Happy Halloween :oD

Tummy Aches

Oh boy. Well I decided to blog about what the last couple of days have been like with Darby. Its easier than facebooking it to the world.

I decided to take a couple days at home, just for a visit since I hadn't been home in a while. As soon as I pulled into the complex that my parents live in, the car started to smell horrible... it smelled like i was driving past a herd of cows. I had to roll the windows down! Darb had pooped! We got him out of the car and changed his diaper... it was horrible diarrhea. Poor guy.

That night he woke up at 6am and I went to get him up and he smelled horrible again. More diarrhea.

Monday he was just plain cranky. He was super sensitive and not full of smiles. He ate about 10 oz total that day... 4 in the morning and then 4 at night and 2 at midnight. His diarrhea continued on that day. Then he vomited... but it seemed like he vomited because he gagged... we hoped.

Tuesday. More diarrhea. We started him on bananas and rice cereal to try to bind him up as well as pedialyte. Ten minutes after he ate, he puked... maybe because he gagged? Now I didn't know. He was really cranky and really sensitive tuesday. It was extremely hard to keep him happy. I was still in San Diego, and I was going to drive home that evening after traffic. Well, 6pm rolls around and he had eaten 4 oz. I was changing his diaper and taking his temp, when he pukes... badly. It even came out his nose! My mom grabbed him up and took him to the kitchen to start rinsing off... he starts puking again, this time projectile, and Chris had to jump out of the way. My mom and i looked at each other and said, "hospital".

So we packed up the car, and my mom came with. It worked out perfectly that Chris was working closer to LA today and would be able to pick her up later. We drove straight to Cedars... I was concerned about his shunt. I knew it could be a stomach virus, and was hoping that was it. But I was just getting more concerned. I think when you say, "shunt failure possibly", they take you seriously. Also, when its horrible flu season and they don't want the baby out with the swine flu sickies, they get you a room asap. That was one of the best ERs I've been to (UCLA is pretty nice too).

We saw the doctor and he really felt like it was a stomach virus and not his shunt. Which made me feel better. But he did say he was concerned that he's now dehydrated. They wanted a tiny bit of blood and to do an IV. We started the process of trying to get an IV at about 10:30 pm. 6 nurses later, and 7 pokes (at least), we had an IV line. OH and it was now 1:30am. Darby was insanely exhausted and we were all just at our limits. It was actually 2 PICU nurses that came down that did darby's IV. They recognized us... it almost felt like a family moment, funny enough. I love those PICU nurses; they did a fabulous job.

Darb got 2 bags of fluids and we got sent home. We all ended up in bed around 3:30-4am. Darb was up at 6am... don't know why. So we put him back to bed, and he went to sleep. He has been drinking pedialyte out of a straw... like a little bird! Its hilarious. We suction the fluid in the straw with our finger, and put the straw in his mouth. He loves this and even opens his mouth for more. He also got the hang of a sippy cup and got some fluids that way (we have to take the no-spill stopper out so that it flows freely. he cant quite get used to sucking the sippy cup). We gave him some bananas, and he just had horribly explosive diarrhea afterwards. So I decided that he would fall under the category as a 'formula only' baby (according to our take home instructions), and he's going to only get pedialyte today.

Now he's taking a nap. My mom and Chris have come and gone. Jason is at work. And my toes are absolutely freezing. I'm going to go bundle up and clean up the house... as we might have a rough night/day ahead of us and we might be driving/strolling around for most of it.

Those are our adventures the last couple of days. We're praying Darby starts getting better soon :o) because its almost his birthday!

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday blogging world :o) the Hendrickson family is pooped. We got our organic produce this morning, so we had to get it at 8am, darby was up by 6:45am, we gave him a bath and we all got ready to go to the pumpkin patch! There is this absolutely fabulous one out here and we met up with our friends, Keara and Dave, and their little angel, Nora. Keara's brother, Ken, was the BIGGEST sweetheart and came and took pictures. He's pretty awesome. I can't wait to see what he caught on camera. I'm going to be happy if there is one good picture! That is just how cranky darby was... now moms out there... why is it that when you go to take good pictures, its just plain chaos? I had a cute outfit for darb, and he's been sitting on his own, so i was excited to get him to sit with a pumpkin.... yeah, right. He was so mad I couldn't put him down... and then its was HOT. So that cute sweater and cords outfit? yeah, lost it. He ended up wearing the cords with a onesie that had wienerdogs on it, because it was his 'undershirt'... sigh, oh well :o) I CANNOT wait for the day that darby is walking and he and Nora can go attack the goats in the petting zoo :o) won't that be fun keara?

I promise to post pics when we get them :o) except for maybe the one we use for our christmas card... if we got one!

Jason has passed out on the couch, watching college football... darby is asleep in his crib, finally. I'm considering dishes that need to be done.

