Fun day!

Happy Friday!!

This morning Jack and I went over to Brooke's house for Jack's 6 month pictures!  I am definitely looking forward to seeing his pictures and I'm sure Brooke did a wonderful job!  Jack was adorable and seemed to enjoy himself!  He was excited to see Brooke and gave her some of his good smiles!  I'll post a couple of pictures I got of him when we got home as soon as I load them on the computer!  Here is one from my phone though...

Tired after a busy morning!

6 month check up...

Jack had a wonderful 6 month check up at the doctor today.  He now weighs in at 10lb 12.5oz, 23 1/8 in long and growing well.  The doctor said he looked great and figures he will do just fine once his cleft is fixed.  It was wonderful to hear that!  We are now enjoying some wonderful cuddle time since he did have to get a couple of shots this morning.  Here are some updated pictures of Jack to enjoy!!

6 months...

Six months ago our world changed...for the better!  We did not expect Jack to arrive in the fashion he did, but we are thankful he's here and doing so well.  I was very groggy and out of it for those days I was in the hospital but we got to know many people so well over the course of Jack's time in the NICU and can't imagine our lives without those wonderful people now.  Jack's nurses took such wonderful care of him and that's what helped get us to this 6 month mark.  We are looking forward to the many years to come with Jack!

Happy six month birthday Jack!!! 

Jack's looking forward to his 6 month pictures with Brooke next week, but here are a couple I took this morning!

Therapy...

Jack has started First Steps PT and OT this past week.  He has been doing well with interacting with people (that's nothing new!) and definitely charmed both of his therapists!  Yesterday during OT, he worked on bringing things to his mouth, grabbing toys in sidelying, and tummy time!  Jack sometimes gets angry with tummy time and mostly it's because his legs start moving and he face plants himself into the floor - poor little guy!  We've been working on tummy time to help with weightbearing through his forearms and head control.  Dustin got a cute picture of Jack during tummy time!

We'll be working on all of Jack's exercises to help get him up developmentally to his actual age but his OT did say he was advanced for his adjusted age!!  Yay - GO JACK!! 

Watch out...

Jack was being rather cute this afternoon and I caught a smile on my camera!  He's going to be a heartbreaker!  Love this little guy!

Mr. Morning Charmer...

Who would have thought that our little man would be a morning baby but for some reason he seems to be.  Jack does this routine of stretching that rivals any adult.  He kicks his legs out then scrunches them up under himself and stretches his arms high over his head, afterwards he gives out a cute little smile to us.  He's just so funny!  We get to go to the eye doctor this morning and hopefully this will be our last of the scary appointments!  Jack then has physical therapy and hopefully he won't be so worn out after his eye appointment! 

What's going on...

Overall we had a nice enjoyable weekend except for Saturday morning/afternoon.  We spent most of Saturday in the ER trying to figure out why Jack spit up - sounds strange, I know, but when you have a NJ feeding tube, you shouldn't spit up because the food is bypassing the stomach and going into the small intestine.  So, we packed up and headed in - of course we figured they would check to see if the tube had moved up into his stomach and depending upon that we would be on our way home - hoping for a fairly quick trip - yeah right.  6 hours later - yes 6 - we were finally on our way home, tube had not moved and the doctors could not explain why he had spit up.  It wasn't normal food/milk spit up and we are now noticing that when we give Jack his medicine in the morning, he seems to gag while we are pushing it through his NJ tube.  I'm planning on calling GI and ENT to let them know about this because I can only figure it is some way related to Jack's reflux and we are trying to calm down the reflux with the feeding tube not make it worse.  So as far as I know he continues to battle reflux which is going to make fixing his cleft more of a problem since the redness and inflammation won't decrease until that's better - seems to be a vicious cycle. 

Outside of our fun trip to the ER, the weekend was great!  Dustin and I enjoyed ourselves at the party on Saturday night.  Grandpa T and Grandma Nell enjoyed babysitting Jack!  We all tried to have a fairly relaxing Sunday. 

Looking forward to getting through another week on the feeding tube and looking towards May!

Maybe a plan...

I talked with the NP from ENT today (so many initials!) - looks like there is a tentative plan in place regarding Jack and his abnormality.  May 14, 2010 is the day - GI is planning on doing a scope and ENT will fix the laryngeal cleft as long as it looks decent (meaning not too red and inflammed).  They are concerned about scarring after repairing the cleft which can lead to more problems with swallowing but we are hoping everything goes well and his cleft will be repaired at that time.

Good news - Jack laughed today!  He has been giving us these full face, open mouthed grins lately and I got a little giggle/laugh out of him today!  It was the best medicine I could have received!  I was sooo happy!  He knows just what to do!  We went shopping - headed to Babies R Us (they had a great coupon) and Jack got bunches of clothes today!  I'm trying to plan ahead - bought him the 3-6 month size rather than 0-3mo size planning that he'll be in the bigger size soon!  He's such a big man these days!  He'll be styling in his new clothes!  Maybe I'll get to go shopping for myself soon also! :)

Grandpa T and Grandma Nell are coming down to babysit tomorrow night so Dustin and I can be at Jess' "Wig-Out" party!  We are looking forward to a fun night with friends!  Good luck to everyone tomorrow walking in Race for the Cure~We love you Jess!!

Discouraged...

