Doctor Visits Galore!

Dr. Visits

Visit 1:

Kaz had his 6 month check up. His pediatrician gave us the green light to start feeding our boy solids, well as solid as baby food can be. If I haven't mentioned it let me do so now, our ped is a card and when I mentioned I would be making my own baby food (yeah, that's right I'm makin my own baby food - it's not like I have to do anything really special. Steam, throw it in a blender, put it in an ice cube tray, voila baby food.) he looked at me, lifted one eyebrow and said, "Whatever Martha." You gotta love this guy. So how are Kaz's growth stats? Glad you asked. It's funny they took a little dip but nothing to be concerned with. No one believes me when I tell them he's a preemie. I've stopped correcting his age when people ask because he's too big to be a 4 month old. Here's how he stacked up this go-round.

• Weight: 16. lbs 5 oz. - 30%
• Height: 25.5 inches - 12%
• Head 42 1/4 cm - 12%

Speaking of heads. We've done such a good job at dealing with preemie head (flat sides) by putting him on his back that we have now cultivated our very own flat spot on the back of his head. Drats...he'll never look good bald. We may have misshapen his head but yea for us, not his penis! That's right people, we did NOT break his penis this time. I literally watched the doc examine him, look at it, and then when he said, "that looks good", I raised my hands in victory. Oh happy day, no mo penis talk!

Kaz did get a flu shot but no H1N1. We were lucky to get the flu shot (the doc had some reserved for kiddos like Kaz) so I guess we'll just have to wait with the rest of the ailing country for someone to get their act together or we will have to stand in one of those horrifically long lines for hours on end. There is another shot we are trying to get Kaz and the insurance companies are not playing nice. Technically it's 5 shots at a $1000 a pop. Seriously why does a shot have to cost so much. I know, you're asking yourself what kind of shot costs a 100 benjamins? It's called Synagis. Here is an FAQ to answer all your questions http://www.synagis.com/faq.aspx#vaccine . It could be called unicorn for all I care because at this point it doesn't exist for our son since the insurance companies don't believe he's a candidate worthy of it although he fits the criteria and both the ped and the pulmonologist are requesting it. Maybe we'll know more soon but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

On the upside 19 days after this visit we did wait in line and all three of us did get the H1N1. We took the day off from work, got in line early (1.5 hours early) and an hour after the clinic opened we were all vaccined up. Did you know if you have a child under the age of 2 you have to go back in 4 weeks for a booster. Me neither. I sure hope it's widely available by then. If you want to find the nearest location where the vaccine is available use this link: http://www.flu.gov/widgets/vaccinelocator.html

We also discussed Kaz's development. You know, the fact that this little guy isn't rollin over. The doc picked Kaz up, flew him around like an airplane, said "come on buddy you can do it", and then said, "When do you see the OT (Occupational Therapist)...I'll be interested to hear what she has to say." What the krykie is that supposed to mean!? I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks when we see the OT for our 6 month NICU follow-up.

Visit 2:

We had our follow-up visit at Childrens hospital and I was all geared up to pull out the Vaseline and have Aaron hold my earrings. I walked in their with an attitude, I admit that but I did take steps to make sure I didn't let my emotions get the better of me. I had a heart-to-heart with myself on the way there. I put out positive thoughts and energy out into the universe and I designated Aaron as the official ambassador on this visit. And you know what, IT WORKED! The pulmonologist was nice and she even engaged Kaz this time. It's a Thanksgiving miracle.

You see this happy smiling baby? It's so hard to look at him and know that technically "he's sick". How can this happy, giggling, flirty baby have something wrong with his lungs. It's so hard to wrap your head around it. Look at this kid, their aint nothin wrong with him. The doctor doesn't seem to agree with us. Before we went in to see the pumonologist an xray of Kaz's lungs was taken. That was so much fun - holding our little guy down, stretching his arms, and watching him loose it not once, not twice, but three times (because of all the squirming and thrashing about we had to redo it once). What did this little torture test tell us? It told us that our little tough guys lungs still show signs of Respiratory Disease (RD). Not a lot but it's still there. What can be done? Time. Only time will heal his little lungs. We were hoping for a pill, a shot, a salve, anything but as it turns out the only thing we can do is wait for our son to mature and hope he doesn't get sick while we wait for his lungs to grow out of this.

The doc listened to his breathing as Kaz chatted it up with her. He was goin a mile a minute and between goo's and ga's the doc heard the gasping. Apparently he takes little gasps. Thier not huge but they're there and they shouldn't be. Yet another RD indicator.

