Fetal Echo Results

                                    

 Monday January 18th I had my fetal echocardiogram at DCH (Detroit Children's Hospital) downtown Detroit.  Unfortunately my insurance would not let me get this procedure done in Ann Arbor MI (15 minutes from home) instead I had to travel over an hour to Detroit.  Nonetheless, I was glad I had medical insurance.

I waited in the waiting room for an hour and then spent about an hour with the tech and Dr.  The baby was very active as they were bugging him.  It was hard to "count the leaflets" as the Dr put it.  He suspects that his heart is totally normal top to bottom, however he did find something that made him hesitant to completely rule out a bicuspid aortic valve.  It is hard to explain and especially since I am NOT a cardiologist I will spare the details.  But end of story, he wants to see the new baby after a week of life and perform another echocardiogram just to make sure.  The Dr said he may be hypersensitive as he knows Carter has a bicuspid aortic valve and so they are trying to find one on this baby as well, but that he may not have one at all.  But the baby is fine and all looks good, no changes in delivery plans and nothing to worry about hopefully.  We will just see once he arrives and we can do another echo.

I am curious to see what my OBGYN has to say once he gets the report.  But I just pray that all is well and that we have nothing to worry about.  I also think to myself, maybe many of us have small abnormalities with our organs/hearts that we just never know about because we don't see any symptoms.  As Carters congenital heart defect is not bothering him at ALL and we don;t expect that it will, we just happened to look into a seemingly simple heart murmur.  And this baby is only getting his heart looked at because of his big brother.  I am just excited for this little guy to get here.

Carter's Many Changes - - - Big Boy Bear & Big Boy Bed

So after Christmas we decided we needed to transition Carter into his "Big Boy Bed".  We bought a bed on Craigslist and Chris repainted it blue and we put on it a brand new football quilt that Mema (great grandma) made for him.  He was very excited about the transition and watched his dad take down his "cribby" and put up his new bed.  For the first 2 weeks it was great.  We had the railing up and he would climb into bed and go right to sleep (just like when he was in his crib) no issues.  Until the day he found out how to climb out.  So we discovered how to climb out the one end and then we had to keep taking him back up to his bed.  That lasted a few nights until we put the other railing on the bed, overlapping the two, so there was no longer any opening for him to climb out.  Problem solved...he no longer climbed out..and all was going great until about a week ago......

WE LOST "NI-NIGHT" (PACIFIER") 

Carter has used a pacifier for only naps and bedtime for about a year and a half.  He could not carry it around the house and had to leave it in his bed before he could get out of bed.  Hence the name "Ni-night".  It helped him calm down for bed and fall fast asleep.  Well on 1/15/10 Friday at the babysitter's house he LOST it, our last one.  The babysitter said he took a good nape without it, so I decided to go with it.  He was told it was gone and that we didn't have it anymore.  That didn't make him feel better, but at least he knew it was GONE!  So first night...He screamed for 2 hours before falling asleep.  He was angry and me, yelling things like "GET BACK IN HERE MOM!!!"  and  "I NEED IT NOW!!!"  I told him that he was a big boy now and that we could go get a Big Boy Bear if he would go to sleep.  He was in a rage that night so I was not sure he would even remember what I had promised him.  I should have known he would remember because first thing the next morning was "Can we go bet my Big Boy Bear today?"  I kept my promise and we headed to Build a Bear for him to pick out the "BIG BOY BEAR" to replace his pacifier.  He told the girl at the store all about the traumatic night without the pacifier and that he was a big boy now.  He picked out his own bear and even named it witha birth certificate for "Big Boy Bear".  I have yet to take his picture with the bear, but here is the bear he picked out.

He loves his bear and he no longer asks about his "ni-night"  I wish I could say that he falls asleep as quick and as peacefully as he used to, but that is not the case.  He still naps and sleep by himself, but it takes a little longer.  Some times over an hour.  He doesn't get out of his bed, but he talks, sings, tells stories and rolls around in his bed until finally he passes out.  We always wonder what we will find when we check on him.  Sometimes he is asleep sitting up in his bed.  We don't care as long as he falls asleep and stays in his bed!  I just hope that 7 weeks is long enough for him to full DETACH himself from the pacifier before baby #2 comes along.  We shall see.

