August 31, 2013:
I guess it's appropriate that I blog on the last day of the month. :) At least I'm getting in a post before the 2 wk mark. I can thank my husband for this. He's home for the whole weekend!!! Gives me extra time to do things like blog. :) RJ has become much more alert and awake during the day making it challenging to get things done. I did manage to do multiple loads of laundry, clean the house, grocery shop, make gluten, pay bills, and of course exercise 3 days this wk in between taking care of our precious lil boy. I've found that the early morning hours before he's awake are the best time for my worship, exercise, and getting dressed/eating. I get most of that done before he officially wakes up. I usually do one early morning feeding and then he will sleep till around 7-7:30am. Then all bets are off as to how long the naps during the day will be. This week they've lasted around 30 mins. A couple in the morning and then a couple in the afternoon. I did get one or two 2hr naps out of him in the afternoon when I was holding him and fast asleep myself. :). He's started to fight sleep more around nap time. I guess I need to ignore his eye rubbing and keep him up longer so he's even more tired before feeding him. He likes to change up the routine daily. Oh well, keeps me on my toes. Just a little more difficult to plan anything.
Last weekend RJ and I took our first road trip just the two of us. I was nervous for sure driving about 4.5 hrs to my moms house without having someone in the backseat to keep RJ entertained. Thankfully I timed it just right after a diaper change and feeding to make it 4 hrs with him napping the whole time!! It worked both on the way there and back!! He of course woke up and was ready to eat after the 4hr mark. :) That first night we arrived, Aug 22nd, was momentous in that he slept from 9:30pm-7am!!! He woke up and ate 5oz at one sitting!! That's the most at one time. It was impressive. :)
RJ has become quite the lil heater. I remember keeping him all bundled up at the beginning when he came home. It was fun keeping him all cozy. I kept long sleeves and long pants on him. Just in the past few weeks he's started to sweat a lil when he's all wrapped up. I guess it's the extra pounds he's putting on. He's up to 11lb now!!! I've heard that once preemies hit that 10 lb mark they start to really catch up in the weight department. He's filling out and getting lil rolls. It's adorable. The preemie look is totally gone in my book!!
So since I've been talking about sleep. I've taken some notes to remember long sleeping. On Aug. 24th he slept 10.5hrs straight!! Unfortunately I was not sleeping that whole time. I was trying to get lots of things done once he was in bed, but now I've changed my routine. Since I get up early to get my day started, I've begun to get ready for bed right after I put him down. I get more sleep before midnight which is healthier anyways. :) Something funny about RJ is that around 10pm every night when we look on his baby monitor, he's having a wiggling fest. His legs are kicking all over the place and his arms waving. Your sure he's going to wake up, but eventually he settles down and is calm again. I'm sure he does that more throughout the night b/c he makes a significant move over night from his starting position. I put him in the middle of the bed towards the wall. When I come in for morning feedings he's wiggled his way over the the front of the crib down at the bottom. It's truly impressive. :)
Now that RJ's become so much more alert, he loves riding in the baby Bjorn facing forward so he can take everything in. It's a great way to calm him down too when he's fussy. He really enjoys taking walks around the neighborhood too. He's also getting more interested when I read him books. My mom bought one of those books where you can recored yourself reading it. He really listens intently as he hears grandma's voice reading to him. :)
He's started to look into my eyes more during feeding time and study my face. It's like he's looking deep into my soul. It's so precious... I'll start talking to him and playing w/ his face and he'll smile at me. It warms my heart.
Well this weekend we've been lucky enough to have daddy home all weekend!!! The 40% chance of rain today turned into a torrential downpour this morning on the way to Sabbath school and church. I bought a couple large umbrellas, so thankfully we had one, but we all still got a lil wet. Robert got soaked, but he was still smiling.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
August 20, 2013:
I guess I'm keeping true to my blogging every couple weeks. I promise I'm not doing it on purpose. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. What a funny phrase. Anyways, lots has happened in the world of RJ. He has hit the 10 lb mark for real this time!!! I can feel him getting bigger and heavier when I carry him. I was just watching him this afternoon as he was sleeping in my arms and marveling at how big he's getting. I think he might be hitting that quick growth spirt we've been hearing about. I guess 10 lbs is supposed to be a magic number in the preemie world. Yesterday he took around 14 oz of breastmilk/formula!!! That's a record for him!!
