Some people who read this blog have made comments about having me send them pictures so they can print them out. I just wanted to write a quick blurb about the fact that you can save pictures that I post in the blog right to your computer. Which then you can do whatever you want with them, it would be as if I emailed them to you. So here's how you do it:
When you are scrolling over the blog page and you see a picture that you want you take your cursor and place it over the top of that picture you want and click on it. It should open it in another window and you can then right click on it and save as to wherever you want to save it. This SHOULD work if, it doesn't let me know and I'll try and figure out a better way to get pictures to everyone.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
An Update
As I sit here on my bed listening to my little munchkin making all kinds of noise in his crib before he falls asleep for a nap I realize that so many of you have no idea how things have been going for him and I just wanted to give a quick update.
We went to his two month appointment way back at the beginning of December (yes, forever ago) and he did great. He weighed in at 11 lbs 8 oz and was 24 inches long. Got his first round of shots and all that jazz.
Christmas came and went, he was such a trooper. Kinda gave us all looks like what the heck are these things that you keep putting in front of me.
He's been getting so big lately. I swear this kid is close to crawling, which I'm sure you're thinking no way but seriously you lay him on his belly and he gets his legs up underneath him and pushes his butt right up in the air. I'm not really looking forward to him being mobile, I really like this little child who smiles and laughs at me but I'm scared to death of the child who is going to be moving around all crazy like. He's going to get into EVERYTHING, I just know it!!!
Now for the serious stuff. He has been sounding pretty phlegmy when he breathes, especially right after he eats. Our regular doctor said that he didn't like that he couldn't figure out why he sounded like that (we had a chest xray done) so he sent us off to a pediatric ear nose and throat specialist. When we went to her for the first appointment she put a tube with a camera down his nose as far as she could go and said that everything was fine, but she wanted to see further down into his throat. She thought that there may be some scaring down by his vocal chords from the ventilator that they put in right when he was born. In order for her to see that far down there he would have to be put under anesthesia. So it was scheduled for Monday the 10th of January.
He was such a good boy, we weren't allowed to feed him at all that morning. I thought for sure he would be a total grouch but he really was great. When she came out to the waiting room after the procedure she told us that she had found what is called a type one larynx cleft. Which means that the flap that closes off his airway was too long and not sealing properly and when he would eat he would aspirate (food would go down into his airway). She did the surgery to fix it while she was in there and said that this will solve the problem.
The poor little guy had a really hard time coming out of the anesthesia, he was all lost and disoriented. But after he came to and was able to eat he was his same old self, happy as could be. We had to thicken his milk so that he wouldn't choke on it and he did have to stay the night in the hospital for observation but other than that things went great.
At home we were told to still thicken his milk and he had to take a nebulizer breathing treatment and some prevacid. He did very well taking all of the medication.
Last Thursday we went back into the ENT's (ear nose and throat specialist) office and she looked him over. She said that he looks great even though he still sounds very phlegmy. She said this is par for the course with that kind of surgery. He basically needs to relearn how to swallow. He will have to go to swallow therapy, and you ask what will they do and honestly I'm not sure, even she laughed and said "I don't know what they do but whatever it is it works." So they will contact us next week and we will set up an appointment for that and he is also to continue taking the prevacid but doesn't have to keep doing the nebulizer treatments anymore. He also still needs to have his feeds thickened and we can wean him off of that as soon as he can handle it. Hopefully with all of this we can get the little guy to normal. I feel so bad that he had figured out how to eat with a faulty system and then we fix it and he has to relearn how to do it.
But through all of this he is still a very happy baby and just lights up our little world. We very much enjoy this stage of his life. He has been so fun. I know that it will only get better but we are savoring every minute!!!
I'm sorry that it took me so long to get out another post...things have just been crazy. I'll try and keep things updated on more of a regular time schedule.
We went to his two month appointment way back at the beginning of December (yes, forever ago) and he did great. He weighed in at 11 lbs 8 oz and was 24 inches long. Got his first round of shots and all that jazz.
Christmas came and went, he was such a trooper. Kinda gave us all looks like what the heck are these things that you keep putting in front of me.
He's been getting so big lately. I swear this kid is close to crawling, which I'm sure you're thinking no way but seriously you lay him on his belly and he gets his legs up underneath him and pushes his butt right up in the air. I'm not really looking forward to him being mobile, I really like this little child who smiles and laughs at me but I'm scared to death of the child who is going to be moving around all crazy like. He's going to get into EVERYTHING, I just know it!!!
