Updates Galore!

I really only have medical updates, but I don't want to be too boring, so I took come pictures to post....

We got this toy off Craigslist over the weekend, I have been looking for it for months! And I am SO happy I found it, and Addie LOVES it! She has played with it every day!!!!




These few are from tonight...

Look, a shoe!

Elsie and Addie love looking out the window together:

That's all I have for tonight!


On to the updates!

We had Addie's Voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) today. It went pretty well, as expected, she hated it. Luckily it didn't take too long to complete. She did reflux, on both sides. Which means that has Vesicoureteral Reflux. I called the urologist today to see what that meant for her. They are going to put her on Amoxicillin, she will have to take one dose a day before bedtime. (She is already on that from her fever from last week, so we will have to finish up this treatment before moving on to this) He also wants to see her in 4 months for an office visit, and before that, she will have to have a renal ultrasound to check her kidneys.

To pat myself on the back a second :) I am crediting my breastfeeding as the reason this is only coming up now. She got her first bladder infection at the time where I started to cut sessions out. That and the doctor was shocked she got an infection in the first place while being nursed.

Honestly, I don't like that she is going to have to be on antibiotics so much, but it seems that there is no other option really. Here is some interesting reading on antibiotics, and why I am worried.

Updates

The dietician called today, and pretty much said Addie should have 50-100 more calories a day (which I think she does get by now) and she should have some more veggies and meat. We already knew that though, I offer her veggies and meat all the time and she throws it. So I will just keep trying. She has gained over a pound since then, so I think things are going well.

Addie has been warm for a couple days, figured it was teeth, she was acting okay, I didn't even take her temp. Didn't eat much lunch at all. No biggie... just one of those days I guess. Then she was acting kinda "down" at 1ish, just acting tired, not laughing, or playing, just wants to cuddle. I didn't think she felt good, so I gave her some Tylenol. I took her temp at 2... 103.

I went to the doc at 3, they took her temp and the armpit temp was almost 105. The nurse started to freak out and fill the sink with cold water. So we put a cold rag on her to try to cool her down, and gave her some Motrin. They took a rectal temp and it was 103. The doctor came in, checked her (ears were fine, throat, and chest were fine.) Then she told us she was sending us the the ER her fever was too high and we needed to get to the bottom of it. (This was not MY doctor, I hadn't seen this doctor since I was pregnant, and she is the same one who sent me to the hospital initially, kinda weird coincidence)

I called my sister who called my grandma at the hospital to meet me, and she stayed with us most of the time.

Anyways. We got to the hospital, and they took her temp, and it was around 102. So they said that they were going to do a catheter, blood test, and xray. Addie hated the catheter! But they got that, and no UTI. Good news. Then we went to the xray. The xray didn't show anything so that was good.

Then we had to get the blood drawn, and they put an iv port in. Addie hated that also The only thing the blood showed was that she had a high white blood cell count. So she has an infection, we just don't know what, probably in the blood. So, they gave her some fluids and an antibiotic through the iv.

At 7:30 my grandma had to go home, so I called Joel to come, I was hungry, and I didn't want to sit there alone. Not 2 minutes after he got there they came in and said we could go home! Figures... So, now we have a prescription for an antibiotic again... I have to call tomorrow and see if she still has to get her VCUG, I guess sometimes they won't do it if the child is sick. So, we will see.

Time with Great Grandma

This past weekend my sister, Jennifer, and I (and her husband) brought the kids to see my grandma, who celebrated her 87th birthday last week! Here are the kids:
It is nearly impossible to take a picture of them all looking at the camera!

Here is Ella practicing her modeling on the mini "davenport"

Last time Joel and I went to Grandma's Addie sat so cutely on this little couch... this time she really wanted nothing to do with it! Here she is climbing off.

Cute cousies :)

Ella tried to wrangle Addie in for a picture... it didn't last long!

