Liam is 4 months old!!

BIG LIAM!

-Liam weighs 18lbs 5oz!! Can you believe it? He is 26 3/4 inches long. He's HUGE! Syd at 4 months was 16lbs 8oz and 26 1/2 inches, so he still has her beat!

-He is still sleeping 10-12 hours a night! We're so lucky!!

-He's now obsessed with rolling over. OBSESSED. Everytime I lay him on the floor, his flips right over, and then flips back over...it's too funny!

- He is still eating 7 oz at each feeding, and cereal twice a day. We just incorporated apples into his diet today and he seemed to really like them! I didn't think he would be picky :-)

-He enjoys sitting in his bumbo seat.

-He coos a lot still and now has this weird scream thing he does. He doesn't do it because he's mad or anything, he just does it to hear his own voice I think!

-He laughs ALL the time! The silliest things make him giggle. When I say words funny or babble.

-He loves to play peek-a-boo. Everytime I say, "Peek-a=boo, I see you!" he responds with a coo or a laugh. He also likes to play patty-cake. His favorite part is when I pat his belly with his hands. He just laughs so hard!

-He tries to grab everything now. When we were in MN recently, he clinched onto a french fry and wouldn't let go! Jimmy had to break it in pieces to get it out of his hand!

-He's VERY oral...way more than Syd. He puts everything in his mouth.

He has favorite toys already. He loves his puppy (Leap Frog Scout). It's amazing! You can program it to say your child's name, favorite color and food, and you can select the songs it plays!! And he has a thumbie dinosaur Sydni got him when he was born and he snuggles that, too!!

-He naps now between 8:30-9:30am (he gets up between 6:30-7:30am) then sometimes (not very often) a short nap around 12-1pm and then about 45 minutes to an hour between 3:30-5pm and goes to sleep between 7 and 8:30pm.

-Bath time is either right before his night time bottle, or right after....depending on how persistent he's being about eating right after his late nap.

-He is still wearing some 12 month old clothes, more 12-18mo and even 18-24 month shirts! He is such a big guy!!!

-He wears a size 4 diaper. That seems HUGE.....but he's just a big guy!

-He's a finger chewer now, too. I think he's teething. It seems a little early, but you never know!

-He got 4 shots! He is so sad afterwards. He went to bed early. Thank goodness for tylenol!

My Life is Chaos, and sometimes I like it and sometimes I don't

So...got my blood test results back. Complete blood count (cbc) normal meaning that my platelet count- normal, red blood cell count- normal, white blood cell count- normal, hemoglobin- normal. Hep b bloodwork- normal, meaning hep dna- 42 (very low level, almost perfect), bili level- 1.0 (really good, but has never been bad before), alkaline phosphate- 52 (normal), ast- 27 (liver enzyme within normal range), alt- 38 (another liver enzyme within normal range, which wasn't in January). And thyroid bloodwork- normal. Tsh (The TSH test is often the test of choice for evaluating thyroid function and/or symptoms of hyper- or hypothyroidism. It is frequently ordered along with or preceding a T4 test)- Normal. T4 (a hormone produced by the thyroid gland)- Normal.

So, that's good that everything is normal. But bad, because that doesn't explain any of my pain in my side and back.

My ultrasound results were "unremarkable" in the good way. My gallbladder was normal, all of the ducts were normal, my pancreas was normal, liver was normal, no masses or spots on the images, my right kidney was great.

So I am going to my regular doctor tomorrow to get a mono test done....hopefully, and this is why.

My current symptoms:

- Fatigue (super bad)

- Headache

- Body aches, specifically left leg in the middle of my thigh on the back, my upper left arm

- Neck pain, pretty much goes from the top of my neck, down the left side, down across my shoulder and behind it all the way under and up my left armpit.

- A "full" looking neck, as my hepatologist said. Not like a rollie pollie neck, just full from the middle to the base.

- Throbbing, stabbing pain under (not below, so more like behind) my rib cage on the left side.

-Ribs feel bruised on the left side (bottom 3 ribs)

-Pain in ribs radiates to my back.

Okay, so sort of sounds like kidney stuff, but I've had an enlarged spleen before (spleen is located on your left side behind your rib cage) and it hurt SOOOOOO bad it made me fall asleep....like I had no other choice except screaming. This feels just the same. I've also had mono before and it made me SUPER tired.

