Deiter Bruce

Introducing Deiter Bruce

We are all in love already. Even Henry, who is playing "piggies" with Deiter's toes here.

August 13, 2011

11:27 am

7 lbs. 3 ozs.

19 inches

Smitties

There seemed to be quite a bit going on this summer. Not much time for long camping trips, or any trips for that matter. So, when we needed a little reprieve, we often found ourselves at Nate's grandpa's place. A little bbq and throwing rocks in the river goes a long way with the kids. And spending the night there....well, you'd think they've gone to heaven.

One night we spent moving cows there, another weekend family reunion, and a couple odd picnics in between. It's always fun to go to Smitties.

Kayson & Ryker playing on the river bank. A truck + a pail + a shovel = hours of fun.
4-wheeler rides...wahoo
double wahoo with Uncle Darren
I love how Emma watches out for her littler cousins and siblings. so tender.
The rope swing means changing into and out of a swimming suit at least 4 times every day.
Aunt Sherrie's fudge is finger-lickin' good:)
Henry has a good arm. Look at how he pitched that rock.
Do you have to drive the tractor on Grandpa's head, Henry? Those two are quite the buddies.
Despite the wrinkles and puffy pregnant self, I like this picture. Cute kid. Handsome husband.
The cow herders on horseback.
Watching for the cows to come home.
I like this kid. And the lighting.

County Fair

This year the kids participated in the open class horse show at the county fair. They looked awesome decked out in their "cowboy clothes." And of course we couldn't leave Henry out.

Emma did lead line with the help of our fabulous friends. After a little incident on a horse that got spooked and ran away with Emma on it, so Nate had to pull her off, and tripped while he was doing that, and they both fell to the ground in the mud so that Emma was scared and crying but had to get back on a different horse anyway to compete in her class; Emma was brave and did very well, holding her reins correctly, and sat poised on her horse as Ashley led her around the arena.

Amelia placed third in her event of walk-trot where the kids go around the arena according to the instructions given by the judge. They walk, stop, reverse, trot, face the judge, etc. We were pretty proud of her.

Sam and Clay both did the trail course, but both broke the pattern, so did not qualify in that event. I suppose that if we consider that we had practiced for only a week, they all did stellar.

And they were all dang cute. The following day Sam ran the speed events, but forgot that he was trying to get a fast time, and kind of meandered through the courses a little. I think he could have been a little more aggressive...but that's Sam...more cautious than aggressive. And that's ok too.

Phew

What an emotional week. So many thoughts and feelings, petitions to the Lord, wondering, hoping, fearing...

We have been stretched this week. What a blessing that this phase of our journey has been so short lived.

Amelia had her MRI today. She did wonderful. Her hands were cold and sweaty as she got ready to go in. She was nervous, but took great comfort in everything she had been told about the ease of the procedure. I was disappointed that they ushered both of us back to the waiting room after indicating that one of us would be able to stay by her side during the procedure. That tore my heart out a little bit.

It was almost 2 hours later when Shari called to tell us the results of the scan, not the following week like we were planning.

Everything looked good. There were no abnormalities to speak of, and everything looked healthy. She does have BRE, and we will still monitor her for seizures, but we are back to the "best case scenario" that we were hoping for after the episode on Sunday afternoon.

YAY!!!!! What sweet relief. What a miracle. What an answer to so many prayers on Amelia's behalf.

I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us. He is mindful of us, and he wishes to test us, to stretch us, and help us realize our capacity. I would never ask to repeat this week again, but I would never ask for it to be taken away. It has been an amazing testament of the love of family, friends, and neighbors...and of our Heavenly Father.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, meals, and offers to help.

If I can sleep tonight, morning will come early with another miracle just waiting to happen.

{we'll get pictures up quickly, promise}

Not Quite What We Were Hoping...We Think

Shari called this morning. The EEG showed the typical signs of BRE...but only on one side of the brain. She's ordered an MRI to rule out any "structural abnormalities". She suggested we call back in a week to schedule that after preauthorization had been done. I called today. They worked things out for us...again, very accommodating. We will do the MRI Friday at 1:30 pm...then have a baby on Saturday at 7:00 am. I'm thinking that sounds a little restful at this point.

Beautiful Girl

I don't usually put my heart on a shelf for everyone to see. My posts generally deal with the day-to-day going ons of our family. I'm not sure I wanted to share these musings, but I feel compelled to. Maybe because we need your prayers. Maybe because I'm not as confident as I've just sounded here. Maybe just because...

This is what happened Sunday afternoon on a drive through the Uintas near Christmas Meadows.

I think it was one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever been through. It was short-lived, but profound, and potentially life-changing. We still don't know yet. We may have known last night, but for a few brief moments, I left my phone in the car and wasn't able to discuss results with Shari, the PA who met with us about Amelia's incident. Part of me is ok with that because it has given me one more night to think that maybe we are just dealing with a benign condition that she will outgrow.

It's funny because I had just been thinking how beautiful Amelia is. She radiates life, enthusiasm, joy for playing, and it all shines through her enormous blue eyes, framed in the most amazing eyelashes you could imagine. {and I am not being exaggerative in that statement...all the nurses and doctors have mentioned her eyelashes} And then she smiles her crooked teeth growing in smile, and it just makes me smile.

Then to see her drooling like an infant, swiping at her face with no control, gnawing on her tongue in an attempt to speak...was such a stark contrast to the thoughts I had been having just days earlier. There was no sparkle, only confusion. There was no smile, only a lopsided, goofy grin. It's no wonder that my mind instantly went to the worst case scenario...brain tumor. Why else would she behave that way? It wasn't like a seizure with shaking and loss of consciousness. She was trying to communicate most of the time, with no success.

It's no wonder Sam was totally freaking out..."There's something wrong with Amelia" over and over again.

It chokes me up again to think of it. Nate stopping the car immediately, Me jumping out of the car, pulling Clay from the car to get to Amelia....to get her standing up, to see if she would respond, to get her talking to us.

And what a tender mercy that the ER Doctor in Ogden would refuse to do tests that he knew would be inconclusive or unnecessary at that point in time. What a tender mercy that the ER Doctor in Ogden had a son with similar symptoms, and who was treated at Primary Children's. What a tender mercy that we were able to have an appointment Monday afternoon, and that they were willing to stay late for an EEG.

An EEG that would hopefully confirm to us that what Amelia has is nothing more serious than Benign Rolandic Epilepsy.

A little outside info....

{"Benign"

	is almost always outgrown and may not require treatment;
	is not due to any underlying structural brain problem;
	may frequently recur; but would only very, very rarely cause any harm; and
	is not detrimental to the child’s intelligence.

“Rolandic” refers to the area of the brain where these seizures typically start: the “rolandic” strip, which is also known as the “motor strip.”

“Epilepsy” simply refers to “recurrent seizures.”}

Benign Rolandic Epilepsy. That's what they seemed to think caused Amelia's little episode. The only inconsistency that they saw was the fact that she had not been sleeping for a long period of time, which is customary with episodes. But they were able to confidently look over that little detail and maintain this as the most likely cause. I prefer not to go with the what-if-its nots because there is a lot of hope in this direction. There is no surgery, chemotherapy, or loss of brain or motor function in a permanent sense. It will not last forever, it may not require treatment, and it may not ever happen again in the day-time.

I will maintain that hope...

And I will let you know when day breaks what I hear from Shari.