Rolie Polie

Max is rolling!!! Yep, both ways... he rolled over in his crib the other day, as Clark said though, "it didn't count." Well today he rolled from his back to his tummy over and over again on the floor. So many times that we were able to catch in on camera...



It's funny to watch him throw his whole body the other direction to get enough momentum to pick up his head. He has a lot of brains in there and they are heavy! He is having such a great week, I can't even believe the progress since Monday! What a cutie he is!
Max and I officially did nothing today. We hung out around the house and made dinner, played a lot, ate and slept (well he slept). When daddy got up he played with Max for a while, this is when we got the video. Then after we ate we all went for ice cream! Max ate carrots and bananas for dinner. Daddy tried to feed him tonight and he did pretty good. He fed him his carrots and part of the bananas, he is just learning to be patient! He has a really funny method to getting the "chin dribble" back in his mouth. Maybe someday he'll let me video it, probably not though! Also tonight we had to empty the diaper genie... so gross. I hate that smell, and since trash day was yesterday we get to enjoy it in our garage for a week. Gross. Maybe next time I should plan better! Well, I am going to enjoy yet another Friday night alone... Good night everyone!

Mommy and Max

I just love spending the days with Max, don't get me wrong it can be exhausting when he is in a bad mood or doesn't feel good. But, when he is happy he is sooo much fun!! Max and I went to lunch with Grandma Dee and he flirted with everyone. Anytime someone would walk up and talk to him he would give them big smiles! The waitress at lunch carried him around for a little bit and he got her a lot of attention. Then Max and I went to Walmart, I really hate that place but it is very cheap! He was in a great mood all day! He ate squash for dinner, another veggie he used to hate. He ate the whole container plus a whole thing of bananas. I just kept feeding him and he kept eating. After his bath he got to wear his robe around the house. Since we don't have to mess with the monitor strap we can lather lotion all over him and he can lay around naked (Max loves this!). This is the first time he has worn the robe and I think he liked it!





Big blue eyes


He was a little fussy getting to sleep tonight, but he only slept about an hour and a half all day so I think he was just really tired. Hopefully he'll sleep a little later tomorrow... yeah right! Well, I am going to catch up on some tivo tonight and hopfully get to bed earlier than the last 2 nights. By the way, if you haven't seen Biggest Loser, you need to. I just love that show, it makes me want to eat for some reason, but I love the meaning behind it. This week the "biggest contestant ever" got kicked off. He is 19 or 20, I can't remember, anyway... when they get eliminated they show them now -in an update. Wow! He looked great. You all should watch it. I love TV! The Office is on now, it's a re-run, but it really doesn't matter, still hilarious! Good night!

Bye Bye Monitor

Well, as the title reads... we are done with the apnea monitor. After a solid 3 weeks of not even a false alarm beep the NICU doctor feels Max is ready to graduate. The thought of this used to make me so nervous but I don't even really think about the monitor anymore. My thoughts have changed from, "I hope the monitor doesn't beep" to "I hope Max doesn't wake up till 7!" He is really a very good baby and I shouldn't complain but lately he has been waking up around 6. I am NOT a morning person so I don't know where he got this from. I am hoping as he gets bigger he will enjoy sleeping in as much as I do! Max must be growing because he was a pain in the butt today. As soon as he would eat he would fuss again, I would try to play with him and he would start fussing. The only time he was happy was when he was eating. Which by the way, he has continued to do very well with. The formula is amazing and the kid is loving his veggies! He ate a whole thing (for Gdad, a "thing" is approx 1/2cup) of sweet potatoes and half an applesauce, and only half because I stopped him. What a pig! I think he would have eaten all day if I would have let him. In fact, at one point I had to give him a few ounces of apple juice because he just wanted the bottle in his mouth SO bad!

Other than keeping up with the day to day life of Max for family and friends to read, I am also doing this blog as a scrapbook for myself. I am not artistic at all so this is an easy and fun way to remember. I wish I would have known about the blog world when Max was in the NICU so I could remember all the milestones there... but I didn't. So, occasionally I'm going to post NICU pics for our enjoyment!

