Last week we met with Kyle's neurosurgeon who scheduled a bunch of tests that he needs to have done before we can schedule his surgery. It should be sometime in August, so I will keep you updated on that. He's still not showing any signs of any problems so we're hoping that the surgery will be more preventative than anything.
Kiki has been enjoying her first week of summer camp, she has been swimming everyday which meant I had to go buy her a bunch more swimsuits! They have a field trip to the Wheeling Waterpark this week which will be interesting...
In other news, we are signing another year's lease this week so we will be staying put for another year at the minimum. We're a little sad to not be going to Texas but it just didn't work out. With all the work Kyle needs it's probably for the best anyway. So here's to next year!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The not so good news...
Last night the doctor called me to say that Kyle does have tethered cord syndrome. So now we have to move onto the next step, which is meeting with the neurosurgeons and then having the eventual surgery done.
Tethered cord syndrome basically is where the spinal cord is attached to the spine, instead of being 'free-floating' as it should be. At this age there shouldn't be any side-effects but as he grows older the attachment of the spine could cause several irreversible problems so it's good that it was caught at this early age, giving us a chance to correct it before any damage is done.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethered_spinal_cord_syndrome
It's been quite a stressful few weeks. I'm still a little in shock about it all to be honest, especially since it didn't show up on any of the endless tests I had done while pregnant. The thought of having to put your baby through surgery, and neurosurgery at that, is not a nice one.
On the bright side, Kiki started summer break today! Although it is raining, so it's going to be summer break, English-style, which basically means being stuck inside all day. Boo! I'm still debating whether to enroll her in the park district day camp which starts next week, but I'm leaning towards yes right now!
Tethered cord syndrome basically is where the spinal cord is attached to the spine, instead of being 'free-floating' as it should be. At this age there shouldn't be any side-effects but as he grows older the attachment of the spine could cause several irreversible problems so it's good that it was caught at this early age, giving us a chance to correct it before any damage is done.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethered_spinal_cord_syndrome
It's been quite a stressful few weeks. I'm still a little in shock about it all to be honest, especially since it didn't show up on any of the endless tests I had done while pregnant. The thought of having to put your baby through surgery, and neurosurgery at that, is not a nice one.
On the bright side, Kiki started summer break today! Although it is raining, so it's going to be summer break, English-style, which basically means being stuck inside all day. Boo! I'm still debating whether to enroll her in the park district day camp which starts next week, but I'm leaning towards yes right now!
Monday, June 14, 2010
A few things...
So it's been a busy couple of weeks.
Kyle had his 1 month check up, where the doctor decided he probably has reflux (which explains all the feeding issues), and he weighed in at a healthy 12lbs 12.5oz. He went for his MRI today, which he handled like a champ. He also got weighed again for the anesthesia, and is now 13lbs 4oz. We won't have any results on the MRI for a few days.
Here he is resting up at home. He's pretty conked out right now!
Today is also Kiki's last day of kindergarten. It's quite amazing to see how much she has grown in the last year, I knew school would have a big effect on her socially and intellectually, but I didn't realise she'd change so much physically too!
Here she is on her first and last days of school.
Kyle had his 1 month check up, where the doctor decided he probably has reflux (which explains all the feeding issues), and he weighed in at a healthy 12lbs 12.5oz. He went for his MRI today, which he handled like a champ. He also got weighed again for the anesthesia, and is now 13lbs 4oz. We won't have any results on the MRI for a few days.
Here he is resting up at home. He's pretty conked out right now!
Today is also Kiki's last day of kindergarten. It's quite amazing to see how much she has grown in the last year, I knew school would have a big effect on her socially and intellectually, but I didn't realise she'd change so much physically too!
Here she is on her first and last days of school.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Quick 4 week update
OK it's only been 2 days since my last post but it's been a busy 2 days.
Kiki's field day was cancelled for rain yesterday, and today she has been diagnosed with strep throat. So she is going to be home for the next couple of days, and will miss her first ever field day which is really a shame. But she's feeling better already since she got to stay in bed and watch movies for a few hours.