He did hit the 7 month mark this past Sabbath. I can't believe he's already 7 months.... Where has the time gone!! It's exciting to think that RJ's been home longer thant he's been in the NICU. :) We are getting into a pretty good schedule. He likes to shake things up for sure. Last Thursday we had a NICU Grad clinic appt at 9am. I like to get up and feed him at 4:30am, pump, and then stay up to get dressed, have worship, and eat. Well he decided to stay awake and be fussy. It took me 2 hrs to get him back to sleep so I could then take care of myself and get us out the door. Thankfully we made it to our appt on time. Last week he was going through a segment of not wanting to take naps. It was very frustrating b/c that's the time I'm able to get things done. The past few days have been getting better again.
We went to the lake w/ some friends for a long weekend and RJ slept in the pack n' play for the first time!! He did great and wiggled all around. He seemed to enjoy the larger space. Sunday morning it was super cute to wake up to him making noises w/ his mouth. A gurgling of sorts w/ his mouth and tongue. :) He was content just playing by himself. Sunday RJ didn't get a lot of solid naps. He was a pretty tired boy by the time we got home and settled. He ended up sleeping from 9:15pm-6:30am and missed 2 feedings!! I knew he was tired, so didn't want to wake him. Then he slept for 3 more hrs on my chest! We were both tired from the lake weekend. We are back to missing just one feeding at midnight. :)
I've been having RJ sleep in his own room for the past few weeks, but had the co-sleeper in the bed as well so he would feel more secure. Last night I took it out and he slept in his big bed free to move around. I was surprised that he didn't stray much from the position I layed him in. He's growing up. :) We are so proud of him and all his accomplishments.
The other day we were eating some ice cream w/ some friends. I got some strawberry yoguart and put my spoon up to RJ's mouth. He wasn't too impressed. Just thought it would be fun to see what his reaction was. He's been more interested in what we've been eating lately. According to the Grad clinic nutritionist, we can start introducing solids at 6 months adjusted age. That would be mid October. According to the new recommendations they introduce meats first and then rice cereal and the other foods. I was shocked. I let the nutritionist know that I'm an ovo-lacto-vegetarian and that I was planning on raising RJ that way. I read a bunch of articles on line and know that RJ can get all the protein and iron he needs from legumes, tofu, tempe, and gluten. The nutritionist said she was going to do some research and put together a plan for us. I was afraid she was going to be more stand offish when I told her I didn't want to give him any meats. Thankfully she pretty understanding.
August 21, 2013:
So RJ has started making more fun sounds with his mouth. He likes to make bubbles and then gurgle like I mentioned before. He also made a motor boat sound and we talked back and forth. He was mimicking me I think. Whatever it was, we were having fun.
The other night Robert was snuggling w/ RJ and I asked if he wanted to give the midnight bottle. He hasn't been able to have RJ truly fall deep asleep on his chest. I told him that right near the end of the bottle RJ would close his eyes and fall asleep and then when moved to Robert's chest for burping would just lay there. Robert let me know that it was super precious and it all happened just like I said.
A couple weekends ago Robert and I went shopping at SAMs and I held RJ in the baby bjorn. He was facing out so he could take in all the sights and sounds. Without warning he fell fast asleep. We took a couple pics. It was so precious.
Over the past month RJ has decided it's time to take shorter naps during the day, then go longer at night between feedings. The nap thing has become a little more tricky. It's not as easy to get things done. I find myself staying up after his 4:30am feeding to get some of my stuff done and then staying up later after he's in bed. I need to find a good balance. I'm having to not be as annal about the cleanliness of my house. That's a hard one. :/ I'm trying to soak up all the moments I have with RJ though. Sometimes I hold him a little longer or even for his full nap, just starting at him and admiring him. Today I actually fell asleep for 2 hrs with him. He's also become a lot more alert and curious. He studies everything and watches what we do. I carry him around the house and tell him what I'm doing. :)
After his 6 month shots, RJ decided that he liked rocking in the lazy boy chair in his room all snuggled up after eating and sleep. Some moments that make me smile. I absolutely LOVE snuggling w/ RJ. He's our precious boy.
