Kidney Walk 2009!

As most of you know, Ryder was born with a urinary tract abnormality that had a major impact on his kidney function.  We feel so blessed today knowing that after everything he went through, he has TWO functioning kidneys!  We have felt led to support a great cause, the National Kidney Foundation, in raising awareness on Kidney Disease, supporting kidney research, and helping patients and families that have been affected.

Team Ryder will be participating in a 3 mile walk on November 8th in Richmond, VA.  Will you support us?  You can show your support by making a donation, or by joining Team Ryder and walking with us!  If you join the team, then you in turn can ask people to support you by making donations to our team.

To join/donate go to http://walk.kidney.org/goto/teamryder OR click on the kidney icon on the right side-bar of this blog.  Feel free to email me at bam126@gmail.com with any questions, or just to let me know that you’re IN! 

One Word Wednesday

**Support**

Wonderful News!!

Baby Alexander is out of surgery and it went so good!  The surgeon believes that she was able to get the whole entire tumor!  They will confirm this with an MRI tomorrow, plus will have the pathology report back on Friday to determine what type of tumor it was, and what the rest of his treatment plan will be to ensure that he is cancer free!  So right now, he is in recovery, what a rough day that poor little guy has had – almost 10 hours of brain surgery! 

God is good!  Thank you to everyone who was praying for Alexander and his family, I know they appreciate all of the support.  Continue to pray for a fast recovery and an easy treatment from here.

And in other wonderful news, Ryder’s blood work came back normal.  No kidney or urinary tract infections here, thank God!

More exciting news to come…I’m working on something special :)   

Update

Wondering why Ryder has a band-aid on his arm AGAIN?!  Yup, more blood work.  Which just means that my update is that I don’t have much of an update.  Just more sitting and waiting for results.  The good news is that they sent his urine off to the lab and did get results back that the white blood cells and blood they found in his urine was a very small amount so there is no need for concern there.  Hopefully in the next day or two I’ll have the results from his blood work back and that will be clear too.  Onto way more exciting things!  Ryder is like his Daddy in so many ways, but I’ve noticed lately that he definitely has one of my personality traits.  He’s very obsessive passionate about things that he likes.  His newest “passion” has been wanting to drink out of my cup.  Every time I go to take a drink of something, he is reaching and acting like a crazy man trying to get my cup.  So I decided to give him my glass of water and see what he would do:

 

I took that as a hint that it was time to get Ryder his very own cup…and I’d say that was a great move.  He absolutely loves having a sippy cup, and it only took 1 day for him to figure out how it worked and how to get the juice out of it.

What a big boy!  Tonight he had green beans and apple sauce for dinner and kept breaking to take sips of his juice.  Normally I tip the bottom up so that he can actually get the juice out, but Mr. Independent decided that he didn’t need my help, he would just use his foot!  (How’s that for Problem Solving Skills??!!)

Please Pray…

This sweet little baby’s name is Alexander and he needs your prayers!  He’s at Children’s Hospital right now awaiting brain surgery on Tuesday to remove a brain tumor that they verified is cancerous.  Pray that they will be able to remove most of the tumor, that his body will recover quickly from the brain surgery, and that the chemo and radiation he will have to endure afterward won’t be too hard on his body. 

Please also pray for his parents Suzanne & Roosevelt who are close friends of my Brother & Sister-in-law.  I can’t imagine how helpless they must feel watching their 5 month old son have to go through this, especially when just last week he was fine.  My heart truly goes out to them. 

Please just take a few minutes to pray for this family.  Alexander is scheduled for brain surgery on Tuesday to remove the tumor that is located right where the base of his brain meets his spine.  Pray for the Doctors as well, that God will give them the knowledge and ability to go into such a sensitive area and get rid of the tumor so that Alexander can continue to grow and thrive and live a long, happy life.

This Little Monkey Butt

Is just TOO cute!  And he’s rolling over so well now!

Yesterday, we had to take this little monkey butt to the Doctor.  We really thought we were going to get away with not having to get blood work done this month, but we couldn’t be so lucky!  At his 6 month check-up his Pediatrician had a concern so she called to consult his Urologist, and sure enough, he asked for blood work and a urine sample.  Poor little Ryder, he just can’t catch a break :(  His nurse is usually so good at doing his blood, but this time she lost the vein and couldn’t bear to poke him again so she pricked his finger.  He didn’t even flinch!  And then he was fascinated for the next 10 minutes with her squeezing his finger and dripping the blood into the vial!  Gross, I know, Mommy was about to faint, but not this tough guy…he’s very proud of his band-aid! The urine sample came back positive for Leukocytes and a trace of blood.  So the blood work has been sent off and we’re awaiting those results.  He must have some sort of Urinary Tract Infection, hopefully it hasn’t made its way to his kidneys.  He doesn’t have a fever and is acting like he feels completely fine.  So, we’ll just wait to hear back from the Doctor to see what our next step is, keep checking for fevers, and play like nothings wrong anyway!

