Good news, bad news.

It was the week of doctoring... Monday for me, and Wednesday and Thursday for E.

Wednesday, we were at CHEO for the afternoon as E had to have an ultrasound of his kidneys and today it was a visit to his family doctor for his 6 month check-up and shots.

Back in February when we were referred to a pediatrician for E's weight-gain issues... the ped. ordered an ultrasound of the kidneys as I had mentioned in my patient history that all of my pre-natal ultrasounds showed cysts on the right kidney of the baby.

Since no one had followed up on this post-delivery, she felt it was a good idea to have it checked just so we would know everything is okay.

So... three months later we got in to the children's hospital and the ultrasound was completed. (Just entering the doors of CHEO you realize how lucky you are to have a happy, healthy baby, it broke my heart to see some of the children in the halls - we are so blessed to have a children's hospital near by).

Our appointment was at 2:15 pm yesterday, and then coincidentally E was to see his family doctor today at 3:15 pm (as his 6 month appointment was pushed back a few times due to scheduling conflicts with the doctor's office).

The good news from today's appointment with the family doctor is that E is up to a whopping 16 lbs 3 ozs and 27.5 inches... which puts him at the 10th percentile on the holy graph... he no longer is taking up the bottom rung on the ladder, and this was very pleasing to me. I was not surprised to see he has gained a whole kilo since his last visit, as he has taken a real liking to solids.

However... the good news quickly came to a halt when the family doctor surprised me with the results of yesterday's ultrasound (we were told they would take a week). As it turns out, the news is not good (which is most likely why the results were so quick).

E has a non-functioning right kidney... meaning he is only operating on one good kidney - the left. The right kidney is not even really a kidney... its mostly a mass of cysts making up the kidney.

Enter look of shock and fear on my face as the doctor is trying to explain this to me.

Of course there is some 26 letter medical name for it that I can not for the life of me even remember how it sounds (and being the good mother I am, I didn't even ask for him to write it down for me).

The upside is that we really only need one good kidney to do the work... the second one is a bonus (as it was explained to me). Obviously E is thriving and doing fine with one, but its the longer term affects of this kidney that are worrisome.

Does the defunct kidney need to be removed or will it shrink up to nothing as he grows older? Will the cysts attach themselves to the good kidney or other major organs? Or could the defunct kidney start shedding over time causing other medical problems for him down the road? The possibilities (in my mind) are endless at this point.

The immediate reaction of the doctor is 'not to panic' - too late. Although I am doing my best to remain calm (I only shed a few quick tears on the drive home before I told myself not to freak out until we know more - and I am sticking to that pep talk). As quick as the doc received the results of the ultrasound, he was even quicker to assure me that we would be going back to the pediatrician who will then most likely refer us to a specialist. His main concern is blood pressure, as apparently your right kidney controls your blood pressure, so without it, there must be some repercussions, but of course we won't know anything until we talk to the pediatrician/specialist.

I keep trying to put this into perspective... that its not life-threatening at this point, and that we have caught this issue very early which means time is on our side to address it. However, I keep playing the scenario over in my head, that if I had never mentioned the cysts from the pre-natal ultrasound, and if the pediatrician had just breezed over it (like my family doctor would have), in 10 or 15 or 20 years, E may have had serious complications that we would have spent precious time trying to figure out the problem before working on the solution.

I could just puke thinking about it.

I know ... I can't let my head go down that road. All we can do now is wait until we get into see the pediatrician and go from there. But in the mean time I can hold my little boy just a little tighter every night and give him an extra thousand kisses a day, just for good measure.

I guess this is just part of being a mother... the not so good part: worrying!

BUT, since I am NOT worrying, you don't have to either (Mom B & Mom C), and I will do my best to keep you posted as our next doctor's visits take place.

For now... just in case you aren't convinced E is doing fine, here's some proof!

Don't rush me Doc!

Earlier in the week, I went to the doctors for my annual check-up... and while I wasn't exactly looking forward to the visit, I was more disappointment with the interaction with my doctor as opposed to the actual physical exam.

