lasted only 2 hours and 20 minutes.  She asked to play.  She climbed up and went down the slide twice without taking a little snooze in-between.  She walked from the car to the curb and then back to the car without needing to be carried.  She was not tired at preschool.  She was My Ellie!!!!!


Now, I need to go wake The Bear so we can head to speech therapy.  I expect that she will be 4 inches taller when I wake her!

*For all you medical folds or immuno-compromised people out there: could her low IgG subclass deficiency make her sleep 15+ hours a day?

Right: the correct way to eat honeydew melon.