Good Busy, Overgrowth, and a Book

Sorry to have neglected you lately, blog. I've been good busy with lots of Christmas fun. I did have Christmas blahs for a couple days a little over a week ago, but I'm back in the Christmas spirit now.

This weekend we went to Wilson for some family time dedicated to Jason's dad's 50th birthday. Much fun and FOOD was had by all. We ate and ate, all day long we ate. We ate bbq, chicken casserole, chips and salsa, chips and cheese dip, chili, fudge, cheesecake...it was good. We also went to see the Christmas production that Mark (Jason's dad) wrote for SBCC. It was really good, very timely (and poignant teehehe).

Ariel had her 3 month check up for overgrowth. We drove up to CHKD for an abdominal ultrasound and bloodwork. This time the bloodwork went super smooth. The lady stuck the needle in and Ariel produced blood. No multiple pokes, no moving the needle around in her arm to find the vein, just stick and collect. It was good. I was grateful. The ultrasound went horribly. So bad that the tech told me I have to bring someone else with me next time. Ariel can't eat or drink for 4 hours prior to the ultrasound, so she was HUNGRY and I have to lay her on her back in a dark room (like being put down for a nap she isn't interested in taking) and I won't pick her up when she cries to be held. Mommy just stands there and watches her cry then even holds her down. She got rather hysterical. She squirmed and messed up the pictures, so it took longer. She cried and messed up the pictures, so it took longer. She freaked out about the process, so it took longer. I was not fun. The tech warned me that the next 3 or 4 will be like this. We discussed foods/drinks that Ariel can have that won't mess up the pictures in an attempt to make this go more smoothly. She isn't supposed to have anything because it makes the galbladder less visible. We aren't really looking at the galbladder - so it isn't too big a deal for us, but we don't want it to completely disappear just in case something is wrong. Next time I'm going to try giving her jello, juice, and orange slices. Apparently, they won't mess with anything.

The tech was cute during the discussion though. When she suggested jello, she stopped herself and said "Oh no that won't work, you can't give a baby jello for breakfast." I thought, yes, yes you can. It is food. It will make her more content. I will give her fudge and chocolate cake for breakfast if it will make this process go more smoothly. It will only happen 1 morning every 3 months for 2 more years. I am okay with that.

In case you are wondering, the ultrasound is trying to detect abnormal growth in her abdominal organs especially her kidneys and liver and growths on them that could be Wilmes' tumors or heptoblastoma. If found, they are VERY treatable - but we have to do the checkups regularly to find them. The bloodwork is looking for increasing AFP (Alpha feta protein) that helps identify heptoblastoma. These are both childhood cancers. They do not have a really high occurance in children with overgrowth, but the rate is high enough (1 in 10) that regular checking is beneficial.
I believe the bloodwork will only be done until she is 3 or 4, but the ultrasounds may continue until she is 8.

Wow, I didn't realize that I was going to make this post about that. Oops.

I would love to tell a story about Ariel forgetting how to sleep at night and talking to us and giving us lots of kisses instead, but I've got to get in the shower.

Before I go though, you should put your name in for this giveaway. A blog I read regularly is giving away 1 copy of The $5 dinner mom cookbook a day for the next 2 weeks. I would love to get this book, but I'm not gonna buy it. Maybe I'll win it. Maybe you will. You should enter.