The Month in Review

I know there has been a lack of posts lately. I promised I would do my best to keep this blog updated, but I didn't count on the many things that have came up.... and adjusting to juggling 4 kids.

Also, I am really sorry for the lack of pictures..... but guess what??? We got a new camera for Christmas!!! So these pictures are taken with that camera and I am finally happy with non-fuzzy pictures (as long as I have the settings right).

So get comfortable, we have had a lot going on!

Scott is doing good. Still working and liking his job. He just recently got a new position at work and he loves it. He has also enjoyed the break from Cub Scouts between having a new baby and the holidays. But now he is getting geared up for the year.

Trevor is also doing pretty good. We started him on a new med over the last month and I think it has helped. It's hard to know sometimes. But he is also recovering from the stress that the holidays bring. I am glad school is back and we can get a good routine going now.

Jordan is doing good too. He is loving having a new sister. He asks to hold her alot and will always run and grab things for me or do something for me while I am busy with her. His new obsession is having me make his chore lists and trying to see how fast he can get everything done. I love this obsession, it's been great for me!!

I am doing much better now. Since my last post, I got an infection in my C-Section incision site and that set me back quite a bit. But I am finally almost 7 weeks out (on sunday) and I am feeling about 90%. I have been careful not to do too much heavy duty too fast so I can avoid any other setbacks. It's nice to be me again though. I am tired of course. Kaitlyn has had some minor problems and so she hasn't been sleeping well. But th at is pretty routine for a new baby anyway. I am getting better at adjusting to the lack of sleep.

Now for Josh. He is doing alright. He has had a rough few weeks and I hope things improve pretty quickly now. I took him to the Dr. 4 weeks ago to have these bumps looked at he has had on his stomach for the last 4 months or so. I can't remember the name of what it was, but it's like a virus in the skin. Since at that time they were dormant, it was better off to not treat them. But since that appt, they have enlarged, gotten red, and he complained all the time about them. During this same 4 week period, I cut way back on his G-tube feedings to see how he would do. He also had been sick since about 6 weeks ago and could not seem to get well. Last week he started having some really off days... meaning very irritable, bad balance, paleness, ect. So I took him back to the dr 2 days ago for everything. We decided to treat the bump things and be done with the whole thing. His dr had to put some stuff on it and basically it burns them off. By wed. night they were huge, red and blistering. It's been awesome. Now you know why I did not want to have to treat them. So that was done. But I didn't get any good news. He lost 2 pounds in 4 weeks. His Ped is pretty sure the reason he is not getting better (his runny nose ect.) and was going downhill was because his body was not getting enough calories again. I felt so awful. It seemed like he ate pretty good..but when I thought about it, I realized he would ask for lots of food but just took a bite or two of everything. So really he wasn't getting much food. So I have started doing a long feeding in the afternoons for like 4 hours and making his wear his backpack again. He doesn't mind and he is not in his booster chair for 5 feedings this way. He has an appt at the Feeding Clinic down at Primary's in 3 weeks. We'll see how he is doing then.

This is his tent with a tunnel that he got from Santa. He loved it once we coaxed him into the tunnel. He was scared at first, but loves it now.

Now for our sweet Kaitlyn. All in all she is doing good. She has had some things going on related to her prematurity. Her little system is just not maturing as fast as we would like. She has had pretty much straight diarhea for the last 4 weeks, spits up and projectile vomits alot. She was started on reflux meds about 4 weeks ago and that only helped slightly. She does weigh 7lb 9oz now and is 20 inches long. So she is growing and her Dr is pretty sure it's not something serious that we need to head to a specialist for. This week we switched her formula from the Similac Sensitive for Spit-up to Similac Alimentum. That is the hypo-allergenic kind... one step down from what Josh uses. And really expensive (try 25$ per can). Already she is improving with her diarhea and fussiness. But her spitting up is really bad. The old formula would thicken in her tummy and she would keep it down better. This new formula does not come in an option to have it thicken so she is pretty much puking left and right. She goes through several outfits, burp pads and blankets a day. The Dr had said he was more concerned about the diarhea than the puking, so we are addressing that first. Since it seems to be working, we will work on the spitting up next. Either adding another med, or changing the one she is on. At least things aren't going straight through her anymore. Hopefully these things will resolve in the next few months. But we have to follow the typical preemie rules and realize she might not 'catch up' for longer than that. At least we have been down this road before with Josh, so it's not so frightning for me. It's amazing how laid back I am about the puking. I just clean it up and move on. Sad thing for me to get used to, huh?

But she is doing pretty good otherwise. Scott and I have some concerns about her eyes, but we have waited to address them until her 2 month appt to give her some time. Hopefully nothing comes of that.

Here are some pictures of her from the last couple weeks.

These next pictures are of her and my neice Evelyn. They are 11 months apart. My sister bought this adorable onesie for her at the beginning of my pregnancy. It says "All mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night". So cute. She got the same one for Evelyn and we wanted to get pictures of them in their matching clothes. Evelyn was even so good for the pictures and let us sit Kaitlyn next to her and not hurt her. It was so fun to do this!!!! I am having so much fun with girl things and enjoying the difference this time around.

So there you go. Now you know why I have been MIA lately. It's been challenging, but I think I am finally able to get back into the swing of things and a new routine. I should be better about posting now that the kids are back at school and life is calmer (as calm as it gets for us here).