Summer Summer TIME!

As I look at the calendar I begin to realize that my summer is almost over and another school year is upon us.  While I love my job, I also love the lazy days of summer.  Well lazy may not be the best way to describe this summer!  We have traveled a lot and have had a ton of fun.  I started the summer with a mommy vacation to visit my best friend since 5th grade in Atlanta, GA.  We had a great time and it was super relaxing.  After I got back from my weekend in ATL, it was off to Branson with John's family for a few days.  We had a nice time and went to Silver Dollar City and the Dixie Stampede.  Also had some fun in the pool.  John, myself, Paul, and Emily rode the motorcycles down so that added to our adventure.  We then had a week to recover and it was off to the UP for the 4th of July.  I LOVE being in Escanaba over the 4th.  So many friends and family are around it brings back so many memories of growing up there.  We then came home for a week, actually the boys were home for 2 days and then went to G and G Haase for a few days.  John and I had a 40th bday party for a dear friend in Cedar Rapids for the weekend and had a great time being with our old crew of peeps.  We then went to Okoboji for the following week for John's family reunion.  It was pretty chilly the first couple days and then started to warm up.  We were able to get out on John's uncle's boat and do some tubing.  John and I also went para-sailing (my first time) and it was awesome.  I can't wait to do it again!!!  The boys did quite a bit of fishing and Andrew and Jacob each caught their first fish!  We are now at home trying to enjoy the last few weeks of vacation before I head back to work.  I am nervous and excited as I am starting my new job at Southview Middle School.  While I have worked with many/most of the people in the building, it will be a new experience. Until next time!

Sugar Cookies

I get excited every year for Christmas.  It's my favorite holiday and I enjoy it even more now that I have children.  This year I was deciding what kinds of cookies to make and thought I would keep it simple to sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and chex mix (OK not a cookie, but it tastes super good!).  As I started to make the sugar cookies I had visions of what they would look like.  Beautifully decorated sugar cookies with detail on them that looked too good to eat.  I was so excited to start on this project I could hardly wait for the dough to harden in the fridge! 

what the sugar cookies were intended to look like

How the cookies turned out.

Well I started to make the cookies into shapes with my kids help, there was a little stress starting as my kids are little and tend to want to touch everything and not give me 5 seconds to do what needs to be done in order for them to make the cookies.  Once we cut out all the cookies, my boys were excited to frost them, but how could they frost them with the vision I had for these sugar cookies??  I got out my cake frosting bags and tips and started to frost the cookies, but much to my dismay, they weren't exactly turning out Pinterest worthy.  Instead they were looking like blobs on top of blobs on my cookies and my kids were not involved.  My oldest asked, can I put some sprinkles on the cookies?  At that point I realized, wow what a waste of time trying to have beautiful sugar cookies because I was missing out on an important memory with my boys.  At that point it was no holds bar!  Sprinkles everywhere, TONS of frosting, designs, etc...I have to say, THESE are the most beautiful sugar cookies ever and the memory that my kids and I made was priceless.

Saturday in the park...

Ok not really.  More like me cleaning the bathrooms in my house.  It's actually a pretty annoying way to spend my Saturday morning.  In 2010 we hired a cleaning lady.  I had an ectopic pregnancy and ended up in emergency surgery to save my life.  I was having a hard time coping with everything and thought if I got a cleaning lady that would take some stress out of our lives.  Well long story short, she sucked.  Legit sucked as a cleaning lady and probably should NOT clean houses for a living.  We finally got rid of her and now I can't convince my husband to hire another one.  Annoying... 

hmmm where does the time go?

As I looked at my blog post I realized, its been a long time since I've updated!  I was reading some of my old posts and it flooded my memory with everything we went through with our little Lucas.  All the uncertainty that I wrote about is now a distant memory.  It's hard to believe all that we went through with our children in the year of 2012 and at times I wasn't sure I would make it.  But through faith and trust in God we made it through and now can look back on those times and realize just how much stronger we are because of it all.