First off... why is it that General Practitioners (GPs) are referred to as 'Family Doctors' yet, PC, E, and I all see a different 'family' doc. I mean, isn't the point of a having a family doctor to keep medical histories under the care and supervision of one physician who can draw linkages between parents and children?

I can see how PC and I might not have the same doctor, but surely you would think one of these family doctors would take on our newest family member?

Nope... none of them had room. I guess we were lucky to find an available family doctor for E. PC and I had never met the man before October, but he actually is a fairly nice guy, and a very cut and dry type of doc. He either knows about it or doesn't, and doesn't try to lead you on about a medical issue that he hasn't had much experience with. When he doesn't know... he makes you a referral to someone who does... and I like that very much.

In the case of my family doctor, I saw her on Monday for my annual check-up. My first one post-pregnancy... and let me tell you (WARNING boys... earmuffs), it was such a breeze compared with previous invasive annual check ups! Once you've had the pleasure of a difficult vaginal birth, the upside is that you don't even blink at a little pap test!

Anyways... getting back on track here... its been over a year since I last saw my doc, and while she is a perfectly nice lady, I always leave her office frustrated. For one thing... I sit in her waiting room for close to an hour before I am even seated in her office, and then wait another 20 in the office before she saunters in to say hi (like she remembers me, which I know she doesn't).

As she quickly scans my chart while asking me how I am doing, she says 'oh... you had a baby didn't you?'... and then asks how was the everything, to which I say 'not bad', and she says 'good'.

'Good'... that's it? Perhaps I am the type of patient that needs a bit of prying to open up (which if you know me well, ask and I shall divulge), but she didn't even follow up with a 'not bad? were there any complications?' - she just went with 'good' and was perfectly happy to move onto to the next item on her 'How to get a patient out of my office in under 5 minutes' checklist.

I cut her off into her second question about my weight and blood-pressure to tell her about the delivery and post-natal care, and then she asks in the driest sense of humour 'So.. does this baby have a name?' (ya... we went with 'Triple D' Ding-Dong-Doctor, after you!).

She is already batting a thousand with me... tells me I am at a perfect time to do some blood work, yada yada yada, as she fills out a form for the lab. Then she tells me 'well, that takes care of the paper work, now time for the exam'.

Whoa lady - back up the truck. That does not take care of the paper work. I actually want a prescription for massage therapy... which means get out your pad and write me one, and how bout asking ME if I have any questions for you, seeing how its been a year since I was last here AND I had a baby in that time.

I was furious... she looked annoyed when I asked her to renew the prescription for massage therapy, and then I just start spouting off at the mouth with my other questions while I whip out my 'LIST OF THINGS TO ASK THE DOCTOR' starting with number 1, ending at number 9.

I think to myself, why do you book me for 15 minutes, if you only have 5 to actually see me? She looked very annoyed at me as I asked question after question.

I get that we have a shortage of doctors, and that I am lucky to even have a doctor, but in all seriousness I may as well of called TeleHealth and asked my questions, as I would have gotten a more detailed responded than 'yes, no, not sure, check online'.

I understand that I am not an ill patient, I am probably a pretty run of the mill routine patient. But, if I am actually booking an appointment for my annual appointment (which many people try to avoid), please take the time to give me some easy medical attention, or pond me off on a nurse who could answer the easy questions, and leave the difficult ones to you in your 5 minute race against the appointment clock.

Wow - that's feels good the get that off my chest.

Anyone else have a good/bad experience with a family doctor...? I know there are MANY good doctors out there, and don't get me wrong, mine is good, but I think my point is that she could be A LOT better, with minimal effort.

A new section at the bookstore!

Its funny how as you enter different stages of your life, you find new sections to explore at the bookstore.

When I was a teenager, I think that is when I discovered novels and the bookstore... I can remember going into Cole's with my Mom quite frequently and begging her to by me the next book in the Babysitters Club series... I just had to know if Mallory and Logan were going to hook up or what kind of trouble Kristy and Stacey were going to get into next.

Then as I got into high school, I got away from reading, but work my way into the Young Adult section... finding time to read Summer Sisters, and few others.

