Cardiac Ablation

I forgot to post last week that I had my 6 month post partum check up with cardiology. After developing SVT (Supra ventricular tachycardia) at 10 weeks pregnant, I have been following up with them every so often.

During the pregnancy they couldn't do much other than to give me a medication to take if my heart rate started getting out of control. I tried not to take the medication unless I absolutely couldn't get my heart rate down on my own (usually done with vagal maneuvers). I actually only took the medication 5 times or so during the pregnancy and at that time my heart rate would go up at least 4-5 times a week. Since giving birth, my heart rate only goes up 4-5 times a month. Never going up to the 240 beats/min that I had in the ER.

Needless to say, I now have two treatment options now that I am not pregnant: medication or a cardiac ablation. The cardiac ablation is similar to a cardiac catheritization procedure, but once the catheters are inserted in your heart, they basically re-circuit your heart by killing off or taking out the bad heart cells that is causing the irregularity. It does come with some risks and doesn't always work. As for the medication, the cons are of course cost and just the nuisance of having to take medication every day at 28 years old.

The cardiologist (whom I know very well from work), thinks that it is best to go ahead and try medication for now. If I have any breakthrough SVT while on the medication then I definitely need the ablation. Otherwise, he will follow up with me in 3 months and keep me on the medication for one year. At that point he would try to wean me off the medication. If I had more issues at that point.....once again ablation would be the next step. I have been started on an anti-dysrhythmic Flecainide-to be taken twice a day. So far, it's hard to tell if it's working, because I can't seem to take it regularly. I am going to program my cell phone to remind me. We will see how it goes!!

Halloween

So, last week was Halloween fun!! We weren't sure how well behaved the boys would be and for how long, so we only carved one pumpkin this year and made it an easy design. Nate was very upset that he couldn't use the knives to do any of the carving and seemed a little grossed out by digging out the insides. Cole just hung out of course! It went fairly well!

As for trick or treating, Nathan did pretty good. He didn't want to cooperate for any pictures, so I will post the best one that I got. Last year, he definitely didn't get it. This year after 3 or 4 houses, he got it. It helped that we went with the neighbor's kids (3 six-year-olds and a 10-year-old). They taught him the ropes, but basically ran to each house and he had a hard time keeping up. All said and done, we went around the (short) block once and came home.....I had to go to work. Nate instantly had to dump his bag and see what kind of goodies he had. Since then, he has wanted candy everyday....I guess that is the nature of the beast.

Busy Week

After a busy weekend shopping in Maine with my girlfriends, it has been one busy week! The weekend was a lot of fun!! I spent a lot of money, but got a lot of stuff. Some were Christmas gifts, some stuff was what we need now, and some stuff we will need in the future (i.e. next size up shoes/clothing for Nate and Cole).

Monday I came back to having to go to the dentist. I had a partial years ago on one of my top molars and it now needed a crown. Away I went for the crown prep....I have to go back in a few weeks for the crown placement. It's going to run about $300 for our portion. OUCH! My mom watched the boys while I went to the dentist and later that day she and the boys helped me rake the backyard.

Wednesday, I brought Cole back to the doctors for I think the fourth time in 2 1/2 weeks. I am not sure the last time I updated on what's going on....basically he was on the oral steriod and the Albuterol neb treatments and he continued to wheeze and retract. They then started him on nebulized steriods twice a day and we are to continue the Albuterol nebs as needed. He is better, but still is wheezing daily. I brought him back to the doctor and they said to continue the nebs and to give it more time. They think he is most likely asthmatic and was triggered with this bout from a cold. They want us to continue the nebs through the winter. What a pain...but anything for our baby boy. Also, thank god for insurance......a 30 day supply of the Pulmicort (the nebulized steriod) would have been $475....it cost us $25. That would have been very costly to continue through the winter! Well, we will see how things go!

Thursday, Nathan had his first speech therapy. I am hoping things will be better in the future, because I was not impressed. First off, the therapist was 20 minutes late with no phone call or excuse. She was here for I think about 40 minutes and basically only went over history information again with me and let Nate play with a shape sorter and a Mr. Potato-Head (toys he already has). He is supposed to be seen twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays), but next week she has a conference and will be out of town both of those days. She said she will be here Wednesday at least, but she seemed a little flighty and I just hope that she will not be re-arranging the schedule every week and then not seeing him at all or only once a week. Well, once again we will wait and see how it goes!!

