No More Zantac

Obviously I'm not an MD, but I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to try to decrease Hudson's daily Zantac dosage. He's been on Zantac 3X a day since he was 4 weeks old. Of course he's been on an antibiotic daily since the day he's been born to prevent UTI's that could complicate his kidney issue. He also takes probiotics 2X daily to help prevent yeast infections that he's prone to because of the antibiotic (because it's strong). He's been on the Zantac because of his esophageal reflux. It was really bad when he was smaller. From the beginning, Dr. Nesbit said that Hudson should outgrow the reflux. He has good and bad days. I decreased his dosage to 1X daily, and didn't really notice any difference so I decided to completely take him off of it. I hate that he has to take so much medicine, and 3 less doses a day would be nice for us and for him. Since taking him off, I can't really tell too much of a difference. I guess if I had to lean one way or the other I would say that his spitting up is a little better. I don't think that it's necessarily due to the fact of him being taken off of the medicine, but just that he's starting to grow out of it. I sure hope he is. He's changing and growing SO FAST.
Since I've been on Spring Break my mom has not kept him this past week. We went over to see her today, and she couldn't believe how much he'd grown and changed.
Tomorrow I go back to work. This spring break has been so nice. Dave took off and spent the week with Hudosn and me. We didn't do much, but it was so wonderful to just be together as a family all week. Tomorrow night, Dave and I are going to a special dinner for him. He's being honored through Columbia County for being such a great employee.


We think he's a great daddy too!

Raising Him Right!

Today I was reminded of another reason that I love being in Athens, GA. We stopped there for dinner on our way home from shopping in Commerce. We also stopped by the mall, and as we were leaving I put Hudson next to the bulldog statue to snap a quick picture. An older couple walked by and the gentleman said "That's right, Put that baby beside that bulldog. You're raising 'em right.". I snapped my pictures, and as were walking away another man walked by and made a similar statement. I love the fact that everyone in Athens is a Dawg fan.

Hudson was quite the Dawg fan today too. When I put his stroller beside the statue, he smiled the whole time. It was really cute. He already loves red and black, and he even got some cool GA shoes out of the shopping trip. I can't wait to take him back for his first game.

We got "THE LOOK"!

I've always thought that Moe's was a family friendly restaurant. You know, bright colors and lights, loud T.V.'s, close seating, and the servers even yell at you when you walk in the door. Well...I must be mistaken because tonight we got "the look" as we were dining at this fine establishment. Hudson was sitting in a high chair, "talking", and being a 7 month old. He wasn't crying, whining, or being annoying. I was talking to him and he was having a good ole time. He loves watching the fans on the ceiling. I noticed a woman standing in line kept looking at us. OK, she was down right staring. When she got right beside us while she was in line, Hudson let out a happy squeal. That's when it happened. First she looked at me, then Hudson, then me again...making eye contact and everything. Obviously it bothered her that I had my happy, sweet baby with me while my husband and I dined at MOES. I looked at Dave and he read my face. "Don't say anything, and don't worry about it", he told me. I really wanted to tell her that she might want to go somewhere else if she didn't want to be around kids but I was good. I bit my tongue and turned and ignored her. Then I got to thinking....what's going to happen when he does decide to really cut lose in public? Oh well....He's a picture of my BIG boy sporting his new Masters gear because every post is better with a picture. Isn't he growing? I can hardly stand it.

Easter and Fresh Faces Contest

We had a great first Easter as a family of 3. We traveled around all day, visiting our families. Hudson was such a trooper as always and was so good. Being off schedule is not easy, but he handles it so well. We were very proud of him. Here are a few pictures. The first two are at church. Hudson and Claire are really spoiled because my mom works in their nursery room at church. They got to ride around church in the double stroller and play in the FLC. There's also one of him getting into his Easter basket.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the votes for the Fresh Faces competition. Hudson came in second place out of 18 babies. He only lost by 16 votes and first and second place went back and forth for the last 3 days. I had no idea that this thing would be this big. Amber Herlocker is a friend of mine, so I entered Hudson in her contest to support her and her website. The first few days, we didn't really vote or solicit votes much, but when we saw how many votes Hudson was getting we decided to really put forth an effort to win. I know everyone got sick of seeing my post on facebook, and getting my texts, but it paid off, and Hudson won 2nd place. He gets a pretty sweet prize too. Hampton Duke won the contest and we wouldn't want to come in 2nd to anyone else. He's precious and his parents are friends of ours. We are happy he won.

This week has been so nice. I love Spring Break. I've been able to spend lots of time with Hudson and Dave since he's off too. It's been really low key and we are loving it. Hope you all are doing well. Thanks again for all of your support.

