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ANSLEYS TE FISTULA STORY

vicki stewart

September 2010

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HOPING

Aug 08, 2010 07:42pm (EST)

Hello everyone!

Ansley is doing just fine, with the exception of a fall she took. She fell face first into our hardwood floors about 2 weeks ago and busted her lip. I thought that was all until a few days ago I noticed her tooth was changing colors. I called her doctor and my own dentist and they both said she has done damage to the nerve and it would just have to stay gray until if fell out. I know this is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I sure hate seeing that gray tooth every time she smiles. It's her top front tooth too so it's pretty noticable. At least it was a baby tooth.
I wanted to update on the results of my bloodwork. I was so sure that my hormomes were a disaster, but all my bloodwork was fine. I took Clomid (fertility drug) last week, so now my husband and I just have to try to make a baby this month

If you are so inclinded, prayers are much appreciated.

xoxo
Vicki

Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (4) | Permalink

DOCTORS VISIT

Jul 27, 2010 09:09am (EST)

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well. Ansley is doing great. She now gets early intervention once a week and speech therapy once a week. She communcates well with me either through words or gestures, but I'm sure a stranger would be completely lost trying to understand her. Hopefully that will get better with time. She will be 2 1/2 next month! Where does the time go?
Ansley has her own potty, but I'm a little lost about training her. She has been sitting on it while I'm getting her bath ready at night and has even used it during that time but any other time I tell her it's time to use the potty she cries and screams "NO". I'm not sure why she is so opposed to sitting on the potty during any other time of the day! I've read that you shouldn't push kids who don't want to train becuase it just makes it harder, but how will she ever learn if she won't even sit on the darn thing?? Maybe I'm being to easy on her? I don't know. Advice anyone?
I went to my OB last week and discussed having another child with her. She told me that she wouln't recommened I go to a genetic counseler since Ansley's bith defects aren't considered genetic. There is no way of knowing what caused her defects or predicting if it would happen again. In order to get pregnant with Ansley I had to take hormones and a fertility drug called Clomid. We are going to try that again and see if I can get pregnant again. She drew blood that day and I'm waiting on the results to see just how screwed up my hormones are

Once my hormones are the levels they should be, she wants to wait 3 months to see if I get pregnant with just the corrected hormones. If not, I will being with Clomid again. PLEASE pray for us! I didn't realize how much I wanted another baby until we started discussing it with her. She did mention my age and my weight as being possible problems with my fertility. I'm 34 years old and according to her "underweight". All I know is infertility sucks. Period. Don't misunderstand, I know I'm certainly very blessed to have Ansley. A lot of infertile couples are not as fortunate, but it can be difficult to see other women take their fertility for granted.
I will update with any news. Wish us luck

Vicki
I'm adding a picture of Ansley at vacation Bible school. She had a blast!

Vacation bible school

Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (2) | Permalink

IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I UPDATED.....

Jun 28, 2010 10:29pm (EST)

I'm not sure anyone will even remember my blog!

Ansley is doing wonderful! I found out that my husband's insurance would not pay for speech therapy so I did a little research and found a way to get her speech though the state for free. She has only had 4 sessions, but she is doing great and loves her therapist.
She's still a little small for her age, 28 months, 22 pounds. But she's such a happy little girl, who cares about her size?? Her dosage for her kidney meds has been reduced twice in the last 6 months, and I have high hopes that one day she will no longer need daily medicine.
We have gotten all moved in and settled in our new house. Our old house was on the market for only 10 days and we got an offer that we accepted! Exactly one month after listing our house, we closed on it and got rid of that debt. Exciting stuff for our family!
My husband and I have decided that we would like to pursue having another child so I've made a doctors appointment for next month. I have a feeling that my OB will send me to the same high risk doctor that I saw while pregnant with Ansley. I would like to talk to him anyway about the chances of having a healthy baby after having one with birth defects. I am praying that they will give me good news, but I just don't know. Ansley's birth defects are considered "random" and not genetic so I'm hoping that means any future children do not have the problems she did. My age is another thing that concerns me though. I turned 34 in June, and I feel like it's now or never. My clock is ticking. I think I will be devestated if they tell me it's not a good idea to try again. Quite frankly, I'm terrifed.
We took a trip to the beach over the weekend and Ansley had the time of her life! I had a great time watching her discover the ocean and seashells. Let me tell you though, it takes awhile to get down the beach with a two year old who says "another one" every time she sees a shell and stops to examine it!

I wouldn't trade it for the world though! I'm including a few pictures of her and her seaside adventures.

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (4) | Permalink

PROFESSIONAL PICTURES

Mar 22, 2010 08:25pm (EST)

Please read my blog below for an update on Ansley and her test. I wanted to add these pictures as well. They were taken by a friend of mine who is professional photographer. They aren't as good as the originals since I had to scan them into my computer, but you get the idea

The red rocking chair was mine when I was a little girl. How cool is that??