In University, I was always in the damn academic section spending way too much money on text books, and post-university is really where I broke into my book buying addiction. I love all kinds of novels - the Shopaholic series, anything Emily Griffin, autobiographies, anything that is not sci-fi, mystery, or crime related, I could be suckered into buying it.

A year ago, I was consumed with the pregnancy and parenting... and although I still frequent that section from time to time, I have discovered a new section in the bookstore that I never really took the time explore before now: the children's section!

Who knew it could be so interesting.

As a gift (shout out to Crista & Darryl and the kids) E received The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton. I opened it up a few months ago and we haven't put it down since... he loves it, and so do I - we read it every night. Recently while at Chapters, I discovered that Sandra Boynton has a ton of kids books... all written along the same lines - silly stories that are FUN to read.

I ordered a couple of her book sets, and they just arrived this week. They are AWESOME. My second favourite to The Belly Button Book is Barnyard Dance (bow to the horse, bow to the cow, dance with the sheep if you know how)! So cute!

If your looking for children's books to start story time with your child, I would highly recommend anything Sandra writes - you won't be disappointed!

But bringing me back to the book store... now that I have found the children's section, I plan to spend a good chuck of my years in that section... because the section right beside it is (gasp!) ageing and seniors - and given that I haven't even busted into my 30's yet - I am not about to take up real estate in the ageing section - unless of course it's for my parents!

What section of the book store are you frequenting these days? Any books you like to recommend - children's or otherwise?

Jon & Kate

For the last few weeks I have been following the Jon and Kate Gosselin saga (from TLC's Jon & Kate plus 8). I've debated about blogging on the topic a few times, just because I feel like my post only adds to the drama their lives are currently surrounded by.

The tabloids are all over this family... and as much as I wanted to not believe a word I read about Jon Gosselin's alleged affair/misbehaving, last night's season 5 premiere of their show cemented the fact that the couple is having major issues.

I am a BIG fan of this show... I truly love sitting down and watching multiple episodes of this family's daily activities unfold on television. I loved this family before becoming a parent... but now that I am a Mom, I love them even more as I am able to keep my own parenting issues in check when I watch their show.

From their first season to now... yes their lives have changed dramatically, so naturally they've changed as people too, but I was truly sad last night watching the premiere. Kate Gosselin in other seasons and other public appearances seems to be such a strong, outspoken, put together voice of the Gosselin family. But, last night, and in recent solo interviews, you can see that she is hurting, she is angry, yet she still wants to go on with the show (so the speak) for her kids. She is more soft spoken, more apologetic... she realizes she is not perfect and that she has been hard on her husband in recent years, and you can see just how it is taking a toll on her as a mother and as a woman.

I know there are MANY critics out there constantly write about Kate Gosselin and how poorly they think she treats Jon. The critics also report on how Jon & Kate don't work, they get everything for free, they are expoliting their kid's childhood, etc. Kate is loved to be hated, but I in my opinion she does not deserved to be criticized for being a mother who loves her kids and only wants the best for them, and having said that, either does Jon.

For Christmas, I received their book 'Mulitple Blessings'... I was actually surprised to find out just how religious this family is, as it wasn't apparant to me in the first 3 or 4 seasons of their show. I think this book showed me that they had endure quite a bit in the beginning of their family life to get to the success they are experiencing now. Its sort of a rags to riches story guided by their higher power... and I hope now that they will use their faith to come together - for the sake of their children.

I think I want to see them work out their marital issues, but last night I was not convinced that they are going to do this. The fact that they won't interview together anymore, and that either of them can really put into words (on television) what the other one requires in order to move forward tells me that this may be the last we see of the Gosselin family.

I will be watching Season 5 intently, while at the same time saying a little prayer for them... hoping that out of the tabloid spotlight they can work out their differences and come to an agreement that is best for them and best for their children.

Taken with tulips!

On Sunday of this past long weekend, PC and I ventured out with E to see the tulips at Dow's Lake in Ottawa (you can imagine how excited PC was to do this)!

If your not familiar with the Ottawa area... every year in May, the capital city runs the Tulip Festival. It is filled with various activities for families besides tulips but if you haven't seen the thousands of tulips in full bloom throughout the city, its a definite must do in Ottawa, in the month of May.

