Constitutional Growth Delay

After a busy morning at the pool, I took all 3 kiddos to the doctor for their well child checkups.  What a circus!  My youngest is at that age when he is into EVERYTHING!  He was knocking over medical equipment and running up and down the halls.  My younger 2 received a clean bill of health.  My daughter has a faint heart murmur but it's not affecting her growth and development so it's not a concern.  With my oldest son we realized that his growth rate just isn't increasing like it should.  While most kids grow 3-4 inches per year (even if they're on the low end of the curve the rate should be about the same), he had only grown 2.  We saw this pattern last year and have been tracking it for a year to see if the rate would increase but unfortunately it did not.

His doctor considered sending him to an endocrinologist immediately but then decided to order a bone age (taken from x-ray) first.  If his bone age was that of a 4 or 5 year old then there would be cause for concern, but if his bone age is younger than his actual age then that means that he has a lot of growth potential left and should eventually catch up.  So after their well child checks we walked down to radiology around 4:00pm praying that they would be able to fit us in without much of a wait.  My younger 2 were pretty cranky since both had received shots.

Believe it or not, we walked up to radiology and they were free right then!!!  It was such a blessing!  My son walked in, had his hand x-ray, and was done in less than 5 minutes!  He was thrilled to be able to see the x-ray of his hand (he was all about x-rays and bones about a year ago).  I figured it would be a day or 2 before we got the results, but then at 5:30pm we received a phone call from his pediatrician.  The radiologist had already read it and she had the results!  Now that's service - it was so nice to get his results so quickly!!!!

In the end his bone age is significantly younger than his age - he turned 5 in May and his bone age was that of a 2.9 yr old!!!  That explains why I didn't even notice when I grabbed a pair of 3T shorts for him the other day and they fit. ;)  So, he has been diagnosed with constitutional growth delay.  While I am sad, overall this is good news because his growth potential is normal and most kids achieve a normal adult height.  I'm also glad to have some answers.  CGD kids grown and develop later than their peers.  Most of the negative outcomes in this population stem from poor self esteem.  I plan to do a LOT of reading on this in the next few weeks.

Swimming, races, and work - Oh my!

Hard to believe that June is here already!  This week kicks off the first big week of swim team for us.  This is the first year that my kids are able to participate on our country club's pre-team.  They had their first practice Friday and have it once or twice a day from now until mid July. 

Adding swimming to our schedules has made me re-evaluate my own schedule.  I had signed up for an Olympic distance tri at the end of the summer and am now wondering if that was a good idea.  As my kids are getting older and as my & my husband's careers develop it's getting harder for me to train for races like I used to.  Quite honestly, I'm having a hard time with that.  For so long training for races and working to improve my times has been part of my identity and something I enjoy so very much.  From running races I transitioned to tri's and have loved every minute.  It's hard not to having the time to dedicate to training any more and it's becoming a bit of a stressful.

There are a lot of positives to this.  After all, the reason my time is limited is because my kids are growing and thriving and getting involved in more activities and school.  It's a blessing that I'm being asked to do more as a faculty member because frankly that means I'm doing a good job.  My department head just asked me to chair a search committee and I've already got another committee to chair, a new class to teach in the fall, and a podium presentation to deliver at a national meeting in a few weeks (presentation due this Friday - YIKES!).  My husband's career is going wonderfully as well and he loves what he does!  These are all good things!

So, I've decided to cut back on training and racing.  There is an all women's sprint tri at the end of August that I will do.  Instead of the Olympic tri, I've set my sites on 2 half marathons for the fall.  Training for a running race is MUCH more do-able b/c it's just one sport.  It's will be challenging but not stressful.  The best part - when I spend hours at the pool having fun today after only a quick workout, I won't feel guilty that I missed a training day - how nice!!! :) 

Dance Recital, Update, and So Long for a While

Ahhhh....I'm actually sitting down on this Sunday afternoon since my husband took my older kids to a baseball game and my youngest is napping upstairs.  After the pre-K graduation Friday morning, dance recital excitement took hold of our house.  Friday night was the rehearsal and Saturday night was the actual performance.  My girl loved it everything about it, from the bright lights, to getting "glam" for the event, to the flowers her brothers & dad gave her after her performance.

