Another Update

For all those who have been checking my blog everyday to see how Mackenzie is, here is your newest update.

The wonderful thing is that it is not the worst we thought. She does not have leukemia or lupus.

The doctor said more would be weird on her blood test if that were the case.

The doctor also doesn't think she has any vitamin deficiency, so he says that isn't it (which I have my doubts about, but whatever).

The doctor said from the information he has right now, she has neutropenia, which basically means she has a low neutrophil count.

He wants to do blood work one more time and then we will have a good pattern to see what her body is doing.

Once we get that, if the numbers stay low, we will be going to a pediatric hematologist to see why they are low and to see if there is anything we can do to fix it.

There are 3 types of neutropenia...

1. It just stays low all the time and if Mackenzie catches something she will have to go to the hospital and/or be put on antibiotics even if it is just a cold.

2. It stays low until she gets sick and then her neutrophil levels just up to protect her until whatever sickness she has is gone and then they drop back down (which if she has to deal with the the rest of her life...we hope it will be this kind)

3. One week her numbers are low and the next they are high...they just form a pattern of high and low and we pray that if she catches something it is when her nuetrophils are at the high point.

So I want to thank you for all of your prayers and I know that has helped us to get through this little speed bump.

I am now in NC visiting my family and we are having a great time. Sorry honey that I had to leave you behind, but you have to work to support my habits! JK. I hope everything is going great back in CO!

If you want to see me while I am here (*Hailey*) and you don't have my new number, just call me at my parents house...they are in the phone book!

Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers! We love you guys!

I will let you know more as we get more info!

Update from the Doctor

If you read my last blog you noticed that Mackenzie had some blood work done to see why she isn't gaining weight.

Well last night her pediatrician called me to give me the results.

They were not what we wanted to hear.

Out of all the tests he ran (I don't know how many), 2 came back irregular.

First, her pH (acid-base) levels were low. Normally they are between 22-24 and her's was at 15.

Second, her neutrophil (white blood cell) count was EXTREMELY low. Normally that should be between 2000-4000. If it gets below 1500 they begin to get worried. Mackenzie's count was at 240. That is way way way low. The first thing I thought when the doctor told me this was cancer. I know that cancer has to do with the white blood cells.

After we got the news, told our parents, and calmed down a little, I did some research on the computer.

I found out it could be anything from having a folic acid or vitamin B12 deficiency to leukemia or lupus.

The doctor also told me that he wants to redraw blood on Monday and test again because it could be that the blood wasn't handled properly, the tourniquet was on Mackenzie's arm too long(which definetely could be explained because they had a really hard time getting her blood to flow into the tube), they could have waited too long to test it, etc. There are many things that could have gone wrong the first time.

The positive thing is that she has been healthy, except for acute bronchitis a few months ago. Mackenzie is developing wonderfully. She is talking up a storm, crawling and climbing on everything she possibly can, walking along furniture and she is even learning to balance if we let go of her.

Because of all this we are thinking positively.

I am praying that it is either a mistake or that it is just a vitamin deficiency.

We are going back to the doctor on Monday and then should hear something hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday.

I will keep you updated.

All I ask is that if you read this please keep us in your prayers, and ask your friends too as well.

I know that no matter what it is, we will be ok. We just need all the support and love we can right now, especially if there is something wrong.

Our past week or 2

Mackenzie and I went for a walk a few days ago, and it was a really, really long walk. We went to see how long the walk would take to get to a park. The walk was straight up hill and I was exhausted by the end. We sat at the park and played in the grass for a while, while I caught my breathe for the walk home. Mackenzie loves being outside so this was a great trip for her.

Adam, Mackenzie, and I also went to a church activity up in the mountains. It was only an hour away. Anyone who wanted to go...there was a camping trip in a state park. We just went up for breakfast because they were cooking lots of fun stuff. Also, since we are new in the area we are really trying to meet and make new friends. We had a lot of fun and Mackenzie did also. I really wish I would have gotten pictures, but there were all these little toddlers who thought she was so cute. They were patting her head and all fighting for her attention. Mackenzie loved it.