Now for the serious stuff. He has been sounding pretty phlegmy when he breathes, especially right after he eats. Our regular doctor said that he didn't like that he couldn't figure out why he sounded like that (we had a chest xray done) so he sent us off to a pediatric ear nose and throat specialist. When we went to her for the first appointment she put a tube with a camera down his nose as far as she could go and said that everything was fine, but she wanted to see further down into his throat. She thought that there may be some scaring down by his vocal chords from the ventilator that they put in right when he was born. In order for her to see that far down there he would have to be put under anesthesia. So it was scheduled for Monday the 10th of January.
He was such a good boy, we weren't allowed to feed him at all that morning. I thought for sure he would be a total grouch but he really was great. When she came out to the waiting room after the procedure she told us that she had found what is called a type one larynx cleft. Which means that the flap that closes off his airway was too long and not sealing properly and when he would eat he would aspirate (food would go down into his airway). She did the surgery to fix it while she was in there and said that this will solve the problem.
The poor little guy had a really hard time coming out of the anesthesia, he was all lost and disoriented. But after he came to and was able to eat he was his same old self, happy as could be. We had to thicken his milk so that he wouldn't choke on it and he did have to stay the night in the hospital for observation but other than that things went great.
At home we were told to still thicken his milk and he had to take a nebulizer breathing treatment and some prevacid. He did very well taking all of the medication.
Last Thursday we went back into the ENT's (ear nose and throat specialist) office and she looked him over. She said that he looks great even though he still sounds very phlegmy. She said this is par for the course with that kind of surgery. He basically needs to relearn how to swallow. He will have to go to swallow therapy, and you ask what will they do and honestly I'm not sure, even she laughed and said "I don't know what they do but whatever it is it works." So they will contact us next week and we will set up an appointment for that and he is also to continue taking the prevacid but doesn't have to keep doing the nebulizer treatments anymore. He also still needs to have his feeds thickened and we can wean him off of that as soon as he can handle it. Hopefully with all of this we can get the little guy to normal. I feel so bad that he had figured out how to eat with a faulty system and then we fix it and he has to relearn how to do it.
But through all of this he is still a very happy baby and just lights up our little world. We very much enjoy this stage of his life. He has been so fun. I know that it will only get better but we are savoring every minute!!!
I'm sorry that it took me so long to get out another post...things have just been crazy. I'll try and keep things updated on more of a regular time schedule.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sleeping....
I am a little bit excited about how Austin's nighttime sleeping is going lately. When we first brought him home he was difficult to put to bed. There were many nights were we would start to put him to bed around 9:30 and he wouldn't be down until close to midnight. Then would be up around 2 and again at 5. To say the least we were super tired, which is to be expected with a newborn. Then as the weeks progressed he would become easier to put to bed at would go down around 8ish and then we would wake him for a feeding right before we went to bed and he would get up at 2 and 5. A few weeks ago he stopped waking up for the 2am feeding. AND last night he went to sleep at 8:00, we did a feeding at 10:00 and he slept until 6am!!!!! woohoo for us. I was so excited that he slept that long, even though I told Mike this morning that we got 7 hours of uninterupted sleep and I still didn't feel rested. I think I'm going to need 3 days of sleep before I'll feel well rested again. HA. But I just wanted to share that my 2 month old son slept 7 hours last night. I'm feeling pretty darn good about that.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Last few weeks
So I go back to work tomorrow and I'm kinda freaking out a bit!!!! It came up so fast...I can't believe that Austin is 7 weeks old. Time really does fly. I was thinking back on all that has happened since the last time I wrote so I thought I'd give you all a recap.
The first weeks were really hard...ok so the first month was pretty hard. Trying to adjust to having a little person to care for and mostly just trying to figure out why he was crying. Mike's mom and her husband came right after Austin was born and they were are HUGE help. But then we were on our own...and mostly I was on my own, at least during the day. Mike was able to have a ton of work right after Austin was born, which was such a God thing, but that meant I was at home alone with Austin. It was scary, I didn't know what I was doing. Mike would get home in the afternoon and he would be my saving grace. He has been a great dad, very patient and is so supportive of me and helps with so many things. But the beginning was hard for both of us, Austin would cry and we would have no idea what to do to help him. But he was about the cutest baby ever and our little miracle and would melt our hearts all the time. It's amazing how you can love something so much.
The first weeks were really hard...ok so the first month was pretty hard. Trying to adjust to having a little person to care for and mostly just trying to figure out why he was crying. Mike's mom and her husband came right after Austin was born and they were are HUGE help. But then we were on our own...and mostly I was on my own, at least during the day. Mike was able to have a ton of work right after Austin was born, which was such a God thing, but that meant I was at home alone with Austin. It was scary, I didn't know what I was doing. Mike would get home in the afternoon and he would be my saving grace. He has been a great dad, very patient and is so supportive of me and helps with so many things. But the beginning was hard for both of us, Austin would cry and we would have no idea what to do to help him. But he was about the cutest baby ever and our little miracle and would melt our hearts all the time. It's amazing how you can love something so much.
