Happy 1st Christmas Little B

What a sweet and wonderful time we had with Benjamin for his first Christmas! He didn't really know what was going on, and enjoyed eating the wrapping paper more that opening the presents, but it was still a joy to experience this with him! As you  can see from the pics, he got some little figurines that he had a blast eating! We were gonna buy him 2 big presents, but Target was almost completely out of toys. SO, he ended up with 3 little ones and 1 big one, which pretty much equaled out to 2 ;). We got him 3 sets of small little figurines, and a game called Uno Moo. He cannot play the game, but he can play with the animals and put them in the barn :). He got presents from EVERYONE - so we didn't want to buy him a lot of stuff too. Stuff that he will just get bored with in a couple of months anyway.

Christmas Eve we spent with Jeremiah's family, and ate pizza and watched Christmas movies. Christmas Day we went to my parents early in the morning for my dad's famous Christmas Day omelets - YUMMY! We then went to church. After church it was back up to my parents' to watch Benjamin open his presents, and celebrate Josiah (Joelle's little brother) and his 7th birthday.

Church was very sweet, and there was actually a lot of people there. We just spent a time of sharing why we were grateful for Christmas, and then took communion. It was especially special today to Jeremiah and I because on this day, 6 years ago, on a Sunday, we got engaged! Time sure has flown by and wow have there been a lot of changes since then!

This time this year we are especially grateful to God for getting us past these past two weeks. Joelle had a spinal tap go bad, and was laid up in bed for 9days. She ended up having to get 3 blood patches, and was very very sick. The spinal tap (checking her CSF pressure) did come back normal, so her neuro feels confident with just diagnosing her with plain old migraines. Our next step is too look into possibly seeing an endocrinologist and seeing if it is a hormone issue that can be addressed. Several people have mentioned a holistic/naturalist approach, but we don't feel led to go down that road.

Jeremiah has a 3day weekend for Christmas, so tomorrow we intend to go SHOPPING (or at least Joelle does lol) and spend some Christmas money that was so sweetly given to us.

We pray that you and yours had a very merry and special Christmas as year. We are looking forward to this new year, and all the blessings that God has in store for us!

Be blessed!

Hooray!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! CHRISTMAS IS COMING! CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!!!!!

Will post pics after the weekend :)

Hello!

Hello friends! Just wanted to update you on our family. Christmas time is coming up, and we are getting ready for the holidays. We are SOOOO excited about them this year! We cannot wait to send out our Christmas cards, and to buy Little B his presents. We are only buying him 2 presents this year tho. We don't want to get caught up in the wrong Christmas spirit. And buying your kid a ton of presents is extremely overrated, in our opinions. Plus, he will be getting presents from lots of family members, so he won't mind our lack. Not that he will even realize what is going on anyway! We have a hard time remembering what we post from blog to blog, so sorry if some of Little B's milestones are a repetition. :)

We also soon have to start thinking about a 1st birthday party! We plan on low key and SMALL. Maybe only family, or family and very very close friends. No big splashes here either. He won't even remember this either, and we certainly don't have a lot of money to spend.

He had his 9month check up on Monday. He weighed in at 22lbs 5oz, and 28 1/4 inches! He is on track with all his milestones, and gets to start eating scrambled eggs now. :) He is starting to take more and more of an interest in table food, but does not like most of the consistencies. Hopefully he will outgrow that as he samples more and more. :)

He is sitting up, and pulling himself up to his knees and then his feet. However, he stays bent over at a 90degree  angle with the floor. SO cute! Today he was trying to pull himself up into a sitting position, so it won't be long until that milestone is reached too! He is also on track verbally. He babbles CONSTANTLY - and says Momma and Dada. After the doctor finished examining him on Monday, he gave her a piece of his mind! He seemed to be quite offended with the process, lol. :)

We had a good Thanksgiving as well. B tried mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, but did not enjoy either. :) We were missing half our family, and felt their loss keenly. :( We went with Joelle's family to get their family tree, and B enjoyed the petting zoo on the tree farm. He was very interested in the GIANT pet turkey, which made a lot of noise and fuss. Perhaps he felt a connection, LOL!

Joelle got some disappointing news from the doctor. They are still unable to find a cause for her migraines. She has had two EEGs and a MRI, and both came back neg. Her next step is to get a lumbar spinal tap, and make sure her spinal fluid is draining correctly. The doctor is not quite sure this will work, since her migraines did get better with PG. It may simply be migraines, that do not respond to any meds. She is very very discouraged. It seemed like this new doctor might have finally found some answers, but those turned out to be dead ends as well. We know we ask for this every time - but if you have a moment to spare, please say a prayer for her. She needs grace and an extra dose of strength.

