Monday, August 31, 2009

Strength

Time and time again I was told how brave and how impressed people were that I kept such strong spirits during my complicated pregnancy. Today I sit with my little chubby cheeks and my little munchkin and think to myself how could I have ever of not had you in my life? My boys were two months old yesterday and I look at them and think wow two months already where has the time gone and why was God so good to us by giving us beautiful healthy boys after being told the worst so many times? Thats a question a may never have the answer to and my heartbreaks when I hear stories of other Mommies who have lost their little ones. If you are a dedicated reader to this blog you might recall me requesting that you pray for another little preemie named Hallie. I have never met this family or this sweet little angel, but somehow managed to get linked into their families email updates with her status after the passing of her twin brother John shortly after birth. Sadly after many many weeks of fighting and daily emails that I have been following little Hallie passed away.

For all of you who were in aw of me and thought that my trust and strength in God was so accepting you must read the final email from Kate (Hallies mother) that I got today. I admire this woman for her bravery. I was blessed with God allowing my little boys to stay grounded here with me and yet this family lost not one but two of their precious children after many complications and weeks and weeks of NICU ups and downs. Please pray for this family that God given them strength and all the support He can as they cope with another loss. Below is the final update I got...I'll warn you I cried like a baby as I was reading it, but at the same time smiled knowing that this sweet sweet child is no longer in pain or suffering and that God has brought her home.....


Hello everyone,

I've been writing updates since Mom left - a little over 11 weeks - and this is the hardest one I will have to write. Hallie passed away today at approximately 1:30 p.m.

You all got the update this morning that Hallie had a very bad overnight. Reagan had an eye appointment and we decided he would go to that and I would call if he needed to come down to the hospital. When I got in with Hallie, I saw that she was on 100% oxygen and her saturations were just in the upper 80s. Her pressures were the highest they had ever been and her chest still was not moving well. She was definitely more swollen...one of the hardest things to see was her hands - she has always been able to grip Reagan and I and hold on...she could not close her hands today. The nurse came in to give Hallie her medicine, and before she did anything, Hallie started to destat (her heart rate got jumpy and fell below 100 at times and her oxygen saturations dropped below 40 at times). They called Dr. McIntyre and she asked where Reagan was. She also started crying. She said that maybe Hallie was just waiting for us to give her permission to go, and she was ready to go play with her brother again...that got me crying of course. She said they could probably do things to keep Hallie going until Reagan got there and then we could talk about whether we were ready to let Hallie decide what to do.

I called Reagan and told him to get there as soon as possible. Hallie has shown such incredible strength through her entire life and she did it again today. Without any extra help, she did pull her stats up to where they had been when we got there...I'm so proud of how she hung on for Reagan to get there...she has been so strong and I just can't say enough how proud we are of our daughter and her spirit. They were even able to get her diaper changed - one last poopy diaper. :) Reagan and I had about 20 minutes with Hallie and could tell that she just had had enough. And when Dr. McIntyre came in to talk with us again, Hallie was starting to destat again. They decided to put Hallie in my arms, and I think she took her last breaths with me and was gone almost instantly.

I love Hallie Sara - I am so proud at how many nurses and staff came in to say goodbye to her and to tell us how much she impressed them with her strength and the fight she gave. We had 4 months with her here and we eventually will have an eternity with her in heaven. There is such peace knowing that Hallie is no longer in this swollen body and is no longer having to fight to live, but is living in the presence of God with her brother. One thing I have dreamed about since knowing I was having a daughter was getting to dance around the house with her, and now I have a tearful joy knowing that Hallie is dancing with the Lord and one day, she and I will dance together in heaven.

We're in a bit of shock - if it seems sudden to you, we actually have played out these scenarios but like with John, we kept praying for God's miraculous healing here on Earth, rather than Him needing to take her to heaven to be healed. We know that she has touched your lives as well, and we are proud of the impact she has made with her life.

Some details -

- We still do not want flowers, but we will just be making the scholarship fund at FCS now the John Andrew & Hallie Sara Kinser Memorial Scholarship. Donations can be made to this fund by making checks out to FCS and putting in the memo line the name of the scholarship (Address: Kinser Scholarship Fund, FCS, 5400 Coles Ferry Pike, Lebanon, TN, 37087)

- We will probably have a family service in Madisonville, TN, and then I would like to speak at a couple churches in Lebanon...as we figure that out, we will let people know. We are thinking about what, if anything, we will do here in Texas. We know we have tremendous support and we know that we are not the only ones that will grieve with Hallie's passing, and as we figure out details, we will let you all know.

