Good news and not-quite-as-good news

The good news first - Luke is officially thriving.

Doesn't he just look bigger?

He seemed heavier the past few days, so I weighed him on our scale here at home, and he was up a pound. A whole pound! Praise God. It had to be all the prayers. And the pancakes ;)

I even doubted the scale, so I weighed a 5-pound bag of sugar on it, as well as on our regular scale, and everything checked out. And he weighed the same again today.

And, for the record, that weight is 17 lbs 7.5 ounces. Go Luke!

The not-as-awesome news, but still not necessarily bad news (or at least that's what I'm trying to tell myself), is that we finally got his lab results back today and his kidneys are immature. I'm not going to get too specific here because I don't understand it all and don't know the correct terminology, but it basically means he's not processing CO2 the right way. His pediatrician assures us that babies typically outgrow this by age two, but in the meantime he will have to take a medication four times a day. The medication isn't treating the problem, but replacing what he's losing (the carbon dioxide, I guess?). And it will help him to grow more efficiently.

That made me realize what a blessing it was that I did bring him in for his check-up when we did, and that he hadn't gained anything yet. If he had gained, his kidneys still would've been immature, it just wouldn't have been discovered because there would have been no red flag. I wonder how many other babies have this problem and it goes undiagnosed.

I asked what happens if this isn't detected in babies (as I'm assuming it usually isn't), or what if I had brought him in today instead of two weeks ago and his weight looked fine? She said he just wouldn't grow as much and he'd be smaller his whole life.

So this isn't a huge, terrible problem. He'll outgrow it and have no lasting effects, and thanks to the medication, he'll be the size he was meant to be (I can't help but keep thinking about how his father can't wait for him to play football!).

We are so, so, so blessed that there isn't anything more serious wrong with him. From what I've read, even the most serious cases (when it is not outgrown) simply require the use of medication to keep it under control. Thank God.

But, as a mother, hearing that there is any problem is still scary. This was "worst-case scenario" going in, and that's what he has. Hearing your child has a "kidney problem" just doesn't sound great.

To be honest, though, I was completely relaxed after talking to the doctor. I have to remember that, since anxiety can build when your mind has time to wander. And google.

Actually, googling helped to relax me a little since I found something that talked about all the ways the blood test can provide a false reading. And guess what it said could cause those false readings? Heel or finger sticks - which he had! And a small amount of blood being taken. He had that too!

I'm going to call the doctor to ask about that, but she said the medication can't hurt him at all even if, worst case scenario, he didn't need it. But still... not having to give him something four times a day until he's two would be nice. So would knowing nothing is wrong with him.

Really, though, nothing is wrong with him. I have to remind myself that. He's healthy and just has a little issue that is not uncommon and, if left untreated, would just make him end up a little smaller than he should be. But he won't, because the medication will help him grow. Thanks be to God that's all we're dealing with.

And, really, look at the size of this kid's head. He's not lacking in that department...

Sorry this was kind of stream-of-consciousness. I'm still processing it all.

Well, Luke's starting to play with a cord and Clara is crying in her crib. Time to go!