Carter has many more CHANGES to come, but I think he will do fine.  It may take awhile to adjust to not having mom and dad's FULL attention, but he will be a great Big Brother!  I am excited for the 2 of them to meet.

Cloth Diapering...anyone?

So I have been looking into cloth diapering for baby #2.  I have done a lot of research, attended classes, talked with friends and everything has been positive.  I even bought a few already on a SUPER deal I found.  The ones we have tried are BumGenius, Happy Heiney's and Blueberry.  So far I have been happy and I plan on moving forward with it.  Since baby #2 will hopefully not be our last I figured it was worth a shot to try and save some money. 

If anyone has any ideas, thoughts, or knowledge to share with me I am open.  I am learning very quickly everyone has an opinion and everyone likes something different.  I guess that makes sense since every child is different in size and bodily functions.  Let me know any tips if you have any to share. 

Holiday Happenings in the Edwards Household

(Carter's new train table - - He and Niko played together so well)

(Lillia- Jon's little girl - 10 months old...and looks just like her daddy...such a sweetie)

Lots of visitors and lots of fun.  Our fun started on December 13th when my brother Jamie came home from Utah State University.  Carter could hardly contain himself and his excitement that he was there.  Jamie watched Carter for 2 days while Chris and I worked...I am not sure he knew what he was in for, but he did great!

Mom and Dad (Nana and Pepa) came home on the 16th and stayed till January 2nd.  We picked them up at the airport and Carter never stopped talking from the moment they got into the car till he went to bed that night.  Just jibber-jabber.  He sure has missed them.

Then my sister Emily and nephew Niko came on the 18th and we all headed down to Ohio to see my brother Jon, sister-in-law Becca and niece Lillia.  We took family pictures that were long over-due and just enjoyed one another's company.

Then Emily headed back to Nebraska and we all (Jamie, Nana, Pepa, and Niko) headed back to our home in Michigan until Christmas.  Niko stayed behind without his mom to spend time w/ his Nana and Pepa and cousin Carter.  We went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan for the Christmas Holiday Lights.  It was wonderful...FREEZING but Wonderful.  Carter got to ride the old fashioned Carosel and even got to see Santa and 2 of his reindeer.  At the very back of the village they had Santa on top of Rob Frost's house saying Merry Christmas to everyone and their children.  He had helpers on the ground wearing Microphones.  You told his helpers your child's name and he would tell them Merry Christmas from the rooftop.  So he said "Merry Christmas Carter and Niko" and made believers out of both of them.  Carter even yelled to Santa..."Make the reindeers fly Santa".  He told everyone that Santa had told him Merry Christmas.  He felt special.

11 people under one roof for 5 straight days...that was our house.  Emily came back on Christmas eve and Becca, Jon and Lillia came up from Ohio all to saty at our house. 

Here are a few highlights:

-Decorated the traditional Sugar Cookies- - -Yummy!

-Played cards (Crazy Rummy our favorite)

-Had the traditional enchilada Christmas Eve dinner

-Left cookies and a carrot for Santa d his reindeer (Carter hought it was great that the reindeer ate the carrot Christmas morning)

-Opened presents...Carter loved his train table and trains that Santa brought him.  In fact he thought every gift was from Santa.   He also loved his new snow boots and wants to wear them everywhere he goes.

-We all ate too much food, but enjoyed doing it!

It was a great Christmas and we loved having everyone under one roof.   it is back to the grind of work and an empty house. Carter was sad to see everyone go and asks when they are all coming back (even Santa). Sad we won't see Jamie, Emily or Niko for a while.  But Nana is coming back for baby #2 in March I am sure we will see Jon, Becca and Lillia around that same time.

Happy Holidays had by all here at the Edwards house!!!

Week of bum rash, burns, and bites!

I was worn out after last week that I needed the weekend to recoop!  So I am getting to blog finally today!  Carter reminded me all week of the numerous joys of motherhood.  We started on Wednesday when he stayed at home with me and got diarrhea.  A joy for both of us.  Oranges are in season and of course he loves them, but his little sensitive bum DOES NOT!  Mind you he gets diarrhea very easily and diaper rash just as easy.  So we dealt with that most of the day and he continued to remind me each time that he had a "BUM RASH" with all seriousness.