We finally reviewed the results of his sleep test done back in September and it wasn't anything we already didn't figure out on our own except for 1 minor detail. When the doc left the message at the house (which by the way Aaron had a great point - how did she know it was our house, what if she left the message at the wrong house, she never confirmed we got the message and she never called us back) we heard her say take the O2 pressure up to .50 when in fact as a result of the sleep test it needed to go up to .75. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? "I called you 3 times to discuss the results." My silence was broken and she quickly realized Momma wasn't happy. She then gave us some lame sentiment and quickly told us that we didn't further damage him by only giving him .50 for the last TWO months. So let me get this strait, we left the NICU on .25 and now we're up to .75. AWESOMO! How did this happen? I'm not quite sure but it all comes down to a very thorough sleep test. Let's look on the bright side; he only has to wear the O2 at night and that's a big improvement from 24/7.

Speaking of sleep tests we are scheduled for another one in March and we hope for much better results...now that we've got the O2 pressure right :) Of course it will take them 2 weeks to review the results but the doc realizing I was quite peeved gave me her email address so that I could contact her directly and say, "hey, it's been 2 weeks, get on the stick and call me!" Worst move she ever made.

Another thing the doc was sure to talk to us about was the importance of washing our hands with hot soapy water, antibacterial gel, and avoiding day care. Let's just say, don't be surprised or offended when we insist you wash, gel, and get sprayed with Lysol, and for some we may just reenact the scene from Silkwood.

All in all it was a much better visit than the first. This time the pulmonologist was human.

Visit 3:

This month we met with the Occupational Therapist (OT) for a 6 month check-up (just to make sure he is developing nicely). He is PERFECTAMUNDO! Sure he can't roll over but he's a real social butterfly who is happy and engaging, he's great at following and focusing, he's got great hand to hand coordination, good neck control, and when she tried to work with him on rolling she said he had a solid center of gravity and he corrects the coaxing - in other words, he likes it where he's at and wants you to stop pushing him. But I'm annoyed, because all the while I'm telling her how he hates tummy time but oh no, when Alyse is there he's all smiles and lovin it (especially the medical paper under him, maybe that's the key; I need to get a huge roll of medical paper and lay it under him at all times). She told me not to be concerned that he's not rolling over and that she sees it coming by how he handles himself. She said developmentally he is in the 4-5 month range (some things he does is within the 4 month range and some things are within the 5+ month range which is normal for any kid to accelerate at some things over others). What's important is that he is not developmentally younger than his corrected age. He's on target. We'll see her in 6 months, no intervention is needed, and in the interim she gave us some cool exercises to do. Finally I can use the big blue exercise ball that's been collecting dust!

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While in the waiting room making his 6 month follow-up appointment I finally found out what all the fuss is about Kaz's size. I met a boy named Henry and his 2 mommy's. Henry's mom's asked how old Kaz was and were amazed when I said 6 months. They went on to ask if he was a preemie and I said with pride, "yep, 8 weeks". "So was Henry. OMgosh, I think he's bigger than Henry." We get this reaction a lot. People can not believe he's a preemie. I now get it. Henry was the cutest little boy with these big brown eyes who buried them into his mom's chest. Henry and Kaz did look to be about the same size (Henry was a little taller though) but Henry was 10 months old.

Firsts

Ahhhh beautiful music to our ears; Kaz's first raspberry. You would have thunk he was reciting Shakespeare. I tried to download a video of it but it no worky, sorry.

Per doctors orders we served up Kaz's first serving of baby food. Sweet potatoes to be exact. Wow, he reacted like we were serving him liquid cotton candy. He was just beside himself with glee and amazement. Next on the menu peas. At first he winced and then just gobbled it down. He's gonna be a good eater just like his Father (Michelle K is delighted to hear that I'm sure - she loves watching Aaron eat), our poor grocery bill.

Warning WARNING there is a sick child lurking in our house. We are currently experiencing our first code-in-da-nose (cold in the nose). There is a lot of suctioning goin on around here which we allllll LOVE. Luckily the cold seems to be contained to the nose (which is difficult since he's a nose breather). There is an occasional cough from the post-nasal drip but - knock on wood - that's it for now. Of course I called the phone nurse, not because I'm panicking. I know, kids get sick. They need to build their immunities. I'm all for it. Yes I'm a first time mom but I'm not being a "first time mom", what I am is cautious. Let me remind you...he...has...respiratory...disease. We have whole different deck of cards to deal with (said the nurse). What else did she say? She said as long as as the cold doesn't fall into his chest and we don't hear any wheezing or see any labored breathing we should just suction him out real good, run the humidifier, give him a steamy bath, and elevate his head. You know, the standard. I had a talk with Kaz, told him he better listen to his Mother and to stop all this snotty nonsense. So far he's not listening...KIDS!

Yea we had our first Halloween which means our first costume! Momma made this one herself (well the beard and hat at least) and we did it all for Oma who LOVES gnomes. Cutest gnome you ever saw, right?! Of course Harley had to have a costume too. We couldn't leave our first child out of all the fun.