I am currently in my 13th year of teaching middle school.  That's crazy that I have been teaching that long and still love what I am doing.  The kids are great and I blessed with another great group of 8th and 9th graders.

Andrew is loving 1st grade.  He is a sweet little boy and is doing very well in school.  He told me today he wants to be an archeologist, no wait a librarian because I love to read.  I said that's great as I used to be a librarian Andrew!  He LOVES math (clearly gets this from his father) and is making some nice friends at school.  Andrew played Ankeny Junior Football this year and had a great time.  He learned a lot, made some "tackles", receptions, and even a few touchdowns.  Now he's playing basketball and so far he's enjoying himself and his teammates!

Jacob is in four year old pre school at our church and LOVES it.  He is really coming out of his shell at daycare with his buddies and seems to enjoy school and daycare.  Jacob also played his first year of flag football through i9 (Andrew played 3 seasons with i9) and he had the best time.  I can honestly say that for four years old, he did a pretty good job.  They had the 4 year olds playing with kids who were 6 and he stood his ground!  He made at least 2-3 flag pulls a game, did a great job blocking, and even made a couple touchdowns.  Most importantly, he had FUN!  He will play basketball through Ankeny Parks and Rec this winter so we are looking forward to watching him play!

Lucas, well this little guy is 2 1/2 and is crazy as ever.  He is enjoying daycare, driving his brothers crazy and tries to make us laugh.  We are working on potty training, but it's not as easy as I thought it would be.  Andrew and Jacob were pretty easy to potty train and Lucas is being stubborn.  He has gone a little bit int he potty, but not consistent.  I am SO OVER changing diapers and we are READY for him to just start going more regularly!

Lucas' Caring Bridge Site

Here is Lucas' caring bridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucashaase Until after his surgery February 15, I will be keeping this up to date.  Please check this for updates on our baby!!

update 12/22/11

Hello everyone!  Not sure where the time goes, but it looks like I have been a bit neglectful in my blogging updates, so here ya go.

Andrew's surgery was on Tuesday and praise God our prayers were answered.  Everything turned out better than expected and his parts are where they are supposed to be!!  He did a great job and has been such a good patient!!  Grandma Pam has been at our house tending to him the past couple of days and we really appreciate that, so we don't have to miss more work.  I know some may judge me for working outside the home, but the only one who can do that is God, and this is what works best for our family. 

Jacob's tube surgery is scheduled for January 3rd and hopefully everything will stay put this time!!  Poor guy has had an ear infection that will not go away, so I am hoping this will get rid of it.  Other than that he is our little stinker and keeps us on our toes.

Lucas is still our happy little guy despite all of his medical issues.  On December 6th we met with the craniofacial team in Minneapolis and were very impressed.  So much so, we scheduled surgery for January 30th.  We are going to Dallas next week to meet with the craniofacial team down there to make sure we are making the right decision by Lucas, but we are confident we are doing right by him.  I am ready for it to be over and for all to settle down for a bit in our home.  I am going to take him to the nephrologist (kidney specialist) tomorrow for his three month ultrasound and check up, and we are praying for good results with this as well.

 

Thursday

I have found that I am not a clever blog title updater.  I just don't have the energy or cuteness to come up with titles it seems.  So since it's Thursday, I thought, hey let's call this blog post Thursday (it's like Billy Madison said I wanted to color the duck blue because I've never seen a blue duck).  ANYWAY!!!  Here is the latest on our kiddos:
Andrew is scheduled for surgery in DSM on November 30th.  So now its the waiting game for that.  We also have an ENT apt for him on the 22nd to get his ears checked out in case he needs tubes again.  We have been watching this for awhile and I hope he won't need surgery again for this either.

Jacob: We meet with the ENT on the 22nd as well to see the status of his tubes.  So we will know (maybe) at that point what we will do about his ears.

Lucas: We are going to MN to meet with a specialist there December 6th and then December 29 we have an apt scheduled in Dallas to meet with the specialist there.  At that point we will decide who we will go with and when we will preform surgery. 