Hello Everyone!

We are still here! Not much going on, everybody is doing - well - ok. Little B is growing like a weed, so happy and content. He goes for his 9 month check up on the 27th of this month. Can't wait to see how big he has gotten! :) At the beginning of October he weighed in at 21 lbs 8 oz. No clue how long he is now, but we still think he might be a little bit on the short side :)

He is scooting everywhere, and can get up on one leg and crawl. He is trying very hard to be able to pull himself up too! He doesn't want to stand up tho, just get up on his knees. We need to lower his crib pretty soon.

He babbles consistently as well! He even says "momma" and "dada", but has no clue in that he is saying them. He also puts lots of constants together with vowels. He is into blowing raspberries, but at least not spitting like he used too! He was in this one phase where all he did was spit and spit! His entire front would be soaked, but he loved it! :)

Still not sleeping through the night - argh! Some nights he wakes up once a night, other nights twice. Lately his nose has been stuffed so he has trouble going back to sleep :( Hopefully this minor cold will pass soon and he will be back to his normal self.

Joelle is having it pretty rough with her migraines. She never knows how she will feel when she wakes up in the morning. Some days she can function, some days are great, and some days she cannot get out of the bed. Her family is great about helping out, but it still breaks her heart that she cannot take of Little B like she needs too.

Jeremiah is still running a route at work, and still expected to function as a manager. It is VERY frustrating for him right now, but at least he gets to work normal hours - for the moment. There are going to be some big changes coming up soon, so please pray for peace and wisdom for him. He is worried about them, but knows that God is in control.

We are loving this fall weather! It means we can go out and do things as a family now, enjoying the out doors. The summer heat always gives Joelle a migraine. :( There is a park very close to our home, and we plan on taking Little B there a lot.

Also, we need prayer about where we are going to move. We just signed a 10 month lease on our apartment, and so we will need to move around October of next year. We really want God to guide us, and give us the perfect house without us doing things in our own strength. Please pray for wisdom as we begin the search for a house. We are hoping to be able to use our income tax return as a down payment :)

Well, unfortunately the success of the Botox did not work after that 1st week. In fact, it worked so not well that Joelle had a migraine for 5 weeks. And most of that time she spent unable to get even out of bed. Last week was the absolute worst week of it. She was pretty much unable to take any escape meds, and when she did, she ended up with a horrific rebound migraine. Everyone was very very worried, and it seemed like Joelle would just never get better. Around  Saturday it broke some, so she got some relief. However, it is still building back up this week. Hate to sound like a downer on here, but it's just what is going on right now. We are still praying for her healing, and know that some day God will restore to us what her migraines have taken.

Little B is doing so well! Two weeks ago he had a double ear infection which slowed him down some, but he seems to be back to his old self now. He is starting to scoot everywhere, and loves to play in his walker. He says lots and lots of sounds...like DADA and BABA and YAYA. Jeremiah is eagerly looking forward to when DADA is actually associated with him :) He still isn't sitting up yet, but he sure does try very hard! If we sit him up ourselves he can hold steady for about 30 seconds. He is eating 2nd stage foods, and is NOT fond of meat. We have to hid it in his fruit and vegetables to disguise it. He loves his fruit and veggies tho!

Jeremiah's work schedule is finally starting to make some sense. He is getting home at reasonable hours, and actually getting to spend time with Joelle and Benjamin. Cooler temps always mean less bugs, so that makes everyone involved happy. :)

In other family news, Joelle is enjoying her Sunday night Bible study, and Jeremiah enjoys his on Tuesday nights. (Betcha were waiting for a special announcement, huh? Well, not yet). :) We are doing our best to keep understand what it means to be a new little family, and what we are called to be.

6month update

Benjamin turned 6 months on the 23rd of this month. He had his 6month check up as well. Everything was GREAT! He weighed in at 19lbs 12oz and was 25.5in long. 88th percentile for weight, but just barely in the average range for height. Doc said not to worry, he will catch up. The exact word he used to describe B was "compact"...lol.

He rolls over both ways, and loves to get into stuff. We turn our backs for one second, and he is halfway across the floor digging in Joelle's purse. :) He is not sitting up yet, but will be soon. He also desperately wants to start scooting. However, he cannot figure out how to make him legs and arms work in tandem. As a result, he usually just lays there and kicks, hoping he will go somewhere. So CUTE! He loves to splash in the tub, Joelle usually ends up as wet as he is. :) He also has decided he does not like Stage 2 peas, very amusing to watch his face when we give them to him.

