33 Weeks: Diagnosis

I met with my OB today, and got some more clarification about what's going on with our little one's kidneys.  

The official diagnosis for what she has is called fetal pyelectasis (click link for more info).  A quick definition...

Enlargement of the part of the kidney that collects urine (the renal pelvis) from 4 to 10 millimeters in diameter is called fetal pyelectasis or “renal pelvic dilatation”. Dilation of the renal pelvis to greater than 10 mm is called severe pyelectasis or hydronephrosis.

 So, anything in the 4-10 mm range is of concern, and once the kidney size hits 10 mm, it's considered severe.  Both of our little girl's kidneys are at 9.8 mm.  So, they are still out of the "severe" range, but just barely......a bit too close for my liking.  Please pray that they do not get any larger.

It sounds like, in most cases, this issue resolves itself, oftentimes before birth even.  She will continue to be monitored via ultrasound until she's born, and then will likely have an ultrasound on her just days after her birth.  All of my doctors, as well as the ultrasound tech, have assured me that there's "nothing to worry about"....I wish it were that easy.

Prayers are cherished!  And, in case you have forgotten what she looks like....=)

Sonny Acres

 This afternoon, we headed down to Sonny Acres.  We had never been there before, so we had no idea what to expect.  The kids had a great time.  They got to explore, be outside, see lots of pumpkins, have their very first corn dogs, and ride some kiddie rides.  The weather was nice, though quite windy.  Thankfully, we got our visit in before the impending thunderstorms.

"Pumpkins don't grow on trees!"

I love this....Caleb could just barely get his head over the top, and there was no chance Meredith was even getting close!

 The kids each got to pick one ride to go on (I feel so stingy, but things really start to add up x3.  $20 for corn dogs and fries!  Whatever happened to $1 hot dogs?).  Of course, they all picked something different to ride on...

 

Sparks Verses

Caleb is in his first year of Sparks at AWANA.  Sparks is for Kindergartners, 1st graders and 2nd graders.  And, it is a lot different than Cubbies!  One of the big differences is that they can recite as many memorized verses each week as they can, as opposed to just 1 verse per week in Cubbies.  There is no required amount of recitation each week, though we were encouraged to do at least 1 verse per week, to keep on track.  

I went in to the year a little overwhelmed, I have to say.  Between his school work, Sparks work, work for Sunday church, and just life, I didn't know how it would all fit in! 

Thankfully, though, we've managed to establish a pretty decent routine, and I have been pleasantly surprised with Caleb's motivation in many areas - his Sparks memory verses being one of those areas!  

Granted, a lot of his motivation comes from getting his "jewels"...but whatever works.  The kid has memorized so many verses this year so far, I am amazed!

For this week, Caleb was determined to memorize 6 verses.  To be honest, I didn't think he could do it (shame on Mom!)...it just seemed like a lot.  But he was determined, so we have been practicing a lot.  At the beginning of the year, I had purchased a CD with all of the verses in his book set to music...and that helps a ton.  We listen to it a lot in the car, and he often sings a verse to remember how it goes.  I'm so glad my friend Jill told me about this CD, as I know that having them to music will help them "stick" for longer!

Anyway, here is a quick video of the 6 verses that Caleb has memorized in 1 short week.  It's so great to see him set his mind to something, and then accomplish it!

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.
Genesis 1:31 - And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good.
Romans 3:23 - All have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God.
John 17:17 - Sanctify them by your truth; your Word is truth.
1 Peter 1:25 - But the Word of the Lord endures forever.
John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.

Things He Says: 22 Months

Shane has quite the vocabulary.  He talks pretty well, speaks in multiple word sentences, and we can usually understand what he says. =)  It's so fun to have conversations with our little "baby"!

I wanted to jot down a few of the fun/funny/cute things he says right now, lest the months and years go by and I forget this sweet time.

Silly Boy. =)  After he put these on, he was so proud, and wanted to show Caleb.

