Getting Ready to be a Big Brother Again...

Elijah has been practicing wearing the baby carrier with one of Emme's babies in it. He is trying to show me how well he can carry Evelyn in it. I do think he would do an awesome job carrying her, if the baby carrier actually fit him...so I told him he can help push her in the stroller and the swing. He seemed to be okay with that compromise. That, and he informed me that Gideon lets him carry him, so he will just stick with that. :) 

Happy Anniversary

September 16th, 2006 Dustin and I began our lives together. We promised to love, support and accept each other for all of lives. On March 16th 2013, we made those same promises for time and all of eternity. Happy forever babe! Love you! 

Update on Gideon

Gideon had a check up doctors appointment on Thursday with his regular pediatrician. Thankfully, Gideon does not seem to have any negative side effects to the medicine. I have noticed over the past few days that overall Gideon seems to be doing better than he has in several months. I talked with Dr. Harder about some of the behavior I had noticed, and he said that more than likely Gideon has been having minor seizures for several weeks. Unfortunately, until the seizures got strong enough to be noticeable (Sunday) there was really no way of knowing that those were seizures/episodes that were occurring. Over the last several days on medicine, I have noticed that Gideon's mood has greatly improved. Also, he is talking! We always knew he could, he just never did. On Thursday alone he said three words to me that he had never said before. It is amazing how not having a head ache all of the time can change everything! Elijah told me the other day that he wasn't worried about Gideon anymore because he seems like his happy self again. I completely agree about the happy part, but as his mommy I have still been struggling with some serious worrying and anxiety. In three months we will go to the neurologist for a check on his medicine, liver and kidney functions and another EEG. 

Gideon is Home!

The doctor decided that Gideon could be discharged late yesterday morning! Awesome! We were so excited. We came home and took a 4 hour nap followed by a long shower for mom and a long soak in a very full tub for the Giderman (who knew a little guy could have so much glue and tape on him.) Gideon did really well yesterday and today. He is pretty wobbly and off balance still, but he is getting around well. He slept all night in his own big boy bed, which caused some serious anxiety for mommy, but he did amazing. I woke up this morning to Gideon's little face beside my bed waiting to be picked up. Those big blue eyes and adorable smile made my whole day and reminded me of how amazingly lucky I am to have him. 

As of right now, Gideon will stay on the medicine that he is on for 3 months. At that point, we will go see the neurologist for a medication check and another EEG. If everything is the same and the medication is still controlling the seizures then we will see the neurologist in 6 months after that. Slowly, the neurologists and EEGs will become farther and farther apart. They will do blood work every few months though to check his levels and his kidney functions. 

As scary as the last few days have been, I am so grateful that Heavenly Father provided amazing doctors and nurses that helped our Gideon. I could see and feel Heavenly Fathers hand in everything! Gideon's blood work was able to be rushed and we given the results in only a few hours (even on a Sunday!) We were able to be admitted right away to the Pediatric unit, and they were able to do the EEG that night instead of in a few days like they had initially said. Not only was Gideon able to see the neurologist first thing Monday morning, but the doctor was able to give us the EEG results and schedule the MRI for that same day! Also, the Neurologist is one of the top ten in the country, who chose Green Bay as his home over every other state! Amazing :) Overall, our stay ended up being several days shorter than they originally told us because everything "just happened" to fall into place perfectly. 

We are grateful for all of the kind thoughts and prayers for our family and Gideon. They have meant the world to us, and we know that they helped contribute to both Gideon's recovery so far and how all of his treatments were able to be rushed. Thank you! 

Eating Breakfast!

Yesterday afternoon Gideon was able to eat for the first time. He hadn't really eaten since breakfast on Saturday. Needless to say he was very excited! He ate two scrambled eggs, one yogurt, a pudding, milk and then followed up with goldfish crackers. He liked his lunch so much we did a repeat for dinner! This morning he got to eat breakfast right after he woke up, and the nurses spoiled him! They brought him a high chair full of goodies. It is sad though, until Gideon's IV port, I had never noticed whether he is left or right handed. Apparently, he is going to be a lefty for everything except coloring (he does that with both right and left.) He has a hard time using just his right hand the last few days.

Exciting Update!

Gideon's MRI was clear. No tumors or growth abnormalities! Huge relief! There are two other possible causes for his seizures, and although scary and somewhat long term, feeling blessed it isn't worse! The two other possibilities are both genetic seizure disorders that are NOT hereditary. They both have to be managed with two doses of seizure medication a day. Gideon has already received this dosage at the hospital and has responded well to what is considered to be the safest drug available. He will continue to take this dosage for what sounds like an extended amount of time. Thankfully, 60% of toddlers with either of the disorders out grow them by the the time they are 5 or 6 with no long term effects of their brain. 

Gideon had a good day today. He was awake most of the day which is a huge change from the last few. He is still adjusting to the meds, and is too unsteady to walk or stand on his own, but he is very much himself. He was even quite feisty and play wrestled with me for quite awhile this afternoon. Words cannot describe how good it is to see "him" again and not the cranky zombie kid that he was. 

Hopefully, if Gideon has no more seizures today or tomorrow morning, we can go home in the afternoon. We are both exhausted. I have only slept an hour since Saturday night, and it starting to take its toll! :) 

Sleeping Peacefully

As of early this morning, Gideon has been seizure free! He had one "break through" seizure around 6am but they gave him a larger dose of the seizure meds and that is working for now. It was amazing to have Gideon awake for part of the day today. He even smiled at his mommy and Daddy. We talked to the neurologist this morning and he told us the EEG results. Unfortunately we did not get the for sure answers we wanted, but they have narrowed it down to four possibilities. All of which are scary, some more than others, but I trust that the Giderman will be alright. Gideon had a MRI done this afternoon to hopefully rule out the scariest of the possible causes to his seizures. The MRI took about 45minutes, so Gideon had to be put to sleep. Everything went well and Gideon is now sleeping very soundly and peacefully. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon or so we will know the MRI results. 

Daddy and Gideon

Sunday has been a rough day for our family. Gideon came into bed with Dustin and I around 3am and settled right between us and fell back asleep. A little before 6am, I woke up to Gideon having a seizure. Dustin and I assumed it was a fever related seizure like he had had in October. But just a few hours later, he had another seizure. I called the doctor and took Gideon in for blood work. The doctor called a few hours later with his test results and right after I got phone with him, Gideon had another seizure. They admitted Gideon into the pediatric unit around 2. In the next few hours he had another two seizures. That makes a total of 5 in about 12 hours. The doctor decided to keep Gideon admitted and to do an EEG so that the Neurologist would have more information about what was going on with Gideon. After the fifth seizure had been recorded on the EEG the neurologist gave Gideon a double dose of seizure controlling medication and a sleep aid/anti anxiety medication. Thankfully, Gideon has been peacefully sleeping for the last few hours. Unfortunately, it sounds like Gideon will need to stay in the hospital for three to four days, or longer depending on how long it takes for the seizure medications to regulate his little brain. Tomorrow morning we will meet with the neurologist and hopefully get some more answers. I will try to keep the blog updated with any new information. 

Wacky Hair Day!

Elijah convinced Mommy and Daddy to let him have a Mohawk for wacky hair day at school today. No worries though, it is getting shaved tonight!

Scotsman in Green Bay

Lucky for me this Scotsman is mine!