These are from the day of Max's baby shower. He had to get a blood transfusion this day because he had filled pages up with his apnea/bradycardia spells. *On a side note I read a few other blogs and it's funny to me when people are worried about 2 or 3 spells. It was nothing for Max to have 10-20/day. I think 6 was one of the best days we had for a while! Everyone's perspective is different.* Anyway, he got his transfusion while I was at the shower and when I got back his pants were on backwards... what did he do while I was gone...! They also gave him a diuretic (Lasix) with the blood to help get rid of extra fluid. Well, I was holding him that evening and the little man peed all over me! The transfusion was supposed to give him more energy and decrease the spells. I never did notice a difference, he was checked at least twice a week for infection and was always fine. He just liked the attention of the monitors beeping when he had one. All the girls came running... sounds like Max may have known what he was doing all along!

Before the IV... sleepy head



After... still sleepy





Pants on backwards :) ... still sleeping after the blood



And later that night, still sleeping... see? no magic bursts of energy!



Some pics of the baby shower... thanks Aunt Becki! It was awesome!







Also, thanks to Aunt Crystal, she made an amazing video for us that we played at the shower. I know it had everyone crying and it will be watched for years to come. If anyone can think of something memorable that happened in the NICU or would like to see specific pictures just let me know. Like I said, I am not artistic/creative so ideas are appreciated!

New Baby

Max has done a complete 180 from last week at this time and I am so happy! Saturday afternoon Max had another episode of projectile vomit... and 2 hours after his bottle. As Grandma Dee and I cleaned him and the mess up we were talking about when all the volcanoes began. We agreed that he has spit up more since we have been adding more formula to his bottles. Since the frozen breast milk will only last so long we are needing to find a formula that is easier on his tummy so when he is on all formula he isn't miserable. We switched to Gentlease, for babies who have gas or are fussy. Max isn't really either of these, but the formula has "partially broken down proteins" so I thought it might be easier on him. And so far so good! He has only spit up once, Max and Clark were visiting GG in her temporary home and Clark said the room was very hot, maybe that made him sick (anyone who has ridden in the car with Clark knows he can't be hot, or "he'll throw up," too funny, Becki you'll like that one! Max is more and more like his daddy every day!). The next improvement is the reaching for toys. Not only does he love his toys but he loves anything in front of him, including the remotes, cell phones and our drinks. Typical baby! This afternoon I had Max in his crib while I put some stuff in his closet and when I turned around he was on his tummy... he rolled over!! Clark says it doesn't count because his head is elevated. Clark is jealous he didn't see it, cause it counts! His head was up, he didn't roll down hill or anything. He has also perfected the tummy to back roll, he no longer leads with his abnormally large head. Now he picks up his butt with his feet and knocks it over. He is going to be rolling all over soon! However, the most improvement I have seen happened tonight. I almost always try to feed Max baby food and usually whatever I can get in his mouth he'll eat, but getting it in is a tricky process. Tonight, Max ate a whole thing of green beans and half a container of bananas, and he opened his mouth!!! That's right, never once did I have to force in the spoon! I know he got full, too, because he got a bath right after the food and then wanted his bottle and only took 3oz before passing out! Lately I have had to give him his 6oz and then rock him to sleep. He is doing so great and I am SO glad! He still has his fussy moments, but it is so nice to see him feeling great and making such great progress.

His ears are also doing great, I haven't noticed much drainage and he is definitely hearing everything. Just now I was downstairs doing some laundry and hit the wall with the basket. He immediately woke up crying and wanted his binky! I don't know if anyone has noticed or not, but Max has a new binky! For so long he really wanted the vanilla scented "soothie" binky, but only during the day and only when he was sleepy. All of the sudden when we changed his bottles he didn't want anything to do with the vanilla binky. I happen to have a few different ones in his diaper bag and when we were in Tenessee I tried a new one and WOW! All of the sudden he wants it all the time, he has even woken up early in the night (9 or 10) for me to put it back in his mouth. Too cute! I just love him so much and I get so happy for him when he learns or discovers something new. There is nothing better that watching someone so innocent learn things for the first time.

