Sunday, June 26, 2011

father's day & more

Josh's first Father's Day was nice :) My mom was out of town with Greyson, so we cooked out with my dad. He got Josh a Porterhouse... amazing hunk of meat. Tebow and Mav got Josh's leftovers :)


Josh got a red PS3 controller for his gift. One of the gifts we got my dad was this picture of Carter framed.


While Meemer was out of town we took alot of pictures to text to her... here are some of the best ones.






He's getting very independent... he doesn't want help with ANYTHING. 




Bright lights!



He likes to take naps in our bed on the weekends :) and so do I!


Carter is almost 6 months old now! Time flies! We've managed to be out of the hospital and UTI free for over a month now - what a blessing!! Maybe it's his body growing and adjusting, or it could be our new macrobid suspension... but something is working to our benefit! Our next appointment is July 18th for urology and nephrology, and they'll be doing another renal ultrasound to make sure everything still looks the same. I'm anxious to see how his panels go... last time we were in, the nutritionist said that for his solitary kidney he needed to be taking in 40 oz of formula a day. On a good day we get 35... most days it's more like 27-30. Everyone else's doctors have told them to cut back on formula and supplement with more baby food! Carter's doing the food thing, but we don't give him a whole lot because it's already hard enough to force formula down him when he's not full. His urination seems to have decreased... but not enough for me to worry. I'm sure they'll dilate his urinary stoma again when we go in July. We saw physical therapy at our last nephrology appointment and got some new boots :) he's been wearing them most nights to bed, and his feet have made alot of progress. His right foot is really loose, and he can even hold it straight for a few seconds after I've stretched him. His left is still pretty stiff, but has made good progress. He's starting to put weight on his legs and feet when we hold him up, so we've gotta get those suckers straightened out so he can walk when the time comes! Not sure if it was mentioned in the last post... but we switched to Victory for daycare... and we are LOVING it! We don't have to worry about him, and I know he's getting great care! One of my best friends works there every other week for a couple of days, and a few others that I grew up with work there also.  :) Plus, it's cool that Carter's care is being overseen by the same director that was there when I was little - Mrs Joyce Parker! Well, I'm through rambling for now. I hope everyone's enjoying this hot summer!

Friday, June 10, 2011

It's been a while...

Life has finally calmed down to a sense of normalcy in the Piatt household. We had a false alarm UTI the Tuesday before the wedding :) That was stressful. We went in for our regular nephrology appointment and his panels showed elevated white cell counts... SO they did a urinalysis and admitted us. They were talking about us maybe getting out Thursday... or Friday... or Saturday. AHH! To our surprise, on Wednesday (after I drove back to Prattville for an appointment) they discharged us saying that he had contaminates in his urine, but that it probably always looks like that due to the vesicostomy. We were so thankful that he was able to be at the wedding... here's a picture of him in his tux with his Aunt Me-Me!


His Meemer Kim kept him while we went on our short honeymoon to Destin, and the Thursday after we got back we went to Bham to meet our new general surgery doctor, Mac Harmon. He gave us alot of information about the possibility of reversing Carter's ostomy. He says he's seen many cases (he's been at Children's Bham for a long time) and that there's no for sure answer as to whether or not a reversal would work well or not for each individual. Most of the time they surgery is a leap of faith, and if sensation is a problem, a colostomy can always be replaced. He said ultimately it's our call whether or not we want to give it a go - what a burden!! Pray for us to make a wise decision when the time comes. I've been doing some research and hitting as many forums as I can to see what other's experiences have been. He scheduled us for a return visit in August to make sure everything is still going well, and possibly do an MRI to see what kind of muscle tissue Carter has in the areas where his sphincters should be. Josh and I have talked a little bit about it, and if there's not significant signs of muscle, we will probably forego surgery... we don't want him to have to go through any surgeries that wouldn't be beneficial to him long-term. Keep us in your prayers! We've got some big decisions to make! Our next appointment will be in July to see our friends in nephrology and urology.

Just a side note, we've been experimenting with solids, and he's getting the hang of it :) He's a chunky boy, that's for sure. We're around 17 pounds now, 24 inches, and tomorrow he'll be 5 months old!! Time flies!