Vesicoureteral Reflux testing for E.C.

Miss Eliz Claire will be undergoing her VCUG today to test for Vesicoureteral Reflux, (aka Kidney Reflux).  She'll have to have a catheter placed into her bladder and we'll watch it on an x-ray to see if it goes into the kidneys or out like its supposed to.

I don't think she's going to like it.

This is really all O's fault.  Okay, not really.  Its likely my fault for passing on lousy genetics.  But, since O had such a severe grade of reflux, all of the kids have to get tested.  The boys were lucky, and got to start with just a simple renal u/s to check for kidney damage.  (A did have to have the VCUG done since one of his kidneys was larger than the other.  That's a common thing in a lot of people, but also a symptom in kidney reflux kids.) With boys, it often isn't as much of a serious problem as it is for little girls.  Even if a boy has grade II reflux, he may never have an actual infection.  Its anatomy (again, a win for the girls, right?!?)

The odds of Eliza having it are 1 in 3.  I know statistics don't work this way, but I feel like she's screwed since her brothers don't have it (they'd be the 2 in 3) and that leaves the remaining 1 in 3 to her to make up. I keep trying to tell myself that she's got a 66% chance that she DOESN'T have it.  That's pretty good odds. :) 

I don't know why I get so worked up over this testing.  Not that any one wants their baby to have a birth defect, but if you had to have one, this would be the one to have.  (Mild reflux is easily treatable and most kids out grow it. )  But, I'm still praying complete health over my sweet baby. 

I'll let you all know what they say today.  Our appointment is at 12 cst, then her actual vcug is at 12:30, with an appointment with the urologist at 2 p.m. (Thank goodness E could come stay home with Isaac, the I-am-two-hear-me-roar boy.)  We will have immediate results from her testing today. 

monkey pajamas in the rain

My older kids take the bus to school almost every day.  Even when it rains.  Today, unfortunately, it was raining.  Isaac has to come with us on the mornings that he is awake (really, this is almost every morning).  The last few mornings, I let him just wear his footed pajamas with no shoes to the bus stop.  (He walked on the side walk there, and its only a few houses down.) 

Well, today he wanted to attempt to head to the bus in the same manner- footed jammies with no shoes.  Obviously, we, as adults, know how that would've turned out.  Soggy, wet, dirty jammies.  Those jammies just aren't made for the rain.  So, O came up with a quick compromise between jammied feet and shoes- Isaac's rain boots! 

Tada!  He's all prepared.

When some one asks me how it is going with 4 kids, I almost always tell them "its great!"  It is.  Really, it is.  I wouldn't even think for long about trading in one of my kids, and I love having a larger family.  But sometimes, sometimes I feel so unprepared/under qualified for the very large task of running a home with 6 people. 

Its not the people themselves.  Its the chores that come with 6 people.  Its the laundry that has to be done all.of.the.time because I not only have a family of 6, I have an overly spitty baby who is an incredibly big DIVA who requires several outfits each day (not to mention the ones that E and I require from just holding her.  E changed outfits twice on Monday after holding little E for only 15 minutes.)  Its the dishwasher that has to be run every day, the trash that has to be taken out every day, the toilets that need cleaning every day, the mopping that needs to be done, you guessed it, every day!

Its not surprising that sometimes I feel like I'm in over my head a little bit.  That I'm not quite equipped for the job of running this house.  Like maybe I'm wearing footed pajamas to the bus stop in the rain. 

I wanted to end this post with a comment about how God is my rain boots, he helps me be prepared.  He is and he does.  But, with out all of the fluff, I want you all to know that even happy-love-my-big-family-mommas get overwhelmed with stuff.  Even happy-i-love-to-do-all-sorts-of-craft mommas get too much on their plates.  And, sometimes, its my own dang fault if I end up with soggy pajama feet.

We're still alive

We're alive and, mostly, well.  We've actually been home a lot, (for me! I hate not leaving the house at least once a day.)  But, I've been busy playing doctor, nurse, seamstress, and now I'm also learning to crochet (I know.  I know.  I totally DON'T need another hobby.  But, I couldn't resist!)  A's back in school after his tonsillectomy last week, so I spent most of yesterday working on a quilt for O's birthday. (which, was a disaster.  after ripping the thread the entire width of the quilt OVER 5 times, I set it aside and quit for the day.)

Eliza is also sick, so I don't see us leaving our hidey hole any time soon.  She started with a runny nose yesterday, and was coughing quite a bit in the night.  I'm just praying its not that stinking RSV that seems to be going around here. 

Oh, in Eliza news, she's found her fingers!  The last 3 days, she has been sucking her first two fingers (just like Zeke!) non-stop.  Its a little annoying right now, when she knocks out her pacifier at nap time, since she's not proficient enough to use them to self-soothe.  But, I'm thinking that's around the corner for her.

Now she needs to work on not gagging herself with those and we'll be all set.

Operation "Tonsil Removal": Success!

I can't remember if I told you all that A had a sleep study done in December to test for sleep apnea.  Well, he stopped breathing 7 times in the 5.5 hours he was asleep. 

Treatment for sleep apnea in little guys is a tonsillectomy.  It cures something like 80% of kids. 

