Andy loves to get in Ella's crib in the mornings & after her naps to play with her before I get her out. They both love it. These pictures are from yesterday & this morning.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Girls' Medical News
Kaylee: After 3 weeks on antibiotics to hopefully clear any fluid in her ears, she went back to the ENT yesterday. Her hearing test results were the same, but the ENT still thinks there is fluid in her ears based on the stiffness of her eardrums and the rareness of the other possible middle ear conditions. He said it could be a very thick fluid that won't drain on its own (glue ear), and that it has been there since birth. She is scheduled for surgery on 1/3/14 to make a small incision in her eardrum and drain any fluid on both sides. If the fluid is there, he will put in tubes while he is in there. If there isn't fluid, he will do nothing (and the eardrum should heal in about 3 days) and that would leave one of the more rare conditions, such as a stiffness of the tiny bones (ossicles) in the middle ear. I'm not sure what the next steps are if she doesn't have fluid in her ears, but we'll figure that out when/if we get there. They will have to put her to sleep, but it sounds like a very light sleep with gas only and she will wake not long after removing the mask. The good news is that if it is just fluid, she might have normal hearing when it is all said and done.
Ella: She went back to the pediatrician today. Unfortunately, her head circumference has increased another quarter inch since her last visit about a month and a half ago, so based on that result her doctor still wants to get the MRI done. We should get a call about scheduling that in the next few days. She said it is most likely/hopefully just benign hydrocephalus where the excess fluid is outside the brain and just means she will have extra cushioning around her brain and will have a bigger head (meaning, we do nothing). Of course, it could also be hydrocephalus inside her brain ventricles which is bad, or some other growth in her head, and if something like that is found we'll have to go to a neurosurgeon. Considering she has no other developmental issues, it seems less likely to be one of the bad options, but we won't know until we see the MRI results. Like we've said, that will involve general anesthesia, but now that we are aware of her airway condition, it should be manageable and safe, although not what we were hoping for.
Thanks yet again for continued prayers.
Ella: She went back to the pediatrician today. Unfortunately, her head circumference has increased another quarter inch since her last visit about a month and a half ago, so based on that result her doctor still wants to get the MRI done. We should get a call about scheduling that in the next few days. She said it is most likely/hopefully just benign hydrocephalus where the excess fluid is outside the brain and just means she will have extra cushioning around her brain and will have a bigger head (meaning, we do nothing). Of course, it could also be hydrocephalus inside her brain ventricles which is bad, or some other growth in her head, and if something like that is found we'll have to go to a neurosurgeon. Considering she has no other developmental issues, it seems less likely to be one of the bad options, but we won't know until we see the MRI results. Like we've said, that will involve general anesthesia, but now that we are aware of her airway condition, it should be manageable and safe, although not what we were hoping for.
Thanks yet again for continued prayers.
Waiting on the doctor
Ella was checking out the view from the window while waiting on the doctor to remeasure her head.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Further Ella Update
We saw the more specialized pediatric ENT down at Scottish Rite yesterday. Based on what we told him and what he saw, he feels that Ella should grow out of the tracheomalacia by 2-3 years of age. He had some concern that the condition could be caused by a heart or artery defect putting pressure on the trachea, but he called the radiologist at Northside to have them check the fluoroscopy images and fortunately ruled that out. The only thing we really need to be careful of is when she gets chest congestion during a cold. The heavier she has to breathe, the more the trachea will collapse and we could end up in the hospital with her. The doctor was glad we don't have to leave her in daycare, because she should be less likely to catch as many colds. He does prefer to follow these types of cases, so we have another appointment in 2 months just to make sure nothing is worsening.