We love you all so much. We are sad that Hallie did not get to meet all the people that have been praying for her, and yet we know that we will all be with her someday and it will be a joyful celebration. God is amazing. Simply amazing. Hallie's life is something to be celebrated because I know she showed God to us each day, and I am so thankful you let me share that with each of you. Your support - well there aren't words for how Reagan and I have been touched by God's provision for us in the friendship you have given. Obviously, we do need continued prayers as we figure out how to go on now....we are happy that Hallie is healed, but so so sad to not have her and John here with us.

Love,
Kate

Monday, August 24, 2009

Catching Up


So it’s been a while, I know. This last week has been crazy insane and I have had lots and lots going on. Ryan and I moved in to my great grandmothers house a few houses down from my parents house. All of us living together started to be a little much, but luckily my grandfather said we could move in there for a while and just pay the electric bill each month. So needless to say Ryan and I spent the vast majority of the weekend moving both our stuff and the babies stuff over to the house and a whole lot of time cleaning because nobody has been living in it for about two years. The house has a lot of great potential, but Ryan and I are making do with the current 1970’s interior.

A side from that the boys are doing good. Jason has had an increase of projectile spit up in the last week, but it comes and goes. However when he blows, he blows! You can usually count on having to bath him from head to toe because it gets all over his face, in his ears, his eyes…YOU NAME IT! Its pretty awful and messy. The other day right after his bath he did it and Ryan happened to be near the diaper bag, my purse, and other bags…you could just say there was a bit of a puddle in each of the bags that were open. It was awful! As for Reece, he is doing about the same with the reflux from the nose. His usually never comes from his mouth and always drains from his little nostrils. It’s so sad because I know it must be irritating for him and all of that mess gets in his sinuses and makes his breathing difficult. Poor baby boy…we did however go to the doctor on Friday and saw a NEW doctor who Ryan and I both really liked. She prescribed Reece an additional medicine that’s only given once a day and said we should see a change in a week to two weeks. Yay! She also said I could give it Jason and it should also help his food settle on his tummy too. The medicine had to be approved through the insurance company and the doctor had to submit orders for it to be filled so it will take a couple of days to get and have them start on it. I can’t wait for them to grow out of this or to find a fix for it (as I currently sit on the couch with dried up spit all down the leg of my black pants and two rather large wet spots on my shirt…what’s the point in changing and having more laundry to do?)

In other news Reece goes to the cardiologist on Sept. 23rd and both boys have their two month checkup on Sept. 2nd. Can you believe they are nearly 2 months old? I can’t they are growing like weeds! (Or at last Jason is) J is finally starting to outgrow most all of his newborn clothing and is in 0-3 months. Reece on the other hand is still getting good wear out of his preemie and most for it I think will still fit him for a few more weeks to come. He is such a little shrimp.

Well I think that is about it for now. I just finished ironing clothes at my mom’s house. We have a deal that I can come here and use the net and do a little laundry and cleaning in exchange for $50.00 a week and internet (plus I cranked the AC up over at our house for the day while I am not there…ha)

LOTS & LOTS of pictures from the last week ½ that I haven’t uploaded with blog entries because I simply haven’t had a chance… OH yes, Reece weighed 5lbs 8oz at the doctor on Friday….

Snuggle buddies :)

I LOVE when they sleep like this!

The boys with Dr. Rowe at my 6 week check-up

Vroom vroom take me for a ride pawpaw!

Yah...priceless

All of us :)

Just lay right here next me brother

The boys with Meme

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Reflux Frustration

I am really rather concerned and slightly annoyed with Reece’s reflux. We changed formulas after seeing the doctor on Thursday and he also cut his medicine back and it seems to only be getting worse. When he was discharged from the hospital the nurses said he was only doing it every now and then and not every feed. Now we are the point that he does it at least 4 times after a feed and sometimes as much as 7. I worry he isn’t gaining the weight he needs. I have a scale here at home and am going to put him on it in the morning around the same time he was weighed on Thursday. He should be well over 5 pounds by now but I have a feeling with as much as he is shooting out his nose what he eats is coming right back up. At the 4 pm feed I am certain all came up because he was given another 2oz at 6 because he was starving…oh the frustration.

