Sweet Home Alabama

We’ve been pretty busy lately.  I guess I should start off by first giving an update for Addyson’s kidney.  We had a VCUG and DMSA at TX Children’s and everything came back good.  She has absolutely no function in her left kidney, which is what we wanted.  Right now, she was taken off the antibiotic and will have another u/s in August.  They will keep a close eye on her for the first year, and then I think the check ups with the specialist will be more spread out.  They just want to ensure that the cysts do not grow.

This past weekend we went to Batre La Bayou in Alabama to see Derek’s Granddaddy.  We had a wonderful time.  Zane loved it there... He got to pick a squash that was the size of his head and a watermelon with Granddaddy and Grammy.  Derek’s Momma came with us too.  Derek, Zane and I went over to Dolphin Island (Addyson stayed at Granddaddy’s) to the beach.  It was the first time for Zane to go in the water at the beach.  It was so fun.  It was just so nice to go somewhere without internet and turn off the cell phones.  On the flight home some how Addyson’s reflux RX spilled, so we are trying to work with the doctor’s office/pharmacy/insurance company to get it refilled now.  

I’m working on getting everything to get Zane registered for school.  We have to get all his documentation from the court, which is making it a little difficult.  I have to also change everything at the doctor’s office for the shot’s record etc.  It’s a mess and giving me such a headache.  Working with the state on this kind of thing is much like pulling teeth.  

Addyson is doing good and getting big.  Well, we finally moved out of Newborn sized diapers into size 1.  They are still a tad too big, but the other’s started to leak.  She’s slowly moving out of her newborn sized clothing into 0-3 months.  At her 2 month check-up she weighed 10 lb.  She’s doing better with her neck control.  She smiles and coos now too.  It’s so cute... She’ll mimic me.  Once I get her to focus on me I’ll start making “Whoooo” noises and she will repeat me.  We will continue doing that for a couple of minutes, and it will end with her giving me the biggest smile.   

Last thing, my maternity leave just got extended.  It’s really strange how this worked out.   Hewitt changed their FMLA carrier on June 1st, so anyone who was currently out on a leave their time went back to zero.  Meaning, that my 12 weeks started on June 1st vs. April 22nd.  My first RTW date was July 15th, but now I have the option to push it back to August 24th.

Below are some pictures from the Alabama trip and a visit to the police station.  Enjoy!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July....

Appointment with the Urologist

Dr. Jones (Ped. Urologist at Texas Childrens) was extremely positive on Friday.  We are going to have to do two more additional test/scans down at the medical center to have a complete diagnosis, but from the ultra sound he was pretty certain that the left kidney has 0% function.  This is actually good news, weird huh?  He said that you would much rather have a kidney with absolutely no function vs. a kidney that has 10% function.  A kidney without any function won't have to be removed whereas the other would most likely have to be removed. A partially functioning kidney (only 10% etc) have a tendency to cause infections in the healthy kidney.  

Addyson will continue to stay on the antibiotic until these two test are complete.  There is another issue that can occur (something with reflux in the name of the disorder, lol) that could cause infections.  The scan will help determine if that is an issue or not, but he doesn't see that it will be a problem. 

His assistant will give me a call today (hopefully) with the appointment time for the scans.  I think they will be an all day event, but I'm ready to have a diagnosis and a plan in place for her... Which these scans will finally give us.  She will see the Urologist every 3 months and he will do an u/s every visit just to ensure nothing changes with her right kidney.  He also said that we will address sports/activities when she gets older, but as long as she doesn't play hockey he thinks she can be a normal kiddo.

Thank you to everyone again for all the prayers :)

Here are some pictures from Zane's birthday party and a birthday lunch...

Update from Friday's u/s...

We didn’t receive the best news from the u/s on Friday, unfortunately. The "kidney" is worst than what we thought.  It appears to really not be a kidney, but a cluster of cysts that formed instead of the kidney.  The only good news is that she won't need surgery to remove the "kidney" because in most cases the cysts will shrink and disappear over time.  

