Just a quick update on how my cute Darbster is doing. Some of you have been asking how he is doing medically, and really things change so fast, that in a couple days this update will be old! Oh well, here is the scoop until now.
Started physical therapy last week. Doing well :0) Darb has a bit of a floppy head and doesn't like to hold his head up, but he cooperates sometimes.
Many of you know that the last update with Darby's health, was that one of his ventricles was a little blocked; fluids were getting backed up. Dr. Danielpour (neurosurgeon) wanted to check on him in one month... well that was last week. We went in and did an ultrasound and a visit with Dr. DP. The conclusion was that his ventricle and his head were increasing in size. He wanted a CT Scan to be done and to see him again this next week. We did the CT last week and go to see the Dr. this week. At that point we will discuss surgery... we'll be able to see the remants of the blood and the ventricle better. But we are confident that Dr.DP has darb's best interests in mind and we really trust his judgment. He has been so great and we love him!
So thats where we are. The idea of surgery has started to become more of a reality. But things keep changing and progressing, and we keep moving along. Thats it for now :0)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Things I am currently excited about.
There are a lot of things but I had to talk about these ones...
www.abundantharvestorganics.com
Organic fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers and available for your purchase each week! Great prices and good for local farmers... not to mention, good for your health because you eat more veggies!
Whole Foods
You don't have to search their shelves to find good foods... they are all good.
Deceptively Delicious
I whipped out that cookbook this week and I'm SO excited to try it. I've got the food and the recipe, now I just need the extra hour or so to puree a couple things, and volia! Just don't tell Jason I'm doing it. I want to see if he notices...
Twilight
Comes out on DVD on March 21st. w00000t!
http://thesoftlanding.com
Website for babyish things, all BPA free and such.
Adoration Alignment
Our retreat this weekend. Dave and Jason are teaching, I get to hang out with the wonderful Gap girls, and there might be snow... who wouldn't love that?
Darby
he's continuing to crack me up and i just keep falling in love with him. we all snuggled as a family last night and darby smacked me hard in the face, and jason and i started laughing so hard we almost cried. it was a had-to-be-there moment. but a great moment indeed.
NOTHING ON MY SCHEDULE TODAY!
I have no appointments today or anywhere to be tonight... i have complete obligation freedom for the next 24 hrs and am pretty excited about it..... naptime!!!!
hmmm more things I am excited about, but that's what i could think of at the moment :0)
www.abundantharvestorganics.com
Organic fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers and available for your purchase each week! Great prices and good for local farmers... not to mention, good for your health because you eat more veggies!
Whole Foods
You don't have to search their shelves to find good foods... they are all good.
Deceptively Delicious
I whipped out that cookbook this week and I'm SO excited to try it. I've got the food and the recipe, now I just need the extra hour or so to puree a couple things, and volia! Just don't tell Jason I'm doing it. I want to see if he notices...
Twilight
Comes out on DVD on March 21st. w00000t!
http://thesoftlanding.com
Website for babyish things, all BPA free and such.
Adoration Alignment
Our retreat this weekend. Dave and Jason are teaching, I get to hang out with the wonderful Gap girls, and there might be snow... who wouldn't love that?
Darby
he's continuing to crack me up and i just keep falling in love with him. we all snuggled as a family last night and darby smacked me hard in the face, and jason and i started laughing so hard we almost cried. it was a had-to-be-there moment. but a great moment indeed.
NOTHING ON MY SCHEDULE TODAY!
I have no appointments today or anywhere to be tonight... i have complete obligation freedom for the next 24 hrs and am pretty excited about it..... naptime!!!!
hmmm more things I am excited about, but that's what i could think of at the moment :0)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Fancy seeing you here...
Yeah, I know. I've been busy. I haven't forgotten about my blog, its just that when I think about updating it, I also think about sleeping or laundry or the ever-reproducing bucket full of bottles :0)
But since darb is asleep, and I like hearing the rain and not the dishwasher this morning, I'll try to speed everybody up to date on life.