I've also been doing a lot of reminiscing because its almost darby's 1st birthday! One year ago, we went to the pumpkin patch... i was SO pregnant, i was a little nervous people thought i was stealing a pumpkin. We bought a tiny pumpkin and took pictures with darby with it after he was born. I'll post that.
Holy cow, right?! He was SO little :o)
I was so desperate to feel a contraction and have that baby! My due date was actually October 30th... but darby disagreed.

The one thing I do remember vividly from pregnancy, was the fear of the unknown. I would let myself think of what ifs, and get scared... what if he has autism? what if he died in childbirth? what if, what if, what if... well, a what if happened, and darby had a stroke. Jason and I have always agreed, its much worse to go through the fear of what ifs, than going through the actual trial. God gives you grace to persevere, and He's never out of control... you might feel like you are, and well, YOU ARE! I've been working on telling myself, its okay that you're not in control... because God is, and he's going to do a much better job of things than I am.

Anyways... its weird to look back at where we were one year ago... its been a long and yet such a quick year... here are some more pics because i'm feeling nostalgic.

so you know we're still here.

I thought I'd update, just to reassure any who thought we did disappear.

So where do I start???
PICTURES!

Darb- he's doing well. He is now up to 7 hours a week of therapy... ug. I also lost my one and only weekday without a therapy. So we have 1-2 therapies a day, and that keeps us busy... you know, making sure the carpet is clean, darby has eaten, making sure he gets his medicine at the right time so that he isn't too sleepy for therapy, and then making sure he gets a nap at a right time in order to have him awake at the right time for his next thing.
He is sitting up a bit more and rolling a bit more... the things we are working on include: arm strength, using his arms to catch himself if he falls while sitting, pivoting on his tummy to move to another toy, and attempting to show darby that he can stand. That last one is probably the hardest at the moment. He cries a lot when we try to strengthen his arms... but he has some strength because sometimes when he doesnt realize it, he's using his hands/arms to lean and hold his weight. But standing? wooo... not a fan of that. I am hopeful... not just because God is good and we're praying for darby to grow in his abilities... but also because we've been through this before, with his tummy. In July of 2009, darby hated being on his tummy. We thought, how is he ever going to be able to handle rolling if he hates his tummy time? Well, now he does. (granted, not for long, its still not his favorite position) But he does it!!!! So we are hopeful that he'll stand and then one day walk! Want to know what is just crazy? How TALL darby is! I don't realize it until a therapist is holding him up and working on his weight bearing... if he could stand and walk the furniture, he could use the couch for a table! He's huge!

Oh, on to other things. Darby is almost 1. Holy Smokes. I know. So, we are having celebrations here for him, and we asked that instead of toys, maybe we could just collect spare change to start saving for Darby's therapies and schools that we will eventually have to pay for. For instance, we are on a waiting list for a therapy place called Carousel Ranch. They are wonderful people who work with special needs children via horseback riding. Its a long waiting list :( but we are willing to wait! Its also going to cost $30 a session, once a week, which does add up. They have scholarship programs that we'll look into, but for now, we are saving up! So, thats where that spare change would go... BUT I know my mom has said, she'd like to get Darby something for his birthday, and so does some other family. That being said, I created an Amazon.com wishlist for Darby. I put some toys on there that I think he'd like, or baby supplies that we could use. Since we have a small place, we sort of have to be more purposeful with toys and large objects... and since certain toys are better for his learning abilities, we like to stick with those first. If you're interested, you can find the list by searching for my name, and then look for the list called "For Darby" (since I have my own list).

Jason- He's working, a lot. He kind of has 3 jobs... one full time, one sort of part time, and one random one that comes up once in a while... its been crazy busy because all three decided to happen one week... so we were husband/daddyless for a couple days as he worked hard. But we're proud of him and all the work he does. It makes us love the weekends even more!

Me?- Curtains!!! I'm making curtains for the kitchen. SO cute. I'm done with one panel, and am working on panel 2 today... however, they might be the wrong length, so that adjustment might take more work tonight. I think the fabric is fabulous and can't wait to show you all pictures :o) think pears... and polka dots.
My mom is here, which is great. She pretty much fixed both sewing machines that I had in my possession, that I had managed to break. She knows so much more about sewing than I do!

I had a fabulous lunch date with Keara yesterday :o) yum.

Oh, and we're having company this weekend! yay!!!! my very awesomest friend, Erin, is coming down to SoCal with her hubby, Jason... yes, another Jason. And they will be with us Saturday night till Monday morning. Jason and Erin have been living in GERMany (as i like to call it) for the last year and some months. Jason is an Army medic that was deployed for a year in Iraq. He is finally back and they are finally together again, and they are looking to move back to CA in the next MONTH! Wooooo HOOOOO! They will be visiting for the weekend and meeting darby! As well as catching up with lots of college friends. I'm looking forward to it :o)

Well, I'm going to go back to sewing. Just wanted to update and tell you how our lives are going. Everyone is somewhat stable, healthy, and alive :o) which is good.

