Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Lots to talk about for last week...maybe I should update more freqently haha!
My patience may finally be paying off. Jessica got me the new contact info for the new director of Maternal/Child at Parkview and....there's 2 open positions!!! I called & emailed her and she emailed me back requesting my resume. This was on Tuesday. Still haven't heard from her but I've heard they are slow so maybe she will be calling this week. The positions are not posted online yet...only internally so that might be part of the hold up. So we are praying, praying and doing a bit more praying!
On Tuesday Austin had his First Steps evaluation. It went smoothly...as smoothly as a test of development can go. He scored borderline on speech, social and adaptive skills. Therefore he qualifies for speech therapy. We had a meeting Friday to set goals and finish signing paperwork. Our income is too high for insurance to pay so we are paying out of pocket...but it's worth it (and a reasonable amount). Just waiting for the pediatrician to sign off on all the paperwork/evaluation and then our speech therapist will call us to set up his first session. He will receive one hour of therapy once a week for 3 months. We have a progress meeting set up in mid April where we will review his progress and they will decide if he qualifies for another 3 months. I am excited to see how fast he starts talking! He's already attempting to say more words. They said he has a great personality and follows directions very well. :)
We also had a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the mortgage company to sign some papers. :) Yay! :) Taking our last portion of the down payment check to the builder tomorrow! We still need to set up appointments to look at lighting at Trinity Lighting and at the 2 appliance places where the builder gets a discount. Lighting fixtures are going to be hard to pick I think! We kind of already know what type of applinaces we want. I'm only picky about the washer/dryer since what we have in this house are not stellar!
Still working on declutting, donating, organizing, etc. We have too much stuff!!
My patience may finally be paying off. Jessica got me the new contact info for the new director of Maternal/Child at Parkview and....there's 2 open positions!!! I called & emailed her and she emailed me back requesting my resume. This was on Tuesday. Still haven't heard from her but I've heard they are slow so maybe she will be calling this week. The positions are not posted online yet...only internally so that might be part of the hold up. So we are praying, praying and doing a bit more praying!
On Tuesday Austin had his First Steps evaluation. It went smoothly...as smoothly as a test of development can go. He scored borderline on speech, social and adaptive skills. Therefore he qualifies for speech therapy. We had a meeting Friday to set goals and finish signing paperwork. Our income is too high for insurance to pay so we are paying out of pocket...but it's worth it (and a reasonable amount). Just waiting for the pediatrician to sign off on all the paperwork/evaluation and then our speech therapist will call us to set up his first session. He will receive one hour of therapy once a week for 3 months. We have a progress meeting set up in mid April where we will review his progress and they will decide if he qualifies for another 3 months. I am excited to see how fast he starts talking! He's already attempting to say more words. They said he has a great personality and follows directions very well. :)
We also had a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the mortgage company to sign some papers. :) Yay! :) Taking our last portion of the down payment check to the builder tomorrow! We still need to set up appointments to look at lighting at Trinity Lighting and at the 2 appliance places where the builder gets a discount. Lighting fixtures are going to be hard to pick I think! We kind of already know what type of applinaces we want. I'm only picky about the washer/dryer since what we have in this house are not stellar!
Still working on declutting, donating, organizing, etc. We have too much stuff!!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Here is a good link to explain it.
http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site3268/mainpageS3268P0.html
http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site3268/mainpageS3268P0.html
What a week!
Worked Monday and then finalized new house selections on Tuesday!...plus paid another huge portion of the down payment...
Then Wednesday morning both boys had (unplanned) pediatrician appointments. Austin has had a small bump on the side of this face since Saturday morning. It wasn't gettting better or smaller so I called to see if his doc could check it out. Turns out its a mild staph infection. She was able to open and drain it. We are doing triple antibiotic ointment and a bandaid for a week. She did not see any signs of cellulitis or further infection to warrant oral antibiotics. So far he has been leaving the bandaid alone! yay for Austin :)
Now for Mason... while we were there Wednesday morning I asked their peditrician if she minded taking a look at Mason's skull & sutures even though we weren't there for him. She was fine with it. I've noticed over the past couple months (maybe less) that his metopic suture (one by the forehead in front of the anterior fontanel) seems to be closing early and forming a ridge. She agreed. :( She said we will follow his head circumferences over the next 6 months and as long as they don't drop in percentiles he won't need intervention. If they do drop then we will have further workup to ensure that his brain isn't being affected and surgery to reopen the suture as a worst case scenario. It is reassuring that only one is closing too early (she felt all of them) because it can get serious very fast if more than one closes too early. His diagnosis: Metopic Synostosis.
Had a great day yesterday. :) Love being home with my boys and I want to work less!
Hoping tonight goes fast at work. Off Saturday and work Sunday. Hoping to make some more decluttering progress on the house on Saturday. We've thrown or donated tons of stuff already it feels like. We also took down the bifold doors in front of our washer/dryer since they are stupid and they always get stuck on the carpet! So now we have curtains in front of it.
Worked Monday and then finalized new house selections on Tuesday!...plus paid another huge portion of the down payment...
Then Wednesday morning both boys had (unplanned) pediatrician appointments. Austin has had a small bump on the side of this face since Saturday morning. It wasn't gettting better or smaller so I called to see if his doc could check it out. Turns out its a mild staph infection. She was able to open and drain it. We are doing triple antibiotic ointment and a bandaid for a week. She did not see any signs of cellulitis or further infection to warrant oral antibiotics. So far he has been leaving the bandaid alone! yay for Austin :)
Now for Mason... while we were there Wednesday morning I asked their peditrician if she minded taking a look at Mason's skull & sutures even though we weren't there for him. She was fine with it. I've noticed over the past couple months (maybe less) that his metopic suture (one by the forehead in front of the anterior fontanel) seems to be closing early and forming a ridge. She agreed. :( She said we will follow his head circumferences over the next 6 months and as long as they don't drop in percentiles he won't need intervention. If they do drop then we will have further workup to ensure that his brain isn't being affected and surgery to reopen the suture as a worst case scenario. It is reassuring that only one is closing too early (she felt all of them) because it can get serious very fast if more than one closes too early. His diagnosis: Metopic Synostosis.