We also finally got Mackenzie a new carseat so she can sit up. She likes it so much more than her infant seat.

Lastly, we went to the doctor yesterday for Mackenzie's 9 month appointment. We are leaving to go to North Carolina on June 30, so we needed her appointment to be a little early.

Her 9 month stats are:

Height- 28 1/4 inches (70%)

Weight- 15 lbs 15 oz. (5%)

We really like her new doctor. He seems really nice and knowledgeable. I told him that I was concerned about her weight, considering she isn't gaining any. She has weighed the same for basically 2 months.

So I felt like a horrible mother, but we did some blood work to see if anything weird is going on in her little body. They poked both her arms to try to get enough blood to test. I cried when I left because I felt so bad. She screamed and cried and kicked the whole time. We should find out if there is anything going on by Monday.

That is really all that is going on with us right now. Adam is loving his job and I love being able to stay at home with Mackenzie.

A day with Mackenzie

I got this idea from a friends blog (thanks Cassie). I thought I would follow Mackenzie around for a day with my NEW camera. (We are pretty sure that when someone came to look at our apartment in Utah that someone swiped my camera, since I always left it out so I could take quick pictures.)

We wake up about 6:30 ready to play. Mackenzie is so excited when Mommy opens to door.

Then it is time for breakfast! Oatmeal is soooo tasty.

After breakfast Mommy is trying to clean up breakfast so Mackenzie goes straight for her toys and is so excited to stare at Playhouse Disney for a while (We love Mickey Mouse and Pooh and Tigger).

Now it is time to take her toys out of the box and chew on them!

Mommy, what are you doing? Are you taking my picture?

I see that camera in your hand...GIVE IT TO ME! (Yes, we are both in our PJs)

Now we have both gotten dressed and ready for the day and it is REALLY time to play. So she tries to knock over her box of toys until Mommy goes and actually dumps it out. She loves crawling in the box and getting EVERYTHING out.


Oh wait...Playhouse Disney is still on.... MICKEY!!!!!

The blinds are probably the coolest thing EVER.

Now we move to her room. I have been working very slowly trying to get her room exactly like I want it. It takes a while because when I put something up, it usually ends up on the floor about 2 minutes later.

Mom, why did you put these socks up when you knew I wanted to eat them!

Oh books! I want to read these too.


Yeah, I turn all the pages so I can read the whole book.

Pictures!!!

Yes, I know many of you have been bugging me to death (Mom) to put up pictures of little Mackenzie....well here you have it!

Adam took some fun pictures on BYU campus before we left Utah.

Things are good here in Denver still. Adam is still loving his job, we love our apartment, ward, city, etc. It is really easy to get arond everywhere we want to go! We are still trying to move in, and with an 8 month old who is into EVERYTHING and putting everything she finds on the floor in her mouth it has taken a little longer than I would like. But here she is...

Denver

We finally got here and really like our apartment. It is really big and there is actually room for everything!

We packed everything up and checked out of our apartment on Thursday night. We spent the night at Joe and Tina's house. Ryan and Ali spent the night too because they were going to come with us. Ryan was going to drive his truck, while Ali was going to ride with me to entertain Mackenzie on the 8 hour trip.

Well, when I went to wake up Ryan and Ali at 3:30 AM (we wanted Mackenzie to sleep most of the trip), Ali was in the bathroom throwing up. Well there went our plans. I felt so bad for her, luckily she wasn't sick for too long, but she did end up staying in Provo. Well, Ryan ended up riding with me and we got him a VERY cheap one way ticket back to Salt Lake.

He came to help us move everything in since we had a LOT of heavy things. THANKS RYAN!!!!

We went riding around the area and we are trying to get acclimated to the area. It is a REALLY big place, so it will take a while, but we will get used to it. I will put pictures up as soon as I take some. We are doing just fine, Adam started his job today, so I will update you on that later.

We are loving the area so far!! YAY...it will be nice when we finally get completely moved in.

I AM BACK!

I still haven't found my camera, so I have no pictures, but I just thought I would say hello from Denver.

We just got internet today, and I am so excited I am connected to the world again.