Well, I thought after 3 weeks of the feeding tube Jack's redness and swelling of the area around his cleft would have improved - no such luck.  After going to the ENT yesterday, it's actually worse!  How does that happen?  I really wish I knew because I could have used some good news yesterday.  So, we are now seeing GI also and a week from Monday they will all discuss - GI, ENT, pulmonology - what the plan will be for Jack.  GI will probably check his belly and hopefully ENT will fix his cleft at that point.  This has been such a long road and we were so hopeful for a simple answer after his past hospitalization and a quick fix to get him back to taking bottles.  Unfortunately no such luck on that one.  Anyways, I'm just rather discouraged and needed to get this off my chest so I can work on staying positive for Jack and not let him see my stress and frustration. 

Double digits...

Woohoo!!  Jack made it into the double digits for our weight check yesterday!  He is exactly 10lbs!!  Also, when they pulled up his growth chart for his actual age, he was actually on the chart at the 1% mark.  I was pretty excited that he was actually ON the chart - I wasn't expecting him to be on the chart since he's adjusted to 2+ months.  I went ahead and checked his length - 22.5in and head circumference - 38cm! 

He seems to be over the feeding tube and wanting to actually eat - the pacifier just isn't helping much anymore. 
We have more things to work on from physical therapy yesterday:

1.  Tummy time:  3-5x/day
2.  Playing with toys while laying on his back
3.  Using toys with eyes on them or high contrast books/toys

We worked on a little tummy time yesterday afternoon and we'll get started with that 3x/day today!  I hope he enjoys this!!

Working on more pictures...

Tomorrow is a big day...weight check at the doctors office and Jack's first physical therapy session!  I'm looking forward to that - I can't wait to learn about what we should be working on with him! 

I have a bunch of pictures to load but haven't had a chance lately.  That is one of my goals to work on tomorrow!! 

Another year older...

I'm enjoying a wonderful birthday with my little Jack man.  I actually just put him down for a nap because he's been fighting it all afternoon.  We spent part of the morning at Target (mainly to get one of his prescriptions which I thought the dr's office was supposed to send over for a refill and they didn't) and we wanted to get our buddy Grant something for his 1-year birthday (April 13).  Jack seemed to enjoy our time at Target - he liked being pushed around in the cart! 

We then drove over to visit Grant and Jess.  We had a nice visit with them, gave Grant his birthday present - books!  He enjoyed them!  Grant is letting Jack borrow his Bumbo seat right now - look at the big man sitting in it!

I'm definitely happy to have such a great day with Jack - turning another year older isn't much fun - especially now that I am actually in my thirties!  Oh well, I can handle it as long as I've got Jack and Dustin around!! :)

What a nice day!

Jack and I very much enjoyed the sunshine today!  We went to the pediatrician - outside of the fact that he lost a little bit of weight from when he was in the hospital, they said he looked really good!  The doctors at the hospital had decreased the calories of his feeds, so the ped increased the calories back up and hopefully when we go in on Tuesday for a weight check he'll be 10lbs.  He was giving out big smiles and even gave me a small laugh!

We went on a nice walk around the neighborhood and even though it was really windy, we worked up a nice sweat.  After our walk, we went to the butcher shop in Carmel and saw Grandpa Fritz.  Then we headed to see my friend Carrie and her new little man Owen.  Jack was still giving out big smiles to Carrie.  Owen slept through their first meeting, but I'm sure these 2 boys will get together many times in the years to come!!

Jack reached out and grabbed his first toy today!  He was playing with Dustin and grabbed the ring on one of his toys!  You'd think he had won the lottery!  We were so excited!!  Go Jack!!

Happy Easter...

We enjoyed a nice Easter dinner with Grandma Nell, Grandpa T, Aunt Marianne and Uncle Steve.  Jack was giving out smiles all day!  He looked handsome in his new outfit from Aunt Marianne - our little prince charming!  

And the cute little backside to the outfit and Jack!

We took our first family walk of the spring tonight - it was wonderful!  Jack took a little nap while we were walking and seemed to enjoy himself!  I liked being outside and checking out the neighborhood after a long winter! 

 

Out and about...

Jack enjoyed his first trek out into the world yesterday!  We haven't taken him anywhere except doctor's appointments since he's been home but we decided that yesterday would be a good day to go shopping.  We loaded up the stroller, car seat, and Jack and headed to Home Depot, Kohls, and Target.  We kept Jack in his car seat and put it into the stroller and were able to place the canopy just right to where only we could look at him.  Dustin pushed Jack around most of the time and thankfully no one came really close to peek in!  Jack loved being in his stroller and liked moving around!  He got mad when we stopped! :)  We ended our big day at Aunt Marianne and Uncle Steve's house watching Butler beat Michigan State!

We were sent home from the hospital with an oximeter to spot check Jack's oxygen level while being off oxygen.  So far, he's been doing very well!  We've been taking him off during the day and putting him back on at night to allow for restful sleep for everyone!  The feeding tube is going well - just have to add food every 4 hours.  We'll go to the pediatrician on Tuesday and get his synagis shot and a weight check - hoping for 10lbs!!

Hope everyone has a happy easter!  Dustin and Jack are fixing me breakfast as I pump right now.  Jack got a Baby Bijorn so we can do things around the house while holding him! :)

Home again...

Good News - Jack was d/c'd today!!!  Yay!  We are thrilled, of course, but he'll have to return to the hospital to repair the cleft in about a month.  It stinks he can't take anything by mouth and he's a little extra cranky since nothing is going into his stomach - this is the best way though.  He'll get all the calories he needs to get bigger and stronger without using them to feed.  Hopefully he won't have to relearn how to eat.  We will get through all of this and in a few years, he won't remember anything!  I am glad they found what was going on ... I wish it could have been found sooner though! :)