Had a great day yesterday. :) Love being home with my boys and I want to work less!
Hoping tonight goes fast at work. Off Saturday and work Sunday. Hoping to make some more decluttering progress on the house on Saturday. We've thrown or donated tons of stuff already it feels like. We also took down the bifold doors in front of our washer/dryer since they are stupid and they always get stuck on the carpet! So now we have curtains in front of it.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Happy New Year! :) (9 days late ha ha)
We had our first appointment with First Steps yesterday to complete paperwork/insurance forms. Our evaluation is scheduled for Jan 22 (wanted a Tuesday so Andy would be home). Two therapists (for a non bias report) will be looking at 6 areas of development for Austin & it will take approximately an hour & a half. Interested to see what they say. We then have the third and final meeting on Jan 25 (if we for sure qualify) & we will decide goals for therapy. My cousin Amy has her twin boys in speech therapy with First Steps as well so it will be nice to have someone to talk to about it.
Mason is doing great at sitting up now. Rolling both ways is also going fairly well. He has a harder time getting back to his back once he has rolled to his belly sometimes. The past two mornings we have found him on his belly. Silly boy...causes a panic attack for his momma!! I remember when Austin started rolling over to sleep on his belly too ha ha. He is still liking his rice cereal for the most part but I think we will move to oatmeal soon since he has tolerated the rice with no difficulty.
Andy's day off for 2013 is now Tuesday ...which means my mom will have the boys more often since Tuesdays are never an option for me to work since one of our prn NNPs works one day a week every Tuesday. Maybe this is a sign of things changing for the better....wishful/hopeful thinking.
We are possibly going to start building sooner than February!! Andy said we technically have enough to put down for the builder to start building so it's more up to the builder if he can dig the basement in the frozen ground...or us if Andy decides it would be better to hold off til our house is a little closer to being ready to put in the market in case it sells fast. We meet tomorrow evening to finish our selections (paint, brick color, etc). I really hope our house sells in perfect timing so that we don't have to move into an apartment or something. If it doesn't then we have decided we will go the rental option or the rent to own option since we don't want 2 mortgage payments!
We had our first appointment with First Steps yesterday to complete paperwork/insurance forms. Our evaluation is scheduled for Jan 22 (wanted a Tuesday so Andy would be home). Two therapists (for a non bias report) will be looking at 6 areas of development for Austin & it will take approximately an hour & a half. Interested to see what they say. We then have the third and final meeting on Jan 25 (if we for sure qualify) & we will decide goals for therapy. My cousin Amy has her twin boys in speech therapy with First Steps as well so it will be nice to have someone to talk to about it.
Mason is doing great at sitting up now. Rolling both ways is also going fairly well. He has a harder time getting back to his back once he has rolled to his belly sometimes. The past two mornings we have found him on his belly. Silly boy...causes a panic attack for his momma!! I remember when Austin started rolling over to sleep on his belly too ha ha. He is still liking his rice cereal for the most part but I think we will move to oatmeal soon since he has tolerated the rice with no difficulty.
Andy's day off for 2013 is now Tuesday ...which means my mom will have the boys more often since Tuesdays are never an option for me to work since one of our prn NNPs works one day a week every Tuesday. Maybe this is a sign of things changing for the better....wishful/hopeful thinking.
We are possibly going to start building sooner than February!! Andy said we technically have enough to put down for the builder to start building so it's more up to the builder if he can dig the basement in the frozen ground...or us if Andy decides it would be better to hold off til our house is a little closer to being ready to put in the market in case it sells fast. We meet tomorrow evening to finish our selections (paint, brick color, etc). I really hope our house sells in perfect timing so that we don't have to move into an apartment or something. If it doesn't then we have decided we will go the rental option or the rent to own option since we don't want 2 mortgage payments!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!! We sure did!! :) Boys got everything they needed...and wanted! Andy & I did as well. :)
Mason started rice cereal this past Sunday to celebrate his 6 month birthday haha! He loved it! Still loves it almost a week later. Thursday he started rolling both ways as well. Doing much better sitting up on his own too!! Just in time for their milestone pics at the picture studio tomorrow. :) He is still not sleeping through the night when I am home. Doesn't bother me...he will when he's ready. When I am at work he makes a little noise around 5-6am and Andy offers him his pacifier and tells me he falls right back to sleep til 7-7:30.
Austin loves his new train track we got him and his new World of Words Baby Einstein dvd that my parents got him. Those are the 2 current favs right now but he does enjoy all of his new toys. :) Called First Steps because they still hadn't called me to set up an evaluation time...our "service coordinator" is out of the office til January 2nd. So hopefully we will hear something mid week next week. Anxious to get his speech therapy started. He's already attempting to say more words each week so hopefully this will be a good boost to his vocabulary! Read, read, read to your little ones! Thought we were reading enough but now I have the "mom guilt."
Our family pictures arrived in the mail today but I didnt get a chance to open and look at them before I had to head back into work. Excited to see how they look!!
Mason started rice cereal this past Sunday to celebrate his 6 month birthday haha! He loved it! Still loves it almost a week later. Thursday he started rolling both ways as well. Doing much better sitting up on his own too!! Just in time for their milestone pics at the picture studio tomorrow. :) He is still not sleeping through the night when I am home. Doesn't bother me...he will when he's ready. When I am at work he makes a little noise around 5-6am and Andy offers him his pacifier and tells me he falls right back to sleep til 7-7:30.
