Follow-up Pediatric Surgery Visit

Today we went to see the surgeon about Noah's missing testicle. We waited forever to hear nothing new really. The latest ultrasound showed what we knew from the last one, which is, there is something that appears to be a testicle and it's up fairly high. He said they'll need to go in and "explore" to determine that it's a viable testicle. IF it isn't then they'll remove it and he'll only have one. IF it's good they'll see if they can bring it down and stitch it in place. If the muscle or tissue that lets it descend isn't stretchy enough to allow them to bring it down they'll need to go in through the belly. I asked how he "explored", he said surgery. So, that was a little weird to me. I thought they would know BEFORE the surgery which way they would deal with it. Sounds like they go in through the groin to do it all and if need be they also go in through the belly. I thought it was an either/or thing. I didn't think it was both. Based on the ultrasound the doctor believes that in Noah's case he will also have to go in through the belly because the testicle is up so high. Going in through the belly more than likely means an overnight stay and longer recovery.

Noah will have surgery sometime in January. We're waiting to hear from the surgeon's office to schedule something so we don't know when yet. Needless to say I walked out of there with my baby in my arms and cried and cried and cried. All I could picture was him laying in a hospital bed. :(

Another Ultrasound

Today's ultrasound was absolutely horrible and not at all what I expected based on last year's ultrasound. Noah was completely traumatized by everything--the dark room, the equipment and even the technician. He screamed and cried and freaked out for about 45 minutes straight while we held him down. Poor little guy just couldn't deal with it. We tried everything. We took turns holding him, we let him watch movies with cute little animals and eventually we even tried a new technician. The only way we were eventually able to get a decent image was by dipping his pacifier into sugar water. For a few brief seconds he would sit still while he sucked on the sugar. Jeremy and I both left feeling exhausted and stressed to the max. I can't even explain how horrible it was and how horrible I felt. We went straight out for margaritas after wards. We follow up with the doctor next week to find out what the course of action will be.

Kisses!

I've been trying to get Noah to kiss me, but the stubborn little child won't do it. I say, "Momma wants a kiss" and then I kiss him all over his face. He usually turns away. I show him my lips, show him his lips and how to pucker. As I sit there with big fish lips he looks at me like I'm crazy.

Last week we started showing him to blow kisses instead. He grasped that one pretty quickly although he seems to forget where his lips are so he smacks his hand to the side of his head. Okay, kid whatever. I'll take whatever little kiss I can get.

Tonight he was playing with Daddy loudly in the living room so I went up there to see what all the commotion was about. Noah picked up his "K" book that has the word "kiss" and a drawing of mommy and baby kissing. He opened it to the word kiss and walked right up to me and kissed me on the mouth. My jaw must have hit the floor because Jeremy just laughed and said, "Ya, he just started doing it tonight."

Aww...the joys of Motherhood.

Brushing his Teeth

Noah's usual bedtime routine consists of a bath, "spa time" (getting lotioned up and hair brushed), getting dressed, sometimes a story and always special nursing time with Mommy. Brushing of the teeth has been mostly hit or miss. He usually just sucks on the brush and drools all over his clean jammies. He has yet to grasp the idea that you actually move the brush against your teeth--it's basically a bristly teething toy.

Tonight after getting him ready for bed he went to grab a book on the letter "T". It's a tiny little board book with only three pages. (He has one for each letter of the alphabet.) He opened it up to the Toothbrush page, pointed to it and the accompanying image and started brushing his teeth with his hand. I was sort of stupefied and grabbed him and the book and made a bee-line to the bathroom where we happily brushed our teeth. He even moved the brush back and forth!

Pediatric Surgery at Children's Hospital

We took Noah to Children's Hospital today to meet with the doctor regarding Noah's missing testicle. It seems as though some kind of outpatient surgery is inevitable. The doctor described the procedure and it doesn't sound terrible but it does mean general anesthesia, which sucks. We have to bring Noah back for another ultrasound. I'm not sure why they had us do one 11 months ago if they have to look at it again.

Twinkle Little Star Means Goodnight

For quite some time now "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" has been the song we sing Noah when it's bedtime. He knows the hand motions and does them along with us while we sing.

Tonight we were sitting on the couch and Noah started opening and closing both of his hands. I'd seen him to do this one other night but thought he was waving because it was with just one hand. At the time I said, "ya, that's right baby! Wave." But tonight, seeing him do it with both hands struck me like a ton of bricks..."Ohhhh! You're not waving, you're doing 'Twinkle, Twinkle'." So, I got up and carried him to bed, laid him down, pulled the covers up and turned off the light. And that was it. He slept.

Boy, did I feel stupid. :)