Things are going to start getting more challenging for Robert at work over the next few months. I'm so thankful that he adores his son so much and is willing to spend time with him even after long days. We are so blessed.
We had our next Grad clinic appt on the 15th. It was awesome that Robert was post call and was able to go with us again. He's always so good at asking questions and helping me keep track of what they told us. We met with the nutritionist, physical therapist, and doctor. Here are a list of the different things we were told:
No plush toys- use only hard ones such as blocks
Don't need lots of toys- a good set of blocks and shape finder
No jumpers, walkers, or bumbos
No battery toys, no screens (TV, iPad, iPhone, etc.) until 3 yrs old
Tummy time/activity mat should be 50% of his awake time (boy this is super tricky when you want to get things done around the house)
Exercises: help roll from back to tummy, support him sitting up, keep hands in front when holding him
Feed ad lib- increased calories to 27 to make up for when he breastfeeds
Start probiotics to help with bowels- Happy day he had a poopy on his own Saturday and today!!! I've kind of given up on the dilation. It didn't seem to be working. I think the probiotics, which I started this weekend, are really working!!!
Welp, it's time for me to shower and crawl into bed. Robert is on a super long call tonight that started at 10am this morning and goes till 7am tomorrow morning. Poor guy. We've texted a few times and I've sent pictures of RJ and myself to cheer him up. He's been super duper busy. Here's hoping he gets some amount of sleep tonight.
Thanks again for all the love, support, and prayers. Keep em' coming!!
I guess I'm keeping true to my blogging every couple weeks. I promise I'm not doing it on purpose. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. What a funny phrase. Anyways, lots has happened in the world of RJ. He has hit the 10 lb mark for real this time!!! I can feel him getting bigger and heavier when I carry him. I was just watching him this afternoon as he was sleeping in my arms and marveling at how big he's getting. I think he might be hitting that quick growth spirt we've been hearing about. I guess 10 lbs is supposed to be a magic number in the preemie world. Yesterday he took around 14 oz of breastmilk/formula!!! That's a record for him!!
He did hit the 7 month mark this past Sabbath. I can't believe he's already 7 months.... Where has the time gone!! It's exciting to think that RJ's been home longer thant he's been in the NICU. :) We are getting into a pretty good schedule. He likes to shake things up for sure. Last Thursday we had a NICU Grad clinic appt at 9am. I like to get up and feed him at 4:30am, pump, and then stay up to get dressed, have worship, and eat. Well he decided to stay awake and be fussy. It took me 2 hrs to get him back to sleep so I could then take care of myself and get us out the door. Thankfully we made it to our appt on time. Last week he was going through a segment of not wanting to take naps. It was very frustrating b/c that's the time I'm able to get things done. The past few days have been getting better again.
We went to the lake w/ some friends for a long weekend and RJ slept in the pack n' play for the first time!! He did great and wiggled all around. He seemed to enjoy the larger space. Sunday morning it was super cute to wake up to him making noises w/ his mouth. A gurgling of sorts w/ his mouth and tongue. :) He was content just playing by himself. Sunday RJ didn't get a lot of solid naps. He was a pretty tired boy by the time we got home and settled. He ended up sleeping from 9:15pm-6:30am and missed 2 feedings!! I knew he was tired, so didn't want to wake him. Then he slept for 3 more hrs on my chest! We were both tired from the lake weekend. We are back to missing just one feeding at midnight. :)
I've been having RJ sleep in his own room for the past few weeks, but had the co-sleeper in the bed as well so he would feel more secure. Last night I took it out and he slept in his big bed free to move around. I was surprised that he didn't stray much from the position I layed him in. He's growing up. :) We are so proud of him and all his accomplishments.
The other day we were eating some ice cream w/ some friends. I got some strawberry yoguart and put my spoon up to RJ's mouth. He wasn't too impressed. Just thought it would be fun to see what his reaction was. He's been more interested in what we've been eating lately. According to the Grad clinic nutritionist, we can start introducing solids at 6 months adjusted age. That would be mid October. According to the new recommendations they introduce meats first and then rice cereal and the other foods. I was shocked. I let the nutritionist know that I'm an ovo-lacto-vegetarian and that I was planning on raising RJ that way. I read a bunch of articles on line and know that RJ can get all the protein and iron he needs from legumes, tofu, tempe, and gluten. The nutritionist said she was going to do some research and put together a plan for us. I was afraid she was going to be more stand offish when I told her I didn't want to give him any meats. Thankfully she pretty understanding.