Visitors

Leslie & Warren came down from NorCal and Elinore from Temecula drove in to meet our little man. They hugged, kissed, and squeezed him lots and we are so happy they came.

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We went to see the paleontologist...the periodontist...no that's not right...the doc who monitored our "high risk" pregnancy. Kaz and I went back to say thank you for taking such good care of us and so he could meet Kaz. He walked into his office, ignored me and swooped up our little miracle who smiled uncontrollably as if he's known him his whole life and couldn't stop staring at the doc while he was flirting with all the pretty nurses. I'm not embarrased to tell you, I got a little misty eyed.

Pics for Fun

Look it's US!

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Ah that face! How could you not just want to reach into the computer and pinch those cheeks?

It's a temporary thing - I won't dress them alike forever, I promise. Come on look at how handsome these 2 are in their matching hats.

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Not so handsome was the aftermath of Harley's alergy test.

Mmmm beeeeerrrrr.

Greg do you see how cute I am? One day I will curse this picture but today I'm adorable.

Has it been that long?

WOW it's been over a month since I've written anything. We've got a lot of catching up to do. WARNING there is a lot to read hopefully you don't bore easily...oooo look something shinny!

Dr. Visits

Sleep-test take II. On September 5 we booked a room at Childrens (btw, there was no turn down service and the view was atrocious - last time I stay there!) for the ol' overnight sleep test. Bet you would like to know what the results were. So would I! Basically this is what happened. We got there, they electroded him up (the pic is from the 1st time we tried this and they had just started putting all the equipment on him), and my son and I went mee mees where I carefully tried not to roll over and smother my him since we had to share the bed. Obviously they don't do this on many babies. A tech came in the room a couple of times and at 6 am we received a wake up call, "Good morning, it's all done." "So I heard you come in the room a couple of times last night, did you have to turn on the oxygen?" See the thing about this test is they start him on room air and if his body doesn't stay oxygenated enough they crank on the O2 to 100% with a pressure of .25. "Yes, we started at .25 pressure and ended at .50" "Anything you can tell me before I meet with the doctor?" "Nope." Awesome. Great because by now you gotta know what's comin right?

Of course I didn't hear from the doctor till Friday October 2nd. Almost a month later. Did I actually speak to the doctor. No, she left the following message. Made apologies (LOL!) then went on to say, "so as a result of the sleep-test we need to take Kaz's O2 pressure to .50. If you want discuss the results give me a call Monday." Duh, of course I want to discuss it. I want to know what happened to my poor lil' guy. Of course I called Monday. Strange, I didn't get a response back. So all of you whom have been inquiring, I know just as much as you do. NOTHING!

4 month check-up which was more like a 4.5 month check-up because of the date: "So what happened?" It's official, a medical professional has diagnosed our son as a flirt. He was talkin to the doc, smiling, being all cute. It was pretty funny to watch and it was even funnier when the doc called him a flirt and he just gave him a big ol' goofy grin.

Well this time around when the doc checked his height, weight, and head growth he proclaimed that he would start officially tracking his percentile to growth. What does that mean? If your child is in the 20th percentile for weight, for example, he weighs more than 20 percent of children his age and less than the other 80 percent. Here's how our boy measured up:

• Height 24" = 25%
• Weight 14 lbs 4.5 oz. = 50% (Corrected age would land him in the 90th percentile - hence not correcting his age for growth.)
• Head 40 cm = 10% (poor misshapen peanut - we're fighting preemie head here, it's something that happens to a lot of preemies because when they are in the NICU they put babies with breathing/reflux issues on their sides most of the time which cause the head to be flat on the sides. So Kaz's head is flat on the sides pointy on top but it's rounding out nicely and to me and everyone else his head looks HUGE. I think someone misread something.)

He checked his body including his penis, and I can't believe I'm about to say this but we broke it again but I think we've got it now. I think we finally know how to take care of it. Geez I spend way too much time worrying and "taking care of" my sons penis - SERIOUSLY!

We discussed Kaz's "displeasure" with tummy time. This kid hates being on his tummy. His neck control is getting better and he'll sit there for a couple of minutes but you slowly see his head drop and the screaming commences. As much as I don't like to hear him scream it's a necessary evil we must diligently subject him to. I tell him it's for his own good but he doesn't seem to care.

Maybe I can bribe him with a nice warm bowl of rice cereal. The doc would like us to start introducing this creamy goodness to him and see how he takes to it.

On top of his regular shots Kaz had to have is blood checked at a lab to see if his iron levels were normal yet. Poor Aaron had to hold his baby tight while the nervous tech drew blood from his tiny little arm and I stood in the waiting area crying. What, I cry. I don't need to be tough all the time. Quit looking at me! Happy to report all is well and Kaz is now off the iron.

