A Busy Week, Indeed...

We have had a very busy week, so get ready to sit and read for a while...

This past weekend we went to Mobile for several events. We watched Chris's little brother's marching band perform at his high school football game. I used to 'coach' the color guard in the band, and it was nice to see them perform, too. While at the game we ran into my HS friend and college roomie Catherine and her sweet babies. I got pooped on while holding her youngest, but babies are so cute, it was easy not to care! We also ran into the drummer from Chris's old band, who is now coaching the drum line in the marching band. Quite a nice little evening. Sam didn't make it to the game though...he had a LONG drive and made it apparent when we got to Mobile that he wanted nothing to do with anyone unless they were putting him to bed.

Saturday we went to my grade school best friend's wedding. Angela married a friend from HS, Patrick, which meant the wedding was basically a HS reunion. The wedding was beautiful, Angela rocked her dress, the reception was warm and lighthearted, and hanging out with friends who stay the same wonderful people no matter how long it has been since you have seen them last was priceless. Sam had a blast, too. He met his future wife Sophia (daughter of Mitch and Mary Alice). They had a photo booth and we took way too many photos with friends. I'll scan and post them soon, I promise!

Monday was a weird day. This is a topic I will only bring up once on this blog, and then bury it for Sam's sake: circumcision. When Sam was born, our doctor would not let us do it because at any moment he could have been heading into surgery, and they didn't want to introduce an infection risk. Now that he has some time to kill before his next surgery, we inquired about performing it. Our Cardio agreed, and told us it would be a good thing to do, since it would prevent future UTI/Kidney/Bladder infections. He referred us to a pediatric specialty group in Atlanta, since Sam would need special care with regards to the administration of anesthesia.

We drove to Atlanta Monday morning in terrible weather. On the way, Sam coughed and then threw up his 8 oz milk bottle all over himself and in his car seat. After a bad dive, we meet with the Urologist, who acted like we were bad people for ever considering this procedure. He blew it off as an 'old cultural tradition' and said there was no good study to support the fact that it prevents future infection. He also said that if we decided to do it, they would HAVE to do the surgery at Egleston (Sam's heart surgery hospital) because the cardiac anesthesiologists would have to administer his meds because of his heart. On top of that, he has to stop his Asprin therapy (which poses a stroke risk). AND he would have to stay over night.

Needless to say we left conflicted and a little let down. It's not like we feel religiously or culturally attached to the procedure, but if our Cardiologist thought it was a good idea then we were willing to do it. It would have been done at birth anyway, if it weren't for Sam's heart. We're going to talk to our Cardiologist again in October, but we probably won't go through with the procedure now. I doubt NOT having it done will affect Sam in anyway socially, or at least in anyway that will be lasting. It poses weird situations for us...what do we tell him when his brothers look different, or his cousins look different? He's a special kid in many ways, so I guess we'll just lean on that explanation.

Sam had a pediatrician appointment today. He weighs 22lbs (50th %) and is 30 inches long (85th %). The MD said he looked amazing, and she commented that you would never know anything was wrong with him if you didn't know his back story. We hear that a lot. We're on a wait-list for the H1N1 vaccine because of Sam's heart, and will be first in line for it when they get it in...IN LATE OCTOBER!! The whole world will have had the virus by then! Oh well. She also got him set up for the Synergis vaccine (the RSV vaccine) which we did all of last winter. Poor Sam has a lot of injections in his future...

Speaking of Sam: he's so dang cute. He sits up like a pro now. He still hasn't crawled, but he can turn a circle on his tummy and rolls to get to far away toys. He is ALMOST pulling up to sit from laying down. He's a little behind with his mobility but the Pediatrician was not concerned. He laughs and laughs, especially when Relo barks. He went to dinner with me and three girl friends from work the other night...he flirted the whole time. He has just a tad stranger anxiety but really only when he is tired. He says Dada like a pro, and is almost saying bye bye and uh oh. No mama yet. Sigh. He's the best though, and we can't get over how much we love him...

~Kathy

Sam's First 5K

Well, Sam finished his first 5K! Chris, Sam, a few friends, and I ran in the Macon Labor Day 5K this morning. Sam was one of about 8 stroller kids. There were over 1000 people in the race so there was plenty for him to look at and be distracted by. He didn't fuss the whole run (although he rarely fusses in his jogger) and really enjoyed watching all the people around us. I forgot my camera (soooo disappointing) so these are photos and video from my cell phone. Next on Sam's run list: Jay's Hope 5K Oct 31, Strong Legs Run for Egleston Hospital Nov 14.

