I Am Thankful...

Today I am thankful for hand-me-downs. I have a friend who gives me EVERYTHING her cute son grows out of from all of his clothes (she dresses him super cute..which is a bonus :), to his little toddler bed (also REALLY cute), to the toys that he has outgrown in the past three years (swing, excersaucer, and much more). This has been such a blessing for our family. Literally every time I think to myself that Taeden needs more of a particular clothing item, Jen calls my sister and has ANOTHER bag of cute clothes for us. Today we got a bag full of long sleeve shirts, which couldn't have come at a more perfect time because A. it just started getting cold here in So. Cal. and B. Taeden has about two long sleeve shirts...not anymore! So thanks, Jen, I am not sure if you even read this blog of mine, but I am just so overwhelmed at how the Lord provides THROUGH YOU and your sweet family I had to let people know!!

I am also thankful that we are surrounded by such sweet and thoughtful people at Brandon's school. One of the teachers, also a friend, came by the other day and took the CUTEST pictures of Macalan and spent a lot of time out of her busy schedule to do it. The pictures came out amazing...(they are the ones posted above...see,... amazing!) Also, every week Brandon comes home with coupons that people have cut out for us for diapers. This just strikes me as very thoughtful as it shows that people are thinking of us throughout their busy days. And I love it, because having two kids in diapers is definitely NOT cheap. :) We also have people who we know will watch our kids for us, that we completely trust, which is awesome. Although I must say, I don't know what I would have done without my sister during these past two years. She is truly the most easy going, kind person I know and is so so generous with her time. She has watched my kids, mostly Taeden, so many times and I know I can always count on her. I have been especially thankful for her the past two months as she has had Taeden A LOT because of all the hospital visits and doctors apts. So thanks, Ker, I don't know what I would do without you...seriously, I really don't know...so you can't move in May!! :) Your the best sister and I love you!!

We have also been blessed by prayer. I know that our family has been surrounded by it for the past two months, since Macalans birth, and we are so grateful. We have felt incredibly loved! So thank you, all of you who have shown us such great love...we are beyond blessed!

Finally Some Answers...

So we just got back from spending practically ALL day at UCLA with Macalan meeting with doctors and getting more bloodwork done. We are thankful to finally have an answer as to why things happened in his little body when he was first born. The doctors have come to the conclusion that he has what is called pyruvate kinase definciency disease. They will not know the severity of it until his blood levels "settle" which does not happen until 4 months to 2 years of age, but basically what we were told is that we really just need to watch him when he gets sick (with colds, etc.) because that is when possible problems would arise. They will continue to check all of his blood levels to make sure blood transfusions are not necessary. We are so thankful that we trust in a sovereign God who has had His hand in all of this and are thankful that for now Macalan is thriving and doing so well (he even slept from 10-5 last night...so he is my little champion)! Below I will cut and paste some info on the disorder for those who are curious...

Definition:
Pyruvate kinase deficiency is an inherited deficiency of the enzyme pyruvate kinase, which is used by red blood cells. Without this enzyme, red blood cells break down too easily, resulting in low levels of these cells (hemolytic anemia).Pyruvate kinase deficiency is transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait, which means that a child must get the defective gene from both parents to develop the disorder.
There are many different types of enzymatic defects of the red blood cell which can cause hemolytic anemia. Pyruvate kinase deficiency is the second most common cause of enzymatic-related hemolytic anemia. (G-6-PD deficiency is the number one cause.)
Pyruvate kinase deficiency may produce mild or severe hemolysis and anemia. Problems may first appear in the newborn as prolonged jaundice and anemia. Older children may be pale (due to anemia) and have intermittent episodes of jaundice.

Treatment:
Blood transfusions may be needed for severe anemia. Removal of the spleen (splenectomy) may help to reduce the destruction of red blood cells; however, this should not necessarily be performed as it does not help in all cases. In newborns with dangerous levels of jaundice, an exchange transfusion is likely to be recommended.
If a splenectomy was done, the person should receive pneumococcal vaccine at recommended intervals.

Expectations (prognosis):
The outcome varies. Some people have few or no symptoms, others have severe symptoms. Treatment is usually successful in reducing the severity of symptoms.
Complications:
Gallstones, composed of bilirubin produced in excess during hemolytic anemia, are a common problem. Severe pneumococcal disease following splenectomy is a possible complication.

Happy Birthday Taeden!

Yesterday we celebrated Taeden's second birthday. Its hard to believe that it has been two years since I became a mom. Taeden has blessed us more than I could have ever imagined. We are constantly entertained by his personality...(he has a lot of it), in awe of how loving he is to his little brother and melt a little each time when he says I love you (which sounds more like la-da-la-da-la) and gives us kisses. He is such a joy and so full of life, but we are very much aware that he is a sinner and needs a Savior. This has led Brandon and I to the Lord in prayer for our boys salvation often. It is our hearts greatest desire that both of our children would grow up and understand their need for a Savior and that they will one day live for Him.

We celebrated the day, just the three of us (we left Macalan with my sister). We started out at the doughnut shop where Taeden found his love for sprinkled doughnuts and made our way to the zoo for the rest of the day. Taeden had never been so we knew he would love it, but I don't think we were prepared for how much he loved it! Just an example...he practically had a minor panic attack of excitement when we pulled into the parking lot and he saw a black bird..so you can only imagine what it was like when we saw giraffes, monkeys and seals, he literally had a little party outside each cage....he was in heaven. It was such a fun day for Brandon and I to see Taeden absolutely enamored by what he saw and we loved every second of it. Here are some pics of our day...

Smiles and Sleep

Well, our little guy has been smiling for a few weeks now and I finally caught a few on camera...seriously, I have been trying so hard to get it on film for the past two weeks and have come to the conclusion that when you have young kids you need one of those really nice cameras that just click away. Mine, unfortunately, never quite captures the moment that I envisioned it capturing...oh well, hopefully you'll enjoy the ones I did get. :) Also, Taeden has come up with a new camera face where he closes his eyes and gives a really cheesy smile. Its pretty funny and makes for some hilarious pictures. All this to say, a family Christmas picture this year is kind of a long shot, but I am going to try for one anyway.

Macalan also is giving me a little more sleep each night!! He takes his last feeding at 10 and has been sleeping until 3:30. This means we are on our way to sleeping through the night...hopefully in the next few weeks...I could really use it :) (if you saw me, you'd probably agree...hats are my very best friend these days!!)

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! :)

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!