August 21, 2013:
So RJ has started making more fun sounds with his mouth. He likes to make bubbles and then gurgle like I mentioned before. He also made a motor boat sound and we talked back and forth. He was mimicking me I think. Whatever it was, we were having fun.
The other night Robert was snuggling w/ RJ and I asked if he wanted to give the midnight bottle. He hasn't been able to have RJ truly fall deep asleep on his chest. I told him that right near the end of the bottle RJ would close his eyes and fall asleep and then when moved to Robert's chest for burping would just lay there. Robert let me know that it was super precious and it all happened just like I said.
A couple weekends ago Robert and I went shopping at SAMs and I held RJ in the baby bjorn. He was facing out so he could take in all the sights and sounds. Without warning he fell fast asleep. We took a couple pics. It was so precious.
Over the past month RJ has decided it's time to take shorter naps during the day, then go longer at night between feedings. The nap thing has become a little more tricky. It's not as easy to get things done. I find myself staying up after his 4:30am feeding to get some of my stuff done and then staying up later after he's in bed. I need to find a good balance. I'm having to not be as annal about the cleanliness of my house. That's a hard one. :/ I'm trying to soak up all the moments I have with RJ though. Sometimes I hold him a little longer or even for his full nap, just starting at him and admiring him. Today I actually fell asleep for 2 hrs with him. He's also become a lot more alert and curious. He studies everything and watches what we do. I carry him around the house and tell him what I'm doing. :)
After his 6 month shots, RJ decided that he liked rocking in the lazy boy chair in his room all snuggled up after eating and sleep. Some moments that make me smile. I absolutely LOVE snuggling w/ RJ. He's our precious boy.
Things are going to start getting more challenging for Robert at work over the next few months. I'm so thankful that he adores his son so much and is willing to spend time with him even after long days. We are so blessed.
We had our next Grad clinic appt on the 15th. It was awesome that Robert was post call and was able to go with us again. He's always so good at asking questions and helping me keep track of what they told us. We met with the nutritionist, physical therapist, and doctor. Here are a list of the different things we were told:
No plush toys- use only hard ones such as blocks
Don't need lots of toys- a good set of blocks and shape finder
No jumpers, walkers, or bumbos
No battery toys, no screens (TV, iPad, iPhone, etc.) until 3 yrs old
Tummy time/activity mat should be 50% of his awake time (boy this is super tricky when you want to get things done around the house)
Exercises: help roll from back to tummy, support him sitting up, keep hands in front when holding him
Feed ad lib- increased calories to 27 to make up for when he breastfeeds
Start probiotics to help with bowels- Happy day he had a poopy on his own Saturday and today!!! I've kind of given up on the dilation. It didn't seem to be working. I think the probiotics, which I started this weekend, are really working!!!
Welp, it's time for me to shower and crawl into bed. Robert is on a super long call tonight that started at 10am this morning and goes till 7am tomorrow morning. Poor guy. We've texted a few times and I've sent pictures of RJ and myself to cheer him up. He's been super duper busy. Here's hoping he gets some amount of sleep tonight.
