Soooooooo while I was shopping two months ago I saw this little giraffe sitting on a shelf in Babies"R"Us. It struck me that I have seen this silly little toy in millions of pictures with little babies on Facebook, yes Facebook. No one (including me) is shy when it comes to publishing adorable baby pictures online, especially when you think EVERY picture of your little one is the cutest! I realized that I have seen "Sophie" the famous giraffe in many baby pictures this year. I thought, why not? Edward needs to have Sophie the giraffe too! When the cashier scanned Sophie, I learned that she was $22! For this silly little rubber giraffe? Are you kidding me? Well, okay then..... I'll take it! As I drove home I thought, Edward, you better LOVE Sophie!
To my dismay, Edward barely looked at Sophie the first month. I tried to put Sophie in his hands and he would simply drop her. I would stand Sophie up right in front of him, and he would look away and reach for another toy. I was pretty disappointed, until about three weeks ago he started to bite her foot. Hooray, I thought! FINALLY! And he still has not put her down! Sophie can keep Edward occupied for hours! And she helps us distract him when we have to give him his awful tasting medicines. And she is helping his little gums feel better because he is teething! Sophie, you were expensive, but we love you!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
A VERY Hungry Caterpillar
September has been another great month for Edward. We just returned home from the pediatrician's office for his 8th month visit and this was the first time I wasn't nervous about the weight check. I just knew he had gained weight because he is eating food like it is going out of style and draining 5 oz bottles like we have never fed him before. So far he has tried cereal, bananas, apples, squash, sweet potato, avocado, and carrots. I think tomorrow we will try green beans! I love, love, love making Edward's food using the Baby Breeza steamer/blender. It actually is easier than I thought it would be. I only chop the fruits and vegetables and hit a few buttons, and like magic, I have food for Edward for the week. Today he weighed 13 lbs 5 oz and was 24 inches long.
He does have his 1st cold, which has made me a little more worried about germs, since cold and flu season is around the corner. He woke up Friday coughing and sneezing with a running nose. We are hopeful this cold will just leave this house as soon as possible, as Michael and I were both sneezing and feeling a little under the weather too. We are using the salt drops making Edward do a lot of tummy time to drain the excess junk out of his nose. The doctor checked his lungs and his lungs sound clear. He does have some upper airway congestion, and we were told to just keep doing what we are doing. He did receive his first of two flu shots today, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of his RSV vaccine. The shots should become available in November and he definitely qualifies to receive the shot because of his birth weight and gestational age. The shot won't prevent him from getting RSV but it will help lessen the severity of the symptoms.... hopefully.
In other news, Edward slept through the night! Woooohoooo! And then the very next night he woke up twice, and drank two bottles. Little stinker! We definitely do not mind waking up to feed him, because he promptly falls right back to sleep after the bottle, so we can't complain. And he was sleeping in his big boy crib in his own room, until, that is, he starting sneezing and coughing from this cold. He is back in the bassinet next to us for a little while longer :) or until he turns five.....
Edward loves working with the physical therapist. Jen has taught us so many exercises to strengthen his neck muscles. He has made so much progress in only a month's time. He has started rolling over from his tummy to back! He used to hate tummy time, but now that he has learned to roll over, he knows how to get out of doing it. He is smart, just like his.......... (I will let you fill in the blank!)
We have learned that Edward needs/wants to be held from 5:00 p.m. - 6:00p.m.- his fussy time, so we decided to put him to work. He likes to make dinner with us!
The almost finished product about to go into the oven- no he has not tried pizza yet!
Cutest outfit for the fall....... of course, anything with a matching hat just makes my heart melt!
He is getting chunky legs!
Sitting up in his bumbo chair.
Gooooooooooooooooo Irish! No turnovers........ please?
In his beach tent during our vacation earlier this month in Kiawah, SC.
Hanging out on the back porch, enjoying all of the new things to see.
With Dad, on our evening walk!
Poolside! Picking up the ladies already :)
He does have his 1st cold, which has made me a little more worried about germs, since cold and flu season is around the corner. He woke up Friday coughing and sneezing with a running nose. We are hopeful this cold will just leave this house as soon as possible, as Michael and I were both sneezing and feeling a little under the weather too. We are using the salt drops making Edward do a lot of tummy time to drain the excess junk out of his nose. The doctor checked his lungs and his lungs sound clear. He does have some upper airway congestion, and we were told to just keep doing what we are doing. He did receive his first of two flu shots today, and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of his RSV vaccine. The shots should become available in November and he definitely qualifies to receive the shot because of his birth weight and gestational age. The shot won't prevent him from getting RSV but it will help lessen the severity of the symptoms.... hopefully.