Ansley at Recliff 4

Ansley at Redcliff 3

Ansley at redcliff 2

Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (1) | Permalink

CATCHING UP

Mar 22, 2010 07:53pm (EST)

Wow a lot has happened since I last blogged. Ansley had her second birthday complete with Winnie the Pooh cake and lots of guests. She had a wonderful party and seemed to really enjoy it.

She had a development test on March 10 that I just received results from today. She scored average on Receptive language, below average on Expressive Language, low average on fine motor skills, and average on Gross motor skills. To be honest I expected her to do very well on the Receptive language skill ( her ability to understand what is being said to her.) She understands so much of what is said and responds accordingly. I knew that her Expressive language would not be good. She is scheduled to start speech therapy in May. I was also surprised by the low average on fine motor skills....she did every thing the lady threw at her with ease...

I will be the first to admit that I don't have much experience with other children, but I do know my own. I may be a little biased, but I think she is very smart. She follows directions great, she can identify a zillion objects and animals by pointing, she knows all her body parts, all her colors. I'm not sure what they expect from a 2 year old?? She got a My Little Pony matching game for her birthday and she has mastered that and become bored with it. Hell, I have problems identifying those ponies and matching them. They all look alike to me, but not to her!!

The work on my mom's house is going great. We had new carpet and vinyl installed last week. There is a new AC unit going in this weekend so by next weekend we should be ready to move. I told my husband that the weekend that we will be moving into her house will be the second anniversary of her death. Maybe she planned it that way huh? To keep all of us busy and keep our minds off of the date. It sounds like something she would do! The house is looking wonderful and I'm so eager to get my own house painted and ready to sell. Wish us luck!

I know there are lots of parents with children in speech or physical therapy on Share. And also a lot of teachers. If anyone would like to throw their 2 cents in about the development things I mentioned or speech therapy, I'm all ears. All I want for my daughter is to happy and healthy.

I'm including a few pictures. The first picture is her first snow and probably her last for quite a while since we are from the south! The second one is her acting goofy with her big girl panties, and the third is one of the pics from her birthday. Hope you enjoy!

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (1) | Permalink

AN UPCOMING BIRTHDAY!

Feb 06, 2010 09:12pm (EST)

Oh my goodness Ansley will be 2 years old at the end of this month! That's crazy!
She is doing wonderful. She had a follow up appointment with the NICU about a month ago and they are sending her for a developmental study or test. Basically what I was told is that they will watch her play to see where she is developmentally and determine if she needs physical or speech therapy. If they do think she needs therapy, then they want to get her started and caught up with other kids her age before she enters school. I can surely appreciate that. I never want her to feel like she is different, because she's not. She is such a sweet little girl!
She is still not talking a lot, but she has added a few words to her vocabulary. She can say mama, dada, goat, no, hey and all gone. She also roars like a tiger which is so cute!
We have been remodeling my mom's house with the intention of moving in there and selling ours. What a JOB this has become. You find all kinds of problems when you start tearing things out of a 38 year old house. It will all be worth it in the end though.
I hope everyone is doing well. As usual, I will post a few pictures of my little darlin', Check out the third picture will chocolate pudding all over her teeth;)
Vicki

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (2) | Permalink

TALKING.. OR THE LACK OF

Nov 16, 2009 09:07pm (EST)

Hello all! I am in need of some advice and Share is the perfect place for info. Ansley will be 21 months old next week and she is still not talking. She can say hey, and da da. She says O for Elmo and at for cat. Should I be concerned about her lack of speech? Is there anything I can do to encourage her to talk? I expect her to be behind, but is this too far behind? I just don't know! The thought has crossed my mind that maybe she is so far behind because she didn't receive anything by mouth for 3 months, therefore not strengthing the facial muscles. Is this a possibility? Any advice or thoughts would be so appreciated!
In other news, we have had my mom's house appraised and inspected. The inspection went well with the exception of a few wiring and plumbing issues. Those were expected due to the age of the house. We are meeting a contractor this Thursday to discuss remodeling 2 of the rooms. We will see what the costs of those remodels are before making a definate decision about buying my sister out of the house. But I'm excited about it! The house certainly meets our needs better that the house we are currently in.
Ansley had a appointment with the kidney doctor last week and that went well. Her kidney is working great and no need to increase her meds! It was a struggle to draw blood though. It took 3 of us to hold her down. She might be little, but she puts up a fight!
I hope everyone is doing good and enjoys the holidays that are drawing near! Here are a few pictures including one in her Halloween costume

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (4) | Permalink

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

Oct 20, 2009 08:23pm (EST)

