New Baby Brother - Caleb

I'm tired so I'll make this short.

Caleb William Crabtree was born today at 5:59AM. Caleb weights in at a whopping 7lb 10oz while sporting a height of 20 inches. The delivery was, yet again, another text-book delivery by Corie.

We successfully banked the cord-blood which will be stored for future use should Ian ever relapse and need a stem-cell/marrow transplant.

Ian (4) and Caleb

Emma (6) and Caleb

Lauryn (9) and Caleb

Ian, Emma, and Lauryn are all very excited for the new addition to the family. Ian thinks it's funny that the baby was born without wearing any clothes.

I'm going to get some rest and I'll post more later.

Apointment Aftermath

Ian is not feeling too great. The heavy chemo from Tuesday is hitting him plus they doubled the amount he has to take orally at home. On top of that, he is taking steroids so it is making him extra grumpy. Poor little guy. He has already taken a nap today and it isn't even lunchtime yet.

The effects will probably lessen in the next day or two but until then I have plenty of excuses to spoil him. I just hope I don't go into labor in the next week. It would be miserable for whoever gets to stay with him (not too late to back out Linda:)).

I have a feeling we will be playing lots of Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the next few days:)

Ian's Appointment Yesterday

Yesterday was an appointment for Ian. I haven't been sleeping well at all between random contractions and having to go to the bathroom every hour so thankfully Mike took Ian in so I could get an extra hour and a half of sleep. I got the girls on the bus and headed up to Children's Mercy after that.

They had just finished when I got there (which I am actually glad of. I have a really hard time being in there when they do the LP's). It's such a big needle. They have to give Ian the twilight drugs so he won't remember anything. It's pretty funny to see him come out of it; he's so loopy. I guess one of the Child life specialists had read him a book or something but he couldn't remember the end of it because of the medicine so he kept looking around for her so he could hear the end. Thankfully, Mike was there because he staggers when he walks after getting the medicine and there is no way I would have been able to carry him out to the car. We would have been waiting around for a while til it completely wore off.

His counts were really high again so we are back on full dose of medicine instead of it being cut in half like the last month. We also get to start steroids again so that will definitely bring some entertainment as he flip flops between Dr. Jeckyl to Mr. Hyde.

It is so hard to believe it has pretty much been a year now since Ian was diagnosed. It seems like it was forever ago yet at the same time it feels like just yesterday.

The next 2 years should continue on pretty much the same as it is now; a monthly appointment for vincristine, oral chemo at home, and then an LP every 3 months.

He is doing great and I am so grateful. Thank you for all your continued love and support.

Snow in March

I hope you don't mind if I start to include family blurbs on this blog isntead of just keeping it about Ian. I don't have the energy to keep up two sites.

I just about put away all of my kids gear last week when it was in the 70's thinking winter was done. I am glad I didn't. I am sure the snow will probably all be melted by this evening, but it isn't going to stop them from enjoying the last (hopefully) snowfall of this season. I think the look on their faces say it all.

Yet Another Miracle

I have been constantly humbled during this past year at the many miracles that have happened in our life since Ian's diagnosis. While it has been the hardest, most stressful trial that I have ever had to go through, at the same time there have been some of the best moments as well. I have never seen prayers answered so quickly and obviously. I have felt the hand of the Lord in our life more than I ever have to lift and give me the strength that I needed to get through. I have been touched at the many outpourings of love and service on our behalf not only by friends and family, but perfect strangers as well.

The stroke Ian had that caused him to be paralyzed on his left side, has no lasting damage much to the disbelief of the doctors and Physical Therapist.

We have had a fairly sick free winter. Every year it seems that someone has been hit with something every other week. This winter, it has been significantly less and despite Ian's lowered immune system, he amazingly hasn't picked any of it up. That is a huge miracle in and of itself.

