Pretty Medical

More than a year and a half ago, Lydia's allergist strongly suggested a medical bracelet for Lydia to wear for her food allergies. I resisted the idea for awhile because I didn't want our daughter "labeled" for even strangers, and I felt that since we were with her all of the time, it wasn't necessary. Then, following her asthma diagnosis (again, medic alert jewelry strongly suggested) and finally her epilepsy diagnosis six months ago- I had to admit that yes, medical jewelry was a definite must. I looked online for days, and could never find anything pretty or cute enough in Lydia's size. I did decide during my research that I wanted to subscribe to the company Medic Alert, because Lydia would be given her own personal ID number. That way, any medical personnel could access her full health information during an emergency. It's information that I provide myself and keep updated online. The problem was that the jewelry they offered in her size wasn't Lydia's style. Well, ok, not my style. It just wasn't cute enough to me, so I came up with an idea that combined the best of both worlds. My idea would let me change the look and style of her bracelet every day, while still using Medical Alert's ID number. Making the jewelry chain myself seemed simple enough. Hahaha!!! Fifty dollars in materials later, I realized that making jewelry isn't that easy. I whined on Facebook about my failure, and a very gracious friend helped me out. She makes jewelry as a hobby, so I told her my idea. I asked her to make beaded chains with lobster claws on each side, that could be easily interchanged with the medical plate from Medic Alert. It worked perfectly! My friend made me two chains- one white pearl and one black pearl. They were just as pretty as I imagined. My mom wanted to have some made for her too, so we went to a bead store downtown, where we had a few more options made.

Here's one of the chains.

The lobster claws attach to each end of the medical plate. All of her medical conditions and allergies are engraved on the back, as well as the 1-800 number for Medic Alert, and Lydia's personal ID number.

I bought a jewelry holder, because the box on her dresser was too much of a temptation for her to play with in the middle of the night.

I recently purchased her a necklace as well. I replaced the too long/not very cute chain with this one I bought at Piercing Pagoda.

My little cutie!