3 Months

Paisley has passed her 3 month marker and is right on track for her development. She had her well check and is in the 75% for height and 50% for weight. She started to show excitement when Brandon or I walk into the room or talk to her. She’s smiling and giggling and I love it! She’s rolling from her back to her tummy and is still mastering the use of her arms it’s pretty cute to watch her try to reach for something! She still really enjoys lying under her activity center and bouncer. I don’t know if you remember when I was pregnant they thought she might have some kidney issues. Well when she hit two months old they had me take her in for an ultrasound and they found that her left kidney was still enlarged and there was fluid around them. So they sent me to a Urologist and told me that they needed to do some x-rays on her at Primary Children’s. So I scheduled the appointment thinking it was just going to be some simple x-rays and took Brooks along for the ride. We got there and they inform me that they would be giving her an IV and a catheter! I was pretty upset, if you know me you know I don’t do good with needles and I wasn’t really prepared for this. But I sucked it up and we went into the room. They laid her on the x-ray machine table and put these soft weights on her arms to hold them down  the Dr. said he saw a vein in her foot they could use for the IV. I let her hold my finger with her tiny little hand as they put in her catheter. She did ok with that, she gave a little grimace but wasn’t too fussy about it which surprised me because I know what it feels like. Then they stuck the needle into her itsy bitsy foot and she began to squeeze my finger and scream  I started to get queasy! She was crying her little heart out and squirming around and her little face was bright red. It seemed like he was digging around in there FOREVER! He finally stopped and decided that her foot wasn’t going to work. He proceeded to turn the lights off and shine a little flashlight under her hand to see her veins and again poked her. She tightened up again and kept screaming; I was stressing out so bad but trying to calm her down with kisses and running my hand through her almost non-existent hair. While Brooks was whispering to her “It’s ok sissy, it’s almost over” Both the Dr.’s were holding her down and complaining how wiggly she was being. I was thinking to myself.. ”You work at Primary Children’s Hospital. You think they would know how to put an IV in a baby and that she’s not just going to hold still for them to do it!!” After another eternity of them digging around in her baby hand they finally got it in. I think all the screaming wore her out because she fell asleep right after and they said they didn’t giver any kind of sedative. I had to lie down before I threw up or passed out and they brought me some juice and a candy bar to help my light headedness. They put some kind of fluid that has radioactive particles in her I.V. and put her under the machine. I was informed that the nuclear scan expose a child to about the same amount of radiation as a conventional x ray. At times, it can be even less. They said it was so that her body would try to flush it out so that they could see how her kidneys were functioning. She had to stay under the x-ray for 45 minutes and then they gave her something else that I was told would make her have to pee to flush out the remaining radioactive stuff. Then we had to have another test done. In the waiting room there were kids coming and going and one of the mothers who was waiting with her daughter to was talking to me and some of the other mothers about why we were there. There was an 18mo old boy that had a scar down his entire chest, his Mother told us that he had a heart defect and had already had 3 open heart surgeries; the first being the day he was born and that he still needed to have another. He also had a feeding tube in his abdomen that he kept picking at. I can not imagine having to deal with that! It was so stressful just hearing about it let alone being his mother it made me feel so scared and sad for her! There was another little boy that came in screaming as he went into one of the examination rooms with his Dad his Mother sat down in the waiting area and began to sob. We could still hear his muffled cries and screaming. She told us that he has a rare blood disorder and he had gotten into a basket of things and swallowed a tack. It got into his lung and they were trying to figure out what to do for him, since he would most likely bleed to death if they tried to surgically remove it. I felt terrified for her! It’s always a parent’s worst fear for something to happen to their child! And pretty much every parent there was living their worst nightmare. It made me take a minute and really thank God and count my blessings.
The next test they did was pretty short and sweet. They just filled her bladder with contrast and had her empty it out and took some pictures of the process. Then we went to meet with the urologist. Ultimately it was discovered that she has vesicoureteral reflux. Urine normally flows in one direction—down from the kidneys, through tubes called ureters, to the bladder. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the abnormal flow of urine from the bladder back into the ureters. So this causes bladder and kidney infections. The goal for treatment of VUR is to prevent any kidney damage from occurring. So she was place on an antibiotic that she has to take every day until she’s one year old. To help prevent infections, then she will be re-evaluated to see if she has outgrown it. If she still has it then they might have to do surgery to correct it. I didn’t ask too much about the surgical procedure, I figured I’d cross that bridge when we came to it and I just hope that we don’t have to!
She’s a little trooper and just has the sweetest demeanor. She is just a happy little baby; her only fusses are an empty tummy and a messy diaper. She prefers to nap in a noisy room, like if the TV is on or there’s music playing. If it’s silent she doesn’t sleep as well. Brooks loves her to pieces; it’s so cute to watch him with her. And she loves him! She looks at him with such admiration in her eyes it is the sweetest thing! I know I will love watching them grow up together!