Bah. Bah bah bah.
So I got a phone call about my little guy today. It turns out that the pulling in his newly fixed heart is affecting the bloodflow to his left lung after all. So now he has to have another procedue, which will happen on Friday at Children's Hospital. This will require another overnight stay.
I have more details, but I must say I've had a very long and very tiring day...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Ha! A new post!
Let me tell you, we have been very busy...
Last month Mr. Caleb was feeling a little under the weather. We took him to his regular pediatrician and they sent us for an overnight in the hospital. Any other baby they said that they would have sent home with a "keep an eye on him." But they wanted to keep an even closer eye on him. So we spent the night at Children's Hospital. What was wrong with him? Who knows!! His fever was gone by that afternoon in the ER, and he was playing and being a normal baby. His breathing, which had turned to a rough grunting, was smooth once again.
That week his family from Kentucky came to visit: Auntie, Nana and Great Grandma (aka Granny). We had a good week with them. He didn't mind getting poked and prodded by family. :)
Today we had his "Lung Profusion Scan." They checked to see how much blood was flowing from the heart to each lung. I do not know the results of this scan... the techs wouldn't even give me an idea. From my viewpoint I could see there WAS indeed blood flowing to each lung, and to me it looked like there was a difference, but not a huge one. Of course, I am not a tech, and I cannot say for sure.
We also had his weight-check and doctor visit. He is 12.5lbs now. I was mistaken earlier when I said he was 50% all the way. He was 50% in height/head size. 25% is where he is on his weight. So I got a skinny little guy. He's actually not all that skinny! He does have a cute little belly, nice chubby thighs and arms... a dinky bum, though! He has the cutest little bottom.
He's doing well, except we must now add another doctor: an eye doctor. His pediatrician thinks that his eyes are very slightly crossed. So they just want to make sure there are no eye muscle problems. As we've heard countless times, it's better to fix this stuff now than wait until he's older (and yet we've heard countless times that they're waiting until he's older to do certain things!)
Last month Mr. Caleb was feeling a little under the weather. We took him to his regular pediatrician and they sent us for an overnight in the hospital. Any other baby they said that they would have sent home with a "keep an eye on him." But they wanted to keep an even closer eye on him. So we spent the night at Children's Hospital. What was wrong with him? Who knows!! His fever was gone by that afternoon in the ER, and he was playing and being a normal baby. His breathing, which had turned to a rough grunting, was smooth once again.
That week his family from Kentucky came to visit: Auntie, Nana and Great Grandma (aka Granny). We had a good week with them. He didn't mind getting poked and prodded by family. :)
Today we had his "Lung Profusion Scan." They checked to see how much blood was flowing from the heart to each lung. I do not know the results of this scan... the techs wouldn't even give me an idea. From my viewpoint I could see there WAS indeed blood flowing to each lung, and to me it looked like there was a difference, but not a huge one. Of course, I am not a tech, and I cannot say for sure.
We also had his weight-check and doctor visit. He is 12.5lbs now. I was mistaken earlier when I said he was 50% all the way. He was 50% in height/head size. 25% is where he is on his weight. So I got a skinny little guy. He's actually not all that skinny! He does have a cute little belly, nice chubby thighs and arms... a dinky bum, though! He has the cutest little bottom.
He's doing well, except we must now add another doctor: an eye doctor. His pediatrician thinks that his eyes are very slightly crossed. So they just want to make sure there are no eye muscle problems. As we've heard countless times, it's better to fix this stuff now than wait until he's older (and yet we've heard countless times that they're waiting until he's older to do certain things!)
Friday, June 15, 2007
Big Week!!
Well, this was a huge week for the little one. Little guy, big times.
Monday came all too soon for mama. It was the day that I started back at work. This is a good thing because now I am getting paid again (I ran out of my vacation/sick time). So I’m back at work doing my thing. It went well at first, and I can make it generally through half a day before I start missing him so much. Honestly if I could make this same money and work part-time, I would love that. I like being out of the house and talking to people, and yet I also like being with my little bug. I try to keep the phone call down to once a day to my mom.
The first day I called and she picked up he was crying in the background. This started me crying at my desk. I wanted to be there and hug him and have him crying in my ear in person!
