Nathan's Doctor Appointment

We took Nathan to his pediatric urology appointment today. It was at the health science center, so of on top of the doctor we got his smart aleck resident and some other person shadowing him to join the party. The doctor viewed the films from his previous procedures and was able to rule out reflux and something else that has a funky name. He's pretty sure it's UPJ obstruction, but it's just a matter of how much the ureter is obstructed. On December 2nd he'll have another hospital procedure done called a lasix renal scan. It involoves a catheter, an IV, and some lasix. Once the lasix are administered they'll see how long it takes him to void. The shorter the time the less the ureter is obstructed. If it's under a certain number of minutes they'll just need to periodically do this procedure to make sure it's not getting worse. If it's over a certain amount of minutes it will mean there's a larger obstruction and may need to operate. The good news we heard today was that eighty percent of the children seen will not require surgery. In the past surgery was automatically performed, but with medical advancements they have learned that some cases clear up over time on their own. Hopefully he won't remember any of this when he's older!

Self Portrait

 

Natalie colored this self-portrait at the beginning of the school year and made the sequin bling name. I think it turned out really cute and so I had to share. She also has a leaf rubbing picture she made in art hanging outside the art room and a computer made picture hanging outside of the computer room at school.

Natalie at Dance

 

Natalie was asked to join the Pre III competitive dance group at the dance studio she attends. She started her first class tonight. The studio's owner is her teacher and was really impressed with how quickly she learns her moves. She no longer has to attend her Saturday class unless she wants extra practice. She's going to have to practice for this class and the owner even recommends buying a camera to set up in class so the steps she needs to learn can be viewed at home.

At PE Natalie was chosen as a star of the month of October. She has to explain how she stays active and decorate a paper with pictures, etc... I took this picture of her tonight at her dance class and had it printed for her paper. It was a good day for Natalie!

September Updates

It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm surprised I still remembered my blog username and password! Things have just been busy lately. I went back to work on September 6th, Natalie is in tumbling, taking dance lessons, and goes to choir practice on Sundays plus has homework to complete. Nathan is up every three hours around the clock to eat. On top of all of this I am still in grad school trying to keep up with assignments and attempting to stay current with all of the changes in our elementary school curriculum. The blog is taking a back seat to everything else.

Natalie, as I've mentioned, is in a couple of different extracurricular activities. She really likes her dance class this year because it's tap, ballet, and jazz. She was terrified of jazz at first and then realized it's a lot of fun. She's getting better at tumbling although it's a steep learning curve and will take a while to master. Children's choir at church is on Sundays and she is enjoying learning new songs and playing the African drums.

She is also enjoying school immensely and is learning to be tolerant and patient with the students in her class. This year her class is following a collaborative model where students with special needs are in the same classroom all day with the regular ed students. Children with special needs have been in regular classrooms for years, but this year they don't have to leave their classroom for extra help because the help comes to them. The special ed teacher and the instructional assistants work with all of the children in the class so everyone benefits. So, Natalie has about three different teachers in her room at any given time. Lately she's been complaining about one particular special needs student who won't follow the rules and who scribbles outside the lines when she colors, but I've been talking with Natalie about being compassionate towards her because she probably feels frustration and left out since she cannot do what the rest of the class can. I'm not sure at her age if she completely understands, but it's good for her to start to learn tolerance, acceptance of others, and patience.

Nathan is doing well now that we have him on reflux medicine. He was spitting up at night and it was waking him up quite frequently, but now it's pretty much under control. He has an appointment coming up next week with the pediatric urologist and continues to take amoxicilan daily to prevent a urine infection. He seems to like daycare (as much as a ten week old can) and loves looking at all of the colorful streamers with animals hanging from the ceiling. At home he's loving the ceiling fan and the pot rack. Simple pleasures!