February started off with a blast... we had a super bowl thingy with Dave and Keara, and ate lots of super bowl type food. Then we went to our first neurologist visit at UCLA. I have to say, I wasn't super happy with the facilities, but I do know that they are under construction and are making do with what they have. The doctor was nice, but its never a good idea to make a mom wait with her 3 month old, in one large waiting room with sick kids coughing up a lung right behind her... (I'm a strong supporter or sick waiting rooms and healthy waiting rooms). ANyways... enough of my complaining, the doctor was good and we are switching darby's medicine to a kinder-less-side-effect kind.
Then.... we went to Santa Barbara for a wedding! Yea for weddings! We had a wonderful drive up there as we toted Karl along with us. We got to visit with Jason, Christin, and Kaden too! Christin was the matron of honor, and so wore many hats that day. We took the opportunity to hang out with Kaden and Jason as they kept themselves occupied. The Hunt's hadn't met Darby yet, and so it was great to finally have our little families together. We took plenty of pictures and we are hopeful that one will show up on their dorm room door as they go to college together later in life? Ha, we can dream right?
Kaden kept trying to eat Darby.
holding hands :0)
The ceremony was especially beautiful and Jason and I were truly blessed by it. Life gets crazy when you have a baby... suddenly his needs come first before thinking of your spouse's. Stressful evenings give way to cranky mornings and tired afternoons, and before you know it you're at odds with your partner and don't know how you got there. But as we sat and listened to the charge from the pastor, we remembered what we promised to each other almost 3 years ago... to love each other, serve each other, and put each other first in all we do. That its only by God's power that we can do that and love each other in the way He wants us to. So thank you Robert and Angela, for inviting us to your wedding and letting us be encouraged in our marriage.
Then, you won't believe what i got to do... "Come on down!!!!" Yes, I went to a taping of The Price is Right! My wonderful sunday school/church age group... I don't know what to call us except that we call ourselves The Gap (Grads and Professionals?)... we had a fundraiser for our retreat that we are having NEXT weekend. The Price is Right was giving us $20 a person to go to a taping, and so we got a huge group of us (24!) and went down to hollywood and participated in this once in a lifetime event. It was fabulous. The waiting for 6 hours out in the cold was grueling, but the experience was just plain awesome. I didn't get to go to contestant row, but hopefully you can all see me on TV. Set your TV to record on MARCH 23RD!!!!! Thats our airdate!
Since I'm such a control freak, we decided long ago to put someone 'in charge' of certain holidays and events... mostly valentines day and our anniversary. This year, it was Jason's turn to do valentines... so he surprised me and took me and darbs to the park and we had a nice picnic with yummy french bread and blue cheese and salami :0) and of course, chocolate.
Today, i am taking Darby to his first physical therapy appointment. The neurologist noticed that his muscle tone looked a little weak, and recommended that we see a PT. She said it was normal for a child that had a brain bleed to have some physical weakness. However, she was encouraged that his cognitive skills were right on for his age. I have no doubts that this PT will be really great for Darby. He's picking up new motor skills all the time, and this is going to be a great step of progress for him.
Then thursday we have our ultrasound and visit with Dr.DP. My mother, who is the best ever, is being a HUGE sport and coming up, AGAIN, to try to help me with this appointment. She came up last week to help with it, but it got cancelled at the last minute. So it was rescheduled and she feels very sure that she doesn't want me going alone. Jason can't be there, because he teaches class on that day, and so she's being a huge help for both of us :0)
But since darb is asleep, and I like hearing the rain and not the dishwasher this morning, I'll try to speed everybody up to date on life.
February started off with a blast... we had a super bowl thingy with Dave and Keara, and ate lots of super bowl type food. Then we went to our first neurologist visit at UCLA. I have to say, I wasn't super happy with the facilities, but I do know that they are under construction and are making do with what they have. The doctor was nice, but its never a good idea to make a mom wait with her 3 month old, in one large waiting room with sick kids coughing up a lung right behind her... (I'm a strong supporter or sick waiting rooms and healthy waiting rooms). ANyways... enough of my complaining, the doctor was good and we are switching darby's medicine to a kinder-less-side-effect kind.
