New Things for Mamma and Baby

Preston and I both have some new stuff to report. He is still a growing and changing little man. His weight gain has still leveled off, but he is still gaining, which is, of course, excellent, and the docs are not worried in the least. So we keep doin' what we're doing. Mr. Preston has truly found the dogs this week, at 24 weeks old. He loves them and stares at them all the time. He grabs and touches them anytime he gets a chance...well, pulls their hair. But they don't mind. At this point, I think they are just grateful for the attention.

Preston and Eli. 24 weeks.

He is 5.5 months and we will be starting him on solids in the next month, so we've been getting him ready. He is showing more signs that he is ready. He can sit well in his high chair, he is very interested to watch us eat or drink, and he loves his spoon. We practice with it and give it to him to play with and suck on during dinner every night. He loves it. We will be skipping cereal all together, and I think his first "meal" will be sweet potato..mmm!

Preston and I have had a really busy last week and a half and have another week of trekking all over town..unfortunately. I have been having to finally follow up on all the issues I had while pregnant, i.e., the kidney hydronephrosis and stones, my gall bladder issues, and thyroid stuff. So I've been going in for follow-up visits with my docs, getting sonograms and bloodwork and getting test results...and, unfortunately, preparing for procedures and more appointments in the future. eeww. This is so much more difficult to do with a little one in tow. But, just in case we have  more babies in our future, I have to make sure all is taken care of and my body is good to go...and by the end of the year if possible, as our lovely insurance-- RIDICULOUS-- deductible starts over on Jan 1. So I'm working on getting it all taken care of now.

The results so far:

The kidney hydronephrosis has taken care of itself----blessing!, but I have grown two massive kidney stones--one in each kidney--that are impassable due to their size. Sooo....they are recommending a lithotripsy procedure to break them up. Yay..not. So I think that's in my future. I'm also completing a urine metabolic profile to determine what in my diet may be contributing to growing them so quickly so I can cut it out!  Excited about these results. Update: I have completed the at-home 48 hour urine collection metabolic profile and have mailed it off to the lab for analysis. I won't get results for another 2-3 weeks, when I meet again with my Urologist. It sure was fun having to pee into a huge jug..for every single pee...even if I left the house ( needless to say, I held it. Like I'm toting around a pee cup. I think not.).

My gall bladder has no sludge or stones in it, but it does have a polyp  inside of it. But, at this time the doc is not recommending that it come out. But he did say for me to prepare to have more gall bladder issues if I ever get pregnant again. Awesome. Update: The results from the sonogram indicate that there is no sludge or stones in my gall bladder at this time. The doc said this is not like a polyp one may have in their colon, in 95% of cases it is a cholesterol deposit. Mine measures .5 cm, and until they are 1 or 2 cm, they do not recommended removing them. But he would like for me to have it rechecked in 1 year just to see if it's growing. If so, then he would recommend that my gall bladder come out. But until then, I'm stuck with this cranky gall bladder.

I went in to my endocrinologist about my thyroid and discussed what has been going on with my milk supply and symptoms. She said that thyroid function can directly impact milk production..which I already knew. So now that I've been back on my medication, she is rechecking my levels to make sure I'm taking an optimal dose. Update: My thyroid results are back in perfect range. Hence, me feeling soooo much better!

I think I have also mentioned that I have been having a real tough time with Preston refusing my left breast for the last six weeks. It was a very abrupt change. I have been working with lactation consultants this entire time but to no avail. So they recommended that I follow up with my OB about the issue to have her rule out any ' disease process' of the breast that may be going on. Lovely. I was told that sometimes if there is something like a mass or tumor ( GASP!), growing in the breast, even though it is not large enough to be felt yet, the baby can detect the change and will reject the breast. Soo...I went in to see my OB this week also and although she did not feel anything abnormal in my breasts, she is sending me to have a sonogram on my left breast to see if there is anything abnormal going on inside. I guess I might as well get it all done now. Whew! Update: The breast sono is complete and all looks perfectly normal..." from what they can tell" according to the Radiologist. Her exact words, " since your breastfeeding your breasts are a nightmare right now for trying to get good images of the breast. In order to get a true look at the breast you would need to be done breastfeeding." Makes sense. A lactating breast is just really 'dense and engorged'. So unless something crazy comes up in the future, I say this is an answered prayer! Praise God nothing was found!

Needless to say this has been a busy week! And next week Preston goes in for a consult on his head shape to find out exactly how asymmetrical his head really is. They will take lots of measurements with digital imagery. Per our pediatrician, " his head is not symmetrical, but I have no idea if it will get better on it's own. But given that it has shown no change with positional therapy, it may not.  So if your insurance covers it, I say do it." I'm still not sold on the whole helmet thing, but our insurance will only cover a helmet if his head measurements show that his head shape is off by more than 10 mm. So we're at least going in to have his head measured to at least see where he stands. I'll bring back more updates as I have them.

Update: Preston's head measure 7.4 mm off or asymmetrical and is 4 standard deviations from the normal curve midline. They took a laser scan of his head to get some 3D images and it showed that the back of his head is not growing out, instead, his head is growing up--taller. This is called towering. This was likely caused by womb position and had nothing to do with us laying him on his back too much. This makes sense, as he laid with his head in my pelvis for the last 4 months of pregnancy.   Hmm..this puts us in a not so good place as now we have the data and head scan that confirm that his head is not growing out in the back but up instead. Since he has one flat side on the back of his head it is also causing his hears to sit in different places on either side of his head. His left ear sits in front of the midline of his head and the right ear sits a little behind the midline. Our insurance will only cover a 10mm level of asymmetry, which is an extreme case, but what Preston has going on with his head is def noticeable. And since we have a son, I def don't want him to have issues later on with baseball or football helmets not fitting, or having glasses that don't sit on his face correctly because of the difference in his ears, or just any reason to be self conscious. I know kids can be mean!  However, since his measurement is only 7.4, insurance will not pay for his helmet. So...this puts us in a tricky spot. The grand total: $ 2500. Awesomeness. Lower than the first place we went to, but still a lot of money. The down side to waiting 6+ months to see if there is any improvement is that the older the child is, the longer they have to wear the helmet. If we fitted him for one today, his likely treatment length would be about 8 weeks. We have not decided what we will do yet. We're going to continue to pray about it and let the Lord help direct our decision, comfort level, and finances. I have no doubt he will. So until we have a good peace about a decision, we're just going to hang tight.

Preston has been sick for the last two weeks. He has been a snotty, coughing mess. I think we're just now starting to see some improvement. He tested negative for RSV, and doc wanted to put him on antibiotics and steroids. But we gave him a few more days without the antibiotics and steroids to see if he would improve on his own, and he has. I don't love steroids.  Poor sweet baby. It's so difficult to see your baby miserable. All else is well and things are moving along!