Needless to say, I'm devastated!  I know that I should have been prepared going to the u/s that this could happen, but I think I got my hopes up.  I thought they would tell me that what ever was seen in the u/s sound when I was pregnant had since disappeared or were shadows (yes wishful thinking).  I had my hopes up so high, and I'm so upset now.  I know we can survive with just one kidney, but I'll constantly be worried that something will happen to her right one.

We have another appointment on the 29th of this month with the Urologist... Please keep Addyson in your prayers. 

With Love,

Amanda

P.S. I posted the pictures that Christin took (C Marie Photography)

New Jobs and Doctor's Appointment

The big news these days (other than the obvious) is Derek getting a new job.  God's timing is perfect and there is denying it!  We've been praying for months that Derek would be able to find a job before Addyson was born.  He was working at the same company as his Dad in a 100% commission position for the past month or two.  Of course, it takes time to get clients and even though Derek was going on meetings almost every day with potential clients it was still really nerve racking.  Well, when we were still in the hospital Derek got a call asking him to come in for an interview for another company... They wanted him to come in that day, but he postponed it for Monday (seeing as we were still in the hospital).  He went to the interview on Monday and it went great, and by 2:00 o'clock on Monday afternoon Derek got a call with an offer.  This is a salaried position vs. commission which is what I felt like we needed at this point in time.  They are also giving him an auto allowance on top of his salary and paying for his cell phone.  All I could do was cry, because of the timing of how everything has worked out this month and this past year for that matter.  The Lord is so incredible!

Another update is from Addyson's doctors appointment today, some good news and some not so good news.  The good news is that she gained back 4.5 oz from last Monday, so she's almost back to her birth weight.  She weighs 6.9 oz.  Now the not so good news... She might have an infection that is caused from her kidney.  The doctor ran a test on her urine and something showed up that may be an early indication of an infection.  He went ahead and sent the urine off to have more tests ran, and that will tell us more.  The doctor also went ahead and put Addyson on an antibiotic just in case.  It's upsetting to have my 12 day old newborn already on an antibiotic, but this is all things that they prepared us for when we found out about her kidney.  We will also have an ultrasound soon.  I will be sure to post an update.

Please continue to keep her in your prayers....

Bathtime Fun and Soccer Games

We took some pictures from Addyson's first bath.  As you can see, she was not very fond of taking a bath.  I'm sure as she gets a little older things will change.  She was not a happy camper through any of it though.

Addyson and I  also went on our first VERY VERY short outing.  Zane had a soccer game today, and we went out to the fields to watch him for about 30 minutes.  Since we were outside and there wasn't anyone really around us, I wasn't very worried.  I had to miss last weeks game, and I just couldn't miss another one.  I think Zane was really excited to have his baby sister there "watching" him too.  Speaking of, Zane scored his (and his teams' for that matter) first goal.  It was so cute.  The team they played against had two kids that I swear I wanted to check their birth certificates, because there was no way they were 4 to 5 yrs old... They looked like they were at least 8 years old.  Of course, with the league being through the church they don't keep score.  

Derek also got Zane a slip-n-slide today, and they had a blast... They being Zane, Derek, and Apple.  I don't have any pictures to post, unfortunately.  Zane is showing a few signs that he is having a little bit of a hard time with all the changes, so we are trying to do things specially for him. I think he had a great time today though!  

Enjoy the pictures....

Love,

Amanda

Addyson Day Adams is Here!

Miss Addyson was born exactly a week ago on April 22nd at 9:50 PM.  She was a little smaller than what we expected (which her Mommy is not complaining about)... 6lb 12oz and 18.25in. She's a doll (as you can see below).  

On Wednesday morning I woke up extremely sick, so Lindy came over to bring me some fluids to keep me hydrated.  Well, even though I thought I was doing a good job hiding the contractions, she could tell that I was having them by my facial expressions.  She insisted I call the doctor.  I really hesitated due to the amount of times I've been sent home from the hospital and I just saw my doctor the day before.  But with the contractions coming every 5 to 7 minutes apart I decided to go ahead and call.  They had me go up to L&D because my doctor was the on-call doctor for the day.  Needless to say, after she checked me out she decided it was going to be Addyson's birthday and they started inducing me.

