Elijah is one year old!!!!!

11 months old

Elijah's first hair cut

These are a few pictures of Elijah's first hair cut a couple of weeks ago. 10 months old and he needed it bad!!!

GOOD NEWS!!!

Elijah had an ultrasound on his leg earlier this week and it showed that the blood clot is gone!!! That means no more shots!!!!! Just wanted to share. Also, this is the only picture that I have so far that you can see his top two teeth (if you look closely). They make for one grumpy, but cute little boy. Thanks for checking in.

My Boy

Hello All!! Elijah is doing so wonderfully well and is getting so big! He now weighs 18 lbs. 11 oz. The medication is continuing to do it's job and hopefully we only have a couple more months of giving him shots. I started back at work a couple of weeks ago and dread saying goodbye to him each and every morning. I finally got my camera out and took some more recent pictures of my favorite boy :) Here are a few from today.

I think he was over the hood...what do you think? :)

Doing Well!!

Hello Everyone!! Elijah is doing really well and has gained some weight back :) He had his first appointment with the Pediatric Endocrinologist earlier this week and weighs in at 17 1/2 lbs. He is definately starting to eat better and is just as happy as can be.

So we took Elijah to the Pediatric Hematologist today and they had to do a weight on him...only 16 lbs. He has lost a pound in the last two weeks. I knew something was going on because clothes that used to barely fit him are hanging loose (I wish I had that problem!! ). This is frustrating as we try to feed him as much as possible; he just doesn't seem hungry. We are awaiting a phone call from his pediatrician as to what we do next. That's all for now, just a little update.

Our New Family Pictures

Hello Everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, things have been kind of crazy. Elijah is doing well overall and just enjoyed his first camping trip to Bucks Lake :) He loves the water and it was so nice just to be doing something "normal" as a family. We did have to cut our trip a little short and come home yesterday because he woke up and had a temp of 103.7 . He is feeling much better today; it's just a little scary because things that normal babies go through, like getting a bug and running a fever, we have to take more seriously because of everything he has been through. He is getting used to getting his shots and is keeping down his medicine a lot better than before. We are coming up with tricks to make him eat, like dipping a slice of bell pepper into baby food and letting him feed himself. It's quite messy and not too much ends up in his mouth, but anything is better than nothing. Well that's all for now and I will try to post some camping pics. Love, The Thome Family

Home...again

Well we are home from the hospital...take two!!! Hopefully it's for good this time. Elijah fortunately did not have any infections. He got some sort of bug, and together with his vaccinations caused him to get a high fever and dehydrated. He is doing well at the moment, and hopefully will continue that way. We are still having issues with his eating, but that's it for now. Here are a few pictures of Elijah I took today. I love how in the course of ten seconds.. he has so many different facial expressions :)

Back in Hospital :(

Elijah had to be admitted into the hospital yesterday because he had a high fever and had signs of dehydration. He also was having high blood sugars. He is on IV fluids and had blood drawn to see if he still has any infections. It takes 24-48 hours to get the lab results back so we will be there at least through tomorrow, as long as it comes back negative. He had his 6 month vaccinations on Monday, so we are hoping that all of this is just a reaction to those, and not an infection. I'll keep you posted :)

WE'RE HOME!!!!!

We are finally home!!! We had a long day yesterday, but we made it to Reno and couldn't be happier. Elijah is doing great and seems to really enjoy being home. These are just a few pictures from the last couple of days. I probably won't post as often as I have been, as there is not enough time in a day. I will try at least once a week to post pictures and updates on Elijah. Thanks for checking in!!!! -The Thomes

It's late. We're tired. We leave the hospital at 5:15 am to head to the airport. We can't wait to be home!!! We'll see some of you soon.

This is a video of Elijah squealing in happiness at the news that we are coming home Wednesday!!! Actually I think he is quite delerious in this clip, as he hadn't eaten in 14 hours! He passed his fasting test with flying colors; his blood sugar never dropped to a dangerous level and he made it the entire 18 hours. He is still having some eating issues, but the doctors hope that once he is back in his normal environment, that things will change. We will have our fair share of doctors appointments in upcoming months to follow his blood clot, and to monitor his weight gain. Also we will be following up with the Pediatric Endocrinologist in Reno quite often to make sure he is on the right dose of the medications. We just booked our flight, and will be in Reno by Wednesday afternoon. It still doesn't seem real. We look forward to seeing everybody soon!!!
Love,
Joel, Eden and Elijah

No new news today...Elijah still has hives from an alergic reaction. He is still not eating too much, which is a concern to us. He is happy as can be, however. Tonight is the beginning of his 18 hour fast, so I know tonight and tomorrow are going to be difficult. That's all for now... hopefully tomorrow we will know more about when we will be coming home. Thanks for checking in :)

Pretty much one of the funniest pictures taken of Elijah so far!

So it's Saturday night and today didn't go quite as smooth as previous days. Elijah is still doing better, but is throwing up more than usual. We can't quite figure out what is causing it. He also had an alergic reaction to an antibiotic this evening, and broke out in hives. This poor little guy just can't catch a break! On the other hand, his blood count is doing great, and so far no more signs of infection. He will continue to receive antibiotics for seven more days, just to make sure they are gone! So hopefully our plans to come home this next week will stay the same, although we want to make sure there are not underlying problems with his stomach that will take us back to the hospital in Reno. When we leave here, we want to be home for good. And when I say home... I mean our own home, our own bed, our own life!!! No more hospitals for us.

So today is the first time that we have heard the doctors mention a day that we MAY be coming home. They said that if all goes well, Elijah will be discharged on Wednesday. I gave him both shots today, and I don't know how we are going to give it to him twice a day... he is strong! He cries, but is over it pretty fast. He is having some trouble keeping food down again, but we think it is most likely due to the antibiotics that he is on. He will get them via IV through tomorrow, and then seven days by mouth. Hopefully after that, his tummy won't be so upset. He has lost a little weight, although you would never know it looking at him :) Joel and I notice though. Thanks for checking in. -The Thomes

Hello Everybody. Elijah had yet another good day today....it is so nice to have our smiling baby boy again!! His blood count is up to normal now. His hemoglobin is at 9.4 (was 7) and his platelets are at 276 (was 35). It is amazing how resilient his little body has been. Each day the doctors come in they have big smiles on their faces and tell us how astonished they are as to how quickly he has recovered on his own. He has to do a fasting test on Sunday night, into Monday for 18 hours. This is to make sure that if at some point he were to get sick and not eat for a period of time, the diazoxide (medication for his hyperinsulinism) will still be effective and keep his blood sugars at a stable level. If he passes this test, we could be coming home sometime next week! Joel and I were shown today how to give Elijah his shot of Lovenox, since we will be giving it to him twice a day once we are home. I practiced on a little block of rubber, and am scared out of my mind to give it to him for the first time. I chickened out this evening and had the nurse do it, but will do it in the morning. Overall, things are looking up, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel...finally!!

Elijah had a wonderful day today! He seems to be feeling sooooo much better. No other news , other than he continues to head in the right direction. Hopefully we will be home soon....we are ready!

Yummy Cookie!!


Wiped out after a long hard day in the life of Elijah :)