good news

Well at his 6 week follow-up our sweetest boy got the all clear. No mroe clot, normal flow in the portallveins and only a little minor edema in the liver! We're so happy to get to stop the lovenox and have the projection be that this will have not long term impact for him! We appreciate all the prayers- they worked a great miracle!

He is still so darling- but as you can see does not like to be naked

poor mans snowboard- snow day antics

well smart son 1 as we all know does not lack for creativity-- and over the weekend he was watching lindsey jacobellis snowboarding- so when we happened to have a snow day this is what he created from a cardboard box-- an indoor snowboard- he started using it to do tricks around the house-- ahh to have such cheap parents...smart son 2 - still brimming with Christmas spirit decided to bring offerings to our newborn babe- no gold frankincense or myrrh- not a problem-- a spaghetti squash will totally do in a pinch!

He also likes to do crayola window fx markers-- and for all you moms wanting to develop prewriting skills in your kids- I draw a roadway and he makes the marker cars follow the path- a great way to help you kids start learning the shapes and motions necessary for letter formation-(and you thought it was just fun drawing time son- fooled you didn't I)

and the entry would be complete without a shameless showoff of smart baby #3

creative binge

I think because I now have a new baby and my time feels scarce and punctuated by stopping to feed him every 2 hours-- I now have that sudden burst of creativity I have begging for the last 9 months (I can't paint when i am pregnant- all cretaivity energy is drained from me!). These are my recent endeavors. This is my new favorite i have been doing the last 2 nights -- I feel a new series coming on (I love it when i get into a new series) very klimtesque- very fun color and organic sort of themes- I can't wait to do more...all these were to help me get warmed up- get the creative juices flowing and get my brain ready to get inspired for my "new series" --a chain garden series cut paper piece 11x14a new rubber block print i cut- printed in blacka new 24x36 garden piecesome giant apple and pear studies 16x20
Of course I attempted to start the new year and my post partum time with a healthy eating resolution- a wagon i quickly fell off- but not before i enacted my food fantasies in paint so of course

and I got my boys in on the creative action- here they are doing styrofoam block prints- yes i am the only mom on the planet- who while staying int he NICu with my baby kept her styrofoam meal trays becasue "hey i could bring those home and let my boys use them for block printing. They had a blast- S.S. #1 did a great storm and jellyfish set of prints as well as darth vader and luke skywalker and ss#2- did an abstract piece and can still be heard saying-- "let me ink the brayer!" ahh what i teach my 2 yr old!

the year of floor care

As I was walking through wal-mart a few weeks before Christmas I overheard a woman say to her husband, "Don't you dare get me a vacuum for Christmas".
Reminding him that such a practical gift was in her mind reprehensible. While I on the other hand will enumerate the top 3 items on my christmas list
1. a new vacuum- our has served us relatively well for 8 yrs of marriage and is slated for retirement.
2. a new steam mop- with about 1000 sq feet of dark hardwood floors this sounds like heaven-
3. a small stick vac for use on the hardwood floors.

do you see the clean house PLEASE! trend. I know I am so pragmatic when it comes to gifts. Smart daddy-o did convince me to get some new perfume- for his enjoyment-- and i must say Escada makes fabulous perfumes-- I smelled about 60 different perfumes with no winners and then i smelled 3 of theirs and couldn't pick a favorite they were so good!-- if you like something that is defintely different from the norm may i recommend magnetism, sunset heat and moon sparkle all by escada-- sorry blogs have not developed scratch and sniff capabilities or i'd offer you a smell.

pictures of my kids

after all the job of a good mother is to shamelessly show off her children- so here are so my cute pics of my 3 sons. smart son 3 at 2 weeks old. smart son 2- braving the elements-- if you live in new england you know fashion is not high on the winter priority list- its all about keeping warm. He calls his hat "a snow helmet"smart son #1 (sporting winter hood hair) building 9 foot towers in the studio roomsmart son #1 crawling his way to the bus across the yard-- because the snow is totally iced over and if you walk you slide- even all shovelled areas were covered with sheets of ice-- don't you wish you lived in new england too- but as you can see- life goes on as usual despite the snow, ice and -3 windchill.my dad with my boys a few weeks ago

