Pictures pictures and more pictures

We went and got the H1N1 vaccine for the kids today, and Sam had his bloodwork checked, which by the way looked even better than last time. Praise GOD!!!! So far they don't seem to be having any issues with the vaccine. Sophia was actually exposed to the swine flu while Sam was in the hospital. Please say some prayers for our friend Julianna, who actually has the swine flu. She is doing well. And then we flew to Wildwood Farm to go on a hayride, which Sam has been looking forward to for days and days. We unfortunately got there after the hayride had left. But the people at the farm were so wonderful they took just the three of us, after they got back! The kids had a blast even though it was FREEZING!!!

Wow it has been forever since I have uploaded the pictures from my camera. Here are the pictures from the last week or so, from most recent to the least. Enjoy my cute kids:-)
Hanging out at Meme's








My mom had tons of ladybugs at her house and the kids had a blast catching them. Sam didn't understand why they kept flying away, or why they left little juicy stuff on his hands after he very carefully pinched I mean picked them up.




He still wasn't feeling well, and passed out on the ottoman

Our days at Children's






Our playdate at our friend Carol's house. Sam and Sophia had a blast running around outside. They got to feed a pig, and the pony and goats came over to the fence to say hello.

Swine Flu

\4Well we are home! Praising God that we are here. We essentially are still in limbo as we wait to see what the doctors next course of action will be. His GI is consulting others as he isn't quite sure where to go from here. He had a large amount of blood on monday when we were home but yesterday and today have been much less. WE are praying that he is healed and that we will have no further occurances.
We are now debating the swine flu vaccine for him. In light of recent events and his "untypical" reactions to things I am very anxious about it, although I also realize that getting the swine flu would be much worse for him. So we are in limbo about getting it for him. If this had been two weeks ago we would have done it no problem but now I am anxious about it. In any case Sophia will be getting it on friday and we will see about Sammy. Has anyone given it to their little ones yet?

Scary

Phew well we are still at Children's Hospital after what was an unexpected complication. While doing the colonoscopy/endoscopy yesterday Sam started to bleed from it and developed a large hematoma (like a blood blister) in his descending colon. They wanted to watch him and were wondering if he possibly has some type of clotting disorder. As of now the clotting studies have come out normal. However they had decided to not let him eat anything until today just for in case he started to bleed again and they needed to go to the operating room. They finally allowed him to have some clear liquids and he had a few bites and then had severe pain and then he said he had to go poop and he pooped a significant amount of bright red blood. So they don't know what is going on exactly.
UPDATE: They let him have a popsicle!!! He is happy as can be now. Auntie Chantal and Auntie Bethany are hanging out playing with us. Playing Chutes and Ladders and Indiana Jones, playing with Curious George, and watching movies. I am so blessed to have these wonderful ladies in my life. Thanks Girls!!!

A new plan

Matt noticed last night after Sam had a bowel movement that there was blood. We saw his primary who noted him to have pain in his left lower quadrant, and they tested the stool and it tested positive for blood. So the plan is that we will be admitted to Children's tomorrow and they will put him under general anesthesia and do a colonoscopy and endoscopy with several biopsies. We will not know how long we will be there until after the procedure. If the procedure goes well and things look ok then we will come home tomorrow evening, but if they don't we will be staying for a few days. Please pray for him and for his doctors for their wisdom to do what is best for Sam.

Spending time with Meme'

Wildwood Farm

What a blast we had today. The kids and I went up to the farm to pick pumpkins and had so much fun. The weather was beautiful although windy, and we just enjoyed this typical New England fall outing. Then we came back to Mom's and are watching the patriots BEAT denver!!! (We are hoping anyways)
Sophia finally seems to be feeling better although she still has a runny nose. Sam (thank you God) has not gotten whatever illness it is that Sophia has had. He has been sleeping extra, and has had the tell tale big bags under his eyes. Matt and I were discussing the other day whether all the rashes that Sam used to get were related to the IVIG. I am thinking that it is. He would just intermittently get rashes several times a week, but over the last few months he hasn't, until now... We will have to talk to the immunologist this week and see what he thinks.

We survived!

Sammy likes hanging out so much with Keegan that we stayed for a few minutes AFTER his IV was out and he was discharged:-)



Phew we got the first dose of IVIG behind us. While there everything seemed to go surprising ok. The IV got in on the first try, and we got put in the same room as Keegan. The boys got to hang out and watched tv and played a game, did legos, and Sammy and I read some books. The nurse we had was one that I previously did not like and hadn't allowed to care for Sam, I decided this time to give her a second chance. She WON'T be getting a third chance with my kid!!! After speaking with other nurses and his immunologist it appears that she ran the transfusion way faster than she should have! By the time we got home from Boston and from picking up Sophia his temp was over 102 and he had a rash! I called the transfusion center and they had me speak to this same nurse, who AGAIN didn't do things correctly!!! But long story short we will probably be changing the specific IVIG that he gets. But he will be fine. We are just giving motrin, tylenol and benadryl. If he continues to run a fever past wednesday then it may not have been related to the transfusion. We shall see...
In other news they repeated his blood work on monday to see what his levels were prior to treatment actually starting. They had dropped a good bit even from a month ago when they did it. I guess that there is no question whether this was needed or not.

Chef Sam

The kids and I made chocolate chip cookies last night. Sammy couldn't cook unless he had his cooking clothes and his cooking gloves. IT took forever to convince him that he didn't need his hot mitt to stir in the chocolate chips. He loves to cook and SOphia seems to be starting to enjoy it too. I LOVE having the big kitchen now and being able to use my mixer all the time. :-)
We head into Boston tomorrow. We are praying that they get the IV in on the first try and that he has no bad reaction to the medication.

Pumpkins

We went with the MOPS group last wednesday to go apple and pumpkin picking. We had a great day and the kids had tons of fun. The kids loved running around through the fields, and hiding in the lower branches of the apple trees. Our group had more than twenty people all together so the kids seemed to take over the whole field. They also loved the animals, although the donkey scared them a little.

IVIG

Well we start the IVIG on monday. They were so good to me when I called. When I called on wednesday they asked me what days next week would work, and I told them and then they asked the times that would work and they put me in for the day and time that would work best for us! We had the discussion with Sam about it and he said "But I don't like when they poke at me." And I told him that I know but that this medicine will make him feel better. And he said "OK mommy I will be brave." When a three year old talks like that you know he has been through so much. But I am so proud of him and so thankful for this little boy. He is such a joy to me and such a wonderful teacher of keeping an upbeat attitude and keepin on keeping on even when you don't feel good and you don't want to. He is a little trooper and I am so thankful for him:-) So monday it is, please pray for the nurses to get the IV in on the first try and that there are no negative affects from it. Oh and guess what?!?!?!? Sammy's little friend Keegan will be there on monday too!:-)