Ethan stories

Here is the latest news about Ethan. For those of you who know, Ethan was born with hydronephrosis which is an enlargement of the kidney. We have known about his kidney since my 20 week ultrasound. Well, long story short, our pediatrician has been on top of it and set up an appointment for us to see a pediatric urologist at Children's Hospital in St. Louis. That appointment was last Wednesday. He had a couple of tests done here which led our dr. to believe that there was a blockage in the tube that leads from the kidney to the bladder. Knowing this, we had discussed the possibility of surgery to unblock the tube. When the dr. examined him in St. Louis, he told us (after a couple more tests) that the tube was not blocked, but the bladder was refluxing back into the kidney. Something he may very well grow out of without surgery. Great news for us and Ethan. He is on a low dose of antibiotics so he does not get a kidney infection and he will have another ultrasound of his kidney in 6 more months to see if it is getting smaller. That was great news!

He is a really good traveller. We took him to St. Louis for his appointment and he did really great in the car both ways. We took him to Quincy to meet my family there and he did exceptionally well going and coming back. He loves the car.

He has been fighting some really bad colic. We have changed formula twice which helped but not totally fixed the problem. He would cry and scream for hours with no relief. Eating would make it worse. He would cry through his feedings and sleep only for little bits at a time. The pediatrician prescribed Prevacid wich is something they give people for heartburn thinking he had acid reflux. It didn't help. Next we were given Levsin which is a medication given to people who have irritable bowel syndrome. It has worked really well. He is eating better and sleeping better and when he is awake, now instead of screaming, he is taking in his surroundings and smiling and making contact with us. We still have some occasional setbacks, like today for instance, he has been crying most of the day, but for the most part, he has done much better.

He weighs almost 9 lbs now. He is changing every day. He is becoming more interactive with us and his appearance is changing a lot also. He is a really cute baby. We are still not getting much sleep but it could be a lot worse. I am glad I am not working right now. That would be tough.

In other family news, Chris and Stacy are engaged! I am so happy for them and Stacy will be a wonderful addition to our family. I am looking forward to having her as a sister in law. Lily is now 4 months old and sleeping through the night. I wish she could teach Ethan to do that.

Carrie is finishing up her last year of school and doing well as always. David is going to be coming back to the states around the first part of November. He will be in Kansas at Ft. Riley. We are looking forward to that. Ryan is a Junior now and is enjoying band and singing in choir.

Well, that's all for now. Hope you are all doing well. Until next time...

Kelley