Then.... we went to Santa Barbara for a wedding! Yea for weddings! We had a wonderful drive up there as we toted Karl along with us. We got to visit with Jason, Christin, and Kaden too! Christin was the matron of honor, and so wore many hats that day. We took the opportunity to hang out with Kaden and Jason as they kept themselves occupied. The Hunt's hadn't met Darby yet, and so it was great to finally have our little families together. We took plenty of pictures and we are hopeful that one will show up on their dorm room door as they go to college together later in life? Ha, we can dream right?
Kaden kept trying to eat Darby.
holding hands :0)
Then, you won't believe what i got to do... "Come on down!!!!" Yes, I went to a taping of The Price is Right! My wonderful sunday school/church age group... I don't know what to call us except that we call ourselves The Gap (Grads and Professionals?)... we had a fundraiser for our retreat that we are having NEXT weekend. The Price is Right was giving us $20 a person to go to a taping, and so we got a huge group of us (24!) and went down to hollywood and participated in this once in a lifetime event. It was fabulous. The waiting for 6 hours out in the cold was grueling, but the experience was just plain awesome. I didn't get to go to contestant row, but hopefully you can all see me on TV. Set your TV to record on MARCH 23RD!!!!! Thats our airdate!
Since I'm such a control freak, we decided long ago to put someone 'in charge' of certain holidays and events... mostly valentines day and our anniversary. This year, it was Jason's turn to do valentines... so he surprised me and took me and darbs to the park and we had a nice picnic with yummy french bread and blue cheese and salami :0) and of course, chocolate.
Today, i am taking Darby to his first physical therapy appointment. The neurologist noticed that his muscle tone looked a little weak, and recommended that we see a PT. She said it was normal for a child that had a brain bleed to have some physical weakness. However, she was encouraged that his cognitive skills were right on for his age. I have no doubts that this PT will be really great for Darby. He's picking up new motor skills all the time, and this is going to be a great step of progress for him.
Then thursday we have our ultrasound and visit with Dr.DP. My mother, who is the best ever, is being a HUGE sport and coming up, AGAIN, to try to help me with this appointment. She came up last week to help with it, but it got cancelled at the last minute. So it was rescheduled and she feels very sure that she doesn't want me going alone. Jason can't be there, because he teaches class on that day, and so she's being a huge help for both of us :0)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Neighbors
Its hard to have patience... especially when its 12:30 am and your neighbors are playing loud music. I'm about to go down there and talk to them... I hate to do it. I have never complained to anyone about something they are doing... like never ever (okay, I'm sure I've done it once, but can't think of a time, and Jason doesn't count). I'm one of those people who are completely mortified to think about complaining out loud to strangers... but this is just ridiculous. Jason is trying to sleep and so is darby. Not to mention, I know that these people have small children, don't they need to sleep!? blah.
With that complaint out of the way, I guess I should find some practical life lesson in this 'too small in the scope of eternity' trial ;0) Maybe I should pray for them... My oh-so-favorite sunday school teacher, Dave, taught us a couple weeks ago that we should pray for our enemies. That in thinking of that one person (or numerous people) that absolutely drive us bonkers or drive us to the edge of our sanity... we should humbly lift them up before the Lord in prayer. These people, our neighbors, drive us bonkers... and on occasion (while pregnant actually, and I scapegoat to pregnancy hormones) I have had a temper tantrum about the and just stomped up and down on the ground as hard as I could, hoping they would get the message to turn their blasted bass down so my whole apartment wouldn't be shaking! That was wrong, I know. But instead of giving in to my anger and having a dramatic outburst, which leaves jason's eyes rather large because he can't believe I just had an angry outburst, I should stop and just ask God to take control of the situation.
Who knows... maybe these people work during the day and live life at night and that can be hard to do and stay quiet. Maybe they only get to see their child in the evenings? I don't know, but thats the point... I DON'T know! I shouldn't assume the worst, even though I desperately want to. I should pray for them, I need to pray for them. Even if they don't change, I'm pretty sure God will still change me and my heart. So, thats good.