Later that same daye we decided we would enjoy making some cookies together.  I was being very careful and I had told Carter several times that the stove top was hot and that it would burn him.  He was doing well and enjoying licking sugar granules off of his fingers.  Until, I turned my back for literally one second and he touched the stove top.  I heard a sizzle....I quickly ripped him off of the stool and threw him into the kitchen sink and started running the water and got ice in a cup with cold water.  Before he could even get the crying and tears out he had his arm up to his elbows in ice water.  Thanksfully he just got some tiny blisters on his 3 middle fingers and he wasn't bothered by it at all.  But I beat myself up about it all week, thinking about what could have happened.  Mom guilt was running high!

The next day Thursday Carter went to the babysitter Jeanie's house.  She has 2 girls 3 and almost 5 I think and a 7 month old boy.  When I arrived she told me hesitantly that Carter had bitten his son on the hand and that he had left teeth marks.  He had never done this before.  I was angry, embarressed, sad, disappointed and upset all at once.  Carter openly admitted his transgression and stated that "Lincoln take my snack!  I bite him!"  We have several long discussions on the way home, the entire night, and then when his dad got home.  We wondered is he understood...but when Chris took him back to Jeanie's the next day Chris said, "Now you be a good boy at Jeanie's today!"  and Carter promptly responded, "NO BITING!"  And today when I picked him up from Mary's she told me that Carter had told her she had bit Lincoln and that it has made his mom sad.  I hope he got it!  I don't want him to be the kid that bites!

Our Little Boy with a Special Heart

Just before the family arrived at our house we took Carter to the pediatritians for a check up on his heart mumur.  Yes, we found out that our little guy had a hard mumur at about 15 months.  The Dr. looked into it a little further at his 2 year well baby check up and checked a pulse ox and listened to his little heart for about 20 minutes between him and his PA.  They had decided at that visit to just watch it and suspected it was "Innocent".  Then Carter go the H1N1 (it wasn't that bad really...just the terrible fever followed by congestion) in October and became very congested.  The doctor heard his mumur much more pronounced w/ his H1N1 visit and wanted to check in on it again once he recovered.  So on Dec 16th we headed to the Dr. for him to listen to his heart again.  He checked the pulse ox again and it was 98% (great) and listed w/ his stethascope for again another 20 minutes or so.  He still suspected it was an "innocent mumur" but wanted to send us to see a pediatric cardiologist just to make sure.

So Chris and I took him to Ann Arbor St. Joseph's Hospital on Friday the 18th to see Dr. Humes (such a wonderful man and blessed with a wonderful talent).  The whole ride there Carter asked about what the Dr. would do and we continued to remind him that he was just going to listen to his heart.  So he rehearsed it to us full with heart pounding sounds and all.  Carter was EXCELLENT...I mean EXCELLENT!!!  The whole appointment took about 2+ hours and everyone in the whole office fell in love with our little boy asking them all if they wanted to go to the circus with him and volunteering to hel the ultrasound tech if she needed his help.  He charmed them all from the clerk at the front test down to the tech performing the ECHO.  He got the whole work-up...EKG and Echocardiogram - with a sucker and Handy Manny episode as a treat during his Echo at the end. We found out that indeed he does have an "abnormal" defect.  Carter has a bicuspid aortic valve.  We learned that we should and most of us have a tricuspid valve, but his cusps fused together in utero and his valve does not open 100%.  It opens about 90-95% which is still great, but could cause a problem over time.  His valve does close 100% which is very important.  So he does not have any problems right now, and we hope he never has any...however we will follow-up with the cardiologist yearly for now.  The cardiologist said that they do not know why this happens, but that about 1-2% of the population has this and by no way does 1-2% of the population have problems with this.  He said he is not restricted in anyway from anything and that would only happen if it did become leaky.  He also said you could live to be 102 years old and NEVER have a problem.  The cardiologist I work with said that a lot of times an 80 year old will come in for their first Echo and learn for the first time they have this same condition.

So, we are not worrying, but aware at this point.  Now that I am 31 weeks pregnant, I worry about this next little boy on the way.  I am scheduled for a fetal echo on January 18th (with the same wonderful Dr Humes).  I do not think there will be anything to worry about nor will it change anything, but it is nice to just rule it out for now.  We always knew Carter had a special heart...now we know why!!!

Boy do we love our little guy...more than I ever dreamed possible!