Jamie also talked to her pediatrician after we got all of these results. Now that we have the tracheomalacia diagnosis, she was less concerned about getting the MRI done. I don't think she told us this before (probably to avoid planting any panic seeds in our brains), but one possible symptom of hydrocephalus is vocal cord palsy, so it was possible that Ella's honking noise was due to pressure on a particular nerve due to fluid build-up in the brain. Now that we know that isn't the cause of the honking (and given what happened during the sedation at the last MRI attempt) she just wants to have her come in for a quick head measurement check. If her head hasn't had any significant growth then we will just keep an eye on things and recheck it again at her 1 year appointment in January. If it has gotten bigger, though, she will most likely want to do the MRI. The head measurement appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Kaylee's audiologist appointment is Monday of next week, so we will hopefully have definitive plans for both girls by the middle of next week.
Jamie also talked to her pediatrician after we got all of these results. Now that we have the tracheomalacia diagnosis, she was less concerned about getting the MRI done. I don't think she told us this before (probably to avoid planting any panic seeds in our brains), but one possible symptom of hydrocephalus is vocal cord palsy, so it was possible that Ella's honking noise was due to pressure on a particular nerve due to fluid build-up in the brain. Now that we know that isn't the cause of the honking (and given what happened during the sedation at the last MRI attempt) she just wants to have her come in for a quick head measurement check. If her head hasn't had any significant growth then we will just keep an eye on things and recheck it again at her 1 year appointment in January. If it has gotten bigger, though, she will most likely want to do the MRI. The head measurement appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Kaylee's audiologist appointment is Monday of next week, so we will hopefully have definitive plans for both girls by the middle of next week.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
A few fall photos
Me and the kids at Burt's pumpkin farm
Pumpkin photos! The one of all three is pretty much how all the group photos turned out. Sometimes two would be smiling, but I don't think Andy was in many...he's pretty anti-photos at the moment, unless he specifically asks to have it taken! At least Ella cooperated when it was just her and the pumpkins. :)
Ella is 10 months old!!!
This is Andy at our neighborhood fall festival. He wanted me to help him get a snack (read: cookie or cupcake or candy or all of the aforementioned), but I told him I wanted to take some photos of Kaylee and Erin getting their faces painted first. He crossed his arms and said, "that doesn't make any sense." He cracks me up.
Kaylee the vampire and Erin the zombie!! While they were waiting I'd asked what they wanted to be and they'd said unicorns or butterflies...hmm. Quite a change of mind!
Our happy little Ella-phant!!
Pumpkin photos! The one of all three is pretty much how all the group photos turned out. Sometimes two would be smiling, but I don't think Andy was in many...he's pretty anti-photos at the moment, unless he specifically asks to have it taken! At least Ella cooperated when it was just her and the pumpkins. :)
Ella is 10 months old!!!
This is Andy at our neighborhood fall festival. He wanted me to help him get a snack (read: cookie or cupcake or candy or all of the aforementioned), but I told him I wanted to take some photos of Kaylee and Erin getting their faces painted first. He crossed his arms and said, "that doesn't make any sense." He cracks me up.
Kaylee the vampire and Erin the zombie!! While they were waiting I'd asked what they wanted to be and they'd said unicorns or butterflies...hmm. Quite a change of mind!
Our happy little Ella-phant!!
Sweet big brother
Once a month right after church there is a program (KidStuf) for the elementary kids, so we were taking Kaylee (and Andy) to that today. So after church we picked up Andy from his room then peeked into Ella's room where she was sleeping, so we left her to nap while we took the others to KidStuf and we would pick her up afterwards. As we walked out of the kids' area with Andy, he looked up at me with a worried look and asked, "so we go home with no Ella?" It was so sweet! I told him the plan and reassured him that we would get Ella before we went home.
This is the two in Ella's crib on Friday morning. Andy likes me to put him in so he can play with her some before I get her up. He does look completely put off in this photo, but he is put off by having his photo taken - he laughs and cuddles Ella until I try to take a photo of it, the little stinker!
This is the two in Ella's crib on Friday morning. Andy likes me to put him in so he can play with her some before I get her up. He does look completely put off in this photo, but he is put off by having his photo taken - he laughs and cuddles Ella until I try to take a photo of it, the little stinker!
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