Lead scare!!!!

Last Tuesday before dudes night, the boys had their two year check up. The appointment went really good. No speech problems, growing much, looking great! Our doctor decided to give the boys a lead test since our house was built in the 50s. They did really good with it. The boys got a capillary lead test.

Thursday morning, I got a call saying the lead tests came back. Not threatening but high. Jacob got a 4 and Jasper got a 8 and they want to retest. My god, I was freaked out. We scheduled an appointment for later that day. I left work early. Joy was freaked! She called her mom who freaked.

Joy did a ton of research before we went in and the results have had me less freaked. For starts, most doctors don't retest for anything below 10 and the results can't get worse from the retest. On top of that, the capillary lead test is 60-70 percent false positive.

For the retest, they put a needle directly in the veins. Poor Jasper, they has trouble finding the vein. He cried but he was strong. I kept eye contact with him.

Jacob was still sleeping from the car ride was awoke to be held down from the test. Joy held him. I rubbed his head as I held Jasper. He cried but was also very strong. We treated them to ice cream when we got home.

The next morning, Joy had to take Heather to the airport at 5am. She stopped at lowes on the way home and got paint incase any of our widows had lead paint on them. She started working on cleaning the windows and getting ready to paint when she got home at 7am.

We both worked on painting for the rest of the weekend. Joy's mom stayed with us to help with the boys.

Saturday morning, I called the doctors office to see if the results came in. They were swamped and said they'd call back. I called back an hour and half later... Then an hour and half after that. Finally after noon, a nurse called back.

THE BOYS ARE GOOD!!!

The both got a 2 on their lead test!! Same as it was when they were one!

BIG RELIEF!!!

Joy jumped out of her seat in excitement to tell her mom outside and txted Heather. I'm so happy our boys are healthy!

That night we went to a hot air balloon festival. The boys loved it. They got to play with other kids on a baseball field, kicking and throwing sand. They got to see hot air balloons take off and up close. Jasper kept saying "wow" and pointing.


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Some thoughts on vaccinating

I believe it is important to get your children vaccinated. I personally don't buy the theory that vaccines are linked to autism. Many studies have been done to prove that there is no link. With that evidence, I would not risk either of my children's health.

I found an interesting article on CNN regarding the studies and some history of the Wakefield studies:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/07/p.autism.vaccine.debate/index.html

Getting vaccines are no fun. It is really hard watching your child getting pricked with needles. A nurse at our last appointment informed us that one of the shot burns. I do wish there was a easy way for vaccines to be given. You would think that they could come up with some painless way to give vaccines. Luckily for us, the pains and crying only seemed to last about a day. I know some babies get fevers. We've been lucky so far, knock on wood! But still would never risk my children getting sick with polio or any of the other countless diseases if it can be prevented.

That being said, I found another interested article/radio story from
NPR. It talks about the newer vaccines added for chicken pox and whooping cough.

I was really surprised when Joy told me they have a vaccine for chicken pox. I remember hearing stories about parents sending their kids to play with other kids with chicken box in order to get it out of the way when they are young.

The article talks about how these new vaccines might not be as effective and even need booster shots:

http://m.npr.org/story/130433634

This article shows that the vaccines might not be flawless. I love the idea that my boys might not get chicken pox. Possibly more research needs to be done on this.

In the long run, I'm happy my boys are vaccinated. I'm happy they're safe.

Four-month vaccines complete!

The boys have got their four-month vaccine shots. They were in good spirits while we waited for the doctor and then the nurse. I sat on the doctor's stool and moved back and forth with Jacob was in my lap. Jasper was in Joy's lap.

I think for one of the first times the boys really noticed each other. They were looking at each other and smiling big.

Jacob eventually fell asleep on my shoulder while we waited for the nurse to give shots. Since Jacob was sleeping on me, Jasper went first. The first shot he did great. Not a peep. Then the nurse informed us that the second shot burns. Sure enough, the second shot went in and Jasper screamed. Joy quickly took Jasper held him till he calmed down.

With Jasper crying and some nudging, Jacob woke up for his shots. He was not happy to receive either of them. I quickly grabbed him and tried to comfort. Jasper had calmed down so Joy put his clothes on and then gave me Jasper while she put on Jacob's clothes. Then I took him back to comfort.

While we were checking out, Jacob fell back asleep and Jasper fell asleep as well in our arms.

We asked the doctor about them teething and she said it was most likely they're not but they're just exploring. I'm not totally buying her story. For one she did not even check to see if they're teething. She did say we could introduce them to real food, see the previous post by Joy.

We had expected the day to be crazy because of screaming babies. We expected to go on a car ride for them to calm down, car rides usually help. However, we had two sleeping boys in the car. So Joy and I went on a car ride anyway to get ice cream.

We got home and were able to put boys in their cribs and Joy and I had a quiet afternoon.

Then Joy said she was hungry and wanted to go to bed after dinner. I started making spaghetti and by the time it was done Jasper woke up screaming. Joy came into the kitchen with him. Then I heard Jacob waking up. They were both not happy! Screaming!

We tried walking around, going outside. Eventually Joy and I had to divide and concur because I think they were both kind of enforcing each other to cry after we got one of them to calm down, like a sympathy cry. Eventually we got them both to calm down. They were both cuddly with us. Talking and singing to them helped calm them too.

The next day they slept must of the day.