Privacy Practices

On a less than personal note, this website made me laugh today, very hard. I don't know if you are aware of the great enterprise called woot.com. It is a 'one deal, one day' website that sells random things at great deals. They have recently just branched out to do a kids.woot.com. (after having wine.woot.com and shirt.woot.com- which is my ALL time favorite). Todays kids.woot should have you laughing...

Graco Digital iMonitor Mini Baby Monitor

$39.99

• + $5 shipping

Condition:

new

Product:

1 Graco Digital iMonitor Mini Baby Monitor 2M13

LEAVE BABY ALONE!

Back in the old days, a baby had a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Oh, sure, babies have always been under a lot of pressure to make public appearances, receive visitors, meet the new family and friends, sit for photo ops with the proud grandparents, et cetera. But back in our day the cameras had film in them, which eventually ran out. And video cameras were still pretty rare. Now, sheesh, they’re totally ubiquitous. People take movies on their freaking phones now; you can’t get away from it.

Most significantly, though, in our time, when a baby retired to his crib or cradle, he was offstage. He could relax. That was private space, inaccessible to the fans. Yeah, mom could get in, but that was it. A baby didn’t have to be “on” in the nursery. He could just relax.

It’s not like that these days. Now a baby’s under surveillance all the time. Not only has digital photography made a paparazzo out of everyone, but cameras and sound equipment have actually penetrated the nursery itself.

Think what it’s like for these babies coming up now, with a Graco audio monitor right there, cribside, broadcasting every gurgle and fart with crystal clarity to a constant audience. Can you imagine living like that? Worried your every little spit-up might end up as the Internet’s next most-downloaded mp3?

Man, it’s no wonder today’s babies are so neurotic.

Busy Week!

What a busy week it has been! Sorry that we dropped off the face of the planet for awhile... life was busy, then I got a cold, then Jason got something nasty which was later named bronchitis, then the next day I got worse and had pneumonia.... one week later, i finally shook off my fever and was able to take Darby back from my Mom (who graciously baby sat so Darby wouldn't get sick!). Thank the Lord that Darby was able to stay healthy through the whole ordeal!

So this week we've been catching up on Darby's therapies, since he had to miss a week... and he's had double duty almost everyday! But he's such a trooper and is hanging in there. Other developments include the lack of eating that Darby was showing... I finally got fed up with the idea of Darby starving himself and he doesn't know it! One of his medications, Zonegran, is an appetite suppressant... and since he's been on this medication he goes through cycles of not wanting to eat. Last Monday he had 8 oz... TOTAL. No juice, water, solid foods... he just eats formula. That is when I made the call to the pediatrician. I was concerned that he might be anemic or lethargic and I wanted some tests done. Darby needs as many calories as he can get because he has to work so hard to do physical things.

Monday's blood test showed some wonky results... his carbon dioxide levels were off. So we went in yesterday to do a retest, as well as a urine collection. Basically the story is this... there are 2 possible reasons for his carbon dioxide levels to be off. One of them, is a condition that focuses in your kidneys. If he is expelling bicarbonates in his urine, when really his body is low in its bicarbonate supply, then its the kidney doing something wrong. But if the urine is showing an okay pH balance, and his bicarbonates in his blood are low, then its the second reason... his Zonegran.

Another lovely side effect of Zonegran is possible acidosis of his blood... his blood becomes too acidic. Bicarbonates keep your blood at the right pH level... if you are low in bicarbonates, then your blood can become acidic. This is possibly what the Zonegran is doing. This condition seems to be more frequently found in younger children who are taking this drug.

So the primary results of the urine test are that it looks good... which would indicate the problem is stemming from the medication. Today we are hoping to get the results of his blood test, to confirm the problem. If his levels are still low, we'll call neurology and let them know, and then make a game plan for fixing the problem. I don't know what the solution will be exactly, if we will change medications immediately, ween off of it, or just lower the dose. But as far as I know, its not an emergency situation.

So besides that, Darby is doing well with his therapy. We're still working on his endurance for all of his therapies. We have finally got the last approval for his 2nd hour of Occupational Therapy, so starting next week we'll be up to our 7 hours a week! Oh, and he's been doing a really good job sitting up on his own! He's been sitting up for about 20-30 seconds without any support. He seems to be really good at it, until he realizes what he's doing! If you can keep him distracted, he sits for a good long while! But you definitely have to sit behind him because once he realizes that he's sitting, he throws himself back really quickly! He's just so cute, and we love him so much :o)

Jason and I are staying busy too! Jason has picked up some extra work on the side with computer consulting, and thats just a huge blessing! And I've been sewing up storm! I used some birthday money to get a couple AMAZING sewing books. I finally received them in the mail this week and I have barely been able to put them down. I made a 'taggie' blanket last night! I am having SO much fun sewing. I really wish I was better at it, but the practice will do me good! I suppose its a great way to learn! I've tried looking for local classes to help with my skills, but have been so disappointed to not find any! But I'm enjoying what I'm doing and I am starting to make things to stockpile and use as gifts as well as an inventory so that I can open my own Etsy store soon :o)

The baby boy is awake! So I better be off to go get him :o)