Basically - more tests, more waiting.

So, we met with Baylee's Urologist today & found out a few things.... But are still left with questions.

The VCUG ruled out any sort of Bladder Reflux, which is actually not good - that would have been the best thing to be wrong with her, at this point (easiest fix!). Which means her Ureter & Kidney are either being affected by an obstruction, or it means this is just how she was anatomically designed (??).

I asked her Dr. which one is more likely & he said the swelling is most likely due to an obstruction  (i.e. her Ureter is too narrow), in that case he said he would preform surgery, basically... cutting off her ureter from her bladder, correcting it & then reattaching the ureter back to her bladder.

He wants us to continue her on the daily antibiotics, for at least the next 3 months (to prevent any sort of urinary tract, or kidney infection... that's the biggest concern right now). The Dr. wants us to take her to her Pediatrician ASAP for any minor fever at this point & we must stay diligent to keep her kidney healthy - because she's only got one!

Also, what we're learning is that having a Solitary kidney isn't uncommon or dangerous, having Hydronephrosis (swelling in the renal pelvis of the kidney - due to urine not fully draining) isn't necessarily uncommon - or overly serious, and having Hydroureternophrosis (swelling of the ureter) isn't overly uncommon... HOWEVER - Hydronephrosis & Hydroureternophrosis more often than not only affects one kidney & it's very rare for someone with a Solitary kidney to have both of these disorders (or even one of these disorders). So... because of this, the Dr. doesn't want to take any chances, or mess around. We'll be going back in three months to do a different, specialized test to determine if the ureter is being obstructed - it will be at that point (if we verify an obstruction) that surgery will be needed. We didn't ask too many questions about if it's just her anatomical design, so I don't know if she just naturally has swelling, what actions will need to be taken(?).

I feel like I know everything there is possibly to know about the kidneys, their function & the whole urinary tract anatomy. It's all very interesting though, we also learned that kidney issues are hereditary & we think we identified where in the family it comes from. It's so great to learn what's in your children's genes - I'm going to try to get as much medical information from all sides of the family, to pass on to our kids. It's good to be & to stay informed! :)

As for her sleeping routine - she's actually sleeping in big chunks! Waking 2-4 times a night & sleeping anywhere from 2.5 to 5.5 hour chunks in her crib!! Yay!! So, usually her longest stretch is the first part of the night, as we enter the morning, she sleeps in smaller chunks. But, still - she's sleeping, which means I am too! :)

That's my update for now...

Of course we stopped at our favorite place, Applegates for ice cream, this was after a picnic in the park & lots of play all day! :) The kids had a great time with their Gammie!

Baylee-girl is three weeks old today - it's funny how these little people make you forget life without them... so quickly!!

I've been weighing her every few days & she's gained almost 1 pound in 6 days! She eats a lot... especially in the afternoons. She's just under 8 pounds now.

She's staying awake for longer periods in the day now & last night, she gave me an amazing gift. She slept from 9:30pm until 3:10am (almost 6 hours straight), I fed her for 15 minutes & she went right back to sleep until 6:30am, I fed her for 7 minutes & she slept until 9:15am! I have NEVER had a baby who stayed & slept in their crib for this long, at this age (Aubree & Preston were close to 9 months when they did this).

I hope last night wasn't just some fluke! I hope that nighttime routine continues. :) She is the first baby that I have swaddled tightly (the Miracle blanket seems to work!!!) & she seems to sleep pretty well in her nap nanny, it's a more elevated type bed, I started using it last week because of her cold.

Anyway... I still think she's a great baby. She's definitely the easiest baby out of all three. Tomorrow I have to take her to the Radiologist; she's going to have something called a VCUG, they'll place some dyed fluid & a catheter into her, then they'll run some CT scans on her pelvic area. After that, she'll have an ultrasound. On Monday, we'll meet with her Urologist & we'll find out if she has a Bladder Reflux & the severity of it. Of course, it's my hope that after we go in, they tell us she's been miraculously healed & everything is working as it should! :) Since there's a very small chance that could happen... of course I have to hope. I don't want to ever have to see my little girl have surgery.

These are from earlier today. Preston is always with Baylee & me.... Always! :)

Baylee in her nap nanny, soaking up what little light is outside.

 A little neworn smile for me! :)

 Mr. Busy-body... cleaning my nightstand(??)

Pres is such a cutie-pie, there he is again, right next to Baylee, always next to her, when possible & being so serious about it (he was due for a nap).!

Garrick's mom, LoVida (Gammie Gam) is here for the week & because we didn't actually pick any apples last week, we headed back to Pennings Orchard in Warwick, NY to do some apple picking.

It was such a beautiful (& warm) fall day. The trees are just now starting to turn yellow, orange & red - and the sky has been so bright blue! We paid $25 to get about 30+ lbs of Apples - we got four different types, Macintosh (our new favorite), Fuji, Empire & some red one, I forget the name. Anyway - we're planning on eating several apples a day for the next couple of weeks. Plus, lots of baking! Today I made two sour cream apple pies (sounds funky - but it was delicious!!), I baked one & froze the other. I'll have to bake & freeze more desserts as the week goes on.

The great thing about this orchard is they don't use pesticides - so, yummy, fresh & ORGANIC apples! :)

The view from up in the orchards

(I believe that is the Appalachian Mountain range to the left)

It was hard to convince Preston to pick the apples off the tree & not just pick up the ones on the ground

Aubree was all over the place, I couldn't even get a picture of her picking any apples!

Garrick & Baylee picking the best of the best apples!

Aren't those apple clusters beautiful?

My girl...

Preston is catching up to Aubree's size (watch out Aubs)

With their Gams...

First pictures of us FIVE

It looks pretty complete now, huh?

