- Jennifer Hudson thinks 6am is too early, no matter what time you went to bed. Ugh.
- Jennifer Hudson is really enjoying Kathy Griffin’s autobiography, my current guilty pleasure.
- Jennifer Hudson is drinking wine and listening to Christmas music.
- Jennifer Hudson is hearing zerberts from the crib. The boy is up. 🙂
- Jennifer Hudson HOLY CRAP! I just learned that my favorite vodka, Ciroc, is from Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Diddy!!
- Jennifer Hudson just got home to see the USPS lady in my driveway, arranging and sorting things in her truck, apparently oblivious to the fact I was waiting in the middle of the street. I should have opened the garage door and freaked her out. Damn hindsight.
- Jennifer Hudson just figured out my average MPG for the past few months is 13. THIRTEEN. It’s a good thing hubby’s car gets 40+.
- Jennifer Hudson just scheduled the H1N1 vaccine for the boy this afternoon.
- Jennifer Hudson has been craving a tuna sandwich, so I finally made one today and wasn’t thrilled. Either I forgot how to make a tuna sandwich, or I’m not a fan of solid white albacore tuna.
- Jennifer Hudson in enjoying a post-nap cuddly boy, snuggling and watching Sesame Street.
- Jennifer Hudson just bought Owen’s Christmas presents, even though I said we didn’t need to get him anything because he won’t really have a clue. Oh, and a birthday present, too. 🙂
- Jennifer Hudson is thankful every single day that Owen sleeps for at least 12 hours a night.
- Jennifer Hudson is watching live TV. I know, right?
- Jennifer Hudson has a thoroughly freaked out dog because we tested the new CO detector. Poor dog.
- Jennifer Hudson vows no more Costco on the weekend until after the new year. Man, it was busy.
- Jennifer Hudson just increased our monthly retirement savings by 1%. Baby steps, right? In a few months, maybe we’ll be at 10%. 🙂
- Jennifer Hudson just had a fun, pre-USMC Birthday Ball drunken chat with Tom Trimble…miss you, bud!
- Jennifer Hudson is on her way to visit her cousins and introduce Owen to his cousins!
- Jennifer Hudson is enjoying a bowl of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, just about the only fun cereal from my youth that still tastes the same.
- Jennifer Hudson is attempting to fall asleep tonight without the help of drugs.
- Jennifer Hudson has a stone-free husband! Yay!
- Jennifer Hudson If you and I woke up in jail together, using ONLY 4 WORDS, what would you say to me? Copy and paste this and see what kind of responses you get.
- Jannie—Holy Crap girl WOW
- Kelly—Pfft. I’d only need two words: ‘JAIL KNUCKLES!!!’ 🙂
- Kelly—Alternate response: ‘who has bail money?’
- David—“I shouldn’t drink absinthe.”
- Robin—Here are your clothes.
- Jennifer—Where’d we leave Steve??
- Sue Ann—What happened this time ?
- Jennifer Hudson apologizes for not updating again. Hubby is home, he refused surgery, so now it’s a waiting game to see if and when it passes on its own.
- Jennifer Hudson had a so so night and is about to go get my morning smiles from the boy!
- Jennifer Hudson hates that hubby is in pain and at the hospital, but I am hoping I can get a great night’s sleep in a quiet house.
- Jennifer Hudson is on her way to the hospital to see hubby.
- Jennifer Hudson just got hubby’s diagnosis via text: kidney stones. Lovely. He’s drugged up awaiting a cat scan now.
- Jennifer Hudson wants stronger meds to try and forget about her back pain.
- Jennifer Hudson just got about $150 worth of Shutterfly products for $60. Gotta love stackable coupons! WOOHOO!
- Jennifer Hudson is sad that she had to throw away a great pair of shoes because the soles finally gave out and couldn’t be repaired (although the Gorilla Glue got me through the night at the Ball). Of course, they are 8+ years old so can’t be replaced.
- Jennifer Hudson has the clingiest dog ever today.
- Jennifer Hudson really, actually, honestly, might NOT get out of her PJs today.
- Jennifer Hudson is listening to a spanish song on Sesame Street and now has a hankering for mexican food. Hee.