~Kathy

Diaper Cakes

Think I should sell diaper cakes?

~Kathy

Sam's Icky week

Census is low at my work right now, so we are rotating PTs and OTs having a day off during the week. My day off was Tuesday. Sam and I stayed home from work and school and got all kinds of things done. When I took Sam back to school on Wednesday, there was a sign on his classroom door that said "ROTOVIRUS CONFIRMED IN THIS ROOM"....oh joy. But I thought maybe he'd be alright since I had kept him home on Tuesday, and maybe he'd missed the initial spread of the bug. However, as I discovered, rotovirus has a two day latency...he had actually picked it up on Monday and by Wednesday mid day he was showing symptoms.

I picked him up from school with a fever of 101 and he did throw up a few times that day. He had a low fever and diarrhea for the rest of the week. Chris stayed home with him Thursday and Friday. He woke up a much happier boy today! But still...in Sam's 9 months of life he has had two fevers and one bout of bloody stool...pretty good record, I think.

On an unrelated note, ALWAYS question your medical bills. We have discovered that literally ALL the medical bills we have received since Sam's birth have been in error in some form or fashion. If we had just paid them, we would have paid about $10000 in unnecessary payments. This past week I did A LOT of work going through hundreds of insurance EOBs and found huge errors. If they had been smaller and fewer bills we probably would have just paid them. But when you get $4000 bills, you naturally tend to question their accuracy! Long story short, we owe nothing.

On another unrelated note, I have become a master diaper cake maker. They are great baby gifts, and super adorable! I'll post some photos when I finish handing out the three that I still have sitting on my counter.

~Kathy

In Honor of Sam

We received information about an event to benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (the hospital where Sam had his surgery). It is called the CVS Strong Legs Run, and all money goes to benefit this hospital system, which is world class in children's oncology, neonatal care, transplants, and CARDIAC SERVICES! Chris and I decided right away to participate in honor of Sam.

The event is a 10K run/walk, 5K run/walk, 2K family run/walk, All Kids Can Race 75 yard dash (disabled children only), and a Mascot Trot (for all children, who will get to race popular college/business mascots). Basically there is something for all. The event is on November 14 (Saturday) at Turner Field in Atlanta.

We are participating on the Cardiac Services team (Team Strong Hearts), and 100% of the money from our registration and any donations we receive will go straight to the Cardiac Research team at Children's Hospital...these are the people who SAVED SAM'S LIFE and who will give him new life again when the time comes for his next surgery.

We are hoping to get a lot of friends and family involved in this. How can you get involved, you say? Well here are two ways:

1. Run/walk with us! Go to the link below and register for any of the events. Strollers are welcome! Everyone gets a long sleeve t-shirt for participating, and kids who race in the two kids races get finisher ribbons and tshirts. When you join, BE SURE TO JOIN THE STRONG HEARTS TEAM so that your money can go to Cardiac Services!! Once on the Strong Hearts team, if you earn an ADDITIONAL 50$ in donations, you will get a Strong Hearts Team t-shirt!

2. DONATE! If you can't be there with us but still want to support Sam's hospital, you can send a general donation. You can either donate on my web page (listed below) or send us a check.

If you can come and race with us, there may be a bonus for you: We are hoping to organize a 'tailgate' at Turner Field for after/during the races to celebrate with family and friends!

We're really excited to participate in this race (we're going to do the 10K) and help out this seriously amazing hospital, and in particular the cardiac services department. These people save babies and kids every day, and are constantly researching new approaches to help extend the lives these children. They already saved Sam once. We are praying that their research will give Sam a chance at the full live expectancy that all of us take for granted. Every dollar really will make a difference!

Contact me if you have any questions!!
My Donation Page
CVS Strong Legs Run Page
Children's Hospital of Atlanta Race Info Page

Another Eventful Weekend

We had another travel weekend. This time we went to Mobile for the wedding of a friend of ours from high school. Chris had flown to Houston during the week for business, so my mom, Amanda, Sam, and I drove to Mobile on Friday. We got in late, and then I had to go pick up Chris, who flew into Pensacola from Houston. Randomly Chris met up with a friend of ours from grade school in the airport, and we drove him home from P'cola, too. It was a nice surprise, although I wish I had been more awake to have a better conversation...it was 2am when we finally got back to Mobile.