Jeremiah's work schedule is good sometimes and bad other times. Right now he is running a route and trying to be a manager, so that makes things difficult. Lately tho, he has been getting home before 8 or 8:30 so that is a HUGE blessing!

Another praise report is that Joelle's Botox procedure for her migraines worked! In the past week she has had 1 migraine. Normally she could have had upwards of 10! We are daily praising God for this mighty work.

We're here.....

No, we have not fallen off the face of the planet. It's just been a little crazy around here! Jeremiah went through a work spell for about 2 weeks where his normal work hours were 6:30am - 8:30pm. No joke. And then he was working Saturdays and Sundays as well. Joelle has had horrible consistent migraines on top of this. It makes things a little hard to update therefore :(

Last week we went on vacation! We had a blast. Went to a church conference, went to the beach, and hung out with the fam (Joelle's fam went with us). Jeremiah really enjoyed being able to spend that much time with Benjamin.

Chilling at the beach :)

Who, btw, is doing FABULOUS! He weighs about 20lbs or so, (possibly more) and is making so many advancements. He rolls over both ways, and loves to be on his tummy and play with toys. He makes lots of noises, and has taken to spitting :) He enjoys it very much, Joelle not so much!

He is eating more and more baby food, and still gets lots of cereal. He has good days and bad days with the reflux. Some days he throws up more, some days less. But the good news is he hasn't needed to go back on Zantac or switch to Prevacid. He favorite food is apparently green beans and bananas, mixed together! Gross, we know :)

B is doing so well!

WE LOVE CEREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So far we have tried oatmeal and rice, and next up is mixed grain once the oatmeal is gone. Seriously tho, this stuff is like the most amazing thing EVER! We make his bottles thicker, and his baby food thicker, and his cereal in the mornings thicker - and no more vomit :) Granted he still spits up, and sometimes a lot, but at least there is not the full fledged vomit like there used to be :) At this point we will take spitting up over vomiting ANY DAY!

It's amazing all the milestones that he has just suddenly reached - literally overnight. He woke up one morning babbling, not just cooing. He can reach for things now using a raking grasp. He loves his feet, and is working on trying to pull them up himself. He tries desperately to sit up, and loves for us to hold him up our lap. However, once the back support is lost, toppling down he goes :)

Did we mention he LOVES to eat? Like LOVES LOVES? Lol. Squash is still his favorite, along with peaches and sweet potatoes. We haven't really tried any other fruit, he isn't very fond of bananas or apples. And he does not seem to enjoy carrots at all :)

Since the addition of cereal, his sleeping habits have changed dramatically. He now seems to like his crib, and he goes back to sleep right away after his 1:30 - 2:00am feeding, and the 5:30-6:00am feeding. Then he sleeps in till between 9:00-10:00....something Joelle is ECSTATIC about :)

We had a great 4th. Got to see some absolutely AMAZING friends, and hang out with family. Jeremiah got a hc thanks to his wonderful sister - the sheep has been shorn lol. Sat night Joelle's parents kept the baby so we could get some sleep. We missed him terribly and could't let him go during church on Sunday, but boy was that sleep nice! We also got a chance to go to the pool by ourselves, which turned out to be kind of boring hehe.

Also, did we mention Jeremiah had a 3day weekend for the 4th? :) :) :) That was probably the most amazing thing of all!

A different child

For your enjoyment, here is a new pic of our little family!

It's like we have a totally different child these days! It's amazing what a little bit of cereal and some squash will do! His incessant vomiting has decreased by more than 50%, and he absolutely LOVES to eat. When he sees the spoon, he opens up his mouth really big and swallows the food immediately. So far all he has had is bananas and squash, but he loves them both. Squash seems to be his favorite right now. Soon we will be trying sweet potatoes. We will probably try those by the end of the week. We mix him up cereal and fruit and formula in the mornings, and then in the later part of the afternoon. Lunch and dinner is oatmeal mixed with squash. We have to make his food really thick or he throws it up, but thankfully he likes the oatmeal mixed with the squash.

CIO has also really helped our sanity! We were spending like 30 - 45 minutes putting him to sleep for bedtime and naptime. Now, it takes him about 5-7 minutes to put himself to sleep. And he never really cries, just kind grumpily squawks until he falls asleep. It has made things much much easier on Joelle, since she normally does naptime and most bedtimes. 

Please still  be in prayer for Jeremiah. He is working the craziest of hours, and barely gets to see Joelle and Benjamin. Many nights he comes home and B is already in bed :( He is emotionally and physically exhausted! Thankfully this weekend he has a 3 day weekend, which will help him recover some. 

4 months!!!!

