Updates

Sorry for the delay in posting lately, life seems to be getting in the way of my blogging! :) We had an ultrasound of Zach's spine last Friday and still haven't heard results-but waiting patiently. It was kind of weird, when we were in the room, I got this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm sure it is fine, routine, that the ultrasound was ordered. However, I was sitting there looking and that crazy mommy brain turned on and started me worrying that we'd made it this far pretty smooth sailing and now we were going to get these bad results about some awful spinal issue. I got hot, dizzy, and had to sit down. So, needless to say, I'm anxious to hear the results.

We've been playing phone tag with lots of docs, nurses, etc., about another issue with Zach, an issue with his fraenulum (or tongue-tie). I finally talked with the neonatologist, Dr. Lancaster, that had taken care of us in the NICU and discharged us on the phone yesterday about this issue. We have seriously been chased all around by this issue and have been on the fence as to it's impact on Zach both now and later. Poor little kid, such simple minor issues, but yet they don't seem to go away. After discussing things with Dr. Lancaster, we are pretty sure we are not going to do anything about it for now.

Next week we go to the pediatric urologist with our little Z-man. We are doing some follow up from his 2 vessel cord issues to make sure there isn't anything wrong in his renal department. We will also be discussing the circumcision with him at that point. Yikes!! Again, poor little man.

Zach got a Synagis shot this week, which is a shot to help him prevent getting RSV. Calvin got RSV and it was so awful. We are fortunate that our insurance covers these shots and that he "qualified" with his prematurity and birth weight. Each shot is $1500 and he has had 2 so far with a possible 3rd shot in April. That shot is still debatable, though. While that seems like a ridiculous amount of money to spend, if Zach got RSV (which for an older child is basically like a severe cold or flu) it could easily send him back into the hospital. That is not something we want for him at all! For the insurance companies, spend $1500 on a shot, or spend that much or more on 1 day in the hospital! Speaking of hospital bills, I totally have to share a recent "bill" we received from Zach's hospital stay. Simply for his bed in the NICU for 43 days, no extra doctors (that is separate), MRI's, medications, labs, etc., just the bed alone was over $350,000! Can I just say that I am thanking God every single night for good insurance?!! We are so lucky to be at Garmin and have such fantastic insurance. What would I do w/o that??I do feel for those families that have that extra stressor riding on their shoulders. So, all in all, one $1500 shot doesn't sound too bad on their end.

Our home health nurse, Joan, came out yesterday. Can I just re-state how much I love her?!! She weighed our Zach-y and he is at 7 lb 10.5 oz now! He has been slowing down on his weight gain a little, nothing too serious, just not gaining in huge chunks like he was. He is also slowing down on his eating, so we are watching him closely to make sure he continues to gain weight. He still likes his sleep and for that we are thankful. We had a little boy from Emerald's preschool come over for a play date the other day. His mommy was a nurse in the NICU that took care of Zach! Her 7, 5, and 3 year old, and my 4 and 2 year old were making such crazy noise in our basement--Zach slept thru it all! I love it!

Emerald has a big birthday this weekend--she's turning 4! I can't believe my little girl is growing up so fast. She continues to amaze us with the things that come out of her mouth. She has been pretty into her letters and trying to "read" with daddy (not with mommy only daddy). We have both sets of grandparents coming in town to celebrate so it should be fun for the kids.

Calvin said something funny the other day. Emerald was all into what she wants to be when she grows up--a princess and a ballerina. She was asking us and we happily shared. She didn't ask Calvin, but he contributed to the conversation anyway. "I want to be Snow White when I grow up" says he!! Obviously he lives with an older sister!!

We are thankful for insurance, healthy kids, and our job at Garmin. They announced this week that they were laying off like 160 people or so. In this tough economic times we can't imagine not having our wonderful job at Garmin. We feel so badly for those who are now w/o their job at Garmin and hope that they won't have to lay off any more. We also include in our prayers Emerald and Calvin's birthmothers (I always think of them a lot around their birthdays). We pray for Dawson and Isaiah, both NICU buddies of Zach's. Isaiah got to go home, but has since returned to the hospital--scary for his parents I'm sure. Dawson has had several surgeries and I know they are working on trying to figure things out. He has moved out of the NICU and is now at a different hospital where they have a neurosurgeon on hand 24/7 for him. Prayers for these sweet boys, please!!