Austin loves his new train track we got him and his new World of Words Baby Einstein dvd that my parents got him. Those are the 2 current favs right now but he does enjoy all of his new toys. :) Called First Steps because they still hadn't called me to set up an evaluation time...our "service coordinator" is out of the office til January 2nd. So hopefully we will hear something mid week next week. Anxious to get his speech therapy started. He's already attempting to say more words each week so hopefully this will be a good boost to his vocabulary! Read, read, read to your little ones! Thought we were reading enough but now I have the "mom guilt."
Our family pictures arrived in the mail today but I didnt get a chance to open and look at them before I had to head back into work. Excited to see how they look!!
Friday, December 21, 2012
Busy week!
Monday: Austin had his 2 year appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 80th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height! 95th for head circumference...big noggin'! She was happy with everything growth wise. She is concerned about his speech...as are we. He should have 50 or so recognizable words (words only we can understand don't count). I would say he has about 20-25 words. She referred us to First Steps and they will see him weekly for the next few months. They have yet to call me back to set up an evaluation time ...but his Pedi said with the holiday it could take some time. He is very smart and she could see that. :) Expressive speech delay is our diagnosis. She said this will help with temper/frustration from him not always having the words to tell us whats wrong. His birthday dinner at Andy's parents Monday night went well. Got some cute toys & pjs.
Wednesday: Mason had his 6 month appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 40th percentile for weight and 50th for height. 25th for head circumference...which is about where he has been. Steady growth! :) She was happy with his head and body control. Said we could very slowly start cereal and then other solids. I'm not going to rush him because his tummy is already sensitive enough!! He tolerated his vaccines great and was fairly sleepy the rest of the day and a good chunk of yesterday.
Thursday: Met with the home selections coordinator to start picking out stuff for the house! We decided on: siding color, gutter/trim color, shutter & front door color, carpet, foyer wood choice, kitchen/bathroom flooring, fixtures/drawer pulls for kitched, counters, & cabinets. Sounds like a lot but most of it was kinda easy. Guess Andy & I just agree haha! We are going to go look at a house that has the same siding color that we picked so we can see the brick that the homeowners picked to see if we like it or if we want to pick a different color. Every house in the addition we picked has to have so many square feet of brick or stone on the front. So whats left to pick? ....lots! We go back in early January to hopefully finish our selections. Then later in January or maybe Feb we will go pick out appliances and lighting.
Our house has quite a bit of little things to get done before we can put it up for sale. Looking forward to sprucing it up ...not looking forward to figuring out how to arrange all the toys so that it doesnt look like Toys R Us in our living room! Might have to get a storage unit for a month or two!
Monday: Austin had his 2 year appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 80th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height! 95th for head circumference...big noggin'! She was happy with everything growth wise. She is concerned about his speech...as are we. He should have 50 or so recognizable words (words only we can understand don't count). I would say he has about 20-25 words. She referred us to First Steps and they will see him weekly for the next few months. They have yet to call me back to set up an evaluation time ...but his Pedi said with the holiday it could take some time. He is very smart and she could see that. :) Expressive speech delay is our diagnosis. She said this will help with temper/frustration from him not always having the words to tell us whats wrong. His birthday dinner at Andy's parents Monday night went well. Got some cute toys & pjs.
Wednesday: Mason had his 6 month appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 40th percentile for weight and 50th for height. 25th for head circumference...which is about where he has been. Steady growth! :) She was happy with his head and body control. Said we could very slowly start cereal and then other solids. I'm not going to rush him because his tummy is already sensitive enough!! He tolerated his vaccines great and was fairly sleepy the rest of the day and a good chunk of yesterday.
Thursday: Met with the home selections coordinator to start picking out stuff for the house! We decided on: siding color, gutter/trim color, shutter & front door color, carpet, foyer wood choice, kitchen/bathroom flooring, fixtures/drawer pulls for kitched, counters, & cabinets. Sounds like a lot but most of it was kinda easy. Guess Andy & I just agree haha! We are going to go look at a house that has the same siding color that we picked so we can see the brick that the homeowners picked to see if we like it or if we want to pick a different color. Every house in the addition we picked has to have so many square feet of brick or stone on the front. So whats left to pick? ....lots! We go back in early January to hopefully finish our selections. Then later in January or maybe Feb we will go pick out appliances and lighting.
Our house has quite a bit of little things to get done before we can put it up for sale. Looking forward to sprucing it up ...not looking forward to figuring out how to arrange all the toys so that it doesnt look like Toys R Us in our living room! Might have to get a storage unit for a month or two!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
We had Austin's birthday party for my side of the family (his mom wants to have her own little dinner Monday) last Saturday and it went well. Curious George theme was a hit and he still loves having the big balloon in the living room. :) He got some cute toys from my parents and grandparents. Didn't really like his cake again this year...maybe when he gets older haha! He did touch the icing though haha. :)
He was stuffy for his party and it progressed to major coughing and raspy voice on Sunday. He then was up in the middle of the night on Sunday night with the "barking seal cough". :( :( So we went in Monday morning to see the Pediatrician & he was diagnosed with croup. She said Mason just has a cold. Austin got oral steriods for 3 days. We have also been running a humidifier in his room for naps and bedtime since Monday night & it seems to help him fall asleep faster...maybe because its so loud! He seems to be completely better now.
Mason still has cold symptoms ...thankfully no crazy coughing like his big brother! Hopefully he is well soon!
Lots to talk about coming up this week.... Austins second birthday(!!) tomorrow, his two year appt Monday, Mason's 6mt appt Wednesday, & part one of house selections (siding color, cabinet color, drawer knobs, etc) Thursday. :) Glad I had enough PTO to take a day off this past week for Austins sickness and a day off this coming week since we are busy at home. :)
Only have about half (or less) of my Christmas shopping done. Yikes! Our tree is still not up! :( ...Maybe tomorrow night?!