No pictures with Grandma... she was in her pjs still, so I didn't think she would want to be photographed!!!!

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In other news we got our appointment for Addie's VCUG, it will be done this Friday morning. Prayers would be appreciated as I am sure Addie WILL NOT like to have a catheter inserted. I am very nervous as to how it will go. I hope for the best though. Also that the results are positive, and there isn't anything wrong with her, and that it was just a fluke for her to have bladder infections.

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Good news this week!!! I weighed Addie on Sunday, as I usually do, to call into the doctor, and she weighed 14 lbs 6.5 oz!!!!! Yay! I think she gained almost a pound since last week! That is fabulous! We still waiting to hear back from the dietician at DeVos about her calorie count... I am hoping for this week. Maybe full time solids was all she needed? Which is confusing to me since she stopped growing when we introduced them in the first place.... but whatever, I am just happy she finally gained something significant!

Well, I hope everyone has a great week!

Urologist and Bloodwork Update

Today we went for Addie to get an ultrasound of her kidneys, and then to the urologist. It was a very busy day for her, she was in her carseat most of it.

The urologist seemed very nice, and knowledgable. He looked at the CD of Addie's ultrasound, and said that her kidneys were fine. Great news. He said he was shocked that she had gotten any bladder infections since I had been nursing, he said that is extremely rare, so we don't know why she got them. So, he ordered a VCUG to see if she has Vesicoureteral reflux. A VCUG is like an x-ray of her abdomen, where they put a catheter in, and inject dye to see what happens. I don't think Addie is going to like it. But it is the only way to find out if she has this.

If she does or doesn't, the urologist said that he did not think it had anything to do with her weight, or not growing.

On the way home from the appointment I got a call that Addie's bloodwork from the endocrinologist had come back, all except for the chromosome test, which takes weeks. Anyways, everything was normal except the Insulin-like Growth Factor which could mean two things. Either Addie isn't producing enough growth hormone, or she isn't getting enough calories to help her grow. So, as of right now, we have to just finish the 3 day calorie count, send it in, and procede from there. We only have one day done, I am not counting yesterday or today because we had doctor visits, and had to fast, so she hasn't been feeling well.

1 Year Well Baby Check Up

13 lbs 12 oz

27.5" (so she grew a half inch in 2 days?) anyways, somewhere between the 5-10 percentile

Confirmed that she is developmentally where she should be. VERY good news.

She has to get an ultrasound of her kidneys today because of her bladder infections. I also was able to get into the urologist at DeVos Children's Hospital today! So that is exciting.

Will update more tonight.

Endocrinologist Update

Today we were able to go to the DeVos Children's Hospital Endocrinology to see what is up with Addie not gaining weight. The appointment was originally set for the middle of May, but I got on the cancellation list and yesterday they called! So we went today.

Today Addie was just about 27" long, and 13 lbs, 12ish oz. (they did it metric, so that is what I think it was!) She is the size of a 5 month old, she is small as a whole, not just in weight, although, she is skinnier than she is tall, by a little.

The doctor checked out Addie, and was pretty nice. She said she was small, but seemed to be developmentally where she should be. So, that is good. We don't really know a lot more right now. Addie had to have a lot of blood taken, for a bunch of tests, most of the results should be back next week. In the mean time, we have to write what she eats for 3 days so they can count the calories. I am going to use up the rest of the forumla I have, and then move to solids full time.

Addie's blood is being tested for a lot of different things. Some things the doctor mentioned were Turner Syndrome which, after reading a little about it, I am quite sure Addie doesn't have. That test will take a little longer to get back because it is a chromosome test. They will also be checking her thyroid, and a bunch of other things were marked on the sheet as well, but I don't know what they all mean!

The doctor also mentioned she could have is Small for Gestational Age (SGA) which pretty much means that she was small from the start, so she can't really catch up. This is usually treated with Growth hormones, which are usually not done until a child is 2, so we won't know much more about that until then.

