Update

Got the CT scan This morning, and again Julian was a trooper. He just sat there smiling while he went through the machine. The tech lady told us that usually they sedate kids because they move so much, but because of Julian's age and how calm he was it wasn't necessary! I was very happy for that! Made our first appointment with the specialist, and will meet with him on Dec, 8th, unless they feel like it is more urgent, in that case they will call and I will see them on the 1st of December.

That's all for now! Thank you for your prayers

Four Months and possible surgery

Watching football, and yes he really is looking up and watching BYU play!!



Does your Chain hang low??




Preparing for the cold Utah winters!!

Well I wanted to update family and friends on the current status of Julian.

Go back to a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Julian had a weird ridge on his head that started at his forehead and went to the middle of his head. It kinda felt like a mini mountain range on his head. I knew that babies heads are still growing and are different than an adults head, so I just made a mental note of it, since I knew he was having a doctor appointment in a couple of weeks.

Fast forward to yesterday. Julian had his four month check up. They weighed him, got his height, and measured his head. When the nurse took us back to the room to wait for Julian's doctor, whom I love by the way, I noticed the sheets of paper that tell the percentile your baby is in. They read as follows;

Weight: 14.25 pounds = 30%

Height: 25 inches = 30%

Head Circumference: 15.8 inches = 5%

When I saw the head circumference. I realized that two months ago it was 15 inches and he was in the 24%, and has now dropped to the 5%, this automatically reminded me to ask about his head.

When the doctor came in the first thing he asked was if I had any questions. I told him about my concern with his head. The doctor starts to feel around his head, and then tells me that his is going to get a different doctor who specializes more in this area. He comes back and said that doctor was with a patient, but would join us when she can. So we continue with our check up. Everything is looking good, sounding good, and then the other doctor came. She felt Julian's head and definitely recommended that Julian get X- rays. And started saying things to the other doctor like " I cant find his soft spot, there might be over lapping of the plates, and you might even need a cat-scan"

So I was starting to get a bit worried at this point. The doctor sent me over to get some X-rays. He then progresses to talk to the radiologist about how to get the right shot. Julian and I wait for 15 min as the doctors start pulling out different books, and discussing how to take the X -Ray because they don't usually need to see what they needed to see. I appreciated that they were taking time to make sure they do it right, it just doesn't make you feel good, when you know that you might have something so different that the doctors aren't a 100 percent sure what to do.

So we take the X-rays, Julian was perfect and just sat there with his big eyes taking in all the new scenery, then we go back to the doctors room. Once there the doctor brings up the X-rays, and is positive that the plates are not overlapping. I thought great we are good then. So the doctor says he will hand the X-rays over to the radiologist and see what they have to say. He tells me that if I hear nothing from him then everything is fine, and he will call if there is something else wrong.

I honestly felt when we left, that everything was fine, and was not at all expecting to receive a phone call.

So today at about 12 in the afternoon, I get a phone call from the doctor. He proceeds to tell me that Julian has craniosynostosis, which is a condition in which the sutures close too early, causing problems with normal brain and skull growth. Premature closure of the sutures may also cause the pressure inside of the head to increase and the skull or facial bones to change from a normal, symmetrical appearance. Craniosynostosis occurs in one out of 2,000 live births and affects males twice as often as females. (www.chw.org)

So on Monday Julian will go in to have a C T Scan, and we will be placed with a specialist in Salt Lake City. The most common treatment is surgery. and it requires a lot of medical follow up to make sure everything continues to grow properly. My doctor said that we caught it really early, so that is really good.

Right now I guess we take it day by day and see what the specialist has in store for us.

Other highlights with Julian include:

He loves to make noises and giggle and hear himself talk. He recently discovered his feet, to the point that he is constantly grabbing and holding on to them. He is mister snuggles, and I love hims so much. I am trying to be strong through this, and I have confidence that everything will be ok. I just have to have faith.

We would greatly appreciate all your prayers during this time

Got to Love It!

So I usually do not write about the different recipes I try each week, mostly because I steal them from other peoples blogs. But I HAD to share the soup I made this week!

First off, I must say that I am not a big soup eater. I love the smell of soups and even enjoy the taste, but warm liqueds always make me feel sick to my stomach, and usually quite quickly. I do however love chilies and chowders, and the rare exception to my rule is Tomoato Soup! I have always had the tomato soup from the can, and enjoyed it, but the other day I decided to look for a recipe to make it from scratch! I found the most AMAZING recipe from the food network, that was so easy and so good! I will never buy canned tomato soup again!! I thought I would share it with you!

Homemade Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1 (14 oz) can chopped Tomatoes

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

1 stalk celery, diced

1 small carrot, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 cup chicken broth

2 T butter

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream, optional

preheat oven to 450 degrees

Strain the chopped tomatoes, reserving the juice, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 1/4 cup of olive oil, and roast until carmalized, about 15 min

Meanhile in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the celery, carrots, onion, ande garlic. Cook until softend, about 10 min. Add the tomatoes, tomato juice, chicken broth, and butter. Simmer until vegtables are very tender, about 15-20 min. Add the basil and cream if disired. Puree until smooth in a blender!


Doesnt that sound good? This recipe is all so very forgiving if you have to make substitutions, for example I had a can of diced tomatoes instead of chopped, and i dont like celary so i used a large carrot instad of a small, and instead of heavy cream I used low fat milk. When you blend the soup it becomes thick and crramy, so the fat from heavy crram really isn't nessecarry

enjoy!

Julians First Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone! Our Family had a fun filled weekend. On Friday, Jamie's work had a little party and passed out candy to the kids that came. Julian and I just walked around for fun, and then had our picture taken with dad! I haven't received that picture yet, but when I do I will post it! In Utah, when Halloween is on Sunday, everyone celebrates on Saturday. I am the ward Activities chairman, and we had a Trunk or Treat Activity. That is when members decorate the trunk of their car, and pass out candy, unfortunately it was pouring down rain all day, so we moved it inside the church building. It was tight fit, but the kids had a ball going around to all the different class rooms in the church, and since it was raining so hard, not many people went trick or treating around door to door, so we were all the candy they were getting! All in all it was a good activity! Of course Jamie took Julian around as he was dressed like a monkey, and a very cute one at that!