This picture is hilarious! If you look closely you can see that Max's hair is standing straight up. Clark was rubbing his head with a fleece blanket...




I finally remembered my camera for Max's PT appointment the other day so here are some cute photos of him playing with Michelle, we love her!








Good Night!

Max gets his 5th sense :)

Ok so he could hear before, but not 100%. And now... he can!!! Max did so great during his surgery. The procedure took less than 20 minutes, no joke, we barely had time to get drinks and something to eat before they called out "Max's mom."
He woke up at 5am the day of surgery and over the 5 o'clock hour (he couldn't eat past 6) he ate 10oz of pedialyte. I tried to stretch it so he wouldn't get hungry too soon and he did great! We got to the hospital and waited in the waiting room for a little, and in pre-op for a while, but once he realized he wasn't getting food he just passed out. It was so cute, he was laying on the table and looking at his glow worm, I rubbed his head for about 10 seconds and he was out! Then it was finally his turn, and while it was pretty hard to hand him over to the nurse I think I did well. I must admit 3 months in the NICU taught me lots of love and a strong trust in medical professionals. After his surgery we waited almost all day in an observation unit for a room in the hospital.
*On a side note... Max also decided to share his tummy ailment with Clark and he got hit with it on Wed night and it extended into Thurs morning. He was not in any shape for going to the hospital with Max and I, and quite honestly I can only take care of one baby at a time. So, of course, Grandma Dee to the rescue! She was there to help, probably a good thing, she is not a patient waiter and this way she knew what was going on at every second! Plus she is an awesome grandma and is soooo helpful. Thanks mom... I mean Grandma!

Here are some pics of the day.

Waiting room


Pre-op: How cute is this gown? Seriously!



Loving on Max



Asleep on the exam table and paper... only a baby could fall asleep here.


After surgery.


This t-shirt is hilarious, it won't fit him till his 3rd birthday though!


Getting wheeled to his room...


Passed out on a pretty lady!


Bath time... he splashed water EVERYWHERE!!!


So, all in all, everything went very well. I do have to complain a little about the room we stayed in. Tiny. Loud. Bright. Recliner bed. As if that is not bad enough, the night shift nurses were awful. I felt like we were such a hassle and to top it off they decided Max needed to be in isolation for VRE (some bowel bacteria that I promise we would know if he had...if you catch my drift...). They said it was because he "came from another hospital," wait a second... you mean the NICU at Overland Park? 4 months ago? Really? How ridiculous, if this is the case then EVERY baby should be on isolation because no baby is born at children's, thus they all "came from another hospital." Oh well, we decided this just kept their rude germs off him! I slept terribly, maybe got 4 hours of sleep. But our amazing day nurse was back and discharged us home at 7:45... thanks Christa! By the way Christa carried him around a little WITHOUT a gown on. Ok, enough complaining. I promise though, we will not be put on that unit again without a strong fight! I had to go to work today at 10, and while I was rushed this morning on little sleep the day was actually really great. I worked with some great people and Max got to spend the day with daddy. When I got off at 10 I was able to come home to an empty house (Max is with Grandma and Grandad... again!... I promise they don't mind... I hope!). I am catching up on the blog, my tivo shows, and my wine! Great end to a kinda busy and stressful week. Back to work this weekend :(
Oh one more thing... update on the job interview a couple weeks ago. I officially have a 2nd job. I will be working in the ER at Children's Mercy PRN (as needed or when I want to work). I am looking forward to this opportunity and I feel now, being a mom, that I need to take care of babies again!

Back to my shows and wine... Good night!!

Catch Up

So, I apologize for the lack of posts! We were in Tenessee over the weekend as you can see from the last post and Max had to keep things interesting! Let me start of by re-capping the events:

Friday night Darren stayed home with the boys and Becki took my parents, Clark and I to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. This is a place where aspiring and well-known singer/songwriters perform. It was well worth the drive and the late night, we all really enjoyed it and agree that this was a place we will visit every time we go to Tenessee.
Saturday we decided to go to downtown Nashville and explore. This is when we learned that going to Tenessee requires planning! We spent the whole day trying to find places to eat. It was exhausting!
Sunday we went to the Kix Brooks Vinyard. It was a lot of fun and the wine tasting was very nice!