We don't have to go back until September 17. I am assuming that is if the blood work shows nothing? I don't really know. But as of right now, that is when we go back.

So, that is about all we know right now. I am going to call the Urologist tomorrow and get on that waiting list, just to get it out of the way. And Addie has her big 1 year appointment, on Thursday, so I am excited about that!

Birthday Party!!!!

Well, this isn't from the party, it is from the night of her actual birthday, how cute!
And this is from yesterday, she got to open a present early.

Notice her outfit is too big? We had to clip it together.

Her favorite game right now is to go open the cabinets, and then we tell her no and she crawls away laughing hyserically.


It's a birthday party!!!! Here are all the cupcakes...

I made Addie's cake in a 6 oz Ramekin... she LOVED it!












After she got all cleaned up and we had some tickle fun!




Then she opened some presents... my aunt put carrots in her gift bag.... still don't know why.

I think her favorite present was a shape sorter elephant from her "cousin" Billy! Although, we still haven't given her everything!

Elsie got some use out of the carrots!

Addie was a bit scared of the balloons when we brought them home... but by the evening she was loving them!!!!

Slideshow!!!!!

I hope this works! The slideshow was too long to upload anywhere, so I divided it up, each clip is a different song.... Here it is!

And it was A LOT of work uploading it!!!!

Happy Birthday Addie!

Today is Addie's birthday, and I thought I would start off showing my favorite pictures over the past year. So, here they are :)

I will post the slideshow, I finished it up last night, I just have to find time to load it. I may have to upload it to youtube or something so it is viewable by those of you who get the email... or maybe I will post a link.... I will think of something.

I had written a pretty long post, but decided against actually posting it. To sum it up, this year has been the most wonderful, and Addie is such a wonderful blessing every day, and I hope that she grows to flourish in every way :) We love you Addie!

Aging and some random thoughts...

I just want to point out that the little baby in Addie's age ticker is almost to the end :( I am going to have to make a new one!!!

I don't have any pictures today... Sorry! She was super cute in the tub tonight though, and I left the camera in the car! I didn't think about it until after she was in the tub, and no way was I going to try to run and get it!

Addie almost fell off the changing table tonight.... she has a tantrum every time I put her on it... good thing I was holding on, the top half of her body still went over the edge!

Addie's birthday is next week... I am not ready for it. I have a few ideas for her party but not many... Julie told me I need to get a table cloth... a table cloth? Yes, something I would not have thought of. I wonder if I have to get matching napkins and cups and plates... I was just going to use what I already have. I have leftovers from her baptism... they are pink... will anyone read them?

My grandma said that she thought Addie got her teeth early, because she isn't one yet... She is getting them fast, but I don't think she got them early.... grandmas...

Addie wore 6-12 month jeans today, I think 2 of her could have fit. They were really cute though. She has a very limited wardrobe right now, half of her 3-6 month stuff is too short, and almost all of the 6 month stuff is ginormous!!! She weighs about 13 lbs now... 3-6 month clothes are for 12.5-18 lbs.... so you can imagine how big the 6 month stuff is!

This is not a hint that Addie needs more clothes! She has a ton!!! Please, no clothes! Summer is ALMOST here!

I need to catch up on Addie's baby book.

I decided to make a slideshow of pictures for Addie's birthday party... I narrowed it down to 121 pictures... I wanted to do more. Anyways, I guess I am going to need more than one song. Any ideas? One I wanted to do is Israel Kamakawiwo-ole - What A Wonderful World. Anyone have additional ideas? I thought it would be fun to just play on tv while people come over, they don't have to sit and watch if they don't want to... well, I could put some "how cute is my baby" pressure on them, but I won't. Maybe I will post it here on her birthday, if anyone has the time and boredom to watch :) But then I might feel bad if nobody comments... I will think about it

I had better get to making sock animals... I am WAY behind!!!

I hope everyone has a great week!