Wednesday didn’t come soon enough. What was Wednesday? His cardiology appointment, and the day I took off from work. Usually we leave the house before 8am and get home about 1pm. It’s a long day, so I thought I would just take the remainder of the day off to be with him.
The cardiologist went well. He was weighed, measured and declared cute! I didn’t get an exact weight off of them, we were having so much trouble trying to get the bug to stretch out for his height that I forgot. He was measured twice in height, and the end result was 23 inches. The nurse felt he looked longer than that, but he wasn’t going to cooperate to find out.
After we went through that wiggly episode, we took him for the echo. He sat still for like… 12 seconds. Then he started to wiggle and get upset. He didn’t like the cold gel on him, and he didn’t like the probe pushing on him. A bottle let him keep quiet (but not still) for a few minutes. Finally they let him fall asleep on me before they did a few more scans. In the end Caleb declared he didn’t like having his belly pushed on by the person doing the echo (who is a nice lady!) and woke up to complain about it.
They followed this torture up with a blood pressure (ANGRY baby) and an EKG (he didn’t really care). Both of these looked fantastic.
His cardiologist said that everything is looking so well. What she is concerned about is that she cannot see the left part of his heart in the scans. Why not? A) Wiggly baby, B) Scar tissue on the front of his chest, C) the left side is hard to see and D) the little guy is a ‘difficult scan’ even today. What she wants to see is how the blood is flowing to the lungs. If blood to the lungs is going well, then she knows that part of his heart is going well.
The next step: A chest x-ray. So we went down to the x-ray, and we were shown on a stuffed bunny how the baby was supposed to lay for his x-rays (and asked if anyone could be pregnant—I know the answer to this is definitely no, but it’s still a scary question to someone who just had a baby!). Let me tell you, Caleb did NOT think much of this at all.
At all.
I’m sure the other parents were all a little scared at the screams that were going on. At least we know that the lungs are definitely working!!
The torture was soon finished with and we went back to our room to wait. The doctor examined the chest x-rays and then came back with her report. The bloodflow to his lungs is definitely un-even. How un-even? They can’t tell from the x-ray. What they are going to have to do is do another one, but this time with an IV with special tracers so that they can tell how much is going to each lung.
If it is 60/40ish… no problem.
If it is 80/20… no problem now, but it could be a problem when he’s an adult. She’s now looking 20-40 years down the road for him. She mentioned that she’s overly cautious and conservative, and this we know.
If things are fine: great, no problem.
If there is something that needs to be fixed, then he will need to go to the cardiac cath lab to see if there is anything that can be done about it. This test that we’ll do will be within the next few months.
To prove how well he was developing, Caleb decided to show them his stuff. He sat up, held his head up very nicely, and then rolled over. Yes, he rolled from his back to his front. He was so surprised and shocked that he let out a yell. I rolled him back over, and he just rolled right back on his tummy. I left him there for a moment, but he would have nothing of it.
And still… yes there is more… he wasn’t even going to leave his day alone! He and I were playing together, and I was blowing raspberries onto his tummy and giving him a little lift into the air. He had a great smile on his face. Then suddenly I lifted him up and down, and he looked at me and laughed out loud for the first time!! A real laugh!! Again it startled him so much he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He decided that was enough laughing and hasn’t made a peep yet.
Oh what a sweet boy I have!! I just don't like the fact that now I only get four hours a day with him before he's going off to bed, and only 20 minutes in the morning when we have our a.m. bottle together. Please note he gets the bottle, I just get to snuggle with him. :)
Monday came all too soon for mama. It was the day that I started back at work. This is a good thing because now I am getting paid again (I ran out of my vacation/sick time). So I’m back at work doing my thing. It went well at first, and I can make it generally through half a day before I start missing him so much. Honestly if I could make this same money and work part-time, I would love that. I like being out of the house and talking to people, and yet I also like being with my little bug. I try to keep the phone call down to once a day to my mom.
The first day I called and she picked up he was crying in the background. This started me crying at my desk. I wanted to be there and hug him and have him crying in my ear in person!
