Normal

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Maddy's labs from the endocrinologist came back normal. Thanks to everyone who prayed for her about this over the last month or so. Now please just keep praying that she will gain weight and that she will be the size she needs to be for her. So thankful for this good news this week as well as the news for Brandon and Amanda and kids.

Hearing Aid Fitting, Endocrinologist Appt

I guess I should start with the endocrinologist appointment. We went to that on Wednesday. Their scale showed Maddy's weight as 10lb 10 oz. What happened to 12 oz?!?! She did have a wet diaper and onesie on when they weighted her for the ABR but I seriously doubt that it weighed that much and I seriously doubt she lost weight in one day. So it is a mystery so apparently she didn't weigh as much as we thought but she had still gained close to a pound in two weeks which is still great. Nothing in the consultation jumped out at him so he ordered blood work. We got that done at the hospital right after we saw the doctor and should have the results in 10 days to a week. He is looking at thyroid levels, growth hormone, iron levels, and some enzymes that indicate nutrient absorption. So we shall see. Maddy was a trooper for the blood work. She cried of course but she seriously handled getting her blood taken better than I handle it. Once they got the needle in she was fine and pretty much even stopped crying. I had to hold her arm while the phlebotomist searched for the vein. That was not pleasant.

Today's appointment was really cool. They made molds of the inside of Maddy's ears so that they can make the ear piece for her hearing aids. It takes about three weeks to get them made so we will go pick them up on December 8th. The Thanksgiving holidays are making it a little longer til we can get them. She will have pink hearing aids with ear pieces in pink and white swirl. Very cool. I did not know they came in colors. I figured she'd just have the ugly flesh colored ones. The hearing aids are pretty pricy but thankfully we just have to replace the ear pieces every six months, not the entire hearing as we first thought, which totally makes sense. I'm really excited for Maddy to get her hearing aids but it will be a challenge as well. She will have to get used to all the new sounds and to having something in her ears all the time. The doctor told us that kids usually try to pull them out for a while but once they get used to them they will actually start crying if the hearing aid falls out. So anyway, just a few more weeks and we can start the hearing aid adventure.

I have to give a presentation for my Shakespeare class tonight. I hate giving presentations but we are having a beautiful day in Dallas so at least I have some time to hang out with Aaron and Maddy and enjoy the day before I go to class.

Hearing Aids on the Horizon and Weight Gain!!

We probably take a picture of ourselves by holding the camera at arm's length about once a year so we don't have much practice. It took several attempts to just get one that all of our heads were in so it is what it is. :)

Maddy in a super cute jean skirt from her 3-6 month drawer. She looked so cute in it for church on Sunday!

Today we had the ABR. Hopefully this is the last one because she slept through it very well with the help of the sedation medicine and they were able to complete all the tests they wanted to get done. Things hadn't changed much even with clear ears so it looks like we'll be keeping our appointment on Friday at the Callier Center at UTD. This is where they fit young children for hearing aids. I am not going to say that is 100% sure though because we've got to talk to Dr. Gamble on Thursday first but since nothing has changed this was kind of the plan we were given to go with if there was hearing loss so it is the schedule I'm anticipating.

On the good side of news, Maddy was 11 lbs!!! I just about passed out (okay maybe a little exaggeration :) ) when the nurse told me she was weighing in at 11 lb 6oz. Her diaper was wet and she had a onesie on so the nurse subtracted off 6 oz to be safe on the amount of sedative to give. She has gained a little over a pound since the 15th of October when she weighed 9 lb 14 oz. I am wondering if getting her ears clear and her ear infection cleared up helped out with that, or maybe it just happened it was time for a growth spurt. Anyhow, I was so excited and thankful to hear that. She still hasn't quite doubled her birth weight but she is a heck of a lot closer to doing that now than she was. She needs to gain 12 more ounces to do that. Our endocrinologist appointment is tomorrow. We will see what he has to say. It is just a consultation but I feel a lot better about it now that I know she has gained some good weight in a short amount of time. I thought she might have gained a little because she felt a little heavier and she has started to fit some of her 3-6 month outfits.

So today came with mixed emotions but a lot of thankfulness. I am sad that her ears are not working properly on their own but I'm so thankful that we got a good ABR and that it looks like we will be able to have a fairly painless solution to helping her hear normally and I'm also thankful to find out about the weight gain! Blessing and more blessings.

Halloween

Today we went to the library to get a book for treats. If your kid went in their costume they got a free book. Then we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends from church. We were going to go do a trunk or treat at a church by our house, but Maddy got too tired and crashed before we could make it so I handed out candy to trick or treaters instead. I also carved a pumpkin this afternoon. I'd say Maddy had a great first Halloween. She turned 7 months yesterday!

Pretty Girl

Last Sunday was a beautiful day. We took Maddy out in the yard to look at all the fall flowers blooming. She loved them. I think this picture of her with the flowers is so sweet and thought everyone else would enjoy it too.

Maddy loves prunes!

Gross, right! Nevertheless, she does. She takes after her dad I guess. I think I told the story on here about how Aaron asked for prunes for father's day. What? Anyway, Maddy has had some constipation from the antibiotics (I'm pretty sure this is the cause anyway) that she's on for her ear infection. It was so bad that I called the doctor about it last week. If she doesn't start doing better soon I'm going to take her in I think. Meanwhile we've tried several things: apple juice, which she does not like; prunes, which she loves as you can see; kyro syrup in her formula; and yes...even enemas. It is very sad. She finishes her round of antibiotics on Friday so I hope once that is done this problem will be gone as well. She is doing great otherwise though. Her ears seem like they've stopped draining so hopefully we're on our way to healthy ears. Prunes for lunch anyone?

Tubes

Just a quick update to say that Maddy's ear tube surgery went great. She was probably gone about half an hour total if that. She was awake and crying when they brought her back to us. She calmed down as soon as they gave her to me. She ate some sugar water and then hung out for a bit to make sure she was okay. We got to the hospital at 5:30 and left at 9:30 so not too bad at all. They ended up doing both ears. She had fluid in the left and then actually had an infection in the right. Always makes you feel kind of bad when they are sick and you never had a clue, but she was eating good and she never had a fever so there was no way I could know. We have drops to put in her ears three times a day and she'll take antibiotics for 10 days. Aaron will pick up the prescriptions on his way home from work tonight. I may be taking her to get a flu shot tomorrow. They are now available at our doctors. Just the regular flu I think. I don't think anyone down here has the swine flu shot yet.

That is all. just wanted to let everyone know the procedure went great!