He was stuffy for his party and it progressed to major coughing and raspy voice on Sunday. He then was up in the middle of the night on Sunday night with the "barking seal cough". :( :( So we went in Monday morning to see the Pediatrician & he was diagnosed with croup. She said Mason just has a cold. Austin got oral steriods for 3 days. We have also been running a humidifier in his room for naps and bedtime since Monday night & it seems to help him fall asleep faster...maybe because its so loud! He seems to be completely better now.
Mason still has cold symptoms ...thankfully no crazy coughing like his big brother! Hopefully he is well soon!
Lots to talk about coming up this week.... Austins second birthday(!!) tomorrow, his two year appt Monday, Mason's 6mt appt Wednesday, & part one of house selections (siding color, cabinet color, drawer knobs, etc) Thursday. :) Glad I had enough PTO to take a day off this past week for Austins sickness and a day off this coming week since we are busy at home. :)
Only have about half (or less) of my Christmas shopping done. Yikes! Our tree is still not up! :( ...Maybe tomorrow night?!
Friday, December 7, 2012
Mason had his follow up GI appt (from his blood in stool fiasco last month). Everything looks great according to the doctor! He was 17lbs with no clothes and a dry diaper...(I believe this weight more than the one at the peds urology office since he had clothes & diaper on for that one.) He said we can start rice cereal at six months if his Pedi agrees as well. He recommended I make my own solids to eliminate cross contamination or use Beech-Nut brand since they are more strict with how they make their baby food versus Gerber, etc. I am nervous to start this whole food process!! He's finally in a happy place and I don't want to upset his tummy again!
We met with the builder to start learning more information on Thursday night. We have settled on a floor plan...we had looked at a home mostly built with the floorplan we liked online. So with this builder and wanting to live on the northwest to east side of Fort Wayne we are somewhat limited on housing additions. We are going to meet with him again on Monday morning and drive through the addition that has some lots that we can pick from if we like the addition. Kinda nervous about all the little things that might pop up with expenses....like for instance....we have to pay for the sidewalk in front of the house. Reasonable? yes. But I didn't think of that haha!
We met with the builder to start learning more information on Thursday night. We have settled on a floor plan...we had looked at a home mostly built with the floorplan we liked online. So with this builder and wanting to live on the northwest to east side of Fort Wayne we are somewhat limited on housing additions. We are going to meet with him again on Monday morning and drive through the addition that has some lots that we can pick from if we like the addition. Kinda nervous about all the little things that might pop up with expenses....like for instance....we have to pay for the sidewalk in front of the house. Reasonable? yes. But I didn't think of that haha!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Mason's Pediatric Urology appointment was yesterday afternoon. Went well and we like the Doc from Riley. So nice that Lutheran has these outpatient clinics for different doctors to come in and do consults/follow ups.
We learned that there is nothing structurally wrong with Mason's penis. It is a skin abnormality (to put it in easy to understand terms) that developed very early on in utero. It is not genetic and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Doctor said it is quite common and Mason has a very mild form of it. He said that there is no surgery needed unless we want him circumcised. Also praised our Pediatrician group....said many Peds would not catch this and would end up taking off too much skin trying to do the circumsion and the baby would have to undergo another surgery to fix it.
If we decide we want it done the earliest he will do it is at 8mts of age. He would be put under, get a spinal block (similar to an epidural) and then have the surgery. He did tell us that right now many baby boys aren't getting circumcised after delivery anymore. Mason would have full function of his anatomy and nothing would be hindered. So we are undecided at the moment on what to do. Luckily we have some time before we have to make a decision.
He is growing like a weed! ..... 17lbs 14oz but that was with his clothes and diaper on so I'm guessing he is more like 17lbs 8oz?
We learned that there is nothing structurally wrong with Mason's penis. It is a skin abnormality (to put it in easy to understand terms) that developed very early on in utero. It is not genetic and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Doctor said it is quite common and Mason has a very mild form of it. He said that there is no surgery needed unless we want him circumcised. Also praised our Pediatrician group....said many Peds would not catch this and would end up taking off too much skin trying to do the circumsion and the baby would have to undergo another surgery to fix it.
If we decide we want it done the earliest he will do it is at 8mts of age. He would be put under, get a spinal block (similar to an epidural) and then have the surgery. He did tell us that right now many baby boys aren't getting circumcised after delivery anymore. Mason would have full function of his anatomy and nothing would be hindered. So we are undecided at the moment on what to do. Luckily we have some time before we have to make a decision.
He is growing like a weed! ..... 17lbs 14oz but that was with his clothes and diaper on so I'm guessing he is more like 17lbs 8oz?
Saturday, November 24, 2012
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! :)
Austin is now 23 months old....less than a month until he's 2! Better get party planning!! :) He has a new love of Veggie Tales ...my aunt got a bunch from a garage sale and gifted them to us. Alan & Cassie have been home since Wednesday evening and he's loving spending time with them!
Mason is 5 months old & growing fast!! Outgrowing a couple of size 6mts stuff. Crazy! He is now starting to sit unassisted for about 5 seconds at a time. Yay! One step closer to him being happy because he is not a fan of laying down! Allergy issues seem to be ok at the moment...momma hasn't eaten anything that has upset him lately. :) He is very grabby with food (or anything else) that you have in your hand though so I think he'll be ready for cereal after next months appointment. We see the Pediatric Urologist on Friday to have his boy parts evaluated and determine the course of action needed.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! :)
Austin is now 23 months old....less than a month until he's 2! Better get party planning!! :) He has a new love of Veggie Tales ...my aunt got a bunch from a garage sale and gifted them to us. Alan & Cassie have been home since Wednesday evening and he's loving spending time with them!