just when we thought we were done

I spent one day- so completely happy- so glad to have my baby born this incredible weight off me. By all accounts he was perfect. I decided to go down with him for his ultrasound. It took 2 hrs. and at the end the radiologist said she didn't really know what to make of the findings and she was headed off to call my pedi and one of the neonatalogists. I returned to the room with him unsure of what to think - and within na 1/2 an hour a neonatlogist was knocking on our door. Basically he explained the finding was portal vein thrombosis. The left portal vein was completely occluded. It was a again a quite rare and unusual finding and treating was again a difficult call. Best case scenario was the clot will clear, worst case scenarios- lobular atrophy, portal venous hypertension, and potential need for liver transplant. Well as you can imagine this was the last thing I wanted to hear after all I had been through. He said he was going to go contact a peds hematologist and a peds GI and come back later in the day and we would try to come up with a plan. We immediately called one of our friends for a blessing for each of us and especially for our new baby. About 2 hrs later the neonatalogist returned with the peds GI and hematologists- basically they told us that the literature doesn't show that anticoagulation therapy generally makes a difference but given my history of thrombophilia and some consulatation with some experts who have researched this a lot at Toronto sick children's hospital they felt treating with lovenox was probably better than wait and see (the other option) So within the hour he was taken to the NICU- where they began full assessments- following his platelets to be sure his levels were acceptable given how clots can shred through them. They wanted to do a repeat abdominal u/s the next day and a head ultrasound to be sure things were clear before starting lovenox. I was still inpatient and would go up to the nicu to feed him every 2 hrs through the night and the next day. Then on discharge I got a boarding room in the back of the NICU where I stayed for the next 8 days- leaving the hospital 1 x for 1.5 hrs to go home and basically pack up for my stay and bring some family pictures and a name tag for his crib. I would try to be up and showered each day and by his bedside for morning rounds. Where I would stay all day. We began the lovenox (2x a day injections). We did daily labs and serial ultrasounds, and he was spending some time under the bili lights for jaundice. At his ultrasound the following monday the radiologist reported there was now "some flow" in the left portal vein -- which was very exciting-- everyone had prepared us that we should not expect to see any improvement after 3 days ( i had read the studies and knew time to resolution generally ranged from months to years) and really all they were hoping for was that the clot hadn't become worse and was appearing stable. I was so excited to hear the news-- knowing any flow is better than no flow. They again slated a repeat for later in the week-- again the radiologist said you can't really see much in a 3 days interval and so we were pleased to hear the official word in his report was-- at least the same if not better flow. WE know there is still a ways to go until normal but we are happy to have seen any progress especially so early in the game. We finally reached the right therapeutic (antifactor xa) level with his lovenox dosing and so they felt he could come home and be followed outpatient. So smart daddy-o and I were trained in the mixing of his meds- quite a process given lovenox is not dosed for someone weighing 7 lbs). So we don't know what the final outcome and prognosis will be-- these next few weeks and months will be critical as we see what happens to the clot. They do feel the left portal vein issue is related to the umbilical vein varix and the big question that remains for everyone is whether the clot is related to the heritable thrombophilia that I have? does he have it? Trouble is it can't be tested for in a baby. So from here out in the immediate future it will be weeks of us giving him 2x daily injections, testing his antifactor xa levels, repeat ultrasounds and follow up with the GI and hem. and of course the emotional roller coaster continues- not knowing what the outcome or long term results will be but we are taking it day by day. I think when you have worked in medicine you have seen too much (esp as I worked with liver and transplant patients at UCSF) you sometime wish you were one of those parents who didn't really understand all the things the doctors said or you read in the articles. But we just have to keeping praying for the best and we know many prayers have been answered so far and we are grateful for so mnay of you who have been praying for him. As you can see he is the sweetest most darling baby! Here he is at 10 days old! we're excited to finally have him home! we'll trry to keep you updated.

smart son 3 is here

my darling baby boy was born 11.28.07 at 37w1d weighing in at 7lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long with tons of dark hair.