My little Kenzie is now 8 months old and into EVERYTHING!

Her stats:
Height-27 1/2 inches (75 percentile)
Weight- 15 lbs. 15 oz. (10 percentile)

She is SOOOO little. She really doesn't look that skinny, but she is definitely light when you pick her up. She is crawling all over the place. She is walking when she holds on to anything. She still has NO teeth. I think she is teething, but at this point I have no idea. I "thought" she was teething a few times now, but she has no teeth, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Mackenzie is talking constantly saying:
ba, da, ma, ya, na, ga
she blows raspberries and bubbles
she also loves gurgling.

She loves to laugh when we tickle her or do silly things to entertain her.

She still isn't sleeping very well. If she wakes up less than twice a night it is a GREAT night. (yes we have tried everything)

She feeds herself, but would much rather haveme feed her with a spoon.

She pulls herself up on furniture and can now also sit down gently without falling.

She loves to help mommy, by "helping" I mean she likes to dump everything out so mommy can clean things and put them back where they belong.

I can't think of anything else right now, but if I do, I will blog about it.

I forgot to put the picture up before

This is my precious little girl as we are trying to get ready for bed. She had a nice bath and was all lotioned up. I put on her diaper with a little baby powder and turned to get her PJs. She has learned to undo he diaper, so when I turned she grabbed that diaper and threw it over her head. All the baby powder went everywhere and she had the biggest smile on her face.

You have to love them when things like this happen. She really does make our days interesting.

She is 8 months old now. Her stats will be up tomorrow!!!

I Lost My Camera!!!

So the reason I haven't blogged is because I CAN'T FIND MY CAMERA!!!! I am so mad. We are still looking for it, but it is driving us crazy.

Well to catch up, Mackenzie is officially CRAWLING!! She is all over the place. She started last Thursday really moving, but on Saturday she was everywhere. She is into everything and loves Daddy's electronics. She also pulls herself to stand up on things such as the couch. She can walk down the couch when she is trying to get to something.

She loves her baths and now is trying to drink the water.

When Daddy takes her outside to play in the grass she tries to eat it.

I will try to get some videos of her doing some of these fun things when/if I find my camera. If not, we will have to figure something out.

PS We move to Denver in exactly 2 weeks.

Come Here Kenzie!

Mackenzie's little cousin Joseph is so cute with her. We went to Joe and Tina's house earlier this week and when we first walked in, I said something to Joe and I here little Joseph's voice come from upstairs. He yelled "Meredith's here" or something like that. It was so funny that he just heard me say hi and knew who it was. That little boy is so cute.

Well we went up to the master bedroom because Joe was painting downstairs (there house is finally on the market YAY!). While Tina and I were hanging out with the kids, Joseph wanted to play with Mackenzie. He wanted her to come to his little hideout place. She wouldn't move even though he kept telling her to "Come here Kenzie!"

Here is a cute video of him trying to get her to crawl to him.

I can HELP!

I have been in Mackenzie's room trying to put away old clothes and get new stuff out once again. Mackenzie decided she really wanted to help me. Oh she did all right. She helped me to have a lot more work. She was sitting on one side of my leg and I was trying to go through her socks because many of them are too small and just fall off her feet. The bin that I was putting the good socks in was on the other side of my leg.

Mackenzie was very interested to see if I kept all the socks she liked to wear/eat. So she went exploring. I was busy, so I didn't notice, but she picked up the bin and dumped it over her head.

She just wants to be into EVERYTHING, but it is so CUTE!

Oh I forgot one thing...Then she wanted to see if the socks still tasted the same as she remembered.

What were they thinking?

Whoever said "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" never had a baby who won't sleep. I have decided it should go more like "What doesn't kill you only makes you more exhausted and want to die". Any one else agree?

Mackenzie is going to bed around 7 or 8 depending on when she naps during the day. She wakes up around 12, 2, 5, and then is up around 7 or 8 depending.

I AM SO TIRED!

I am still working so I have to be up around 6 and then out the door by 7:30. I just can't wait until the summer because then I can sleep in the morning until Mackenzie wakes up.