Mason is 5 months old & growing fast!! Outgrowing a couple of size 6mts stuff. Crazy! He is now starting to sit unassisted for about 5 seconds at a time. Yay! One step closer to him being happy because he is not a fan of laying down! Allergy issues seem to be ok at the moment...momma hasn't eaten anything that has upset him lately. :) He is very grabby with food (or anything else) that you have in your hand though so I think he'll be ready for cereal after next months appointment. We see the Pediatric Urologist on Friday to have his boy parts evaluated and determine the course of action needed.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! :)
Monday, November 12, 2012
Coak House Update:
Just when things are under control...Mason wakes up Thursday morning and poops....and it looks very suspicious. TMI alert...his diaper had red mucous like stuff mixed with the poop. Oh great! :( Then 45 or so minutes later another poopy diaper. This one had red streaks in it. Call Dr. Mallah and leave a voicemail for the phone nurse. She calls me back around 10am and says "Please come in! Before 12!" So we do. She does the hemoocult (test for blood in stool) and it's positive right away. :(
So we wait for Dr. Mallah to come in and see us to tell me the next plan of action. In short, I am eliminating beef and continuing to restrict soy and now restricting nuts. Why beef you ask? Well beef and dairy are soooo closely related since they are from the same animal. So it's the logical next step. It's a possiblity that I just ate something that wasn't labeled right or was "contaminated". We did every other feeding of the speciality formula from Friday-Sunday and I pumped (ugg). Today I haven't given him any formula since his poop is back to "his normal". On the plus side he weighed 16lbs at the office. Gaining just fine. :)
He also is laughing!! Not a lot but he is doing it finally!! My friend Jessica got some good belly laughs out of him yesterday while we were shopping. :)
Austin is back to saying "Pee!" He had stopped for a couple weeks but started saying it again this weekend. Andy said he also said "poop" yesterday while I was gone. Thats promising because we are hoping to start potty training in a couple months. He has also added some new words lately..."coat", saying "ruff, ruff" for dog, "ghee" for grandma, ...I know there's more but I am spacing on what they are.
I had a phone interview on Wednesday for Bronson Methodist in Kalamazoo. They were very pleased with how it went and said I was "eager." They went me to come up for a tour and lunch with the neonataologists at the end of the month. Glad this new recruiter is working out for me. Its nice to be able to hear what the other side thinks after an interview. This position is rotating days and nights, still 16 hour shifts and it is about 10-15minutes farther to drive. So ...not really sure what I want to do. Its a much bigger unit (45 beds with 5 step down beds) and they do most surgeries there. So I would get a ton of experience from the bigger unit size plus being able to learn from the neos while I am on the day shifts. But....I'm still crossing fingers and praying almost daily that Parkview is able to post a position early next year.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Mason had his 4 mt appt on Monday! Crazy! Stats are to the right. His weight puts him in the 55th% and his length puts him in the 45th%...he's longer than Austin was at this age. His head is 16.5in which is the 25th%...kinda has a small noggin'.
He is in some 3-6mt size clothes but mostly size 6mts. So long!! Dr. Camille wasn't worried about his development like I was. She said we will adjust for his age and that I shouldn't compare him to Austin. She said Austin was above average on most skills during his first year of life so comparing Mason to Austin just isn't fair. She did say he needs more tummy time...he is not always a fan but we will continue to do it in 5-10 minute increments several times a day with hopes that he likes it better soon. She was very happy with his head control, trunk control, tracking and weight bearing on his legs. Yay for Mason!! :) He tolerated his shots/oral rotavirus vaccine ok.
Austin is on a BIG dada kick right now. If Andy is at work its... "dada, dada" several times a day until he gets home from work. Happy that he loves to be with Andy. Less anxiety for me when I'm at work! His latest obsession is throwing ...and attempting to catch a ball! Of course Andy is thrilled about this. :) The 2 balls we got him are big...almost the size of a volleyball but much lighter.
He is in some 3-6mt size clothes but mostly size 6mts. So long!! Dr. Camille wasn't worried about his development like I was. She said we will adjust for his age and that I shouldn't compare him to Austin. She said Austin was above average on most skills during his first year of life so comparing Mason to Austin just isn't fair. She did say he needs more tummy time...he is not always a fan but we will continue to do it in 5-10 minute increments several times a day with hopes that he likes it better soon. She was very happy with his head control, trunk control, tracking and weight bearing on his legs. Yay for Mason!! :) He tolerated his shots/oral rotavirus vaccine ok.
Austin is on a BIG dada kick right now. If Andy is at work its... "dada, dada" several times a day until he gets home from work. Happy that he loves to be with Andy. Less anxiety for me when I'm at work! His latest obsession is throwing ...and attempting to catch a ball! Of course Andy is thrilled about this. :) The 2 balls we got him are big...almost the size of a volleyball but much lighter.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sorry for the complete lack of updates!! I've been very busy and when I do have downtime I am usually attempting to go to bed early or browsing Pinterest (obsessed!). Updating from work since there are currently no distractions. :)
Austin: Doing great! Never did his 21 mt post and he will be 22 mts in a couple of days. Bad momma! He likes repeating words right now...or at least attempting! Started saying "ha ha" this week. Andy said he said "no nigh nigh" the other night when he put him to bed while I was at work. He goes to bed very easily so I think he just wanted one more book read to him. Getting better and better about saying "I pee" or grabbing himself. Wonder how soon it'll be before he tells us before he actually does it?! No rush on potty training...I've heard it can backfire greatly! I am worried about his vocabulary a little bit...hence the obsession with blogging about his words and phrases. He doesn't have very many kiddos his age to interact with often so we are attempting Sunday school/nursery at church more often to see if that helps. He is a great sharer of toys (and sippy cups) so far. :) He is almost completely in size 24mts/2T (depending on how the brand does their sizing). Crazy to think his second birthday is in a couple months! We are pretty sure we are doing a Curious George theme.