Firsts

I went back to work. Needless to say I have mixed emotions about this. I love my job and I love working but I hate not spending every waking moment with our little tough guy. Luckily his Tia Jenn (my comadre) has been gracious enough to watch him here at home while I work in the office (yes, I work from home. I know, you're sooo jealous). It's been nice but a temporary solution till Jenn is comfortable taking him to her house. You know what she did to me this past Tuesday, she ripped my baby from his home and left his Momma here broken hearted. WAAAAAA! I know, I'm so melodramatic.

Kaz had his first play date and I think the pictures are very telling of what it's going to be like in 10 years, lord help us.

Caleb: I've got a great idea!

Kaz: Hmmm, interesting.

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Caleb: ...and then we...
Kaz: Dude that's hilarious!

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Caleb: ...this is where it gets good.

Kaz: DUDE, what is wrong with you?

 

 

 

 

Mmmmm rice cereal! Feeding time is not something to be messed with around here. Kaz will tell you what's what if you mess with his bottle - up one side and down the other. With that said, we didn't choose the most opportune time to introduce rice cereal. You know, when he was hungry. He wasn't havin it! Once we gave him his bottle and his tummy was nice and full we offered him a couple of spoonfuls of rice cereal. Can you tell by the pic how he felt about it?

Now we notice, "wow he is totally watching us eat AND he opens his mouth like he's waiting for a bite". He's crafty this one, he now tries to hold his bottle or pull our hands towards his mouth with the bottle or spoon in it. Can you teach a kid not to have food aggression? It worked on Harley. Hey I'm not complaining, 14 lbs. is a far cry from 3.

Although he is doing great with his growth and his age is no longer being corrected for that, we have to keep reminding ourselves he may be 5 months old, but developmentally he's not. You've been told over and over about corrected age but you know when he was born so it really doesn't compute. I want him to be 5 months old doing what my friends kids are doing. Instead I need to keep reminding myself he is only 3 months/3 weeks old.

I need to celebrate Kaz's milestones as they come and be happy for the milestones of others (Caleb and Cora are rolling over, Maysen is sitting, and Caden is crawling - YEA!). Again it's hard to wrap your head around it no matter how logical it is. So no he's not rolling over yet (maybe that's because he can't stomach tummy time [get it, stomach - tummy time - come one, I'm hilarious] long enough to figure it out) but I think after seeing his cousin Cora standing with such grace he some how became inspired to stand. Yes, he is now standing (with my support of course)! One day while he and I sat in front of the mirror he began to yell at himself as if he were giving himself a pregame pep-talk. He then tensed up all his muscles, planted his feet on the floor, and like a little power lifter he stood up. It was AWESOME! Milestone achieved!

My baby CAN be tickled. I thought he inherited the no tickle gene from his momma (yes, I am not ticklish - don't try it you might pull back a stump) but finally he reacted to tickling. Happy happy joy joy giggle giggle snort snort!

Apparently we might have a little vampire on our hands. Kaz is teething and it is in the weirdest place, his fangs. Kaz really only cries for 2 reasons, 1 - see food aggression topic above, and 2 - when he's tired. So when he's crying for no apparent reason and he's shoving his fist in his mouth it prompted me to do a little investigation and right where his little fangs are there are white swollen patches. Yes I'm a first time Mom so trust me I had a veteran look at it to tell me I wasn't crazy. According to the pediatrician and his Oma who owned a daycare and has seen a lot (she knows a thing or two about a thing or two) they both tell me as weird as it may seem, it happens. Hmmm where do you suppose one finds a little black baby cape?

My son is empathic! The book (Your Baby's First Year for Dummies - yeah that's right, we're dummies) says babies start to empathize and respond to facial expressions. I was having a "moment". I was holding him and he and I were looking at each other and all of the sudden I was overwhelmed with emotions (dang hormones) and I got a little teary-eyed. Kaz looked at me and gave me pucheros (pout) and started crying with me. My little heart broke and then I just busted out laughing. My poor sensitive little man, I'm sure he was confused as all get out.

I've thought often about what I'd do if it ever happened and then it finally did; Harley had a seizure for the first time since Kaz has been home and it was a pretty bad one. Luckily Kaz was in his bouncy seat and Harley was outside. It's been 5 months since his last seizure which has been the longest we've ever gone without one and we made an interesting discovery. Over the course of the last year most of his seizures occurred while he was on antibiotics. The vet told us the antibiotics would not counteract his anti-seizure meds. Really, I beg to differ. Proof is in the history you quacks. Why was Harley on antibiotics? He has some pretty severe allergies that cause his skin to break out and then it gets infected. Hence the antibiotics. Well we are hoping that will all come to an end. We took Harley to an animal dermatologist. Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds but we also tried acupuncture. If you've ever seen Harley's skin you know how desperate we are to fix it. Anyways we paid big bucks to finally find out what the heck is causing all the itchy-poo-scratchy and now we get the pleasure of shooting him up with an antigen. It won't take away the seizures but it's a start.