Below my older two at the restaurant after rehearsal...

...my daughter and her dance teacher pre-recital...

...little dancers hanging out before their performance...

...and finally the lollipop dancers!

As an update on our family, we're all looking forward to the summer.  My kids are swimming on a pre swim team this summer and I am looking forward to being a swimming mom for the first time.  I have sunscreen, a huge cooler, and a recipe for swimmers ear drops ready to go!  As for me, I have a couple of sprint tri's in the future along with the olympic distance one in the fall.  Sprinkled throughout the summer are various trips, a trip to Hawaii for my husband and I (we celebrate our 13th anniversary in a week!), a family trip to TN, a couple of work trips for my husband, and a work trip for me where I was invited to give a podium presentation.  Having said that, I'm signing off for a while.  Have a wonderful summer!

Pre-K Graduation

My son's pre-k class had a graduation ceremony at the zoo on Friday.  My husband and I were both able to attend and it was such a treat to be able to spend some time with our oldest by himself!  When you have 3 kids with only three and a half year between the oldest and youngest, individual time with one of them is rare and therefore very special.

While my son is looking forward to kindergarten it was so much fun to celebrate with the families we have been at pre-school with for a few years.  The wonderful teachers and kids at his school have been such a blessing.  

Acrobatic Temper Tantrums

My youngest is quickly approaching the "terrible two's" and is already exhibiting some feisty behavior.  He can throw some spectacular temper tantrums.  We took the below pictures over the span of a minute while he was protesting me taking away the remote control from him.  We were impressed with the acrobatic feats he accomplished in his anger.  ;)

Solar System Party, Mother's Day, & a Triathlon

We had a great weekend!  Some dear friends of ours from Colorado came down.  We had my son's 5th "solar system" themed birthday party which was so much fun!  Lastly, we celebrated Mother's Day by a great triathlon in the AM, and brunch/movie in the afternoon.  What an awesome weekend!

My son's solar system party was a blast.  We had a solar system cake, hunting for fallen "asteroids" (balls of aluminum foil hidden in the yard), rocket shooting (water, alka seltzer & film canisters - amazing and so fun!  Those "rockets" shot up to 15-25 feet in the air.  Many are still on our roof), and a rocket pinata.

Sunday morning started bright and early for the first triathlon of the season.  Here we are pre-race!

We had a great cheering section!

Overall I was content with my performance.  I had a rough start to my run b/c my stomach didn't feel great, but was able to deliver an 8:14 paced 3 miler, my bike leg went well except for a glitch clicking into my pedals when starting that leg (I tried something new where I had the pedals in place and then tried to get my feet in while already biking - not smart!  I almost fell twice and lost a couple of minutes b/c I to come to a complete stop & fix the problem).  So, my bike pace was 17:25, which was a little disappointing.  Swim time was adequate and I came in around 1:20 which is 2 minutes faster than my race time fro 2008.  At least I'm getting faster, not slower! :)

 We finished up Mother's Day with brunch at our country club and a movie.  Then we spent the evening playing with our kids and hanging out.  What an awesome weekend!

Immunizations Video

As a "perk" of being on faculty, I'm often asked to help students on their projects.  One afternoon I was working in my office when some students knocked on the door and asked if I would help them with a video on immunizations for a project in another class.  Below is the link to their final project - apparently, this video won a little award amongst their classmates & the faculty.  I laughed pretty hard watching it - it's pretty entertaining!  Thankfully, they got most of the information correct. ;)  My participation was minimal, but I always enjoy helping out the students.  Another reason why I absolutely love what I do for a living - it's a lot of fun!

P.S.  If you need information on immunizations, pay attention to the video.  Remember that when you receive an immunization, you're not only benefiting yourself but are positively affecting the health of the general public. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_bVxSWvb_0&feature=share