Monday, November 28, 2011

Videos

Here's Trig working with the manger scene



TWINKLE TWINKLE!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Makeover and MRI

Well the blog got a makeover and I love it! Hope you guys do, too.

Trig's MRI was rescheduled. Boo. We were looking forward to getting it overwith this week but I guess that isn't going to happen. And do you know WHY they rescheduled it? They called me and said that they would have to reschedule and I asked why - they acted like they'd never been asked that question before. They said that it is because they are servicing the machine on that day (!!!). Didn't they know that in advance? And then it was rescheduled for Dec 6th but that just didn't work well since I am having my preop appointment for my wrist that day. SO much going on. So now it is Dec 7th at 4:00pm, sedation at 3:00pm.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures to share.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

MRI

So the results of stim test #2 came in and it was under 10 (7.9 I believe is what the nurse said). So she says that the doctor has deemed him growth hormone deficient and that he can start growth hormone therapy once again. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT - he has to have an MRI first. MRI? Yep. So it's scheduled for the day after thanksgiving. He has to fast for 8 hours and get there at noon for sedation at 1pm and MRI at 2pm.

So here we go with the next step. Hopefully they won't find any problems (they want to make sure he doesn't have a pituitary tumor, mostly) and he will start growth hormone again soon.

Deep breath and we dive in once again.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Some pictures and video











Growth Hormone Stimulation Test #2

Trig had growth hormone stimulation test #2 on Tuesday. He did really well. He really behaved himself and he took all of the blood draws, IV placement, infusion, etc really well. I was so proud of him. He had a good time playing with his cars, watching a DVD (really helped while his IV was being placed, and it had to be manipulated so that it would draw blood well - I was scared that the IV would have to be placed again!), looking at the fish tank, playing connect four and drinking bubbles (diet sprite and water were all he was allowed to have). Mimi came with us and it was so great having her there. Trig just loves his Mimi.

The good news is that he failed stim test #1 - he didn't make growth hormone adequately according to the test. He came back with a level of 9.5 and they were looking for him to have a 10 or above to show that he was making adequate growth hormone. We were very happy that he failed the test, now he has to fail this next test as well so that our insurance will approve his growth hormone therapy. It has really been a long road. I hope that we can finally start the treatment soon.

Here are some pictures of him at the doctor!




Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Halloween 2011

Halloween was very fun this year. Baker has a week of vacation and he took his vacation this week particularly so that he wouldn't miss Halloween this year. Last year he was on call. We went to a few Halloween parties that were so much fun, and then Halloween itself was a blast. Trig was a red fish, Grayson was a baby duck, Baker was a zombie, and I went as Rainbow Brite.

Trig really enjoyed himself. We bought the kids a wagon and pulled them around to the houses in it. I think Trig would have rather pulled Grayson around than be pulled in it but he finally conceded to riding in the wagon. Trig took in the sights as we went around the block but Grayson actually found his way out of the seatbelt in the wagon. Trig went up to the doors, rang the doorbell or knocked, and we got him to say "Trick or Treat", "thank you" and "Happy Halloween!". He was so cute doing it, as you can imagine.





The Halloween family





Rainbow Brite and the duckling







Sunday, October 30, 2011

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch last weekend and the kids had so much fun! It was an hour away but it was worth it.










































Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A Day in the life - Trig And Grayson

I thought I would post about what it is like to be Trig and Grayson these days.

Morning - Mondays are Gymboree, Tuesdays are Mother's Day Out (school), Wednesdays are playdate or kids club at the gym, Thursdays are school, Fridays we go to a gymnastics place called Aerial Athletics and the kids just run (or crawl) all over the place. Then they have lunch.

Naptime - can be anytime between 1 and 5 depending on the day. Trig is particularly unpredictable these days because he just transitioned to a big boy bed - he's really good about staying in the bed but I think it is just too thrilling for him so he stays awake for a long time before falling asleep. I put them both down at 1 or so but wake up time is pretty unpredictable.

Afternoon/Evening - depending on when the kids get up, they play before dinner and sometimes they don't. Dinner happens relatively early and we walk after dinner. We get out the double stroller and walk about 2 miles through our neighborhood and adjoining neighborhood. The kids (usually) like it and we get a chance for fresh air and a little exercise.

Bedtime - when we get home from a walk, it's time to play a little and have a bath. Throw two little boys in the tub after they run around naked while mommy and daddy try to catch them! After bathtime, mommy and daddy split them up to get dressed in their PJs. They meet in Triggy's room for teeth brushing and story time. Trig always listens intently to the story while Grayson crawls around the room like a silly little boy until he wears himself out so much that he has to go immediately to bed. After stories, they get split up again and Grayson goes to his room for a bottle, songs and rocking. Trig stays in his room to say prayers and sing songs like "Down at the Station", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Jesus Loves Me", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "I'm a Little Teapot", "This Little Light Of Mine", "ABCs", etc. He likes to play a silly little game where he strangles you until you play dead, and then he tells you to "SAY MILK!" and you say "MILK!" to surprise and scare him. It's really silly but very cute. Then when he finally gets into bed, he wants tummy rub back rub. Then he tells us to "go bye bye" so he can go to sleep.

