Changes

I can't believe that my little man is going to be 4 tomorrow. 4!!! I remember when he was the size of Iris and causing his own kind of "smaller" trouble. And now he is a big boy with lots of 4 year old attitude. Where has the time gone? He amazes me more every day. When I pick the kids up from daycare, it is like, all he can do to wait to get in the car before he starts asking me question after question after question. And, he is truly a boy. This kid loves all things rowdy. He loves his cars and trucks (what seems like a gazillion of them on the floor willing me to step on them and go flying in the air) and he loves to wrestle with his daddy or his papa. He is such a sweetie. Last night before bedtime, he gave me a kiss, and Iris a couple because as soon as he does, she gets her big ole toothy grin, that girl adores her brother! And he keeps giving her kisses to keep making her smile. And then, he woke up coughing and couldn't get back to sleep, even after Jesse put Vick's on his chest, so I went in and laid with him, and he was all cuddly. We both finally fell asleep, then I heard the Thunder Snow and woke up. It is weird hearing thunder in the winter!

Iris gained 3 ounces this last week. Not 7 like the week before, but a gain that I am still happy with, and steady. She had an occupational/physical therapy appointment yesterday. We were supposed to do a swallow study, but I wanted to show her occ. therapist how she was coming with a bottle. She will chew on it, and when formula comes out, she will swallow it without gagging. So, her therapist asked if we should try the cup that we like to use. It has a bigger silicone spout and Iris is teething, so she likes to chew on it. She did AWESOME with it. Maybe took around 1/2 ounce from it total, which, to me, is a lot. She did great.

I feel changes coming, for both of my kids. Lowden is growing into this awesome little man that is so inquisitive, which, I'll admit, sometimes I go crazy trying to figure out how to answer his many, many questions. And Iris is getting easier, and developing the sweetest personality, although she's got a bit of her mommas fiestiness (sp) in her, but I love it.

Christmas is so close. And, I love Christmas, but I am ready for it to be over. Just the hustle and bustle of it wears me out. I am ready for a steady routine again.

I have kind of rambled all over the place on this one. So, until next time...

Truly,

Anna & The Kings

No Bib, No burp rag

As in, we no longer need them, period. I am MORE shocked than any of you. TRUST ME on this.

So I haven't updated in a while. Last week on Wednesday, Iris' visiting nurse called as usual to update me on her stats. She said she literally called me as soon as she walked out of the daycare, she was so excited. Iris had gained 7 oz in 1 WEEK!!!. I was elated, to say the least. She couldn't believe it either.

So, Iris also rarely throws up now. And, if she does, it is like a few drops that just accidentally leak out of her mouth, and sometimes her nose, but even that is seldom now. I have also been experimenting with a bottle and a pacifier. Iris loves the pacifier, but not to suck on. She has tooth #3 coming in, her top right incisor and so she goes to town chewing on the paci. With the bottle, she also likes to chew, but of course, some formula comes out too. And, she doesn't gag on it, she SWALLOWS it! *AMAZING* She will even suck on the bottle a couple of times, and swallow, but when she realizes that it is going to keep coming out, she gets mad at it.

She is going to have a swallow study done here soon. I am hoping it is at our appointment with the occ. therapist on Thursday. We will see. I will call to verify sometime today or tomorrow, just so I know. Anyway, Iris is doing fabulous, and if anything, getting incredibly feisty. Which, of course, I love!

Lowden is going to be 4. I truly cannot believe this! His birthday party is on Saturday, and I have a LOT to get done yet for it. Cleaning to do, oh, the cleaning :( Jesse is scrambling trying to get the walk-in closet completed so he can show it off. I hope he gets it done! Not much left to do in there though. Lowden is obsessed with anything CARS* (the movie), and also cars and trucks, and he likes Transformers*. He is such a boy! I gave him a bit of a haircut yesterday. It was starting to look like a mullet. EW. So, I had to do something about that. It looks cute, and he looks even older now! My little man is growing up!

Yesterday, Lowden, Iris & I went over to visit some of my friends. Their little daughter is 4 days older than Iris. It was a really good time although, driving home afterward in the sleet in rain was NOT so much fun. I can't wait to get together with them after the holidays again, it had been too long!

