Good Times

1998 ~ 10 year class reunion, November 22, 2008.

Sid and I with one of my 8th grade boyfriends, Skipper Brown, and his wife Karley.

This weekend Sid and I attended my 10 year high school reunion. After months of planning the reunion with several of my classmates, it finally all came together! It was great seeing some of my classmates that I haven't seen in 10 years! Many still looked the same, while others had changed dramatically!

Our D.J. was awesome, bearing lottery tickets as prizes for the categories game. Sid and I happened to win 2 categories! We have been married the longest (6 1/2 years) and we have the most children! These are not exactly what I thought my winning categories would be as I graduated 10 years ago, but I am proud of these accomplishments.

Sid was especially excited to meet several of my past boyfriends! While adorning my picture on his name tag, Sid was approached by two of my eighth grade boyfriends. Wow, talk about awkward...especially since Sid works with one of them at the hospital and neither of them knew they had me as a connection!

We thoroughly enjoyed our child-free evening at the reunion. At this point, our ideal child-free evening would be getting in bed by 9:00 and sleeping in until 8:00! This MAY happen in about 18 years! As for my parents, AKA the babysitters, they were glad to offer their services. Next time they would prefer their hot water heater was working! They had to bring the kids to our house so they could all have a warm bath. In addition, they would probably prefer the kids' bedtime to be before we left for the evening! Watching the three of them is not an easy task!

As for mom, her visit to Emory on Wednesday went well. She will begin her breathing treatments again soon. She has been instructed to begin slowly and work her way back up to a comfortable dosage. Although the doctors do no think this is the solution to mom's problems, this is what she will need to do until science has more to offer. The pains in her arms and chest are just occurrences due to pulmonary hypertension. They have also prescribed an inhaler to assist in her breathing. She will go back again next month for a follow up.

Dayna, Brad, and Lilly Anne were discharged from the hospital on Thursday. On Friday Lilly Anne went to the doctor for a checkup only to find out that her bilirubin was elevated. She had a bili bed in front of the window for the weekend. This allowed her to microwave enough to lower her levels dramatically. With a little supplementing of formula mixed with some breast milk, she is well on her way to sleeping in her own bed (rather than the bili bed.)

As many already know, I love teaching. The love for kids and teaching them skills for life runs in our family. Today I was nominated for teacher of the year along with 2 other teachers. This is a great honor. This is only my 3rd year at Fair Street, 7th year of teaching, and to know others are aware of my love for the children at our school humbles me. Although I was not ultimately chosen as our teacher of the year, I feel as though I am one step closer to my personal goal. Sharing my love for teaching through my actions toward the students as well as my coworkers is truly my calling. One day I hope to follow in my mother's footsteps, becoming teacher of the year for my school and possibly for the entire system. My mom has always been an inspiration. I have big shoes to fill and many footsteps to catch up with, but I look forward to the day I can walk along with my mom. She is an amazing woman!

I received a letter from my endocrinologist, only to find out that my Prolacin levels (lactating when I am no longer nursing) are still elevated! I am instructed to continue taking the medications I have been taking for a month and a half. No other test results have been presented, therefore either of two things could have happened. One, she may not have had the blood run for anything other than my prolactin levels, or she has not had the time to look at the other results in order to let me know what to continue or discontinue. I see a second opinion in my near future!

For Thanksgiving our family will be at Stone Mountain. We are taking our camper and meeting up with mom and dad, grandpa Bob and grandma Lil, Uncle Donn and Aunt Jenny and their 4 kids. Mom and dad left on Sunday and took Lainey Bug along! When the babysitters leave, you have no choice but to send the baby with them! I am not sure dad was prepared for the amount of things I packed for Lainey, but he grinned and loaded them up! It is amazing how the smallest person in the house requires the most stuff! We love camping and this will give Sid and I some much needed rest from our everyday hustle and bustle. The kids think the "Big Mountain" is awesome and have been ready to go since we mentioned it last week. On Thursday, Dayna, Brad, and Lilly Anne will join us for our Thanksgiving meal at our campsite. Mom and dad will be leaving Stone Mountain on Friday to go to Athens for the UGA vs. Georgia Tech game!

This year we have so much to be Thankful for. We are thankful for all of our friends, family, and people who follow our story with loving hearts and prayerful minds. We are thankful for our health. We are thankful for our two amazing little boys! We are thankful for the arrival of our little girl and to have her in our lives and our hearts. We are thankful for the numerous nurses and doctors that took care of Lainey in her most critical times. We are continuously thankful for the doctors who take care of Lainey on a regular basis. We are thankful for an overall healthy year for mom and dad. We are thankful to have parents that are able to care for our baby while we work and attend school. We are thankful for the safe arrival of many new babies in our lives, especially Lilly Anne! We are thankful for stability in our jobs and the ability to make it through the financially difficult time in our lives and in the country. Most of all we are Thankful to have God in our lives, for He is the reason we have everything else to be thankful for! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Love Always,

The Smithsons

When it rains, it pours....and we are in a monsoon!

