Good News Bad News

Well, Will's labs all came back normal, and he hasn't had diarrhea since Monday, so things are looking up. He made it through school on Tuesday and Wednesday without any problems and is now on Thanksgiving break. I still don't know what's going on with his bruising, but we'll keep an eye on it. He is such a great kid. I just wish he could catch a break, you know?
Cate ran into a window sill today and tore her frenulum (the little piece of tissue that connects your lip to your gums). It keeps bleeding on and off, so we called the dentist. His nurse said there's nothing that can be done and that she could bleed all weekend. Something to look forward too, huh? Her school pictures came at great. I wish I could post them, but the website has a sign-on and password. Anyway, I'll post another picture of her so you can see how cute she is (again!).
Thanksgiving is coming up, and I have to work 24 hour shifts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week. We're planning on spending Thanksgiving day at my boss' house. She's been very kind to our family. She even put us up during the ice storm when we had no power. I'm sure there will be pictures, and I'll post them next week. Hope all of you are doing well.

This is gross. I apologize!

I warned you...so here goes. Will has had diarrhea for 2 weeks now. He'll be okay for a day, so we take him to school. They call us and tell us he had a blow-out and to come pick him up. We've been doing this for the past 2 weeks. We finally took him to the doctor last week, and the doctor ordered stool studies. Well, if you don't know, that is the cure for diarrhea. So, no poop for 2 days. Then, the blow-out to top all blow-outs. I turned in his poop today to the lab, and the initial test came back negative for blood. This was a huge relief because I thought I saw blood in his poop this weekend. There are two more tests pending. I'm hoping he just has some sort of terrible virus, and that it will stop soon. Being a doctor, I fear the worst. I've got to stop doing this to myself. The thing that makes me worry is that he seems pale to me. He's also eating less and more tired than normal. This is improving, thank goodness. He has always bruised, but there seem to be more than normal, and they're hanging around longer too. Again, I hope I'm just worrying about nothing. Please pray that Will is okay. He seemed much better tonight, and Jeremiah and I are hoping that we're wrapping up this disgusting period in our life.
Catiebug has yet another cold, but she is doing well. She is a feisty little thing. She likes to do whatever her brother does, which often gets her into trouble. She is learning to talk, and her favorite word is doodoo. Lovely, huh? I think putting her in preschool was definitely what she needed as far as her development. She has a speech therapy appointment in another week or two. I think we'll take her, but I'm not sure she'll need it for long. At least, I'm hoping she won't. I think that's about it for now. More to come.....

Done with PICU!!!

Well, I'm finally done with PICU!!! My last day was October 31, and I've never been more glad to be done with a rotation in my entire life. I did learn a lot. I got to intubate a patient 4 times and assist with some line placements, so that was good, but it's just not my thing at all. Anyway...
Will was supposed to have his eye surgery today, but he was sick all last week with some pretty nasty diarrhea, so it was postponed until December 8. God knew what he was doing though, because the change is allowing my mom to come for the surgery and allowing her to see the children's music and baby parade at church as well as attend Cate's Christmas pageant at school. I can't take time off to be with Will, which totally sucks, but at least my mom gets to come. He's better now...no more diarrhea (praise the Lord!).
Cate is doing well. She was her first ever school pictures tomorrow. I've ironed her clothes and laid everything out. I'm going to fix her hair before I leave for work in the morning, but I'm still nervous about how they'll turn out. I wish I could take her to school and make sure she looks okay, but I have to go to work. Pray she looks cute and doesn't get some ginormous scratch on her face or spill something on her dress.
Anyway, I really don't have any other updates right now. I am attaching a video of the kids playing that is pretty cute. I'll post again soon, when I actually have something interesting to say! Until then...

Video of Will

So, I tried to post this video to facebook, but the video application is all jacked up, so I'm going to try and post it here. It's Will on the couch with me just being Will. He does display some of his speech accomplishments like saying hi, waving bye, and blowing a kiss. You'll also hear his babbling, which I'm convinced we'll find out one day is some foreign language and that he's actually completely verbal. Anyway, enjoy!

I'm a Slacker!

I'm a total slacker, and I'm sorry I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks. I am working in the pediatric ICU this month, and it's an incredibly stressful and busy rotation. I can't even remember what has happened since my last post. Will is going to be having surgery on his right eye next month. Both of his eyes wander, but his right eye is worse. The doctor said it will probably take multiple surgeries to totally fix it. I think he's hoping that the left eye will fix itself. If not, we'll have surgery on it eventually. He had his annual check up and things went well. He's on the Prozac and Tenex, and the combination seems to be working. He definitely isn't calm, but he's better than he was...I think. Cate had her 18 month check up and is doing well too. We were able to cut her asthma medicine back to once a day, and she had some allergy medicine added. She weighs 22 lbs. 13 oz. She's still tiny, but she is growing, and that's all that matters. She is going to start speech therapy so she can catch up with other kids her age. Will is re-starting outpatient speech because he's starting to regress in his speech. We're hoping we can get their appointments together so we won't have to go up there so many times each week. Anyway, I think that's all for now. I probably won't post again until November, when I'm out of the PICU and life returns to some sense of normalcy. Thanks for your patience and understanding. More to come...

Big Bite!

We had our first incident with Cate at school today. While the teacher was changing diapers, a child in Cate's class bit her several times. One bite even broke the skin and caused her to bleed. I understand that kids bite. I'm mad because the teacher didn't call us right when it happened. She told Jeremiah about it when he picked her up. I think it happened close to pick-up time, but I still feel like we should have been called. The teacher filled out a form and put it in her bag. Anyway, I know things like this happen, but I'm just mad because we weren't notified. I feel like when a child has that kind of injury, parent should be called right away. I hope it doesn't happen again, and I hope she doesn't scar. The one on her face isn't too bad, so hopefully it won't. Hope my next post is a little more uplifting.

Brief Update

Will saw his pediatrician today for his 4 year well child check. Everything was good. I was worried Will hadn't gained weight, but he did. He weighs about 39-40 pounds. His weight wasn't exact because they weighed him on the "big boy" scale today, and he didn't stand very still. He is 41 inches tall. On physical exam, she said Will looked great. He has bruises all over from "just being a little boy." He has been sick for about a week, but she said she thought it was probably a virus and that he didn't need antibiotics. He also got his flu shot today. He'll get the rest of his booster shots at his next check up. That's all the news for now. I'm going to be very busy with work over the next month, but I'll do my best to post as often as I can.