Wednesday didn’t come soon enough. What was Wednesday? His cardiology appointment, and the day I took off from work. Usually we leave the house before 8am and get home about 1pm. It’s a long day, so I thought I would just take the remainder of the day off to be with him.
The cardiologist went well. He was weighed, measured and declared cute! I didn’t get an exact weight off of them, we were having so much trouble trying to get the bug to stretch out for his height that I forgot. He was measured twice in height, and the end result was 23 inches. The nurse felt he looked longer than that, but he wasn’t going to cooperate to find out.
After we went through that wiggly episode, we took him for the echo. He sat still for like… 12 seconds. Then he started to wiggle and get upset. He didn’t like the cold gel on him, and he didn’t like the probe pushing on him. A bottle let him keep quiet (but not still) for a few minutes. Finally they let him fall asleep on me before they did a few more scans. In the end Caleb declared he didn’t like having his belly pushed on by the person doing the echo (who is a nice lady!) and woke up to complain about it.
They followed this torture up with a blood pressure (ANGRY baby) and an EKG (he didn’t really care). Both of these looked fantastic.
His cardiologist said that everything is looking so well. What she is concerned about is that she cannot see the left part of his heart in the scans. Why not? A) Wiggly baby, B) Scar tissue on the front of his chest, C) the left side is hard to see and D) the little guy is a ‘difficult scan’ even today. What she wants to see is how the blood is flowing to the lungs. If blood to the lungs is going well, then she knows that part of his heart is going well.
The next step: A chest x-ray. So we went down to the x-ray, and we were shown on a stuffed bunny how the baby was supposed to lay for his x-rays (and asked if anyone could be pregnant—I know the answer to this is definitely no, but it’s still a scary question to someone who just had a baby!). Let me tell you, Caleb did NOT think much of this at all.
At all.
I’m sure the other parents were all a little scared at the screams that were going on. At least we know that the lungs are definitely working!!
The torture was soon finished with and we went back to our room to wait. The doctor examined the chest x-rays and then came back with her report. The bloodflow to his lungs is definitely un-even. How un-even? They can’t tell from the x-ray. What they are going to have to do is do another one, but this time with an IV with special tracers so that they can tell how much is going to each lung.
If it is 60/40ish… no problem.
If it is 80/20… no problem now, but it could be a problem when he’s an adult. She’s now looking 20-40 years down the road for him. She mentioned that she’s overly cautious and conservative, and this we know.
If things are fine: great, no problem.
If there is something that needs to be fixed, then he will need to go to the cardiac cath lab to see if there is anything that can be done about it. This test that we’ll do will be within the next few months.
To prove how well he was developing, Caleb decided to show them his stuff. He sat up, held his head up very nicely, and then rolled over. Yes, he rolled from his back to his front. He was so surprised and shocked that he let out a yell. I rolled him back over, and he just rolled right back on his tummy. I left him there for a moment, but he would have nothing of it.
And still… yes there is more… he wasn’t even going to leave his day alone! He and I were playing together, and I was blowing raspberries onto his tummy and giving him a little lift into the air. He had a great smile on his face. Then suddenly I lifted him up and down, and he looked at me and laughed out loud for the first time!! A real laugh!! Again it startled him so much he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He decided that was enough laughing and hasn’t made a peep yet.
Oh what a sweet boy I have!! I just don't like the fact that now I only get four hours a day with him before he's going off to bed, and only 20 minutes in the morning when we have our a.m. bottle together. Please note he gets the bottle, I just get to snuggle with him. :)
Monday, June 4, 2007
Friday check and another big day!
On our Friday weight check, the baby was 10lbs and 13oz. Huge! Well, in my opinion. In their opinion he still needs to bulk up. They're making a nicely chubby baby. Apparently he's still behind in his weight, even though he looks happy and chubby to me!
Today we went to our first Mariner's game. We didn't stay very long--there were some loud and obnoxious people in our row, and the baby couldn't get his little nap time in. You can imagine that didn't make him happy. So we moved!!
The baby sat and looked around, and was very interested in the lights and the people around him. He was watching a lot of what was going on. The last few days he's been very interested in his surroundings. It is like something just clicked and now he's noticing that his world is more than just a few feet in front of his face.
