Matty's GI doctor called.....

I just wanted to update everyone on Matty. His GI doc called tonight from CHOP. From what the doctor said to me, it appears that the discrepeancy in the bone age might be a good thing! :) According to this doc, since there is such a huge difference in his bone age to his chronological age, he has all that much more "room" to grow............so he DOES have the capability to catch up. So, it sounds like a good thing----I'll be more content once we go to Endocrine, but still, good news there!
The bad news is that the doc just doesn't know why Matty is falling off of his growth curve. Now, Matty has never been "on the curve"---he has always been below the 3rd %, and up until recently, has pretty much followed his own curve. But now, it appears that Matty is falling even more off of his own curve, which is concerning.
In any event, the doc is ordering more stool testing-we did this last year, but it came back normal. He is checking for malabsorption. Matty eats a TON of food---and the question is then-where are all these nutrients going if he is not gaining the weight??? Doc is also ordering an "upper endoscopy"-my understanding is that they will get a better look at his stomach this way. And he also mentioned getting him allergy tested----I am not sure how this relates to slow growth????
In any event, I know Matty will be just fine. Maybe he will jsut be a smaller boy-it's sooo hard not to compare the four of them..........

Matty's Bone Age xray result.....

So, the pediatrician called tonight-he received the report from the Radiologist's office for Matty's bone age xray that was taken yesterday. The report shows that Matty's "bone age" is only 19 months, however, chronologically he is almost 27 months. That is a delay of 8 months. Ped sounded concerned that there was such a huge difference. I am not sure what all of this means, if anything. The ped did seem happy that we already are scheduled to see a Pediatric Endocrinologist at CHOP...........so for now, we just have to wait until March for that appointment..........

What ELSE do you have in there, Austin???!!!!

Ok, this was super funny to me.......tonight, after I put the babies' pajamas on, Austin decided to put stuff down his pj's! He came out of the hallway, and as you can see form the last picture he was "full" of something!!! He and Matty decided to unzip the pj's and see what they found. He was even attempting to hide the Aquaphor down his pj's!!!! Finally, we got everything out, and you can see the stash he was hiding!!! Boys will be boys????!!!!! LOL.....Seriously, there is NEVER a dull moment! :)

Still loving Nanny's blankies......

Here are my two thumbsuckers.........with nanny's blankets in hand.......they both HAVE to have a blanky when they sleep........

Matty's real "boy" haircut.....

Yes, I took Matty back for another haircut. I loved his "bowl"' cut, however, just like his mama, he is a "sweat-er" and it was too hot for him. I had the stylist "chop it off" and he looks like such a big boy now! :)

Superstar!!!!!

It appears that Emma has about as much fashion sense as her mother..... :) lol.....

Out in the snow!

All bundled up.........

So I decided since today was a "snow day", I would take the little ones outside. Let me tell you, it took longer to get them dressed than it did that we played outside!!! :)

Matty had his xray

I took Matty today to get his "bone age" xray that is required to be done before he sees the Endocrinologist in March. It was short and sweet-so that was nice. They merely placed his left hand/wrist down and x-rayed it. From what I've read about these x-rays, the Endocrinologist can tell what "age" he is at.......I guess if he is developing properly. And I thi nk they can estimate his adult height, too...........As you can see, my little helper, Nicholas, came along to make sure all was fine! :)

Katie's swallow study

So, Katie and I left the house by 7am this morning to drive to CHOP for her swallow study. I tell you, it is soooo nice to go somewhere with just ONE toddler. I really enjoy taking just ONE of them with me! :) Anyway, Katie did "earn" some stickers by doing a few good swallows! However, the Speech Therapists had to review the footage very carefully, b/c it appeared she did aspirate some. The ST mentioned "penetration" when she swallows-apparently, when she swallows, some of the liquid begins to go down the windpipe, but then Katie coughs, and corrects it. Which is agood sign. But it DID appear that a LITTLE does go into her lungs. UGH. So I am not sure what this totally means. It is a good sign that she has NOT had pneumonia in over a year-which I thought would be the case if she aspirated. However, upon talking to the ST, she mentioned that she does know kids that aspirate, but do not get pneumonia. So, in any event, the ST is going to reach out to the GI doc, ENT doc, and pediatrician. They will all confer and decide what the best course of action, if any, is for Katie. I think it is a good sign that the ST is allowing Katie to continue on her regular diet for now, so we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted. :)