- Jennifer Hudson is wondering why she can’t find the new episode of Sesame Street that is supposed to start today.
- Jennifer Hudson is supposed to be sleeping because I am exhausted. But apparently even TWO Tylenol PMs aren’t helping. Sigh.
- Jennifer Hudson Helmetless face plant with butt in the air. Degree of difficulty: 2.0. Degree of cuteness: 9.9. 🙂
Category Archives: Health & Well-Being
H1N1
The pediatrician’s office finally got some H1N1 vaccines in, so we went in for a shot. Owen was a champ and didn’t even squawk. They didn’t have the regular flu virus, so we will get that when we go back in a month for the H1N1 Booster.
The stone has passed!
Well, Tom must have a sixth sense—surgery would have been a BIG mistake, as he passed the stone this morning with no problems or pain at all! At least he didn’t say “I told you so!”
Now, if only he could have done that in the hospital, we could have saved $100 in drugs that weren’t covered at Walgreens. |-|
Off to the ER again.
Tom woke up this morning in pain and told me he was staying home from work. He said he had major stomach cramps, couldn’t stay out of the bathroom, and couldn’t keep anything down. We thought it might be food poisoning (although we ate most of the same stuff) or the flu…so he tried to sleep it off. He came down a few hours later and said he was going to the hospital because he was STILL in major pain—and now it felt like his kidneys hurt.
I told him I could take him, but he said he was okay to drive himself—and I had to stay home with Owen.
Turns out he had kidney stones. Or, well, a major kidney stone. He was on major drugs and got a cat scan and the doc said the stone was 4-5mm. That is huge. He said they were going to keep him until it passed…and as the day wore on, he said they were keeping him overnight and if he didn’t pass it, they would have to use a stent.
Owen and I went and visited him for about an hour (and took him his phone charger) and that perked him up. He is indeed spending the night, and now we’re just waiting to see what happens.
I am taking full advantage of the house being totally quiet and going to bed early, and hopefully Tom will be released first thing in the morning (if all goes well).
Owen’s 9-month appointment…and first blood.
Height: 30½” (95th percentile)
Head: 26″ (95th percentile)
Weight: 22lbs. 10oz. (50–75th percentile)
Overall, she said he looks great and I’m doing everything right. Phew!
She was impressed by his sleeping—she could NOT believe that not only did he sleep through the night, but that he slept from (generally) 6pm–6am. She was even more amazed when I told her that the previous night he slept from 4:30pm–6:30am. I told her we do whatever we can to keep his sleep schedule status quo with no disruptions like being away from home, staying out late at someone else’s house, etc. She said that sleeping that long (through the night) is fairly unusual, but that it’s great—and to keep doing whatever we’re doing because he has great sleep habits and it’s a great thing to start this young! So, YAY us! 😀
He didn’t love getting his ears or chest checked, but he did just fine.
I asked about the H1N1 and the generic flu shot, and they will have them in the office, they are just out of both right now. The nurse said she wouldn’t be in a rush to get the H1N1 since he’s not in daycare and we don’t generally come into contact with a lot of people, but she would highly recommend the normal flu shot. The nurse said the media is making it seem much crazier than it really is—the few cases they’ve actually seen are not that bad. That said, the doctor said if we wanted the H1N1 it would be okay, but also highly recommended the normal flu shot. So I have to call next week to see if they have them in and decide if we want him to get one or both shots.
Right before we left, he had to get a blood test—just a finger prick (he didn’t even make a peep!)—and she put a band-aid on it and said to leave it for at least 10 minutes. I put his mitten on and things were fine. We stopped to see dad at his office then went home, and since it had been much longer than 10 minutes, I took the mitten off. I was doing things around the living room for maybe (MAYBE!) five minutes, when I look over and see something dark on Owen’s lip, and I thought it was some fuzz off the floor or something (even though Tom vacuums every morning) so I come closer and—OMIGOD—it’s blood. BLOOD! 88| It took me a good two L—O—N—G seconds before I realized nothing serious was happening and it was just his finger bleeding.
