Results from Carters Endocrinology Appt.

Well, Dr. Karmazin just called me back with Carter's blood results from blood taken on the 20th. I was a little nervous at first to actually hear his voice, not one of his nurses, but maybe this is standard at their office? Carters IGF1 (growth hormone) came back at a 35..Normal zone for his age should be between 30-122..so he is on the low end but doesnt need to start growth hormone shots at this point. He will be rechecked in February when we go back for a follow up appt.
Dr. Karmazin wants to stop Carters thyroid medicine right now also. He says that Carters thyroid issue may not be the same type as mine. His issue may come because his central pituitary gland may not be sending enough signal to his brain. Carter will have to be re-checked in 2 months for this.
So, overall the news we got from the Dr. is positive..Carter is only 2 (almost 3!) and so we have plenty of time to see if he grows. His growth potential based on bone age is also good.
Thats about all I know, more later.

What to say?

We are home today for the second day in a row..kind of nice..and its beautiful outside! We have no ac running and its about 68 degrees! Carter and Camden had a nice nap...Camden is a growing boy and has been napping more lately...I measured him monday and he is 25 3/4 inches! This puts him at 97% on the charts for height (weight is also at 97% based on 16.5 pds)...What a bigga boy!
Carters weight is up to that point also but the concerning part is that Carters height is only between the 3-4% mark...The thyroid condition is being further investigated by his new wonderful doctor but also checking all the growth hormone 'stuff' in his blood...I am hoping to hear back with news sooner than later...Its been nearly a week and they told me a week and a half! I dislike having to be patient! (Patience is sometimes where I lack!)
Not too much has happened since I last blogged...But I did want to share that Carter showed off some for his PT! Yay Carter! He did some walking for Barb...She kept having him do walking exercises...sometimes he gets in a hurry...but he did great today! Also did some in place marching (like a soldier) for her...I got a call from Dickinson County DHS---Carter has been accepted for the Ill and Handicapped Waiver...after reading some about this online, I have mixed emotions...It actually makes me feel sad because Carter is not MR...I like the waiver for the fact that it has automatic Medicaid..I HATE the waiver for the fact that I feel like my son is smarter and is going to overcome this 'disabled' status...You know, I would rather have a son running around and bills to pay than financial assistance and Carter not walking...I hope and pray I can find some peace on this.
In a mothers eyes (mine), Carter is BLESSED, HAPPY, COMEDIC, DETERMINED, INDEPENDENT, etc! My prayer is that this next year he could be filled with so much more knowledge to prepare him for preschool one year from now. ..I might check into him starting January 2011 instead of Fall 2010..if its possible...that way he will be 4...? Like I said, if its possible.
Will blog more when I hear the blood results from his pediatric endocrinologist...Maybe still this week!?
Thanks! Jessica

Our trip to Sioux Falls

The trip was overall a really good trip..Mom and I got to do a little shopping so that was fun. Carters appointment with his new pediatric endocrinologist was much better than my mind thought it was going to be...I was actually getting anxiety right before his appt because his past doctor visits have been very traumatizing for him. Dr. Karmazin is an amazing doctor..he played with Carter first and earned Carters trust before he started checking him...they have child well life (or something like that) that came in and played with Carter and all that..His nurse Sarah played with bubbles with Carter (Carter loves bubbles)...and made the weighing and blood pressure check so much less stressful..As far as what we found out...Carter may not have a thyroid condition like me...he may have one, but for different reasons...we will know in a week or two...It is extremely rare for a boy his age to have a thyroid condition and so the doctor is checking everything..They did draw blood from Carter yesterday...they will check thyroid functions and all things related to growth hormone deficiency...they said it should take a week and a half to get some of these results back because they are sent all the way to california. If something obvious is found than growth hormone shots may start sooner, but if not (this may NOT be grwoth hormone) than his next appt is 6 months from now. I should say that Carters bone age in January (he would have been 26 months) was that of a 12 month old...and the other doctor in Omaha read his bone age as that of a 6 month old ( i guess!?!)...so potential to grow is still great I guess...this means according to his bones, hes got much growth ahead of him.
Carter has been doing much more walking already today! It is sooooooo exciting!
More to come!