Jason also had a major major blow on Friday. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Literally he was on one end of the couch and shot milk to the other end from his nose and mouth. It looked like somebody had poured a ½ gallon of milk all over the couch and him. It was awful and scary because for a few short seconds he couldn’t breathe. I did speak with Humble Pediatrics and the doctor who was in that day suggested going back to the Neosure Formula as opposed to the regular Similac Advance and if continued to give him Pedialyte in between feeds. Luckily we didn’t have another scare like that again but he is back on the high calorie formula which Dr. Stanley wanted him off of so he wouldn’t gain too much weight.

Sooo with all of this being said I am going to keep Reece on the new formula for another 24 hours and come Monday morning I will probably call and see if I can’t get him in with a different doctor. I also think I want a referral for the neuro so have the dimple further checked out. Rather be proactive and safe as opposed to waiting to see if something comes of it.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Just What the Doctor Ordered!

Jason: Dr. Stanley said he needs to go on WeightWatchers. Ha not that he’s truly overweight, he just looks like porky pig next to Reece. I did ask if the 22 calorie formula was too much for him and he said yes so we are putting him on regular Similac Advance as opposed to the Neosure. Obviously he is well feed and gaining weight. He now weighs 8 pounds 3 ounces and is growing a little bit more each day. The spitting up also seems to be somewhat better. Now he spits up but its about equivalent to what any other baby would do at his age.

Reece: Ohhhhh Reecy Boy…here to begin? Well we got referrals for him to see the urologist for his penis. Of course Dr. Stanley said that would have to be corrected but the urologist would make the call as to when. He also got a referral for a cardiologist because of the heart murmur. He said he didn’t hear it, but only the cardiologist would be able to tell if the PDA has closed. As for his dimple Dr. Stanley said that if they did an x-ray on it while in the NICU and weren’t concerned he too said he wasn’t going to do anything now, but was surprised we haven’t seen a neurologist. He said at this point though it would be hard to tell if the dimple would have any effect or not and the biggest concern would be spina bifida. He said we wouldn’t start to notice till he starts crawling and walking if that was the case. We are keeping our fingers crossed that nothing ever comes of the dimple. In other news Reece also has an undeveloped 3rd nipple. Yes, as weird as it sounds its nothing like you are picturing. Dr. Stanley said its common and it won’t ever look anything more than a shadow or mole. I about fell over when he told me my kid has 3 nipples. Interesting. What else? Oh, I brought up the allergies and watery eyes. He put Reece on a different formula which I don’t have in front of me to tell you what it is but its supposed to be easier to digest and good for allergies. Who knows? After his feed with it this evening he wasn’t too happy and the reflux was pretty bad. We will give it a few days. If I don’t see a change come Monday I am going to go back to the Neosure because it’s the only formula according to Dr. Stanley that has more than 20 calories. Oh and Reece weighs 4 pounds 15 ounces.

I think that about sums up the doctor visits. They go back in two weeks and Jason will get his immunizations but Reece will still be too small. They boys had their last outing today till they both get their shots. I HAD to run some errands today and since it was already in the plans they were forced to tag along. From here on out they will remain at home with the exception of the 19th when I have to go to Webster for my doctors appointment. I really want Dr. Rowe to see the boys and the vast majority of the outing will be spent in the car. Dr. Stanley put in the request for the boys to get the RSV vaccination, but he said insurance companies make it really hard to get so he didn’t know if that would happen and without the coverage it costs thousands of dollars…but he said he would def. sugest doing it if they cover it. I think when we go back in two weeks I am going to check out another doctor who is a little more proactive. I felt like all the changes today were only made because I had suggested the changes, not because he thought they needed to be done. Who knows…

After the doctors office we went to Mrs. Ginas office because they were closed for lunch and the boys also needed their lunch. It worked out perfect because I didn’t have to get them out and feed in a public place or try and toss everything around in the car. After lunch we headed to target for more baby essentials and formula as well as to make a few returns and purchase more Dr. Brown bottles. Then we headed over to Kohls to check out the baby clothing since we had a 30% off coupon but were disappointed because everything was very picked over. So instead I get two new dresses, a shirt and some undergarments that aren’t fat prego attire. On the way home I stopped at a dear friend’s house to say hello. The other set of Williams Twins that I know I started babysitting for while I was in high school when they were nearly the same age as Jason and Reece. Needless to say those precious babies have grown up and will be starting school this year and it was funny to see the babies I use to take care of hold and take care of my babies. So so sweet! Bryce is all boy and I hope my boys are as much fun as we is and that they find them a girlfriend as beautiful as Laci. Haha their Mommy will have her hands full this next school year!