So I guess the Northeast has some pretty good apples! Now we know first hand.

Even though we all weren't 100% this past Sunday, we were feeling bad that we hadn't gotten the kids out of the house, other than playing around the apartment. So, we got in the car & drove 30 miles north to upstate NY where they have plenty of Apple Orchards. We went to a place called Pennings - they have a bar with Apple Beer, Cider and a mix of other yummy drinks & a little market with freshly picked apples, Apple Donuts, Carmel Apples, Ice Cream, produce & a little dinning area, as well as a Beer Garden.

We decided to forgo the actual off the tree apple picking because it had rained so hard the few days before & everything was muddy! Not that that was a problem, it was just that I had my church shoes on... Not the picking apples in mud shoes.

Anyway, the drive to NY was just gorgeous. We travelled through forest after forest, with plenty of little lakes in between. The trees are just starting to change colors & it was so peaceful & beautiful! Once we got there, Garrick sampled the Apple Beer & the kids and I enjoyed a carmel apple, apple donuts, candy, ice cream - you know, all that yummy stuff you get at a place like this! :)

 They must have had 20+ different kinds of apples...

 Cotton Candy Ice Cream & Apple donuts...

(Isn't Aubree's hat cute?? My friend Jamie made hats for all the kids - I love them!)

 Baylee snoozed while Garrick boozed (hahaha! j/k, he only had 1 beer!)

It's funny how in a matter of days, everything can change!

The end of last week, things got hectic. I had all three of the kids lined up to have Dr.'s appointments last Thur. Aubree a 4-year check-up, Preston a late 18-month check up that we had been behind on & Baylee needed a weight check, because she was had lost 8% body weight when we were discharged.

Aubree had her hearing  (passed), vision (didn't do that great), blood pressure, heart rate, heart, lungs, spine, reflexes, height, weight, etc. checked. Turns out she may be anemic - means we got to pump up the iron! But other than that, a very healthy (and tall & thin little 4-year old).

Preston had his height (92nd percentile), weight (79th percentile) & head circumference (82nd percentile) all checked, as well as his ears, heart, lungs, spine, etc. checked out. He is a very healthy 20-month old. The pediatrician talked me into giving him two vaccinations (we don't follow the CDC schedule, so we're a bit behind), so he got his HIB & Prevnar shots (to finish the series) - Boy, what a mistake! If you have an 8-day old... Don't let a Dr. make your toddler a mess with vaccinations. Preston did NOT sleep for almost 24-hours, got a fever, runny nose, etc. Garrick was up all night with him - then the next day, he was falling apart & refused any sort of nap until 4:30pm the following day! Friday was an extremely exhausting day!

Baylee measured in at 6 1/2 pounds - so almost at her birth weight, so she's gaining weight & eating pretty well now. Which is good.

So, also on Friday, I came down with some horrible inner belly button pain, which lasted through the night & into Saturday. So, I booked a Dr.'s appointment for Sat. morning. My Dr. suspected I had an Incarcerated Umbilical Hernia & sent me to the ER to get some testing (telling me I'd most likely need surgery - that day if that's what I had). Of course, I wasn't excited to be spending my Sat. in the ER, but it was what we had to do. So, Garrick & the kids dropped me off at the hospital. I had an ultrasound & also a CT scan - after a few hours of waiting to do the CT scan & get the results, they found out the problem. I was diagnosed with Postpartum Endometritis - I think I may have gotten it because my water didn't break until minutes before she got here. The head Dr. of the ER wanted to set me up to be transported to another hospital with more OBGYN support & to start on aggressive intravenous antibiotics for 24-48 hours, while being monitored, to make sure the infection wouldn't spread. 

I hate hospitals & I couldn't leave Baylee, Preston or Aubree for a day, or two... So, I asked if I had any other options. He told me I could sign off all liability of the hospital, that they could give me my first dose of IV antibiotics & that he could write me a prescription for oral antibiotics. So, without much hesitation I went that route. I'm now on 2,000mg of antibiotics for 10 days, so hopefully the infection clears & I can be on my way to doing what I need to do! :)

To top it off, Baylee is now sick with a cold. She's so stuffy & a bit feverish... poor baby! So, we have the warm steam humidifier on, which seems to be helping & of course... she's nursing & resting a lot. I hope it passes quickly. I'm almost certain it's a cold, because Aubree caught it last week, then it trickled down to Preston a few days later & now Baylee has it. It doesn't seem to be too bad, but for a 12-day old, it's never a good thing! Baylee was also scheduled to go to the Radiologist for her VCUG & Ultrasound of her kidney, ureter & bladder today, which unfortunately had to be postponed for next week. I'm anxious to get that testing done... So we can find out the root of the issue with her kidney.

Here's Baylee, sleeping in the indirect sunlight last week :)

Preston, the day after his Dr. appt... runny nose & refusing to be nothing short of the energizer bunny! ;)

I thought a mid-day bath would settle him down... I guess wishful thinking on my part!

And, this is him, always putting his head right up to Baylee's head!

Baylee loves the sunlight!

And, on to her third outfit of the day... little ones mess up a lot of clothes!

Attempt #2 to try to get him to take a nap... An hour of outdoor play. We were hours away from getting a big rain storm, so I figured it'd be a good time to decorate the sidewalk.

I guess this attempt worked better than the bath, because after this he did take a 45 min. nap... success! :)

We live in these "garden" apartments, they're called. Our lease is up in May & I'm dying to get a bigger place - we're currently in a 2-bedroom 850sq foot apartment! This is the most uncomfortable lack of space we have ever had! I think it's one of those growing things though, now we can say we did it... 5 people in 850sq feet! ;)

I guess this is what happens when you move somewhere on short notice!

And, the kids playing in our "backyard" - God bless them... they're always so happy with whatever!