Off to Sioux Falls

My mom and I are traveling to Sioux Falls this morning with Carter and Camden..Carter has a doctor appt with a Pediatric Endocrinologist @ 2 today...I am hoping that we get some more answers...I am really hoping everything checks out okay, but if not I want to get started on remedies for Carter.
I am writing this morning to tell all that Carter walked the furthest distance yet yesterday...I am guessing 25 steps! It was so awesome and I wish that I had caught it on camera..oh well...he is walking more frequently so I will get him another time...
I will post more later when we come home and let everyone know how the appt. went!

When things seem bad...

I tell myself that they could always be worse...this morning I was in my room taking pictures of items to sell on EBAY and I come back into the living room to find Carter had Camdens mylacon bottle and was dipping it into my coffee and licking it off...Quite cute it was and I felt a relief..Thank the Lord there wasnt coffee spilled anywhere, just a few drips..It could have been worse! And yes, Carter likes coffee, he thinks that anything in a cup or mug is coffee! He says Nummy!
Right now at this point in time, I am really working on teaching Carter his colors and then also "who is this?", in pictures. I want him to be able to tell me all family members, that is my goal. So far he has Grandma Glenda and Camden down. As far as colors go, he really likes blue and calls most things blue if I ask him what color it is. Occasionally he says yellow or green....so we are really working on colors..I have to remind myself to be more descriptive for Carter's benefit. He is coming along with his speech, its really progressed...An example, "Do gan (Do it again)" he now says "Do Again", so that is good. "Love you" is now "I love you."and he can count all the way up to 14, sometimes higher.
His walking...I think its really progressing. I am the one that sees him the most and his abilities. He is trying alot more than he used to. He now walks short distances (5 feet or less) without blinking..he knows he can walk that far without problems..if he has further to go, he gets on his knees right away...sometimes he will start walking and then drop to his knees after maybe 10 steps. We can tell hes coming along..Cody says that Carter must be feeling a little more comfortable with his skills cause now he stands and tries to turn his direction..which is new.
As my mom says, Carter is here with us! How amazing is this little man! Which when I heard my mom tell someone this yesterday, a flood gate of memories opened for me. When I was 24 wks pregnant, we were given all this bad news...My baby (Carter) may not walk, talk, or do much of anything. I remember them asking me if I wanted to "go through with this"...3 times they gave me an option of aborting Carter...For a second it actually processed through my brain..but it is not my right to take his life..If the good Lord kept his lungs full of oxygen, his heart beating, etc...he had a purpose..Carter HAS a purpose in life and one day will have a heck of a testimony! It upsets me to think of life without my Carter..He brings sooooooo much joy to my life and because of him I feel much more compassion to others..My eyes are opened wider because of what we have been through so far with Carter.
Just a month ago I had a woman tell me (I will call her anonymous) that things will "Always be hard for Carter"...It greatly angered and upset me...How does she know this? She has only heard hearsay..She doesnt know my Carter, only met him a couple of times briefly. She has no idea about ACC and how different it is for each person..My main thought..I am not going to have Carter growing up and hearing about things that he cannot do..He doesnt know any different at this point..and in my opinion there is nothing wrong with him..God made us all different and unique...Carter is happy, healthy, and learning...learning things every day..His brain is really working hard...I love the progress that I am seeing!

Wow, what a night

Last night scared Cody and I just a bit..Carter fell and hit his head on the know of our end table..the blood was dripping down by his shunt, AHH! Once we calmed ourselves, we blotted it and found that the wound was above his ear and very small, not on or too close to his shunt like we were afraid of...Thank the Lord, boy was that scary!
Carter has discovered that he loves this cartoon or program called Sid the Science Kid...he has never really paid attention to anything on tv, except wanting music to play (Serious XM The Message!)..and so for him to sit down and watch the tv is a first for us...sure he has looked at the tv, but never sat and watched! I'm excited to maybe introduce some of the learning dvds I have now! This show features dancing which is why I think he watches, but is very informative..Yesterday they talked about the importance of brushing your teeth and today they are talking about exercising and eating healthy.. I am glad to see his attention span is there, as preschool is a year away! AHH! AEA has been wanting me to start Carter this January but Cody and I have decided given the circumstances we are waiting another full year, I mean he still wont even be 4 a year from now..I didnt start til I was 4 and I was walking, etc.!!!!!
We purchased a double stroller last night and are hoping we can get our single jogger sold. We like our jogger stroller so much that the new one we purchased is exactly like our old one, everything is the same except that its double! I am so excited as this will make me taking the kids for walks so much easier when Cody is working...One stroller to look after and Cody can still go for runs with Carter when he wants to. It is InStep brand and I recommend it! The dealer we bought it thru is actually the same dealer that we got our bike trailer from..
I should mention that Carter will be getting in to a different pediatric endocrinologist next thursday in sioux falls, I am switching! He had seen a doctor from Omaha but this doctor didnt work for us, the communication was hard and he was not proactive..Ugh! A friend from high school goes to this other doctor in sioux falls and highly recommends him. Carter has a thyroid issue, so he has been on synthroid since March. He didnt grow much the last year to year and a half and so they are monitoring him to make sure he doesnt have growth hormone deficiency. If he does then we will have to start a daily shot to get him to grow and keep up to his peers. I pray he doesnt have this as its an every day thing...but if he does then I do want to start treatment. Children with ACC are more prone to having issues of thyroid/growth because the pituitary gland is located right next to the corpus callosum and so if the corpus callosum is missing often the gland is not always functioning properly. Thyroid in our case though is hereditary as me, mom, sister, cousin, aunt all are on medicine for this.
More to come.