Aaron was sick. "Oh my what did he have?" I'll make this really short. A goiter! An infected ingrown hair that turned into the size of a guava under his chin. He was quarantined from Kaz because they thought he had MERSA which turned out to be a low grade Staph infection. A day after he was cleared to touch the baby he then got the flu with a 103.4 fever and was sequestered to the guest bed. So for the first time I got to take care of 2 babies. The big one I've been taking care of for 12 years and our son. I don't want to do that again. It was so sad when Kaz and I would peek into the doorway to say hello; Kaz with his big goofy grin and his Dad tortured that he couldn't hold him. Ahh but all is well now, Kaz and his Dad have reconnected and I am EXHAUSTED.

Visitors

Our old friend Kevan who we haven't seen in quite sometime was shocked when I responded to his question with, "he's at home taking care of the baby." I guess he had to see it for himself. Heck I'm still in shock I can only imagine what his brain did.

Ahhh Walter he loves kids that's why this picture means sooooo much to me (only my friend Steven would appreciate this - sorry everyone inside joke). Look at that happy grin on his face, sniff sniff.

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Kaz's Aunt Leslie, Wujek Matthew, and cousins Eve and Cora came to visit from WI for a whole week! It was great to meet our newest niece born 26 days after Kaz and spend time with Miss D'Eva. On top of all that yummi goodness seeing Leslie and Matthew meet their first nephew for the first time was pretty sweet too. It's too bad it was sooooo dang hot.

My Mom & Bob got to see Kaz for the first time since he left the hospital. Wow, I can only imagine how surreal that was for them. The last time they saw him he was just a day or 2 old and he was hooked up to so many tubes and wires and too see him at 14 lbs. smiling tube free must be something. I can't believe no one took a picture! It's not like we don't have 4 cameras sitting around this house. There's always next time I suppose.

Just for Fun Pics

Cousin Cora and Kaz saying "wut up" to the camera.

Just boys being boys. Sonny, Harley, & the Kazman.

Karen finally getting to

hold the little booger. She's seen him plenty of times but this is the first time she got to wrap her arms aournd him.

Ahh George. I love this picture.

To Nap or Not to Nap - Is that the question?

So how did Kaz's nap-test go?

Ummm it didn't, technically. Yes we went there and yes there were 22 electrodes attached to our sons face, chins (yes I said chins, have you seen him - he's got a spare), and chest, and yes he "slept"; technically. Ah but for how long? Twenty minutes. Not quite long enough for a true REM test to be properly evaluated.

See here's the thing, Kaz touches his face to comfort himself and as soon as he reached up to touch his soft baby skin his fingertips were met with cold hard wires and he just wasn't havin' it. I tried to rock him back to sleep. I tried to comfort him. I tried giving him his bink which was impossible since one of the sensors basically blocked his mouth. Nothing worked and by the time the respiratory therapists came into the room to say, "so sorry but..." and before I could snap a picture, he had pulled about have the sensors off his face in protest.

In the short time Kaz was in REM sleep we did discover one thing. His oxygenation level dipped to 91% which warrants oxygen. FINALLY some numbers/facts to substantiate why our child needs the oxygen. Of course I'm disappointed. I walked in there hoping as any normal parent would that their son wouldn't "need" artificial support. Disappointed but not defeated.

So now what? "Well, you can come back in and we can sedate him." Ummm NO, sedate my 4 month old baby - I don't think so! "Or you can come in for an overnight stay." GEEZ LOUISE! While I had to mull over those 2 very attractive options I was left wondering why we had to come back in if based on this short test we knew he still needed the O2 while he slept at night.

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Well, I got my answer today. We are scheduled for an overnight stay at Childrens Hospital this coming Saturday. By "we", I mean Kaz and I because only 1 parent can stay overnight. WTF! Okay- whatever, why do we have to do this test? It was explained that the test needed to be done to calibrate Kaz's exact need for oxygen (how much, when and so on). Fine, valid point. You win this one. So if you are wondering if I'm free for drinks on Saturday night, sorry I've got a date with a very special little man. Just him and I and 22 electrodes.

P.S. I go back to work tomorrow. I'm so excited to miss him.

The Nasal-can Can Can

Kaz had 2 doctors appointments this week. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Oh, let's start this off on a positive note and see what we can do to end on one too.

The Good:

Yea! Our baby's eyes are fully developed said his Ophthalmologist at the Children's Retina Institute. Way to develop KAZ.

