No Foolin'

The boys had an appointment with Nephrology today, and both of them had good blood pressures! So we get to cut Matthew's medicine (Labatalol) dose in half, and we get to give one of James's medicines (Enalapril) only once a day rather than twice a day. So, that's a step in the right direction! (The Nephrology docs are awesome, but we're looking forward to "graduating" from them one of these days.)

We also heard the report on James's kidney ultrasound. The good news is that there was no evidence of kidney stones or calcium deposits. Excellent! The not-so-good news is that his kidneys hadn't grown since the previous ultrasound (in September). But the doctor said that they usually measure growth over the course of a year, so it's hard to know what to make of measurements earlier than that. So, they'll look again in the fall, and hopefully things will be on track then.

We also had an appointment with the Peds Surgery nurse practitioner. I had requested this one, because I wanted to have James's g-tube checked, and we also had some surgery questions. It turned out the tube (Mickey button) was about due for replacement (they seem to get gunky about every three months or so), so the NP supervised while Mike changed it -- a pretty quick and easy process, actually, but one we hope we don't have to do on our own (that is, if James pulls it out).

The nurse practitioner was wonderful. She was so reassuring about everything. She said that usually by the time the kids go home from the hospital, they're close to back to normal, maybe with some minor soreness remaining. The worst part is apparently the diaper rash (and poor Jamesie already has sensitive skin, so I sure hope the diaper cream works well!) We're allowed to bring his own clothes and toys to the hospital, and we'll have a private room with a fold-out bed for parents to stay.

I also asked about the antibiotics, because some of the ones he's been on in the past can cause hearing loss -- and he doesn't need any more challenges in that department! But apparently now that he's older, the ones they use don't have that risk. So that was a relief.

The regular surgery appointments always feel a little rushed, so it was really nice to have a chance to go over everything and get a better idea of what to expect.

In other news, James has been babbling away today (dididi, dadada, mmmmm, ayaya, and so on). Baby babble is about the most adorable sound there is, and it's extra-nice to hear it from James (since it's potentially a good sign for his hearing/language acquisition).

And I'm impressed with Matthew's listening skills. When I was talking to Mike, in a normal adult tone, I mentioned Matthew's name (not talking to Mattie, but talking about him), and Matthew turned and looked at me. When the automated message called to remind him about his appointment, I had the phone on speaker, and once again he alerted when they said Matthew. (Our babysitter reports that when she asks him where Stanley is, he looks around for the dog.) So, he's definitely getting some receptive language skills!