I promise to update as soon as Iris has her weigh-in on Wednesday again, and also let you know how her occ. therapy appointment goes.

Always,

Anna & The Kings

9 Month Checkup

I had Iris to the doctor yesterday and today. Yesterday we had our appointment with the new pediatric gastroenterologist....Dr. M. He was quick and to the point. We basically talked about her medical history, and he said he needs time to review her files and her most recent tests before he decides what to do with her. He did however say, that he wants to do a swallow study on her. Now, I am not sure how this will be done, considering Iris does not really swallow large quantities, barely even small quantities. I am sure we will find out though. So, I am waiting to hear back from him for our followup appointment. Iris' appointment today was with her regular family doctor for her 9 month well child visit. She is sitting between the 10th & 15th percentile for her height and weight and her head is in the 50th percentile. Although it is not GREAT, she is at least still ON the growth chart. She is a bit behind with some of her motor skills, but that is to be expected with everything she has been through, and we are already seeing a physical therapist, so we are on the ball with it.

Anyway, just a quick post to update you all. I know many of you want to know the outcome of her appointments, I promise to update you all again when we find out about the swallow study.

Much Love,

Anna & The Kings

LESS Truly Is More!

It is a bit ironic how we figure out new things that work for Iris. Take for instance, this last Sunday. I am the one who wakes up with the kids, everyday. But, Jesse got up with them on Sunday, as I had not been getting very much sleep at all the last two weeks. Lowden had been sick, with a cold and a cough, and he was waking up a couple times at night, and Iris was waking up in the middle of the night as well. She would gag on her own saliva and throw up. Anyway, I had told Jesse that we were going back to using Nutramigen for formula, instead of the Neocate, as she holds it down better. I did not tell him that we are using up the old stuff first. There were two scoops of Nutramigen left in the can, so he used that, with only 4 ounces of water. Low and behold, Iris did NOT throw ANY of it up. (Cue the angelic choir) Iris did not throw up at all that day. So, we have been following this regimen for her, and she is soooooo much happier. I cannot even explain. She is like a different baby. And, much to my GREAT pleasure, she is saying "mama" now. More like "mamamamamamamamama....." but completely adorable!

Tomorrow we go and see a new doctor here in Cedar Rapids. He is a pediatric gastroenterologist. I am excited to meet with him and have already started making a list of questions for him. I am hoping he will decide to run some tests on Iris, but who knows. As much as I dislike putting her through the stress of tests, it needs to be done so we can rule things out, or get closer to an answer for her, if there is one. Tomorrow we also see the occupational and physical therapists. They will be happy about Iris not throwing up as much, and I am going to talk to them about some oral cues she has been doing to see what they think. I gave Iris a cracker last night, she put it in her mouth a couple of times, and scraped it on her two bottom teeth once, but didn't show much more eating interest in it than that. But that is alright, at least she didn't gag from the taste of it in her mouth.

Ahhh, so Lowden's 4th Birthday is coming up. On the 20th to be exact. And, we are going to have a birthday party for him. I am excited for him. It should be fun, as long as the weather cooperates and all our family is able to make it to our house. We shall see! I can't believe my baby boy is going to be 4 already!!! Time truly does fly!

Oh, and Jesse is building me a walk-in closet (my hideout) for Christmas. He has the walls up and the insulation in and it is mostly drywalled. He made great progress on it in just one day. I am so excited for it! What a handyman!

I promise to update you all on the appointments tomorrow, but it may be the weekend by the time I get around to it.

Much Love,

Anna & The Kings

2nd Opinion

Her throwing up is getting worse. She never used to throw up after her 5 pm feeding, she does now, and it is usually most of the feeding. Just like the other feedings. At this point, the only time she doesn't throw up, is her last feeding, when it is bedtime. But she even will wake up and throw up at THAT feeding as well now. I am at a loss.

I took her to the doctor on Thursday to get a referral for a second opinion. So, we are scheduled to go and see Dr. Machnowski in Cedar Rapids on December 4th. It can't come soon enough! In the mean time, I have upped her dosage of Reglan (which helps her stomach empty quicker) from .6 mL before every feeding to 1 mL before every feeding. Today was the first time I have tried it, and we will find out the results.