The Bad?:

I don't know that it is necessarily bad, it's...frustrating but there is a light at the end I'm sure. We went to our appointment at Childrens Hospital (CH) and much to my delight it wasn't as nightmarish as I had expected it to be (WHEW!). So there we were with our little man ready to see the doc and for the doc to see him sans oxygen while I sang in my head, "Ain't nobody bring me no bad news" courtesy of The Wiz. Let me preface the following tale with an acknowledgement of my guilt; I am guilty of walking in there ready to fight and ready to hear all was just hunky dorey. Bad Momma. I know.

I was told the bedside manner at CH was not of the utmost importance to the docs there and to expect a lack there of. I got exactly what I expected. Thanks for the warning y'all. I'm not saying the doc was rude, she wasn't. She was just a non-commital lack luster impersonal beige woman. It took us 2 months to get the appointment and one would think considering the circumstances (the whole escalating it up the chain of command) she would have reviewed his medical history packet before she walked in the room. Silly rabbit. No, she chose to read it in front of us while we watched her. Instantly I was annoyed and of course now questioning whether or not Kaz would be getting a fair shot verses a quick once over-take a number-see ya in a month kind of thing. Sooooooo what happend?

Well she looked at him, listened to his lungs, never personally interacted with him (he's just a number after-all) and said he had preemie breathing. Huh? Considering this she would like him to continue wearing the oxygen at night while he sleeps and wear the monitor for another 6 weeks because she prefers to see a 12 week span without incident (btw his last incident took place on July 5). So of course I had to ask what she meant by preemie breathing; was there something she heard in his lungs; is there something wrong; what can we do to be sure? You know the basic questions one might ask in this type of situation. She seemed somewhat annoyed that I needed clarification. I didn't get a clear answer but what do I know, she a doctor and I'm a lowly commoner. What it comes down to is she would rather be safe than sorry. I guess I can't argue with that.

I don't know if it's because I pressed or if it was part of her plan all along but a plan was formed. Our pediatirician originally took him off the oxygen because his oxygenation level was at 100%. When we first arrived at CH the nurse checked to see what Kaz's oxygenation level was. It was at 97% - GREAT number considering he was sleeping. The doc wants to make sure that while he sleeps it stays at a consistent number because that is when most apnea incidents occur. With that said, we go back next Wednesday for a sleep test. I'm so excited! I'm so excited because according to the list of instructions that were given to us we get to do the following; "Let the child have only half his normal sleep the night before the test. Do not allow your child to nap before the appointment time." Ummmm how in the heck do you keep an infant awake till 2:00pm? It's gonna be CRANKY city around here on Wednesday. I don't suggest anyone stop by unless you can keep my 3 month old child awake. As soon as I put him in his car seat and pull the car down the driveway he's gonna be out like a light. Sooooooooo excited!

Okay so the sleep test determines if apnea is an issue, what about those under-developed lungs. The doc said if we want we can have an xray of his lungs done. If WE want? Seriously, what does it matter what we want? How about we do what needs to be done to make sure our son is healthy. We go back for our follow-up appointment on November 9 and we will have an xray done then. Terrific, we're back on the "wait and see what we see" train.

Yes I am frustrated. Not necessarily because of what went down at CH. I just want to finally take that big sigh of relief and move on to worrying about everything else a new mom worries about. Like, will I be able to sleep the first night he sleeps in his own room? Apparently I can because last night (Friday 8/21) he did infact sleep in his own bed! He LOVED it. OMGosh he just lied there with a big goofy grin on his face as if he knew this was his first step to becoming a big boy and instantly fell asleep (you have to click on the pic and see a close up of his face - too funny). So for now we'll continue to do the nasal-can can-can dance. It won't be forever and it won't stop us from thiving and growing, if anything I hope it makes us ALL that much stronger.

Can the nasal-can!

Drum roll pleasssssssssse!

Kaz is off the O2!

Look at me, I'm nasal-can free! That's right people no more nasal-can. No more tape. No more ripping at his skin. No more boxing Kaz (he literally would go fisticuffs on ya when you tried to put his oxygen back on). No more lugging an oxygen machine from room-to-room. No more packing oxygen on the go. NO MO! How did this wonderful wonderfulness come about? Read on.

Dr. Visit

Let's tell the truth and shame the devil. We didn't always make Kaz wear his oxygen. Don't judge or panic, his pediatrician said it was ok in small doses. Well, the morning of Kaz's 3 month check-up (Friday August 7), his Oma and I gathered all his equipment, put him in his car seat and when I went to put his nasal-can on (because yes I had it off for the morning) he put up his dukes and I didn't have the energy or the heart to fight him.