Here's one last picture of the three amigos on Easter. My mom with her babies!

First Easter Egg Hunt and First Tooth!

We have had such a fun weekend! On Saturday we went with our friends Erin, Jarvis, and Ila to their church Easter Egg Hunt and cookout. It was so much fun, and great to be outside in the beautiful weather. Hudson "hunted" eggs with his friend Ila (really he just tried to eat pine straw, leaves, and the grass from his basket). The babies had a great time. Dave and I really enjoyed it too. What a great family event! Thanks, Erin and Jarvis for inviting us.

For the past 3 months, Dave and I have suspected that Hudson may be teething. Well, finally he has his first tooth. Earlier in the week I thought I noticed that his gums on the bottom were more flat and looked a little whiter. I told my mom that I thought a tooth was coming through. Sure enough, as I was feeding him his baby food tonight I noticed that he's got one that's already popped through. He's such a good baby. He hasn't been fussy, sleepy, or ran a fever. I hope teething continues to be this easy for him!

7 months!

Another one bites the dust!

ANOTHER month has flown by and my little man turned 7 months yesterday.

He's had a MAJOR growth spurt this month. He's sitting up independently, eating all of the stage 2 fruits, veggies, and meats, loves to drink water from his sippy cup, holds his own cup/bottle, says "ma ma" and lots of other syllables and sounds, rolls all over the place, pulls himself (still not crawling unless you count the "army man crawl"), stands up holding onto couch/table/etc, holds his arms up when you open your hands to pick him up, gives the best bear hugs and open mouthed kisses, he's smiling all the time and has the cutest chuckle, and his legs have the most adorable rolls. He LOVES Claire and is so excited to see her every morning. They like to hold hands on their daily strolls around the neighborhood....so precious. Here are a few recent pictures and a few more from his 6 month photo shoot with Haley Lamb

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Dr. Donahoe Visit and Kidney Update

Hudson makes me proud everyday, but today I must say that I was super-duper proud of him. We went to CMCG for his checkup with Dr. Donahoe (ped. urologist) and for more tests on his kidney. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. It comforts us to know that Hudson is being lifted up in prayer.
His ultrasound went well, then we had to wait for Dr. D to review the images. He met with us, examined Hudson, and asked lots of questions. He said that the images show no change. This is good in the fact that his kidney function is stable. He's still refluxing urine, and the blockage is still in the ureter. Today was the first time that Dr. D was really optimistic about the possibility of Hudson NOT requiring surgery. It's a long shot, but he did say that it's possible. He could outgrow his reflux and the blockage could work itself out. SO...that's what we are praying for now...a small miracle so that Hudson may not have to have surgery. He was really pleased at how healthy Hudson is and how well he's growing. His kidney is growing really well too, and that's a blessing! After the meeting with Dr. D, they had to draw blood to test his kreatinin levels (to make sure his kidney is properly filtering out the toxins) and other things that I can't remember. (kreatinin levels are most important and critical at this point) As long as the levels are good, it buys us more time to wait. Waiting is what we need to do. We also have to wait for his bladder to grow. If he has to have surgery, his bladder needs to be bigger, so waiting gives it more time to grow. As long as his levels remain good, and his ultrasound images show no change for the worse, Dr. D will do another VCUG test on his kidney after he's one to find out how much/if he's still refluxing urine and if the blockage is still there. If so, he will have to have a ureter reimplantation. Anyways, back to the blood tests...Nurse Debbie (who LOVES Hudson) came in to take his blood. She hates doing it because it's always dramatic and he cries. Today, she stuck him, he furrowed his brow, then looked at her and chuckled. He laughed! It was so cute and sad at the same time. Is my baby so used to being stuck that it does not even bother him anymore? Nurse Debbie said that she has never had a patient young or old laugh at her when she drew their blood.
We were pleased with the news from today's visit, and still have not heard from Dr. D. If he doesn't call, that's good news...it means good levels from the blood tests. We go back to repeat the tests again in June. We are so thankful to have such a great Dr., and great nurses who love Hudson and want the best for him.
Dave and I say it to each other all time, but I must brag on my sweet boy, He's so good! He really is a good baby and I am so blessed to be his mom. He has the sweetest spirit and is ALWAYS happy. He rarely cries, and will make anyone smile. Here's a picture of him as we were leaving the hospital. He's saying "Hey, look at my Bugs Bunny band-aid I got from Nurse Debbie! I'm gonna eat it as soon as mommy isn't looking because I put everything in my mouth now." Thanks again for all of the prayers, encouragement, and calls about his appointment today.