Wednesday was the breaking point for me. Iris' home visiting nurse that checks her out every week at daycare called me early on Wednesday, usually she calls me later in the day. I knew I should be worried, when SHE was worried. "K" said that Iris was still getting her first feeding when she got there, but Iris looked miserable. So, she stopped the feeding and unhooked Iris. She let Iris' tube open to drain some of the formula from her tummy, to keep her from throwing up, and started her assessment. For her assessment, she weighs Iris, checks her heart rate, and respirations. She also checks her blood oxygen saturation. Her heart rate and respirations were elevated, enough to be concerned. Iris' normal heart rate sits around 136 or so, she was at 200 and her normal respirations are at 48, but she was at 64. When I got the call at work, we will just say, I was a bit frantic. If she was like this in the morning, there is no doubt in my mind, that she is like this more than in the morning. Like, several times per day, it CAN'T be good for her heart. The nurse agreed.

I made a bunch of calls, and that is what led us to her family doctor on Thursday, and with an appointment with Dr. M on Dec 4th. He is the pediatric gastroenterologist in Cedar Rapids. We also have an order to go and get another x-ray before our followup appointment with the family doctor, also on the 4th. This time it is to be of her tummy though. We are looking for any anatomical abnormalities, which have not been found in the past. Well, nothing has been found in the past, but something is not right with her little body.

I must say, I am so relieved to have found a couple of mothers among the ohs (open heart surgery) parents who have or are dealing with the same things I am dealing with. "A's" daughter is now 4 1/2 years old, and just got her g-tube removed this last February. She still has to feed her daughter 4 cans of pediasure a day, with a syringe in the mouth, as she said it is not worth the fight to get her daughter to drink from a cup. Trust me, this is harder than any of you can imagine, unless you have been down this road. And "H" is another mom I have found. Her daughter just had her OHS approximately 2 weeks ago and is having problems eating. I hope that I can be of some support to her through all of this, mostly, I pray that her daughter will come out of it, and not develop all of Iris' aversions.

ANYWAY!!! Thanksgiving is almost here, and that makes me so happy. It is my MOST favorite holiday, and I must say, I have SO much to be thankful for. And of course, I can't wait for the food, bring on the stuffing and sweet potatoes! haha, there goes my low carb diet for a day!

I will keep you all posted, and as always, I am copying and pasting this to Carepages.

By the way, Caden is home and Ashley couldn't be happier!

Love you all,

Anna & The Kings

When will it stop?

Iris threw up all of her 4.5 oz bottle this morning. It actually had the calorie count of a 6.5 oz bottle, but regardless, her stomach emptied, I am pretty sure, all of it. And, she just emptied close to 1/2 of her 11 a.m. bottle on me, which is sad since it is 20 minutes until she is due for her next bottle or 2.5 hours AFTER she ate. Her tummy doesn't seem to be emptying correctly to me.

I have to admit. I think I get more and more depressed with each and every vomiting episode with her. It pains me to think of how her esophagus, throat and nose feel, how they burn. I feel like crying now just at the thought of how many more times she will throw up today. I know that this seems like a small trivial thing in a lot of your eyes, but I see this every day in and out. I just feel bad for her. And I know that her health problems pale in comparison to those of others, but this is the reality I deal with. I don't mean to come off whiny, but I am just waiting and waiting for things to get easier for her, and they don't.

So, I have asked our occupational therapist to make some calls and see if we can get another pediatric gastroenterologist to look at Iris' file for a second opinion. I am waiting, but not all that patiently. It is driving me crazy. I just wonder if there is anything that can even be done. None of her reflux meds help, at all. I already took her off of one of them, and the second is to help her stomach empty. Obviously, it is NOT doing it's job.

Sorry to be whiny, I'll end with that.

Anna & The Kings

53...I stand corrected. :)

The light in my eyes are a bit dimmer today. It is my mom's birthday. She's (would be) 53. It is still a hard thing to deal with every year, even if it has been almost 18 years since she has been gone. It's true, time really does fly by. And it keeps flying by faster and faster each year. Maybe that is something that comes with age. But anyway, Happy Birthday Mom, I love you.