4month c/u today  16lbs 9oz and 24in long - still mommies lil dumpling. He got 5more vaccines  and we are gonna start rice cereal and squash...hoping that that will help with the throwing up. If not, he has to see a GI doc to go on Prevacid

We have started crying it out at nights and naptime to go to sleep or back to sleep. So far it has only been about 5min at a time, and then he calms down and goes back to sleep 

His doc said that since he is throwing up so much then that is why he eats 6oz every 2 hours and gets up all night long. Hopefully the cereal and baby food will help him keep food down, and he won't have to go to the GI doc

lil update - Father's Day

Jeremiah had a great first Father's Day! Joelle made him a present of putting B's hand prints on a football. Turned out absolutely ADORABLE! As soon as we can remember to actually use our camera, we will post a pic of the football.

Not much else to report here tho: We went to Joelle's parents and grilled out, and just kinda relaxed. J needed it because he was looking "forward" to a rough week. He had a clean out last night, has one tonight, a trip to SC on Thurs, and then 2 days of being out of town next week. Sigh. It's gonna be a LONG two weeks :(

All is well on the home front!

It's been a little while, so time to let ya'll know what is going on :)

Benjamin is making so many new changes and growing so much! He has started sporadically rolling over, it's like when he rolls over he can't remember how he did it...very cute! He tries SO hard to roll over though, just quite can't get his legs up and over. Maybe it's because his thighs are so chubby? LOL :) He has also started grabbing for things, and has begun to put things in his mouth (like your fingers if you are not careful!). He loves to play on his little mat and hit the toys up above him.

We put him in his Bumbo, but he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He liked sitting up, but didn't enjoy being contained in the seat. He plays the game now where he will scrunch all the way down on your lap when you hold him, then get mad that he is not sitting up! So, you sit him up, and back down again he scrunches.

Still throwing up though, sigh. We tried increasing his dosage - again - and haven't really seen any results. However, he no longer has the screaming fits, and his gas isn't too bad. So, we figure we can deal with a little - ok A LOT - of throw-up. We currently should own stuck in a bib factory, with all that he uses in a day :)

On the 27th he goes for his 4 month checkup, and we should get the go ahead to start rice cereal. It will be an interesting experience to see how he likes it :) He will also get more shots, poor baby, and get weighed again. Two weeks he went to the doctor because he woke up with his left eye almost swollen shut and leaking fluid. Thankfully, it was just a clogged tear duct and nothing serious. Anyway, at that time he weighed a whopping 15lbs 3oz! We are anxious to see how much he weighs now, and how long he is.

We finally got him out of our bed and into the bassinet. However, he was not in there very long before he outgrew - or rather outweighed - it. We were afraid he would tip it over! So, we have moved him to his crib. However, he is not taking the adjustment very well. He has gone from one feeding a night and/or sleeping through the night to 3 -4 feedings throughout the night. We are hoping once he gets used to the crib (it's only been about 4 days) that he will go back to sleeping through the night.

He has also developed a really good nap schedule, which is nice in a way for Joelle in the mornings. She knows when he is going down so she can plan her day around that, and get things done in the house, and maybe take a nap herself! However, she still has to plan her morning around the nap time ;) He also takes a long afternoon nap which is nice too!

He is not sure what to make of the pool at our complex. He doesn't cry, but he doesn't seem to like splashing or playing in it either. Hopefully by the end of summer he will be more adjusted to it, and will enjoy playing in it. He loves to take a bath though, and kick and kick!

He loves to play with his hands, and will fall asleep holding his hands together. We are just waiting for him to find his feet, and let the playing begin!

Picture Time!

For your enjoyment, here are some new pics of Little B! 

:)

We had to up B's medicine again, which is a good thing. He was not stopping spitting up for like two days, and then had a really bad reflux attack one night. He hasn't had one of those in a while. So, thankfully, the doc could tell us what to do over the phone and we did not have to take him in and pay our copay for a simple weight check. However, they said if it didn't improve within 5 days we would have to bring him in.We think we are seeing progress, and hopefully that progress will continue.

He is becoming so much more alert now! He smiles at you and talks and coos, and responds when you make silly noises. He likes to bat things, even though his aim is still pretty bad :) He has is becoming much more aware of us! When we are out in public and we move out of his line of vision, he cries. He doesn't do this at home tho.