But OMIGOD—his finger was bleeding…all over. Swear to god it was gushing. It was all over his pants and his face and in his hair—so the band-aid had obviously been off for a bit. So I grab a wipe to try to clean him up and stop the bleeding, and I see him drooling and don’t think much but then it hits me that it is A LOT of drool (it seemed like a bucketful) and I realize that OMIGOD the band-aid is in his mouth! 88| 88| Bad mom, bad mom, bad mom!
So I fish the band-aid out of his mouth while I’m still trying to clean him up and stop the bleeding, and I leave him for like 10 seconds to see if there’s a bandaid in the bathroom and there isn’t, so I grab a tissue and come back and there is blood all over again! From just a tiny finger prick! That had stopped bleeding IN THE OFFICE! Egads. So I pick him up, holding his finger in a tissue and trying to keep his finger out of his mouth, go upstairs to get a band-aid, sit him on the floor, clean him up again, and put on TWO band-aids. By the time Tom got home for lunch 10 minutes later, the band-aid was off again, although thankfully not in his mouth and not bleeding anymore.
So, then I changed him into his fourth outfit of the day. (The first one was soiled by the coffee spill/crawl. The second one was soiled from spit up. The third one from blood.) After lunch, it was outfit #5 after more spit up.
What a day!
Goodbye, helmet!
We had a helmet check-up today and I thought it was just going to be a normal check-up with some measurements and maybe a bit more grinding on the helmet…but the specialist just took a quick look and said “I think he’s done! I’m extremely pleased with the results!”
88|
I asked if he still had to wear it at night, like had been mentioned before, and he said no! He said since he rolls around so much and sleeps in all positions, he wasn’t worried about nighttime anymore. I also showed him one of the many face-plant pictures and he laughed. I wondered if Owen would still be able to sleep face-plant style without the breathing room the helmet allowed him.
So, Owen graduated today! YAY! He was in the helmet for just over three months (he got it July 24). Three months is apparently an AMAZING amount of time—most have to wear it at least four months, if not more.
It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to not having it on all the time—how bumps to the head (and the like) will make him react. But, he’s already napped face-plant style so apparently he can do that with or without the helmet, LOL. :))
Facebook Updates
It seems like I’m always writing about Owen these days, but really, not much else is going on for me to write about here. I mean, just take a look at my recent Facebook updates…most of them have to do with the boy!
- Jennifer Hudson has a boy covered in banana. He loves banana in the mesh feeder but MAN does it make a mess. And the banana wasn’t even fully ripe. Egads.
- Jennifer Hudson asks the peeps: is Glee worth watching? I’ve been recording but missed the first few so would have to watch them online.
- Jennifer Hudson says babywearing + grocery shopping = not a great idea in actual practice. It’s a total PITA to try and lean over, bend down, get stuff out of the cart…but he was a good boy the whole time!
- Jennifer Hudson likes Sesame Street for showcasing a wide variety of people, but seriously, they have some of the homeliest people and ugliest babies I’ve ever seen. /shudder/
- Jennifer Hudson just momentarily freaked out when I thought I lost all my Roboform info.
- Jennifer Hudson is glad that Owen takes a good morning nap, because that’s when I shower. But sometimes I just don’t feel like showering this early. But I have to, because you never know if you will get another good chance.
- Jennifer Hudson hates having bad dreams, then waking up with a racing heart.
- Jennifer Hudson forgot to give Owen Motrin–hope he doesn’t wake up screaming.
- Jennifer Hudson just figured out a cool new way to use Shazam – for all those songs in iTunes that somehow don’t have info and I don’t know it!
- Jennifer Hudson hates days with appointments in neighboring cities. Naps get SO screwed up. 🙁
- Jennifer Hudson is sitting in the parking lot waiting for Owen’s helmet appointment (we’re way early), letting him nap, and using KFC’s free wifi from across the street.
- Jennifer Hudson hates clueless old drivers. Some guy almost backed into me in a parking lot because he didn’t look behind him first–and kept going even after I honked at him! I actually had to quick back up because he was NOT stopping. Asshat.
