Check-ups!

Well, this morning we had Levi's 4 year check-up and Savannah's 1 year check-up.

Good times were had by all, muahahaha.

Actually, the children were pretty close to perfect...I kept thinking I must have been dreaming, as it is a rarity for them to be such angels at the doctor's office!

And for their stats:

Levi - 38lbs, 6oz (50th %) and 43 inches (94th %)

Savannah - 19lbs, 8oz (23rd %) and 30 inches (79th %)

Let's not forget the most important happening of the morning though: I got dressed in ironed clothes, did my hair and make-up, and wore perfume! Miracle of miracles, I know.

Here's to a great General Conference weekend!

Savannah's Update

I know many of you are wondering what ever happened with Savannah's condition. I guess I kind of decided to stop blogging at a suspenseful time in our lives. Sorry about that, lol.

In short, she's great. A-ok. Super duper. She's perfect, in fact.

Her test results came back (albeit weeks later than they had estimated) 100% clean. Everyone was completely surprised, doctors included. We had prepared ourselves for every outcome under the sun, except for that. We felt blessed beyond measure and we have a sure knowledge that miracles do happen. About every other month or so, her left breast still swells up, but within a couple of weeks it returns to normal. It doesn't bother her (it never did before either) and aside from that, she has no other symptoms. We were supposed to go back for more testing, but we've never felt the need.

One thing is for certain, we love her to pieces. She has been such a joy in our lives in just the year she's been with us and we can't wait to see what the future has in store for this sweet girl.

Hello World!

Gasp! I've decided to pick the blog back up!!!

Thanks to those of you who have inquired lately - I'd been going back and forth for a while now, and your sweet comments helped sway the decision to jump back in!

I'm not sure yet what my blogging will be like this time around. I'm sure it will include updates of the kiddos and our daily going-ons. But I'm hoping to use it as a journal too. Or maybe not so much a journal as a jumping board for my ideas and thoughts. I guess just to get it out there. Wherever "there" is, lol.

So, I hope you'll bear with me as I get back in the swing of things and establish a blogging routine again.

I'm excited to be back!!!

I *will* craft again...

My next craft project:

I can't wait to make this!

Questing, questing, questing, never resting...

Do any of you have kids that watch Backyardigans? That's a song from one of their episodes.

That's how I feel lately...like I'm on a quest to find out everything I can about Savannah's condition! I'd been holding off on posting about her appointment with the endocrinologist last week in hopes that I would have the results of the test he ordered and could give a full, more accurate post today. Unfortunately, this afternoon they informed me that part of her results were back, but not the results he needed to give us a diagnosis. She said to give them until the middle of next week. Easier said than done! I hate the waiting game!!!

Anyway, I'll try to summarize what we found out at Dr. Deeb's office last week:

He thinks that Savannah's condition is what is causing the cyst, not the other way around, which is what we'd thought up until this point. He believes that she is in precocious puberty. It's when a child's body goes into puberty early. It is nearly unheard of in a baby her age, his quote was that it's as rare as "lips on a chicken", lol. It can have a number of causes, including brain damage, problems with the pituitary gland, tumors in the central nervous system, problems with the adrenal glands, and a couple of very rare Syndromes. If the tests come back positive for androgens, we'll head into a laundry list of tests (including an MRI and CT scan...how in the world do they keep babies still for those anyway...?) to rule out all of these bad scenarios. Fortunately, 85% of the time (in girls) the reason for the onset of puberty is unknown and can be "turned off" (he said we would get into that later). I honestly just can't see her having any of those other causes, you know??? She is thriving so well, and aside from her physical development, doesn't seem to have any other issues. So, we're very hopeful.

After all of that though, he said that there is still a slight chance that she is not in precocious puberty, in which case we would continue on the path to find out more about the cyst on her ovary and what caused it, etc. Joe-Z and I joked afterward that we never thought we'd have been talking about it, actually hoping that she has a cyst, lol. Just the week before, we'd been hating that cyst and wishing it had never made an appearance at all. But, compared to the other options, it's looking pretty good! :o)

Either way, we're just excited to find out. To know where to go from here. We're actually really okay with it all. We fasted this month on her behalf, and while neither of us felt that she would be miraculously healed, we both felt very peaceful and felt that we would have the strength to get through whatever lies ahead. I'm so grateful for the blessings we receive from prayer and fasting. How would we make it through this life without them? Heavenly Father surely does love us!