So that's the latest.  I am so ready for Thanksgiving.  I hope to relax, drink a beer, and maybe squeeze in a nap.  Oh and eat some turkey, but that comes after the nap.

Sunday's update

I supposed I should have updated this sooner, but life gets away from me and I hardly have time to breathe it seems!  I heard back from Dr. Fearon in Texas, and from the pictures I sent him of Lucas, he states he is a candidate for surgery.  So now comes a lot of questions about what John and I are to do.  We have to make a lot of decisions fairly quickly as Dr. Fearon likes the surgery done by 11 months.  He will be 8 months tomorrow, so we have a lot to do in a pretty short time.  I will keep everyone posted on that. 
I am going to meet with Andrew's surgeon tomorrow and will have some questions for him as well.  His surgery is scheduled for the 30th and I hope and pray all will turn out how its supposed to.

On a more fun note, my parents are here visiting providing John and me a much needed break.  We went to the Hawkeye game yesterday with Paul and Emily and cheered the Hawkeyes onto victory against Michigan.  yes I know I am from MI, but I wasn't a big fan when I lived there, and its much more fun being a Hawkeye fan anyway :-)  We had a great time and are already looking forward to next season!!

Friday update

I am still waiting to hear back from Dr. Fearon in Dallas.  I am a little surprised that I haven't heard from him because other parents I have read about on the site cranio kids heard back from him within 24 hours.  So I can take it as, his head isn't that bad and so he doesn't feel an urgency to get back to us, he's on vacation, or he's been so busy fixing other babies heads that I should just calm down (with hand motion, this goes back to college days with my friend Autumn).  At any rate, I did contact Gillette Children's hospital in Minneapolis today to have a consult with Dr. Wood.  We have decided to meet with him to see what he has to say and I am going to have a ton of questions for him as well.  We are currently scheduled for November 29 (the day before Andrew's surgery, perfect timing insert sarcasm), but they are hoping to move us up.  Dr. Wood is on vacation the first two weeks of November, so hopefully we can get up there before that.  I also have a CT scan scheduled for Lucas on the 15th of November, but I will most likely push this back as well.  Reason for that, Dr. Fearon has done 25 studies where a CT scan isn't necessary and he doesn't want to expose a child to radiation.  Lucas has already had three tests where he has been exposed to radiation, so if we can get away without having a CT scan, I am all for that!  So we continue to wait and pray that all goes well. 

I finally did it!!!

I went ahead and emailed Dr. Fearon tonight!!!  This is the craniofacial specialist in Dallas.  I finally heard back from the pediatrician that referred us to Dr. Frank and I can honestly say I am glad I do not go to this pediatrician!  Our PA that we see wanted us to see a Ped. to make sure she wasn't missing anything in terms of Lucas' head.  At any rate, he basically said (through his nurse) that Dr. Frank (who mind you is a plastic surgeon and not board certified) would be a good match for surgery.  Really, gee thanks Doc but no thanks.  He did get us some information about Gillette hospital in Minneapolis, so I am going to do some checking there.  This pediatrician is very nonchalant about the whole surgery and at one point stated that I know more than he does!  I find that to be a very telling comment as I have just started to do research on craniosynostosis and hadn't heard of it until a month ago so I really don't think I know more than this Dr., but I am trying to find out as much as I can so I know the right questions to ask when going into such a serious surgery.  I am very anxious to hear what Dr. Fearon is going to say.  I basically asked him if he thinks Lucas is a candidate for surgery and I sent him some photos.  We will see.  I pray that God continues to lead us in the right direction and we come to the right decision that is in our hearts.  We want to make sure we seek out every option and thoroughly weigh our decisions as what we do will affect Lucas for the rest of his life.  Please continue to keep him in your prayers, along with Andrew and Jacob.