- Jennifer Hudson is thinking her epsiode of acid reflux the other night wasn’t from the margarita…because I’m experiencing it daily now. 🙁
- Jennifer Hudson wonders if it was the Tylenol or just being tired, or a combo of both that let the boy nap for 2.5 hours?
- Jennifer Hudson wonders if anyone else has ever had lotion turn into [for all basic purposes] water? Apparently that’s what happens when you never use it and keep it for ~8 years.
- Jennifer Hudson really needs to figure out her sleep number so her back doesn’t hurt every damn morning. That said, my back just hasn’t been the same since I was pregnant so maybe the sleep number is useless at this point.
- Jennifer Hudson is going to bed early, yet still 17 minutes later than I’d planned.
We’re almost done!
We had a helmet appointment and scan today. We were really thinking/hoping that this would be the visit where we’d get the go-ahead to just have him wear the helmet at night…but apparently we’re not quite there. The specialist said Owen is doing ABSOLUTELY AMAZING but could still benefit from another month, but said he should be out of it by Thanksgiving.
A TOOTH!
So Owen has been somewhat cranky over the past few days, but we really didn’t think too much of it. People said he might be teething, but we’ve been thinking that for weeks, if not months—with no teeth ever appearing.
So for the past week or so, he has NOT been a good eater like he usually is—you know, where I basically shovel in food as fast as I can and he eats three whole jars of food per meal. Lately, it’s been maybe one jar or four bites from three different jars—not even really liking or wanting his favorite yogurt. 88| So we thought something might be up.
And then yesterday evening we noticed a rash! We googled and thought it was probably just a heat rash, as we’d had him in his chicken costume for a bit and it was probably too warm. It also might have been a contact type of rash, since he had the costume on for a few minutes without any barrier like a onesie (and it’s not washable, so we didn’t wash it after we got it). So we just thought we’d keep an eye on it and if it was worse (or no better) in a day or so, we’d call the doc. Again, someone suggested teething (apparently some crazy things can happen when teething starts) and we just said YEAH, WHATEVER, because so far there has been no teething.
So this morning he ate a good breakfast (which he hasn’t been lately). And then he wasn’t eating his lunch and he was fussy and screeching a bit and I happened to look in his mouth while he was screeching and I swear I saw something different! A little white spot! So I stuck my finger in and sure enough! A tooth is starting to come through! OWEN’S FIRST TOOTH! :>>
So I got out the teething tablets and those seemed to help quite a bit. I also gave him a frozen strawberry to chew on. He seems to be doing well, but I think we need some Motrin for the next few nights…
Face-Plant Olympics
These were all taken the same night, over maybe 30 minutes.
Face plant! His helmet must give him just enough room to breathe. So cute, but still hard to watch.
Face plant–now with thumb sucking!
Half face plant with his butt in the air! This is starting to sound like an Olympic event!
Second Helmet Scan
Our specialist wanted another head scan to see just how well Owen’s head is doing, so it was back to Livonia and the laser scanner. I didn’t get a picture of it the first time, so here it is:
Something else I didn’t get the first time was the cute little stocking cap Owen has to wear when getting scanned (of course I couldn’t get a good picture). The black dots are stickers pointing towards his ears so they can align the scanned images:
Laying down in the scanner! Of course this is much, much better than the alternative of plaster casting, but it’s still a bit of a challenge because he has to be very still to get a good scan…which means you have to hold his arms (so they don’t fly up and get in the scan) and try to get him to not move. Of course, he would be perfectly still…until the motor started whirring, then he’d twist his head to look at it (which made for a very interesting scan!). I think it took about six tries (scans) this time to get a workable one.
A comparison of the first scan (left, with the cute frowny face!) and the second scan (the bigger head on the right). From the size difference, you can see right away how much his head has grown—and the numbers definitely proved just how much his head had changed shape for the better. Before, the critical measurements were off by centimeters (plural!) and now they’re down to tenths of a centimeter! (If you are looking really closely at the scan and see that the back of his head still looks flat—it isn’t. I asked about it, and it’s “flat” because that’s the tiny spot where his head was laying on the glass.)