Liam tailgating at the Georgia game.

The Smithsons definitely love each other, but we have been spreading more than love! Liam had a fever of 101.4 on Sunday night, leaving us no choice but to resort to our emergency plans on Monday morning....Gigi and Papa! Thankfully they were able to watch him while Sid was at school and I was at work. How it breaks my heart to go to work instead of taking care of my children when they are sick! In all efforts to save my sick leave for a "rainy" day, I had no choice but to leave him at mom and dad's house. Fortunately we had previously scheduled an appointment with Liam's ENT that was conveniently scheduled for 3:30 on Monday! This appointment was scheduled to discuss and determine Liam's need for the removal of his tonsils. With one AHHHHHH, Dr. Stewart confirmed Liam's second case of tonsillitis in a month. He had just completed his 10 day round of antibiotics for bronchitis! We have scheduled to have his tonsils removed, a bilateral earwax removal, removal of his adenoids (which were removed last December, but are growing back in the form of scar tissue), and to place new ear tubes (this will be the third pair!) His surgery is on Wednesday, October 15th at 6:00 a.m. Hopefully this will be the answer! Dr. Stewart thinks this should solve his problems with constant ear infections, respiratory infections, and throat infections, as well as improving his speech, snoring, and constant drooling. If only it would help with Liam's anger management!

Lainey at the Georgia game!

Wednesday is also a big day for Lainey! She will be receiving the first of eight Synagis shots for the prevention of serious illness related to RSV. The home health care nurse will come to mom and dad's house to bring a digital scale and administer her Synagis shot. Two days before each shot we will call the suppliers of Synagis to report her weight. Knowing her exact wight is vital in determining the correct dosage of Synagis. Each shot costs $2300! The doctor wanted these shots to begin in September and last through April. Obviously the insurance company didn't agree with the doctor, thus the reason for beginning a month later! After an appeal from the distributors of Synagis, the insurance company agreed to continue Lainey's monthly shots through April 14th.

The sick Logan James!

Last night Logan went with Gigi and Papa in the "big bus" to begin tailgating at "the Georgia." Around 10:30 mom called to report that Logan was complaining of a headache, had a fever, and was throwing up! At least he made it to the toilet when he felt sick! This happened to be exactly two weeks from his confirmed case of strep throat, and just four days from the completion of antibiotics! Now we are hoping Liam does not get this stomach bug which could possibly postpone his surgery. Although Logan is feeling a little better, he is still feverish as I type!

"Oh really?"

Wednesday evening when I finally got around to opening the mail, I found a packed envelope from the endocrinologist. I had blood work drawn two weeks ago and an MRI brain scan one week ago, with no call from her. It was then when I understood why she had not called me with my results! She mailed fifteen pages of test results and prescriptions. With the 3 tubes of my blood they found several things. My red blood count, hemoglobin, hemocrit, and Ferritin was low. It was determined that I am anemic, therefore I am now taking iron supplements daily. It was also determined that my vitamin D levels were low. Once a week I take 50,000 units of vitamin D. My serum prolactin level was high, so I am now taking medication twice a week to lower these levels. Neither the doctor nor I know what has caused these level to be higher than normal, therefore I will have it checked regularly. My estrogen level was also extremely low. For a female of my age, the reference range is 19 - 528 (and should be at the higher end). The test showed my estrogen level to be 7, that of a postmenopausal female with no treatment. This low estrogen level may be related to the elevated prolactin level and will be monitored through blood tests. Last, but not least, my kidney function was low. Tests on my kidney function will be performed regularly to rule out chronic kidney disease. The other tests were normal, including the MRI brain scan. I was worried they might not find a brain!

Lainey and Uncle Brad hanging out in Gigi and Papa's motor home.

On Monday Lainey will go see Dr. Caplan for her monthly visit. Maybe she will weigh 13 and one half pounds...this is my goal! She has been eating rice cereal daily, which has helped lower the number of poopy diapers we change per day! Mom and dad will watch the boys since they are out of school on Monday for Columbus Day, while my friend, Jenn, Lainey, and I go to the CF Center. I will try to report about Lainey's doctor visit and Liam's surgery on Wednesday.

Thanks again for all of your prayers! Hopefully we will get a break with illnesses, for the sake of our health and wallet! In addition to the amount we are spending on numerous doctor visits, we were just informed by Liam's daycare that the fees are increasing. We will pay an additional $40 per week beginning in November. This will bring the total to $525 per month, not including his lunch and snacks! We are thankful that mom and dad are able to watch Lainey! Daycare for the two of them would cost roughly $1100 per month. Due to this increase, Sid will be picking up a few hours on Monday and Tuesday after school. It makes it harder on all of us when Sid has to work more hours, but we just thank God that we have that as an option when times get rough! Although it is hard to see at times, God really is Good! Continue praying for us ~ especially for Liam during his surgery on Wednesday and Lainey with the beginning of her Synagis shots.

Much Love,

The Smithsons