I posted a video of the singing below, so here is a video of tummy rub:


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Trig Singing

Growth Hormone Stimulation Test

Trig had his stimulation test! I was so incredibly worried but he did so well. He was amazing.

We got there and they put emla cream on a few spots on his arms to make his skin numb for the IV. After he was numb, they put the IV in and gave him a shot of glucagon. He didn't like the shot but got over it quickly. I was worried about being on my own with him while all of this was going on but he did really well. He had blood draws every half hour for 180 minutes (3 hours). Cindy got there after she took Grayson to Mothers Day Out (thank you!) and Trig loved that Mimi was there. She brought a bunch of hot wheels that were Baker's when he was a kid. He lined them all up on the floor, and when he was done, he would line up the cars once again in a different line in an angle to the first line. We went back and forth to another procedure room with a fish tank in it. We read books. We played with Baker's iPad. He dropped his glucose level a bit and started acting woozy so one of the docs came and talked to us. He was really nice and told us a little bit more about the test and kind of reassured me that we would find a way to get Trig his growth hormone. That really was a relief to me. And then before we knew it, 3 hours had passed.

Trig was amazing. During his many blood draws, he sat very still and watched the blood fill the syringe. We called it "seeing red". Today he even said "go to the doctor and see red!". We keep asking him if he would go back to the doctor and he said "yeah". So I hope he is okay with going back on November 1st!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

First Words

Grayson says a few words now! His first one was "thank you" (???) and now he says "light" when you turn the light on and "juice" - he LOVES juice and will do anything to get it and carry it around in his mouth while he crawls.

No sign at all of walking. Seems like he is on the same track as his brother in terms of walking. At least to this point he is. Just like his brother, I believe he is capable of standing and walking but he refuses to do it. Even when I take his hands and walk with him he picks his feet up and refuses to do it. I am perfectly fine with it, he will walk when he feels like it, but just like his brother, I think he is also frustrated and does want to walk but won't try. It surprises me a bit that he's not interested in walking since he wants to do everything that his brother does. Hm, wonder when he will walk.

One of my current favorite things that he does is clap to "If you're happy and you know it". I think he is a smart cookie to know that the song is telling him to clap.

Trig had a setback in his growth hormone treatment - our insurance denied it, saying that they don't cover SGA (small for gestational age). So the doctor is going to try a new approach - a growth hormone stimulation test. Trig has to go in and have an IV placed and given several drugs to stimulate growth hormone production. I am hoping that this goes well and I hate that Trig will have to go through this. He is a tough little boy though. So he actually has two rounds of this - one next week and one in November. Boo. But hopefully we get the results we need in order for Trig to get his growth hormone.

Trig seems to be getting a little better at tolerating his little brother. I think it is better every day. He is okay with him unless he is mad - in which case he seems to want to take it out on his brother. He just doesn't understand how to channel his anger properly and I guess that describes most two year olds, right?

Baker is doing well - busy busy but he seems to be enjoying his work. When people hear about his schedule they wonder how I do it - being alone so much. And of course also wonder how Baker does it working so much. I think that things are so much better than they were last year that I am actually happy with how much I see him. It's better than it used to be for sure!

I am okay - I have been through a bit of a hard time lately but I am doing better. And to quote Forrest Gump - "That's all I've got to say about that."

Up ahead we have my birthday on the 24th (ack! I'll be 31!) Halloween on the 31st (one of my favorite holidays, if you can call it that) during which Baker has a week off! No particular plans, just hanging out together, but I am sure that we'll do some fun activities with the kids. I have some fun plans coming up with my Alliance group - love those ladies!!!

One of the fun things I am dealing with is a ganglion cyst - basically an area of inflammation on my wrist. It really hurts and I am going to see a doctor but I can't get in until early November. So frustrating. But hopefully I will get it taken care of soon after that. I had the same thing a few years ago and I had it removed. No big deal.

That's about it for now!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Grayson's First Birthday Video

We showed this at Grayson's party yesterday. Enjoy!


Friday, July 29, 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

GROWTH HORMONE!

Well we saw the pediatric endocrinologist last week and he is recommending that Trig start growth hormone! We are very excited but also nervous about giving Trig daily injections. It will be interesting to say the least! We are very happy that Trig will have a real shot at being a normal sized adult now. It is very very good news. He was projected by the doctor to be 4'10" without treatment, and now he can grow to much bigger - we really have no idea how the treatment will affect him. Now we just await insurance approval and go from there. He will hopefully start treatment in a few weeks, as soon as insurance comes through and they can ship us the meds.