On Sunday we had his portraits taken. It was quite the adventure. We had to do all sorts of poses, and all kinds of contorting to get ourselves those shots. The pictures turned out fantastic. We're going to get them back in 7-10 days, and already have next month's appointment. We went in there with a coupon, but left with a ton of photos ordered. Oops.
Other than that... I'm tired, cranky, and logging off... :)
Today we went to our first Mariner's game. We didn't stay very long--there were some loud and obnoxious people in our row, and the baby couldn't get his little nap time in. You can imagine that didn't make him happy. So we moved!!
The baby sat and looked around, and was very interested in the lights and the people around him. He was watching a lot of what was going on. The last few days he's been very interested in his surroundings. It is like something just clicked and now he's noticing that his world is more than just a few feet in front of his face.
On Sunday we had his portraits taken. It was quite the adventure. We had to do all sorts of poses, and all kinds of contorting to get ourselves those shots. The pictures turned out fantastic. We're going to get them back in 7-10 days, and already have next month's appointment. We went in there with a coupon, but left with a ton of photos ordered. Oops.
Other than that... I'm tired, cranky, and logging off... :)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Caleb's Big Adventure
Today was a big day for the little boy! :)
He started out by waking up relatively late. He slept in until just after 10. I got him up and brought him into our bedroom. He was wearing his green striped PJs with three turtles on them that say, "One.. Two... Three... Cute as can be!" And it's true, he is cute!
Caleb sat on my arm with his feet pressed against Eric's side. Eric tickled him, and the baby laughed and smiled. They played for about twenty minutes, although when Eric's attention started to wane, the baby reminded him who was boss with a few swift kicks in the ribs. Yeah, try to play the game, will you, daddy?? Take THIS! *kick*
When he was finishing playing, I brought him downstairs and we filled up the bathtub for the first time. Normally he just gets a sponge bath or is suspended via hammock over the water in the tub. Today he's old enough and his scar is healed enough for a bath where he can sit in the water. We didn't use a lot of water, just enough for his bum to be covered and his legs to splash if he kicked. At first he was like, "OMGNO!" but then he realized the water was just fine. I did try to put him in the deeper end near the end of our bath, and he said no thanks to that one. One step at a time, I guess.
After that he had his first 100% formula bottle. He's been on fortified breast milk since he was born (26 calorie for those of you who know). Now he's taking so much volume per feed, and my supply is dwindling so I'm moving him to formula. For me, this is a big stress reliever, because it's hard to realize that you can't make enough food to feed your own child. I've gone through a lot of emotions over it, and I think finally I've come to terms with it. As for Caleb, he drank 3oz both feeds he's taken it, and doesn't seem to mind a bit.
After an afternoon nap, Grandma and I packed up the little dude and drove him to the Bellevue city park. We walked the 1/2 mile loop around the park, with the little one in the stroller. We stopped at a bench to watch the baby ducks (well, Caleb mostly kept his eyes clothes with the bright light and the wind, I don't think he noticed the ducks at all). The walk was seemingly enjoyable for him. Today was very hot--81 degrees at 6pm when we were on the walk, but very breezy.
Caleb may think the camera is part of my body... it's always pointed at him!
Now that we got home, he's having a little bef0re-bed cranky time. :) Boys!
He started out by waking up relatively late. He slept in until just after 10. I got him up and brought him into our bedroom. He was wearing his green striped PJs with three turtles on them that say, "One.. Two... Three... Cute as can be!" And it's true, he is cute!
Caleb sat on my arm with his feet pressed against Eric's side. Eric tickled him, and the baby laughed and smiled. They played for about twenty minutes, although when Eric's attention started to wane, the baby reminded him who was boss with a few swift kicks in the ribs. Yeah, try to play the game, will you, daddy?? Take THIS! *kick*
When he was finishing playing, I brought him downstairs and we filled up the bathtub for the first time. Normally he just gets a sponge bath or is suspended via hammock over the water in the tub. Today he's old enough and his scar is healed enough for a bath where he can sit in the water. We didn't use a lot of water, just enough for his bum to be covered and his legs to splash if he kicked. At first he was like, "OMGNO!" but then he realized the water was just fine. I did try to put him in the deeper end near the end of our bath, and he said no thanks to that one. One step at a time, I guess.
