Sunday, June 29, 2008
Minor Procedure
Please keep Ethan (and us) in your prayers as we go to UNC tomorrow morning for Ethan's circumcision. Obviously, this was not a priority at the time of his birth and we've just been waiting to get past his 2nd surgery. Now that several months have passed and the pediatric urologist has time in his schedule, we can finally get the procedure done. The appointment's from 8:30am-10:00am but we have to check in at 7am (meaning we have to leave our house at 6am - yuck!) This is certainly a minor thing compared to all he's already been through, but your prayers are still appreciated since any time anesthesia's involved there's always risks associated with it. Assuming all goes well and he wakes up from anesthesia without any problem, we should be headed home shortly after the procedure's over. We'll update again tomorrow night with results. Thanks for checking in on us!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Cardiologist Appointment
Yesterday we went back to the cardiologist for a checkup. It had been 3 1/2 months so we were curious as to how Dr. Robinson thought Ethan's heart is doing. Ethan weighed in at 9.6 kg (21.1 lbs.) and measured 29 5/8 in. His blood pressure and oxygen saturation (o2) levels looked good - his o2 sat was at 82%, which is about where it should be and the same as it was when it was checked back in March at the last appointment. Dr. R also listened to Ethan's heart with his stethoscope and all seemed well but they still ordered an echocardiogram (echo) just to be sure.
Ethan was a very good boy for the echo technician - I told Dan that the only time I've even seen Ethan be so still is when he's asleep! The tech laughed and said it worked out good for him! Thanks to Ethan's cooperation, the tech was able to get some really good pictures of Ethan's heart and after Dr. R reviewed the pictures, we were told that Ethan's the best looking HLHS baby he's seen in a while! The RV (right ventricular) function looks really good and the atrial arch that was repaired during Ethan's 2nd surgery back in January is still wide open so we are very pleased! We don't go back again for another cardiologist visit until September and if all continues to look good, we will start going in 6 month increments!
Thank you Jesus for keeping our son so healthy and having good heart function and for using the wonderful staff at UNC Hospital to medically "fix" Ethan's heart as well.
Well thanks for checking in with us. I'm off to put Ethan down for his morning nap then it's off to Mimi's house (my mom) to go swimming!
Ethan was a very good boy for the echo technician - I told Dan that the only time I've even seen Ethan be so still is when he's asleep! The tech laughed and said it worked out good for him! Thanks to Ethan's cooperation, the tech was able to get some really good pictures of Ethan's heart and after Dr. R reviewed the pictures, we were told that Ethan's the best looking HLHS baby he's seen in a while! The RV (right ventricular) function looks really good and the atrial arch that was repaired during Ethan's 2nd surgery back in January is still wide open so we are very pleased! We don't go back again for another cardiologist visit until September and if all continues to look good, we will start going in 6 month increments!
Thank you Jesus for keeping our son so healthy and having good heart function and for using the wonderful staff at UNC Hospital to medically "fix" Ethan's heart as well.
Well thanks for checking in with us. I'm off to put Ethan down for his morning nap then it's off to Mimi's house (my mom) to go swimming!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Busy Boy
And they say boys are easier to raise than girls... I'm still willing to debate that one right now! Ethan's quite a little busy body - not quite wanting to crawl (although he likes to sleep on his knees and can easily support himself and rock back and forth while on them) so he "slithers" along on his belly, pulling himself with his elbows and helping himself move along with the force of his right knee. He's getting to be quite speedy and certainly keeps us on our toes all the time!
He's also got quite the eyesight - picking up every single speck of dirt/crumb/hair/etc. off the carpet and putting it in his mouth! Most recent findings in his mouth include silk plant leaves, carpet & dog toy fuzz, dry dog food, half-popped popcorn kernels and a few tiny pebbles. The funniest is watching the pink drool drip down his chin from the red pieces of dog food. Fortunately Dan & I are getting quick at reading his cues and have been able to remove nearly all items before swallowing (have only missed a few tiny pieces of lint I think!).
Oh, Ethan's also (in the last week or so) been able to go from lying down to sitting up all on his own! Several times we've come in to his nursery to get him up from naps and have found him sitting up in his bed and he's also doing it consistently on the living room floor!
As for his heart, all seems to continue to be going well. We'll know for sure though when we go back to the cardiologist for a checkup next Thursday, 6/26, so please keep that visit in your prayers. He is even doing well with increasing the amount of non-thickened bottle feedings to where we haven't been thickening them for a couple of weeks now!
Thanks for checking in on us and for continuing to pray for us regularly, we really appreciate it!