Iris was weighed yesterday. She did gain, so I am pleased with that. She was up 5 oz, which puts her at 16 lbs 5 oz! I really hope that she can keep that kind of a steady gain up. I just get so flustered when she loses. She has not been throwing up any less though, which makes me so sad for her. I know that she is used to it, but her throat and nose cannot feel good. I don't know if I have ever said this before, but she really gets p.o.'d when it comes out of her nose. I can only imagine how that must burn. Poor girl. But she is soooo happy. She cracks me up. And she adores Lowden. Nothing will make her smile like he does. I must say, that really pleases me. The feeling is mutual, I know that Lowden will be the protective big brother when they are older.

I have had a cloud hanging over my head lately. Not sure why. I think it is just a combination of things that are bringing me down. And I feel really anxious at times, but then it will dispel like it was never there. I think that part of it is the thought of being all couped up for the winter, I'll get over it.

That is about all to report.

Anna & The Kings

Prayers Please

Well, many of you know that my niece, Ashley, had her baby boy. Caden. Well, yesterday, they noticed that Caden had labored breathing. To be safe, they transferred him to a bigger hospital. Now, of course my first worry, was that he had a heart condition. But, I believe that has been ruled out by the echo they did last night. So, now they are looking at his lungs as well as his brain activity.

I ask you all to send your prayers to Caden. He is a so new to the world and needs all the thoughts and prayers you can give him. And Ashley is scared. I can't imagine how scary that would be, being a young, first time mom. I know how scared I was with Iris, and she was my second child and I was already 26...with a little experience.

I don't talk a lot about God. I am sure that many of my family members wonder where I stand with Him. I am not very open about my relationship with God, as I feel that it is only mine and God's business. But I will say that I have my firm belief in Him....there is no way I would have gotten this far in life if I hadn't. But, I also have my beliefs of how I should be able to talk, pray & generally communicate with him. I know He hears me, no matter if it is in my car on my way to work, or in a Church. Which, I will be honest, and say that I have not regularly gone to Church for sometime. But it doesn't mean I don't believe. And I will say that since we found about Iris' congenital heart defect, I have talked to him a whole lot more.

Please talk to Him a lot, and ask him to guard Caden.

Love You All,

Anna & The Kings

Doesn't sit well

Well. Iris was weighed today. She only gained 1/2 oz in a full week. It is not sitting well with me at all. So, I AM going to get a second opinion on her diaphragm. I am just sick about this. We are even mixing her formula thicker, with more calories. I can only imagine what her weight would be if we weren't mixing it with more calories. Not good. She has a physical therapy appointment tomorrow, but not occupational therapy, because her therapist is gone until Monday. But, I am going to leave her a note to call me as soon as she can. She has some contacts in Chicago and I think it is time to get other opinions.

Iris also got her first synergist shot today. It is to prevent her from getting RSV during the winter season. It is a series of 6, with her last one in March. I think this is a great thing for her to get, especially with her cardiac issues.

I promise to update on any opinions I am able to get.

Lowden cracks me up. I know I have a lot to worry about when he starts driving. I know, I know. I am thinking way far ahead. But, I work in the insurance industry, I can't help it. So, on our way to the daycare this morning, I am doing the speed limit, rare, I know. There was a truck in front of me, so I really couldn't go much faster, but I did not think we were going slow anyway. Lowden tells me to "go faster." I told him I can't, there is a truck in front of us. He keeps saying it, man, I KNOW I am in trouble. I think I may have to make him get a job and make him pay his OWN insurance premium when he turns 16.....he isn't even 4 yet. I know. Close enough to it, but still. It was quite comical, I must say.

Oh, I became a Great Aunt today. YAY. But, it is weird! Congrats to Ashley and welcome Caden!!!

At least it's not a loss

Well, Iris was weighed yesterday. She was up to 15 lbs 15 oz. Which means that she gained 2 1/2 ounces. It isn't much, but I guess it is better than losing. This is even with me mixing her formula thicker, so there are more calories. I hope she starts gaining a little better. She is 8 months old now. Can you believe that? 8 months! Seems like she was just born and going through her OHS (open heart surgery.)