In other news, Edward slept through the night! Woooohoooo! And then the very next night he woke up twice, and drank two bottles. Little stinker! We definitely do not mind waking up to feed him, because he promptly falls right back to sleep after the bottle, so we can't complain. And he was sleeping in his big boy crib in his own room, until, that is, he starting sneezing and coughing from this cold. He is back in the bassinet next to us for a little while longer :) or until he turns five.....
Edward loves working with the physical therapist. Jen has taught us so many exercises to strengthen his neck muscles. He has made so much progress in only a month's time. He has started rolling over from his tummy to back! He used to hate tummy time, but now that he has learned to roll over, he knows how to get out of doing it. He is smart, just like his.......... (I will let you fill in the blank!)
Monday, September 12, 2011
Funny Faces
Edward is really starting to develop his own little personality. He is starting to squeal louder and louder when we play and he is now interacting with us more each day. He can melt our hearts with his funny faces! He is now 12 lbs 9 ounces! We can't believe how big he is getting. He tries to hold his bottle during feeding times and recently started drinking 5 ounces at a time. Tonight he is going to sleep in his crib...... in HIS room...... NOT in the bassinet next to our bed..... any guesses on how many times I will get up tonight and walk into his room to check him?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Singing Out Of Tune!
August has been a wonderful month for the Johnsons! Edward has been growing like a weed! Last week at his 7 month visit at the pediatrician, he weighed 11lbs 14 oz! He has been drinking 4 ounces consistently and is enjoying his oatmeal cereal each day. We received the green light from the pediatrician to go ahead and try other foods and today he tried bananas. I cut a banana in half and mashed it until my arm hurt, and finally it looked similar to store bought baby food. I am not sure if he liked it, or if he was just smiling because I kept singing, "It's bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!" This is Katie by the way, although Mike does his fair share of singing weird things to the baby. Michael called home from the hospital one day and said, " I have that stupid Raffi song stuck in my head!" Yes the singing in this house has reached new levels.
Michael, Edward and I were able to meet up with two of Eddie's NICU friends. Eddie didn't even know he had these friends, but I became close with two other NICU moms during our hospital stay, and we vowed to have lunch one day and hang out OUTSIDE of the NICU. And so Eddie was able to meet Sam, a former 26 weeker, and Gretchen, a former 23 weeker. They enjoyed each other's company and I think Eddie and Sam will one day fight over who will date the adorable Gretchen. We talked about what crazy baby music we all used at home. Laura said that Sam really likes AC/DC. We said we wished Edward liked other artists but he is really hooked on Raffi! We talked and laughed until all three babies were crying and ready to leave. It was a great experience all around for our three families as we shared stories as crazy new parents, and reminisced over our NICU memories. We all decided that we definitely do not miss the NICU, but we did miss our NICU friends.
Edward starts physical therapy tomorrow but is making great progress already. He is sitting nicely in his high chair and is working on sitting up in his Bumpo chair. He is getting awfully close to rolling over and loves kicking and squealing during playtime on his jungle mat! Most of all though, he LOVES his bath!
Here is a video of a few of our favorite moments from the past few weeks. It is of course accompanied by the critically acclaimed Raffi. I don't think Raffi was nominated for any video music awards this year, but there is always next year, right?
Katie
P.S. Eddie survived his first earthquake and his first hurricane! What a week!
Michael, Edward and I were able to meet up with two of Eddie's NICU friends. Eddie didn't even know he had these friends, but I became close with two other NICU moms during our hospital stay, and we vowed to have lunch one day and hang out OUTSIDE of the NICU. And so Eddie was able to meet Sam, a former 26 weeker, and Gretchen, a former 23 weeker. They enjoyed each other's company and I think Eddie and Sam will one day fight over who will date the adorable Gretchen. We talked about what crazy baby music we all used at home. Laura said that Sam really likes AC/DC. We said we wished Edward liked other artists but he is really hooked on Raffi! We talked and laughed until all three babies were crying and ready to leave. It was a great experience all around for our three families as we shared stories as crazy new parents, and reminisced over our NICU memories. We all decided that we definitely do not miss the NICU, but we did miss our NICU friends.