He's also got quite the eyesight - picking up every single speck of dirt/crumb/hair/etc. off the carpet and putting it in his mouth! Most recent findings in his mouth include silk plant leaves, carpet & dog toy fuzz, dry dog food, half-popped popcorn kernels and a few tiny pebbles. The funniest is watching the pink drool drip down his chin from the red pieces of dog food. Fortunately Dan & I are getting quick at reading his cues and have been able to remove nearly all items before swallowing (have only missed a few tiny pieces of lint I think!).
Oh, Ethan's also (in the last week or so) been able to go from lying down to sitting up all on his own! Several times we've come in to his nursery to get him up from naps and have found him sitting up in his bed and he's also doing it consistently on the living room floor!
As for his heart, all seems to continue to be going well. We'll know for sure though when we go back to the cardiologist for a checkup next Thursday, 6/26, so please keep that visit in your prayers. He is even doing well with increasing the amount of non-thickened bottle feedings to where we haven't been thickening them for a couple of weeks now!
Thanks for checking in on us and for continuing to pray for us regularly, we really appreciate it!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Some long overdue pictures!
Thank you Aunt Jenny for all the great pictures of our time at Myrtle Beach and the pool (May 18-21, 2008)! Ethan sure seemed to have a fun time with you and looks forward to much more swimming this summer at your neighborhood pool!
Mommy & Ethan getting lathered in sunscreen
with Pop-Pop keeping watch from the lifeguard stand
Future Lifeguard?
First Water Bottle
Posing for the camera
Hot Stuff!
Pop-pop introducing me to the beach
This water's kinda cold Pop-pop
Chillin' in my new swim gear
Aunt Jenny introducing me to the pool for the first time!
Ahhh, this is the life!Monday, May 26, 2008
more firsts
Wow, this has been a busy month for us. Sorry for the long delay in updating. This month, Ethan had lots of "firsts"! We hope to have some new pictures soon too.
Here's a quick rundown of all Ethan's "firsts" for this month:
- May 10th: we went Strawberry Pickin' (for my birthday - a family tradition for me growing up)
- Also on May 10th: Ethan had his first late night of staying out past "curfew" (aka bedtime) with his cousins and aunts & uncles while Dan took me to a nice birthday dinner!
- May 11th: first Mother's Day (he even colored a card for me with Daddy's help) and he turned 9 months old!
- May 17th: first time in the church nursery while Dan & I helped lead a budget conference (he was very good, didn't cry at all and kept the workers entertained with his babbling & overall cuteness!)
- Also May 17th: Ethan & I went to our first heart reunion at UNC Hospital' Farm for all the pediatric cardiology patients (it was a fun cookout with games for the older kids and a chance to see alot of our nurses and of course the surgeons who have helped fix Ethan's heart)
- May 18-21: Ethan's first vacation (we went with my parents to North Myrtle Beach)
- May 19: first visit to a beach - he enjoyed playing with the sand and watching the waves but the water was a little too chilly for swimming
- May 20: first time in a swimming pool, again it was a little chilly but his Aunt Jenny had a fun time teaching him to kick and float with her help (she's a former infant/toddler swim instructor for the YMCA)
- May 26: first Memorial Day cookout
Ethan also went to the pediatrician last week for his 9 month well baby checkup. He weighed in at 19lb. 13 3/4oz., putting him about the 35% mark. He also measured 29 in., putting him about 70%. He continues to be a busy baby, exploring everything he gets a hold of. He's doing great with rolling all over the floor and has started making diaper changes a challenge by wanting to flip over onto his tummy. He seems on the verge of crawling but he may skip that phase altogether, we'll just have to wait and see. We continue to thank God daily for each day we have with him and for how well he's doing physically with his heart, developmental progress, and hearty appetite. Until we hear if we'll ever be able to do another swallow study, we continue to help him "practice" his unthickened bottles 2x/day and do the rest still thickened with the rice cereal. He enjoys eating Cheerios, Gerber Puffs and all his baby foods. Ethan has also started saying "Ma Ma" randomly!
Thanks for checking in on us, we should have some vacation pictures to post soon!
P.S. We are looking forward to an exciting event on Wednesday. We are going back to UNC to be on a parent panel for their annual cardiology conference. This year it's all about Single Ventricle heart defects like Ethan's! We are one of only 4 families selected to answer questions from all the nurses attending this conference. We pray that we can be of assistance by participating and that we glorify God through our responses.
Here's a quick rundown of all Ethan's "firsts" for this month:
- May 10th: we went Strawberry Pickin' (for my birthday - a family tradition for me growing up)
- Also on May 10th: Ethan had his first late night of staying out past "curfew" (aka bedtime) with his cousins and aunts & uncles while Dan took me to a nice birthday dinner!
