Our Week In Augusta (more on Knox's kidney)

My apologies for leaving so many people without news on the happenings in Augusta. I had access to a computer but not enough time to actually use it, so here is a recap of our week:

Monday: We saw the doctor at which time he reviewed the sonogram from 4 weeks stating the left kidney looked "potentially worrisome." He discussed with us the necessary tests we would need to undergo in order to obtain more information about Knox's condition. First, let me say how awesome this doctor is! He is super passionate about his "little" patients!

Tuesday: Our only open day to relax. We went to the park and enjoyed time as a family before preparing to spend some time at the hospital running tests on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday: In the morning, Ryan receives a call from MCG's billing department informing us that our insurance company won't pay for the tests without penalizing us $2,000 plus only paying 25% of the bill after that. What?!?! So, after many phone calls to the insurance company and me crying to complete strangers over the phone, we finally get authorization to go through with the tests since no one in our area runs these tests on 6 week old infants. Praise the Lord! My husband admitted that if we had to cancel the tests, he was going to "nut up". Ha!

In the afternoon, Ryan drops Knox and I off at the Children's Medical Center where Knox has a VCUG in pediatric radiology. The staff inserted a catheter into Knox's urinary tract (he only cried a little... his Mommy gave him a little Tylenol beforehand to "relax" him). Through the catheter, the staff ran a contrast medium into his bladder while the radiologist took pictures of the bladder. The test took awhile, but the results were good news. His bladder is normal and is not refluxing fluid back into the kidneys. One test down, one more to go... Knox did a super job of sleeping during the entire thing!

Thursday: Knox and I are dropped off again at MCG at 10:30am for a renogram. First stop, the doctor's office where his brilliant staff were able to insert an IV into Knox's vein on the first try! I was impressed! After strapping that precious little arm to a board, they sent us off to nuclear medicine. We waited awhile for a nurse to arrive to put a catheter in him. Another catheter?! Once again, Knox was a champ and did extremely well. After that, they put some towel rolls on both sides of him and taped him to the table... yep, taped him! A nice round machine then hovered around him and they injected the dye into his bloodstream through the IV. Once again, Knox slept through the entire test... pretty significant since it took about 45 minutes for the entire process. After that, we headed back to the doctor's office. I called Ryan so he could join us at the hospital to hear what the doctor had to say. Ryan had been entertaining Ethan during all these tests.

The doctor's report: The VCUG shows normal bladder capacity and no reflux. Good news. The renogram shows that both of Knox's kidneys are functioning "symmetrically" and at "50%". At this time, the doctor explains the imperfection of the renogram. He says he doesn't believe the right kidney is only functioning at 50%. He thinks the right kidney is completely normal. On the other hand, he's happy that the left kidney has 50% function, but believes there may be an obstruction up high in the kidney. All that to say, he wants to watch the left kidney by having a follow-up sonogram in 4 weeks which we can mail to him for him to review. If he feels the condition is worse and requires surgery, then he'll call us to come back... otherwise, we are just monitoring the kidney at this point in time.

So, this is GREAT news!!! Knox still has to take his antibiotic, but he does not need surgery... yet... maybe he'll never need surgery. We just don't know. For now, my baby is healthy and has two functioning kidneys! Yay! Oh yeah, he weighs 12lbs 2oz. now. Our kid is basically gaining a pound a week!

On a different note... we conveniently left Ethan's pacifiers at home. He has only been using them at night to fall asleep, so since we "oops, forgot them!" he is officially pacifier-free! He hasn't asked about them at all. Ryan threw them away immediately after we came home today.

We took some pictures of the kiddos while on our trip. I'll post those sometime this weekend. For now, we have lots to do around our home so we can settle back in.

Thank you to everyone back home and in Augusta who has been praying for our little baby! Your prayers were heard and answered! Thank you to Papa and Memaw for feeding us, giving us a place to stay, and watching Ethan at those moments when we really needed to leave him at home. He had a blast playing with his cousins. Also, thanks to our family (Ethan's aunts and uncles) for coming to visit us and to our friends who stopped by Sunday evening to hang out. We really enjoyed seeing everyone. Oh, and thanks Aunt Coco for finding this doctor for us! We are thrilled to have him caring for Knox!

Snagged One!

Finally, Knox has an appointment in Augusta on Monday! We are being squeezed into the schedule which likely means a fun-filled day sitting in the hospital. I don't care...a good book and some magazines should help the time pass by. I'll do my best to post updates after we get there.

Despite appearances, my kid does like me...

I stole this picture from my sister's blog. I promise, Ethan does love his mommy... he just doesn't love that his mommy won't let him run right off the dock and jump in the water. You'll thank me one day for protecting you so much, little boy!

Still waiting for an appointment in Augusta... I called today. They lost the fax our pediatrician sent with all of Knox's info on it. Eesh!