Mason: Also doing great! Missed his 3mt post...gotta put blogging on my to do list I guess! His reflux is soooo much better!! He still averages 2-3 outfits a day but even then it's not massive amounts of reflux going everywhere. He coos a lot! :) Not laughing yet and not transferring objects from hand to hand yet (2 things Austin was doing by his age)...Andy keeps reminding me that we have to correct/allow time due to his early age...which I know but it's hard not to compare them. This little guy LOVES to coo though...very, very chatty! I've been trying to get it on my phone camera but as soon as he sees it he just stares at the case and stops cooing. Stinker. Drooling has started....really hope teething isn't close behind that. Tolerating the Nutramigen AA when needed.
Work: Going well. Staying steady at 6-8 babies (we can hold 12). Got my first speeding ticket on the toll road...guess I was due for one since this was the third time I've been pulled over since I started working here. ugg. I had gotten out late & needed to get home so Andy could get to work at the time he told them he would be there (he goes in late on the days where I work the night before since I don't get home until 8:45-9am). Cop was not sympathetic haha! Not looking forward to working the holidays this year. So far I'm working Thanksgiving Eve (which is fine) and Christmas Eve (sad about this one and trying to see if I can do something else!).
Misc: Manager for Parkviews NICU emailed and said she is thinking they will get approval to post a NNP position early next year. Hopefully they find room in their budget! We have decided that we are going to be building a house!! Starting in March-April of next year! We are excited...we've been talking about it for several months and have been trying to map out budget wise when would be good and that is the timeframe that we have decided upon! :) We haven't really started looking at housing additions yet...only looked at The Oaks so far. We will more than likely build in an addition since the builder pays for the lot so there is no upfront fee. We have talked with Brandon & Kelly (Andys sis & husband) since they are currently building their second house...they've had some good tips about what to look and who to talk to.
Hope to update sooner so its not such a looooong post next time!!
Austin: Doing great! Never did his 21 mt post and he will be 22 mts in a couple of days. Bad momma! He likes repeating words right now...or at least attempting! Started saying "ha ha" this week. Andy said he said "no nigh nigh" the other night when he put him to bed while I was at work. He goes to bed very easily so I think he just wanted one more book read to him. Getting better and better about saying "I pee" or grabbing himself. Wonder how soon it'll be before he tells us before he actually does it?! No rush on potty training...I've heard it can backfire greatly! I am worried about his vocabulary a little bit...hence the obsession with blogging about his words and phrases. He doesn't have very many kiddos his age to interact with often so we are attempting Sunday school/nursery at church more often to see if that helps. He is a great sharer of toys (and sippy cups) so far. :) He is almost completely in size 24mts/2T (depending on how the brand does their sizing). Crazy to think his second birthday is in a couple months! We are pretty sure we are doing a Curious George theme.
Mason: Also doing great! Missed his 3mt post...gotta put blogging on my to do list I guess! His reflux is soooo much better!! He still averages 2-3 outfits a day but even then it's not massive amounts of reflux going everywhere. He coos a lot! :) Not laughing yet and not transferring objects from hand to hand yet (2 things Austin was doing by his age)...Andy keeps reminding me that we have to correct/allow time due to his early age...which I know but it's hard not to compare them. This little guy LOVES to coo though...very, very chatty! I've been trying to get it on my phone camera but as soon as he sees it he just stares at the case and stops cooing. Stinker. Drooling has started....really hope teething isn't close behind that. Tolerating the Nutramigen AA when needed.
Work: Going well. Staying steady at 6-8 babies (we can hold 12). Got my first speeding ticket on the toll road...guess I was due for one since this was the third time I've been pulled over since I started working here. ugg. I had gotten out late & needed to get home so Andy could get to work at the time he told them he would be there (he goes in late on the days where I work the night before since I don't get home until 8:45-9am). Cop was not sympathetic haha! Not looking forward to working the holidays this year. So far I'm working Thanksgiving Eve (which is fine) and Christmas Eve (sad about this one and trying to see if I can do something else!).
Misc: Manager for Parkviews NICU emailed and said she is thinking they will get approval to post a NNP position early next year. Hopefully they find room in their budget! We have decided that we are going to be building a house!! Starting in March-April of next year! We are excited...we've been talking about it for several months and have been trying to map out budget wise when would be good and that is the timeframe that we have decided upon! :) We haven't really started looking at housing additions yet...only looked at The Oaks so far. We will more than likely build in an addition since the builder pays for the lot so there is no upfront fee. We have talked with Brandon & Kelly (Andys sis & husband) since they are currently building their second house...they've had some good tips about what to look and who to talk to.
Hope to update sooner so its not such a looooong post next time!!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Work: Started Sept 10th doing evening shift with the other full time NNP for Mon-Thurs. That went well. :) Did 8 hr day shifts the past 4 days with one of the neonataologists...she said I did great!! :) On my own now for 16 hrs (3pm-7am). I've done 2 admissions and one transfer out (to St Vincents for surgery) now. :) Also went to some high risk deliveries and a very high risk c-section.
Austin: Doing awesome! :) Loves to climb now, which can be scary! He loved being at my parents this week and especially loved that my dad gets home at 4pm so he could spend a whole hour outside (while my mom staying inside with Mason) til I picked him up around 5. :) He hates to come back inside most days. Still waiting on more teeth to come in....teething takes forever in this house! He also is getting very good at walking next to you and staying next to you when walking from the house to the car (Andy parks outside and did drop off at my parents this past week so he got lots of practice walking to & from the house).
