Nate's 2nd Year!

When I was putting together this video, I was just shocked at the transformation of this little guy. He has come so far this year, or even the last 6 months. See for your self!

Nate's 2nd Year from rebturley on Vimeo.

Okay, now on to the updates...

Update #1-Kidneys

Recently we met with Nate's NEW kidney doctor. Our previous doctor left the practice and we were assigned to a new doctor in the practice. When I heard this, I started crying. I felt very silly crying over a doctor who had left. When I thought about it, we had put so much faith and trust in this man to get us through such a difficult area of worry with our son. So I think it was natural for me to be in a sense of "mourning" over the loss of that relationship. 

That being said, we are very pleased with his new doctor! For one, it is a woman, and she has a much more sensitive bed side manner than the previous doctor. She seemed already very on top of Nate's chart and we just had an overwhelming sense of ease with her. 

The last time Nate had blood work was when he was in the hospital in May. Ironically, for being so sick, he had pretty good numbers for that draw. Our new doctor wanted to make sure this wasn't a fluke so she encouraged us to get new blood drawn within a month.We explained to her about how difficult it is getting to take Nate's blood. He tenses up and becomes so emotional, most times it is hard for the nurses to find a vein, and to keep it flowing. When we were in the ER, the nurse that did his IV was able to use this neat little device that numbed the area when the medicine was pushed through the skin using CO2 through a high pressured instrument. It makes a loud noise, but ultimately it calms him down more if the DO need to go digging around for his little vein. 

No typical blood draw clinics carry this, so we asked if there was some way we could get it done there at the hospital. We were so happy to find out that the RN that is on staff at the kidney doctor's office had the tool and we were able to get the blood draw right there!! Even with the numbing tool, he still has a hard time with the blood draw. The nurses were amazed at how strong our little guy was. Hopefully we will get the results back soon. 

Update #2-2 year pediatric appointment

Nate is still on the tiny side, falling at the 3rd percentile for weight, but he is eating really well now and has gained a good amount of weight after battling his spell with the Rotavirus. No shots needed!

Update #3- Eyes

Some of you may not know this, but we have been seeing a pediatric eye doctor for about a year. A while ago we noticed that he has a wandering eye, which unfortunately is found of both sides of his families. (I had surgery for my crossed eye prior to kindergarten.) At this visit, our doctor was able to get some good data on Nate. Nate currently wears a patch daily to help strengthen the eye. But the need for surgery seems inevitable. We are going to wait three ore months, and then at our next visit we will see if we are going to move on surgery. 

Update #4-Physical Therapy

Over a year ago, we had Nate evaluated developmentally since he was beginning to shows signs of a delay due to his slow weight gain. He qualified for both Occupational and Physical Therapies. The problem was, there was no therapists out there that were available in our area with our availability. So we just worked with him the best we could on our own. Luckily, he has made huge gains on his own. At Christmas, he was released from needing OT, and then in May he was evaluated again and he was released from that too. The PT said that some of the things Nate was demonstrated was actually ABOVE his age range. They are placing him on consult, so if anything comes up before he is 3, we can easily get him back in without the paperwork. But our boy seems to have caught up!

Nate's current favorite things consist of hot dogs, trains, macaroni, dressing up in sister's dress-ups, and helping cook with mom. He is so excited to be a big brother soon!