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?