So we strolled into his appointment with the oxygen tucked in his bag (just in case) ready for a scolding from the doc. The doc took it in stride, made a joke, scolded me a bit (ethical obligation I suppose) and left the room to get the most wonderful tool in the world. A pulse-ox machine. He wrapped the little sensor around Kaz's finger and after a few beeps the doc sang the most beautiful music to my ears, "This is a kid who is 100% oxygenated." I heard it but I didn't want to get my hopes up as to what it might mean...I was concentrating so hard on not getting my hopes up, I had ask the doc to repeat it. The lovely melody included a chorus of, "doesn't have to wear the oxygen anymore" and "Let's stop taking the diuretic and Potassium".

WHOA! Wait, you mean on top of not having to torture my son with jamming something up his nose I can also eliminate half the meds he's on? OH HAPPY DAY! The doc went on to make another joke that we'd be rolling into Children's Hospital without any oxygen and they would look at us and say, "What the heck are you doing here?"

FYI, Kaz is still wearing his monitor (his Oma thinks it might be a good idea to keep that one for the next 18 years or so...LOL...hmmm not a bad idea), you know just to make sure everything is copacetic. Maybe after the Childrens Hospital visit we can do away with this too. Can you feel it people? We are just a hop skip and a jump from "normalcy" (whatever that is), an unencumbered baby. Crazy wild good right? Be prepared for the next entry that discusses life without a monitor, or as I think I will title it, "Kaz Watch - I haven't slept in days."

Firsts:

Shopping: To celebrate our new found freedom we took our first jaunt to Target (Tarjae - okay). Baby needed new steppin out clothes. Moreover he needed clothes that fit because what we also discovered at his check-up is that he is now 10 lbs. 13.5 oz. No more newborn clothes for him.

Peacock Walk: We showed off our little family to the neighborhood when we took the dog out for his first walk with the baby. We didn't get very far but we did get and that's all that matters.

The Kitchen Sink:

Oma is now homa. She left on Sunday. It was really hard to see her go but she's got 2 grandbabies at home to love on and we have to learn how to keep on keepin' on on our own. Good thing she's just a phone call/skype/webcam away! Besides we will have something to really REALLY look forward to the next we/they visit. When will we visit? Probably not this winter. This winter will be a hard one. They expect the Swine-flu to be epic this winter so get vaccinated, and considering Kaz's "respiratory disease" the docs advice against venturing out this holiday season. So, maybe for someones 60th b-day in the spring we will board a big bird to the Midwest?

So, what were some of the highlights from Oma's long visit?

We watched a lot of Food Network where we marveled at Paula Deans butter obsession (come on she boiled lobster in butter - not butter mixed with wine or broth, just strait butter!); We made each other laugh silly with our impressions of Giada's smile talk; We both wanted to have dinner at the Barefoot Contessa's house. With all these cooking shows we were inspired to bake a yummi broccoli and goat cheese souffle for the first time in both our lives. Did I mention it was YUMMI?

• Aaron subjected her to A LOT of government cheese (you know, not the good stuff) movies (i.e. Superbad; Don't Mess With the Zohan; and The House Bunny - which we both made each other snort every time we said someones name like Ana Faris' character.)


• Although she protested, we made her watch Gordon Ramsey's Hells Kitchen and now she's searching him out on the BBCA. If you haven't watched it, you might be a donkey.


• The first time she held Kaz in the hospital and immediately wanted to bring him home. I am so glad she was there when we finally got to take that wheelchair ride.

Too many to mention so I should stop before I get really sappy. Okay, one more sappy moment...

• I'm so glad she was here and I for one will miss the joy in her face every morning when she opened her arms wide to cuddle Kaz good morning while she showered him with kisses. For some strange reason that was the best start to my day.

We are so grateful and yes we do realize how lucky we are that she could stay for so long. Thank you Mom, Momma, Oma, Arfma (Harley is still looking for you and he tried to sleep on "your" bed last night). I know it was really difficult for you to leave and for us to see you go but now it's time for us to go it alone like grown-ups. Hey I went to target by myself with Kaz for the first time...aren't you proud of me?

Childrens Hospital - Is it a mirage?

My eyes, MY EYES! You know what's weird? Let me tell you. It's weird when you look at your cute sleeping baby and marvel at how much he's grown (which BTW is freaky when it's happening right before your eyes by leaps and bounds - no SERIOUSLY Freakishly RAPID) and how much he looks like his father and he opens his eyes and you see yourself staring back at you. His eyes are your eyes and his soul is so old...it is TOO WEIRD!