Matty's speech evaluation

I had Matty re-evaluated for speech by Early Intervention. He was discharged back in September because he was doing so well. However, since then, he hasn't made much progress. Upon testing during the re-evaluation, it was determined that he does, in fact, have a 33% delay in "expressive" speech. He is age-appropriate in all other areas. Expressive speech is just that-being able to communicate/talk. His "receptive" speech, just like the other kids, is totally age appropriate. He understands sooo much, but just doesn't use his words to communicate his needs/wants. The therapist also mentioned that Matthew has an "open mouth posture" where basically his mouth stays open during play and what not. It could be a sign that he has low muscle tone in his mouth area. She also believes that Matty doesn't use his tongue well. She watched him eat a cracker, and he apparently didn't use his tongue a lot. Also, when he was "talking" in front of her, he was talking with his mouth closed............so I think the therapist is recommending one hour/week services for Matty by a speech therapist. We already have a Special Education teacher come out to the house 1hr/wk for Austin and another hour/week for Emma. Then we have a DI therapist come out to the house for Katie, who also works on speech with her............I feel it can only help them, and there is no such thing as "too much help" ! :)

Matty's bloodwork

So, for the first time, I ventured off to South Jersey ALONE with four little ones to have Matty's blood drawn for a number of tests the GI doctor has ordered. It went well! I was impressed with myself! :)

We did see Matty's nutritionist around the second week of January. He only gained about 1gram/day since October. A "normal" weight gain is between 5-10grams/day for his age group. This is concerning to us. I am already giving him all types of high fat/calorie foods and supplementing his milk intake with a special drink that offers 355 calories/8oz. And he eats! So I am not sure why he is not gaining----trust me, I could just LOOK at that drink, and I'd gain 10 lbs!!! :) So, in any event, the GI doc has ordered a number of blood tests done to rule out things. Matty did well and t he nurse did great----she got a vein with just ONE stick...........wonderful compared to the six/seven sticks he had back in September where they couldn't find a vein. I have also scheduled an appointment with an endocrinologist so we can have him evaluated and see if there is anything else going on with him that we are not aware of...........I'll update with the bloodwork results as soon as I know. :)

Katie's visit to ENT doctor.....

So, we had Katie's checkup with Dr Jacobs at CHOP the other day. The nurses and doctors were all so impressed with how healthy and happy looking the babies are............it made me feel good! :) Doctor Jacobs holds a special place in my heart, b/c he is the Doctor that figured out what was wrong with Katie back in Nov 2006 when she was airlifted to CHOP. It was an amazing and scary sight to see a number of doctors and nurses surrounding your 2 week old baby, and nobody knowing why she was having so many "blue spells". Dr Jacobs came in and instantly knew it was a heart issue...........Anyway, since Katie has been sounding like she has "congestion" after she eats/drinks, she is scheduled for a swallow study this coming Monday. This will determine if there is any aspiration going on when she eats/drinks. Dr. also scheduled another bronchoscopy for the end of March. She had one a year ago, so they like to do a comparison to keep an eye on her tracheamalacia......I'll keep you all posted. :)

Brotherly love

Austin has become quite the bully lately, but as soon as he hurts one of his siblings, he is sure to go over and give a hug! :)

Watching Daddy leave for work.....

Silly girls......

Oh no! See what Austin can do now????!!!!

Mommy's weight loss

So, I thought I would add some pics in of myself............since I am down now 72 lbs since October. The pics are a little out of order.......but the last pic is my "fat" pic, if you will..........last Easter 2008. The middle pic is from Dec 2008, and the first pic is the most recent--New Years 2009....I'm starting to see a difference!

A minute or two in the life of us......

Mommy's 32nd birthday!

My birthday was on Sunday, 1/11. Since Tom had to work on Sunday, we had our family over the house on Monday for pizza and cake. The pizza was very yummy, and the Carvel cake was sooo delicious! :) I got lots of Lane Bryant gift cards----which is sooooo much fun b/c I keep going down in sizes and I need new clothes!!! :) Nicholas bought me a beautiful picture frame from the Aquarium and I can't wait to put a pic of him in it! My IPOD broke back in December, and Ijust couldn't justify buying a new one at the time, so when I did buy one, I made it my "early" birthday present!!! :)

At the gate....

My little munchkins are always waiting for me at the gate that goes into the kitchen..........whether

I am doing the dishwasher, or cooking dinner..........I always have some little friends waiting for me at the gate!

No nap!

So this is what happens in our home when there is no nap! :) The other day, once we put them down for nap, the girls and boys decided to have a "poop party". Ugh. So, after cleaning up the "party" room and the "party-goers", I decided they were staying up the rest of the day. No way in He** was I cleaning and shampooing that room AGAIN!!! Soooo, by dinnertime, Matty, Katie, and Emma were passed out on the couch..................Austin had slept earlier in the day, so he was a happy camper playing with his blocks alone-not having to share!

She loves posing....

Katie always has a cheesey smile ready for me!

Matty got another haircut!

I swear, this boy's hair grows faster than anyone else's I know!! He needed one sooo bad---and he looks super handsome now! :)