Removal is scheduled...

Dr. Rob's office called today and said that Z is scheduled to have his line removed on Tuesday, May 6th at 7:30 am. I have to be there at 6am and no food after midnight. Gee this will be SO much fun!!! Luckily when he has had to go w/o food he's been a dream so let's hope it continues!!! Poor guy.

He is doing really well. My friend sent us her daughters bumbo seat and he really likes it. Yes it is pink but oh well. This was the look on his face when Jonathan woke up and walked into the room. He adores his big brother so much! We went to the local farmers market Saturday morning, Z and I, with my sister and niece. I put Z in the carrier and he was a hit. He had so much fun and all the women, of all ages, were flirting w/him and he hammed it up. It was great fun for him. He is such a good boy. We bought the boys bunk beds, courtesy of Uncle Sam, and Jonathan loves them. He has eaten dinner up there a few times. Problem is, we have no room for the crib. Now that is a serious problem. But we will fix it.

Jonathan has gotten into his finger paints and loves to paint like the whiney tv character Caillou! I really can't stand Caillou but since Jonathan loves him so, I tolerate him. He likes to paint like Caillou does and I love watching him paint.

We have a big week coming up! My dad comes home this week and I can not wait to see him. God I have missed him so much. My nephew Jim and his wife April come home this weekend. They have been stationed in Minot, ND with the Air Force for 3.5 years? Gosh it's been so long I can't even remember! They have seen Z once via web cam. They are moving back here and I can't wait. Then Jason's folks are coming to visit this weekend. Jonathan is excited to see both Grandpa's and his Grandma all in one week! I am secretly hoping to hit the farmers market again. Not sure if everyone will be up for it but we'll see.

Monday when I put Jonathan in the car he asked me where Buster was. Buster was our Sharpei that had to be put down in November, one week before Zachary arrived. He was a great dog and we loved him so much. He was going blind, deaf and then his hip went out. Jonathan will ask about him a lot and we tell him he is in heaven w/Grandma. Well this time when I told him he was in heaven, he said, "Mommy i don't want him to be in heaven. I want him here.". How do you answer that? I just told him that he was with Grandma and she was taking very good care of him. That did the trick...for now.

Anyway, here are a few pictures that I will close with.

Fantastic News!

Yesterday the nurse came and Zachary weighed in at...

13 lbs and 6 oz!!!!

Can you believe that? He gained 13 oz in one week!!! Way to grow little man!!!

That afternoon I called the oncologist to get his blood results. I asked the nurse to have him call me back to discuss long term plans. Well I of course missed his call but he left me the most wonderful message...

Jennifer Zachary's WBC was 14K and he has been very stable for a while now. All his other counts look great except his monocytes were a bit elevated at 22%. So I think we can now go to monthly counts and if we do monthly we can REMOVE HIS LINE. I am out of the office on Friday so give me a call Monday and we can set this up!

Yep that's right folks, the broviac line will soon be a thing of the past and let's just hope and pray we never have to see it again! Zachary will just get monthly blood counts done and it will be via a finger stick or heel prick. After all he has been through, this is nothing for him!

I feel like I'm in a dream and part of me is waiting for bad news to come back, but I can't do that and I won't do that. I will celebrate the good!!!!

Rockin' and Rollin'

At 4:37am CST we had an earthquake! I never experienced one and Z and I were laying in our bed and it just started moving and it got so loud outside and I thought it was a tornado but then yelled to Jason, "WTH is that? An earthquake?" and yep it was. It lasted about 30 seconds.

Anyway, yesterday Zachary rolled from tummy to back!!! Yeah! Go big guy!

We also got the results on his echo and there is no signifcant change. Meaning he still has the murmur and nothing needs to be done at this time.

Ok, gotta run, the boss needs to eat!

Back on Track

Last Saturday morning after our week of sickness, I went to change Z's diaper and I noticed the tape/dressing was off of his broviac line...where it enters the skin. I freaked thinking he pulled it out. Mind you the nurse told me that it is not horrible if he pulls it out just not ideal. Ok so he won't bleed to death...that was my fear. I calmed myself, grabbed some medical tape and taped that baby up. I then called the oncologist and they gladly allowed me to bring hm in.

We changed his dressing and did a blood draw. They also weighed him. He had only gained 1 oz since Wednesday.

I had to send his echo results from Dec. to his pediatrician so they can compare them to his recent ones. He did a great job at the echo. My friend Jill told me to feed him so he happily ate while the tech poked around on him. It was so nice that he was so mellow.