Dr. Visits

We had to go to the docs on July 21 to see a man about a crusty eye. Of course when we got to the doctors office there was no crusty eye to be found. Long and short of it is he may have had a blocked tear duct. I know what you're thinking, "over-protective much". NO, we got a kid here with developing eyes still so I'm not taking any chances okay. Coincidentally our nieces Eva and Cora Jane both suffer from blocked tear ducts. Eva (Miss D'Eva as I like to call her) had to have little stint put in her eye and Cora Jane may have to do the same. So this is something that may run in the ol' fam and we will have to watch for it. While we were there we popped him on the scale and he weighed 9 lbs. 11 oz. By now he's got to be over 10 lbs. We'll find out at his 3 month appointment this Friday.
 

On our way home from the non-existent crusty eye appointment we stopped by Dr. Yung's office so she could finally see the boy she brought into the world without all the tubes in his face. He's almost as big as she is!

Guess who I got a call from. "Hi this Cynthia from Childrens Hospital. I just got off the phone with Kaz's pediatrician and I understand that you have had some difficulty securing an appointment?" I laughed. "I guess that's an understatement. Well I just wanted to call you and let you know that the director of pulmonology will be handling your case personally and we have an appointment for Kaz..." In my head I'm screaming, YIPEE. She continues on to say, "On August 19." In my head I groan. Oh wait that was out loud.
 

Yes we have an appointment but the thought of waiting till the 19th is just agonizing. Kaz absolutely HATES the nasal-can (not to mention what the tape does to his skin. He is constantly ripping it off his face and just recently ripped it off with such force he made himself bleed. I guess I should thank our lucky stars and our pediatrician who escalated the issue to the president of the pediatric board (I guess that guy or gal doesn't have much pull either since we still have to wait till August 19), that we FINALLY got an appointment.

It's funny. They told me we didn't receive a call because they were confused by the name on the paperwork. When Kaz was born it was under my work insurance and at work I go by my maiden name hence he was "Baby Boy R...". Hmmmm, well Baby Boy R... never got a call either nor did Angela R...-P11 who left multiple messages. Lord help me and the fool who dares to give me the run around when I get there.

Now Angela, that's not very positive. All right y'all let's put the positive vibes out there that this will all be behind us soon.
 

Firsts

Tee hee, LOL, LMAO, hahaha, I experienced Kaz's first laugh on 7/30. At first I didn't realize it was happening and then...there it was! What a thing of beauty. I can't stop smiling thinking of it. What a sentimental dork I'm becoming.

Last Friday we met the Ambrose family (Wil, Karen, and baby Caleb) for lunch. This was Kaz's first official restaurant outing. He slept. Of course he slept! That's what this kid does when it's super loud...it's as if it's soothing to him. Who knew!? And BTW (by the way), no we were not one of those annoying people who bring their big asteroid stroller in. At least not yet, we can still carry him in his car seat. I'm not sure for how much longer at the rate he's growing. I'm sure I'll be annoying people all over soon :)

Visitors

George & Sierra Robles: George and his daughter popped in to say hello and decibel of Georges voice didn't startle Kaz a bit. This kid likes the noise I'm tellin ya.

Al & Bonnie: Our "back-door neighbors" (Wilson - for those of you in the know) walked up the driveway to see were all the crying was coming from. Of course he was sound asleep but opened his big beautiful blue eyes just for them.

Marco Sanchez: Neighbor Marco and his sister Amber came over and had some "Ice cream and cakey cake". I'm so proud of Marco. I'm sure some of you can recall the tale of the neighbor I scarred for life from ever having kids when he came to visit me in the hospital. Well he braved the walk and of course Kaz heeded the call and did a little chokey choke just to see if Marco was paying attention. He was and Kaz was fine. He was just putting on heirs.
 

Fairy God-Fathers: Guncles Abdullah, Vince, and Greg came over for dinner to shower our little man with love, hugs, baby talk, and gifts. It was an absolute RIOT, but then again when isn't it with these 3.

BJ: BIF BJ TTLY came over to C our N00B KP with a BG. TY, CUA, XO2U

The Kitchen Sink - Hows everything else?
Something new for you to feast your eyes on (thanks to my sister-in-laws blog for the idea), I added a "How Old Am I" & "Corrected Age" ticker to the blog homepage. If you're ever thinkin' to yourself, "hmmm, how old is Kaz now and what is his corrected "preemie"/developmental age", just look at the 2 tickers on the upper right side of blog homepage.

Kaz continues to be a good boy overall. He is Mr. Cranky McCrankerton when he's hungry and he's a pretty ravenous eater but all in all we find it quite humorous because all of the sudden he wakes up screaming as if he just realized, "hey I'm STARVING over here". Trust us he's getting enough to eat which is evident by his strength. He loves to show us how strong he is by using his legs to crawl up your body. I just wonder, where the heck does he think he's going.

Interesting note: Apparently he inherited something from his namesake Wujek (Uncle in Polish) Matthew; right before he falls asleep he screams his head off for just a few seconds in protest. Oma says Wujek Matthew was the same exact way. What's up with that?