Well my babies are sleeping (all 3 of them) and I am waiting for 11:30 to roll around to give Reece his medicine and to start feeding Jason. I am staying up till 3 and then Ryan I staking over for the remainder of the morning. It’s wonderful that he now doesn’t work on Fridays because that means one more night of having his help and not feeling bad about getting his rear end out of bed!

Williams Twins x2!!! Bryce with Jason & Laci with Reece :)

Grandmas, Grannies, Memes & Nanas Galore!

By the end of the week the boys will have seen just about all of their grandmothers if everything plays out! Yesterday they spent time with Nana, today with Great Grandma Judi, Friday they will be with (Great) Meme, and Nana might be bringing Great Granny Jean over this weekend! Oh what I would give for my Great Grandma to still be alive. She would have adored these precious little cuties! Here is a picture from the boys visit with Great Grandma Judi today! They also got to see their Pawpaw Tom & Aunt Jana. They are so loved and are so lucky to have such wonderful families who look after them. I am pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say that Jas & Reece melt our hearts.

Who needs an extra set of hands when...

Who needs an extra set of hands when you have two babies when you have a pair of feet! Ha maybe I am just delirious because its 4:30 in the morning but while feeding Jason I needed something to keep Reece entertained. Needless to say he isn't much into mobiles and toys yet unlike Jason and usually the Nunu is about the only thing that keeps him quite while waiting his turn to eat. Soooooo since he won't keep it in his mouth on his own I gave him a little "foot". Haha



Well I must get these babies back of to dreamland and myself as well. We have a busy busy busy day tomorrow. We have doctor appointments at 10:20 & 10:30 and errands to run afterwards. I packed the diaper bag with bottles, formula, diapers, wipes, burp rags, extra nunu's and more for our outing. The mornings are the biggest challenge when on a time crunch. I have a hard enough time getting myself ready and now I must bathe, dress and feed two more. Oh what fun!

Hey...whatever works! He just better be glad it was Mommys foot and not Daddys!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Splish Splash Taking A Bath!

Splish splash Jason & Reece took a bath. Bath time is so much fun for Mommy and not so much fun for babies. They HATE and I mean HATE bath time! From the time their little bodies hit the water till they get out they are screaming. They usually aren't content till they are snuggled up in their towel and then the screaming begins again when you have to diaper and cloth them. The highlight of it all for me is picking out clothes for them to wear. Boys really shouldn't have more clothes than their mother, but that's just my perspective!











I like these babies better :)

I think somebody must have swapped my crying fussy babies for look a likes today and I don't really want the originals back. They have been sooooo good today...who are these kids? Last night was not a good night and I am going to blame it partly on my mom who said “they are sleeping so good it will be an easy night for you mom” around 10pm. Needless to say by 11 they were wide awake, gassy, and not very happy. They ate at 12am and went back to their fussy ways. By 12:30 I was ready to run away so I put J in bed with me and took Reece down to Ashley who was still awake. I was up off and on with J till about 3 and then at 3:30 Ashley brought Reece up for his medicine and then it was feeding time by 4. After the 4pm feed the boys did ok in their car seats till 7 which was good because it was time for them to get ready to eat anyways. After that feed J went back to bed with me and Reece went in the car seat next to the bed and when he woke up at 10:30 my sister snagged him so J & I could go back to sleep peacefully.

Since the 12:00pm feed the boys have been good as gold. We put them in the crib on their sleep positioners side by side and turned on the mobile. They really seemed to enjoy it until the music went off, but that was an easy crank and fix. Jason started stirring about an hour later and I put him in the swing. Needless to say nearly 3 hours ago they ate and have been content on their own ever since! What a beautiful thing! During that time I should be sleeping but today I showered and also picked up baby stuff that was all over the place, dusted and even ran the vacuum.

