Way To Go Mommy!

This week's successes seem remarkably easy to find - which either means I had a highly productive week or I'm so desperate to find the upside of things I'll make anything a success...

Whichever one applies....here are the highlights of our week:

1. Laundry is caught up! Not an easy task considering Matt has been on the road for the past 3 weeks and keeps dumping a weeks worth of clothing on the laundry room floor. (Oh yeah, John and I traveled one week too...so laundry has been building up in excess!)

2. I passed my 3 hour glucose test (no big surprise since I only missed my 1 hour by 3 points and I had stupidly drank a 20 oz soda on an empty stomach 15 minutes before the test). But more impressive is that I took the 3 hours test with John in tow and we didn't have any problems despite the lab that we use being the most un-kid-friendly place around.

3. Today I'm watching a friend's 11 month old and I haven't lost my mind yet. Maybe I can do this 2 child thing!

Bonus 4 - I've scratched about 1/2 the things off my to-do list this week. Including some things that I have been avoiding for a while now. Maybe I'll be caught up by the end of the week? ;)

Make sure to check out other motherly successes over at Faith and Family Live!

Favorite February Fotos

Sledding!

A Little Mischievous - Don't You Think?

Successes, Both Big and Small

So my promise of updating the blog more during the Lenten season hasn't really been a success of mine. What can I say - I'm a work in progress. So today starts a new page and my commitment to keeping our friends and family posted is no less real.

Not to make excuses but the last few week have been a ridiculous roller coaster of events. After my post about runny diapers, blocked bowels and trips to the hospital - things just continued to spiral out of control. We received a phone call from the hospital a few days later asking us to come back for some additional tests. So off we go to the hospital for ultrasounds and xrays. Many, many hours later after 3 ultrasounds and an xray we were discharged from the hospital. We were told we had nothing to worry about, all our tests were clear, and our pediatrician would probably call the next afternoon just to check in on us and give us final radiology reports. Instead, just 2 hours after being discharged the hospital called back and asked us to return at 10am the next morning to Hem/Onc clinic because they determined the calcium build ups were in his adrenal gland.

Now don't get me wrong - the Hem/Onc clinic at SLCH is fabulous and we love Dr. Bednarski. But we were more than happy to be released from his care last June. Back to Hem/Onc! John and I spent the next day at the clinic taking a urine test and talking with Dr. Bednarski. While we both agree that this is most likely a big nothing with a bunch of radiologists who are all a twitter over a bad stomach bug, we are still proceeding with caution because watery stools, distended tummy, and calcium in the adrenal gland are signs of neuroblastoma.

We got the results of the urine test a week later. They were good....only one of two hormones were elevated (normally both would be elevated if there was neuroblastoma). We are now in a wait and see pattern with tests to be re-run in early June. In the mean time, Matt and I are on the lookout for other signs/symptoms, but are hopeful that come June we can put all this behind us.

So on to our successes....
1. We've survived the past few weeks! Assuming you read the prelude to these successes, you should agree that this is one of the bigger successes.
2. We spent a week in Omaha at a water park and John learned how to go down a slide all by himself! Oh, what a big boy is he!
3. John got ear tubes yesterday and did great! The whole surgery took less than 8 minutes from the time John was taken out of my arms to the time the doctor returned to our room with post-op update. Now our ears are draining properly and hopefully his hearing is improved.
Bonus 4. We took a bunch more pictures of John! Yay! Be on the lookout for some picture posts!

Day By Day

Each day with John has brought new adventures for our family. We love watching him grow and learn as every day passes. It's hard to believe that a little over a year ago he was born not breathing. And if you looked at him today, you would never believe me when I told you that he has been the recipient of 9 blood transfusions. Instead, all you'll see is a little boy who is outgrowing shoes left and right, running around the house, crawling up onto every chair he can find, and scarfing down more chicken nuggets at any one meal than his pregnant mom! What a difference a year makes!

We're still working on some things...
John is still behind on the speech realm, but we're hopeful that getting ear tubes and speech therapy will get us going.
He is really shy around other kids (with the exception of his two 'girlfriends', Maeve and Gwen) so we're trying to get him involved in some activities where he is required to interact with other kids.
John's immune system seems to be on the fritz most of the time with ear infections, sinus infections, and belly problems. We're hopeful that tubes help with the first two. After all the gut problems of the last two weeks - we're scheduled for an ultrasound of his GI tract to look for any more abnormalities. Right now we know he has enlarged bowels, gas in his tract, and potentially calcification in his intestines. We'll know more as we progress.

We haven't been great about picture taking these past few months, but we're trying to get back to snapping "every day" shots. Look for them in the near future - you won't believe his growth!