Dr. Kate has the results but was suppose to call me today...no call. GGGGGRRRR! I like her so I'm patient. (ha ha ha)

We met w/the nurse today and Z is up to 12lbs and 9oz. He gained 4 oz from Saturday so we are back on track! The nurse called to get the blood work results and they told her they were all VERY HAPPY with Zachary's results and progress! YIPPEE!!! 3 super great tests in a row! The nurse encouraged me to call Dr. Rob and see what the long term plans are. I will. One day soon. I promise.

I had a dream Sunday night about my Mom and Buster (they both passed away last year) and in my dream they were together. Mom didn't like dogs but her and Buster were together and getting along fine. I tell JD they are playing baseball together in heaven. Poor kid, lost his grandma and dog within 2 months of each other. He's been through a LOT. So anyway I wake up missing them both terribly. Then Jason tells me to be careful there is a stray dog out front. This dog, part pit bull, was so sweet, mellow and well behaved that it freaked me out. She lived on our front porch for 2 days. I mean as I left work she sat on the porch watching the house. No worries she is w/a Pit Bull Rescue lady now. But I kept thinking of this sweet dog and wondering what she meant or represented. Call me crazy but if you saw the way she looked at me in the eyes and then sat on our porch "guarding" our house, you would think something too. Maybe just maybe, this dog was sent to me for a reason, she had a message. Could it be Mom telling me that Z was gonna be alright? I want to believe that I really do.

A week of sickness

Yes that is what our house has been. It has been a very tiring and stressful week.

Last Thursday night Z started having a runny nose and as time progressed he began running a fever. The fever got as high as 102 but tylenol knocked it down and it stayed down. Sat. and Sun. JD and I started coming down with it and on Monday I was exhausted. It lingered a bit after that. Wed. the nurse came and Z hadn't gained any weight. I'm sure it was this "bug". Come Wednesday, JD gets the fever that Z had and Wed. night it was like 101.6. Thursday night Z pukes everywhere right after JD bit his tongue and choked on his cheese. Yep, after I retrieved string cheese from his throat, I got puked on not once, but twice.

Then JD says how his ear hurts and he needs to go see Dr. Kate. GREAT more time off work. So I stayed home today only to discover that I am coming down w/a stomach bug, Z puked on me again and I have more laundry to do than I ever imagined and I can't get JD into see the doctor.

Let's hope this week of sickies is long gone and not to return for a very LONG time!

One funny thing that happened today...I decided to call the AT&T people b/c our Uverse box was making a humming noise. As I'm talking to the guy, JD is looking at the laptop next to me and says, "SHIT" real loud. Crap! The guy started laughing and I remained silent. I was afraid if I said more he would say more!!!

Anyway, we had a bit of fun last week with our webcam and here is a picture that I took:

4 Month Check Up

Today Zachary had his 4 month well baby check up. He was quite a charmer and had all the ladies at the office oooing and ahing over him. Little stinker. He is at a strong 12 lbs and 4 oz and 24" long. He is still not getting his shots at this time but as the doctor said, we can catch up on those later.

He will go on Thursday for an echocardiogram as a follow up to his heart murmur. They couldn't hear it today but he was talking too much and wouldn't quiet down long enough for them to be able to hear it!

No word on the bloodwork done yesterday but I'll take that as a good sign. I was instructed by the pediatrician to avoid the internet as well. However, I still plan on asking Dr. Rob about how Epstein Barr Virus (Mono) can mimick JMML and want to see if he was tested for that. Dr. Kate (the pediatrician) agreed with Dr. Rob that Noonans Syndrome could probably be ruled out at this point. Both agreed he did not have the facial features and if he had a more severe heart problem, it would have been discovered when he was in the hospital.

His reflux seems to be under control. I think he is battling a cold or possibly teething. Other than that he is just a charmer. We will need to continue working on his head strength but Dr. Kate said we should expect some delays b/c of the problems he had early.

As for Jonathan - no one warned me that the threatening threes were worse than the terrible two's! Geez the boy is exhausting! Dr. Kate told me he is a normal 3 year old and we are not even think about him being ADHD until after 5. I asked her if she could then give me drugs to numb the pain...she told me no. Fine, I guess it's time to call Nanny 911!!!

Just a few pictures...

We don't really have anything new to report here. Jonathan is going stir crazy due to the nonstop rain but Zachary never tires of looking at him and watching him.