Thanks again for all the love, support, and prayers. Keep em' coming!!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
August 7-8, 2013:
I'm feeling emotional right now. I'm tired and there are lots of things to do. It's been a busy day for RJ with going to the pediatricians office for his 6 month shots and then peds urology for starting the process to get his circumcision. I thought he was going to have it done in the office, but due to his age they have to do it in the OR and he has to be put under, which means probably intubated. Dr. Ziada said we need to wait till he's 6 months adjusted, so that would be October. We have scheduled the procedure for the first Tuesday in November which is the 5th. We will go back middle of October to have the H&P updated and resign consents. He's going to have to be NPO for a certain period of time before the minor surgery, but I'm not sure how long. He gets soooooo fussy when he doesn't have his food. He screams at the top of his lungs when we don't move fast enough to get his bottle now. I can only imagine having to wait multiple hours without food in his belly... They are waiting till he's 6 months so that they can do just a day procedure. He should be big enough by that time to properly recover from anesthesia, otherwise if done now they would have to keep him overnight and it would be a little more risky. Robert keeps assuring me that everything will be alright. I just hate hospitals now and I'm sick of being in them. At least this is supposed to be an easy procedure and only be around 45 min. If I'm all emotional and red eyed right now, I can only imagine what kind of basket case I'm going to be come November 5th... I'll need a million more prayers on that day. :)
RJ's 6 month peds appointment went well today. He got more shots poor lil guy. The nurse had me hold him and then I promptly kept feeding him his bottle. He usually does pretty good with them. He hasn't had any reactions so far. Here's hoping he does great tonight and has no issues. He's 9 lb 14.5 oz and 22 inches long!! He's gaining slowly but surely. I asked about when we start rice cereals and the NP we saw today said she'd call the NICU nutritionist to double check. Turns out they start preemies on meat first. We are going to have to come up w/ a meat substitute plan b/c I feel very strongly against giving my baby real meat. That's a decision he can make down the line in high school like his daddy did. I have an easy recipe for gluten which is super high in protein, plus there is tofu and all the Morning Star meat substitues I can grind up. Oh boy... had no idea we were going to have this issue to deal with...
The last time I blogged was on Sunday July 21st. That Monday the 22nd I had a doctors appointment and RJ ended up not getting a lot of his naps. I was talking to Robert about wondering how long RJ would sleep if I didn't set my alarm. I was getting tired of the set night schedule. So, I went to bed around 10pm and bolted awake around 4am all confused b/c I hadn't been woken up! Turns out RJ was just super duper tired. The rest of the week he would give me at least one 5-6 hr stretch. Then we went on vacation and that changed. We've been watching his weight on a regular basis and it dipped from about 9.5 lbs to 9 lbs, so we decided to start waking him up during the night again. On our vacation he was automatically waking up every 3 hrs or so and now that we are home I'm back to setting my alarm clock. Bummer....
I started to write a few things down on a sticky note that I wanted to blog so I would't forget. I even thought I'd blog while on vacation, but we didn't have very good internet. I remember a few weeks back it was during the middle of the day and I was breastfeeding. All of a sudden RJ pulled himself off and just stared up at me intently. I stared back at him. It was so sweet. After he had studied me, he went back to eating.
So RJ had his first flight cross country last week. Last Sunday in preparation Robert had to pack b/c he had a 24 hr OB call shift on Monday and we were to fly out of Lexington at 11am Tuesday morning. We had been at the lake for a large part of the day Sunday and it was late when we got home, just in time for RJ's bedtime. We decided to have RJ sleep in his own room so Robert could pack. We put the co-sleeper in his crib so he would feel safe and not feel like too many changes happened. I had the iPad set up w/ the monitor screen next to our bed, but was afraid I wasn't going to hear him cry. Needless to say I didn't sleep very good that night. I prayed God would wake me up and he did. RJ didn't have any screaming sessions. :)
August 8, 2013:
RJ was pretty fussy yesterday afternoon/evening. I was unable to finish my post, so here's my next try. :) Our trip to Monterey, CA went well. We went to see Robert's grandma who is over 95 years old. It turned into a mini family reunion. His parents were gracious enough to purchase our tickets. We are of course saving our shekels. I was super nervous about flying w/ an infant and how to feed him and pump. I opted to breastfeed and supplement w/ bottles. It worked way better on the trip out than on our return. I have to admit that I was way more exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally than RJ was after all the flights. Thankfully we didn't have any uncontrollable crying on the planes. He was able to be pacified. It was special being able to introduce RJ to his great-grandma and his aunts and cousins. I was even lucky to get extra sleep in the mornings after mom took RJ. He got lots of grandma and great-grandma time.
RJ has adjusted back to eastern time pretty well. It's taken longer to get him to sleep at night even though it's clear he's tired. I also had to start giving him a bottle either before or after breastfeeding him the past few nights. I guess he's going through another growth spurt or something. Last night I got teary-eyed b/c I felt like he wanted the bottle over my boobs. It's such a special thing to breastfeed and I felt like he was starting to grow out of it. He likes the instant food versus being patient. I don't know... we shall see what happens. Because he had lost a lil weight before our trip, I decided to start waking RJ up twice a night to feed him a bottle. I guess it's been working since he's about 10 lb now!!
