Boy Scout Advancement

Noah went back to the pulminary specialist in Iowa City. All the steriods really did was cause a lot of side effects (screaming, bright red cheeks, very uncomfortable), so we cut the dose in half per doctor’s orders. It didn’t help any, so they did an EKG, which looked “funny” and recommended we follow up with the pediatric cardiologist. We did that last Friday. They called Wednesday and said they would “probably” do an echocardiogram, so to have Noah fast from 3 am until his appointment “just in case.” When I went in, his breathing had improved from Monday and they said the murmur they heard they believed was a flow murmur and they said the EKG can be funky because the chest walls are so small, so they didn’t think they would do the echo. Then she asked family history of heart problems and decided that they had better do the echo. The PA didn’t really think they would find anything. They put him to sleep and told me the medicine was just to make him “drowsy” but he was OUT. They took an hour to do the echo and it was just silent. I figured that was either a good thing or a bad thing. Then finally, after waiting another 30 minutes, the pediatric cardiologist came in with the PA and said that structurally, his heart was fine and everything was where it should be. He does have a heart murmur between the upper two chambers of his heart, but that will close eventually, and is very normal in infants. The flow to the right side was worse than the left, but again, just a negligible amount. However, his lungs kept getting in the way of his heart, which the doctor found “interesting.” He kept on saying that. And they still found evidence of Resperatory Distress Syndrome. He said he believes from the size of the lungs and the way they got in the way, he probably had mild pulmonary pressure that will also resolve itself. Finally, he decided that although nothing individually is major, it is a combination of everything that is causing his breathing issues. So he said with everything they found, it is all minor enough to not warrant any further treatment or visits. Yippee!! He is fine! I was so relieved after him throwing so much at me that it really is nothing to be concerned about. Nathanial and Ethan are still doing well. All three of them smile all the time and talk quite a bit. Noah is the biggest talker, but the other two are catching up. Nathanial and Ethan are further ahead physically. They roll and wiggle around quite a bit and Noah is more content in one spot. He is starting to move quite a bit, though, too. Their little personalities are coming out more and more all the time. Noah is the fussy, very needy one of them. He likes to be held and if he is awake and not being held or paid attention to in some way, he can get pretty upset and pretty loud. Nathanial is pretty laid back most of the time, but can get very feisty if things don’t go his way. When he is eating, he wants everything *just so* or he gets feisty and if he wants attention and isn’t getting it, watch out. Ethan is extremely laid back and just kinda takes things as they come. When he gets upset, it is way more a hurt cry and not angry or feisty, and his little lip goes out. It is so neat to see how different they are! I can FINALLY tell Ethan and Nathanial apart most of the time! Ethan has a longer, more narrow face and still has pointy ears, while Nathanial has a more round face and rounder ears. Of course, if all else fails, tick them both off and see who gets more upset quicker! And it doesn’t hurt that Nathanial still has a red toenail!!Austin made his official advancement to Boy Scouts last Monday. He received his Arrow of Light, so I was happy about that. He has had a lot of fun already and really enjoys it. He went to the middle school with his class Monday. He was able to meet three of his teachers, the guidance counselor, and the principal when we went. He felt a lot better seeing familiar faces in the crowd and realizing he wasn’t just going to be thrown somewhere where he knew noone. He refused to go out in the hall during class switch time when I went with him, but he had no choice when he went with his class. His teacher said he looked pretty stricken and just looked directly at the person in front of him. He will adjust to it, we know, but it will be hard for him at first. Steve and I met with the guidance counselor, his current teacher, current school nurse, and his psychologist on Monday and that went really well. There were just some schedule issues I wanted to get figured out before school starts and I felt like we were FINALLY listened to and I think it had a lot to do with Dr. Paul being there. Steve and I decided whatever he charges us for coming up will be well worth it! Austin and I are planning on going up quite often during the summer to walk through his schedule and get used to the building. At least all the sixth graders are on one floor.Aidan is Aidan…always keeping us on our toes! A couple of Sundays ago, he was going UP the steps to go to bed and tripped and his tooth almost went all the way through his lip (it was translucent from the inside to the out, so I knew it was deep), so he and I made a fast trip to the ER. He ended up with four stitches and he pulled two of them out by Monday afternoon. Tuesday he fell again and it looked nasty, so I hauled him in to his doctor again. He decided it was better to just take them out and deal with any future bleeding with pressure. It has actually done really well and is completely healed now.