A Day at the Beach

I have so much to update you on, but I wanted to share pictures and videos from our afternoon at the beach.  It has been CRAZY warm here in Michigan for March.  We went to the beach in Holland as soon as we got out of work.  We had such a great time.  Both boys love the beach, but they could not be more opposite in the way that they play.  Zander loves to stay clean.  He is a "neat" sand player (if that is possible). Grayden is the COMPLETE opposite, the MESSIER the better.  Tonight at the beach he was cracking us up.  He kept crawling backwards, like he was going down the steps, to get himself into the water.  He loved it!!  He even showed off his bear crawling skills for the camera.  What a great day at the beach!!

Lastly, I will leave you with a little sneak peak of what Grayden has been up to lately!  Blog post to follow!!

Beginning Steps

This boy is determined! Today we were playing and I looked over and Grayden was standing next to one of his ride on toys pushing it! He was taking little side steps out of the bedroom! I very quickly went and got my phone so I could capture it on video and share it with all of you! What a great way to end a long and busy week!

Cruising!

Grayden started cruising along the furniture yesterday! He is obviously brand new at this so still a little wobbly and slow, but I wanted to share!

Sorry the video is so long.  Austin is out of town and I forgot how to edit it!

Shuntiversary

One year!  To say that I have not thought about the shunt in the last year would be a HUGE lie.  In fact I have thought about it a TON in the last year.  It is probably one of the biggest things that I have beaten myself up about.  Throughout the last year, I thought about that darn thing so often. I wished that we would have taken Grayden to Boston to have a different procedure performed (ETV), which has a decreased chance of failing at some time in the future.  It has been very hard for me to get over the fact that I did not push harder and explore further and ask more questions. As a mom over the past year I have had feelings as though I somehow failed Grayden, and that I didn't do enough.  I trusted what I was told by our "small" town Grand Rapids neurosurgeon. 

But you know what, with the help of my good friends in my mommy group who I have vented to over and over again (thanks ladies) I have come to realize many things recently.  I did what I thought was best at the time based on the information I was given. That little tube saved my little guys life.  I think that I can finally say, after a year that I have finally come to terms with it.  I am not going to focus my attention on it anymore.  Who knows, maybe Grayden will be one of the lucky ones and have few issues with it.  You just never know.  And what I can say is that I am thankful that the shunt was placed without incidence and that it was an available option for treatment of Grayden's hydrocephalus.  50 years ago we would not have had that option.  My great Aunt did not have that option when her child was born with Spina Bifida. So I will forever be appreciative that there are medical options available and that the medical community is ever evolving.

Today we celebrated!  We celebrated because with the help of the shunt, Grayden is doing amazingly well and for that we will forever be thankfull!!!

Last year, day after surgery

Today as we celebrated with cupcakes!!

Hydrocele Repair

A year ago today we were being sent home from the hospital after preparing for shunt surgery because Grayden had a fever.  Today we were back at the hospital for Grayden's third surgery; a hydrocele repair. We had originally noticed that he had a hydrocele in October and were scheduled for surgery then; however Austin and I decided to cancel that surgery because he had been symptom free since we initially had taken him in.  Starting in December his symptoms began to reappear and we knew that the surgery would need to be done.  I took him in to see his urologist in early January and we scheduled surgery for March 12th, but were placed on the cancellation list.  Last Monday, his symptoms seemed to be getting worse so I called to see if there had been any cancellations and to basically beg for them to bump us up, and just our luck there happened to be a cancellation for today. 

Grayden tolerated the surgery well and everything went as planned.  He was very tired all day today, but very tolerant of all the poking and prodding.  He is now home sleeping soundly in his bed!  I enjoyed all the cuddle time I got to have today, however I'm hoping this is not an annual occasion for us!!

Crawling

So Grayden has officially been crawling on his hands and knees since December 10th, 2011!!  I guess I am a little late on blogging it, but I figured I would share some of the details.  Better late than never. 

As you may know Grayden has been receiving his intervention from a PT who practices the Anat Baniel Method.  During a therapy session on December 10th, Renae, Grayden's therapist had Grayden in a semi-hands/knee position and she was "rocking" his hips (pelvis) from side to side (simplistic explanation).  She then took her hands away and Grayden briefly paused and then it became really clear to me at that moment that Grayden's "learning switch" was on.  He got really still and his eyes started looking back and forth and then he started "playing" with the movement that Renae had just introduced.  I know this may not make sense to those of you who may not be familiar with this work, but I just wanted to share.  In that moment I could tell that Grayden was making connections.  I actually almost started crying because it was such a neat experience to witness.  To see his little wheels spinning and to see him connecting his movement with his brain.  This work is amazing, incredible, etc, etc.... I cannot describe to you in words how grateful that I am that we were lead to this work!  Anyways, that night when we got home, he briefly crawled forward.  From then on he has been unstoppable!!

So now that I have rambled and probably made no sense at all I will leave you with some footage of the "new moves". So TAKE THAT spina bifida!!!!!

PS-don't mind the onesie, we were in the process of getting Jammies on:)

MRI

Grayden had his MRI last week to make up for the one that we missed while we were in Philly. We met with the neurosurgeon here in Grand Rapids to go over the results and all is well. He said that there is no evidence of a syrinx and that all looked good from his standpoint. There was evidence of tethered cord,but this is the case with all kids who have Spina Bifida and it is a wait and see as to whether it will become symptomatic or not. He also said that his brain looks good. The shunt is functioning as it should and there is no evidence of obstruction.