I ended up giving RJ a dose of Tylenol last evening to see if that would help him be less fussy. At least he was able to sleep pretty well last night. He woke up an hr earlier this morning and has been fussy all day. It's been extra challenging to figure out what he's needing. I gave him another dose of Tylenol this morning. He had flinched when I was putting on his lotion this morning to his legs. He didn't take much of a morning nap, so after his 11am feeding I knew he was tired. He fought it terribly. I ended up taking him upstairs to rock him in his room and then bring him back downstairs to his swing. What a mess...
Oh I keep forgetting to mention that the last time my mom was here she brought my baby book. It was fun looking through it and reminiscing. Turns out my first baby pic in the hospital shows me sticking my tongue out. Robert felt so much better to know RJ's tongue thing must be genetic. :) It was pretty funny.
So, I ended up switching my birth control method a few weeks ago. I've just been having the worst time gaining weight. I thought it was supposed to slowly fall off after the baby was born. It's quite depressing to see the numbers slowly increasing. Anyways, in addition to the exercising I've been trying to do, I'm starting to make "green" smoothies in the mornings and watching my carb intake. Today was my third day and it's been going pretty well. I have the "green" smoothie (spinach, apple, banana, apple juice, celery, and vanilla yogurt) in the morning w/ a slice a of bread ( that only has 7 carbs and is super delicious from Trader Joe's). Then salad and some main dish for lunch and a big salad for supper. Robert helped me put the groceries away the other night and said "Wow there's a lot of green in this fridge!" Hehehe. I got to do something so my clothes will fit again. Workout clothes and dresses is all I can wear currently without going out to buy a new wardrobe. Oh mercy... Ok that's enough of my ranting.
Well silly RJ is still not wanting to poop on a regular schedule. The past few weeks he's gone 7 days without anything, so I've had to give him a suppository. Then of course there is action. It's pretty ridiculous. I've been doing the rectal stimulation, but it just doesn't seem to be working. It's like he doesn't feel the urge to poop. It's still another month or so before we go back to Peds Surg regarding this issue. They keep saying he's going to grow out of it. Diaper changing is a whole lot less messy 99% of the time. :)
Well, I've been working on going through all the pictures we've taken since I went into the hospital in January. It's taken me a long time b/c I wasn't very consistent. It was at times quite emotional looking at those early pictures of when RJ was so sick. I was semi reliving the experiences. We were wanting to make copies of pics for Robert's great grandma to leave w/ her, but that didn't quite happen. So the other night I uploaded multiple hundreds of pics to Shutterfly so I could make a photo book. It's currently around 60 pages long. I wanted to tell the story of RJ's entrance into the world from the beginning of my being hospitalized. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. It could have been so much worse. I tend to be a pessimist and Robert the optimist. He keeps reminding me that when I start feeling down to just stop and take a second to remember where we came from and how much worse it could have been for both RJ and myself. We had a million angels working over time to help protect us. There must be a special purpose for sparing both our lives.
The past couple mornings I've tried a new approach to my mornings. I've stayed awake after the 4:30am feeding and pumping. I come downstairs to make a hot drink and have some worship for about 30 mins. Yesterday morning I succumbed to the couch after that and feel asleep till RJ woke up. Today I was able to stay awake and got a number of things accomplished in the hour I had left before RJ woke up. I hope I can keep this up. It's nice to have the quiet time in the morning without distractions. I can always take a nap throughout the day.
I guess I should start working again on the photo book before RJ wakes up. I hear his lil lips a smacking. :) Thanks again for all the support, prayers, and love. We greatly appreciate it.