Mason: Doing much better. Saw the GI doctor on Sept 13th & he confirmed a milk protein allergy. He also recommended that I limit or cut out my soy since 50% of babies with milk protein allergy also have a soy protein allergy. He weighed in a whooping 13lbs at the office! His symptoms are much improved over the last couple of weeks. He had to have one bottle of formula Tues, Wed & Thurs because I didn't have enough breastmilk :(...and he did not tolerate it well. It was Similac Alimentum which is made for babies with milk protein allergy...well I guess the milk protein is only partially broken down. So we now are going to be using Nutramingen AA (different than regular Nutramingen you see in the store) if we need formula and see how that goes. His GI dr gave us a sample can to try and if it works we will have to special order it. Hopefully he doesn't need much formula anyways. He is very smiley and coos often. :) Tried the bumbo seat yesterday and he liked it! Still loves to watch his brother play! :)
I'm sure there's more to write about but that's all I can think of for now! Updating the blog from work...seems easier than trying to do it at home where there's always something else that needs to be done!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Whew...this week was long and fast at the same time.
Mason had a rough week! We started Prevacid Tuesday (after a pain in the butt process to get it from the compound pharmacy)...not sure it's working any better than the Zantac though. Need to give it a few more days I think. Wednesday & Thursday were awful in terms of fussiness and reflux. Called his pediatrician Friday because I was feeling so very helpless. She is out of ideas and referred us to the pediatric GI group here in Fort Wayne. We have an appointment this coming Thursday morning.
I am upset that my maternity leave wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Mason certainly has his happy times but I wish he felt better. I've struggled with guilt from the day he was born. First with being mad at myself for wanting to deliver since I was over being pregnant, then stressed and guilty about him needing the NICU, and now wishing that I could do more to help him.
The milk elimination diet isn't going too bad. Currently missing Starbucks real whip cream and Reese's peanut butter cups. Oh well. He's worth it! Hopefully the GI doc has some answers or ideas. I'm sure they'll want to do some diagnostic testing or bloodwork. Gah...more pain and uncomfortableness for my sweet little boy.
Nervous about how things will go next week with me working 4 days in a row...bathtime/bedtime routines can be tricky when only one parent is home!
Austin is becoming quite the repeater with words. It's cute to hear him repeat stuff! :) Currently loving stickers, Little Einsteins DVD and Curious George. Love him so much!
Mason is also cooing more and smiling more when he is awake and happy. The reflux doesn't seem to be keeping him from gaining weight...he's getting some cute chubby cheeks! :) Love him!!
Mason had a rough week! We started Prevacid Tuesday (after a pain in the butt process to get it from the compound pharmacy)...not sure it's working any better than the Zantac though. Need to give it a few more days I think. Wednesday & Thursday were awful in terms of fussiness and reflux. Called his pediatrician Friday because I was feeling so very helpless. She is out of ideas and referred us to the pediatric GI group here in Fort Wayne. We have an appointment this coming Thursday morning.
I am upset that my maternity leave wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be. Mason certainly has his happy times but I wish he felt better. I've struggled with guilt from the day he was born. First with being mad at myself for wanting to deliver since I was over being pregnant, then stressed and guilty about him needing the NICU, and now wishing that I could do more to help him.
The milk elimination diet isn't going too bad. Currently missing Starbucks real whip cream and Reese's peanut butter cups. Oh well. He's worth it! Hopefully the GI doc has some answers or ideas. I'm sure they'll want to do some diagnostic testing or bloodwork. Gah...more pain and uncomfortableness for my sweet little boy.
Nervous about how things will go next week with me working 4 days in a row...bathtime/bedtime routines can be tricky when only one parent is home!
Austin is becoming quite the repeater with words. It's cute to hear him repeat stuff! :) Currently loving stickers, Little Einsteins DVD and Curious George. Love him so much!
Mason is also cooing more and smiling more when he is awake and happy. The reflux doesn't seem to be keeping him from gaining weight...he's getting some cute chubby cheeks! :) Love him!!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Can't believe it's already Friday again. Only one more week of maternity leave. :(
Plans to go see my cousin, her husband, their twin boys and new baby girl tomorrow at my Aunt & Uncles house! Yay! This is the cousin who has twins 6 days older than Austin and a new baby girl almost 4 weeks younger than Mason. Should be great fun! :) They live south of Bloomington and will be at their parents for the weekend which is just under 2 hours from us so they planned a family get together so everyone could meet the newest baby...Lillian. :)
In other news...I am so happy I passed my boards!! :) So nice not having to study everyday!!
Milk free diet is going ok. Having some frustrating moments when I crave something that I can't have but I know it's worth it and it's short term in the grand scheme of things. Mason's symptoms are slowly improving. :)
Plans to go see my cousin, her husband, their twin boys and new baby girl tomorrow at my Aunt & Uncles house! Yay! This is the cousin who has twins 6 days older than Austin and a new baby girl almost 4 weeks younger than Mason. Should be great fun! :) They live south of Bloomington and will be at their parents for the weekend which is just under 2 hours from us so they planned a family get together so everyone could meet the newest baby...Lillian. :)
In other news...I am so happy I passed my boards!! :) So nice not having to study everyday!!
Milk free diet is going ok. Having some frustrating moments when I crave something that I can't have but I know it's worth it and it's short term in the grand scheme of things. Mason's symptoms are slowly improving. :)
Friday, August 24, 2012
Busy, busy week so I decided not to blog til today! Didn't really have a lot going on...just the usual 20 million outfit and diaper changes a day. Learning how to do most everything one handed since Mason is quite the fussy boy.
Mason is 2 months old now! His appointment was today and he is 11lbs 9oz (50th%), 21.75in long (12th%) and his head is 15in (12th%). Sooo...he's longer and weighs more than Austin did at his 2mt but I think his head is smaller. Will have to look it up. I think that contributes to him still looking more like a newborn than a infant.
Lots of stuff covered at this appointment....
For starters: we will be adjusting his milestones due to his somewhat early arrival. I didn't think 3 weeks would matter but she said that it would. Already have evidence of that since he just started smiling this past weekend and hasn't done it everyday yet. He started some cooing earlier this week and that has increased in the last day or so. :) She does think he will roll over early since he is so hypertonic (tight muscles for non medical peeps) due to always splinting/guarding himself against the pain of reflux.