Sunday afternoon Max started to get sick. He started with the vomiting and by morning it was both ends. Poor baby got a lot of pedialyte on Monday and we didn't go anywhere. He was still pretty puny on the plane ride home, but luckily he wore himself out and after 6oz of pedialyte he slept the whole way home.
Then last night, Max gave me whatever he had. Yuck. Thank God for Grandparents, they came to get him since Clark had to go to work. I was able to get some much needed rest and though I haven't felt 100% today I have a wonderful husband who got less than 4 hours of sleep so he could help me with all of Max's appointments.

OT was his second appt and it went well. He was very hungry and got to show Ashley how well he is eating these days. He then got tired and didn't make it much more than 30 minutes. He doesn't play well on command! I don't blame him, I don't like being told what to do either.

We went to the Pre-Anesthesia Testing center and officially got his surgery scheduled for his tubes for tomorrow! Yeah!! Tomorrow morning we have to be there by 8:15 and he will get them done around 9. We will then spend the night to make sure he has no problems with the anasthesia. They are keeping him because he was preemie and is not quite 60 weeks gestation. I just hope he doesn't get too mad at me in the morning when he gets pedialyte again... he really hates that stuff!

So, he seems to be feeling better today, still having watery poop and some diaper rash but he is not nearly as irritable and is eating a lot better. He ate 8oz at bedtime tonight! That is normal Max!

Better get to bed, we have to get up at 5:30 to give him his meds and pedialyte bottle. Sorry again for the lack of posts, I planned on doing it last night but obviously wasn't feeling up to it! I'll post tomorrow and update on the surgery.

Good night!

Hello Tenessee

First off, Max is finally doing so much better after his recent ear problems and colds. Yesterday he finally started acting like his old self, playful and happy all day! He took 2 good naps in his bed and was very good at the gym daycare while mommy got to get a little workout in! I thought last night might be rough when he got up at 11 (I hadn't even gone to bed). I got him back to sleep and went there myself, just in case we were up all night... Well, I had to get up before him to get ready and finish packing!! Yeah Max! He did very well on the plane, we got him to take a little bit of bottle during take off and then he slept up until landing, at which point he flirted with everyone around. He really surprised me, considering the ENT said he may be in a lot of pain due to the fluid in his ears. Yeah Max! So we are in Tenessee now, hanging out with cousin Brice and Aunt Becki. There new house is beautiful and we are looking forward to some fun times here. Max is currently asleep in his car seat so I am going to enjoy my time and relax!!