Yesterday the boys got to visit with their Aunt Laurie and cousin Shelbi during the day and their Nana and Aunt Ashleigh during the evening hours. The boys love being held and it’s always wonderful to be able to have somebody else keep them in their arms from time to time. Tonight the boys will get to spend some time with Great Grandma Judi, PawPaw Tom & Aunt Jana. They are all very excited because they aren’t seen the boys since the first weekend they were born. Tomorrow we have pedi visits for both boys at 10:20 and then we are going to run errands that Momma wants to do since we are already out and about. I too was supposed to go to see Dr. Rowe for my final visit but had to reschedule for the 19th.

At the visit tomorrow I am going to speak with the Dr. Stanley about the formula for Reece. His spitting up seems to be getting a little bit better with the medicine, but I wonder if maybe he is allergic to something in the formula. His eyes get red, puffy and watery when he eats and only when he eats. I wonder if it has to do with the formula and if the spitting up is linked to it in anyway? I know he has “reflux” but it is not acid reflux. I am not sure if the formula is linked to it but it would make sense since reflux is a matter of a digestive issue. We shall see. I also want him to take a look at the dimple and his penis and see what he thinks in regards to treating these matters. I am sure he will say it will be a matter of time, but it won’t hurt for now.

Alright well its bath time and here are a few pictures from yesterday and this morning!

Good babies sound asleep in their crib for a mid day nap.

I love this...Reece has his hands over his eyes.

Ryans, sister, Mom & the babies!

Nana & the boys!

Monday, August 10, 2009

A day in the life...

Well the first 24 hours of having both boys home has now drawn to a close and all and all I guess it wasn’t too bad minus the fussy little munchkin who is a little unhappy right now. The night we brought Reece home Ryan, my sister and I all stayed up. At midnight I crawled in bed and let Ryan and Ashley take over. I got up at 2 and Ryan went to bed about 2:30 and stayed in bed till he had to get up for work at 6:30. I stayed up from 2 till 9 that morning with them and called for back up around 4 when Jason was screaming his head off and it was time for Reece to eat. Needless to say my Mom didn’t mind at all having to hold Baby J.

The morning hours went pretty smoothly too. Both boys slept for the vast majority of the night and morning with the exception of Jason’s 4am crying spell and when it was time to eat. At 9 this morning I went back to bed and slept till about 11 and got up and did the noon feeds. Reece came home on the 4, 8 and 12 schedule so we have been sticking to that for the feedings. I had been trying to adjust Jason while at home to eat every 3 to 4 hours as well and luckily it works out pretty good. Thirty minutes before Reece’s feedings he has to take his medicine for reflux so that’s when we feed Jason and by the time he is done its Reece’s turn. Works like a charm…luckily I have had help and haven’t had to do both boys at a feeding yet, but feel like it would be totally doable if I had to.

Between the 12 and 4 feeding during the day we squeezed in baths and also a little floor time which both of the boys really seemed to enjoy. They would cry and fuss and then suddenly make eye contact on the floor and just chill out together. You can see in the picture that they look pretty happy which is why I was able to get a few good shots of them in their little matching outfits which is one of the only outfits they have in both newborn for J and preemie for Reece.

After dinner I crawled into bed and Ryan watched TV while my Mom, Dad and sister tended to them so that we could rest for the night time hours. I slept till 10 (oops but I probably could have slept till dawn) and then got up and rocked Reece who was not very happy at the time. My sister and I did the midnight feeds while Ryan got some sleep and that brings me to where I am now sitting in the living room with one snoring baby and one fussy baby. Both boys had gas pretty badly earlier so they got a little medicine to get things flowing or should I say to help things stop flowing and that really seemed to do the trick. So that is a day in the life of having two babies at home in a 24 hour time period. Thank goodness for Ryan helping switch out last night and for my parents and sister being so willing to hold, rock and feed when he and I are dead!

Here are a few pictures from floor time today. Haha precious, right?













Sunday, August 9, 2009

Mr. Tiny & Mr. Bigs

Everyone who has seen Jason says “He’s so little” or “He looks so much smaller in person”. So if you think that Baby J is small these pictures will give you an idea of just how small Reece is.









