Update 12/19/07

What an eventful month it has been for our family!!

Nate and Gwen flew to Utah for the Thanksgiving weekend to attend the funeral of Nate's great grandfather. They left Thanksgiving morning (at 3:00 AM because they were leaving from Omaha) and returned home on Sunday night. They day after they left I was changing Beckham's diaper and noticed blood (Beckham had also been acting really fussy which is very unlike him). I called Beck's nurse and the transplant team in Iowa City and they all thought that it would be best to go to the ER. This of course had to happen the one weekend that Nate is away from me and to make matters worse I could not get a hold of him to tell him that Beck was in the hospital. Thanks to my good friends here in Iowa I was not alone long. If you are reading this, A GREAT BIG THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU to Erica and Courtney. Thank you also to Bret and Wade who came to the ER to give Beckham a blessing. I cannot express what great friends we have here in Iowa whether they be from our church, work or school. It makes being away from our families so much easier.

It could not be determined in the ER what was wrong with Beckham so the doctors decided to keep him over night and run a whole bunch of tests. This meant a lot of needle pokes...and for you with heart babies you can understand what I mean by "a lot of pokes" because it is very hard to find a vein in them. Each test was coming back negative which was good and bad (good because he did not have some illness and bad because we still did not know what was wrong with him). The doctors also thought that Beck might be lactose or soy intolerant, and since I am his source of food they put me on a no-dairy and no-soy diet. Let me tell you how hard that is. I never realized how many things have dairy and soy in them. I did not notice much of a difference in his stools or in his behavior with the elimination of soy and dairy.
We were released the next day with still no answers to what was wrong but we were still waiting for the results of a couple more tests. A couple days later the results of a CMV (Cytomegalovirus) test came back positive. It was explained to me that almost everyone has CMV during their life but if will show up as a sore throat or something very mild. In an immuno suppressed individual it effects them more seriously. It apparently has effected Beckham's GI tract. He is on a high dose of an antibiotic. This antibiotic can cause babies to become neutropenic (low white blood cells) and he has to have blood work done often to make sure that this does not happen. The only symptom that we have notice is that is gives him horrible diarrea. This makes his already bad diaper rash even worse. I hate changing his diapers because he screams out in so much pain. We have used so many diaper rash creams (over the counter and even behind the counter) and cannot seem to find anything that is a permanent fix. Ilex and Calmoseptine are not even working. Any suggestions? I think that we have tried almost everything. Beck is being such a trooper through the whole thing. He will have to take this med for at least 3 months. He has also recently developed a rash that has covered his whole body. The thought is that it is Eczema. I got some cream for his skin yesterday and I am waiting to see it this works.

We just celebrated Beck's 4 month birthday. He is making huge milestone. He is rolling over and batting at toys and he laughs and coo's non-stop. He has recently found his feet and is always holding at least one. He is doing well for all that he has been through. A physical therapist saw him recently and said that she is so surprised that he is not farther behind. Yesterday he was put on all formula because the doctor still thinks that he might be lactose or soy intolerant. Beck is not thrilled about the change from breast milk to formula but he is doing great. I would not be thrilled either because the new formula smells like old cheese and stale crackers (no lying!). Gwen has also hit a milestone. I can now get a small ponytail in her hair. Those with bald little girls can understand what an exciting thing this is for a mother. Nate and me are also doing great and hitting our own personal milestones. Nate recently finished his semester in school. This has been one of his hardest. He has almost a month off until he starts again. I have also reached a milestone. I think that I have come to the realization that I am not going to be able to relax....which I have also come to realize is just fine. I am always scared that Beck is going to get sick and I can't relax about it and I always seem to freak out every time that Beck gets sick. I know that he will get sick a lot and I know that he will make it through it....but I am the mother and I am entitled to freaking out about it!

We are very excited to leave behind 2007 and move onto 2008. We had such an "eventful" year (to say the least) and we are excited to move forward. We have been so richly blessed this year ands we have so much to be thankful for during this holiday season. We cannot possible thank everyone enough for all that they have done for our little family.

Here's to a very merry Christmas and happy 2008!!! We hope that you enjoy the below video clip of Beck.

Much love,
Kim, Nate, Gwen and Beckham