the saga continues

I know I kind of left you hanging- when we did the lung maturity amnio at 35 wks- his level was 16 (45 is considered mature) so of course no one wanted to induce. we scheduled another amnio for the following week- this time the result was 22 (again no where close to maturity) at this point though I was ready to jump off a cliff- we were in a hard spot trying to balance the risks of the umbilical vein varix (and it's risk of thrombosis or intrauterine death) and the risk of respiratory distress (which for as late in the game as i was) was far preferable. SO the day before thanksgiving i went to meet with Dr. Weisberger one of the neonatalogists (basically to inform me of the risks if we chose to pursue induction w/out lung maturity). We ended up having a really good discussion about my history, this unusual cord anomaly, and the risks for the baby. At the end of our discussion he suggested we do an xray and abdominal ultrasound after birth to ensure everything was okay. I decided 37 weeks was my limit and although statistically his risks for RDS was still just over 10%- that is generally treatable and the risk on the other side was unacceptable in my book. So I went in and told my perinatalogist I was done- I felt we had pushed things far enough and I would accept responsibility for the outcome- She was in agreement and so was the neonatalogist. I just wanted to have him because I knew i couldn't handle another loss. So we scheduled induction for Tuesday the 27th--the day I turned 37 weeks- unfortunately I was the least dilated and effaced of any of my pregnancies- so my induction would require a little more assistance this time so after 4 rounds of cytotek, numerous rounds of doctors, and residents and 21 hours my little boy was finally born! I was so happy to finally have him here safely-- after so many weeks of such incredible stress I was glad to be done.

halloween fun

I am happy to report that Luke Skywalker and Frog (of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Books) are out gathering candy as we speak! Smart baby wanted his pumpkin to look like Grover and Smart son designed his with multiple sets of triangle eyes. Unfortunately it has been a busy week and the carving was slated for down to the wire slot of after school today- I refused to wield a sharp knife due to my highly anti coagulated state- and did not want to risk any life threatening injuries- so I had to craft this years mediocre jack-o-lanterns with a dull pumpkin carver (yes these are what we let children use in preschool to cut up bits of fruit) I also think i have carpal tunnel from the excessive repetitive sawing motion!

on the baby front

Well I haven't posted in a while because things have been a little crazy. While i was in for 31 wk ultrasound (Which they do because of my thrombophilia- to ensure the placental perfusion is good and baby is growing well) they found a really really rare cord issue- An intra-abdominal vein varix- basically after the umbilical vein enters the baby- it is dilated within the abdominal cavity of the baby. I noticed the U/s tech kept looking at something but i couldn't figure out what is was. Well the perinatalogist came in and explained it and said she thought i needed to have weekly NSTs and we needed to move up my next ultrasound. Well I went home and started reading-- Unfortunately reading up on it only made things scarier. The first thing I learned was one it was really rare- There are less than 100 cases documented. Each study maybe only included 7-9 patients.Then of those cases documented outcomes varied widely. Some showed really good outcomes 7 out of 7 healthy babies- other showed stillbirth and fetal loss rates of 25-44%. the problem that frequently occurs is thrombosis of the vessel- not what you want to hear when you are already high risk for thrombosis (I'm on lovenox 2x a day and aspirin)That was definitely not what I wanted to hear. Especially after all I have been through ( 8 m/cs) I called the perinatalogist back the next morning, got kicked over to high risk for my managment and we came up with a new plan- 2x a week Bpps,Nsts, doppler studies, we did steriods to speed lung development, and we are due an amnio to check lung maturity on the 12th and assuming we're good- baby will be induced then at 35 weeks- So I have to keep this baby hanging in for 11 more days and then we won't take any risks.We are hoping with our careful monitoring we could catch a "problem" before it happens but again there is enough to know who things play out when they go bad. So we are hoping we don't have to deal with that- needless to say I live hour to hour and day to day and appt to appt- poking and prodding this little boy to ensure he is always moving and dopplering him a few times a day. But there is nothing like need to be ready for the baby- so i am trying to not stress myself out- but also expedite things and get in gear. So keep your fingers crossed!