We’ll update as soon as we hear something! 

Life at Daycare…

If there is one thing I can be sure of, it’s that Ryder loves going to Aunt Vicki’s!  When we walk in the door in the mornings his face always lights up.  No matter where we are, if he hears Vicki or Jesse’s voice he starts looking for them and smiles so big as soon as he sees their face.  Anytime I get there, whether it be during my lunch break or in the afternoons, he is always very happy and content.  I have never (not one single time!) walked in the door and heard him crying.  It’s such a relief for me to not have to worry about his well being during the day, I know he’s being taken care of…obviously I still think about him ALL day long and wish that I could be with him, but given the circumstances he is in the best place he could be! 

So the first day that I ever brought him to Aunt Vicki’s I brought her some disposable cameras and told her to take pictures for me, that way I won’t feel like I’m missing out on so much.  She thought this was hilarious, apparently I’m the first Mom who has ever brought her a camera (okay so maybe I’m a little obsessive) but she said of course she would do that for me.  Well, the first camera is finished and I finally got a glimpse of what Ryder does all day!

He plays on his activity gym:

Sometimes so hard that he crashes and has to take a nap!

He hangs out with Uncle Jesse (his best bud!)

He sits up like a BIG boy on the couch!

And on Uncle Jesse’s Aunt Vicki’s Harley!     

He hangs out in his walker, posing and smiling for the camera (I’ve trained him well!)

 

He even goes outside and swings, how fun!

Looking back at some of those pictures amazes me, seeing how little he used to be, remembering the outfits he used to fit into, and when his hair was falling out, just all the little phases he has gone through that have brought him where he is today.   It looks like Ryder’s days are full of fun times and activities!  I’m jealous…he’s having WAY more fun than I am during the day! 

Okay, bring on Camera #2!!

Rewind – Back to 3 Months!

Remember when Aunt Mickey was here, and remember how she took pictures, and remember how I’ve been waiting for them, and waiting, and waiting, well they finally came!!  It’s okay Mick, they were totally worth the wait!  Along with the ones in my last post, here are just a few of my favorites:

  This was the first time Ryder ever held his head up by himself!

One Word Wednesday

**Amazed**

New Hats

Poppy got Ryder a hat…

 

And I think it just might be…

The cutest thing I’ve ever seen!

But there is another hat…

From Diddle…

That comes in a very close 2nd!

6 Month Dr. Visit

We survived…we’re not happy about it, but we DID survive!

As you can see, Ryder’s a little upset that he had to get shots today.  It really brings him down :( But he got a present from the doctor, so I guess that makes it a little better! 

At 6 months old, Ryder weighs 14.5 pounds and is only in the 5th percentile of weight for his age group.

He’s 26.5 inches long though, which means he shot up to the 53rd percentile for height!  He definitely hit a growth spurt there!

The Dr. is very pleased with his development, we still have some areas that we need to work with him on (fine motor & problem solving skills)…which they always remind me is fine because he was a preemie. 

Better get going, my little drama king poor, pitiful, aching baby needs my attention :-P

Six Months Old!!

Wow!!  I can’t believe how much this little guy has grown in just six months.  He’s SIX months old today, I just can’t get over it.  This month has brought about a lot of growing and learning.  He is always watching and listening, and many times we notice him trying to mimic the faces we make or our actions.  Here are Ryder’s stats for Month 6 (I won’t have his height & weight until after Monday’s dr. appt):

• Ryder’s feeding schedule has definitely changed this month. He now eats fruit & oatmeal for breakfast, veggie & rice for dinner, and bottles every 3 hours in between.
• He’s sleeping from 8:30 – 6:30…finally…it is SO wonderful!
• He’s still wearing 3-6 month clothes (even still fits some of his 0-3!)
• He’s rolling from back to tummy like a pro now!
• He’s happiest when he can lay down, kick his legs, and babble about whatever it is he’s trying to tell us.  He is always sure to throw a few “Da-Da’s” in there with his babbling.
• He continues to chew on his fist constantly, put anything he can into his mouth, and drool everywhere!  Still no tooth though!
• He smiles when people talk to him, and gets frustrated when he’s not getting any attention.
• He’s definitely a dare-devil and will crack up laughing when he’s held high in the air, or when we bounce him on our knee.

Some things that we will be working on this month are sitting up by himself and learning how to crawl.  Maybe by next month we’ll have some major improvements to share about those two topics!  Here are some pictures of our busy little 6 month old: