Steppin' out with my baby

Last October, as you may recall, Roxanne had a course of a powerful anti-epileptic drug that knocked out her immune system (unfortunately, it didn't knock out her seizures). For the 8 week recovery period, she was basically on house arrest. The only places she went were doctor's offices. It was really isolating.

Roxy's immune system should be better now, and after talking to her pediatrician (Dr. K - VERY cool), we determined she can go out, as long it's not a place mobbed by children.

I needed to go to Tyson's Corner to do some shopping, and this was the week to do it. I originally picked Thursday, but that was one of Roxy's high seizure days, and I didn't want to freak people out. (She does look kind of possessed when she has a seizure. I'm used to it, but others might want to call 911.) So, Friday it was.

Roxy enjoyed checking out a new environment. The mall has a lot more interesting lights, colors, sounds and people than our house, or even the hospital. I’ve been worried that Roxy is understimulated at home. For example, I know you’re supposed to talk to your baby, which I thought I wasn’t doing, until I had to quiet down at the mall. I picked up a sweater I was considering, showed it to Roxanne and said, “what do you think of this color?” When another shopper turned to see if I was asking her a question, I realized I must chat with Roxy more than I realize. (Roxy liked the color, by the way.)

It was funny how people reacted to Roxy with the feeding tube in her nose. One woman approached the stroller like, "ooh, a baby!" then changed to "ugh, what's that?" when she saw her face. Part of me wanted to laugh at the idiocy of it all, part of me wanted to explain, another part of me wanted to slap the lady. I overheard a child say, "mommy, what's in that baby's nose?" The mom hadn't seen Roxy, so I didn't get to hear what kind of answer she might have made up. The tube doesn’t seem like such a big deal to me, but I guess it looks creepy to others.

Well, I'm not going to hide my kid. We're going to continue to go out, and eventually, strangers will see her have a seizure, and they will have to deal. People have to deal with her feeding tube. Sick or disabled kids make people really wiggy, I get that. People don't like to be reminded that bad things happen to innocent children, but too bad. I did meet a couple of folks who cooed at Roxy and either ignored her tube, or simply asked what it was about. Cheers to them.