Where do I start? An introduction!

Wow- where do I start? I mean really? I have been wanting to do a blog for quite some time now, just haven't gotten around to it. Well here it goes!

First off I want to share how excited I am to do this blog, not only will it be another way for me to look back and remember but it is such a wonderful way to share all the new and exciting things happening in our family!

Cody and I have been happily married for five years this year and we have two little boys which bring so much joy into our lives..I get the privelege of staying home as my boys grow and couldnt imagine not being here sharing in every day with them. Cody works for Meridian Mfg in Storm Lake and does inside sales..I am thankful that he has such a great job that gives us this opportunity of me staying home.

Carter- he is the main reason I wanted to do a blog. I want everyone to know where he is at in his physical motor abilities, what he is doing one day that he couldnt do the day before and such. Well now we have Camden as well! I get to blog about the two best boys in the world, my boys!

Okay- lets start from the beginning with Carter. Carter was born November 20, 2006 and was a miracle from day one. We knew he was going to be special and boy he is special (he is now our little comedian!) Carter was born with a diagnosis of A-CC (Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum) which means he was born without the middle part of his brain which connects the left and right halves of the brain. We were told this could be anywhere from very moderate to very severe on his learning. I joined an online group the moment I found out my baby had this to try and learn anything and everything I could about what this meant for him and us. As you know, when you read online posts these are very different people and so at that moment I decided that Carter will be just as God wants him to be and reading about others will only make things more uncertain. Carter is 2 yrs 9 mths and has been walking anywhere from 5-17 steps at a time now..some people may think this is not a big deal, but to us it is a BIG deal! I tell myself that we all have abosolutely no idea how it is for Carter..we were all born with a corpus callosum and did not have fluid on the brain like Carter. We have not had 4 brain surgeries thus far! The main thing is, is that Carter is progressing and all in God's timing, not ours. For those of you who dont really know Carter, he is a happy, strong willed, determined and funny little hunk of a boy! I will blog more in the future on a regular bases on what Carter is doing (and it shouldnt be as long as this is!)

Camden..My baby boy Camden..First off Carter loves his little brother Camden and says "Baby brother!--Cam-ba-den" which is the cutest..Carter smiles at Camden and Cam smiles back which then causes Carter to say "Smile!" to his brother. Camden was born May 13, 2009 and so today is his 3 month birthday! He is a little brute weighing in today at 16 pds and 25 1/2 inches long which the doctor tells me is at the top of the charts (go figure! his daddy was the same size at this age and look at him now!) Camden has rolled for me 5x tummy to back..he likes to jump in his rainforest jumparoo and also likes to sit up in his bumbo. He smiles all the time and coos appropriately. He is already wearing 6 month clothing and fills some of them out quite well! I have been fortunate to be able to breast feed him and plan on doing this til it just doesnt work anymore (my goal is a yr). I wasnt able to feed Carter this way and find that this is the easiest way in the world, there are no bottles to clean, no milk to warm, nothing to pack for him when we go places, etc!

I await the day when Carter and Camden are able to play together and walk together hand in hand..I will be misty eyed for sure..What else is new though...? I am always misty eyed and consider any accomplishment a milestone!

More blogging to come..thanks for reading!