When he wakes up in the morning he just talks and coos with Joelle, and then sits in his bouncer like a big boy while she gets ready for the day. It's unbelievable how much he has just blossomed in the past 2 or 3 weeks. Sleep is an issue again though. We must have jinxed ourselves earlier talking about him only waking up once. The past 3 weeks he has woken up three times a night, sometimes more. Apparently when they do this they are supposed to be getting ready for some big developmental leap - we wish it would hurry up and happen so we can get some sleep again! :)

He goes back for his 4month checkup on June 27th, cannot wait to see how much he weighs and how long he is. He still seems a little short to us, and is definitely CHUNKING up. He is hard for Joelle to carry already in the seat. Pretty soon he will be able to become a hip baby and that will make things easier on her arms (tho she doesn't mind the work out hehe!).

Happy thoughts :-)

Wow! Time for an update, sorry it's been so long. Not much has happened tho, lol. Little B is still growing like a weed, faster and faster. He weighs about 13lbs now, and is 21inches long still. He has more and more alert times during the day, and loves to smile and "talk". We will be riding down the road and he will just be cooing and laughing in the back seat, happy as can be with himself. He is such a delight to our hearts!

His reflux is doing MUCH better. He still spits up, but it seems to be decreasing every day. His nightly screaming fits have all but disappeared as well, which is a huge answer to prayer. We have noticed that if we let him cry to hard before he eats (while we are making the bottle) it seems to activate his reflux, and then he cannot eat. We are trying to not let him get upset...which is kinda hard to do because he wakes up CRANKY and wants to eat immediately lol.

Last night he came THISCLOSE to sleeping through the night! And he slept in his bassinet the whole time, for the first time. Of course Joelle was up constantly checking on him, but he did good. We were so proud of him! Hopefully this means he will now sleep in his bassinet and then crib instead of with us. Mommy and Daddy slept a whole lot better last night too! (But don't tell Little B that or he will regress lol).

Joelle had a HORRIBLE spell with her migraines 2weeks ago. She spent 4 days completely drugged, while her mom watched the baby. She ended up in the ER and still got no relief. Her neurologist put her on another daily med, and gave her a stronger pain pill. Used sparingly, the pain pill seemed to break the cycle of the migraine, finally. And then the daily med (verapamil) seems to be holding a new horrible migraine at bay. Please just keep praying that these meds work and she finally gets some relief from the migraines.

Mother's day was a happy day! We went out to eat with her family, and then went out for a little shopping. Little B sleeping so well at night definitely helped Mommy out alot!

We cannot believe how blessed we are with our son, and we hope and pray daily that we would become more and more like Christ, and be a living Word to him, that he might know Christ through our examples.

2 month appt :-)

Benjamin weighed in at a whopping 12lbs 8oz, and is in the 95th percantile for weight. He is 21in long, putting him in the 35th percantile. So he is a little dumpling right now, short and fat. The doctor wasn't worried about his height, he said he'll catch up.

Benjamin also got 5 shots! And an oral vaccine :-( Many doctors combine the vaccines so you only get two shots, mine doesn't. Poor baby SCREAMED and Mommy cried. He was extremely sore last night so we gave him some Tylenol and a warm bath and he was ok. Felt like had a fever, but didn't so we just let him be without anymore Tylenol. He was still a happy and cooing baby, and wasn't lethargic like he had a fever.

His reflux is doing better, however his spitting up increased again, doc said it was because the dosage was too low considering his substantial weight gain. Hopefully the increased dosage will help things now.

In other news, Joelle is still battling massive migraines. Right now she has been drugged for two days in an attempt to work things out. Thankfully her awesome mom has been helping with the baby through the night. Please keep praying for her, that God would bring complete and total healing. If this medicine does not work our next resort is the hospital.

Doc again---but good sleep news!

So Monday Little B went BACK to the doctor because he was A)sick and B)still refluxing (is that a word) really bad. Turns out he only has a cold and his ears and chest are clear. He is also starting Zantac because of his screaming fits. Yesterday was his first dosage, and so far all he has done is throw up. Sigh.

We tried the soy, he threw it up like crazy. Problem is is that he is used to a thicker formula, and when we switched to the soy it was thinner. So...he wanted more which then would make him throw up even more! It was a lose - lose situation.

He is still snotting around and sneezing all the time in Mommy's face - yuck - but not getting any sicker. He seems to be the worst in the morning.

AND - he is ALMOST sleeping through the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He gets about one feeding in the middle of the night, around 3 something. And then he sleeps again till about 6 or 7 something. And he goes down between 9-10pm. Realizing that probably made no sense, it just means that we are getting some sleep around here! Even with a sick baby :-)

ER visit and more reflux

Monday night we had to take the baby to the ER. He had been screaming almost non - stop since about 5:30pm. And he was STARVING - but every time we tried to feed him he would arch his back and scream bloody murder. Most horrible sound ever :-( We called our pedi who said that because LB was so young, we needed to take him to the ER (our children's urgent care center was already closed) at CHOA.