In house news, things are moving along. We got a check from the insurance company but it is not the full amount so we are waiting for a "supplemental check" to cover the rest. Roland has painted the living room and kitchen - we are going with a darker yellowish brownish color in the living room and a "light olive" color in the kitchen. It looks very nice, I think, but of course I am no interior designer. I think it will look really nice when we get all of the furniture and pictures in the room. They ripped out the cabinets and the wood floors should be going in soon. We are also putting in a new sink and granite countertops, YAY! Hopefully it shouldn't take too much longer because we are currently staying with the Kings and although it is a fun adventure, we are ready to be in our own house again.

Grayson will be 1 in just over a week. I can't believe my baby boy is going to be a year old.

That's about all that's going on here for now!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

HOUSE FLOOD

So our house flooded on the 4th of July. It's insanity. So I haven't been good about the blog. Must catch up!

We are doing our very best to get to the pool as much as we can. It's too hot to take walks in the afternoon like we used to so we head to the pool when Daddy comes home whenever possible! Baker is still enjoying anesthesia and it's so great to see him so happy.

So the house flood - yeah we had 1-2 inches of water in our kitchen/dining room as a result of our water spout on the refrigerator running ALL NIGHT. You know that spout that you get drinking water from? Well I woke up on July 4th and I smelled a weird smell and could hear water running. Walked into the kitchen and all of this water coming from the drinking spout. Craziness! Turns out that there was a short in the fridge (LIKE A BIG ONE that caused a small fire!) so we had to scrap the fridge and get a new one. Thank goodness for insurance because we had water removal people come out right away and they cut a good foot of sheetrock out of the kitchen and dining room, pulled up all of the baseboards, and pulled up a good portion of our wood floors (our whole wood floor has to be replaced). They also left lots of loud blue dryers. Luckily those are gone now because the kids were both scared of them.

So at this point we are waiting for an estimate from an adjuster and we'll have Roland start on the work as soon as he can. He's going to come by soon and give his own estimate and we'll see how they match up. SO crazy. This is one of the crazier things that has happened to me for sure.

That project is all-consuming so I am trying to manage all of that plus being a mom, housekeeper, and wife which was tiring enough by itself. I am trying to maintain perspective, though. We were told that the short could have very well burned the house down so I am thankful that we are all okay and the house is still standing. And at least we have my wonderful in laws to live with when we have to move out while this is all going on.

Oh and guess what - Trig finally sees the endocrinologist next week. I am SO NERVOUS about it. Either outcome - growth hormone or not - comes with it's own concerns. No growth hormone = no growth. I am hoping that if he doesn't qualify that he will continue to monitor his progress and see if he qualifies. If he DOES qualify, I will be very happy but very concerned about giving him a daily injection. Yikes.

So that's the news in this neck of the woods. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming :)

Monday, June 27, 2011

Swimming

So we have joined a pool for the summer and we are trying to teach Triggy to swim and get Grayson used to the water. Trig gets really excited (sometimes overly so) about swimming and he plays really hard when he's at the pool. Grayson seems to be a natural in the water - he really enjoys it and doesn't mind being on his belly, back, kicking his legs, blowing bubbles, etc. Of course this is just part of his personality - he is an easygoing kid (unless he's hungry or tired!).

So we have already made great strides with Triggy - we got him some floaties and he loves swimming with them. He still hasn't understood that he needs to have his legs behind him but given that this was his first day with floaties, I am impressed. Enjoy the video!


Friday, June 24, 2011

End of Intern Year!

So Baker's intern year is over (well, it will be in the next few days). We went to a very fun resident graduation dinner, here we are!



We had a great time and it was so fun to get dressed up and have a date!

The kids are doing well. Grayson seems to have gotten over his ear infection and is finally eating well again. He lost a little weight there from not wanting to eat! He's now up to 17lbs 10oz so I am not so worried anymore. Still a little guy but that puts him a full pound heavier than his brother was at 1 YEAR. I am impressed. Maybe Grayson won't be so tiny?

Trig is doing well, too. We finally convinced his family doc to put him on appetite stimulants and it was an overnight success, literally. He tries new things and can even eat with a spoon and fork. Craziness. So clearly it is a hunger issue, not a behavioral issue so I cancelled speech/feeding therapy. That will be easier on our pocketbooks for sure. Anyway he has gained a full pound and change since he started appetite stimulants and it has only been about 2 weeks.

Trig also said goodbye to ECI - no more speech, physical, dietary, or occupational therapy. He has caught up and is no longer eligible. YAY for my little Triggy! We knew he would catch up.

The area that he is NOT catching up is height and weight. Before he started appetite stimulants, he had neither gained weight nor gotten taller in 4 months. Bad news but perhaps good news for when we go to the endocrinologist and he will see his lack of growth and hopefully put him on growth hormone. Still crossing fingers on that one because I think he really needs it.

Enjoy the cuties!





Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Picture post


Chillin' in my upstairs playroom with my Daddy


At the park



Fun at Gymboree!


Park with Mommy


I love Daddy's iPad


Slide!





My girlfriend Avery


Mommy and Daddy out for once!


Hanging out at Momo's


I love the sippy cup!


Whoa!


Hey Mimi!


Grayson loves Momo


This patio needs raking