• As an affirmative response to something, Shane will often say either: "Ummmmm, yes." or "Yeah, sure."
• When the situation calls for it, he almost always says "thank you" without us prompting him.
• When he is up for the day, we hear him saying "awake!" in his crib.
• He can be a bit bossy at times....he often says "be quiet" when his roomies are a little bit loud when they are supposed to be sleeping (not that he is totally innocent in all the "fun"!).  And he will sometimes say "stop it" if someone is doing something he doesn't like.
• He gets so proud of himself when he accomplishes something, and often exclaims "I did it!".  He also tells you "Look!" when he wants to show you what he accomplished.
• He is very independent and will make sure you know that he will " do it self".
• While he can say his siblings' names (or some form of them), he still calls them "brubru" (brother) and "sissy".
• He is quick to tell someone that he is "sowwy" (sorry), even if he isn't the one at fault.  And it's always followed with a hug.
• He loves garbage trucks, and calls them "gawbage twucks".  He also loves to tell you about how they "dump" garbage.
• He enjoys mimicking things we do during school time, and likes to use our pointer to point at the calendar, or the hundreds chart and SHOUT numbers....usually, it sounds like this "3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5!"  He also loves to yell out the months of the year with us when we sing them each day..he doesn't necessarily know all the months, let alone in the right order, but he can yell "OCTOBER" with the best of 'em!
• He calls Kisses "Tisses".
• He loves his special blankies....and calls them his "bankies".  Any other non-special blanket is just a "banket".
• He loves to sing, and it's so fun to hear him put words of a song together.  He also tries hard to recite the Bible verses that the bigger kids work on each week.
• The other day, he actually referred to himself as "Shaner Bug" which is what we all often call him.
• He loves babies, and it's so cute to see him pointing out things in our home..."baby's crib," "baby's swing," "baby's toys," etc...

I could probably think of a ton more, and many of these are probably non-monumental to you....but to a momma, these little things are just the best!

32 Weeks: Our Baby & Her Kidneys

Less than 2 months to go!  I can't believe how quickly the weeks are passing.

 

It is difficult to capture good pictures of our girl.  She always seems to have her hands (and sometimes her feet!) over her face.  Here you can see most of her face.

For the past couple of months, my doctors have been monitoring our baby girl's kidneys, as it was discovered many weeks ago that both of them are dilated (filled with fluid).  They weren't overly concerned....while her kidneys were larger than normal, they weren't that far out of the typical range.

I had my latest ultrasound appointment today (with the u/s technician, not the doctor), and unfortunately, our little girl's kidneys have gotten larger.  The tech didn't give me too many details, and I'm actually confused about the measurements (sometimes they are in cm and other times in mm).  She didn't seem overly concerned, although she does want to see me back in another 4 weeks to check on her again.  She seems to think that the kidneys are both functioning well, despite the dilation.  The levels of amniotic fluid are normal, which is one indication that the kidneys are draining a sufficient amount.  There is no fluid around the kidneys, and none has been detected in the ureters, which is good.  But, how they can be "functioning properly" yet still very dilated is a mystery to me.

I will see my OB on Thursday, so hopefully I will get more information then.  And, since Thursday is a loooong way away (in my anxious mind), I will likely call the doctor on Monday to get some clarification, just to ease my mind a bit.

I imagine that if she was very concerned, they would have referred me to a specialist, but it's hard not to worry.  I love this little baby so much, and the thought of anything causing harm to her precious body is so sad...especially after the rough start that we had, and the danger that the large blood clot was to her in her earliest weeks.  There's nothing more disheartening than the idea that someone you love so much is not safe.

Other than that, everything with our little girl is going well.  She is growing well (larger than average, though likely will not be Caleb-sized!), always has a strong and steady heartbeat, and is extremely active.  No matter how many times I have had a baby in my stomach, feeling and seeing movement never ceases to amaze me.  I'm trying to spend time focusing on these things, but can't seem to get over the possibility of something being wrong.  Unfortunately, this type of thinking/feeling is not new to me during pregnancy.  Thankfully, I know that the Lord is in total control, and that He loves this little girl even more than I do.  While I cling to that promise in the "big picture", it's hard to remember in the little moments throughout my days.

Please pray for this little baby girl, that she would continue to grow, and that her kidneys would get smaller and start draining more efficiently.

Unit Theme: Autumn

Here's a little glimpse into this past week...

Unit Theme Memory Verse:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 - He has made everything beautiful.

