We went to eat at Olive Garden for Yiayia's 58th Birthday. Banks has learned to sit in a high chair, which makes going out to eat much easier!
Saturday, July 26, 2014
7 Months
The sixth month flew by faster than any of the other months due to all the appointments, hospital stays, and surgeries. In a way it's sad because we feel like we missed out on a lot of the "normal" 6 month time, but hopefully it will all be worth it in the long run. Meanwhile, there's no holding this baby down. He has continued to develop and make us proud. He is now super close to consistently crawling. He started by pushing up and moving backwards, but now he has the hang of it that he can go forward 2-3 "crawls" before landing back on his stomach and pushing back up to try again. He sure can get pretty much anywhere he wants to go, and gets the most hilarious look of determination on his face when he's attempting his crawling. He can also sit up by himself for several minutes once you put him into place, and is able to turn from his stomach to his bottom and ALMOST get into sitting position on his own. His two front bottom teeth are completely in, and he is now getting his left lateral top tooth. He is doing a great job of eating his solids, and is on Level 2 baby food. He has loved every fruit and vegetable we have tried. His favorites seem to be bananas and green beans. He isn't a big fan of the meats, but we're working on it.
As a speech therapist I'm reluctant to say this, but he is saying "ma ma" pretty consistently. The daycare staff, my mom, Karen, me, and even Patrick all seem to agree that he is saying it. He also has many more consonant sounds and loves hearing himself and his jargon.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to slowly, and non-traumatically wean off of breast feeding. I had planned to wean at 6 months, but the sweet baby had so much going on with his kidney and surgeries I didn't want to put him through the weaning process during all of that. So, I finally bought some formula (Similac Sensitive) this past week and have been making his cereal with it in the morning to get his little system used to it. He hasn't had any reactions so far, which is a blessing. I have a good bit of breast milk stored in the freezer, which is what he is now using at daycare because I am no longer pumping. I'm currently still nursing in the morning and at bedtime to slowly wean us both. He will have enough breastmilk to get him through the next 3 or so weeks at daycare, and then I'll start doing half and half with the formula and then transition to all formula for just a couple of months before he turns one. This is the plan, but we'll see how it actually works haha. Banks loves his nursing time.
I can't wait to see him develop even more over the next month, but hopefully this one will go a little slower :-)
As far as pictures go, it is nearly impossible to capture him sitting still now. We do, however, have lots of laughs while trying to take them...
As a speech therapist I'm reluctant to say this, but he is saying "ma ma" pretty consistently. The daycare staff, my mom, Karen, me, and even Patrick all seem to agree that he is saying it. He also has many more consonant sounds and loves hearing himself and his jargon.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to slowly, and non-traumatically wean off of breast feeding. I had planned to wean at 6 months, but the sweet baby had so much going on with his kidney and surgeries I didn't want to put him through the weaning process during all of that. So, I finally bought some formula (Similac Sensitive) this past week and have been making his cereal with it in the morning to get his little system used to it. He hasn't had any reactions so far, which is a blessing. I have a good bit of breast milk stored in the freezer, which is what he is now using at daycare because I am no longer pumping. I'm currently still nursing in the morning and at bedtime to slowly wean us both. He will have enough breastmilk to get him through the next 3 or so weeks at daycare, and then I'll start doing half and half with the formula and then transition to all formula for just a couple of months before he turns one. This is the plan, but we'll see how it actually works haha. Banks loves his nursing time.
I can't wait to see him develop even more over the next month, but hopefully this one will go a little slower :-)
As far as pictures go, it is nearly impossible to capture him sitting still now. We do, however, have lots of laughs while trying to take them...
Andy and Julia's Charleston Wedding Weekend
Despite everything going on with Banks and his surgery, we made the trek to Charleston for the Mowlajko wedding weekend. Andy is one of our great friends and we wouldn't have missed it for the world. Banks did great on the ride down and slept almost the whole way. When we were about 30 minutes away, he woke up and I was able to get in the back seat and give him a bottle to calm him down so that we could make it the rest of the way.
Karen met us at Shannon and Allison's brand new house in Mt.Pleasant to keep Banks for us while we attended wedding events. We were able to go to the pool and relax for awhile Friday afternoon, which was great. We went to the rehearsal dinner that evening at Shem Creek (Cottage at the Creek).