She did increase his Zantac dose since he gained a bit more weight so that should help. He was increased to 0.8ml twice a day at the 6 week weight check and she increased him to 1.2ml twice a day today. Recheck in a month to see if the dosage is still working.
I've got a feeling we will be seeing the insides of doctors offices a lot in the coming months...
So onto the milk protein allergy issue. His stool was tested on Monday for blood. It was negative. With a (undiagnosed/untreated) milk protein allergy the blood in stool may not show up until the baby is a few months old due to the chronic inflammation. So it wasn't unreasonable that his was negative. Based on his many, many symptoms that matched the milk protein allergy she went ahead and diagnosed him with it. He should start to get better in 2-6 weeks. Takes a while for the milk protein to leave my system and his. I had already started the new diet this past weekend but was not completely aware of what all I need to avoid. I know have the ingredient list of what I can't have so I feel more confident. Whey and casein are milk protein derivatives....they are in everything it seems like! Had to throw out my "dairy free" coffee creamer yesterday because it has sodium caseinate in it. If he is not much improved in 6 weeks we will do bloodwork. I'm sure I'll keep ya updated. Random factoid of the week...Oreo's are "safe" for me to eat! haha :)
Also this allergy is completely different than lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is actually rare in babies....while milk protein allergy is uncommon in adults. There is a good chance Mason will grow out of this as his intestine matures! We will do a "milk challenge" test around 9 months of age. Could take up to 5 years (or more) to outgrow the allergy. Doctor said most outgrow it around 1-3 years of age.
Next on the issue agenda: his penis. My poor lil guy has penoscrotal webbing. Not sure how much detail or if I've even talked about this on the blog. It isn't dinner table conversation and I don't want to gross anyone out. His isn't terribly noticeable...actually wasn't caught until they were prepping him for his circumcision. So no circumsion for him until he sees a pediatric urologist to determine the course of action. We see the pediatric urologist on November 30th. He comes once a month from Riley Children's Hospital to the Lutheran Pediatric Outpaitent clinic to see kids and do consults and followups. So we will see him on his November visit to Ft Wayne. He didn't want to see Mason til he was 4-6 mts of age. If he needs surgery and then circumcision it will be done at Riley when he is older than 6 mts. Do yourself a favor and don't google it! It comes up with a bunch of adult men with the disorder and the extreme versions of the webbing. His is minor.
I think that's all I wanted to blog about with regards to his appointment. Other than his few medical issues she is very happy with his weight and his development thus far. :)
Mason is 2 months old now! His appointment was today and he is 11lbs 9oz (50th%), 21.75in long (12th%) and his head is 15in (12th%). Sooo...he's longer and weighs more than Austin did at his 2mt but I think his head is smaller. Will have to look it up. I think that contributes to him still looking more like a newborn than a infant.
Lots of stuff covered at this appointment....
For starters: we will be adjusting his milestones due to his somewhat early arrival. I didn't think 3 weeks would matter but she said that it would. Already have evidence of that since he just started smiling this past weekend and hasn't done it everyday yet. He started some cooing earlier this week and that has increased in the last day or so. :) She does think he will roll over early since he is so hypertonic (tight muscles for non medical peeps) due to always splinting/guarding himself against the pain of reflux.
She did increase his Zantac dose since he gained a bit more weight so that should help. He was increased to 0.8ml twice a day at the 6 week weight check and she increased him to 1.2ml twice a day today. Recheck in a month to see if the dosage is still working.
I've got a feeling we will be seeing the insides of doctors offices a lot in the coming months...
So onto the milk protein allergy issue. His stool was tested on Monday for blood. It was negative. With a (undiagnosed/untreated) milk protein allergy the blood in stool may not show up until the baby is a few months old due to the chronic inflammation. So it wasn't unreasonable that his was negative. Based on his many, many symptoms that matched the milk protein allergy she went ahead and diagnosed him with it. He should start to get better in 2-6 weeks. Takes a while for the milk protein to leave my system and his. I had already started the new diet this past weekend but was not completely aware of what all I need to avoid. I know have the ingredient list of what I can't have so I feel more confident. Whey and casein are milk protein derivatives....they are in everything it seems like! Had to throw out my "dairy free" coffee creamer yesterday because it has sodium caseinate in it. If he is not much improved in 6 weeks we will do bloodwork. I'm sure I'll keep ya updated. Random factoid of the week...Oreo's are "safe" for me to eat! haha :)
Also this allergy is completely different than lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is actually rare in babies....while milk protein allergy is uncommon in adults. There is a good chance Mason will grow out of this as his intestine matures! We will do a "milk challenge" test around 9 months of age. Could take up to 5 years (or more) to outgrow the allergy. Doctor said most outgrow it around 1-3 years of age.
Next on the issue agenda: his penis. My poor lil guy has penoscrotal webbing. Not sure how much detail or if I've even talked about this on the blog. It isn't dinner table conversation and I don't want to gross anyone out. His isn't terribly noticeable...actually wasn't caught until they were prepping him for his circumcision. So no circumsion for him until he sees a pediatric urologist to determine the course of action. We see the pediatric urologist on November 30th. He comes once a month from Riley Children's Hospital to the Lutheran Pediatric Outpaitent clinic to see kids and do consults and followups. So we will see him on his November visit to Ft Wayne. He didn't want to see Mason til he was 4-6 mts of age. If he needs surgery and then circumcision it will be done at Riley when he is older than 6 mts. Do yourself a favor and don't google it! It comes up with a bunch of adult men with the disorder and the extreme versions of the webbing. His is minor.
I think that's all I wanted to blog about with regards to his appointment. Other than his few medical issues she is very happy with his weight and his development thus far. :)
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