Please sir....

This video is from a few weeks ago, but its too cute not to share. Its so funny what makes kids laugh.

Elias has just started trying to sing songs, but of course the second I pull out the camera he either becomes camera shy or wants to watch himself on the screen. We were spoiled last week with such fabulous summer like weather, and Elias was outside on the playground every day. Now, its back to cold winter weather and Elias is going stir crazy come 5:00. And now we've started packing up the apartment, so his space in here is very limited. We can't wait to move into a new home, wherever that might be. I've been told this time next week we'll know for sure whats going on with our future with our church. We'll see...I'll share more once we know whats going on.

"New" Thumb for Elias!

On Monday we had an appointment for Elias to get his cast taken off and the pin removed. The doctor had said removing the pin would be like removing a stitch, essentially painless. We were all so ready for this cast to come off. The doctor took out the little window they had made in the cast to check on the incision where the pin was, and what do you know...no pin to be seen. It had slipped under his skin and was too far in for him to get without causing him a lot of pain. Since it had gotten infected, the skin swelled up, and as it healed, his skin healed over top of it. Great. We had two options. Numb it with huge needles in the office, use a knife and try and coerce it out with a knife. Or...we could come back and give him anesthesia for 5 minutes and it'd be done. Given the two options, we weren't about to put Elias through something seemingly so painful, so we opted for the "surgery". The doctor said it would literally take just a couple minutes, if even, to get the pin out once he knocked out. 

So yesterday (Thursday) we headed back to Tufts for the procedure. Once in the pre-op room, the anesthesiologist came in and we discussed what would happen. We determined there was no need for an IV seeing as that in the time it would take for the IV to be placed, they could be done removing the pin. So it was decided he would get a very very small dose of gas to knock him out, just enough for 10 minutes. Kevin went into the OR with Elias, and held him while they placed the mask on his face until he fell asleep. 

We went out to the waiting room and quickly scarfed down our bagels knowing they would be coming to get us as soon as we were done. 20 minutes later, we got the call that he was in recovery and ready for us to come back. He was already awake when we got there, and was very upset. It became very clear in just a few minutes that he was more upset over the probes stuck on his body monitoring his oxygen and heart rates. One was wrapped around his two, and he just would not forget about it. We had to wait about 45 minutes before they would clear us to go home, and as soon as they took the probes off all was well again. They had his hand wrapped in an ace bandage, and we were told to keep it on and dry until his appointment on Friday when we would return to the office for the OT to make a new splint. 

So today at the OT's office, they removed the bandage...and holy cow! His thumb looks SO good! It actually looks normal. He even bent it to grip some object. I was so happy I almost cried. The OT made a splint that his thumb will slip into, which he has to wear for a part of the day and at nighttime. Moral of the story is we are very happy with the results. We feel very fortunate for both Elias and I to have such wonderful doctors at Tufts. 

Then we had an appointment with his other orthopedic doctor to check on his feet. He said his clubbed foot is looking great and he's very pleased. As long as the insurance company will cover it, we're having a new brace made that will have hinges, allowing his ankle to bend more when he walks, as opposed to the one he has right now where from mid-calf down its held straight. We also discussed how when Elias turns 2 1/2 he'll need a small procedure to move a tendon from the one side of his foot to the other. But thankfully that's a year away, so we should be surgery-free for Elias for another year. 

Unfortunately, our excitement was marred by the fact that Elias has the most God awful diarrhea the past 3 days, and today he threw up in the car on the way home from the hospital. And he hadn't eaten a thing in 48 hours, so we went straight to the pediatrician. He exploded 3 times by the time we made it into the room, the one time all over his stroller. That was a joy to clean in the bathroom, let me tell you. And while I was cleaning, he walked smack into the porcelain sink. Needless to say, we're all exhausted. Hopefully Elias sleeps really well tonight and doesn't explode all over his bed again...

I'll post pictures of his "new" thumb once all the yucky dead skin from under the cast is gone. 

3D Ultrasound - Take Two

I have the most amazing OB on the face of the earth. On Friday I went in for my monthly checkup and expressed to her how frustrating the last ultrasound went. She said they should have been able to see something, and the fact that they didn't get any images at all was unacceptable. She went on to say that she happens to be on rotation in ultrasound all of April, and that she wanted me to come in to have another one done and that she would do it herself if they couldn't get any images this time.

So yesterday we had our ultrasound bright and early. It was so much better this time around. Nothing new with him was found, which is a good thing. I felt like with Elias, at every ultrasound there was something else they thought they found. As far as his hands go, he's still doing the love sign with his right hand. What we were able to tell in the 3D was that his thumb looks like its folded over his middle and ring finger, not under like Elias' thumb was. His left hand was in a fist, so they couldn't really see anything there. Both feet were looking clubbed. However, certain angles made it look more severe as well as less severe. Regardless, they both look clubbed.

My doctor said theres a little issue with my placenta. Kevin and I heard too different things though...I thought she said there was a build up of fluid, and he thought she said a leak. Don't ask how we can have heard such opposite things...but either way, she said its not a problem right now, just something to be watched every month in the ultrasounds. It makes me particularly nervous though because they think I had placenta problems at the end of my pregnancy with Elias, resulting in hardly any amniotic fluid surrounding him and having to be induced. Hopefully that won't be the same story here.

Thennnn we got to see Gavin's little face. It was hard to get a good shot with his hands up with his face the whole time, but we were able to get one profile. I'll take what I can get.

Today we found out we're going to have a little niece! Josh and Abby will welcome little Saffron Janelle sometime late July. Hooray for summer babies :)