To be honest, I have never actually gone to Dow's Lake to view the tulips, I mostly have taken in the tulips on my lunch hour at work, when I was working downtown. So, since I moved offices out to west end, I haven't really participated in the festival at all in the last few years.

However, this year... we weren't doing anything too exciting for the long weekend, so I thought a little family outing might be fun. Of course we picked the least nicest day of the weekend to do this, but nonetheless, the tulips did not disappoint!
E was so taken with the tulips, and the crowds. I was amazed at the number of people out and about. It was crazy! Everyone and their dog thought it was a great place for snapping photos ... so we thought we would join in the fun! E wasn't too interested in looking at the camera... he was too busy watching the neighboring groups of photo takers beside us, or playing in the tulips beds!

Nonetheless... we enjoy our day!
Here are the results of the shoot...

Dreaming of a back yard oasis!

We have been in our house for 4 years... and in that 4 years, we haven't done a whole lot to our back yard, except put up a shed for extra storage. Our backyard is a fairly decent size, and when we bought this place it had a nice large deck that I was really excited about. The first year in the house we received our patio set as a wedding gift, and we loved it, but by the fall of the next year, as you may recall, the wind blew our table off the deck and smashed the glass top to pieces. Since then the deck sort of lost its appeal, as it seemed like more of a hazard in our back yard, than an asset.

For the last few years I have had many ideas rolling around in my head about how I want our back yard to function, but I am having a hard time deciding whether just to make do with our outdoor situation for a few more years, or to sink a few thousand dollars into it for the time being, knowing that in 5 years time I don't want to be in this house.

Sometimes I wonder if my time line is realistic... 5 years isn't that far off, so maybe in my head I should say 7 years... just to give myself a buffer, so if that's the case than for the next 7 years I would really like to have a back yard we can enjoy.

I would really like someone to come in to our back yard with a vision that matches the vision in my head (anyone know a psychic that does back yard makeovers!)... and tell me the magic number to make it happen. I want to know what 3 or 4K looks like in a backyard. Is it everything I am dreaming of, or is it a piddly cement pad with some nice lawn furniture on it? Perhaps I will need to this backyard design in stages... to make it affordable.

Our deck needs some work regardless of whether we sink money into any other part of the backyard or not. It's a PVC deck, but was built poorly under the direction of the previous owners. It needs some attention... especially by the time E becomes independently mobile.

In addition to the deck, I would also like to put up a PVC fence that would give us some privacy... for our rear neighbours, but again, if we aren't going to be here in 5 to 7 years time, I would rather put the money into a nice fence at our final resting spot, and just build a suitable, but not dream-worthy, wooden fence for a third of the cost.

Oh what to do... ? Since this summer is unique, I doubt we will do anything, as we will be at the cottage for a good chunk of it - but by next year... I want to make some changes... which means I have less than 12 months to get my plan onto paper, cost analysis completed, and the peeps lined up to do the work. I think before I even get that far, I need to get my better half on board... as sometimes that can be half the battle!

I think I will need to give in on something PC has been dreaming about, if I am going to get full cooperation on his part. Perhaps I should plan a trip to Vegas with a 'P.S. PC' note attached ... you got your Vegas trip... now I get my backyard oasis!

Mommy's Day!

Well ... it's been here and gone! My very first mother's day.

We had a social engagement on the Saturday night in Belleville and stayed over night, so Sunday was little rough, and didn't really allow for the 'over the top' mother's day - if you were thinking breakfast in bed, and all that pamerping-shmapering they show on TV. To be honest, I didn't drink a whole lot the night before, but for some odd reason, I was feeling like I did the next day.

E did decide to start the day nice and early at 6:30 am, obviously wanting to spend as much time with me as he possibly could on my first mother's day! Despite the early wake up call, he was a pretty good baby, all. day. long.