We've been talking it up a lot.  You get to eat popsicles, have ice cream, play games, watch cartoons, etc.  He and O actually got into an argument over it because she was jealous of all the "lucky stuff" he got to do and eat.

Monday was surgery day.  He was actually pretty excited. 

getting his gown on

 enjoying his heated blanket

A really fun "mask doctor" came by to explain to A how he was going to go to sleep.

He did so well!  He was in surgery for 30 minutes, then E got to go back into the recovery room with him.  By the time E got back there, A was already awake, eating a popsicle, and talking to the nurse about the DS games our neighbor brought over for him to use. 

Maybe 15 minutes after E went in, they transferred A up to the pediatric floor in the PACU hall.  That's where we hung out for the rest of the day.  He got several bags of fluid, lots of popsicles and juice, and was even feeling good enough to eat mashed potatoes for dinner. 

Playing the DS

The first day home, yesterday, was pretty easy, too.  He was in good spirits, except for around medicine time.  Today, well, today hasn't been so great.  He's feeling pretty icky. :(

We're really praying that this surgery helps cure a lot of his sleep apnea related issues and that's he's back to his "normal" self soon.

Hmmm... candy candles

I, like most people, am currently in a heated love affair with pinterest.  Most of the things I make work out great.  Some, well, some don't come with the disclaimer "not appropriate for homes with 2 year olds".  But, really, I should know by now that 2 year olds love candy.

I saw this on pinterest and loved it. 

  So, I went to the store, bought the supplies, and assembled my candle/jar with pretty conversation hearts and set it on the table.

It looked lovely.

About two hours after I set it out, I saw Isaac had something in his hand and stuffed in his little chipmunk cheeks.

Conversation hearts.

"See mommy!  Want some candy?"

"What's in your hand?"

"Candy. Here."

Needless to say, the candle/candy combo was kind of a miss in our house.  Well, a miss if you ask me.  A "totally awesome" if you ask Zeke.

Pintrest FAILED me! *gasp!* (a small tutorial)

I have been wanting to make Eliza a headrest for her car seat that would not interfere with the safety of her seat.  (Technically, anything, after market, that goes between the baby and the car seat could be a potential safety hazard.)  Yesterday, I had a few hours free, while Isaac was in MMO, set aside to tackle this project.
Except, well, I couldn't find a tutorial for what I wanted.  In fact, I couldn't find ANYTHING  that didn't include that back part of the headrest that goes behind the baby!  I scoured Pintrest for hours a while, hoping to find something that would give me the faintest idea on what to do, where to start, etc.

Nothing. I didn't think it was possible. But, Pintrest failed me! 

So, I decided to get to work myself.  I took my old headrest, and did some funky measuring with my handy dandy measuring tape.  From that, I enlarged the measurements a bit to make room  1. for my seam allowance and 2. I wanted Eliza to be able to grow into it. 

Here's what you need if you're following along.

• 1 piece of minky, or other equally soft and luxurious fabric, measuring 21" x 10" (Our car seat is a big one, that goes up to 30 lbs.  if you have a smaller one, I'd probably only do 19 inches in length.)
• Coordinating thread, (or neutral color if you're lazy like me and don't want to swap it out. it doesn't really show on the minky)
• stuffing (I used some of the insides of an old pillow that I was going to through out anyway.)
• scissors
• an absurdly cute baby to model finished product

First, take your minky fabric and measure the length and mark with chalk (or a pen.)

Then, measure and mark your width.

Take your sharp scissors and cut your fabric.  (If you're using minky, like me, hold the fabric kind of tight. Minky is slippery.)

Next, fold your fabric, like a hot dog, right sides together. (bumps on the inside. ;) )

 Now sew the edges together, being sure to leave a small opening somewhere.  I left my opening right in the middle of the longest side, since the seam will be pretty much hidden when the headrest is in use.  (I normally re-enforce the front and back of the opening so that it doesn't come apart when I'm turning the fabric inside out or stuffing it.)

As a quick side note, I never pin minky.  I've tried and tried, but it always works out better for me if I just go with the flow of the minky.  When I try to pin it down, I always end up with a crinkly/wrinkly spot somewhere.

I failed to take pictures for the next few steps.  Sorry! 

*trim any excess fabric

*Take your tube-like fabric and turn it right-side in. You can use the eraser end of a pencil (if its sharpened) to help you get into those corners.

*Next up, the fun part!  Stuffing!  Take your stuffing and push it through your opening, taking care to get it in each of the corners.  Stuff as little or as much as you'd like. 

*Hand stitch the opening closed.

Wah-lah!  You have a safe car seat headrest!

Cue the cute baby:

I think she likes it.

if you like cute baby pictures, this is a post for you

Sorry I've been scarce lately.  We traveled to Michigan for Christmas, and since we got back I've been soaking up some major Eliza-ness while I can.  

Yum yum!

This girl won't stay on her tummy for more than 5 seconds.

So much for "tummy time".

 I love her hair in this one.

 One of my favorites!

 She cracks me up.  She gets this crazy-eye look a lot. 

 Peek-a-boo

 Can't leave these guys out!

 Crazy kids!