Grandma McMurtrie

I mentioned my grandma was placed into hospice care a couple of weeks ago on the first of May, she passed away that Sunday the 4th.  My mom spent the day with her and said she really didn't respond to her all day, Mom left and my aunt Lucy was there with her when she passed about 20 minutes later.  Lucy said it was very peaceful and had she not been watching her breathing she wouldn't have known that she stopped.

It's so hard to lose people that are close to you, I feel like I've been through this way too many times.  But no matter what or how it happens, whether its something you knew was coming or it happens in an instant, it hurts and it's sad to think you will never get to talk to them again.  The selfish part of you thinks about all the things that they will miss out on that you know they would have loved to have been a part of, or you just wish they could be a part of to share in your life.  Things like watching great grandkids be added to the family, watching a grandchild graduate, grow etc.   As sad as it is to say good-bye I'm also comforted to know that she's no longer in pain.  One thing is for sure my grandma was a strong woman.  Through the past few years as her health/mobility declined she was the last person you'd hear complain.  She was also the last person to ask for help or be willing to give up the ability to do things which is probably what kept her going as long as she did.  She had a lot of pride and wasn't going to stop doing anything that she could continue to do on her own.

Grandma's Obituary

I have so many memories of a childhood filled with my Grandma & Grandpa.  Days spent on the farm, the time grandma picked me up from school in kindergarten because I vomited all over the desks..yep that happened, making us pancakes of any shape we could imagine (My favorite was the horse/cow shape), mint chocolate chip ice cream and letting us eat as much as we wanted.  I remember making towering ice cream cones with my cousins Kevin & April.  Her allowing us to have contests to see who could eat the most ears of corn during sweet corn season, being amazed at her ability to peal an apple with a knife in a huge spiral without breaking the peal, always whispering to her in the wrong ear (she lost her hearing in one ear when she was young to scarlet fever).   But always keeping us in line by threatening beatings with her yard stick, not sure anyone ever got one but I sure wasn't going to be the one to find out!  Grandma was exactly what you think of/want in a Grandma.  In her eyes we were all perfect & she was the first to tell people about her perfect grandchildren regardless of how imperfect we might actually be.  Grandma & Grandpa put photos up of all their grandchildren and great-grandchildren for grandma to see from her hospital bed before she passed, 6 kids of their own, 14 grandchildren & 13 great-grandchildren....that's a heck of a legacy when you consider that's 33 people who wouldn't exist with out the two of them.

It's so hard to say good-bye.  (thanks boys II men)  But how fortunate we all were to have someone so wonderful be a part of our lives.

Hydronephros-not: Alex visits the Nephrologist.

So I promised and update on Alex's kidneys.  At the ultrasound that they did when he was a week old they still noted that the right kidney still looked like it had fluid in it so they told me they would refer us to the specialist to see what we needed to do next.  No answers, just to wait until we went there to find out what if anything was going on.

On May 2nd, my last day of maternity leave...(wth?) They FINALLY scheduled a referral appointment for Alex up at UofM. My mom took the day off work to go with me which was pretty awesome of her.  We had two appointments first was with the imaging department so that they could take a new ultrasound of both of his kidneys.  (I may work at UofM but I've never actually set foot in the new Mott Women & Children's hospital.  It was very nice.)  The nurse who did the ultrasound was very nice and super friendly.  Alex didn't seem to mind his ultrasound at all.  Actually in typical Alex fashion he pretty much didn't make a peep all day until he got hungry.

After the ultrasound they sent us up to our next appointment with the pediatric nephrologist.  They asked us a million questions about family history and how Alex had been doing since birth before bringing in the doctor (Dr. Lombel).  The doctor started in with more of the same questions before pausing to say "he's fine" and continue on with her questioning.  They are 99% sure from the looks of the ultrasound that absolutely nothing is medically wrong with him.  (yay!)  What they say he has is on his right kidney, it's called Exrarenal Pelvis, where basically the part of his kidney that collects urine before it moves to the bladder (the renal pelvis) is misshaped.  Instead of following the typical kidney (bean) shape it is just misshaped outside of the normal bean shape.  It is a normal variant in about 10% of the population and is harmless. (My aunt has it so we wonder if its a genetic freak trait that our family carries, the only reason she knows she has it is because she was having kidney issues when she was pregnant so they did some imaging tests on her and found that she had a misshaped kidney but it wasn't the cause of the problem she was having.)  They said he should not be at any increase risk of UTI's or kidney stones.  The concern was if he had a reflux or obstruction of urine through the ureters which is not the case. They said we don't have to continue to monitor him or his kidneys.  The only way we need to go back for additional testing is if Alex starts to develop urinary tract infections.

She drew us this lovely picture to try and explain it better :)  the misshaped part is where it bumps out just a little bit right near the ureter.

Happy to know that it's nothing, really, other than my kid being a little odd.  But aren't we all?

Alex Two Months!

How is it even possible that this kid is two months old already?

Seriously.

Alex doesn't seem like it to me but he is a BIG boy.
14lb 6oz    86.1%
25" long     98.8%
17" head    99.9%

That's almost 6 lbs of weight gain since birth (technically since he lost so much its more than 6 lbs!  Guess the breast milk is working.

Alex is a very easy going baby, he's pretty much only upset when he has a dirty diaper or gas.  Unfortunately sometimes when he has gas he gets pretty inconsolable!  For the life of me I can't figure out what it is that I eat that triggers him.  (aside from sauerkraut, THAT was a definite NO GO!)

