Enbrel, Heart Murmur and a Big Boy Bed...

Jimmy having a blast at the park & Ruby's first smile.

I've been taking Enbrel for a month and I can't really tell if it's helping or not. For now I'm taking 50mg every Wednesday with the hopes that I won't need a higher dose for a while. I wake up every Thursday feeling good but look forward to taking my next dose within a few days. I'm still sore and stiff most days, but I think it's because of the changing weather and the fact that I'm taking advantage of the good days. It doesn't help much that Ruby wants to be held 24/7 either. I hurt from my fingertips up to my shoulders, but it doesn't seem so bad when my baby girl just wants to cuddle and fall asleep in my arms. I have days where I feel more flexible and think "ooh, I should do this or that," and then I pay for it the next day and remind myself that I need to take it easy still and let the Enbrel kick in for a bit before I overdo it.  I have another check-up next week so I'm assuming we'll run some more blood work and decide if we're going to keep things the same or change it up a little.

Ruby gave us a bit of a scare at her two month check-up...we found out she has a heart murmur. I've always worried about my kids possibly getting JRA, but never considered the possibility of any other complications. Her Pediatrician said she didn't think it was anything to be worried about and it would probably heal on its own, but she wanted to send us to a Cardiologist just to be safe. I know heart murmurs are common among infants, my biological dad even had one, but you still don't like to hear anything is possibly wrong with your baby. After a long two weeks of waiting, we finally met with the Cardiologist and he agreed, Ruby has a murmur, but it's nothing to worry about. She's gaining weight and grown and a healthy pace and he believes it will heal on it's own. He recommended having our Pediatrician keep an eye on it and if it's still there when Ruby turns 2, then we'll run more tests. Until then just keep treating her the same.

In the middle of all of this, Jimmy decided he was tired of sleeping in a crib. He tried to climb out of his crib twice, but luckily his Grandpa was there to catch him. He's only a year and a half, so we weren't sure if we'd be able to keep him from wandering around the house while we slept, but possibly falling out of his crib seemed worse. Luckily he's made the transition easy on all of us. We converted his crib to a daybed and he loves it...he's so proud of his "big boy bed." He even wanders in there during the day with a few toys to take a little break...mostly to get away from Ruby's crying. He wiggles so much at night that he's fallen out of bed a few times, but he's quick to settle down and go back to sleep. One time he even climbed back in bed and went to sleep on his own! Mr. Independent. 

Having a new baby in the house is rough, but I feel like things are starting to fall into place and get back to "normal." Jimmy's enjoying having a little sister and loves giving her cuddles and kisses. Ruby's full of smiles and coo's and is slowly getting on the same schedule as Jimmy. She even sleeps a solid 7 plus hours every night...so thankful for that! Now I just need to get my JRA under control, but that's a never ending adventure.