Anyway, when the nurse was weighing her and checking her oxygen yesterday, she looked at her gtube site. Noticed that there is scar tissue under there and it looks tender. I knew this as just this week, the site started looking prett red and tender, so I knew she would mention it to me. So, I called the family doctor to have him take a look at it. We have an appointment for that tomorrow at 2 pm. I am going to give her some tylenol or something before we go, as they may have to cauterize the area to stop the scar tissue from forming. Poor little girl.

And, last but not least. Tomorrow is Halloween. YAY. Lowden decided out of the blue, that he wants to be Optimus Prime from The Transformers. So we have his costume. I need to get something for Iris yet. I know, bad mom :( But I am going to get something today for her...I hope. I will get pics of the kids in their costumes up here in the next couple of days.

Love You All,

Anna & The Kings

Headaches

Once again, it is headache season....for me anyway. I have had one for about 2 weeks straight now, and I just can't seem to get rid of it. I know that part of this is my fault and my near constant ponytail in my hair, but that is not all. I have quit drinking soda, pop, whatever you choose to call it. And, today I have not had any coffee....it is not working very well for me and I miss it. Pathetic? maybe, but I think I am going to have to brew some here shortly, or I will never make it all night with the kids. Jesse has school, so he will not get home until close to 10:00 pm. Both of the kids need baths, but that shouldn't be too hard, now that I have a seat for Iris to put right in the bathtub, so I can give them both a bath at the same time. Iris loves the seat, and Lowden loves to "help." I also have to make some time to make noodles for some chicken noodle soup. I refuse to make it with store bought noodles since it takes all of 4 ingredients to make egg noodles and only about 20 minutes of my time. I just hope both kids cooperate with my plans. We also have to head up to Manchester to pick up Lowden's Halloween costume from Sis', she was nice and went and picked it up for me in town there since I could not find it in C.R. or Marion.

Anyway. Iris' formula recipe has changed. Recipe? you ask. Well, kind of. I have to mix it thicker now. So, I am. She will get weighed tomorrow by the nurse, so I am curious to see what this has done for her. I hope a lot! She did throw up quite a bit this weekend though, so who knows.

Had a nice little visit from Grandma & Grandpa Fass this weekend. That was nice. My house was a complete disaster area, but oh well. I did get some cleaning done over the weekend, but not enough for me to be satisfied. Why does it seem like to get one thing really clean, you have to make 3 other things really dirty?

Yeah, time for that coffee before I fall asleep......at work :)

Anna

Up a bit, down a tad, down a tad more, UP a lot!

We are talking weight here. And no, not mine. As always, Iris is having weight issues. Here is her months weight gain and losses, week by week. Week of Sept 29th, she gained 5.5 oz(13 lb 13.5 oz); week of Oct 6th, lost 3 oz (13 lb 10.5 oz); week of Oct 13th, lost 5 oz (13 lbs 5.5 oz); week of Oct 20th, gained 8 oz, which puts her back at 13 lbs 13.5 oz. This leads to conversations with her visiting nurse. We will call her K. K has to talk to the dietician and see where Iris needs to be sitting at with her daily caloric intake. Obviously, it is not enough, and since Iris' vomiting makes her expel quite a bit, we have to figure out a way to get the calories in her without making her have to take in more ounces. Make sense? So, we have to make her formula thicker. When formula is mixed normally, it is 20 kilocalories per ounce, I believe. But, we have to start mixing Iris' so that it is anywhere from 24-27 kilocalories per ounce, as she needs anywhere from 715-750 calories per day. And, as she is now, she is only taking in approximately 550-600, depending on how much she throws up.

Have I mentioned yet that Iris has been feverish the last two days, and throwing up a little more than usual? I don't know if it is due to her teething or something else. I hope it is the teething though. She has been such a healthy girl, even with all that she has been through.