where we are a/o 10/22/11

I wanted to update our blog with what's going on with all three boys.  Needless to say its been stressful due to all the unknowns, but I am praying that all will work out the way its supposed to.  I'll start with oldest to youngest:
Andrew had a communicating hydrocele a few years ago that was repaired surgically by a pediatric urologist in DSM.  At his five year well child our PA could only feel one testicle and so she ordered an ultrasound to see what's going on.  Unfortunately, the testicle is not where its supposed to be and so we were referred to Dr. Glowaki who is a urologist.  The surgeon who did his surgery the first time is no longer in the state (I can't get anymore information as to why) so we met with Dr. Glowaki.  He wants to do an exploratory surgery to see what's going on and to see if Andrew's testicle can be salvaged.  I have asked for a 2nd opinion in IA City (which is incidentally the same Dr. we see for Lucas Dr. Kieren), but the earliest we can get in with her is Feb 7.  Currently we have his surgery scheduled for Nov 30 and if we can't get in with IA City sooner than we will most likely go ahead with the surgery Nov 30.  So many prayers that the Dr. will do right by Andrew with all of this.

Jacob had tubes put in his ears in January.  Since then he has had two ear infections and the last time he went to the Dr (which was about 2 weeks ago with an ear infection) the Dr. didn't think either tube was where it needs to be.  The earliest I can get in with Jacob's ENT is Nov 22, so we wait and see if he will need to have surgery again or if the tubes are where they need to be.  Again more prayers for our little Jake-man.

Now onto little Lucas.  As you might remember, Lucas has urine reflux.  From his last ultrasound a month ago, the Dr. in DSM and IA City are happy with the progress, but we are still not out of the woods as his reflux is still Grade 5 (the worst).  We go back to the nephrologist in Dec for another ultrasound and follow up to see where we stand.  IA City already has scheduled a VCUG for March 30 and from then (I assume) a decision will be made if he has grown out of it or surgery is needed.  Concurrently, as some of you know I have a thing with heads, head size, and mis-shapen heads and I have always been very worried about my children's heads.  Well maybe this is biting me in the a$$ now because I little Lucas has been diagnosed with craniosynostosis of the myopic suture.  Basically he has a ridge on the front suture (basically the bridge of your nose, up to your soft spot is where the suture runs).  I have always noticed it, but didn't say too much because I didn't want people to think I was nuts.  At any rate at his 6 month well child our PA took noticed and referred us to a pediatrician.  He then referred us to a plastic surgeon who said that he does have craniosynostosis.  I have requested to go to Mayo clinic for all CT scans and if surgery is needed.  The issue is if the sutures close too soon it can cause issues for his brain because it will have no where to grow.  I have done a little bit of looking on-line and currently I am comfortable with Mayo and a hospital in Dallas, TX.  The pediatrician is also looking at Gillette Children's hospital in Minneapolis, so I am waiting to see what he comes up with.  So more prayers are needed for our Lucas.  He is SUCH a happy baby and  has been through so much in his 7 1/2 months of life. 

I just pray that all these Drs. know what they are doing and lead us down the right path...for all of our children.

So there's the update for now.  As soon as I know more I will update the blog.  So please check back often.
love
The Haase's

minor setback

We had a minor setback this weekend with Lucas.  On Sunday evening Lucas started running a high temp of 99 degrees.  I gave him some Tylenol and put him to bed.  At 1:00 Monday morning I heard him crying and since he has a cold and bad cough, he sounds kinda hoarse (poor buddy).  I went in and he was burning up.  I took his temp and it was 101.8 so I gave him some more Tylenol.  He took half the dropper and started dry heaving (it was awful).  He was crying and I got pretty scared.  He then threw up a little and he was not too happy about that.  I then got him calmed down and tried the rest of the dropper and rocked him to sleep.  I laid him down and then he started dry heaving again.  I picked him up and ran to the bathroom where he started throwing up again.  I was very scared and with the new medicine he is on for the reflux and the fact he was running a temp, I decided to bring him to the ER.  When I got to Blank there was no one in the waiting room so we got in right away.  The Dr. discovered he has an ear infection in his right ear.  Poor guy!  He also had to have a catheter, but thankfully no UTI!!!  We got home about 4 am and slept in until 7 and then we snuggled in bed until 9.  We were all pretty tired most of the morning as both Andrew and Jacob are getting over upper respiratory infections.  So needless to say we haven't been sleeping the greatest in our house.

here's a nice picture of our big boy at his 5 year well child

Lucas is feeling better!

