Friday, November 21, 2008

Kirra----I need help!

Kirra, since I know you may be the one and only person who reads my blog...I need your help making it not so blah...I am a bit confused on how people get different backgrounds than those offered when you start it up and how to post pictures...a little help?? :)

Once a week, not to bad, right?




Well, I obviously haven't been as faithful as I thought I would be with this whole blogging thing, but I may get better..we'll see. So other than all of us, including little Macalan, getting sick this week with a cold, life has been pretty uneventful. Macalan had blood drawn on Saturday and his biliruben level dropped 4 points...which is great! We go in again tomorrow to have the poor little guy poked some more..his little heels (where they draw the blood from) look like they have been through the ringer. He is doing really well though...he is honestly such an easy baby. Taeden has been quite the little almost two year old lately. I love him to death, but the Lord is sure using him to test my patience. :) :) He has been getting his two year molars, which has only added to the fun. As I am writing this I can hear both my boys screaming upstairs...and ummm, its definitely nap time, so I better go...I have a pacifier to get into a newborns mouth and some blankets to put back in a two year olds crib...(he occasionally likes to throw them out, just for a little added drama. ) Gotta love motherhood! :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Macalan Update


Well, I am finally joining the masses and starting a blog...I am mostly doing it now to update everyone on how Macalan is doing so I don't have to go back and forth between my email and facebook to post updates, so hopefully it will make my life a little easier, although I can't promise that this will be the most exciting blog you've ever read... :)
I will start at the beginning and give a little bit of whats gone on in the past month. Macalan entered the world on Oct. 13th and has been a great baby! Very uneventful first couple weeks, until I started noticing that he was looking more and more yellow. I thought this a little odd, afterall, he was not really jaundice at all when we left the hospital. After much insistence from my mom and sister I called my pediatrician and took him in for a visit. One look was all it took for the pediatrician to order blood tests and to make the results STAT. He promised he would call me with the results. I went home and honestly forgot about the whole visit because I thought this jaundice stuff was the norm with newborns. I got a phone call about 2 hours later and was told to take Macalan to the NICU at UCLA immediately...this got me a little frantic as the doctor didn't tell me more than ..."his levels are extremely high"...of course, I had no idea what this meant. When we arrived at UCLA 3 doctors from the NICU met us in the emergency room and wisked us away to the NICU. Thats when things started happening quickly and we realized that things were a little more serious than we had originally thought. Apparently, Macalans biliruben level was at 30. It is considered dangerous when it goes above 24...dangerous being possible brain damage, cerabal palsy and some other very scary things. They started talking blood transfusion right away and started preparing for this to happen. Thankfully they did not have to do this, which was a relief. His levels dropped to 28 once they put him under the lights so they oppted to see how things continued if he was under the lights. So this is where the little guy remained for a week, all the while being poked and prodded...he was such a little trooper. they released him last Wednesday and basically, where we are now is still kind of left wondering. The doctors are all confused as to why this happened and as to why he is still jaundice. He is also very anemic and their were a few blood tests that had some "inconsistencies" to them (whatever that means). Last time his blood was drawn his levels were at 14. Obviously, he is out of the danger zone or they wouldn't have sent him home, however, a baby should basically have a level of zero at about two weeks. We have continued going to the doctor and having his blood drawn since he has been home and will meet with a hemotologist at UCLA in two weeks to see if they have come to any conclusions and to have more tests done. We are so thankful that other than being yellow, he is acting like a perfectly healthy newborn...but this is also what is causing some confusion for the doctors. All that to say, continue to pray for his little yellow body :). Pray that his levels would return to normal and that the doctors may be able to figure out why all this is happening. For now, we are just enjoying both of our boys. Taeden LOVES his brother and is so sweet with him and being a mother of two is proving to be a challenge...as in, when do I shower????, but I am loving it! Anyways, we are so thankful for those who have been praying for us and are so thankful for all the support we've received from so many!