Saturday was Matt Shelby's wedding. It was at the Explorium in Mobile, which is a great place to have a wedding if you have a lot of kids present...or a lot of adults who act like kids. We had such a good time playing in the Explorium, and it was so nice to hang out with friends we have had since 4th grade! The wedding was super sweet, the reception was too much fun, and to top it off, we took the after party to Mobile's newest night club...a dueling piano bar! Sam was present for the wedding and then went home with Chris's mom. But he had a great time meeting our friends...he even loved up on my friend Angela, whose purple dress he was particularly drawn to! A little LSU fan, I guess!

We also went to meet our friend Catherine and Thomas's new baby boy, Thomas Michael. He is so freakin' adorable, and so small! He weighs 8lbs, and yet looks so tea tiny. I can't believe Sam was ever that small! Sam got to meet little Thomas, and his big sister Addie. Addie, who is 14 months, waved at Sam, and Sam hugged on her little leg like he was totally in love! Adorable...

A prayer request: There are a ton of things and people to pray for right now, and it's hard to give you just one. But in particular, my friend from high school and her husband are pregnant with a baby girl who has a trisomy condition. They have been told she will not survive outside of her mommy. They are having a tough time reconciling with this, as anyone would. I think and pray for them everyday. We talked a bit tonight, and like she said, sometimes it is hard to know what to pray for. But Chris and I learned the value of prayer with Sam. There were times when I didn't feel like praying, and times when my mind was too busy to pray. It was in those times when I was comforted to know that there were other people doing the praying when I simply could not. Say a prayer for them and their baby girl, so that when they are too disheartened to do so themselves, they too can know someone else is getting the prayers said!

~Kathy

An Interesting Friday and Redeeming Weekend

Last Friday, around 4 am, Sam woke up crying. He rarely wakes up crying, so I went to check on him. He had a dirty diarrhea diaper, and I guess it burned his little butt cheek a little. I changed him, got him a bottle, and he happily went back to sleep. When he got up in the morning, I went to change him again. He was dirty again, but this time there was a hint of blood in the diaper. Chris and I debated what to do, since I knew the daycare would NEVER keep him with diarrhea, especially with blood present. 5 min later, Sam made another diaper. This time it was MOSTLY blood. We freaked out.

We called the doctor, but the office was closed. Their nurse answering service took our information and determined it wasn't an emergency but that he would need to be seen ASAP. She confirmed my two fears: this could be resultant from Sam's aspirin therapy, or a bacteria like C. Diff. The latter runs rampant at my hospital on occasion and I would probably quit my job out of guilt if it is C. Diff.

We got an appointment and took him to the Pedi. She said that since he is eating fine, sleeping fine, acting fine, and was happy, it is probably a milk protein allergy. I find this hard to believe. She wants us to switch to soy formula for a while. She also sent us to the main hospital to get a stool sample cultured, so that we can rule out the C. Diff. Sam acted fine the rest of the day, although he still had the diarrhea with the occasional blood spot. We tried the soy...Sam's not a fan. We also decided to narrow his food choices down a bit, just in case it is one of those that is upsetting his tummy. I will let you know the results of the culture when I get them!

As a side note, we saw a horrible wreck right in front of the Pedi's office. Chris called 911 while I jumped out and stopped one of the ladies from getting up and walking around. The whole thing happened right in front of a Chiropractors office (Chris thought that was great) and the Chiropractor stopped the other lady from moving around. We talked later, after the emergency people took over. He was a nice guy. I'm not a fan of Chiropractors but I may keep him in mind if I have back problems with my next pregnancy like I did with Sam.

After being cleared by the Pedi, we continued with our plans to go camping with my family at Lake Martin in Alabama. This was Sam's first camping trip. I was really worried about it being too hot for him, but it stayed cloudy and cool the whole time. Sam swam in the lake and played with his aunt and uncle. He didn't sleep in the tent with Chris and I though, since we were still worried about it being too hot. He slept on his own queen size bed in my parent's air conditioned pop-up tent trailer. He saw ducks, watched the boats in the little lagoon right at our campsite, and took a hike in his back pack. Of course, everyone who saw him told us how adorable he was!

He had a great time camping, and then capped off a nice weekend by cutting another tooth! He cried and cried and cried last night. It was so horrible. Now I wonder if all the diarrhea and stomach upset from Friday had to do with the tooth. Add to that the fact that this 20 lb baby takes half a baby aspirin (when full grown adults take one whole baby aspirin), and I wonder if just a tiny upset may have caused his intestines to bleed a little. Who knows. I just hope the culture is clear!

~Kathy