All Clear

Today was Zane's follow up with his surgeon.

All is well. Dr. P did such good work that he took out his digital camera and took picture's of Z's tummy so he could show other parents how quickly the scars heal and how minimal they look, just after 2 weeks!

We in turn asked to take Dr. P's picture with Zane:

You many not be able to see, but Dr. P he is wearing a South Park tie.
Seals the deal for Frank, this guy is the bomb!

And yes, Zane is holding his head up unassisted. Stronger every day!

After an incredible quick visit (in and out in 10 minutes--must be a record for "hospital time") we zipped over to the cancer box to deliver the following pictures taken on Tuesday when Frank had a blood test.

At the Cancer Box, Nurses Julie and Rhonda were very excited to see him again. These are the pictures we took them. He is turning into quite the flirt.




























He's had a busy week. Monday night the church threw a baby shower for us. He was, as always, a really good baby, sharing smiles and coos equally. Here he is the next day all sacked out on his grandpa's lap. It takes a lot of energy to be so cute!

















The Rev.

Like Father, Like Son

Ok, so the short story is: we didn't spend Mother's Day weekend in Louisville because Zane was sick. He's better now.

Now for the long story...

While Sarah and Zane were gone and leaving me to temporary bachelorhood, Zane started having problems with vomiting. Now, most of us would think: no big deal, babies spit up all the time. Well, it got so bad that last Wednesday night Sarah called after Zane became the vomit comet and cried inconsolably for several eternities and said that they were coming home. Nana* (Sarah's Mom) rode back with them and they got home around 1 AM Thursday.

Before returning home, Sarah contacted our pediatrician's office and spoke with the on-call doctor, who suggested Zane might have something called pyloric stenosis (actually, hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, but most folks in "casual" medical conversation leave off the hypertrophic part) and we needed to see our doctor the next day. Basically, if you have this condition your pylorus, which connects the stomach to the duodenum (the beginning of the small intestine) is enlarged and squeezes shut the connection. This keeps food from being passed downstream and as a result, the stomach sends it back where it came from.

My Dad and I agreed it probably wasn't a smart idea to plant that idea in a parent's head just based on a phone conversation, but it did give me something to Google while waiting for Zane and Sarah to get home.

Well, we went to the doctor on Thursday morning, who sent us to the hospital for an ultrasound that afternoon. The technician (who we knew from our adoptive parents' group) called in the radiologists, who diagnosed Zane with, you guessed it, pyloric stenosis. So we admitted Zane to the hospital and immediately entered "The Hospital Zone", where time moves in a manner unfathomable to the outside world. We met with the surgeon, who explained how the laparoscopic pyloromyotomy would work. Zane couldn't have anything to eat or drink until after the surgery (all he had in the 1 1/2 days before the surgery was a few ounces of pedialyte).

We stayed with Zane in the room Thursday night, and Friday afternoon was the surgery. It went well, and we even got souvenir pictures of Zane's insides. By Friday evening he was eating well, and Saturday morning it was clear from Zane's migration in the crib that he felt better and was ready to go home. The surgeon agreed and discharged us. We were a little concerned by the discharge instructions that encouraged Zane to "walk as much as possible". I mean, talk about high expectations for a 6 1/2 week old!

So Zane now has a few marks on his abdomen (closed with super glue) and has entered the unofficial "scar competition" that previously had only been between me and Sarah's mom. I think I should get to count Zane's scars in my total (the aggregation rules are very complex). Sarah insists that this will be Zane's ONLY entry in this insane competition.

Slogging through Babyland

Well, Zane is just over a month old and has already made his first airplane trip (although I am a bit put out that it was in a cigar tube airliner and not with his Daddy in the pilot's seat). The Rev. and Zane visited her parents for a couple of days, then flew down today to visit my folks for the next week, as well as Zane's cousins (6 of them now, to be 8 later this year). For the Rev. it is a preview of our family's beach week this coming summer, where we'll have four toddlers ages 1 to 1 1/2, a 2 1/2-year old, a 6-year old, Zane, and 10 adults (one of whom will be pregnant with twins). Her assessment is that we should all sleep well because it will be pandemonium during the day. Eventually we may have a fun condo and a time-out condo, but this year it will be sheer madness.

So, I'm batching it with the dog for the next week. I plan to get some sleep, but I can't help thinking I'm missing out on the fun. Still, sleep is good. Next up for us is a trip to Louisville over Mother's Day weekend. It's the weekend after the Derby, so hopefully the city should be somewhat back to normal.