With that complaint out of the way, I guess I should find some practical life lesson in this 'too small in the scope of eternity' trial ;0) Maybe I should pray for them... My oh-so-favorite sunday school teacher, Dave, taught us a couple weeks ago that we should pray for our enemies. That in thinking of that one person (or numerous people) that absolutely drive us bonkers or drive us to the edge of our sanity... we should humbly lift them up before the Lord in prayer. These people, our neighbors, drive us bonkers... and on occasion (while pregnant actually, and I scapegoat to pregnancy hormones) I have had a temper tantrum about the and just stomped up and down on the ground as hard as I could, hoping they would get the message to turn their blasted bass down so my whole apartment wouldn't be shaking! That was wrong, I know. But instead of giving in to my anger and having a dramatic outburst, which leaves jason's eyes rather large because he can't believe I just had an angry outburst, I should stop and just ask God to take control of the situation.
Who knows... maybe these people work during the day and live life at night and that can be hard to do and stay quiet. Maybe they only get to see their child in the evenings? I don't know, but thats the point... I DON'T know! I shouldn't assume the worst, even though I desperately want to. I should pray for them, I need to pray for them. Even if they don't change, I'm pretty sure God will still change me and my heart. So, thats good.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Honesty
I have to be honest. I'm scared. Tomorrow (or rather today, since I'm up too late), we have our first appointment with Darby's new Neurologist. We are going to UCLA, since that is where insurance is taking us, and so its a whole bunch of 'new' for us. New doctor, new building, new place to park, new dollar amount to have handy for parking... all those silly things are all going to be new.
I don't know why I'm so scared. I just am. Maybe its because we had a little scare at his last doctor's appointment, as we got slightly unfavorable results from the MRI. Maybe i just don't like change ;0) that wink is for you mom.
Jason said it best tonight when he said "we just don't want to go back". We were so happy to be in the hospital and have Darby under such great care. It couldn't have been a better place. But after being home for so long, we don't want to go back. (Now don't think that we have any plans or reasons to be checked into the hospital again, I'm just thinking too hypothetically.)
Maybe its a bad day... lots of things on my mind: figuring out insurance costs, getting authorizations approved, making calls and more calls, and then calling those people all back again, and then calling someone else because they couldn't help you, faxing, appointment setting, requesting records and films, and then doing all those other things that normal mothers do. There is a lot on my mind and there is no room for error in forgetting.
Bottom Line: I don't want bad news. I want darby to be healthy and my questions to be answered with positive answers. I want to feel confident that this new doctor truly cares about my child and is taking his case very seriously. I want peace in knowing everything is okay.
Jason reminded me tonight that there is perfect peace for the mind that is set in Him. If we all only truly kept our minds on Him! I don't want to waste my life worrying... what kind of life would that be?
I hope that whoever reads this doesn't feel a need to reply or send encouragement because they have to. I just wanted to be honest, since at this moment, I don't have that huge desire to be the strong one that holds all the burdens without shedding a tear.
I hope tomorrow goes well.
I don't know why I'm so scared. I just am. Maybe its because we had a little scare at his last doctor's appointment, as we got slightly unfavorable results from the MRI. Maybe i just don't like change ;0) that wink is for you mom.
Jason said it best tonight when he said "we just don't want to go back". We were so happy to be in the hospital and have Darby under such great care. It couldn't have been a better place. But after being home for so long, we don't want to go back. (Now don't think that we have any plans or reasons to be checked into the hospital again, I'm just thinking too hypothetically.)
Maybe its a bad day... lots of things on my mind: figuring out insurance costs, getting authorizations approved, making calls and more calls, and then calling those people all back again, and then calling someone else because they couldn't help you, faxing, appointment setting, requesting records and films, and then doing all those other things that normal mothers do. There is a lot on my mind and there is no room for error in forgetting.
Bottom Line: I don't want bad news. I want darby to be healthy and my questions to be answered with positive answers. I want to feel confident that this new doctor truly cares about my child and is taking his case very seriously. I want peace in knowing everything is okay.
Jason reminded me tonight that there is perfect peace for the mind that is set in Him. If we all only truly kept our minds on Him! I don't want to waste my life worrying... what kind of life would that be?
I hope that whoever reads this doesn't feel a need to reply or send encouragement because they have to. I just wanted to be honest, since at this moment, I don't have that huge desire to be the strong one that holds all the burdens without shedding a tear.
I hope tomorrow goes well.
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