Edward starts physical therapy tomorrow but is making great progress already. He is sitting nicely in his high chair and is working on sitting up in his Bumpo chair. He is getting awfully close to rolling over and loves kicking and squealing during playtime on his jungle mat! Most of all though, he LOVES his bath!
Here is a video of a few of our favorite moments from the past few weeks. It is of course accompanied by the critically acclaimed Raffi. I don't think Raffi was nominated for any video music awards this year, but there is always next year, right?
Katie
P.S. Eddie survived his first earthquake and his first hurricane! What a week!
Monday, August 8, 2011
A Month of Firsts
After a somewhat tumultuous June, we finally entered the month of July. Simply put, it was a month of firsts. As you might recall, Edward was having significant difficulty with feeding and subsequently weight gain. We had tried various combinations of medicines, bottles, nipples, formula, positions, etc, to no avail. Several pediatrician visits, a barium swallow, a change in our medications and a pediatric gastroenterologist appointment later, I think we might have finally made some progress. Gone is the constant fussing and fighting with every bottle and in its place is a happy, calm baby taking a solid 4 ounces with every feed, five times a day. Don't get me wrong, he still fusses and cries during feeds, but nothing when compared to the previous extent. His weight gain has been steady as well. In fact, he is nearly eleven pounds (10 lbs, 13 ounces to be exact)!
So on to Edward's firsts.....
We started out the month venturing out of the state of Virginia for the first time. We visited my family down in Augusta! Edward had a great time meeting his great-grandmother, aunts and uncles and cousins.
Edward with his Papa Johnson
Edward with Mom and his Granga
Edward also now sits quietly for our regular book readings.
10 Minutes till Bedtime!!
Edward is also finally nearly as big as his hungry caterpillar!
As you can see, he has come a long way.
Edward also received his first Notre Dame onesie!
Go Irish!
Edward also visited Katie's family in Ocean City, New Jersey and got to meet even more aunts, uncles and cousins! He even made it to the beach!
Even this past week, he got to ride on his Daddy's shoulders for the first time.
Katie was barely able to breathe for this
Edward even got to try rice cereal for this first time. He liked....having it on his face.
And yesterday, he walked!!! Haha, just kidding, he can't even roll over yet..... Overall, July was much more enjoyable than June and we can't wait to see what August will bring us.
So on to Edward's firsts.....
We started out the month venturing out of the state of Virginia for the first time. We visited my family down in Augusta! Edward had a great time meeting his great-grandmother, aunts and uncles and cousins.
Edward also now sits quietly for our regular book readings.
Edward is also finally nearly as big as his hungry caterpillar!
Edward also received his first Notre Dame onesie!
Edward also visited Katie's family in Ocean City, New Jersey and got to meet even more aunts, uncles and cousins! He even made it to the beach!
Even this past week, he got to ride on his Daddy's shoulders for the first time.
Edward even got to try rice cereal for this first time. He liked....having it on his face.
And yesterday, he walked!!! Haha, just kidding, he can't even roll over yet..... Overall, July was much more enjoyable than June and we can't wait to see what August will bring us.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Quick Update
As Katie mentioned in the last post, Edward had a barium swallow study completed on Thursday. Fortunately, the swallow study was completely normal. At the same time, a normal study did not do much to shed light on our current feeding issues. Edward continues to gain weight, just at a rate slower than he should. He is still fighting most of his bottles, so we are set to see a pediatric gastroenterologist on Thursday. He has finished his course of empiric antibiotics and remains on prevacid and zantac (two medications to help treat reflux). Hopefully, the appointment later this week will bring some answers! Here are some recent pictures of the little man.
As you can see, he hardly has anything with which to play.
As you can see, he hardly has anything with which to play.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Formula for...Success?
Happy 4th of…..