After that he had his first 100% formula bottle. He's been on fortified breast milk since he was born (26 calorie for those of you who know). Now he's taking so much volume per feed, and my supply is dwindling so I'm moving him to formula. For me, this is a big stress reliever, because it's hard to realize that you can't make enough food to feed your own child. I've gone through a lot of emotions over it, and I think finally I've come to terms with it. As for Caleb, he drank 3oz both feeds he's taken it, and doesn't seem to mind a bit.
After an afternoon nap, Grandma and I packed up the little dude and drove him to the Bellevue city park. We walked the 1/2 mile loop around the park, with the little one in the stroller. We stopped at a bench to watch the baby ducks (well, Caleb mostly kept his eyes clothes with the bright light and the wind, I don't think he noticed the ducks at all). The walk was seemingly enjoyable for him. Today was very hot--81 degrees at 6pm when we were on the walk, but very breezy.
Caleb may think the camera is part of my body... it's always pointed at him!
Now that we got home, he's having a little bef0re-bed cranky time. :) Boys!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Days days days
The days go by really quickly. We have all kinds of things to do, nearly every day!! Caleb is doing fantastic. He has his moments (like today when he didn't sleep too well last night, and then cried a lot this morning.) but overall he's coming into his own schedule.
He will sleep anywhere from 4-7 hours at night (I have no idea how to predict which he will do, there doesn't seem to be a pattern). When he wakes up he hollars and is delivered a bottle. When he's finished sleeping he'll not fall asleep after the bottle, but instead look around the room wide-eyed.
We will get up and go downstairs and have some "kick boxing" time. He has a little chair he sits in and kicks and punches at a plastic blow-up ball. When he's finished with that he'll huff and puff. When picked up he'll usually need a diaper change, followed by a short nap. Then it's time for another bottle.
Somewhere in there we usually include a bath and some smile-time. He's starting to smile and have the beginnings of a laugh. He has also mastered sticking out his tongue! (Grandma taught him this) If you're not paying enough attention to him during a diaper change, you might just look down to see that he has a huge grin and his tongue sticking out at you.
Usually near the early evening/late afternoon there is a cranky period. He's unsure what to do. If it's a VERY cranky period we turn on the vacuum cleaner and he actually calms down quite well to that sound. At 10pm/10:30ish he has his nightime bottle and hopefully falls asleep quiet happily.
Friday we have a weight check... let's see how massive he is!
He will sleep anywhere from 4-7 hours at night (I have no idea how to predict which he will do, there doesn't seem to be a pattern). When he wakes up he hollars and is delivered a bottle. When he's finished sleeping he'll not fall asleep after the bottle, but instead look around the room wide-eyed.
We will get up and go downstairs and have some "kick boxing" time. He has a little chair he sits in and kicks and punches at a plastic blow-up ball. When he's finished with that he'll huff and puff. When picked up he'll usually need a diaper change, followed by a short nap. Then it's time for another bottle.
Somewhere in there we usually include a bath and some smile-time. He's starting to smile and have the beginnings of a laugh. He has also mastered sticking out his tongue! (Grandma taught him this) If you're not paying enough attention to him during a diaper change, you might just look down to see that he has a huge grin and his tongue sticking out at you.
Usually near the early evening/late afternoon there is a cranky period. He's unsure what to do. If it's a VERY cranky period we turn on the vacuum cleaner and he actually calms down quite well to that sound. At 10pm/10:30ish he has his nightime bottle and hopefully falls asleep quiet happily.
Friday we have a weight check... let's see how massive he is!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Friday appt post script
Hmm... dunno how to edit things and it's too late to try to figure it out. :)
Just wanted to say he's right on track, right in the middle as far as growth goes. Just a bit either above or below 50% in all categories of height, weight and head size. Not so bad for a baby that had such a rough start!
Just wanted to say he's right on track, right in the middle as far as growth goes. Just a bit either above or below 50% in all categories of height, weight and head size. Not so bad for a baby that had such a rough start!
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