I don't know if I would go as far to say that E said his first word on mother's day, but the week leading up the mother's day he definitely got the hang of his ba's and da's sounds. On Sunday afternoon he was spouting off 'ba-ba' and 'da-da' to anyone that would listen. Fitting that he would say 'da-da' on mother's day, isn't it - maybe he will come out with 'I love you Mom' on Father's Day (might be a bit of strech but we've got a month to work on it)!

We did manage to make it back from Belleville in time for dinner at the in-laws, and we had a fantastic meal... which was a really nice treat, not having to make supper, once we did get home.

PC and E did surprise me with a really nice (mushy) card - which PC doesn't normally do... and this little piece of silver jewerelly, that I absoulte LOVE (love love love):

The picture doesn't do it justice, but for those of you with fabulous eye sight you will see its a silver pendent that has been hand stamped and says Emery Charles Coleman and his birth date. I have never seen this before... apparently PC E ordered it online for me from Citrus. They have some really neat stuff... awesome momentos for new Moms!

Just hanging out with PC and E, made mother's day special enough, but of course the gift they gave me made it very memorable! Thanks PC... and to my sweet baby boy for a great mother's day!

The annoying grocery store shadow!

Do you ever go to the grocery store and start doing your regular grocery store route with your cart, only to encounter someone who is on the same store route as you, and you end up running into or trying to avoid them for the duration of your grocery shopping experience?

C'mon, you must know what I am talking about... that one shopper who arrives at the store the same time as you... and when you hit the fresh veggies section, there he/she is grabbing for the green peppers at the exact same time you are. You think to yourself: 'that was awkward', but you are polite and say things like 'sorry' or 'excuse me' or just give them a friendly smile to let them know you like to have your space.

Then you move onto the deli meats naively thinking your first run in was a one time deal, but there they are again trying to cut you off with their cart to beat you to the counter.

If that's not bad enough... you move onto the breads, and they stand behind you waiting to get into the fresh buns and bagels bin at the exact same time as you. Your pretty fed up at this point, so you devise a plan to lose them before you get to the fresh meats. If your me, you decide to casually stop and browse the cheesecake and dessert section (even though you have no intention of buying an $9 cheesecake for 4 measly pieces and 1200 calories). You try to wait them out so that they get far enough ahead of you that you don't have encounter them again or you skip a section of the route going mock ten to get ahead of them and lose them for good.

You go back to enjoying your grocery shopping, selecting your items carefully, and checking off your list in peace again. However... they forget something or for whatever reason you decide to circle back and the next thing you know your back to avoiding their cart in the frozen food aisle.

If that's not bad enough, you try to lose them again... only to reunite with your shadow 15 minutes later at the check out, highlighting the fact that you wish you had stayed home and sent someone else to do your groceries.

Seriously... this happens to me at the grocery store all. the. time. Tonight my shadow was annoying times ten as she had her two bratty kids with her, and while she dawdled around the store, her offspring played tag around the cart... and every so often she would raise her voice and say 'settle down or we are only getting 1 kind of chocolate bar tonight'. Just what the little munchkins need... CHOCOLATE.

In all honesty... the random grocery store shadow ruins my shopping experience. Usually, when I am grocery shopping now, PC stay home with E, and its a little bit of me time that I look forward to... but when the grocery store shadow shows up on my little me date... I want to lose my mind.

Can anyone else relate to this... or is it just me? Do you have any tips for losing the shadow, or at least some good games I could play with my next annoying shadow?

Nothing solid about solids!

Just shy of his 7 month b-day, we started E on solids. Yes, yes... you are entitled to think that we should have started him earlier... but given that he had a few weight issues, we were a few weeks behind starting at the 6 month mark, and since we were going to Florida, I was selfish and didn't want to have to pack the cereal accessories in addition to everything else we were taking for him our our vacation - so we held him off another two weeks.

Regardless of how we got to the starting line, we made it. I can use the excuse and say that E wasn't ready to start cereals at 6 months, but the truth is, he was... and he has been waiting patiently, watching PC and I closely as we eat every. single. bite. of our meals. It was pretty hilarious at times.

I think I have been the one dragging my feet... as I have making a bottle down to science, and the thought of mixing up cereal and then spoon feeding E while he spits it back at me, is not something I was looking forward to... at. all.