Wait a minute…. It’s July? Oh. My. Word. Where has the time gone? We have been riding to roller coaster of Edward ‘s home life, which we decided is just like our ride in the NICU, up down, up down…..and now hopefully up? The month of June consisted of at least 7 trips to the pediatrician, 5 different prescriptions, 3 different formulas, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well at this rate, it will be Christmas before we know it and I will still be in my pajamas. Edward started out the month of June eating like hungry caterpillar. As time went on, his weight gain dwindled until he actually stopped gaining weight, and at one point, lost weight. This loss, though, was no surprise to us because every single bottle we tried to give him became an all out war at home. He would be so hungry take few sucks, drink an ounce and then scream, cry, arch his back, swing his arms in protest and try to wiggle himself out of our arms. Our sweet happy boy turned into a little maniac every time we tried to feed him. He actually whacked himself in the face one day when he was flailing his arms, and then after that cry fest, he refused to drink anything at all.
Well, upon first exam, Edward had thrush. Thrush is a fungal infection of the mouth. It is a common infection in the very very young (babies), the very very old, and those with weakened immune systems. Everyone has a small amount of this fungus in their mouths and your body keeps it in check. When your immune system can not keep the organism in check, it takes over and grows out of control, resulting in a white tongue, and sores on the roof and gums in the mouth. Many babies do not require medication, unless it causes the baby to resist eating – which would be the case for Edward. We were given a 10-day course of Nystatin. Great, sticky, yellow, gross stuff to squirt into his mouth – 3 times a day! That was fun. The first few days Edward perked up and started drinking again. High fives all around, we have our little guy back! He started drinking 3 oz again without a problem, and he even started drinking more than that sometimes. With only a day left of the Nystatin we noticed Edward started fighting us again. Slowly he was turning back into the little angry maniac. Was this a fluke? He still had the white tongue. Was the thrush not going away? The recommendation had been to boil all of the bottles, nipples, pacifiers he used each day to kill the thrush. We went a step further by throwing everything out and buying brand new stuff. We were going to Babies-R-Us more than we were going to the grocery store. Still it didn’t work… back to the doctor! We were given a second medication to treat the thrush, a stronger mediation. After a few days of Flucanozole (only to be given 1x a day- whew), Edward perked up again! Hello 3 oz bottles! He was drinking like a champ, and we were rejoicing again! Wouldn’t you know it, just as we were finishing up the last of 10 days of Flucanozole he started to fight us again. We couldn’t believe it. Back to the doctors! It must be reflux now because the thrush is gone, start the Prevacid. Oh, and this medication is a fun one to give to a newborn. Take a solutab and dissolve it in 3-4 ml of water, draw it up in a syringe, and shoot it into his mouth making sure he doesn’t spit out the nasty granules. Oh, and do it 30 minutes before giving a bottle which subsequently leads to him not actually wanting to take the stupid bottle. After five days on the Prevacid with no improvement we were forced to go back to the doctor. This time, another pediatrician thought, wow, something is really bothering him. She watched Mike try to feed him and saw him push Mike away, cry, arch his back (Thank you Edward for actually doing that, because if you got stage fright and didn’t fight the bottle, we would have been known as the craziest parents in the office). She also thought that besides the reflux, his breathing was terrible. His lungs sounded clear but he sounded junky. He always was a heavy breather, but his wheezing had gotten out of control. Could he have sinusitis? Who knows? So now Edward is on Prevacid (1x a day) and Zantac (2x a day) for reflux and amoxicillin (2x a day) for a possible sinus infection. So out of the 7 feedings he gets a day, Edward has to take medicine before 5 of them…. Awesome. The pediatrician also ordered a swallow study to be done at the radiology department at UVA hospital. She wants to make sure everything is anatomically in place for him to be swallowing and eating. No, she said, his fighting us, is just not normal.
We apologize for not keeping up with the blog, but you can tell why. Not being able to feed to the little guy has been frustrating and heavy on our hearts. The worst part would be that as soon as we would stop trying to feed him, he would turn back into his happy self, smiling and playing with us. Edward, do you still love us? No wonder he didn’t want to eat…. his tongue was hurting from the thrush, the reflux was causing burning in his tummy and throat, and the sinus infection was making it hard for him to breath. Duh! If only he could talk and tell us what is wrong! Hopefully the swallow study will show that everything is working correctly and the triple threat of medicine will start to kick in. Goodbye June, I hate you.