Comparisons....

I know that I have had this conversation with a few people....how much our boys look alike. So, I want to see who can guess which baby is Cole and which one is Nathan?!? Just as a side note, Cole has been enjoying his new flavors of his life....he has had squash, sweet potatoes, and peas so far. YUMMY!!

Sick Baby Boy

So this past week and a half have been kind of miserable. The boys have both been sick and once again not sleeping. Nathan's has just been more of a cold...no big deal. I think his incoming 2 year molars have been more of the issue in terms of not sleeping.
However, Cole has had more of the rough week. Cole didn't sleep well Sunday through Tuesday night with no signs of any cold....then came Wednesday when I noticed he was wheezing quite a bit and had retractions (where his skin is sucked in at his neck/ribs). He was happy, but working so hard to breathe. I decided to call the dr and they saw him Thursday. His oxygen level a little low in the office, so they gave him a nebulizer treatment of Albuterol and his first dose of a steriod (Prednisone) in the office. His oxygen level came up, but remained a little low. He was sent for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia.....luckily it was ruled out....so no antibiotics. However, it did show some inflammation (basically) which could either be from a virus like RSV or he could be asthmatic. He will be tested in the future, need be. I wouldn't be surprised if he is asthmatic, because since birth he has done the wheezing thing intermittently, just not this bad. Needless to say we continued the neb treatments until about Sunday and just finished our last dose of Prednisone today. He is sounding much better, but continues to have a tad bit of a wheeze. I will see if the doctor wants to see him again tomorrow.

As for me, I have been trying to prepare for my shopping trip with my girlfriends to Maine set for this weekend. We leave Friday night and come back late Sunday evening....I hope the boys will be good for Jay. However, we should have a lot fun and get a lot of shopping done without kids!!!

Fall Festivities

Yesterday, we decided to have some family time. It was a controversy between going apple picking at Bowman's (like we usually do) or going to the corn maze at Liberty Ridge Farm. I figured that going to the farm would be better for Nate....a lot more to do especially for his age!! We had went to Liberty Ridge probably 5 years ago with Tim and Beth, but we had went at night and went through the haunted maze. They have definitely expanded the last 5 years; new buildings and I think many more activities then there used to be. Jay let me sleep late, so we got off to a late start. However, I wish we went earlier because we could have spent the whole day there. We didn't do/see everything before it started getting dark. We went through one phase of the corn maze (there are 2), we did a few of the puzzles they had, saw only a few of the animals, went to the pumpkin patch, watched the pig races, rode the trolley, and Nathan and Jay rode the cow train. Of course we also got cider donuts! Oh, they also had this pumpkin maze that you could only make right turns to get to the goal. After Jay and about ten other people tried without success. I gave it a whirl and got it!! Next year, we are definitely going back and spending the whole day. We only spent about $35 for the day and that was because we got the dozen of donuts and 3 hot dogs/drinks. The kids were free (ages 3 and under) and we were $9 each. Just an idea if you are looking for something else to do this fall!

Immunology Update

Well, Monday Nate had his immunology appointment. As of last week, Nate's pediatrician had said the blood work came back as ALL of the antibodies being low. Now, that could have meant some big problems for Nate. Luckily, this week the specialist said that no, the antibodies were not low once adjusted for his age. That is with the exception of the one antibody (IgA) still being low. He could outgrow that, so they will re-test it in one year. In the mean time, he would still be susceptible to any GI or respiratory illnesses. Now, in terms of the diarrhea, he wants to try an elimination diet of all lactose products/ingredients. He is questioning a lactose intolerance.."allergy" is the word he used. However, a true allergy is one you need an epi pen for. This is more of an adverse reaction. Anyways, the diet change has been an extreme challenge. Luckily, Nate loves raw food (fruits/veggies), but there are plenty of processed items he loves to that have milk products in them (i.e. Nilla wafers, waffles, Toaster Strudels, etc). I have been surprised about how many products have milk in them. We are trying our best and will see if it helps with the diarrhea. Yesterday was the first time this week that he had a couple bouts of the diarrhea, but he does have good/bad days, so overall I haven't seen much of a difference thus far. We have to follow the diet for 3 weeks.......it's going to be a rough 3 weeks!