Anyways, mono can cause your spleen to enlarge, thus I think this might be my problem. Your lymph nodes swell also, which could be why my neck hurts and it travels to my armpit, but there are lymph nodes there, too.

I'm also going to my ob to get my pap done. Yeah yeah maybe tmi, but I also want to go to make sure the lymph nodes in my armpits aren't related to my boobs somehow because they (my lymph nodes) got huge during the last weeks of pregnancy with Liam.

Wow, I sound like such a complainer and hypocondriac. Oh well. I might be complaining, but I think I have the right to, and I'm not a hypocondriac. I just want to FEEL BETTER!!

Yesterday I only held Liam like 3 times all day because my side hurt so bad in the morning and afternoon. :-( It made me so sad. I felt like I didn't help with him at all yesterday. And I know Jimmy is fully capable of doing all of it, but I wanted to contribute because it was weird not to since I take care of him by myself everyday because Jimmy is at work.

On a random note, Jimmy and I went to dinner last night by ourselves (my mom watched the kids). It was GREAT. We went to a place we love, Yai Yai's. DELICIOUS. We had Carpacchio, a trio dessert with Mango Raspberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Souffle, and an Apple Bread Pudding, and then I had Salmon with Lobster Ravioli, and he bad Vegetable and Seafood Lasagna. YUM. I was STUFFED. It was so weird eating out without Liam and Syd! I mean, we just got to eat without holding Liam of cutting up food for Syd, or taking her to the bathroom, or feeding Liam. It seems so simple, but it was great!

Okay. I think I'm done for the night. I'm SO TIRED.

Where have I been?

Well, I've been feeling like poo to be quite honest.

I went to my hepatologist and found out that one of my liver enzymes are still double, which isn't good. I was taken off my Lamivudine (hep meds) and was told that if my numbers shoot up really fast I'll be put on another medicine asap, or if they steadily climb that would be what would happen, too. The new medicine is called Tenofovir. It's meant more for long term use than the Lamivudine, and the Lamivudine you can become resistant to, so this is the safest alternative for long term use especially if I want to expand my family in the future.

Then while I was there he looked at me and said, "hmmm, your neck looks full." Then he examined it, and said "yep, I think you're thyroid glands are swollen." AWESOME. So I had blood work done to check that out. Isn't that juuuuuust peachy?

So then I told him about this weird pressure pain I've been getting right at my bra line on my right side (my liver side, that is) and he told me to get an ultrasound done to see if maybe it was gallstones, and if it came back as a no, maybe do an endoscopy (the shove a tube down your throat and check out your stomach and such). I had one done about 5 years ago, and everything was a-okay. Anyways, I got my ultrasound done on Thursday and the preliminary results said no gallstones. I don't know whether to be happy about not having gallstones, or sad because it could be my liver....

So....at the moment I am waiting for thyroid blood work and hepatitis bloodwork and a rundown of the rest of the ultrasound from my hepatologist. Hopefully I'll be getting a call early next week.

With all of this going on, I've been VERY tired. I had my hep appt on Tuesday, Jimmy worked until 9 on Wednesday, my ultrasound Thursday, Sydni's V-day party Friday, she has a playdate today, we are celebrating v-day as a family tomorrow followed by a soccer game and then Jimmy and I are going to v-day dinner tomorrow night because he works 1-9 on Monday......WHEW.

On another note, we are finally going to be able (cross your fingers) to go to MN this coming Saturday to see my Grandma!! I'm soooooooo glad. I haven't told her yet. I'm thinking about surprising her!!

Okay...so wish my luck on all of my health ailments. Did I mention hep blows??? If not, HEP BLOWS.

My Grandpa

My Grandpa's memorial service was today in Minnesota. Jimmy, Sydni, Liam and I were supposed to fly up there last night. I struggled all day yesterday trying to decide whether or not we should make the trip with the pending weather. And the later it got, the worse the forecast got. I called my mom (who was already in Minnesota) late (around 12am) and tried to talk through what would be best. I was so concerned about being snowed in there because they were expecting 6-8 inches on top of what they have (25 inches) and we were expecting the worst storm in history. I also didn't want to get stuck in the air with my 6 year old and my new baby, or stuck in an airport in the same situation. But I soooooo wanted to be there with and for my family. Everyone was coming, including family I hadn't seen in over 10 years. And I wanted to see my Grandma so bad. She is also very ill and isn't expected to be around much longer. She was so excited to see Sydni and especially Liam because she hasn't met him yet. And I felt like if I didn't go, not only was I letting my family down, but also my Grandpa (who never got to meet Liam), but my Grandma, too.