Now here we are a little over 7 weeks later and we are pros at this...well, ok not pros but we sure feel like we have a better grasp on things. Austin is now able to stay awake for longer periods of time and he is happy more and more of that awake time. He has smiled, but of course I can't catch it on the camera. We love "talking" to him and having him respond in his own little way. He of course loves his swing and is very interested in the high contrast pictures I have taped to everything.
We are trying to take as many pictures as we can. Sometimes we get caught up in the moment and forget that we need to document what is going on since it's going to go by so fast. But here are a few more pictures from these past few weeks
Austin's Halloween Costume
Mike's brother Derek and his wife Laura came to visit for Thanksgiving
We are so blessed to have this little baby in our lives. We didn't know that something was missing in our lives until he arrived. Can't imagine life without him now. As he starts to amaze us with his many talents we will be sure to document it and share it with you all. Thank you for spending a bit of time reading what we have been up to.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Another video
Yes, I know we are going a little crazy with the video camera...but this is our first baby and hey it's ok because he's cute.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Austin Anthony Peck
Well our little bundle of joy arrived on Thursday October 7, 2010 at 4:42 pm, 8 lbs 2 oz, 21 in long.
On Wednesday evening we went to the hospital because the "normal" contractions that I had been feeling had gotten a little bit more uncomfortable and I was concerned that this might be causing the baby stress. So we went in to see if he was ok...he was and they sent me home. Well around midnight that night I began to feel more pain with the "contractions," I wasn't entirely convinced that it was labor so I tossed and turned all night long. When 6am rolled around there was no denying the fact that I was in pain with every contraction. So we headed off to the hospital at 6am on Thursday morning. They put me in a triage room and hooked me up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor to see if I was actually in labor. When they check my cervix I was dilated to 1.5 cm. Every contraction was very intense. Well by 11am we were still in the triage room waiting for the Dr. to come and check my cervix before admitting me. When he checked I was dilated to 4cm, so I was admitted. I made the decision to get an epidural, so that was put in place around 12:30 pm. The Dr. said that he would be in shortly after I got the epidural to break my water. When the Dr. came in around 4pm to break my water I measured at 5cm dilated and the baby was still not engaged into the cervix. He didn't want to break my water so that it gushed out because he didn't want the umbilical cored to come out first. So instead he pin pricked it and it trickled out. He then placed a fetal monitor on the baby's head to get a better read on what was happening with him. All day the baby's heart rate had been pretty flat...when I say flat I mean that it stood steady at a baseline of around 140-150 beats. They like to see him show some peaks and then return to the baseline and he hadn't done that hardly all day. This concerned the Dr. and coupled with the fact that he wasn't engaged into my cervix and that my blood work had come back with my white cell count elevated (which signified an infection) they decided to do an emergency c-section. So they got me prepared and we headed off.
While I was laying on the table after they pulled the baby out the Dr. leaned over and told me that they had found the infection on the baby's side of the placenta. Because of this he came out of me with pneumonia, which made it difficult for him to breath on his own. They worked on him while I was being stitched up and had to assist him in breathing, it became so bad that they had to take him to the NICU to have a ventilator put in. I still had not seen him. They took me to the recovery room and Mike went with baby Austin to the NICU. After what seemed like forever Mike came into the recovery room to tell me that they were taking my precious baby downtown to the NICU there because they had better equipment to deal with his breathing problems. I cried because I still hadn't seen him. He promised me that I would be able to see him before they took him downtown. I soon was transferred to a postpartum room where I waited for them to bring Austin in so I could see him before they left. I was to be transferred shortly after him as well. When they finally brought him in he was in an isolet (an incubator) on a stretcher hooked up to so many machines. I cried.
The next morning I was finally able to get out of bed and be wheeled down to the NICU to finally hold my baby. He was very sweet. It was difficult to hold him because of all the cords he was hooked up to. We found out that morning that they had taken his ventilator out shortly after he arrived at the downtown NICU. They also told us that he would need to be cared for in the NICU for 7 days so that he could get the full round of antibiotics to make sure that he didn't get sicker after being exposed to the infection in my uterus. We were assured that he was doing great and that they were all pleased with how he was. I really had no idea that a baby could come out of your body sick. It truly is a God thing that he was taken out when he was, I'm sure that if he had been in there any longer he probably would have been that much sicker.
On Sunday I was released from the hospital. They also told us that they could transfer Austin back to the original NICU that he was in so that we could be closer to home and also have access to what they call a "rooming in" room. They were going to let us use an empty hospital room while Austin finished out his antibiotic treatment and we would have a place to stay at the hospital. So he was transferred back to the Meridian St. Lukes Hospital. We were there everyday to hold him and feed him. It really didn't seem like we had a baby of our own yet since he wasn't at home, but we loved being able to go and see him.
