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.

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!

Recent Savannah pics!

I was changing JM's diaper in another room and Savannah was absolutely hysterical. All of sudden she's quiet, and I think "uh oh." But, alas, it was just Levi bringing Savannah flowers to help make her happy :o)

For a long time, this was her favorite place to sleep: Mommy and Daddy's bed!

She does a lot of yawning! The ducky is courtesy of Levi :o) He wanted her to play too!

I know it's kind of mean, but I promise I didn't run to get the camera just b/c she was crying. I was already taking pictures, and she all of a sudden got upset, and I just couldn't resist! She's even cute when she's crying!

She looks deep in thought, no?

Smiley baby! For the most part, she's usually quite the happy camper!

Tummy time on the boppy.

Under her mobile. She LOVES that thing! And I love her big bright eyes!

Mommy and Savannah = BFF

Blessing Day

Savannah was given a beautiful blessing by her Daddy last Sunday.

{I have to give a special shout-out to two very wonderful women here that helped make her blessing a success! Chris Burtoft made that dress especially for Savannah. It was breathtaking. People kept asking "Where did you buy her dress?" ;o) It fit her personality so perfectly. We couldn't have been more happy! And Cleo Miller (Mema) made that beautiful bonnet you see Savannah wearing. It was simply gorgeous! She made a handkerchief and then turned it into that bonnet. When Savannah gets ready to go through the temple, she can snip the stitches and it turns back into a beautiful hankie she can take with her!}

It was such a special day. We feel so blessed to have this wonderful daughter of God here in our family. She is perfect!

We had planned on the weekend before. All of Joe-Z's brothers and their families came to town for the special event. Unfortunately, Joe-Z (and John Morgan) woke up with (what we can only imagine was) the flu on Saturday. Joe-Z was still in bed come Sunday morning. Bless his heart. So, we opted to wait for the next Sunday and asked a few of our good friends to help with the blessing. It was hard. We have so many good friends here. Our list was way too long, so we decided to go with the people we've known the longest. We had a great bunch!

A special thank you to: Brad Wonsch, Bill Miller (Papa), Danny Roberts, Andrew Harris, Seth Brock, and Drew Blimes (not pictured).

Savannah and Co.

We {heart} Kim Brock of KimBE Photography.

Savannah at 3 weeks:

P.S. I know I have yet to tell her birth story. Work with me - I'm juggling 3 kids 3 and under!

Smilebox

Make a Smilebox slideshow

To a child, Love is spelled T-I-M-E

Have you seen this video?

Take a minute or two and watch it if you would. Maybe it's seeing how big my boys look compared to Savannah...maybe it's just my Mommy hormones...I don't know. It just really touched my heart this morning.

They're what it's all about:

{ This is the only photo we have of the three of them together - (you have to be quick around here!) they're trying to get her to hold onto their fingers :o) }

Like brother, like sister

So, Savannah is pretty much Levi's twinner.

She really is a spitting image (except for her nose...Levi had a rounder nose).

And apparently, they both have a lot on their mind as babies :o)

Savannah's First Fotos (Hospital Pictures)

She looks so big in these pictures, but in person she's so itty bitty!

Family Photo Shoot (pre-Savannah)

We had some pictures taken by Carrie Stroud the week before Savannah was born. These were the "sneak peek" pictures she sent us!

LOVE her!

One person's Craigslist Ad...

is one little boy's treasure!!!

His Noah's Ark, actually!

We found this awesome toddler bed for Levi's 3rd birthday on Craigslist for 50 bucks! SCORE! Our friends had given us a toddler bed a while back, which the boys loved...for playing on...no sleeping happening though. And then they broke it. So we needed to get a new one, and this one is perfect!

He loves it! He slept the whole night through last night (even though it took him an hour and a half to actually fall asleep)! I woke up a little sad...my baby didn't even cry for me once!

It's okay though. I guess it's just preparing the way for

Savannah to get here :o)

John Morgan likes it pretty good too :o)