If you'd like to leave a comment, please do! And if you'd like to say you're sorry for us, feel free! But know that we're honestly just happy! As Jim Bob Duggar said, "we're hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst." And it wasn't the worst! She doesn't have a malignant tumor on her ovary, and what she does have is treatable! So, life is good!

And besides, we're still hoping it's that silly cyst on her ovary :o)

P.S. - her 4-month well-check stats: 13 pounds, 10 ounces (50%), 25 and 1/2 inches long (90%), 73% for head circumference.

I can't even think of a title

So, I'm exhausted. And my prayer from the minute I woke up this morning was that the kids would all take good naps this afternoon so that I could too.

All was seemingly going great...all 3 kids were down and it was the quietest I remember my house being in a long time! After about 10 minutes, I hear Levi and I decided to go check on him. To my dismay, he was inside John Morgan's crib, trying to wake him up! I took him out and warned him that if he did that again or woke up his brother or sister, he was in BIG trouble. Ummmmm, yeah. 5 minutes later, he was back in the crib and they were all 3 awake.

I banished him to the couch where I sat and watched him, making sure he sat there, arms folded, eyes closed, not moving a muscle! After 7 minutes, he was out like a lamp!!! The other two...not so much :o(

He's even cute when he sleeps :o)

For those of you who missed it on Facebook...

more Savannah pictures!!!

Savannah's Development...

So a little background on this whole ordeal:

Two Saturdays ago I noticed that Savannah had lumps in her breasts, kind of hard-ish and round-ish. I asked Joe-Z if he'd noticed it and he said he'd felt them for the first time the night before. I called the on-call doc, but they said it didn't warrant an urgent care appointment and to just call our normal pediatrician on Monday morning. So I did, and they wanted to check her out "just in case." He ruled out an infection that day and sent us for a blood test, "just in case". He said that if she'd have been a newborn or even a couple weeks old he wouldn't be concerned, since lots of newborns (boys and girls) often have breast buds. But, since she is older he wanted to make sure her estrogen levels were normal.

On Wednesday of last week we got the call informing us that indeed her levels were high and we needed to do an ultrasound, "just in case" and have us meet with a pediatric endocrinologist. So, we went for the ultrasound on Monday morning (and, can I just say, Savannah was fantastic...didn't cry once!) and we were waiting for our appointment on Thursday to follow up with her pediatrician. Well, to my surprise, the phone rang Tuesday morning and it was our very own pediatrician, Dr. Jones. The only other time I've had a doctor call me at home was to tell me they'd seen something concerning on my ultrasound with John Morgan and we needed some additional testing, so I knew when I heard his voice that something was up.

He informed us that Savannah has a growth on her right ovary. The growth is pressing down on her ovary causing more estrogen to be produced and released, hence the enlargement of her breasts. At this point, they believe that it is a cyst. Statistically speaking, the chances are greater that it's a cyst. If it is, it will go away on its own and her estrogen levels will go back to normal. (Whether her body will go back to normal is unknown at this point, we'll have to wait to see the endo. to find out) As far as what causes the cysts, my doctor didn't know. Once again, a question for the endo. On the flip side, if it's not a cyst, then it's a tumor. A germ-cell tumor, which can be benign or malignant. The chances of this are smaller, and so the chances of it being cancerous are even smaller. The way to determine the nature of the growth is to wait and see...which is killing me. { I never really have had patience to brag about :o) } If her symptoms continue (a process they call feminizing, meaning her breasts and other female parts continue to mature) and her estrogen levels don't drop back down, then they'll know it's a tumor. I asked how long this "wait and see" process is supposed to take, and was once again greeted with "I don't know, you'll have to talk to Dr. Deeb about that." At least he's honest, I suppose. At that point I began to be frustrated with the unanswered questions...I figured if he'd seen it before then he should have had more answers for me. So I asked him how common it was and he laughed out loud and told me that in their practice, this was *maybe* the second case they'd seen. (Then I felt silly and mentally cursed myself for that lack of patience attribute!) He did say that her height and weight growth are very encouraging. Usually babies with cancer don't thrive as well as Savannah has been, so that's a plus. So, for now, we keep our appointment with the pediatric endocrinologist for the beginning of February and see what he has to tell us then.

All in all, it's been a roller coaster. We're very happy to have news though, and to at least know the source of it all. And we're very hopeful that it is just a cyst. She's just so perfect, you know? How could anything be that wrong with a little one so perfect? One thing we do know, is that families can be together forever. Whether we spend six months or six years or sixty years with Savannah here on this earth, she'll be ours forever! No news can be of more comfort to us than that!