Wait a minute…. It’s July? Oh. My. Word. Where has the time gone? We have been riding to roller coaster of Edward ‘s home life, which we decided is just like our ride in the NICU, up down, up down…..and now hopefully up? The month of June consisted of at least 7 trips to the pediatrician, 5 different prescriptions, 3 different formulas, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well at this rate, it will be Christmas before we know it and I will still be in my pajamas. Edward started out the month of June eating like hungry caterpillar. As time went on, his weight gain dwindled until he actually stopped gaining weight, and at one point, lost weight. This loss, though, was no surprise to us because every single bottle we tried to give him became an all out war at home. He would be so hungry take few sucks, drink an ounce and then scream, cry, arch his back, swing his arms in protest and try to wiggle himself out of our arms. Our sweet happy boy turned into a little maniac every time we tried to feed him. He actually whacked himself in the face one day when he was flailing his arms, and then after that cry fest, he refused to drink anything at all.
Well, upon first exam, Edward had thrush. Thrush is a fungal infection of the mouth. It is a common infection in the very very young (babies), the very very old, and those with weakened immune systems. Everyone has a small amount of this fungus in their mouths and your body keeps it in check. When your immune system can not keep the organism in check, it takes over and grows out of control, resulting in a white tongue, and sores on the roof and gums in the mouth. Many babies do not require medication, unless it causes the baby to resist eating – which would be the case for Edward. We were given a 10-day course of Nystatin. Great, sticky, yellow, gross stuff to squirt into his mouth – 3 times a day! That was fun. The first few days Edward perked up and started drinking again. High fives all around, we have our little guy back! He started drinking 3 oz again without a problem, and he even started drinking more than that sometimes. With only a day left of the Nystatin we noticed Edward started fighting us again. Slowly he was turning back into the little angry maniac. Was this a fluke? He still had the white tongue. Was the thrush not going away? The recommendation had been to boil all of the bottles, nipples, pacifiers he used each day to kill the thrush. We went a step further by throwing everything out and buying brand new stuff. We were going to Babies-R-Us more than we were going to the grocery store. Still it didn’t work… back to the doctor! We were given a second medication to treat the thrush, a stronger mediation. After a few days of Flucanozole (only to be given 1x a day- whew), Edward perked up again! Hello 3 oz bottles! He was drinking like a champ, and we were rejoicing again! Wouldn’t you know it, just as we were finishing up the last of 10 days of Flucanozole he started to fight us again. We couldn’t believe it. Back to the doctors! It must be reflux now because the thrush is gone, start the Prevacid. Oh, and this medication is a fun one to give to a newborn. Take a solutab and dissolve it in 3-4 ml of water, draw it up in a syringe, and shoot it into his mouth making sure he doesn’t spit out the nasty granules. Oh, and do it 30 minutes before giving a bottle which subsequently leads to him not actually wanting to take the stupid bottle. After five days on the Prevacid with no improvement we were forced to go back to the doctor. This time, another pediatrician thought, wow, something is really bothering him. She watched Mike try to feed him and saw him push Mike away, cry, arch his back (Thank you Edward for actually doing that, because if you got stage fright and didn’t fight the bottle, we would have been known as the craziest parents in the office). She also thought that besides the reflux, his breathing was terrible. His lungs sounded clear but he sounded junky. He always was a heavy breather, but his wheezing had gotten out of control. Could he have sinusitis? Who knows? So now Edward is on Prevacid (1x a day) and Zantac (2x a day) for reflux and amoxicillin (2x a day) for a possible sinus infection. So out of the 7 feedings he gets a day, Edward has to take medicine before 5 of them…. Awesome. The pediatrician also ordered a swallow study to be done at the radiology department at UVA hospital. She wants to make sure everything is anatomically in place for him to be swallowing and eating. No, she said, his fighting us, is just not normal.
We apologize for not keeping up with the blog, but you can tell why. Not being able to feed to the little guy has been frustrating and heavy on our hearts. The worst part would be that as soon as we would stop trying to feed him, he would turn back into his happy self, smiling and playing with us. Edward, do you still love us? No wonder he didn’t want to eat…. his tongue was hurting from the thrush, the reflux was causing burning in his tummy and throat, and the sinus infection was making it hard for him to breath. Duh! If only he could talk and tell us what is wrong! Hopefully the swallow study will show that everything is working correctly and the triple threat of medicine will start to kick in. Goodbye June, I hate you.
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