Anyway, I really need to figure out a way to start making more time to work with her on her eating. I know, more like lack there of, but we need to get somewhere with it. It is hard to find the time to fit everything into the day, especially the work week. I don't even get to pick her and Lowden up from daycare until 5:30 pm and then we drive home and get in the house and unpacked and all that. By then it is 6 pm, and I have to get supper started and Lowden fed....I need time to give them baths and Lowden has to be to bed by 8 pm, sometimes 8:30 if he took a nap at daycare or not. Iris is mad as ever if I am not in the "designated" rocker by 8pm to start feeding her, and she falls asleep chewing on her moose around 8:30. Life is so fast, and I need more time to work with her. And here comes daylight savings. GREAT! *please note the sarcasm:)*
**Oh, one last thing before I publish this. I am planning on pulling a bunch of pictures from her carepage to put on here, so, sorry if you have already seen them.

Much Love,

Anna & The Kings

Scraping my windshield....already

It's as horrible as it sounds. I had to scrape my windshield this morning. I am SOOOOOO not ready for winter. AT ALL! And there are two different Farmer's Almanac descriptions of the winter hanging around out there, so we can't really be sure what to expect. Cold, yes we know that, but lots of precip.? Man, I hope not! I can deal with the snow, but not the rain/ice. It makes me so nervous driving all the way to work in that kind of weather/road conditions. What can I say though, Iowa weather.





I am starting to think about Christmas. Ick, I know. But, with the crappy (carpy for all my online mommy friends. hehe) economy, money is something I cannot be frivolous with. I am making a lot of the gifts this year, so I need to get my butt in gear. I am missing my sewing machine dearly, so I need to get back to it and get some gifts made. I am so excited about it. And no, I am not posting what I am making. Can't give it away!





Can I just say THANK YOU MIRALAX? Not for me (HAHA), but for Iris. It has done wonders with her um...digestion. She is like a new baby and it works like a charm for her...and is non-habit forming. So, yay for that! BUT, she has not gained any weight in 2 weeks, but lost it. Granted, it is not a huge amount, but for her, any loss is not good. So, we have to figure out what to do to make sure she is getting the amount of calories she should be. Anything by mouth is still a big no-no for her. She gags instantly. And I mean INSTANTLY. Just this last weekend, I put a mere TASTE of butterscotch pudding on the end of my fingertip. It no more than touched her tongue, and she gagged. Poor girl....mean mommy. But man alive is she a chatterbox. She went from saying blah blah blah to a kind of dah dah dah. Very cute. And she squeals, man can she squeal. I know, I am just getting paid back for all the screaming I could do back in the day. But I love it.





Lowden is great! Getting so big. He says he wants to be Optimus Prime for Halloween. Now that I can't find a costume anywhere for him...except Ebay, but they all want too much for them. So, I may try to talk him into going as something else. I found a race car driver costume and I think he would like that. He and another boy at daycare are the best and worst of friends. They play together, but then end up fighting. I swear it happens everyday. I always tell him that he should maybe play with other kids. He does for a day, and then is back with his "biting buddy." What can you do. I am still trying to get him to branch out with his foods. I think he should get the award for "Pickiest Kid Ever." But, I was able to get him to eat an actual real chicken breast. I of course cubed it and covered it in shake 'n' bake and baked it. But he ate it....and some mashed taters and corn. Yay Lowden. Baby steps.





Anyway. Work has been busy this week, as my boss is on vacation in California. Monday was BAD! But the rest of the week hasn't been too bad. I am so ready for Friday, thank goodness it is tomorrow. No real plans for the weekend, but I know Jesse will be hunting, so who knows what we will do.





Anna

Brrrrrrr

Time to dig out the hats and gloves! Wow, has it gotten cool. It was a bit of a drastic change for me too, I would have liked to have been eased into the cool weather a little better....but it is not up to me. Jesse is loving it, because of course the cool weather means it is time to gear up for Deer Bow Hunting Season (a.k.a. his real love! haha)

Iris is gaining weight steadily. She gained 5 1/2 oz. last week and gained a whopping 7 1/2 oz. this week. wahoo Iris! She is now up to 15 lbs 8 1/2 oz. Getting big! She is such a happy girl too! I have been trying a sippy cup with her the last couple of nights. It has a soft spout, so if she bites on it, liquid will come out. I just put water in it, and I try to make it so she doesn't get a bunch in her mouth and throw up....like she did last night. Some of you have already seen this pic, so I apologize. I have more pics to get off my camera and onto the computer, maybe this weekend I will get to that.

