Ophthalmology Appointment: dermoids and astigmatism

Grant had an ophthalmology appointment yesterday to check the limbal dermoids, lipodermoid, and to follow up on his astigmatism.

So the dermoids and lipodermoid has stayed the same (which was expected), but his astigmatism went from being "slight" to "moderate." 

He will definitely have to wear glasses to correct it, which he will probably get around his first birthday.

I like to joke that I have my Google, M.D. license, but I'm still learning all of the medical jargon between Harp and Grant. So heres the deal: 

The limbal dermoids have caused Grant to have an astigmatism (I think at his last appointment the ophthalmologist said it was an irregular astigmatism, but I could be wrong). The astigmatism could and probably will only get worse. What to do? Well the ophthalmologist had mentioned shaving the dermoids down a while back, but now he suggesting that we see a cornea specialist to get his/her opinion on having the dermoids surgically removed. Its a super "dangerous" surgery-meaning it is really easy to damage the eye, but Grant's eye doctor thinks that having them removed will improve the astigmatism and prevent it from getting worse. And as I mentioned before, he will also have to wear glasses.

Right now we just wait. He has been seeing the ophthalmologist every 3 months, and has another appointment set up for the end of January when he will be 11 months old. 

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Grant also had an ultrasound of his kidneys 2 weeks ago. There is still stretching in his kidneys (hydronephrosis), but they have grown correctly and are the size they need to be. Praise God! We won't have to see the urologist again until next year!

Grant's Kidney Testing

Yesterday was Grant's testing to see if he has any reflux into his kidneys when he urinates...the results were NO! We are SO happy that everything is looking good with his renal system! Also, the stretching in his kidneys that was present at birth has diminished greatly! We'll have to repeat the test again in 6 months, but otherwise we are in the clear for now! Now, on to his eyes and skin tags...

the week in cell phone pictures

just random pictures from the week taken with my cell phone!

grant smiling and talking while brothers were eating breakfast

yes....i walked in the living room to see my 4 year old in the infant swing. and yes, he is wearing underwear :)

the boys dying eggs

babywearing the baby.

harp blowing out the candle on his cinnamon roll on his birthday

carson at his 5 year check up (yeah...i'm a little behind on the appointments)

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tomorrow is grants testing to see if there is any backflow when he urinates...prayers are greatly appreciated!

until next time!

Grant is 1 month old!

this past friday marked Grant being 1 month old! 

he had an appointment today and is doing great!

he weighs 9 lbs 12 oz and is 22 in long

(he was born 7 lbs 10 oz and 20 in long).

he's growing!

he has his Urology testing April 9, Ophthalmologist appointment in July (seriously..in all of Wilmington there is only ONE pediatric ophthalmologist), and we are waiting for the referral for his appointment with plastics. as far as his plastic surgery goes (for the removal of the skin tags) we are going to have to go back to chapel hill. because we are already established with the plastics department in CH (because of harper's hemangiomas/vascular malformations) they want to send us back AND because they are on his face they want to make sure the "best of the best" removes them to avoid much scarring. 

and now...the pictures:

and next up: my journey with the 30 Day Shred!

grant: health update

quick preface:

i hate being so "public" with grant's issues, but it is SO much easier to explain it once on here instead of having to explain it thousands of times in person.

where to begin?

grant was born with skin tags on his face and ears. he has five altogether: two in one ear, one on each cheek and one in his other ear. skin tags are not dangerous and are common in newborns. at this point, they are simply a vanity issue, but will removed sometime in the next several months. however, (because there is always a "however" with us) the skin tags seemed suspicious to the doctors because they are symmetrical on his face...they are in this perfect line from his ears down to his chin. now this is where i might lose some of you :)  during pregnancy, the ear/nose/throat anatomy is formed around the same week that the kidneys/renal system are being formed. sometimes with infants if there is something wrong with the kidney/urinary tract, it will "show" itself in form of skin tags. 

we had an ultrasound at the hospital when he was born and they initially told us that everything looked fine. however, at his newborn checkup we were told that there was some "stretching" in his kidneys and that there could be some problems...we went to the urologist this past week and they said he could (or could not) have an extra set of tubes in his urethra. we go next month for a test that will determine if when he urinates, if there is any backflow...regardless if there is a duplication of tubes, if there is no backflow, we are in the clear. if there is backflow of urine, then the tubes will have to be removed.

okay...and lastly...

there are very FEW people who know about this...mainly because we don't know what it is and cannot give it a name. when grant was born i noticed he had white "gunk" on the bottom of both eyes. i asked the nurse and she said it was just eye gunk/"sleep." i knew that wasn't what it was, but figured it would go away....it didn't. we asked his doc at his appointment the other day and he basically had no idea what it was either. i've googled everything under the sun and cannot find any information on it. we have an appointment with an opthamologist soon....

the "white spot" is on both of his eyes...on the bottom of each iris. you cannot see it when looking at him unless he looks up in the sky or if you actually pull his bottom eyelid down. i'm not going to post pics of it but i did my best to draw a picture of what i'm talking about just to give you an idea:

so thats what going on...

i'm not going to lie...i was completely taken off guard by all of this. i had an event-free pregnancy and his ultrasounds always looked good. 

after all of the appointments/trips to and from chapel hill/pre-ops/post-ops/surgeries with harper...my heart sank when i realized that this was all going on with grant. aside from the stress of it all, i dread having to watch grant get poked and prodded at like harp had to. but it is what it is and we'll have to deal with one step at a time. 

aside from all that, grant is doing great! he is SUCH a good, easy baby. he eats well, he sleeps great at night, and has such an easy-going personality. he is everyone's favorite person in the house right now! :)

we'll continue to keep everyone posted once we know more.