Lucas and Jacob being cute

Jacob giving me a nice smile

Andrew also took quite a spill on his bike tonight too.  He fell mouth first on the sidewalk and nearly knocked out his two front teeth.  It looks pretty bad, but he is so tough that he cried for only 5 minutes and then went back to playing with his friends.  I have a picture, but will have to add it later.  I will be staying home with all three boys tomorrow as the baby would not be ready to go to daycare, Andrew needs to go to the Dentist and Jacob isn't feeling the greatest either.

right after the spill OUCH!

later that night

this afternoon.

 To note, the Dentist said that we are going to watch his teeth.  The front teeth will fall out soon and not long after the teeth next to it will fall out.  Poor guy, he is sooooooooooooo tough!

where has the time gone?

I cannot believe it has been since June that I have updated our blog!  Well to give a bit of an update...

Andrew: is almost 5 years old (September 13), has lost 2 teeth, 2 more are loose, his 6 year molars have come in on the top and are almost through on the bottom (our dentist stated he has an advanced mouth), enjoying being back at daycare and is ready to start pre K this fall at St. Paul Lutheran!  He continues to be a great big brother and loves to "daddy" his baby brother Lucas.  He currently weighs 54 lbs and is 3 feet 11 inches.  A big boy!  He is also excited to start flag football in September

Jacob turned 2 in May and continues to keep us on his toes.  Potty training is coming along as he almost has #1 down, but #2 is still touch and go.  But we are proud how close he is with being potty trained so young!  He continues to love on his baby brother and drive his big brother nuts (but they do play nice together too!)  Jacob is talking up a storm and his vocabulary is booming!  He enjoys being back at daycare and playing with his friends.

Lucas is almost 6 months old, which I still can't believe!  He is doing really well and growing and changing everyday.  He resembles both boys, but his hair is actually a lot lighter than the other two boys!  We did have one set back with the medication that he has been on.  He had an allergic reaction on August 20, so we had to switch to a new medication (its late and I don't have the name off hand).  So far he is doing pretty well with it, so we wait and see.  He goes in for his 3 month ultrasound in a couple weeks so we continue to pray his kidneys get better!!  He seems to really enjoy daycare and is currently the youngest in his room, so he is spoiled by the grandmas in the room!  The next oldest just turned a year so I like that he is the only baby.  He is also rolling EVERYWHERE!  And just last Saturday he started getting up on his toes and hands.  Pretty soon the pumpkin will be crawling.  Lord help us all!!  He continues to be the best sleeper of the three boys and I pray that continues.

All and all the boys are great.  I will have to post pictures soon!!

follow up with the specialist

Hard to believe its been almost two weeks since I brought Lucas to the specialist in Des Moines.  When we had went to Iowa City Dr. Kieren had said she wanted ultrasounds of Lucas' kidney every three months.  We are happy to report that everything thing went great!  Lucas is gaining weight!!  He weighed 13lbs 6oz!  I also told Dr. Auron before he even said anything about how the ultrasound went, that I noticed I was changing a lot more pee diapers.  He stated that the left kidney is stabilized and the right kidney looked better!!  This was great news because if things weren't getting better than surgery would be a stronger possibility.  Lucas also gave a urine sample and all checked out well with that.  He was supposed to give a blood sample, but after two pokes he was not a happy camper and this momma was tired of her baby crying so hard.  We did go back two days later and he gave a blood sample with the first poke!  All and all Lucas is doing great!  He is taking Bactrim every night to prevent a UTI and he takes that medicine really well.  He also sleeps 11 hours a night, which makes him the best sleeper of the three boys!  Hard to believe he is almost 4 months old.  Where has the time gone?

I also have to mention that Jacob is doing pretty well potty training.  Pee pee is pretty easy, but he isn't consistent with poopy.  So I keep on trying. 