However... I knew we had to start, so Saturday morning was the official ribbon cutting ceremony. We strapped E into his high chair, and PC decided to do the honours with the spoon while I cued up the camera.

Surprisingly for the first feeding it went not too bad. PC clearly has more patience than I... as he played some airplane games with E, getting him to open up, and he didn't seem to be on any time frame. After it was all over, I thought to myself - this could be worse - and I was right.

Day 2... E wasn't so graceful in his cereal eating abilities when it was just him and I.

He is definitely mature enough to understand the spoon to mouth concept, but his maturity only lasted for the first four spoonfuls, and then it was lots of sticking his tongue out, thus having the cereal run down his chin onto his bib... then proceeding to stick his fingers in it, touch his face, trying to grab the spoon out of my hand, while flicking more cereal in his hair.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Nope... no idea why I was dragging my feet about the whole experience.

I just don't deal well with mess... and messy fingers, messy faces, messy anything. However, as PC explained to me a few times (based on his own experiences with me), I am not the world's best teacher, and what E needs is someone to teach him how to eat solids! So basically... he just bought a house with no roof... as I suck at teaching anybody, anything.

However... because this isn't about me - I am putting my best foot forward here, and as much as I hate the whole feeding mess that we have to go through 3 times a day, I am willing to suck it up, because I know 'it won't be like this for long'!

I also read somewhere, that in order for a child to master a skill, you have to give them 21 days of practice before they can commit it to memory... so if this is true, we are on day 5 of 21, almost one third of the way there (hopefully)! I have to admit today's suppertime cereal feeding was actually the best one I've done in the 5 days, E didn't get too messy until his last 6 or 7 spoonfuls, so we are making progress - thank the lord!

Here is E, in his first cereal eating performance... it was mild in comparison to some of the episodes we have had around here the few days!

How was the cereal/solid starting process for you with your children? Did you find it challenging or fun, or both? Any tips or tricks to make it less messy, or do you just suggest grinning and bearing it for the next few months?

7 months has arrived... slow down calendar!

I have a baby boy who is 7 months old.
A seven. month. old.

I think I am in shook... just a bit. I mean, where have the last 7 months gone?

As I look back on the pics of E's first few days of life, I see a different baby altogether... its crazy how much he has changed in these short months. Yet, I am amazed at his developments every day.

In 7 months time, the memory of my labour has faded dramatically (although NEVER the last few minutes of the birth). I find myself saying 'when I have another baby, I would... blah blah blah', which I NEVER thought I would say for a long while (easy people, it's not happening anytime soon, but the fact that I can make reference to a second child in the future is a milestone in itself for me). So although the time has passed quickly for, I can still see that a fair amount of time has passed for me in the motherhood books.

E has cut his second tooth this past week. He was a little fussier this time around, however I can't determine if it was his tooth coming through, a minor cold, or the fact that his grandparents feed him icing on Sunday afternoon (!) - or a combination of all three.

At the 7 month mark, E is fairly confident sitting up by himself... I wouldn't suggest leaving him alone on the hardwood, but on carpet and our play mats... he rarely takes a header if left sitting unassisted!

His new fascination is cups and water bottles... as you may have saw in my last post with the Starbucks cup. Who needs expensive toys when a paper cup or plastic used water bottle will do the trick!

We started cereal last weekend (separate post to come on that), and its going... not horrible, but not fantastic either. However, the main thing is he has started the train to solid foods which is good.

Still no actual crawling happening, but he is still very close... and loves his form of belly surfing! Sleeping in his crib has become quite adventurous as E likes to toss and turn himself around in all different positions. You never know what you are going to find in the morning, aside from a big grin.

Yes... this baby boy of mine is growing up right before my eyes. I love having a ring side seat to the action... but at the 7 month mark I can't help but start thinking of back to work, daycare, and the next steps in his young life. However, I do have the WHOLE summer to put in with him first, and I can't wait for it!

Keeping with tradition, here is the results of our 7 month photo shoot. The more active E becomes, the harder these shoots are to conduct! But, I think you'll like the results!

Look what we've started!