But when he's not filled with gas bubbles he's so content to just sit in his swing/bouncer/carrier and watch the world or sleep.  Mom watched him for me this past weekend and said you'd forget he's even there cause he's so quiet and low maintenance.   (you know 180 from his sister)  So far he seems like he's going to be my easy going laid back kid for sure.

Last Friday he got his two month vaccinations, with Addison we never dealt with any reactions to shots other than maybe some soreness and super low grade fevers.  Alex, about 4 hours later started to get incredibly fussy for himself and couldn't be comforted unless he was nursing (exhausting for both of us).  He ran a fever of 101 even with tylenol on board and cool baths.  We ended up calling the doctor (I've never in almost 4 years of parenting had to call the doctor for advice other than to schedule an appointment!) and though she didn't sound worried she gave the go ahead to give motrin also (since he's under 6 months I didn't want to just do it).  Luckily the motrin helped, but I did have to continue to give tylenol every 4 hours until Sunday morning at 4am before his fever finally broke and stayed away.  Good lord.  Hoping that his 4 month boosters won't go as badly.  Poor kiddo.  At least I always schedule his well baby appointments for Fridays when I'm home with him for the weekend if he's gonna be so fussy after.

Still only breast feeding, I pump at work so he gets breast milk at the baby sitters.  He's taking about 4 oz every 3-4ish hours.  While he was still being miserable from his shots he was only eating about 1-2 oz every few hours, can't keep up that beefy physique eating that little!

Alex is an incredibly smiley baby, he loves his sister no matter how incredibly close to his eyeballs she seems to think she needs to be to talk to him. He lets her love all over him without a fuss and with tons of grins.  Sister still LOVES, LOVES, LOVES him.  Still all over him every chance she gets.

Still not a fan of being on his belly, but he's got the head control down pretty well as well as lifting his head and entire torso up and off of you.

We had our appointment at the U for the fluid his kidneys, not sure I ever posted about it...I'll get on that.  But the good news is its nothing and we don't have to monitor him any further!

He's been going to bed at night somewhere between 9:30 and 11, I've never been good at sticking to strict schedules with babies.  I kind of let them run the show in the sleep/feed arena.  Sleep when your tired, eat when your hungry.  Anyhow once he's asleep MOST nights he will wake up somewhere between 3-4am and want to eat.  That's when he comes into my bed and spends the rest of the night cuddling with me.  I learned with the first kid, if I'm gonna make it a year on breastfeeding and working, co-sleeping it is.  It works for me at least.  After his middle of the night feeding he's usually sleeping until 7-8ish if we don't have to wake him to take him to the sitters.  During the day he's cat napper, with if you're lucky 2 good naps that last about 2 hours.  If you want him to sleep put him in a carrier and wear him, knocks him out every time!

Regardless of his beefcake status, he's comfortably wearing 0-3 month clothing (except the onesie brand one I shoved him in for the photos, he looks to be muscling out of that!) His feet are almost too long to cram into the millions of pair of size 1 shoes I have for him, I think he's worn two pair both one time.  Baby shoes are so stupid yet so adorable!

Doctors, Doctors and More Doctors

Today I've been spending my day enjoying my kids in what I am considering the last day of my maternity leave.  Yes, technically I still have Friday off also.  Friday just so happens to be the day that they scheduled for Alex's referral to UofM for his kidneys.  While I am very happy to get that done and over with tomorrow I am not excited to have to drive to Ann Arbor, to UofM on my final day off.  Might as well go to work!  So Addison will be at the babysitters while Mom and I take Alex to UofM.  We first have to go to an appointment in imaging for an ultrasound and then we are going to see a doctor from the Pediatric Nephrology Clinic who hopefully will give us all the answers to what the heck we are dealing with.  As much as I despise UofM, there is no denying that when you have a sick kid, or a medical issue, it's the place to be.  Hoping his turns out to be a non-issue but we shall see.

Speaking of medical issues, I got news today that my grandma (79, this summer) was placed in Hospice care this week.  :(  About 3 weeks ago she was hospitalized for a week, to put it simply, her body is failing her.  Shes been unable to walk for the better part of a year but recently things have gone downhill quickly.  Most likely due to her inability to be mobile.  She was sent home from the hospital on oxygen to help her heart about a week before Easter.  My family has been amazing in stepping up to help take care of her and keep someone there with her around the clock so that my Grandpa can get a break and get out in the fields to get some work done.  It's so hard to watch someone you love waste away and lose the ability to care for them self even worse when they are still in their right mind.  As hard as it will be to lose her I know that being stuck in a chair now hospital bed in pain is also no way to live.  I feel so bad for my Grandpa I can only imagine how hard this is for him.

I just love this picture, I feel like I have a lifetime of memories of my Grandma, I'm glad I have at least a few photos of her with the kids to show them and share my memories someday.

When I went to the hospital to visit her while she was there I took the kids but had planned on letting them stay with my step-dad in the waiting room while I visited to keep the calm in the room.  The second I walked in alone my grandma asked me where that baby was.  So in came the kids.  Can't deny Grandma any baby snuggling.

holding Alex when he was a week old

Holding Alex again at the hospital 

With a Newborn Addison in 2010

Helping Grandpa Pick on a 1 year old Addison

Bad photo skills but Addison's First Christmas

Love these two, they celebrated 60 years of marriage this past February!