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated my blog. Ansley is doing great. Unbelievable really! She has had a small cold this week, but it has not slowed her down at all! She is gotten very good at walking and following all sorts of directions. Well, except for pulling the cat's tail....for whatever reason she won't listen to "No!" on that one! I bought her some flash cards with picutes of animals, babies, food, etc. and she can point to a lot of the objects when asked. I think she is just a genius. She can put up her own dirty diapers and laundry and she "helps" with the housework. It's so precious to be carring laundry through the house with a toddler right behind you picking up what you drop. She's my sidekick for sure.
We had an estate sale at my mom's house last weekend and it was very sucessful. My husband and I are now seriously thinking about buying my sister's half of the house and moving in there. There is a lot of cosmetic work to be done to the house. It was built in the 70's but my mom had remodeled a lot already. It offers the space we need and it's in the school district we want to be in. It's a tough call though. I don't know if it will ever really feel like it's mine. The one major plus is it has 4 bedrooms which would be perfect if we decide to expand our family.
I wll try not to go 2 months without updating again. I missed my SHARE friends! Here are a few recent pictures. It's so hard to get a good picture these days. She want to hold the camera too!
xoxoxo
Vicki

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Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (3) | Permalink

A PLAYDATE, A DOCTOR VISIT, AND THE GREEN EYED MONSTER

Aug 13, 2009 08:37pm (EST)

A lot has happened this week. Ansley went to the kidney doctor on Monday for her routine checkup (every 3 months). It seems like these visits get harder each time. The urine collection is easy enough, it's just the blood draw that's tough. I even got our favorite nurse and it took 2 tries trying to get bood. In the end, she didn't get much, but she said that she HOPED that she had enough because she was not going to stick her again. It took me and my husband to hold her down for the blood draw. I can not even express to you how much I hate holding my daughter down and the guilt and hurt that I feel when she looks at me like I should be helping her. It's just a horrible feeling.
Ansley had her first playdate with 6 other children yesterday. She didn't do too bad considering how badly she used to suffer from stranger anxiety. She was the smallest one there and the least advanced, so she could not keep up with the other kids. I think she wanted to play with them because she kept looking at them and trying to keep up but they were just too fast for her. She got knocked over a few times since she is so new to walking, but she didn't cry. She got right back up and tried again. Is it Ok to say that it bugged me? Not the knocking her down part, that was an accident, just the fact that she looked like she wanted to play with them so bad but they were just leaving her behind. I so want her to be an outgoing, friendly person and to be treated like any other kid. I have always been a shy person, and it has not gotten me anywhere. I don't want her to end up being shy.
On to the green eyed monster in my title...I try not to blog about my mom alot. This blog is not for that, it is for Ansley. However tonight I am feeling so sad, so I hope that ya'll can overlook me using this site for my feelings as well. The feelings that I am about to share with you are not feelings that I am proud of...I'm jealous of grandparents. I'm jealous of freinds of mine who have children with their grandparents. I wanted Ansley to have my parents in her life so bad, they were good people. Why did the Lord have to take them away? I just don't understand it sometimes. An older friend of mine is about the become a grandmother for the first time..yes, I'm happy for her because she is so excited, at the same time, it makes my heart ache for all that my parents are missing out on.. Then today, I got a friend request on Facebook from a couple that my mom was friends with and I have known since childhood. They had so many pictures of their gandchildren posted. It just hurts to even look at those photos. To know that they are in my moms age group and still here to enjoy their grandchildren and play a part in their lives, but my mom isn't. I think that part of the reason that my mom's death has been so difficult is because she wasn't ready to go. She wanted to be here for Ansley. She allowed them to preform brain surgery on her to try to help her. She woudn't have even allowed that to happen if she didn't want to be here. The surgery that was supposed to help her ended her life. That is almost impossible to live with....
So sorry for my downer blog, tonight it couldn't be helped.
Vicki

Posted by vicki stewart | Comments: (6) | Permalink

UPDATE

Aug 07, 2009 09:16pm (EST)

I have some great news to share~ Ansley is walking!! She has fianlly gotten the confidence to let go of the furnature and walk on her own. I'm thrilled for her! She still resorts to crawling if she is in a hurry, but I'm sure in no time that will be a thing of the past.
She has had a virus called the Roseola virus for the last week. She had a very difficult time with that nasty bug! She is finally feeling better today and back to her smiley self. We had taken her to the doctor on Tues. and he diagnosed her with the virus, but on Wed. she was violently screaming for almost 10 hours straight and she had not had a wet diaper all day. Since she only has one kidney I became very concerned so we took her to the Emergency Room. They gave her a cath and tested her urine. Everything was fine, I was just being paraniod. With only one kidney, I worry about her pee more than most moms I guess!

Well, here are some pictures of her walking. Please ignore the mosquito bite on her forehead! Hope everyone is doing good

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