- May 11th: first Mother's Day (he even colored a card for me with Daddy's help) and he turned 9 months old!
- May 17th: first time in the church nursery while Dan & I helped lead a budget conference (he was very good, didn't cry at all and kept the workers entertained with his babbling & overall cuteness!)
- Also May 17th: Ethan & I went to our first heart reunion at UNC Hospital' Farm for all the pediatric cardiology patients (it was a fun cookout with games for the older kids and a chance to see alot of our nurses and of course the surgeons who have helped fix Ethan's heart)
- May 18-21: Ethan's first vacation (we went with my parents to North Myrtle Beach)
- May 19: first visit to a beach - he enjoyed playing with the sand and watching the waves but the water was a little too chilly for swimming
- May 20: first time in a swimming pool, again it was a little chilly but his Aunt Jenny had a fun time teaching him to kick and float with her help (she's a former infant/toddler swim instructor for the YMCA)
- May 26: first Memorial Day cookout
Ethan also went to the pediatrician last week for his 9 month well baby checkup. He weighed in at 19lb. 13 3/4oz., putting him about the 35% mark. He also measured 29 in., putting him about 70%. He continues to be a busy baby, exploring everything he gets a hold of. He's doing great with rolling all over the floor and has started making diaper changes a challenge by wanting to flip over onto his tummy. He seems on the verge of crawling but he may skip that phase altogether, we'll just have to wait and see. We continue to thank God daily for each day we have with him and for how well he's doing physically with his heart, developmental progress, and hearty appetite. Until we hear if we'll ever be able to do another swallow study, we continue to help him "practice" his unthickened bottles 2x/day and do the rest still thickened with the rice cereal. He enjoys eating Cheerios, Gerber Puffs and all his baby foods. Ethan has also started saying "Ma Ma" randomly!
Thanks for checking in on us, we should have some vacation pictures to post soon!
P.S. We are looking forward to an exciting event on Wednesday. We are going back to UNC to be on a parent panel for their annual cardiology conference. This year it's all about Single Ventricle heart defects like Ethan's! We are one of only 4 families selected to answer questions from all the nurses attending this conference. We pray that we can be of assistance by participating and that we glorify God through our responses.
Monday, April 28, 2008
first weekend away from my baby
So in case I didn't mention it already, Dan had his first time away from Ethan 2 weeks ago. He was out of town all week for work. Now it's my turn. Over this past weekend (Friday and Saturday), I went on a trip with my mom and two sisters to Indianapolis for our cousin's wedding. We were only gone about 36 hours but it was still hard being away from my boys (Dan & Ethan)! Dan's mom came over for the weekend to help him out and they all seemed to have a fun time together.
Our whirlwind trip was fun and definitely a memory-maker. It was filled with late nights and action-packed days. It was great getting to see all of my mom's side of the family again (we all met up a few days before Christmas in Knoxville, TN except the bride-to-be) Besides the fun of the wedding, I also really enjoyed the plane ride. It's been nearly 6 years since I've had a reason to fly anywhere (last time was our honeymoon) and I love being up in the sky and looking out at the world below.
We will try to get some more pictures of Ethan up soon. His 2nd tooth has come through and we think more are on the way because he's been fussy today and still gnawing down on everything in sight (he especially likes my hair today for some reason). We'll try to see if we can get a good picture showing off his teeth but that's a rare sight. Usually if he's got his mouth open wide enough to see them, he inevitably sticks his tongue out!
Our whirlwind trip was fun and definitely a memory-maker. It was filled with late nights and action-packed days. It was great getting to see all of my mom's side of the family again (we all met up a few days before Christmas in Knoxville, TN except the bride-to-be) Besides the fun of the wedding, I also really enjoyed the plane ride. It's been nearly 6 years since I've had a reason to fly anywhere (last time was our honeymoon) and I love being up in the sky and looking out at the world below.
We will try to get some more pictures of Ethan up soon. His 2nd tooth has come through and we think more are on the way because he's been fussy today and still gnawing down on everything in sight (he especially likes my hair today for some reason). We'll try to see if we can get a good picture showing off his teeth but that's a rare sight. Usually if he's got his mouth open wide enough to see them, he inevitably sticks his tongue out!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Tricia's Discharge!
Our friend's blog, Nate & Tricia, just posted that Tricia's finally getting discharged today from Duke Hospital! She'll still be an outpatient for a few more weeks for some therapy and treatment. By the time that's over, their sweet little girl, Gwyneth Rose should be about up to an acceptable weight and also be discharged! Please continue to keep this family in your prayers with all the adjustments they'll be going through! Thanks.
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