One of my trials in life...

So I've decided having sick kids is one of my trials in this life. THANKFULLY nothing tragic has happened yet. Lindsay (5) has been my healthiest child. She had 4 ear infections as a baby (not too bad), then she had a couple last year. She gets hayfever (I can handle that) and sneezes about 30 times every morning. She walks on her toes pretty much constantly, so if you're ever around us and I say, "Lindsay, flat" I'm just telling her to walk flat. We might eventually have to go to a physical therapist because she's probably ruining her Achilles Tendon, but she makes a great ballerina!

Gavin (2) has been kind of a mess. He had 7 ear infections before he was 1, so they put tubes in his ears and he's had 5 since. At least I always know when he has an ear infection because the tubes drain the fluid out. He also had thrush and acid reflux as a baby (both of which I can handle) and has Excema (he gets that from Dan). But it's nothing a little vaseline won't clear up. Gavin's biggest problem is that he get's colds and coughs VERY easily and has now had Croup 3 times. I am grateful we caught it early this last time. It has cleared up pretty fast.

Zane (4) experienced pretty much a little of everything as a baby. Everything they say your newborn can get, he got. Thrush, cradle cap, his belly button got infected, acid reflux, Excema, and 4 ear infections. He got tubes put in at 6 months old and an ear infection a few weeks after they were put in. Last year his eardrum burst! Recently, I've been noticing some symptoms in Zane that got me a little worried. He's been potty trained for well over a year now but is still wearing Pull-ups at night. The frusterating part is that he wakes up in the morning and his Pull-up is soaked (a lot of the time he soaks through!). It doesn't matter how many times we make him go to the bathroom before bed. The past couple of months, he's been wetting his pants. He drinks A LOT more than my other two kids. At mealtime he mostly just wants to drink, not eat. This kid would rather lay on the couch and watch a movie, than play outside with friends. I've noticed he complains about being tired A LOT lately too (even though he gets 12 hours of sleep). So I've been thinking, "ok, it's just his personality. It's summer, so he's hot and drinking more, blah, blah, blah!" Well he's also had a sore on his pinky for about 4 months that won't heal. I took him to the doctor and they put him on an Antibiotic, but it sill didn't clear it up. He's been on 3 different ones now. Still there.

This past weekend, I was thinking more about the symptoms of Diabetes and what Zane has been dealing with lately and it hit me pretty hard that I needed to have him tested. Once Dan and I made the decision on Sunday night, I had a hard time sleeping. Then Monday morning, I got up early and got ready for the day so I could take him in early to find out. I couldn't stand waiting much longer. I was sick to my stomach. I was able to get an appointment for 9:00 am. Zane was not happy when we woke him up to go. Dan was flying out to San Francisco for work at 11:00, so our neighbors (Thanks Adrienne and Justin) watched Lindsay and Gavin. I didn't want to have to chase Gavin around while trying to hold Zane down to prick his finger. Well, the test showed his glucose levels were normal! PHEW!!! But the doctor still wanted a urine sample to see if there's something else going on. The test showed he has blood in his urine. Great! NOT! The doctor is treating it like a Urinary Tract Infection for now. They put him on a new Antibiotic that should heal his pinky and the UTI if that's what it is. In the mean time, they are sending the sample to a lab to be cultured. They should be calling me by Thursday with results. If it is a UTI we just finish out the medication and have him checked again to make sure it was cleared up. If the test comes back negative for a UTI, we need to see a Urologist for more testing. I asked the doctor what else it could be and he didn't want to scare me so he didn't go into too much detail, but it could be problems with the kidneys or a tumor (YES, a TUMOR) on his kidneys, kidney stones (which he's really young to have) or it could be nothing wrong. So for now, I'm praying it's a UTI and that my luck with sick kids is not about to get worse. I can't even tell you how many times I've been to the doctor's office in the past year. However, I'm grateful that everything we've had to deal with, we've been able to fix and that we have insurance. Now, that is a BLESSING!