My mom told me to cancel our flights and stay home. It was safer for us and we'd all feel guilty of something bad happened. It's what I needed to hear. I think I was waiting for my mom to tell me it was okay to stay home, however stupid that sounds. So I cancelled the flights. I called my Grandma yesterday to talk to her about everything. I told her how sorry I was, and how I felt so bad that I couldn't be there. And she said, "don't worry about it. I will see you soon. What's most important is that you guys are safe and the kids are safe." I needed to hear my Grandma say it more than anything....that it was okay that I wasn't there. I told her I loved her and I would see her as soon as I could and that I would be thinking of everyone, especially her, today at 2pm when the service started. She said, "Oh thank you Katie." My Grandma is so sweet. Honest, caring and sweet. Did I mention that they were married for 62 years? They were the sweetest couple. They bickered, but in a loving way!

I asked my mom how the service was and she said it was great. It was held in the retirement center that they live in. She said about 75 people came. She read a letter that one of my Grandpa's nurses wrote about him and she said it was a tear-jerker. I haven't read it yet, but I'll share it when I get a copy of it. It's weird because I had a dream on Saturday night (when I decided to cancel the trip) and I can't remember any of it, but my Grandpa was in it. I think it was him telling me it was okay that I wasn't there and that he understood I had to do what was best for my family.

I know he's watching out for us.

Liam is 3 Months Old!!

Liam at 3 months....I can't believe he is so old! He's growing up so fast!

-Liam weighs a little over 16 pounds! He's such a big guy! But he's also really long, so he doesn't look as chunky as he is!

-He now sleeps 10-12 hours a night! He's going to be just like his big sister!!! She was such a good sleeper and still is!

-He has been rolling over from stomach to back since he was 5 weeks old, and he just learned how to roll over from back to stomach!! He's soooooo BIG!

- He is still eating 7 oz at each feeding, but we just started feeding him cereal, too!

-He can almost sit in his stationary play center by himself!

-He is cooing more often, and lets out some crazy little noises that crack us up!

-He smiles all of the time, and is now smiling at familiar faces and things and noises he thinks are funny.

-He has favorite toys already. He loves his puppy (Leap Frog Scout). It's amazing! You can program it to say your child's name, favorite color and food, and you can select the songs it plays!! And he has a thumbie dinosaur Sydni got him when he was born and he snuggles that, too!!

-He normally naps around 9:30am or 10am and then again around 2-4pm and goes to sleep between 7 and 8:30pm.

-He is currently wearing 9-12 month old clothes. Even a few 12-18mo. HE IS HUGE!!!

-He continues sucking his thumb, but only when he is tired or is sleeping.

-He wears a size 3 diaper, and I think he'll be in them for a while. Weight for them is 16lbs to 28lbs I think. I hope he's not 28lbs anytime soon!!

-No shots this month!!

So I'm trying to get "etsy'ed"

By that I mean, I'm trying to create things and sell them on Etsy. So far I have 33 views on my boy blanket that I made.....but not a buyer yet. :-(

Check it out please! Ahoykatie

Get it? AhoyMATIE.....AhoyKATIE...I know the spelling is off, but cute huh? Jimmy made it up. THANKS JIMMY!

I am almost finished with my girl blanket. It's owls and light blue, and light pink with red backing. SUPER CUTE.

This blanket will also be on Etsy within the next day or two.

AND....I'm making leg warmers. Sydni is in dance class, and the girls started wearing them to class to stay a little warmer this winter. So, I decided to make some!! Let me know if you're interested in those, too. I already have two custom orders to fill!

Here is a pair I made for Syd! Perfect for Valentine's Day!!

Please buy my stuff...or spread the word to friends!!

So I've started making rag quilts, which I this are SUPER cute. They are great for little ones, and not just your own, but also for others who are expecting!! Please let me know if you're interested or let others know that you think might be interested. Here are few pictures of some that I've recently made.

The brown and tan one is for sale!

Check out my Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ahoykatie