We stayed at Shannon and Allison's house on Friday night. Pops came down on Saturday morning, and we got to spend some sweet cousin and family time.
Then, we took Banks and he got to go (finally) meet Will and Ashley. We went to lunch on James Island at a new taco place called White Duck.
Then we headed back to Mt.P to get ready and drop off Banks for the wedding. The wedding and reception were both downtown, and were tons of fun (maybe a little too much). We went to Blind Tiger after the reception, and after some late-night pizza, we went back to Will and Ashley's house for the evening. We got up Sunday morning and headed back to Shannon and Allison's to our sweet boy who was a perfect angel for Nannie (only woke up once during the night, which is great these days!).
We met up with Andrew for lunch before we left and got to hear all about their sweet baby girl, Avery, who will be here before we know it!
It was a much needed fun weekend with family and friends in Charleston.
Karen met us at Shannon and Allison's brand new house in Mt.Pleasant to keep Banks for us while we attended wedding events. We were able to go to the pool and relax for awhile Friday afternoon, which was great. We went to the rehearsal dinner that evening at Shem Creek (Cottage at the Creek).
We stayed at Shannon and Allison's house on Friday night. Pops came down on Saturday morning, and we got to spend some sweet cousin and family time.
Then, we took Banks and he got to go (finally) meet Will and Ashley. We went to lunch on James Island at a new taco place called White Duck.
Then we headed back to Mt.P to get ready and drop off Banks for the wedding. The wedding and reception were both downtown, and were tons of fun (maybe a little too much). We went to Blind Tiger after the reception, and after some late-night pizza, we went back to Will and Ashley's house for the evening. We got up Sunday morning and headed back to Shannon and Allison's to our sweet boy who was a perfect angel for Nannie (only woke up once during the night, which is great these days!).
We met up with Andrew for lunch before we left and got to hear all about their sweet baby girl, Avery, who will be here before we know it!
It was a much needed fun weekend with family and friends in Charleston.
Update on Banks' Surgery
The good news is that the drain got removed last Thursday (7/17). Dr.Teague was in the office that day. This was supposed to be a quick office visit to pull the drain out, but of course, turned into something more once we got there. When Dr.Teague went to pull the drain out, he said something was "hung." The drain came out, but there was a suture that was hanging out of the incision that was apparently supposed to pull right out with the drain. Dr.Teague (who is an older surgeon in his late 50s, early 60s) said that he had "never seen this happen." Just our luck, right? So, off we went for another outpatient surgery. We were supposed to be leaving later that afternoon to go to Charleston to start the wedding weekend, but after spending yet another full day at the hospital, we decided to go home and rest and leave first thing Friday morning.
The next update will come on August 7, when Banks will go for his follow up ultrasound to see if the surgery fixed the hydronephrosis like it was intended to. Prayers that everything looks perfect so that we can be done with this whole situation!
The next update will come on August 7, when Banks will go for his follow up ultrasound to see if the surgery fixed the hydronephrosis like it was intended to. Prayers that everything looks perfect so that we can be done with this whole situation!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
4th of July
We had planned to go to the river for the 4h of July, but due to the complications from Banks' surgery, we had to stick around Anderson/Greenville. We were really bummed but tried to make the most of it. We spent some time with Audra and Joey, and we even went to Greenwood to visit the Ackermans. We've got some making up to do next year, for Banks to do some swimming and see some fireworks! That will be his real "first" fourth of July celebration, plus he'll be old enough to eat some watermelon! :-)
Trying to Crawl Already?!
Despite having 2 surgeries and a drain coming out of his side, along with being on pain meds, Banks has decided he needs to figure out how to crawl. He is pushing up on all fours, rocking, and lunging forward. He has actually even pulled his knees in and inched forward a couple of times. There's no holding this determined baby down! He also must know his mom and dad could use some laughs because it is hilarious watching him do this.
Extra TLC
Banks has had lots of extra TLC over the last two weeks. He has had lots of time with Nannie and Yiayia, and (of course) Mommy and Daddy have been extra attentive. It's so hard to see him in pain, we'll do anything to make it better... even if that means we're going to have one spoiled baby when this is all behind us!
Banks' Dismembered Pyeloplasty
I guess we somewhat knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear that your 6 month old precious baby is going to have to have major surgery. In preparation, Patrick and I have been so busy over the last 3 weeks, and it feels like all we do is go to doctor appointments. We are so blessed that we both have flexible jobs that we can go to most of the appointments together. So, here's the surgery story...
Monday, June 23 Banks went in for surgery at GHS at 8am. He was in surgery for 3.5 hours, which felt like an eternity. Again, we are so blessed to have been surrounded by both of our parents during the surgery, and we had the prayers of so many more. Banks made it through surgery like a champ, and was ready to snuggle with momma and nurse within 15 minutes of when Patrick and I got to go back to recovery to see him. Dr.Monroe felt that everything had gone well except for the stent placement, which slid into the upper ureter rather than the lower which would have been "more ideal." He stayed in the hospital for 2 nights, and got the original drain and catheter out before we left. With the exception of having an adverse reaction to Loritab (made him really hyper and over-stimulated), the hospital stay was uneventful and our boy seemed to be on the road to recovery. We took him home Wednesday afternoon on Tylenol only.
Once we got him home, Banks had a decent night Wednesday night with the exception of requiring a couple of doses of Tylenol for pain management. Thursday he seemed to be getting more fussy instead of less. He didn't sleep hardly at all Thursday night. Friday was progressively worse, and we decided to call the Dr office. Dr.Teague (Dr.Monroe's partner) was on call for the weekend. Dr.Teague felt the fussiness was due to typical soreness from having major kidney surgery and advised that we continue Tylenol and monitoring him. Friday night was as bad as Thursday night, and again Saturday and Saturday night. We knew something was up. We spoke with Dr.Teague again Sat, and he told Patrick to do some mashing on Banks tummy to see if it felt hard or if it seemed to hurt him. Well, he was already so fussy it was hard to tell. Sunday morning Banks was very obviously uncomfortable. Patrick was trying to calm him down and thought he might have been hot, so he undressed him. When he picked him up, I noticed from behind that his right side was bulging. At that point we knew we were taking him back to the hospital. We called Dr.Teague again and off to the hospital we went for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that where the ureter was reattached to the kidney was leaking, and resulted in what is called a urenoma. The urenoma needed to be drained, requiring an immediate surgery guided by CT scan to place a drain. So Banks went back into surgery and spent Sunday night in the hospital again. During this stay, they tried other forms of pain meds (hydrocodone), all which had the same effect on him as the Loritab. So, he was up all night again Sunday night. Finally, on Monday afternoon Dr.Teague and Dr.Monroe came in and they suggested we try oxycodone (Percocet) and if he tolerated that we could come home. Luckily, he did tolerate that better. We were discharged on Monday evening with the drain in his side and instructions to measure and record the output until Thursday, when he would return for another ultrasound and hopefully have the drain removed.
Thursday, Patrick and I took him for the follow up ultrasound and appointment, and although Dr.Monroe feels the urenoma looks better, it is still draining too much to take out the drain.
We'll be following up again this week to see if he can get the drain removed. Then he'll have another ultrasound in about a month to see if the surgery was successful in fixing the obstructed ureter and hydronephrosis, and to remove the stent.
Although this has been the most difficult couple of weeks of mine and Patrick's life, if the outcome is successful for making Banks have two functioning kidneys, it'll all be worth it.
This experience has also made us feel very blessed for a number of reasons. Although sending our 6 month old into surgery was beyond difficult, it only takes a few minutes of being in the Children's Hospital to realize how fortunate we are. Also, we truly have the most supportive and amazing family and friends we could ask for. Hopefully this experience will be over soon.
Monday, June 23 Banks went in for surgery at GHS at 8am. He was in surgery for 3.5 hours, which felt like an eternity. Again, we are so blessed to have been surrounded by both of our parents during the surgery, and we had the prayers of so many more. Banks made it through surgery like a champ, and was ready to snuggle with momma and nurse within 15 minutes of when Patrick and I got to go back to recovery to see him. Dr.Monroe felt that everything had gone well except for the stent placement, which slid into the upper ureter rather than the lower which would have been "more ideal." He stayed in the hospital for 2 nights, and got the original drain and catheter out before we left. With the exception of having an adverse reaction to Loritab (made him really hyper and over-stimulated), the hospital stay was uneventful and our boy seemed to be on the road to recovery. We took him home Wednesday afternoon on Tylenol only.
Once we got him home, Banks had a decent night Wednesday night with the exception of requiring a couple of doses of Tylenol for pain management. Thursday he seemed to be getting more fussy instead of less. He didn't sleep hardly at all Thursday night. Friday was progressively worse, and we decided to call the Dr office. Dr.Teague (Dr.Monroe's partner) was on call for the weekend. Dr.Teague felt the fussiness was due to typical soreness from having major kidney surgery and advised that we continue Tylenol and monitoring him. Friday night was as bad as Thursday night, and again Saturday and Saturday night. We knew something was up. We spoke with Dr.Teague again Sat, and he told Patrick to do some mashing on Banks tummy to see if it felt hard or if it seemed to hurt him. Well, he was already so fussy it was hard to tell. Sunday morning Banks was very obviously uncomfortable. Patrick was trying to calm him down and thought he might have been hot, so he undressed him. When he picked him up, I noticed from behind that his right side was bulging. At that point we knew we were taking him back to the hospital. We called Dr.Teague again and off to the hospital we went for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that where the ureter was reattached to the kidney was leaking, and resulted in what is called a urenoma. The urenoma needed to be drained, requiring an immediate surgery guided by CT scan to place a drain. So Banks went back into surgery and spent Sunday night in the hospital again. During this stay, they tried other forms of pain meds (hydrocodone), all which had the same effect on him as the Loritab. So, he was up all night again Sunday night. Finally, on Monday afternoon Dr.Teague and Dr.Monroe came in and they suggested we try oxycodone (Percocet) and if he tolerated that we could come home. Luckily, he did tolerate that better. We were discharged on Monday evening with the drain in his side and instructions to measure and record the output until Thursday, when he would return for another ultrasound and hopefully have the drain removed.
Thursday, Patrick and I took him for the follow up ultrasound and appointment, and although Dr.Monroe feels the urenoma looks better, it is still draining too much to take out the drain.
We'll be following up again this week to see if he can get the drain removed. Then he'll have another ultrasound in about a month to see if the surgery was successful in fixing the obstructed ureter and hydronephrosis, and to remove the stent.
Although this has been the most difficult couple of weeks of mine and Patrick's life, if the outcome is successful for making Banks have two functioning kidneys, it'll all be worth it.
This experience has also made us feel very blessed for a number of reasons. Although sending our 6 month old into surgery was beyond difficult, it only takes a few minutes of being in the Children's Hospital to realize how fortunate we are. Also, we truly have the most supportive and amazing family and friends we could ask for. Hopefully this experience will be over soon.
First Time In Water
We went out to Andy's lake house a couple of weeks ago and Banks got to go "swimming" with Daddy for the first time. He seemed to think it was a little cold, since he's only used to bath water so far. Hopefully we'll get to take him again soon!
Heather's Wedding Festivities
In the midst of everything going on with Banks, my best friend got married! We went to Nashville for her Bachelorette Party, and her wedding was at the Ryan Nicholas Inn in Simpsonville. Everything was perfect and I couldn't be happier for her and Brad.
And while I was in Nashville, Nannie came to help with Banks!
6 Months!
Well, it's happened... Banks is HALF a year old! This has been such a fun month with him. He is developing such a little personality, and loves to make us laugh. The most recent discovery has been learning to blow raspberries, and he does it constantly. He even does it when he's eating, which makes for super messy meal times. He's eating twice a day on most days now, and he seems to like bananas the most. He is babbling like crazy, and loves using that tongue to make new sounds. He s so aware of his surroundings, and as a result he is starting to reach for us and cry when we enter or leave the room. He still loves his bath time. He has been pretty good about sleeping through the night in his crib, although teething has interfered with that some. His bottom left tooth finally broke through on Father's Day (the perfect gift for his Daddy!) And as of today, both of his bottom teeth are through the gum. You can see them in this picture:
It's getting more and more difficult to take his monthly pictures because he is so wiggly now, but this is what we got:
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