So, they said his reflux had gotten much much worse, and his little esophagus was inflamed. They also said that he most likely had a milk allergy and to try a soy formula. Well, Tue  and Wed he was fine so we didn't switch his formulas. Last night, however, we had another screaming session and today he has fussed and not wanted to eat, as well as vomited. However, he is on Diflucan for his thrush, which can cause an upset stomach and vomiting. We will switch his formula today and see what happens.

Please be in prayer for us, that we would have wisdom regarding this situation. EVERYBODY, and we mean EVERYBODY has an opinion about reflux and milk allergies and what to do - and they all seem to feel the need to share it with us too. We are emotionally and physically exhausted from dealing with it.
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Also be in prayer for Joelle's family. They are walking through an extremely difficult time right now, and Joelle is very very upset and emotional about it. We cannot go into the details right now, but God knows the ins and outs of the situation. All thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Reflux issues

Little B is doing ok, but he is hitting a rough patch right now. We had to switch his formula for the first time since he came, but we are not sure that it's doing any good. He is gaining weight though, up now to 10lbs 3oz. So far he has been gaining a lb a week :-)

We switched his formula because he was spitting up and spitting up and spitting up, and had started vomiting as well. He would also arch his back and scream during feedings, and in the middle of his sleep. Right now we are trying the new formula before we go on Zantac. Since he is not projectile vomiting they don't think he needs Zantac at the moment.

Not sure the formula is working because he is still having his screaming fits :-(

1 month old!!!

All quiet on the home front here :-) Little B is doing well, and growing like a weed.

He turned 1month old on Wednesday - which is AMAZING! So hard to believe that a month has passed already. He is drinking about 3 1/2 ounces of formula every 3 hours, and about every 4 hours during the night which makes Mommy very happy!

Daddy is doing well too, but he is still working the craziest of hours. Tonight he is working late doing a rodent trapping. He will hopefully be home some where around midnight - again, hopefully!

Little B went to the doctor today for his 2w check up...actually it was closer to 3w lol. He will be 3w on Wednesday - which makes Joelle want to cry :-(

His weight was 8lbs 4oz, up almost 2lbs from birth in 3w! His head circumference was great, but he only grew 1/2inch. However, doc said he should make it up :-) He does still have a little thrush, and a mild case of reflux. Right now we aren't doing meds for the reflux because it is so mild, but should he start acting like he is pain that is an option. Sooo...we currently have a short and fat, and very happy, baby :-)

Thrush cure

Yesterday, after 8 doses of Niastatin, we noticed that Benjamin's thrush appeared to have multiplied by a thousand times. We are still boiling everything, so that wasn't the cause. We called the doc's answering service and spoke to a nurse from CHOA. Apparently, they have noticed that more and more children are becoming immune to Niastatin :-(

Her solution was very surprising tho. We thought she was going to tell us to use the messy Gingaviolet, but it turns out her solution was Milk of Magnesium. Applied 3x a day for 3 days, and already we notice a difference. Hopefully by tomorrow he will be cleared up! And if not, before we go back to the doc, we will use the Gingaviolet. My doc (whom I spoke to after the nurse to make sure it was ok to stop the Niastatin) had never heard of using MoM, but gave us the go ahead to try it.

So far Benjamin appears to be less fussy and in less pain, and tolerates the MoM A LOT better than the Niastatin. The other med could cause a tummy ache, and usually made him throw up. The MoM appears to be a lot calmer on his little digestive system :-)

Thrush :-(

Benjamin is doing well, but he does have thrush :-( He wasn't supposed to go to the doc until his 2w check up March 14th, but we had to take him in yesterday (or rather Joelle and her mom did) because of the thrush. He has had three doses of Niastatin so far, but it doesn't look any better. Please pray that he will heal soon, and that Joelle will not freak out so much :-) She still blames herself for letting him get it, but has now become the boiling Nazi.

However, he has gained back the 4oz that he lost at the hospital and then 5 more. That makes mommy very happy, and makes her feel better for him getting thrush. So he now weighs 6lbs 11oz.

                                              My sweet little boy!!!

                                                       Snuggling with daddy

                                             Please excuse his pink and purple pacifier :-)

Doing well

Benjamin eats and sleeps like a champ! He is slowly getting on an eating schedule, and does so love to eat...even though it takes him forever to decide he is hungry :-)

Mom and dad are doing well, Jeremiah went back to work and has already had a crazy two days :-( Please be in prayer for him, that he would be able to recuperate from the hospital and be able to focus on what he needs to do with work and that God would continue to give him grace and strength.

