Chunka Monka

Now to introduce my sweet baby boy, Dominic Joseph!  He is 3 months old (yes, they are only 15 months apart) and such a joy in my life!  He has a smile that melts my heart each and every time.  He is a bit of a Momma's boy, but I don't mind.  I just love how cuddly he can be!  He has the chubbiest most kissable cheeks, and I take advantage of that many times a day!  He is quite the chunk, at his 2  month visit he was in the 95 percentile, weighing 14lb 9oz.  I wouldn't be surprised if he is 16 lbs by now!  He is quite different from his sister who was/is pretty petite.  He loves Gianna, by the way!  He is really starting to watch everything she does and smiles at her all the time!  I look forward to watching them interact together as siblings.  It is already so amazing to watch their love for each other forming and growing!  They are going to be best friends!  I bet they get mixed up for twins some day.  He is going to catch her on weight, I think, and many people have commented on how much they look alike.

 shy grin

Cheeks!

Dominic has already been through the wringer in his short life.  Before he was born we were told that he had hydronephrosis (a dilated kidney).  We were hoping that it would correct itself by the time he was born, but it didn't.  When he was born they did an ultrasound and it showed that it was still dilated.  They did a test and determined that it wasn't reflux, or a valve problem (which were both good things).  We saw a pediatric urologist when he was one week old.  She told us that it was probably a blockage, but she wanted to do another test when he was 2 months old to determine the severity, but it was a good possibility that he would need surgery to fix the blockage.  It was heart wrenching for us to think about such a little baby, our baby, having to go through surgery.  The doctor told us to go home and enjoy our baby for 2 months and not to think about it.  This was a bit of a reassurance to us, as life for the week he was here had been chaotic and full of worry.

Over the two months before his test we kind of came to grips with the fact that he was probably going to need surgery.  It was really hard, but we knew that once this was fixed he would be okay and would be able to live normally.  I just wanted him to be healthy!  Even though we were accepting it, we were also praying really hard (and everyone we know was praying) for a miracle that he wouldn't need the surgery.

The day after he was born.

Two months past by and the day of his testing came.  It was not a fun experience, Dominic needed to get an iv put in his arm, they strapped him down and he screamed the whole time.  It was torture as a mother to not be able to pick him up and comfort him.  I held back the tears as I rubbed his head and whispered in his ear how much I love him.  Finally, they got the iv in (the 3rd try) and the test began.  Dominic was so worn out that he fell asleep during the actual test, which was a relief.  During the test, he laid under a machine that took pictures every 60 seconds, watching the fluid go through his body.  After the test and an ultrasound, we thought for sure he was going to need the surgery.  We could see how his left kidney was bigger than right and there was a lot of fluid in it.

Gianna meeting her little brother for the first time.

We went to see the urologist after the tests, we prepared ourselves to hear "he needs surgery."  She walked in the room and said "great news, there is no blockage, NO surgery!"  Our jaws dropped and we asked her to please explain because what we saw didn't look good.  She explained that they measure the rate at which the kidney empties.  The cut off for needing surgery is taking longer than 20 minutes.  Both of Dominic's kidneys drained in 9 minutes, which was normal!  For some reason his left is holding more fluid, so that is what we saw on the ultrasound.  It is holding more, but there is nothing blocking it from draining!  It was the miracle that we were praying for!  The doctor told us she wants him to have an ultrasound in 6 months to check on everything.

A recent pic.  He has gotten so big, and changed so much!

That was a lot of information, I know.  But, I feel like it is an important part of his life, thus far.  And shows why Dominic's life is such a added blessing to us!