The latest miracle has to do with Ian and the new baby. One of Mike's co-workers casually asked if we were going to have the cord blood banked in case Ian needed the stem cells. We hadn't thought of it at that point but I immediately began to look into it. The benefits of stem cells are amazing and I couldn't believe that neither Ian's doctor nor mine had suggested it. It is a pricey thing to do; over $2000 just for the initial costs, and then $125 a year to keep it stored. That may not seem like a lot to some of you, but to us, who already have enough money owed to the hospital that once it's paid off we could own a wing of it, it is.

I really felt that we needed to do it anyway in case Ian relapses. They would use these before attempting a bone marrow transplant which would be so much simpler for everyone. I was casually chatting with a mom that I know from the Hemoc clinic online one night. I don't know why I even mentioned it; I don't think we were even on the subject, but I told her I was going to get the baby's cord blood banked. She told me that if you go through Viacord and you have a sibling that is need of it, they will bank it for free. Of course that is something that they don't advertise anywhere so I never would have known had she not told me.

I called the next day and asked about it, and sure enough, if you have one of the sicknesses on their list (there were lots of cancers, sickle cell anemia, etc) then you qualify. They sent a form to Ian's doctor and I got the kit I need to take to the hospital with us about a week later.

To many of you, it may not seem like that big of a miracle. But to us, it is. It is such an added blessing to have that extra peace of mind. I hope and pray we will never need it, but if we do, I won't be kicking myself for not having done it.

My Sniper

One thing that I don't like about our house is that my bathroom doors do not lock. This is a simple remedy, yet I have never gotten around to changing the knobs. If I had though, I wouldn't have this story for you.

Ian usually sits in my bedroom and watches t.v. while I take a shower because he doesn't like to be downstairs alone. I shut the bathroom doors, and very seldomly does he come in.

On this particular day, I had just gotten out when I heard the door open. I turned around expecting to see Ian but all I saw was the door cracked ever so slightly. I continued on drying off and starting to get dressed when all of a sudden I hear the familiar whoosh sound from his nerf dart gun. Before it could register, I felt a thud on my back followed by a 4 year old who was laughing so hard, he could barely breathe. It was an amazing shot and a hard one to make at that. Those suction cup darts typically do not stick to skin but mine must have stuck because of the water or something. It was completely hilarious. He tried to shoot me repeatedly after that hoping for the same effect, but it was all to no avail. That first shot was one of a kind.

My Swimmer

For nearly a year now, it has been just Ian and me at home. He hasn't gone to preschool, he wasn't signed up for anything extracurricular, and for several months, he was completely quarantined and couldn't have any play dates. Now that his counts are better, I recently signed him up for swimming lessons. I figured it would be a good activity for him since it is in chlorinated water and therefore, hopefully low on germs. He has LOVED it. He woke up first thing this morning and before I even knew he awake, his swimming shorts and rash guard (he won't swim without one) were on as wll as diving torpedos in hand. It is an impossible task to try to explain to a 4 year old that we still have to wait 2 hours until it is time to go but I did my best. The only distraction he had from asking me if it was time to leave yet, was a search for his googles which unfortunately he found in about 3 minutes ( I thought it would take him longer since he hasn't seen them since last summer).

When we arrived, his grin was spread from ear to ear as we placed his shoes and towel in a locker and he waited for his teacher to come and get him.

There is a waiting area where the moms can sit that is on the other side of the pool, but the pool is encased in glass so we are able to see the whole time. Every move, every skill, every jump, was followed by Ian looking out to see if I saw it and an occasional wave or a thumbs up from both myself and him.

It was such a wonderful sight; to see him so full of energy, so full of color, so full of life. No one else there has any idea of what we have been through the last year. He is doing great and looks like a healthy, normal, four year old and I am so grateful.

I had a few bittersweet moments as I sat there thinking about how our lives are going to shortly change in the next 6 weeks. I will no longer be able to give 100% of my attention to him during the day as I have been. I have really bonded with him through this whole experience and enjoyed the time we've had with just the two of us. At the same time, I couldn't help but to be excited about the new baby and how great of a big brother he is going to be. Then I started to realize that I am probably the only person who sits there and gets emotional over a swimming lesson (gotta love the pregnancy hormones.)