Joelle's birth story

Short: 6.6lbs, 19in long and born at 5:14pm. I had gone to the doc on the 18th, and she felt that an induction would work really well for me. 

Long: I got to the hospital at about 3:30pm. By 4:00pm I had the Cervedil in, and by around 5 I began contraction slightly. I was just mostly crampy and had some irritation. I got some sleep that night, and so did Jeremiah. When I got there I was about 1cm, and they decided the Cervedil would work better than a low dose of Pitocin. They took out the Cervedil at 4:30 and the Pitocin was started at 5:00am on Wednesday morning. I began having more contractions, but still not too bad or intense yet.

My doc came in at 10:30pm to tell me what was going on, and I explained to her about wanting to wait till around 4-5cm to get the epi. She said that was fine, just as long as I was in a steady and regular labor pattern I could get the epi. She didn’t care if it was at 2cm.

At 9:00 the next morning the doc came in and decided to break my water. She tried to place an internal monitor to check the intensity of my contractions, but it was not happening. This was not a pleasant experience  by 9:30; however, I began having contractions, steady contractions. 

Around 10:45 I began to really get in agony. At this point my mom came up, and I began having to really breathe through the contractions. They came in and checked me at 12; I had progressed to 2.5 – 3cm. By now I was in severe pain, so I asked for the epi. It took till 1:30 for the anesthesiologist to get there, and during that 1.5hours I was MISERABLE! I could only breathe and yell, and I did throw one or two soft things  and no, I threw them at the wall and not Jeremiah lol. They were coming around 3-4 minutes steadily now. 

At 1:30 the lady came in to do the epi. She was AMAZING - very fast, very gentle and very kind. Mom stayed in there with me while Jeremiah went out to walk off the nervous energy (he doesn’t handle needles well lol). I felt almost no pain from the epi, and as soon as she gave me that first dose I felt relief. I had three contractions during the time that she was giving it to me, but since I was sitting up they oddly felt better. Within a minute I was feeling pressure from the contractions, but no pain. 20 minutes later, I was in heaven. Oddly though, since I have scoliosis, my left side got number than my right so that was very odd  They checked me after, I had progressed to 5cm so I kept my goal of making it to 4 or 5cm. 

At around 3:00 the nurse came in to check on me, I asked her if I was still having contractions. She said “Oh yea! Very regular, every 2-3minutes”. I was sooooo happy to not be feeling anything anymore!!

At 4:00 my blood pressure dropped barely, but started the machine beeping. I finally called the nurse in; I thought it was the IV anyway, because the beeping was annoying lol. While in there she checked me, and I was at 9.5cm!! When she told me I was getting ready to have a baby I flipped out! I couldn’t believe I had made so much progress!

At 4:30 the doc came in and had me give some practice pushes. Sure enough, I was ready to push. The nurse worked with me for about 15 minutes, and then went and got the doc because the baby started having a decelerating heart rate. I didn’t know any of this was going on, but apparently the baby has a lower heart rate the whole time. Freaked my mom and Jeremiah out, but I was pretty calm. 

They had me keep pushing in sets of 4, and then rest. The doc told me at one point she might have to use the vacuum because of what the baby was doing, and because my pushing was not very effective. 

I immediately tried harder, and we made fast progress and didn’t need alternate measures anyway. I pushed about 10 more minutes after that (or so, forgive me on the times they are a bit hazy) and then he was here!! Long and skinny and pale. 

So, in all I labored about 7hrs and pushed about 45min or so. I LOVED being induced, and I had a great labor experience! 

It's time

The day has finally come! We go to the hospital at 3:30 today, and will go from there! :-)

Joelle went to the doc today for her 39w 1d appt. FINALLY MAKING PROGRESS!

Unless she goes into spontaneous labor this weekend, we will be inducing Tue/Wed instead of Sun/Mon (hospital could not work us in).

Can't wait for our baby boy!

Well....

Had a false alarm last night :-) Went to L&D, but turned out what we thought was contractions was actually just a really irritated uterus. Please pray, Joelle is still in severe amounts of pain today and we aren't sure what's causing it. However, the doc sees no reason to worry about anything.

Oh baby!

As of right now, we are going forward with an induction this Sun/Mon. If Joelle has made progress on Friday at her appt, she will not be going into the hospital until Monday. If she is still not dilated at her Friday appt, then they will begin the induction progress on Sunday afternoon. Please just pray for us, that everything goes well! Thanks!

Update: He came through surgery ok, and will be in the ICU for the next couple of days recuperating. Our prayers are still going out mightily for him!!!

