Look-alike Meter

Some of Emily's sounds

First trip to the dentist

They say that kids should go to the dentist after their first couple teeth have appeared. Well ,life gets in the way sometimes...oh well. Today, Katie went on her first dentist visit. Of course, it wasn't without tears but they were super gentle and kid friendly. The dentist told her how they were going to use a tiny mirror to look at her teeth while singing the ABCs, then they would put magic fairy dust on her teeth (fluoride) while singing 'twinkle twinkle'. It all sounded good to Katie, until the procedure began. They had me hold her so she wouldn't be intimidated by the big chair, so it really was as comfortable as could be. The second the dentist entered her mouth, the tears started to flow...but they really made it as fast as possible. As soon as they stopped, she stopped crying and just hung on to me while they went over the results...


Katie's teeth looked very good and she had no cavities. They said they see a lot of cavities in smaller kids because of bad brushing, sweets, etc. Luckily, Katie doesn't really like sweets and only gets a few ounces of juice a day. They did say her teeth looked a little more crowded than they would like, which sometimes means that her adult teeth will come in close together...but they said the braces discussion is still a far way off.

Grandma and Grandpa - you pay for braces, right? ;)

Overall, it wasn't an awful experience and they don't need to see her back for another year. The trip ended with a new green turtle toothbrush and a choice of prizes, but she was still "recovering" from the ordeal and so I picked a pink turtle for her. Since then, she's been carrying the turtle everywhere and had to call Grandma to tell her that her teeth were pretty.  

Neuroblastoma

I thought I'd post a little bit about Emily's health issues, since I haven't done so yet. I don't really like to talk about it and just want all the procedures to be over so I can have a healthy baby. I was torn about posting and keeping this blog upbeat and happy, but it is a pretty big part of our lives and so I thought I'd share.

I'm not sure there is anything worse than having something wrong with your child and not being able to "fix it". Our time spent in the NICU and our frequent visits to Chapel Hill's Children and Cancer hospitals have been extremely trying and makes you realize that 1) you should be thankful for every minute with your child and 2) there are parents and children in worse positions than you and it is awful.

About 6 months into my pregnancy, an ultrasound tech saw something small above Emily's kidney. From that point on, I was monitored weekly by a specialist that checked Emily's growth and the mass. After she was born, they confirmed that the mass was of significant size - about 4 cm. Fortunately, everything else has been great...good eating, breathing, etc. She was transported to Children's hospital for a few days and since then, we make monthly trips. Her case has been assigned to an pediatric oncologist and a pediatric surgeon. We love her oncologist and the entire Pediatric Cancer center...they are great people that have REALLY tough jobs.

In November, Emily went through an MIBG (radioactive dye that is inserted and scanned through a gamma machine), an MRI and a CT scan. The MIBG is used to identify cancers and unfortunately the adrenal mass did come up on the scan, leading the doctors to diagnose the mass as a neuroblastoma. Here is what I know about neuroblastomas, so far:

-Form of cancer found in children, which attacks nerve cells and forms a cancerous tumor
-Usually occurs in the adrenal gland (above/attached to the kidney)
-About 650 cases in the US per year
-Treatment options are surgery, radiation, chemo and clinical trial (Emily's mass is too big to be included in our doctor's clinical trial)
-4 stages (stage 1 is a tumor that can be completely removed with a cure rate of over 90%, up to stage 4 which occurs when the cancer has spread to areas like bone marrow and other organs with a cure rate of 50-80%)
The cure rate is much better when the neuroblastoma is detected before age 1, which makes me SO thankful to that one ultrasound tech who noticed something strange on my ultrasound. Neuroblastomas are the only form that can regress on their own, however Emily's is a little bigger than they normally see. On the other hand, it shrunk slightly last time, which gives us hope. We are due back to Chapel Hill in a few weeks, where she will be scanned again. If it has shrunk significantly, we can wait longer to see what happens. If it has stayed the same, they are suggesting surgery. Either way, it is our decision to make and I'm not sure how we are going to do it. Part of me just wants the tumor out, but that means surgery that has its own risks and they may need to remove her kidney in the process. I don't want her to lose a kidney, so it is a difficult decision to make.

I see these parents in the cancer center, sitting with their kids getting chemo and I wonder how they do it every day...both the kids and the parents. It is hard to think of something being wrong every time you look at your baby. I pray that in a year, Emily will be waddling around the house and we can look back and laugh about it all because she will be tumor and cancer free.

Emily's big debut

Grandma requested some Emily videos now that she is alert and starting to coo/smile. Of course, Katie couldn't miss out on the action...so you will hear her narrating most of the time and coming in for kisses. In the second video, Katie said she wants to tell Emily about food and all I could make out was "french fries, chicken nuggets"...listen for it.

New rug dance

Everytime we get a new rug, Katie has to break it in with her dancing. Today was no exception...

Eagles dance

How come I'm the only TRUE Philadelphian and the only one without an Eagles shirt? I used to have one (thanks Dad) but I think it has made its way into hubby's drawer.

The best part of Halloween (for Katie)

Some think that the best part of Halloween is the candy (I sure do), but Katie thinks that it is running to the door when trick or treaters arrive. Of course, the better video was taken sideways...but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Happy Halloween!

Katie had a very festive Halloween this year! It started with a Fall party at school (on Friday). Parents were invited, so I took in some pumpkin face cookies and joined the party. Katie loved having me there and kept telling me to sit next to her so she could hug me. Other kids started hugging me too (I think they just wished their mommies were there)...it was lovely considering their hands were covered with orange cupcake frosting and cheese puffs.

Saturday was the big trick or treating day! She headed out around 6:30 and went out with Daddy for awhile, then with Mommy. It was a balmy 80 muggy degrees...not fun for toting around a toddler that didn't want to walk on her own. Here is a video of her getting ready for the trip around the block. Note the speech: Trick or treat, I'm a butterfly. Give candy....please.

She was so proud of her speech, but did not say it to a SINGLE person. Instead, Daddy and I had to say trick or treat and thank you...at EVERY house. On the way home, she told us she was shy. HAHAH YEAH RIGHT!

She was out for about an hour and accumulated about half a bag of candy. She was very proud and kept asking us to try different pieces. I think we've opened about 10 kinds for her now...she licks them and then throws them in the trash. I even tried giving her fruity candy, since she loves fruit..."Mommy, no likey...put in the trash." We don't know what is wrong with her, but Andrew and I should gain about 5 pounds each from having to eat all her candy for her :)

Little peanut did not think much of Halloween. She stayed downstairs and went to the door with me a few times, but slept through most of it. I didn't dress her up, as she was pretty tired...but here are a few Halloween pictures for posterity.

One more video to upload later...stay tuned :)