Happy Due Date!

Today marks my actual due date and I guess you could say that BOTH babies have arrived at home nearly 6 weeks old! Yes, we brought Reece home today. I was told yesterday it was a possibility and then this morning they said he probably wouldn’t get to come home due to filling his prescription. Around noon the hospital called and said that he was going to be discharged today!

The weekend was rather exciting. On Friday Jason had his first outing with Mom & Dad. I had some errands to run in Humble and needed to go to the bank so Ry and I took him with us and he really seemed to enjoy the car and stroller ride. Needless to say with his brother being home that will be his last big outing for a while.

On Saturday I had plans to go to a wedding so Ryan was in charged on Baby J. My roomie Melissa was here in town and we got all dolled up and left for the wedding while Ryan took J over to his Mom’s house for several hours. I left the wedding around 11:30 and came back home to my boy and did the late night feedings. The wedding was a blast. I LOVED getting to see all of my friends from Tyler or should I say some of them. Kortney looked beautiful as always, but had an extra little pep in her step and sparkle! The wedding was so beautiful and it was honestly the best time I have had in the last 9 months.

Today we slept in. Jason ate a little after midnight again around 4 and then slept till around 9 which was beautiful! I actually got some sleep. Once he was up I let him stay downstairs with Mom and Ashley and Ryan an I stayed in bed for a little longer. Once we were up I scrambled some eggs for Ry and then a few of my sorority sisters came by to see Baby J and we headed for the hospital shortly after they left. We purposely decided not to tell my Mom and just come home with Reece and be like “hey we have a visitor”. Ha she about flew out of her seat when Ryan rounded the corner with him in the carseat. It was pretty funny, but I don’t think she found it too funny.

When we went to get Reece he was wide awake and looked at us like he was wondering what in the world is going on. He was pretty good on the car ride home. He had one reflux episode on the way home which was fun so we stopped and bought some more “nose suckers” just so we could be sure we had a few laying around the house for those just in case moments. We also got to stop and see Ryan’s dad who bought the boy precious little rompers that say Thing 1 and Thing 2. They will have to grow into them but they will look cute! He was planning to meet up with us at the hospital, but since we had to do discharge that didn’t exactly happen…

Now that we are home we have to get the boys on a schedule. When we put Reece & Baby J together, J just looked at him like hey I know you! It was funny the way he looked at him made me seriously think that he recognized Reece. His eyes were glued on him. The two of them side by side makes me laugh and also worry even though I don’t believe I have a reason to. Jason is twice Reece’s size. Reece doesn’t have near the strength Jason does. J can nearly hold his head up with little support and Reece is still like handling a brand new newborn baby. It’s kind of weird. I still don’t think of them as twins. I don’t really have pictures of them together but will put that on the to-do for tomorrow. For now they are both sleeping and I am going to get a few hours before midnight so I can take over for the 4am feeding. I have a feeling I will be up a lot tonight till we get settled in again.



Wolfers Wedding

Congrats Kortney & Joe Wolfers and to my DG girls I got to see this weekend I had such a blast! Love you ITB! Here are a few pics before and after the wedding :) Congrats again Joe & Kortney!!!



Thursday, August 6, 2009

Test Results & More

So yesterdays test results came back showing that the Ph levels indicated that Reece does not have acid reflux after all. They put him on Reglan which will help his digestive system and hopefully reduce the spitting up. As for Jason the rice cereal seems to be helping. I haven’t noticed near as much spitting up and hardly any major blows. I had hoped for another good night of sleep from the little man last night after the night before went so well but that was wishful thinking. I stayed up waiting for Ryan to get home from being with Reece which was dumb on my part because Baby J was sleeping. Of course by the time Ryan got in it was time for J to eat and so at 1am we finished up with feedings. I had to rock and soothe him till 2am and finally he went to sleep but woke up around 3ish and I put him in bed with me and at 4am it was time to feed again. After the 4m feeding going back to sleep wasn’t an option for him. He was wide awake and fussy. I sang Old McDonald for nearly an hour. Eventually I ran out of farm animals and had to change to “Old McD had a zoo” just so I could come up with more animals and sounds. At 5:30 I was about ready to die my eyes hurt so badly and my head was throbbing. I asked Ryan if he could sit with him till he got up an hour later since he had been asleep or if I should take him downstairs. He opted to take him downstairs so Baby J slept with Grandma while I got some shut eye for a couple of hours.

