I'll first get everything caught up with Brady who is essentially in the same condition as when I last wrote which is to say that he's still coughing. The Monday (10/10) before last he went in for his four month checkup. I was on pins and needles about his weight and was relieved to find that he had gained about five ounces in the 12 days since he last was weighed. Not a huge gain but it was something. The pediatrician was satisfied with it. But the 12 lbs, 10 oz that he weighed dropped him down to the 10th percentile...pretty much what I was expecting. Compare that to the 11 lbs, 3 ounces he weighed on July 25 (his early 2 month appointment), it's quite disheartening to see he's gained so little. On the other hand, Calleigh had dropped down to the 10th percentile also at her four month appointment and look at her now. She's been in like the 90th percentile for a long time. His length was 23 3/4 inches (10th - 25th percentile) and his head was 40.7 cm (10th).
At the appointment, I told the doctor that I was seeing virtually no improvement in his condition. She said that she thought he would probably be on the steroid through the winter because now is the start of the sick season. His earache was gone so that was at least one positive. Her recommendation was that we see a pulmonologist since they specialize in lungs and that way, they could see if there was something else wrong.
So today, Duncan and I took him to The Children's Lung, Asthma, and Sleep Specialists in Winter Park. Right off, I started feeling a little worried again because his weight was unchanged from eight days ago. Very frustrating. She checked his ear and found that the ear infection was back in his right ear. Not full blown but definitely headed that way. Back on drugs he goes for that. We gave him a treatment of the albuterol so that she could listen to his chest and see if helped at all. She thought it did but could hear a bunch of mucus rolling around in there. That said, her thought is that he may have asthma but that there's something else going on that's causing the mucus. She ordered blood work to check for things like mold, dust, and other allergens (she does not think this would be a factor because she states that children under one aren't very susceptible to environmental allergens) and another chest x-ray. To top that all off, he's also going to have a sweat test to check for cystic fibrosis. That's a pretty serious diagnosis, obviously, and one I had thought about myself before and brought up to her. She really doesn't think that's it but wants to check for it just to be sure. She's prescribed him an oral steroid that he'll be on for the next five days. He had been taking it through the nebulizer but she really wanted to step it up a notch by giving it to him orally.
The sweat test, blood work, and chest x-ray will all be happening on Thursday morning with the results back on Thursday afternoon (they say). I'll will try to do an update on here.
The other big thing that happened with us is that we went on a "campout" with the Adventurers over the weekend. I put that in quotes because we stayed in a cabin so it wasn't exactly camping. The campout was at Pine Lake Retreat which is a Seventh Day Adventist camp in Groveland (about an hour west of here). We stayed in a four bedroom cabin with the Isidros (Allen & Braelyn only), Bergherms (Jennifer & Blake only), Deiningers and Holloways. In total, there were eight adults and nine kids. Due to our brood, we were able to score the "master" bedroom which had a kind size bed and a bathroom (although it was a shared bathroom). The cabin was basically a double wide trailer put together but it was pretty much what I was expected. The weather was fantastic and we had great time. Most importantly, so did the girls. They loved being with all the kids and Calleigh got to ride her bike everywhere. I won't get into any more details but I will share these two little tidbits...
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| I posted all the pics on Facebook so I'm only posting one here. |
Sabbath afternoon Aubree was napping and Calleigh was running around with the kids. The adults were all sitting on the porch gabbing. Calleigh went inside and a minute or two later I followed her in. No one else was in there except for 5-year old Luke Deininger. I heard Calleigh say to him as he unplugged his mother's phone, "Your parents aren't going to be happy about that." Then a minute later, there was silence and I wasn't sure where they had gone. I went into the boys bedroom and the room was empty. But then, I heard these muted voices and realized that Calleigh and Luke had both gone into the closet. As it turns out, Luke had taken the cell phone to play games on and wanted a place to hide so in they both went. I got Luke's mother, Lisa, and she and I stood outside the door for a few minutes and just listened as they whispered back and forth. I told her that in ten years or so, I wouldn't like this but for now, it was pretty cute!
The other little incident happened Saturday night. Everyone was in the main pavilion working on one of the honors when I realized that Aubree had soaked through her pants. I had Brady in the Bjorn so he, Aubree, and I walked back (about a 7 or 8 minute trek) to the cabin to get her a change of clothes. I was actually pushing Aubree in the Bob stroller. While I was there, I got a text from Jennifer to hurry back because the hayride was about to start. I quickly wrapped things up and headed outside. I was on the second stair (of about five) going down and I turned to pick up Aubree to expedite the process. As I did that, my left leg slipped off the back of the stair. This, of course, caused me to slip straight down. Thank goodness Brady wasn't hurt or anything but I was! I let out a couple of little cries of pain as I pulled my leg up. I checked for blood and didn't immediately see any. What does Aubree come out with but "That's why you have to be careful, Mom." Thank you for those pearls of wisdom, Aubs. But that's not the end of the story. I'm still thinking about that hay ride and how bad I would feel if Aubree missed it. So I manage to get down the stairs, get Aubree into the Bob and then I'm having walking, half running with a big limp to try and get back. At last I see the wagon in the distance and can see everyone on it and it appears they're waiting for me. I finally get there, park the Bob, someone helps me up, and I sit down on a bail of hay and start to get into the ordeal I just went through. A few seconds later, someone says, "Where is your other child?" Oh the horror! In my injured state I had completely forgotten that Aubree was in the Bob. I turn around and go back to the ramp and there's someone standing next to the Bob, holding Aubree as tears come down her cheeks. Pretty much a horrible feeling. Anyway, she was fine within a minute or two but I, of course, felt like a terrible mother for a long while. I'm sure I would have realized she wasn't there in a minute or two but I'm sure it felt like forever to her. Incidentally, when I went back and looked at the steps in the light of day, I could see where that step didn't go all the way back like part of the board had broken off or something.
Right now I am pumping for the first time. I've finally decided to bite the bullet and just do it. It may be too late to get Brady to take a bottle but I need to try. At least that way I can see how much he's drinking.
Let's see...what else is important enough here to mention? Well, another cousin has been added to our family today. Devin and Leigh had their baby boy today at 3:53 this afternoon. He has yet to be named. The ten cousins now have ten children so that's pretty neat.
The girls are happy and healthy. What more could you ask for? I've had a few cute moments recently with Calleigh. From time to time Aubree will start talking about something that makes no sense. Calleigh and I will look at each other and give each other this look that means "She's not making any sense so I have no idea what she's talking about." It's almost like this bonding moment and it makes me feel like she's so old. The other thing that cracked me up is that she and Aubree were in their room and I think I was doing some laundry. I could hear them taking stuff out so I called in to them to not make a mess. To which Calleigh responded, "Oh mom (in that voice that means "you are being ridiculous"). You know how girls are." As if to tell me that not making a mess was an impossibility. Pretty much is, actually.
My big personal news is that I got the new iPhone 4S. I just got it on Monday. It came Friday but I was gone for the campout and had to wait a few days. So far I'm very pleased with it. I haven't wanted to chuck it across the room like I did with the old Android so we're off to a good start.
Okay, I'm done pumping. I got 3 ounces which is decent for the first time. Here's hoping he'll drink it tomorrow. Now I'm off to the treadmill. Not the smartest thing to do at nearly 11 pm but it must be done.
1 comment:
Start getting to bed earlier!
Papa
We're praying.
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