We have such wonderful family and friends who came and visited us at the hospital.  We love all of you!  One of my close friends, Christin Wooden came up to the hospital and took some unbelievable pictures of Addyson.  They are gorgeous, and I cannot wait for her take more :)

Addyson has jaundice (sp?) that we are working on getting rid of right now, but other than that she is doing great!  We are scheduled to see the specialist around her kidney, but she is going to bathroom without any problems and that is a great sign.  I will keep everyone updated on that appointment.  

Photo taken by C Marie Photography (Christin Wooden)
Photo taken by C Marie Photography (Christin Wooden)
Photo taken by C Marie Photography (Christin Wooden)
Photo taken by C Marie Photography (Christin Wooden)

The picture above is the only one not taken by Christin (As you could probably tell, hehe)

Photo taken by C Marie Photography (Christin Wooden)
Photo taken by C Marie Photography (Christin Wooden)

Addyson's Room

Here are some pictures of Addyson's room.  It's still not 100% finished (we still have some pictures for two of the walls and rug to get) but it's almost there.  The picture of the curtain... the spot on the wall next to the curtains is a shadow.  

We've made progress this weekend...

This weekend we made some progress.  We registered, finally got the crib that was on back order, Derek put the crib together, my Momma got us our bedding and favorite chandelier, and we "talked" about finally getting our guest room bed moved out of Addyson's room.  I don't want to post any pictures until her room is complete, but I got some pictures from the stores websites etc so you can see some key components.  The bedding in the picture really doesn't do the bedding justice and it really isn't the color (you have to see it in person).  I promise I will post pictures of the finish product.

The Adams' Apple

We adopted a 6 week old Boxer mix from our local animal shelter.  She is adorable.  I know, I know we are crazy for getting a puppy a few months before having an infant.  I would probably agree, but we already love her so much.  Derek thinks it was a good way to start preparing Zane for the changes that are soon to come with the arrival of Addyson.

We also had another appointment with our normal doctor and everything is the same... Which is good that nothing changed.  Addyson weighs in at 1 lb and 14 oz.  She is getting big.

Enjoy the pictures of Miss Apple...

Addyson's Update

We had our appointment with the specialist today.  I went into appointment feeling like everything was going to be fine and we would be told that nothing was wrong with her kidney and our other doctor must have been seeing things.  Well, it did not turn out that way, but at least we walked away with a better understanding.

Addyson's right kidney is completely normal and healthy, but her left kidney does have cysts as we were told.  Her left kidney is about 3 cm and the largest cyst is about 1 cm.  They could have formed due to a blockage, or the kidney could have formed initially with the cysts.  We were able to see both kidneys side by side and there is definitely a noticeable difference between her right and left one.  That was a little hard to see, to be honest.

Dr. Reiter (the specialist) looked at everything, and thankfully she seems to be growing as expected.  Miss Addyson weighs in a 1 lb 5 oz.  He also confirmed, as did the other 2 u/s we had in December, that we are having a little girl.  The only area that he wasn't able to get the best look/measurements for was her heart due to her position.  Although, he was able to verify that she has 4 chambers and her rate etc looked fine.

We will continue to see Dr. Reiter (in addition to my normal doctor) every 4 weeks, so he can closely monitor her kidney and ensure the right one continues to look healthy and cyst-free.

Derek and I feel very blessed that she has one healthy kidney.  Prayer is the best and only thing we can do for Addyson at this point, and we know the Lord will take good care of her.  I will be sure to keep everyone updated on the situation.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support, and please continue to pray for our little girl.

Pictures...

Here are some pictures from Christmas, Zoo, Monster Jam, and new belly pictures.  As you will be able to see, Miss Addyson is growing :)  Please ignore the Christmas tree in the background of the belly pics, we will it down before she is born, I promise...