I'm feeling emotional right now. I'm tired and there are lots of things to do. It's been a busy day for RJ with going to the pediatricians office for his 6 month shots and then peds urology for starting the process to get his circumcision. I thought he was going to have it done in the office, but due to his age they have to do it in the OR and he has to be put under, which means probably intubated. Dr. Ziada said we need to wait till he's 6 months adjusted, so that would be October. We have scheduled the procedure for the first Tuesday in November which is the 5th. We will go back middle of October to have the H&P updated and resign consents. He's going to have to be NPO for a certain period of time before the minor surgery, but I'm not sure how long. He gets soooooo fussy when he doesn't have his food. He screams at the top of his lungs when we don't move fast enough to get his bottle now. I can only imagine having to wait multiple hours without food in his belly... They are waiting till he's 6 months so that they can do just a day procedure. He should be big enough by that time to properly recover from anesthesia, otherwise if done now they would have to keep him overnight and it would be a little more risky. Robert keeps assuring me that everything will be alright. I just hate hospitals now and I'm sick of being in them. At least this is supposed to be an easy procedure and only be around 45 min. If I'm all emotional and red eyed right now, I can only imagine what kind of basket case I'm going to be come November 5th... I'll need a million more prayers on that day. :)
RJ's 6 month peds appointment went well today. He got more shots poor lil guy. The nurse had me hold him and then I promptly kept feeding him his bottle. He usually does pretty good with them. He hasn't had any reactions so far. Here's hoping he does great tonight and has no issues. He's 9 lb 14.5 oz and 22 inches long!! He's gaining slowly but surely. I asked about when we start rice cereals and the NP we saw today said she'd call the NICU nutritionist to double check. Turns out they start preemies on meat first. We are going to have to come up w/ a meat substitute plan b/c I feel very strongly against giving my baby real meat. That's a decision he can make down the line in high school like his daddy did. I have an easy recipe for gluten which is super high in protein, plus there is tofu and all the Morning Star meat substitues I can grind up. Oh boy... had no idea we were going to have this issue to deal with...
The last time I blogged was on Sunday July 21st. That Monday the 22nd I had a doctors appointment and RJ ended up not getting a lot of his naps. I was talking to Robert about wondering how long RJ would sleep if I didn't set my alarm. I was getting tired of the set night schedule. So, I went to bed around 10pm and bolted awake around 4am all confused b/c I hadn't been woken up! Turns out RJ was just super duper tired. The rest of the week he would give me at least one 5-6 hr stretch. Then we went on vacation and that changed. We've been watching his weight on a regular basis and it dipped from about 9.5 lbs to 9 lbs, so we decided to start waking him up during the night again. On our vacation he was automatically waking up every 3 hrs or so and now that we are home I'm back to setting my alarm clock. Bummer....
I started to write a few things down on a sticky note that I wanted to blog so I would't forget. I even thought I'd blog while on vacation, but we didn't have very good internet. I remember a few weeks back it was during the middle of the day and I was breastfeeding. All of a sudden RJ pulled himself off and just stared up at me intently. I stared back at him. It was so sweet. After he had studied me, he went back to eating.
So RJ had his first flight cross country last week. Last Sunday in preparation Robert had to pack b/c he had a 24 hr OB call shift on Monday and we were to fly out of Lexington at 11am Tuesday morning. We had been at the lake for a large part of the day Sunday and it was late when we got home, just in time for RJ's bedtime. We decided to have RJ sleep in his own room so Robert could pack. We put the co-sleeper in his crib so he would feel safe and not feel like too many changes happened. I had the iPad set up w/ the monitor screen next to our bed, but was afraid I wasn't going to hear him cry. Needless to say I didn't sleep very good that night. I prayed God would wake me up and he did. RJ didn't have any screaming sessions. :)
August 8, 2013:
RJ was pretty fussy yesterday afternoon/evening. I was unable to finish my post, so here's my next try. :) Our trip to Monterey, CA went well. We went to see Robert's grandma who is over 95 years old. It turned into a mini family reunion. His parents were gracious enough to purchase our tickets. We are of course saving our shekels. I was super nervous about flying w/ an infant and how to feed him and pump. I opted to breastfeed and supplement w/ bottles. It worked way better on the trip out than on our return. I have to admit that I was way more exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally than RJ was after all the flights. Thankfully we didn't have any uncontrollable crying on the planes. He was able to be pacified. It was special being able to introduce RJ to his great-grandma and his aunts and cousins. I was even lucky to get extra sleep in the mornings after mom took RJ. He got lots of grandma and great-grandma time.