 Andrew also had a wonderful week at vacation Bible school a few weeks back.  He also has been working on a loose tooth for a little over a week.  Its now on the point of hanging on by one thread, but he's too scared to pull it out.  I just hope he doesn't swallow it like his aunt Becky did (or so I am told by grandma Pam) :-)

single parenthood

I have always thought how hard it would be to be a single parent.  I feel blessed that I have such a wonderful husband who is also the best dad one could ask for.  I have gotten a taste of single parenthood this week while John and a couple buddies went up to the Black Hills on a motorcycle trip.  Yes its busy being home with a 4, 2 and 3 month old, but it honestly has been better than I thought it would be.  In the sense that I would fall apart with the stress of three little ones at home all day long by myself. 

My three boys!

The boys have been GREAT!!  Andrew is a HUGE help to me.  He has really stepped up as "man of the house" this week.  Helping me with his brothers or with other little chores I need him to do.  Jacob has also been very cooperative this week, which blows my mind.  He is usually quite the stinker, but this week he has been a model two year old (enter Twilight zone music here).  And Lucas, well he is pretty much the BEST baby in the world.  He sleeps AWESOME (hopefully not jinxing myself), eats well, plays, smiles, repeat.  God has truly blessed our family with a great last baby.  To prepare myself for being along for nearly 6 days I have kept a pretty jammed packed schedule. 

Lots of playdates and company has been wonderful for us.  The Schwendinger's came down from MN on Thursday and spent the night and then played most of the day on Friday.  Along with our friends the Hall's who came over Thursday for a BBQ and play time.  The weather has also cooperated so we have been able to get outside and wear my boys out!

the four big kids: Theo, Andrew, Jacob, and Ayla

 And I am not going to lie, TV has also been a good distraction.  I am not too proud to say that my kids watch TV and its a way to distract them and pass the time (and a bribe tool!).  Today (Saturday) my friend Amy and her two boys (her hubby John went with my John on the Harley trip) are coming over to play and have a sleep-over.  Should be a fun afternoon and evening!  Sunday we are heading up to Boone to see John's grandpa Bud, sister Becky and her family, possibly John's sister Sarah and brother Paul.  John should be home sometime around noon on Monday.  We are having a pretty good time just the four of us, but we do miss John a lot and really look forward to him coming home on Monday.  I commend all the men and women who are single parents and feel blessed that I have someone to take this crazy ride with me known as parenthood.  Love you babe and we hope you had a wonderful time in South Dakota!!

John and John ready for their ride to the Black Hills

 

2 months old and 2 years old

Hard to believe but Jacob officially turned 2 on May 12 and Lucas turned 2 months on May 7!  Where has the time gone?  Time flies when you are having fun!  Lucas had his 2 month well child and weighed 10 lbs 13 oz, and at this time he was switched to Bactrim.  He will be on this till he is 1 year old (or so I suspect).  He goes for his ultrasound of his kidney June 14 so we pray that his body keeps healing itself. 

Jacob had his 2 year well child today and all checked out well with him too.  He weighed 28 lbs and is in the 50% for his height, weight, and head circumference.  He had tubes put in back in January and on May 1st ended up getting an ear infection.  Then last Friday he broke out in hives.  This was a new experience in our household.  So the Dr put him on prednisone as needed.  I am so ready to have all my kids off of medicine!!  As of today (Tuesday the 17th) his skin looks the best it has looked.  Our PA suggested putting him on Claritin or Zyrtec as he most likely has allergies.  Since I have allergies, this doesn't surprise me in the least. 

Andrew and Jacob also were checked for any kidney function issue.  They both had their blood pressure checked, blood draw, and urine sample.  Both boys did great and both were very proud to tell daddy they peed in a cup!  Everything checked out fine with their urine and blood samples so Thursday they will both get ultrasounds done of their kidneys.  Here's to hoping all continues to check out fine with them in that department. 

After the Dr. we stopped at a park and played and then enjoyed McDonald's for lunch.  They have been great boys and I am so enjoying being home with them.

Its official

Jacob's favorite Handy Manny!