I have decided I am going to go INSANE once my sister goes back to school. “Aunt Ashy” has been a huge help during the day holding and feeding here and there so I can rest or take a short break and she enjoys it. Jason takes to her as if he’s her own. That sounds bad coming from me, but honestly once he goes to her it’s calm again. It’s like magic. I am defiantly going to have to call in the troops once she leaves because for sure by that time both little munchkins should be home or maybe J can wear his Aggie onsie from Sarah and go off to Maroon Land with her. Ha again, only kidding.

This afternoon I plan on going to see Reece and J will stay here with Dad. Tomorrow I have errands that I need to run before going to the wedding on Saturday so Baby J will get some more Dad time. Kortneys big day is on Saturday and I am so EXCITED for a break away from the house with some friends. The wedding is in Galveston and a bunch of girls from Tyler will be there. I haven’t seen or had a social life since April and even before then it was limited because I was so sick my first and some of my second trimester. Yay yay yay! My old roommate from Tyler, Melissa (S), will be staying here and driving to the wedding with me Saturday evening. I am afraid though that will also be the big day for Reece. We shall see, but if he does indeed take to the medicine and it helps the spit up I bet they send them. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

testing testing and more testing

The nurse just called with the orders from the doctor. They are going to run an OCRG test (I believe that is the abbreviation but when Googled I didn’t find anything) which will start in a few hours. She said the test involves testing his Ph levels in his tummy and it will run till 5am. Reece shouldn’t have any visitors tonight because he must lay flat for the testing and rest in his little bed. So I don’t look for them to tell us “maybe tomorrow”. In fact they didn’t say that all…I am sure if I know the doctors there they will run the test and end up changing something and want to monitor it for several days just as they have been doing with the thickener. Depending on what the test results show will depend on the treatment involve. Typically she said it results in medication…we shall wait and see! They did say that after his 12pm feeding today he had another spit up episode through the nose. I would much rather this be treated properly at the hospital as opposed to him coming home and us be on pins and needles afraid he will choke. Pray my baby boy does well with the test and that the doctors are able to find the problem.

Acid Reflux

I was asked today if I still update my blog. Ha. Yes, I do but I don’t have the same free time now days as I use to when I was on bed rest and restricted from life. So as of now Reece is still not home. We have been in an open crib for a full week come tomorrow and usually after 24 hours in the open crib the baby is discharged. Now when we hear” maybe tomorrow”, “possibly tomorrow” or “very soon” I just kind of laugh and Ryan gets highly annoyed…oh well what can you do? They are keeping him still to monitor the acid reflux and spitting up. So far so good! When I called this morning the nurse said the nurse practitioner had mentioned maybe more tests but I am waiting on her to call me with orders from the doctor so I will know more. When I asked her about discharge she didn’t seem to think today, but I am hopeful.

This morning my sister and I took Jas to the doctor also for some spit up issues. His aren’t near as severe as Reece’s but defiantly projectile and lots of wet burps after feeds. (YUCK) The doctor recommended us putting him on rice cereal so we will be adding 1 teaspoon to every 2 ounce feed. I was a little nervous at first because on Friday he was 6.14 and today he was 7.10. The nurse acted like I was overfeeding him and that’s what I thought too when I saw the scale but the doctor assured me he has healthy eating habits and the spitting up shouldn’t cause any serious health problems such as dehydration since he is gaining weight properly.

As for sleeping…well we are still working on tricks here and there with Jason. I learned that the reason he doesn’t like sleeping on his back has to do with the acid reflux. It causes the tummy to be more upset and when babies are on their tummy sleeping its soothing. PROBLEM IS everyone and their mom recommends not putting babies to sleep on their tummy due to SIDS. Luckily Jason does like his car seat or appears to so far…at the moment he is snoozing in the car seat which is placed inside the co-sleeper next to my bed. We are both going to catch a few ZZZ’s peacefully (or at least till the next feeding in an hour).
When all else fails put the kid in the co-sleeper in his car seat!
"hello everyone I'm still here!"
"Aren't I cute?"
Mommy & Reece
Chunky monkey going to the doctor last Fri.