Finally one week after he was born we were able to bring him home! He really is precious. Kind of impatient, he goes from 0 to 60 very fast and without warning, but he might get that from me. We are so excited to finally have him home. It seems like his birth story was very much along the lines of the rest of the pregnancy, but once again God provided and helped us get through it. We certainly would not have been able to get through this pregnancy without Him.
As I get more pictures and stories about our little Austin Anthony I will post them in this blog. Thank you again for reading it.
On Wednesday evening we went to the hospital because the "normal" contractions that I had been feeling had gotten a little bit more uncomfortable and I was concerned that this might be causing the baby stress. So we went in to see if he was ok...he was and they sent me home. Well around midnight that night I began to feel more pain with the "contractions," I wasn't entirely convinced that it was labor so I tossed and turned all night long. When 6am rolled around there was no denying the fact that I was in pain with every contraction. So we headed off to the hospital at 6am on Thursday morning. They put me in a triage room and hooked me up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor to see if I was actually in labor. When they check my cervix I was dilated to 1.5 cm. Every contraction was very intense. Well by 11am we were still in the triage room waiting for the Dr. to come and check my cervix before admitting me. When he checked I was dilated to 4cm, so I was admitted. I made the decision to get an epidural, so that was put in place around 12:30 pm. The Dr. said that he would be in shortly after I got the epidural to break my water. When the Dr. came in around 4pm to break my water I measured at 5cm dilated and the baby was still not engaged into the cervix. He didn't want to break my water so that it gushed out because he didn't want the umbilical cored to come out first. So instead he pin pricked it and it trickled out. He then placed a fetal monitor on the baby's head to get a better read on what was happening with him. All day the baby's heart rate had been pretty flat...when I say flat I mean that it stood steady at a baseline of around 140-150 beats. They like to see him show some peaks and then return to the baseline and he hadn't done that hardly all day. This concerned the Dr. and coupled with the fact that he wasn't engaged into my cervix and that my blood work had come back with my white cell count elevated (which signified an infection) they decided to do an emergency c-section. So they got me prepared and we headed off.
While I was laying on the table after they pulled the baby out the Dr. leaned over and told me that they had found the infection on the baby's side of the placenta. Because of this he came out of me with pneumonia, which made it difficult for him to breath on his own. They worked on him while I was being stitched up and had to assist him in breathing, it became so bad that they had to take him to the NICU to have a ventilator put in. I still had not seen him. They took me to the recovery room and Mike went with baby Austin to the NICU. After what seemed like forever Mike came into the recovery room to tell me that they were taking my precious baby downtown to the NICU there because they had better equipment to deal with his breathing problems. I cried because I still hadn't seen him. He promised me that I would be able to see him before they took him downtown. I soon was transferred to a postpartum room where I waited for them to bring Austin in so I could see him before they left. I was to be transferred shortly after him as well. When they finally brought him in he was in an isolet (an incubator) on a stretcher hooked up to so many machines. I cried.
The next morning I was finally able to get out of bed and be wheeled down to the NICU to finally hold my baby. He was very sweet. It was difficult to hold him because of all the cords he was hooked up to. We found out that morning that they had taken his ventilator out shortly after he arrived at the downtown NICU. They also told us that he would need to be cared for in the NICU for 7 days so that he could get the full round of antibiotics to make sure that he didn't get sicker after being exposed to the infection in my uterus. We were assured that he was doing great and that they were all pleased with how he was. I really had no idea that a baby could come out of your body sick. It truly is a God thing that he was taken out when he was, I'm sure that if he had been in there any longer he probably would have been that much sicker.
On Sunday I was released from the hospital. They also told us that they could transfer Austin back to the original NICU that he was in so that we could be closer to home and also have access to what they call a "rooming in" room. They were going to let us use an empty hospital room while Austin finished out his antibiotic treatment and we would have a place to stay at the hospital. So he was transferred back to the Meridian St. Lukes Hospital. We were there everyday to hold him and feed him. It really didn't seem like we had a baby of our own yet since he wasn't at home, but we loved being able to go and see him.
Finally one week after he was born we were able to bring him home! He really is precious. Kind of impatient, he goes from 0 to 60 very fast and without warning, but he might get that from me. We are so excited to finally have him home. It seems like his birth story was very much along the lines of the rest of the pregnancy, but once again God provided and helped us get through it. We certainly would not have been able to get through this pregnancy without Him.
As I get more pictures and stories about our little Austin Anthony I will post them in this blog. Thank you again for reading it.
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