Doctor's appointment

Well today we went to see the pediatrician for Max's "6 month check up and shots." He is actually a little over 7 months but the NICU forgot to give him all of his shots at 2 months and he got them at 3 instead, therefore we are a month behind. No biggie. Anyway, he weighed in at 15lbs 14oz! Holy Cow, he is not struggling with weight gain at all! He went from the 4th percentile to the 10th! He is still in the 4th or 5th for height, but maintaing his own curve. His head, well... it's big! I don't remember exactly where it fell, but I think it jumped from about the 10th to about the 50th! Dr. R wants to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't keep getting bigger too fast so at our next RSV shot we'll have them measure. I think it just means his brain is getting big, after all he has learned a lot of new things over the past 2 months! She also was a little concerned that he may have a hernia. It is VERY common in preemies and it is really not a big deal. His left testicle has fluid in it and sometimes it's just that, but sometimes it means hernia. We will go see a urologist at children's to follow up. Yet another appt at Children's! (By the way, sorry Max for talking about your testicles on the internet!) She was pretty pleased with his development. He is grabbing at things very well, this is a 4-5 month skill and since he is 4 months corrected that's right on target. She also said that at 6 months she expects occasional rolling and sitting with support, so he is ahead on that one. It's hard to keep track, but pretty much the rule of thumb is that developmentally we go by "corrected age" (he was 3 months early so we subtract 3 months from his "actual age") and for things like, "motrin at 6 months" or "baby foods at 6 months" we go by actual age. While feeding him baby food incorporates a developmental milestone that we don't expect till 6 months "corrected" it doesn't hurt to try and he thinks it's kind of fun as long as it is something he likes! Dr. R encouraged us to keep trying the baby food but not get frustrated yet because he is still getting everything he needs from the breast milk/formula. Sorry for the lesson, but these are things I did not know before becoming a mom much less a preemie mom!
Lastly at our visit he got his shots... Let me tell you that the first round I had to witness was bad, really bad. The RSV ones are awful, but it is just one shot. Today he got 4! It was the worst!! He cries real tears:( He won't settle down:( And he has been miserable all night:( I fed him an all formula bottle around 4 (practice for our trip) and he did pretty good until just when we sat down to eat at 5:30. We put him in his excersaucer and within minutes he had puked everywhere. He basically made a trench of puke around him because it pooled in the toy part of the excersaucer. Yuck. He was pretty fussy for about an hour and I finally gave in to the "bedtime routine." He got a bath, ate 7 ounces of milk (no nasty formula) and got all his medicine. We added a little motrin to his cocktail and he fell asleep on me so peacefully. As you should remember I love this part of the day! I am just hoping he sleeps well tonight.
No other news I can think of. Tomorrow will be a busy day since we, I mean I, will have to get laundry done and most of the packing done for our trip. I hate this part but I am excited to see Becki and Darren and of course Cousin B, who by the way apparently loves the laughing baby video! Too cute!

Fun in the tub!

Max and I started the day off by going to the gym... yeah me!! Then my precious little man took an hour long nap, in his BED! I was able to take a shower in peace, get ready and do the dishes before he woke up. He had a PT appointment this afternoon and once again Michelle said "he looks amazing!" He is SO close to rolling from his back to his tummy, he can already go tummy to back but only does it when he feels like it (sounds like his daddy!) He was able to sit on his own for almost 10 seconds. That is a pretty long time and he was even straight up, because as soon as he isn't straight up he loses his balance completely. He is also really interested in putting things in his mouth and grabbing at toys. I don't realize it day to day but it has been 2 weeks since his last therapy appt and he really is doing a lot of new things!!


Well, I don't have any new pics so I decided to do a "timeline of bathtime"

From his first spongebath ever... 10 days old

First time I saw him without any tubes, for a brief moment anyway... 2 1/2 weeks old

To his first tub bath... 3 1/2 weeks old

Not the first tub bath, but I LOVE his face in this one... to me it says "mom, quit taking pictures of me when I'm in the bathtub!" ...5 weeks old

You can really get a good idea of his size. By the way his "bathtub" is a plastic bin approx 12" x 18"

First bath at home... 11 1/2 weeks old


Just a few weeks ago, he's getting too big for his tub now! ...7 months old!



He's so funny now in the bathtub, he loves to kick his feet around and splash us. I think I get just as much water on me during his bath as he does! He hates to get out, he doesn't like to be cold or get lotion put on. Again, he takes after his dad so much. Clark thinks lotion is "disgusting" - except when his hands were very dry from the multiple daily scrub ins in the NICU! Then, and only then, it was ok!

I missed about 6 weeks there where I didn't take any bathtime pictures. Sorry Max!

Good Night!

Long Weekend

Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend but I already struggle to balance sleep and family time! Well, first of all, my last post "sweet boy" totally jinxed myself. That night Clark and I were up every 2 hours... he didn't even do that when he first came home from the hospital. Friday he was fussy, had a fever and a runny nose. I went ahead and started giving him his antibiotics again and by Saturday he was feeling better. Maybe the ears weren't completely healed, who knows. This video is from Saturday, it is hilarious!!! Clark is fake burping (you can hear it in the background) and like a typical boy, Max is lauging!