On top of which, Kyle's spinal ultrasound came back showing some areas of concern so he has to go for an MRI now, for possible tethered cord syndrome. And of course, I am having a major ordeal trying to get Children's Memorial to sort their stupid referral department out, as I seem to do every time I have to get something scheduled. Why do doctors have to make everything so difficult sometimes? Hopefully the MRI (when I eventually get an appointment) will come back fine, or we will have at least caught it early enough for it to not be a problem.
On the bright side, all the kidney tests that the two of them had done last week all came back great, and Kyle does not have urinary reflux! Woot!
Kiki's field day was cancelled for rain yesterday, and today she has been diagnosed with strep throat. So she is going to be home for the next couple of days, and will miss her first ever field day which is really a shame. But she's feeling better already since she got to stay in bed and watch movies for a few hours.
On top of which, Kyle's spinal ultrasound came back showing some areas of concern so he has to go for an MRI now, for possible tethered cord syndrome. And of course, I am having a major ordeal trying to get Children's Memorial to sort their stupid referral department out, as I seem to do every time I have to get something scheduled. Why do doctors have to make everything so difficult sometimes? Hopefully the MRI (when I eventually get an appointment) will come back fine, or we will have at least caught it early enough for it to not be a problem.
On the bright side, all the kidney tests that the two of them had done last week all came back great, and Kyle does not have urinary reflux! Woot!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
3 week update - a little bit late!
My apologies for the delay in posting Kyle's 3 week update, it's been busy around here!
No doctor's visit last week so there aren't any official stats, but I'm certain that our little monkey is well into the 11lb range by now. On the eating front, he's doing a lot better, and on the sleeping front too. He's only waking at around 1am and 4am now, since daddy discovered the wonder of the swaddle.
Now we started out with the Kiddapotamus swaddles, the ones with the velcro on them, I saw my friend Erin using them for her daughter and they looked awesome. In fact they were awesome, until Little Dude figured out how to kick his way out of one, and kick his way into being very upset. I ended up buying these amazing swaddle cloths from www.adenandanais.com, they are basically big muslin squares not unlike the 'diaper cloths' we used back in Europe for everything but diapering. John has become the master swaddler, he can pack this baby so tight in this blanket, it's like a magic spell. It literally is like a spell because the moment it goes on, Kyle falls asleep! I took a photo tonight of Kyle in his swaddle but it's not very clear. I'll try to take a better one once he's having a daytime nap in one.
In other news, we took Kyle to the beach for the first time this weekend. We have an amazing beach here in our village, here is a photo I took last summer of Kiki on our first trip there.
I didn't get any photos this weekend as it was a bit cooler down there than we anticipated so I was too busy trying to keep Kyle warm! Hopefully we will be back down there soon enough.
Tomorrow Kiki has her first 'field day' at school so me and my Flip camera will be in action down there, stay tuned for that. And of course Kyle's 1 month birthday is almost here...
No doctor's visit last week so there aren't any official stats, but I'm certain that our little monkey is well into the 11lb range by now. On the eating front, he's doing a lot better, and on the sleeping front too. He's only waking at around 1am and 4am now, since daddy discovered the wonder of the swaddle.
Now we started out with the Kiddapotamus swaddles, the ones with the velcro on them, I saw my friend Erin using them for her daughter and they looked awesome. In fact they were awesome, until Little Dude figured out how to kick his way out of one, and kick his way into being very upset. I ended up buying these amazing swaddle cloths from www.adenandanais.com, they are basically big muslin squares not unlike the 'diaper cloths' we used back in Europe for everything but diapering. John has become the master swaddler, he can pack this baby so tight in this blanket, it's like a magic spell. It literally is like a spell because the moment it goes on, Kyle falls asleep! I took a photo tonight of Kyle in his swaddle but it's not very clear. I'll try to take a better one once he's having a daytime nap in one.
In other news, we took Kyle to the beach for the first time this weekend. We have an amazing beach here in our village, here is a photo I took last summer of Kiki on our first trip there.
I didn't get any photos this weekend as it was a bit cooler down there than we anticipated so I was too busy trying to keep Kyle warm! Hopefully we will be back down there soon enough.
Tomorrow Kiki has her first 'field day' at school so me and my Flip camera will be in action down there, stay tuned for that. And of course Kyle's 1 month birthday is almost here...
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