Lucas giving a big smile.  Baptism outfit made by grandma Lori

Jacob blowing out his candles with help from Andrea

Lucas' baptism cake May 1st 2011

all the adorable Haase cousins

4 generations of Haase men

Aunt Nancy Uncle John (my mom's brother), my mom and dad

Jacob opening presents

digging into the Handy Manny cake

Lucas' baptism May 1st he was so good and didn't cry

proud parents with our newly baptized baby

our wonderful family of five

My godmother aunty Nancy

Lucas being baptized

John, me, Lucas, Becky and Ben Lucas' godparents

The Haase's and the Hirn's

Its official, I am a terrible blogger.  I just have the hardest time trying to keep up.  I might take my friend Lisa's approach a do a blog of all pictures.  The past few weeks have been crazy busy.  Between Easter, Jacob's early 2nd bday party, Lucas' baptism, Lucas turning 2 months old, Pella Tulip Festival, Jacob's real birthday May 12, Andrew's last day of pre school May 13, I just can't keep up!  So here are some pictures of majority of the events listed above!!  I am hoping now that I downloaded Firefox, my laptop will cooperate better than IE.  Now that I have uploaded the pictures there is no organization so I apologize for that.  I consider myself techy (a Gene Larson word) but this website's way of posting pictures is not easy to move around.  So maybe one of my blogging friends can give me a tip!

this weekend

We had a busy weekend in which we celebrated Jacob's second birthday (a few weeks early) and Lucas' baptism.  It was a crazy busy weekend, but we really had a nice time.  It was great to see all of John's family and my parents and aunt Nancy and uncle John.  I will try to post some pictures soon.

today's results

waiting for the VCUG to start

Today’s appointment in Iowa City went really well for Lucas.  We got to Iowa City around noon and checked into the hospital.  By 12:15 we were back for vitals and were sent down to pediatric radiology for another VCUG.  The test consists of placing a catheter and putting a fluid in the catheter so the Drs. can see if there is reflux (where the urine is going back up to the kidneys) and a blockage (as they thought they saw a blockage in his last VCUG).  This time was harder than the first time as I knew what was going to happen and it broke my heart to have my baby crying so much.  They also restrained him down, but this was so they could rotate him to get better pictures.  He did not like this AT ALL!  However, the Dr. got some really good pictures and our little Lucas did really well.  The test lasted about 15 minutes and when it was over we went back to the pediatric clinic to meet with Dr. Kieran.  Once we met with her, she stated that there is not a blockage and that he will not need surgery at this point.  Praise God!!  Our plan of action is as follows, we will continue on amoxicillin until he is two months old and then switch to a different drug.  This is to prevent any UTI’s from occurring.  He will also get ultrasounds of the kidney every 3 months, but we will be able to do that at Blank.  The Dr. wants his kidney monitored so the collection part of the kidney doesn’t get any larger.  If he gets a fever or the collection part gets larger, we will most likely have to go back to IA City where surgery could be a possibility.  Our prayers now turn to no UTI’s and that the urine reflux will rectify itself.  He has a grade 5 level of reflux in the left kidney and grade 3 in the right kidney.  The worst is 5, but I am thankful the Dr. has decided we can monitor it.  Basically she said it is common in boys and most outgrow it.  If he was a 4 year old girl, we would most likely need surgery immediately.  All and all we are happy with today’s appointment and just continue to pray his condition will rectify itself.

being a brave little baby

And here is a super cute picture of Jacob this morning after his donut.

Improvise

Yesterday we were all in the basement watching a little TV and the big boys were playing with toys.  Andrew was playing with these things called Kinecks (I am sure I am spelling that so wrong).  He says to John and me, I don't have all the pieces so I need to improvise.  John and I look at each other and ask him what does improvise mean?  He responds, when you don't have all the pieces you need to improvise.  Ok, so where did you learn that from?  Handy Manny he says.  LOL. We were pretty impressed that he used the word correctly in a sentence and knew how to define it.  I know that there are 8th and 9th graders who wouldn't have a clue how to use the word correctly.  Good job buddy!!