RJ has adjusted back to eastern time pretty well. It's taken longer to get him to sleep at night even though it's clear he's tired. I also had to start giving him a bottle either before or after breastfeeding him the past few nights. I guess he's going through another growth spurt or something. Last night I got teary-eyed b/c I felt like he wanted the bottle over my boobs. It's such a special thing to breastfeed and I felt like he was starting to grow out of it. He likes the instant food versus being patient. I don't know... we shall see what happens. Because he had lost a lil weight before our trip, I decided to start waking RJ up twice a night to feed him a bottle. I guess it's been working since he's about 10 lb now!!
I ended up giving RJ a dose of Tylenol last evening to see if that would help him be less fussy. At least he was able to sleep pretty well last night. He woke up an hr earlier this morning and has been fussy all day. It's been extra challenging to figure out what he's needing. I gave him another dose of Tylenol this morning. He had flinched when I was putting on his lotion this morning to his legs. He didn't take much of a morning nap, so after his 11am feeding I knew he was tired. He fought it terribly. I ended up taking him upstairs to rock him in his room and then bring him back downstairs to his swing. What a mess...
Oh I keep forgetting to mention that the last time my mom was here she brought my baby book. It was fun looking through it and reminiscing. Turns out my first baby pic in the hospital shows me sticking my tongue out. Robert felt so much better to know RJ's tongue thing must be genetic. :) It was pretty funny.
So, I ended up switching my birth control method a few weeks ago. I've just been having the worst time gaining weight. I thought it was supposed to slowly fall off after the baby was born. It's quite depressing to see the numbers slowly increasing. Anyways, in addition to the exercising I've been trying to do, I'm starting to make "green" smoothies in the mornings and watching my carb intake. Today was my third day and it's been going pretty well. I have the "green" smoothie (spinach, apple, banana, apple juice, celery, and vanilla yogurt) in the morning w/ a slice a of bread ( that only has 7 carbs and is super delicious from Trader Joe's). Then salad and some main dish for lunch and a big salad for supper. Robert helped me put the groceries away the other night and said "Wow there's a lot of green in this fridge!" Hehehe. I got to do something so my clothes will fit again. Workout clothes and dresses is all I can wear currently without going out to buy a new wardrobe. Oh mercy... Ok that's enough of my ranting.
Well silly RJ is still not wanting to poop on a regular schedule. The past few weeks he's gone 7 days without anything, so I've had to give him a suppository. Then of course there is action. It's pretty ridiculous. I've been doing the rectal stimulation, but it just doesn't seem to be working. It's like he doesn't feel the urge to poop. It's still another month or so before we go back to Peds Surg regarding this issue. They keep saying he's going to grow out of it. Diaper changing is a whole lot less messy 99% of the time. :)
Well, I've been working on going through all the pictures we've taken since I went into the hospital in January. It's taken me a long time b/c I wasn't very consistent. It was at times quite emotional looking at those early pictures of when RJ was so sick. I was semi reliving the experiences. We were wanting to make copies of pics for Robert's great grandma to leave w/ her, but that didn't quite happen. So the other night I uploaded multiple hundreds of pics to Shutterfly so I could make a photo book. It's currently around 60 pages long. I wanted to tell the story of RJ's entrance into the world from the beginning of my being hospitalized. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. It could have been so much worse. I tend to be a pessimist and Robert the optimist. He keeps reminding me that when I start feeling down to just stop and take a second to remember where we came from and how much worse it could have been for both RJ and myself. We had a million angels working over time to help protect us. There must be a special purpose for sparing both our lives.
The past couple mornings I've tried a new approach to my mornings. I've stayed awake after the 4:30am feeding and pumping. I come downstairs to make a hot drink and have some worship for about 30 mins. Yesterday morning I succumbed to the couch after that and feel asleep till RJ woke up. Today I was able to stay awake and got a number of things accomplished in the hour I had left before RJ woke up. I hope I can keep this up. It's nice to have the quiet time in the morning without distractions. I can always take a nap throughout the day.
I guess I should start working again on the photo book before RJ wakes up. I hear his lil lips a smacking. :) Thanks again for all the support, prayers, and love. We greatly appreciate it.
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