Making Appointments

To catch everyone up, Knox had his ultrasound on Monday which revealed his right kidney looks the same but his left kidney is worse. It seems to be retaining quite a bit of fluid.

We finally heard from the doctors in Atlanta. The earliest they can see Knox is July 2nd. We are currently in the process of contacting another doctor in Augusta to see if he can squeeze us in sooner. Our pediatrician feels it is very important to have Knox seen ASAP so we are working hard to make sure that happens.

On a different note, Knox and I are hanging out at home today baking!!! I completely forgot about a bridal shower our church is hosting tomorrow night which I will be unable to attend. To make it up to the shower committee and to the girls getting married (who I dearly love and feel so bad about missing their shower), I volunteered to provide some sweets. For inspiration, we are using the Blue Willow Inn cookbook and making Blue Willow Squares and some chocolate chip cookies. Tomorrow, we are planning a day-trip to the lake to see my family and introduce them to Knox.

A special thanks to everyone who has been praying for our little boy. Your e-mails and phone calls have been so encouraging for us.

Have a great weekend!

Pool Pictures!

Sun bathing

Here comes best friend, Chase

The boys pick out what they want to play with in the water

Having a good time

That's not funny, Daddy!

Getting a different perspective

Ethan had a wonderful time at the pool playing with his best friend, Chase. They swam for about an hour and a half before both crashing during naptime. Ethan spent the rest of the day telling me, "Mommy, I splish-splashed in the water!"

Battle of the wills...

While I had hoped to post some really fun pictures of our morning at the pool, I spent my evening doing something much more, um, interesting? Ethan challenged me to a battle of the wills. As his second birthday approaches, I am finding myself standing back more and more asking, "wait a minute, who's the parent here?" Taking control of the situation has proven to be a huge challenge... especially taking control while remaining calm. It's not easy when you are parenting a miniature version of yourself! Ethan is stubborn and strong-willed... just like his Mommy. It's an advantage in some situations, but not always a desirable trait. So, tonight's challenge: bedtime!

I have often admired supernanny as she always has the answer to every parenting problem, afterall, we do utilize a naughty corner in our household! When it comes to children frequently wandering from their beds and refusing to go to sleep, supernanny advises parents to escort their children back to bed as many times as it takes until your child gets the message that you intend for them to remain in their bed. After about the 5th time, in less than 15 minutes, of walking Ethan back to bed, calmly tucking him in and saying, "It's bedtime. Go to sleep" I was getting frustrated. I had rubbed his back, prayed with him, sung him a song, hugged him, made sure he wasn't running a fever, his ears didn't hurt, he wasn't hot, thirsty, hungry, scared... nothing was wrong!

Again, no more than one minute after being in bed, I heard the crying at the gate to his bedroom. At this point, I'm thinking, "forget supernanny! What does she know?" This kid knows he is supposed to be in bed sleeping because he's done it every night for almost a year now without this problem... he's testing me!!! So, I told Ethan, "Go back to bed. Mommy is not doing this anymore. I'm going to take a shower and I expect you to be in bed by the time I get out." I walk away while he cries hysterically. I proceed with my plans to take a shower, but not without turning on the monitor first so I can hear everything going on in his room. The crying begins to calm and I hear him say, "Okay..." sniffle, sniffle... "okay" sniffle sniffle. I get out of the shower and hear him say again in a very determined tone, "Okay!" followed by a deep breath and hear every step he takes as he climbs back into bed. Success!!!

It has been really difficult parenting a toddler entering the terrible two's and caring for an infant by myself. A husband in medical school doesn't exactly make it any easier... especially when he insists on staying out until all hours of the night playing with the dead (I'm referring to the cadaver lab... his second home this phase). As always, we continue to chug along relying deeply on Christ to sustain our little family. Tomorrow is another day... maybe I'll get those pictures posted then. Goodnight all!

Getting Bigger!

Knox went to the pediatrician today. I am happy to say he is gaining weight like a champ! I discussed with our doctor how I felt as though I had been feeding Knox non-stop for the past 2 weeks. I'm feeding him practically every 2 hours and relying on Ryan's super strong coffee each morning to get me jump-started each day. Anyway, the pediatrician said he had no doubt I had been feeding Knox so much because it was very apparent that Knox has been going through a major growth spurt. At 3 1/2 weeks of age, here are Knox's stats:

Weight: 10lbs 1.5oz
Length: 22.5 inches

This means he has gained 2lbs and grown 1.5" in less than 2 weeks! Impressive!

Monday, we have our ultrasound to take a look at Knox's kidneys. Please pray his kidneys are normal.

As for Ethan, I don't have any new pics to post yet, but please pray for him as well. While he seems to be adjusting well at home, his teachers at school said they have been having problems getting him to follow directions... AND there's a small matter of him randomly biting his best friend in the back. Sorry Chase! Honest, I think it was a love nip!