Max spent another bonding weekend with his daddy. And guess what? When I got up today the house was pretty clean- again, and the dishes were done- again! Thanks Clark!
Max had an ENT appointment today and Grandma Dee went with us. We already knew based on the last hearing test that there was still fluid in at least one ear, however, he still sees fluid in both. Due to the fact that it is causing even mild hearing loss and the recent infection...yes! I knew that would help... he is going to get tubes placed! I know I shouldn't be this excited about it because it is surgery, but I am glad to get over this hurdle. Well, as usual I am very tired after a long weekend at work (2 days a week is so rough!). Max is asleep and I am waisting precious sleep time. Who knows, I may be up every 2 hours tonight!
Hope you all enjoy the video, I still laugh every time I see it!

Sweet Boy

Max was in such a good mood all day, I really can't think of any time throughout the day where he even cried. We got up this morning and went to the gym, when I picked him up one of the workers was rocking him and he was passed out... he just has to have attention! Then Max and I met Tiffany for lunch and we went to babies r us and bought him a few things as he is quickly outgrowing all of his 3 month clothes! After that Max and I spent the rest of the day/evening at home. We played with his toys, worked on rolling over (he is SO close to rolling from his back to his tummy), ate peas and applesauce, had a bath, and passed out on mommy. My favorite part of the day for sure. I can't stop thinking how at the end of the day, no matter what his mood has been :), that I must be the luckiest person in the whole world to get to hold this beautiful baby and hear him breathing in my ear. He is definitely the best cuddle partner in the world!

Some then and now photos.... WOW

Please make it stop!!!

Well I know I have been mentioning how many poopy diapers we have had lately, and today I had enough! I was having lunch with my friend Aimee and we were sitting and talking when all the sudden I thought, hmmm.. his pants feel warm. So I proceed to reach my hand up his pant leg to see about this moisture and what do you know! Poop. Gross. I had to bathe him with baby wipes and change his clothes, and socks, in the bathroom at a restaraunt. I thought I was so prepared too, you see usually the poop comes up his back so I had a cloth diaper folded up inside his onesie so it would protect his clothes. All day the diaper stayed clean. Go figure. After all this we had to go to the doctor's office for Max's synagis shot (RSV vaccine) and I begged with the nurse to find a "binder" if you will for this brown water. I have tried bananas, cereal, extra formula, nothing is working. After checking with a doctor she said he is too young for the over the counter anti-diarrhea stuff and if I wanted the doctor could come in, look in his ears, and see if he still needed the antibiotic. The doctor said it just looked like fluid (well yeah, he has that) and that we could stop the medicine... YEAH!!! I am so hoping that we get tubes placed soon so that if we have another ear infection we can use drops. Then Max and I went to the gym. Clark and I have had this membership a while now but I am just now starting to feel comfortable leaving him in the daycare. He did great though. I worked out with a friend for about 45 min and picked him up. Chandra, my workout buddy, also brought her kids. They were so curious about him, wanting to know why he couldn't talk to them or go down the slide with them. Then they proceeded to tell him how much they loved him. Too cute. Max ate really well all day, I started to mix his bottles 1/2 formula, 1/2 breast milk to stretch the frozen milk as long as we can. He didn't seem to mind at all. He had sweet potatoes and applesauce for dinner and for breakfast had peaches for the first time. I think they were a hit because he ate every bite!

Finally decided to share a smile :)



Watching a little TV while playing in the exersaucer.



Good Night!

New Pictures

As promised some new pictures, and I happen to think they are adorable!!!

Max laying in our bed :)



Photo shoot, he is being stingy with his smiles for the camera... I swear he'll be cracking up but by the time the picture is taken he looks like a deer in headlights! I think he's had one too many photos taken and is starting to protest!







Tiffany came over to play today!



Bath Time, once again not sharing any smiles with you all.





Max had a lazy day at home, he spent the afternoon with Tiffany- a friend of mine from nursing school. She was nice enough to come over and watch him for me while I went to an interview. I will tell you all more about that if and when I get the job, no need to waste time if I don't get it! He continues to make lots of messy diapers, these antibiotics are not fun. He had sweet potatoes and bananas for dinner and did very well, in the past he hasn't eaten sweet potatoes too well. Never know, I guess. He is in bed now, making sweet little noises. Enjoy the pictures!

By the way... feel free to leave comments, I like to know what you think about the pictures and if you want to hear about anything else just let me know!