February 26, 2007

It has been a crazy few weeks with Aiden, he seems to be having a growth spurt and a cranky faze. Trust me the kid has every right to be cranky, i just wish someone could tell me for sure if he is teething. That seems to be his problem most times. Its either gas or he has sore gums. I assume he is teething but so far no real word on it. He does have his 9 month check up coming on the 7th when he gets his next RSV shot so we will see what they say.

As for the "bottle" its been crazy. Some days he will take 2 ounces at a time and other days one. Then some times he wants no part of it. The kid has no problem putting toys in his mouth of sucking his binki, eating from a spoon or chewing your shoulder, but when it comes to a bottle he just doesnt want to drink from it long enough to get a full belly.. At this point I dont know what to do and we are just taking it one day at a time. When he drinks from it he doesnt choke or have a problem at all, he even does better with thin liquid now too but he just wont take a full feed. I think the only part that bums me out about this is that he will have to have the gtube longer. Its not a hassle and it makes things easy at times but it gets ikky and sore from rubbing and i am sure that Aiden would like it much better if it were gone.

As for his Early Intervention, he is doing wonderful. He is just a fun talkitive baby and just seems to love people (most of the time) unless he is having one of them "moments"
All in all he is doing great. I am sure he is not ahead of schedule as some of the preemies I know but hes doing really well and that is all that matters to me.

February 15, 2007

Well Happy Valentine's Day (a day late as usual) to everyone..
We survived the snow and ice storm we got and stayed warm in the house. Aiden had Early Intervention today and was in a much better mood then he was last week. He still is going through spats of major crankiness but we deal.

He's getting really good at paying attention to peoples faces when there talking. He listens and concentrates on there expressions and lips moving. He's going good with his exercises and grabbing too. His EI therapist said he is doing really really well and that it's amazing how hard he tries. I told her he is a fighter. From day one he has always tried so hard to accomplish so much and look at him now.

As for mommy and daddy well we are ok. I think we need so quality time together perhaps but we manage. I guess sometimes you feel a little disconnected from each other with everything that is going on. Or I know I do. With being back to work, and trying to keep the house orginized, which seems like a forever failing battle, and keeping up with the rest of life, always falling on completely different schedules and never getting really good sleep anymore takes a toll on you.. I think we both need time to spend with friends and time to spend together without a screaming baby. Don't get me wrong I love my little man more then ANYTHING in this world but you just need quiet and a break sometimes ya know.. It seems like I don't get that very often. Not to sound bitchy but I think the men have it so much easier.. They may not see it like that but if we wrote it down on paper my list I'm sure would be much longer then most guys. I am pleased I do have a guy who does bother though cause some guys don't even do that.

Well we took some new pics, then again I am always taking pics.. And they came out so cute.. One of the Aiden has this face and it cracks me up. I tried to cover his G-tube in them all but this one he moved the paper heart so momma got creative and airbrushed it.. LOL

February 12, 2007

A day late but Happy 8 Months Aiden!!!

Well it's official, he is 16 pounds now.. Not so bad of a weight gain in a months time (14 ounces)
If you remember he was gaining a pound a week on the high calorie formula, so 3 1/2 ounces a week isn't half bad at all..
There isn't much new news besides the fact he has been REALLY cranky lately. Since Thursday he has not been the happy go lucky Aiden. Thursday, Friday Saturday and even part of Sunday he was very cranky, over tired at times, fussy and crying so much I though some one was trying to hurt him. I felt so bad. Part of the problem is I think his gums are hurting. He is chewing on everything he can, his hands our shirts, toys, fingers, and drooling up a storm. Then he was a bit constipated so it seemed, and wasn't poopin nearly as much as he usually does. A dose of prunes, apples, pears, and corn within two days did the trick to get him to go easier, but it was tough seeing him so upset and know there wasn't really anything i could do but baby him. And believe me, I do, Chuck did, my mom did! It has been a exhausting few days.
He's getting back to normal, that happy giggling smiling baby, but still has fits of tears and cries. I also think he is very colic. He's burping a lot but you can tell it's bothering him too. So I went out and got him the gas drops and they seem to help a bit. We'll see how it goes, that's all we can do.

February 5, 2007

Aiden is doing so well, it is still amazing to see him grow. It's happening too fast!
He is learning new things every day.

He is still not doing 100% with the bottle but some days are better then others. I take into consideration that he has had 7 months of not eating from a bottle so it's going to take him a bit to get use to it. When he does take one most times he dose great. We give him 2 ounces at a time so that way we are not wasting the formula since we have to get it by perscription. Most of the time through out the day we feed him PO ( by mouth) on demand. He takes what he takes and then also gets his cereal and baby food through out the day and night. So come mid night he is feed through the gtube while he sleeps. If he didn't eat much through out the day then we can give him extra at night, If he eat plenty then we just give him the normal dose. Although he isn't always taking a lot from a bottle, he does awesome eating from a spoon, so the kid is far from starving.. ha ha

We had an appt with the Neurologist last week and he said Aiden is right on target for 4 months which is his corrected age so that is fine. The two thinks they wanted to watch are the tightness he has in his legs and arms, which can be helped with stretching exercise, it's a common issue with preemies who have had brain bleeds that damaged the white matter of there brains. Also he has a tremor when he gets excited, and that is also very common with preemies. Both he can grow out of, but they will keep and eye on it anyways to see how it goes. All in all, the doc said he looks great and is doing fab ! It was a doc appt full of good news.

We see the pedi Wed for shots (RSV) so we will have an updated weight. I am guessing about 16 pounds maybe 16 and a half. Considering we cut his calories from 30 cals an ounce to 20 and his feeding schedule now that he is bottling isn't always 3 1/2 ounces every 4 hrs, not to mention the cereal and baby food he gets, he shouldn't be gaining as fast as he was before. AND by looking at him, he looks longer and a bit thinned out. Well not the cheeks.. LOL there still chubby as heck, but I love them that way..

We also got him a jumper, that he LOVESSSSSS!! I let him play in it about 10 mins once or twice a day.. I don't keep him in it for long periods until he builds more leg strength because I've learned that it's not good for there hips until they get more muscles..

He also has Early Intervention come every Thursday. His PT/OT lady is awesome. She has a 3 yr old so she knows how to play with babies and she jsut has a wonderful personality. I think she is going to fit in perfect. So considering she will be working with Aiden for 18 month at least, I'm glad we get along and Aiden does well with her.

As for me, well I made it through my first week of work. It's hard leaving in the morning, and I'd much rather be home, but on the flip side it's good to be away for a few hours a day. I can just about handle the 4 to 5 hrs a day I work, but if I had to do a 8 to 10 hour day I'd go out of my mind.

Chuck seems to be doing ok too, for his first week of Daddy duty with out Mommy. He's not quite the multi tasker while watching Aiden but I'd much rather Aiden be taken care of then the house clean. Well for now anyways... ha ha
If we can do dishes and laundry and vacuum while taking care of the baby, and the grocery shop and make dinner, I think the boys can at least do dishes and toss a load of laundry in right..

One day at a time and I'm sure we will all get a schedule done packed. Well I hope so.

The newest news is every one around me is getting prego. NOT ME! Don't worry, but I think there is something in the water, so be careful what you drink.. Chuck told me I'm not allowed to drink the water. I don't think he could handle two little ones right now. It's ok though, with 4 friends all due in May and 2 in Sept I am sure I will have plenty of babies around for Aiden to play with. And maybe next year we can work on that little sister for him..