 Leaves/Autumn books we read:

Autumn Leaves by Ken Robbins, Why Do Leaves Change Colors by Betsy Maestro, The Scarecrow and the Spider by Todd Smith, Animals in Fall by Martha Rustad, Autumblings by Douglas Florian, God's Oak Tree by Allia Zobel Nolan, Leaf Man by Lois Elhart, Clifford's 1st Autumn by Norman Bridwell, It's Fall by Jimmy Pickering

Fall Songs/Fingerplays:

The Leaves
(Sung to: "The Wheels on the Bus")

The leaves on the trees turn Orange and Red

Orange and Red, Orange and Red,
The leaves on the trees turn Orange and Red
All around the town.

The leaves on the tree come tumbling down, 

tumbling down, tumbling down,
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,
All around the town.

The leaves on the trees go "swish, swish, swish,"

"swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish,"
The leaves of the trees go "swish, swish, swish"
All around the town.

We'll rake them in a pile and jump right in!
Jump right in, Jump right in!
We'll rake them in a pile and jump right in!

All around the town!

It is Autumn
(Sung to tune of "London Bridge")

All the leaves are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
Falling, falling to the ground
It is Autumn!

As they fall they twirl around,
Twirl around, twirl around.
Twirling, swirling to the ground.
It is Autumn!

Lots of colors touch the ground,
Touch the ground, touch the ground,
Red and yellow, orange and brown.
It is Autumn!

Craft: Tissue/Contact Paper Leaves:

 I actually had supplies for this craft leftover from our playgroup's Fall Frenzy 2 years ago, all in a Ziplock and ready to go....love when that happens!

 

 How Leaves Change Color:

We used this book as our resource for the science behind color changes in leaves:

We talked about why leaves change from green to other colors during the Fall season, and the kids colored these simple leaves as a visual to go with that process.

Caleb's included text that reviewed (VERY simply) the color-changing process that we learned about.

Meredith's just had color words. =)

Writing: Introducing Similes:

 Art: Q-Tip Painting:

Shane kept saying "dot, dot, dot, dot!" as he painted.

Fall Printables:

Back to Homeschool Creations for some more printables.  She has great Fall-themed printable packs (for preschool and for kinder).  I just printed off a few pages to use.

Picture/Word Matching:

I cut her vocabulary cards in half, so that the word was on one piece and the picture on the other.  I cut them in a puzzle-like manner, so that they physically match up when the right words/pictures are chosen.

I realize that Caleb and Meredith are quite blurry in this, but I just loved that Shane's head ended up in this picture.  =)

 After they matched up the words with the correct pictures, they practiced some handwriting by writing out the words.  Meredith traced dotted letters that were already on her page, and Caleb had to look to the words in the pocket chart for help with spelling (both templates are from the Homeschool Creations Fall pack).

We cut out their word strips to make little books for each of them.

Leaf Identification:

 This book has nice (real-life) pictures of various leaves, tells the type of leaf that each one is, and then offers a couple brief facts about the leaves/their trees.  It's a really great (and not overwhelming) option for a non-fiction text about leaves.

After we read it together, Caleb used it as a resource to label each leaf on his paper.  We also talked about what "doing research" is, and how we can often use books to find helpful information.

While Caleb worked on his leaf identification, Meredith colored-by-number.  The girl loves to color.

Craft: Falling Leaves



One day, the Lewis girls came over and the kiddos made these (link to Busy Bee Kids' Crafts)...they turned out really cute!  I wish the pictures could show the leaves "falling".

Meredith's

Caleb's

 Leaf Man:

 Love, love, love this book. 

After reading it, the kids made their own leaf men.

Meredith's

Caleb's

 And, Caleb wrote a few sentences about his...

My leaf man blos (blows) away.  My leaf man has is (eyes).  He has leafs (leaves).

 Sensory Bin: Counting & Graphing

Shane loves the rice & beans bin!

 The kids had to count the different items in our Fall sensory bin (apples, leaves, acorns, pinecones and gourds).  Caleb recorded the number for each group.

 After all of the items were counted & recorded, the kids colored in graphs to show the numbers.

 Acorn Craft:

We read this book...

...and did this craft:

Caleb's

Meredith's

 Up next week is more fun and learning about Fall - we'll be taking a look at Fall crops, specifically pumpkins!