the state of gifted education

Yes this is considered a sometimes politically incorrect topic, but it has been on my mind a lot lately. Every child is an individual with diverse abilities, interests, and talents that doesn't make one child more or less valuable. We need everyones unique abilities to make this world a great place, but I am frustrated with the lack of options and accommodation for bright kids. This sector of education has sharply declined in the 20-25 yrs since I was child. It was far easier for me to get services in rural florida school in the 1980s or in a tiny DOD school in Turkey, then it is now. Seriously, at my sons current school there is no program in place to meet the needs of gifted children. It is a small but nice school with many great things (specials every day, small class sizes, good staff, very supportive parents)- but to me this is a travesty. It is a lonely road to be the sole parent in the principals office advocating for this under served population and demanding something be done. I guess part of it is I know to much, I used to teach education classes at the college and university level- I am not okay with mediocre education, I am not okay with boring children to death, I am not okay will skill and drill ad naseum, I am not okay with pointless dribble worksheets. These children need a faster paced curriculum, for creative enriching projects, not more work but different work, etc. One of the great myths is kids with bright kids will do fine in a normal setting because they aren't failing in anything-- but what angers me the most is they are not learning either. I respect children and I respect them enough to believe their time and energy is valuable. Why can't people just understand that different brains work differently, without judgement and stigma, why is it I feel like I have have to deal with "gifted issues" in silence- for fear of being the mom who says "my kid is so smart". We do we place a judgement on the rate or style in which a child learns as if it is some sort of a race. I think my son is special in the same way every other mom on the planet thinks her child is special. IQ tests don't mean everything, they are not the only measure of intelligence, most intelligences cannot be measure in a test. When it comes to my sons life accomplishments I would far rather have a son that is good, kind, and makes a difference in the world than one who is "smart"- but I can tell you if you score 50 on an IQ test (average score is 100) you are going to need some help significant intervention to navigate our current educational system, in fact it would be against the law to fail to provide services, why is there no law (okay not in my state some states have them) serving a child who scores in the 150s. I guess I think of some of the great experiences I had in education- I wish i could sit back and let my child just enjoy the ride and trust it was giving him what it should, but the ride is changing and not for the better and I can't in any moral conscience not speak up. I worry about the future of some of our kids because our current systems are failing them. So yes I have lost a lot of sleep, money, time over this in the past year, we have been through hours of testing, assessment, meetings, I have spent hours researching trying to come up with creative solutions, meeting with teachers and administrators and we are starting to work out some accommodations. The thing is in know this isn't the end, it will be battle I will have to continue to fight and sometimes that is exhausting and sometimes I wish more people would stand up for their kids and what they need.

I did it!

$9 for 3 pack of truck, robot, and race car underwear
$6 at Gap for camoflague and robot packs of underwear
$15 dollars in potty prizes at the dollar tree

To have your child potty trained and enjoy a few months of diaper freedom before another baby arrives- PRICELESS!

Yes, I got through potty training round two- that has consumed my life for the last 2 weeks- smart son has been wanting too for a while (I knwo what kind fo terrible mother won't let their child potty train), but i wanted to stall him off until school started and we could be more homebound for a few days doing hourly potty runs. Well sure enough 3rd day of school for smart son, smart baby woke up and told me his diapers "had a problem" and he only wanted underwear- "they are my favorite!" And from then on we've been going strong- days, naps, nights- the whole schebang! I am really proud of smart baby- he's 2 and 3 months! He's been doing great and is totally digging a day with all those sweet tarts, gummy bears, and marshmellows.

end of summer fun

Well summer has finally come to a close and we wrapped it up with a slew of fun creative activities. I know that seems to be all i post about lately- but i am archiving this so if my kids ever try to pull the "you never doing anything fun" or "you're not cool" lines with me I can go back and show them that in august of 2007 I was a fun mom. The smart boys have been having a great time with liquid watercolors and Smart son learned how to do salt and sugar effects with paint. We did sunprint paper (the blue) simply lay objects on it in different sunlight - rinse under water and voila! cool positive/negtaive space project- special bonus points for people who can identify all the sunprinted objects! We did foam piece Dr. Seuss villages - my boys have always liked reading the the Lorax book and so we made these- you just use the foam pieces that when dipped in water stick to each other- just don't dip them in too much water or they turn to mush- right smart baby. Smart son discovered scratchboard- I totally loved his "sampler piece"- He divided it into all these sections and made all different patterns (one series he entitled pattern subtraction) and we made glurch (yes the borax and elmers glue one).