Lowden is turning into a little man before my very eyes. It amazes me that he used to be as small as Iris. One day a few weeks ago, we were driving to daycare in the morning, and out of the blue, he says "I wanna Transformers." I said "huh?" He then says "Optimus Pwime (Prime)," I asked him what he was talking about. He said he wants to be Optimus Prime. OH, "For Halloween?," I ask. Yeah. I about laughed to death it was so cute. Now, he has not watched that movie in ages, so I don't know where it came from, but it was too cute. So I have a picture to put of him on here, and I think when Kelly reads it, she is going to say "There is an orb on his sleeve." I know, I saw it.

Anyway. I will try to get some more pics on here this weekend......TRY being the operative word.

Anna

X-rays

Just wanted to get some pics on here to show you Iris' diaphragm. The higher side is the side that is paralyzed. This isn't the most clear x-ray she has had, but the first time they have given them to me on disc, which I think is great!

OK, I need to go make supper now.

Anna

Appointments, Appointments

Happy Birthday Jesse! He doesn't know it yet, but I am getting him some cake. hehe

So, today Iris has her speech therapy appointment. I am printing off a list of things that another mother tries with her child because of his eating issues, also due to open heart surgery. Iris did not throw up at all Monday evening, which was the day of her peg tube changeout. The first feeding, I made a smaller one as I did not want to give her a tummy ache after not eating all day long. She didn't throw up any of that, and she didn't throw up any of her evening feeding. She did throw up yesterday a couple of times, but that is because she needed to go...ahem, #2. She was feeling much better this a.m. though, so I will have to see if she has been throwing up much when I go to get her. Anyway. After her appointment, I have to take her to get an x-ray because her pediatric cardiologist wanted one done before her next appointment...which is tomorrow morning. Oops, totally spaced that off. So, I hope that they can squeeze her in for that.

This month has been so hectic. It just seems like there has been so much going on. I wonder if it will settle down for us in October. I think the appointments will slow down, so that would be nice. I'm really loving this weather too, and I want Lowden to be able to spend a bit of time outside while it is nice, as we all know, it could turn bad anytime. BUT, Lowden is coming down with a cold. He was sick just this last weekend. He had a fever and slept a lot, but that was about it. He has a cough and now he is starting to sound a little nasaly (sp?). The poor kid can't catch a break.

I feel like I am coming off completely random today, but, oh well. Hunting season starts soon. Which means Jesse will be non-existent for a while. I told him that this year, he HAS to get a deer. I mean, we bought the freezer LAST year! I like to tease him. He says it is my fault, I have jinxed him and he can't ever get a good shot. I am tired of paying an arm and a leg for meat though, so he better get to it.

Anyway, I have written a book. Still working on getting pics on here. I promise I will soon!

Getting Started

Well. I decided I would start a blog for our little family. I thought it would be easier for family and friends to check in on us this way. Just save the address to your favorites. I have to get the hang of all this and get it set up and figure out to get pics on here, but I don't think that should take me long.

Everyone is doing well. Iris had her peg tube changeout done on Monday and it went well. As of today, she is up to 15 lbs 1 oz. Her weight gain is slow, so it gets checked weekly. The freaky part with the new tube, is that I will be the one who has to change it out...every 4 months. EEK! But, I was taught how to do it, and it shouldn't be that hard, and not painful for Iris at all.

Lowden is getting so tall! I remember when he was Iris' size. Where does the time go? We opted to keep him out of preschool until next year. Jesse and I both believe that he will be more ready then. He is such a smart little man though. And that kid can sure ask a lot of questions!

Jesse's birthday is on Thursday! Wahoo. Happy 28th Birthday Jess! I sent him and his friend to the Iowa Speedway last Saturday to watch a race. He said he had a good time.

Well, this is all I have time for right now. I promise to get everything in the works with photos and whatnot.

Anna