Sometimes, prayer is all you can do

Today, we are in prayer for our home group leader as he undergoes surgery. This surgery will hopefully help alleviate some of the pressure on his spine from some tumors, allowing him to be able to walk again and receive chemo and radiation.

We wish we could do more, and be there more. However, we know that our prayers allow us to be with him in Spirit, and therefore we add ours to the multitude that is already going out for him. May God move mightily, and may He receive all the Glory.

Updating

Joelle's 37w U/S and appt went well. Baby weighs approx 6lbs 3oz. Since he has shown normal growth, rate and progression this whole PG, we were released from seeing the perinatologist, unless we experience complications. However, none of our doctors foresee any complications - praise the Lord! We haven't made any progress yet, but the beginning of progress is at hand. So, Joelle will continue to walk as much as possible, and pray for the best.

Please pray that this baby will  begin to make an appearance when Jeremiah is home. Whether labor begins at night, early morning or in the middle of the night, it doesn't matter. Just at a time when Jeremiah is not 3 hours away or more, and Joelle is stuck at home in labor.

An induction at 39w or 40w is a possibility if things don't appear to be moving, because then it would give Jeremiah exact dates to tell his boss he will be off for, and allow us time to get to the hospital together.

36w 4d

Tuesday Blahs

Nothing new to report here on the home front :-) We have a 37w U/S this Thursday, and then Joelle has her weekly appt the next day. Praying for some progress, but knowing that it's up to God. Hopefully Jeremiah will be able to come to the U/S, since he hasn't seen Little B after the 19w U/S.

Please be in prayer for Joelle. She is still in severe and constant pain, and reaching the end of her limit physically wise. She just needs Grace to continue to make it through, and strength. THANKS!

Appt Update

Joelle's 36week appt went really well. These boring and uneventful appts are such a blessing! Hopefully soon we will be able to report progress, and this LO may be making an entrance :-)

All in God's timing though, and He will give us the grace needed to endure (mostly Joelle lol) this last month until HE decides that Benjamin is to come!

Blessed beyond measure

WOW!!! Our shower was AMAZING!!! God has been so faithful to supply abundantly more than we could ever think we needed. All our needs have been met, and the gifts just keep coming! We have seriously the best friends ever, and are so blessed to be a apart of one of the most incredible churches we know. Never have we felt so loved and blessed.

Our pastor has really been preaching a lot about the Kingdom, and how it is here now. That every time we get a chance to act like Jesus, the Kingdom has been spread and God has been glorified. Through all this love and blessing, we have truly felt the Kingdom come to our lives. We have almost felt the tangible presence of God flowing through the lives of others who have reached out to support us. And the most amazing thing about the Kingdom - when it's real you want to spread it even more! There is a crisis pregnancy center near our house that always needs help, and we are looking into ways to help them.

Joelle took her camera, but completely forgot to take pictures, as did Jeremiah (who ended up going to the shower after all ). Some one else took some pictures though, so they will be added here once they are uploaded.

The only missing now is the baby! Hopefully he will make an appearance soon, and begin to use all his wonderful presents and meet all the people who are so anxious to meet him!

Another appt update

Joelle's 35week appt went well! Little B was measuring right on track and there weren't any issues. She starts going every week now :-) 5 weeks!!!

Shower time!

Joelle's shower is this weekend, and she is very very excited! She is trying to talk Jeremiah into going with her, since he hasn't been able to experience many things with this PG due to work. Jeremiah is not very thrilled about that idea :-)

Pics will be posted :-)

Little B update

Well, so far all Joelle's appts have been good!

At the 33w U/S I got to see the baby in 3D which was beyond EXCITING! he was soooo beautiful, and looks just like Jeremiah :-) Benjamin weighed in at 4lbs 11oz :-) I go back Feb 3rd at 37weeks :-)

Her 33w OB appt went well too :-) The doc doesn't think baby will be above 7lbs something, and that makes her very happy! They did have to redo my CBC since when they took it 4 weeks ago her white blood cell count was high. She had a horrific sinus infection at the time, so that may have been the cause :-) She told me not to worry. She goes back January 20th, and will be 35weeks. Not sure when they are going to start her weekly appts, typically it is at 36weeks but they may start her at 37weeks.

Welcome!

Hello everyone!

  We just wanted to create a blog so that all our friends could follow the progress of our life...complete with kid(s) - one for now, and however many more God decides that we are supposed to have.

Right now we are expecting our first child - a little boy - February 24th. His name will be Benjamin Nathaniel. Joelle hits full term on February 3rd, so who knows what will happen after that!

Thanks to everyone for checking us out, and stay tuned for farther updates!

Blessings