The saddest part of summer was sending smart son off for his first day of 1st grade! I totally miss him when he is gone- because as you can see we have a pretty good time together! I hope he has a great year! And to celebrate his first day we do our traditional snack treasure hunt- he comes home to a slew of clues and follows them to find his hidden after school snack!

family pictures

I haven't had a chance to blog about vacation to the outer banks yet but here are a few of my favorite family pictures from the trip!

more simple summer fun

Smart son asked me as I was throwing in a load of laundry if we were going anywhere today. I replied that I wasn't sure, but likely not. He shouted cheers of delight and said he loved staying home best of all. That made me feel good. I do try to have fun with my kids when they are home. I like our home to be a place they love to be. So in case you need more summer fun ideas...
sculptures- yes just get some wood pieces, glass marbles (dollar tree is great for this) and some wood glue- still washable but much better than elmers for bonding. Smart son did his on a scrap of masonite and painted his. Smart baby very systematically worked on his on a canvas board.

Colored cookies- so easy and fun. I should have taken the picture yesterday before we were left with only 3. Simply take sugar cookie dough roll the balls in colored sugar and bake. no sprinkle shaking mess- just cool colorful cookies-- We did them in pink, blue, yellow, green, orange.

Jumping raisins/or dancing spaghetti whichever you prefer. Cup 2/3 way filled with water, 2-3T vinegar, 1 t. baking soda and raisins or spaghetti pieces- my kids watched with rapt attention for 15 minutes while they bounced up and down.


Glowsticks- seriously I found a place that sells 15 skinny ones for 1$- They are the perfect light sabers, secret weapons, lights for under the bed forts, incentives for extra good clean up. They keep them occupied forever and all for less than 10 cents a piece!

The BEST books!

Book review-
Smart son has really started noticing people have different colors of skin, peoples, accents, different styles of dress, etc.. He noticed before but never really thought about it- lately he has started trying to identify where people or their ancestors came from. This is a complex task for a 6 year old. The other day at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike he informed me we were some of the only ones in there with “pinkish-whitish” skin. Although New England has a fair amount of diversity, my son unfortunately doesn’t encounter very much on an intimate personal level. I wanted to at least find him pictures of people around the world so he could start to understand more about different peoples and their heritage.

If you know me you know I am passionate about being informed and making a difference in the world. My children WILL grow up knowing how people live other parts of the world and appreciating what they have. I don’t think they can ever understand their true accountability if they don’t. Most Americans live a very sheltered, ethnocentric, egocentric life. Way too many people have never had the chance to see how others live, to understand true poverty, disease issues, etc. Well I found 2 fabulous books that smart son has literally been eating up —begging to read them I limit him to 3 pages a day!

The first we read in a week- called A Life Like Mine- it is a fabulous books that highlights children around the world- what they live in what they eat, educational opportunities etc. It discusses serious issues everything from child labor, war, etc. In honest but appropriate ways for a child to understand. I loved that my son is gaining a better appreciation of what he has 3 meals a day, toys, water in his house, shoes, access to education, medicine etc. I think it is a must for every child to appreciate what they have.

The other is Children Just Like Me. It authentically profiles children from all the continents, what they eat, what they play with, what their school and homes look like, their families, etc. It has been such a wonderful education for smart son. I love that it is opening his eyes to new perspectives, the contributions of cultures, and the richness of diversity in our world.

These make my top 10 list of books every child should read hands down.

trade-offs

so somedays my floor and barstools look like this at 5 pm...

I have to remind myself that is because I am a fun mom and do fun stuff with my kids- sometimes with the endless cycle of clean-up in the "world of mom" you have to remind yourself it was for a good cause, because man i hate sweeping that floor everyday!

today we did:

litmus paper tests (the only fiasco during this experiement was smart baby trying to spraying fantastic (one of the test liquids) into a whistle he found-- he thought it would make bubbles come out when he blew into it) no son- POISON!

Smart son picked out this photo we took while at temple square and wanted to paint it- he worked so hard on it, mixing variatios of greens- he probably spent almost 2 hrs on it! smart baby did his own verison in oil pastels- he spent 5 minutes on his!

oobleck (in their own selected colors no less)

and here is smart son with one of his tall towers (he does them vertically) he also likes to make these thoughtful arrangments from all the random objects in the house: chairs, shoes, diapers, pillows, books, toys, foods, plates-- trouble is you can't lock up and hide everything --at least he is resourceful!

(And yes i have excessive amounts of blocks- It's a disease-I am just a sucker for blocks) water blocks, bead blocks, city blocks, unit block, pb kids story blocks, middle eastern temple blocks, mirror tiles- I know I have to stop.