After only wearing the helmet for 1.5 months, the specialist is THRILLED with the progress. He is guessing that in a few weeks, if we are all happy with the results, we can go to just wearing the helmet at night!
Go, Owen! Or, should it be: GO, OWEN’S HEAD!? 😀
Somewhat Cranky Day
The problem with having a really good [natured] baby is that when crankiness sets in for undetermined reasons, it gets frustrating REALLY fast. 🙁
The morning went well, and Owen took an nap from about 8:30-9:30. Then he ate a bit and we went on a few errands. He was cranky when we got home, and I just assumed he was hungry (it WAS lunch time). Halfway through the peas, he got really cranky and was pushing the spoon away and crying. I mean CRYING. Hmmm, okay. He obviously didn’t want that.
Turns out he was tired! Who knew? Especially since he had already had a nap that morning (and he’s been taking fewer and shorter naps). So he slept for about an hour. When he got up I tried food again.
Ha.
This time we finished the peas and barely started the peaches when he was instantly cranky again…and after some trial and error, it turned out he wanted milk. Hoo boy. 🙁
He didn’t eat much so we tried his favorite bouncy chair. Nope. Still cranky. Another nap? Oh no, screaming. Sitting and playing? Nothing doing. So we sat on the couch and watched Sesame Street and he was calm and quiet (well, sucking on his burp cloth and thumb) for quite some time. Then he “agreed” to sit and play for a bit…and now he’s getting cranky, but I think it’s tired…so nap time is coming soon.
What a day. He’s so good overall that I really just have to take a breath when we have these cranky times…because they are so very few and far between.
Helmet Check-Up
Good news! The specialist said Owen is doing AMAZING and he will probably be mostly done with the helmet in a total of 2½ months instead of the typical 3-4 months! I say “mostly done” because he would probably still have to wear it at night—just to make sure it doesn’t become flat again since he’s still sleeping on his back for the most part.
Our next appointment in two weeks is back in Livonia because they want another scan to see (technically and precisely) just how much his head has changed.
YAY OWEN!
Growing up!
I am both both happy and said that the boy is growing up: He no longer uses a pacifier, he’s eating real food, and he grew out of his first car seat (so is consequently sitting in the stroller alone, too). Sigh.
Well, no wonder!
So I’ve just been amazed that the boy is really NOT fitting into his 6-month clothes well at all—so I’ve been buying 9- and 12-month sizes (some are even 18-month!). I haven’t really thought that much about it, though—I do know he’s a little big for his age, although it’s nothing to be concerned about.
So I just happened to be reading an article on Parents.com about “Baby’s Measurements” and holy wah. Yeah, he is about the size of an “average” 12-month old!! 88|
The “average” measurements for a 12-month old is 29″—and he measured 28.5″ at his 6-month checkup a week ago!
The “average” weight for a 12-month old is 22#—and he weighed 19.7 at his checkup! (The average for a 6-month old is 16#!)
And head circumference is above-average, too! The average for a 12-month old is 18″ and I think he measured at 19″!
HOLY WAH!
Hopefully he will stay about this same size for a few months—one of my friends said her baby was in 9-month clothes for like four months!
Helmet Check-Up
Our specialist asked if Owen had a growth spurt in the past two weeks and I said no, not that I’ve noticed, why? He said because his head has shown a DRASTIC change in the two short weeks he’s had the helmet. He still has a long way to go, of course, but there are definite bumps on his head that weren’t there before—meaning the skull is reshaping. YAY OWEN!
Waiting for the appointment:
Maggie vs. the Squirrel
I was out grocery shopping today when Tom texted me to say Maggie got bit by a squirrel!
WHAT?!?!
Yes, she actually CAUGHT a squirrel in our back yard! Tom said she actually had it in her mouth whipping it around! The squirrel eventually was able to fight back and bit her twice—once on the nose and once on the lip! Tom said it bled like crazy!
She’s current on her shots, so there’s nothing to worry about (just have to keep it clean and watch for an infection).
I still can’t believe she caught one!
Six month check-up
Owen weighed in at 19 lbs 7 ounces (75th percentile) and was 28.5 inches long (95th percentile)—at least I think I have those percentiles with the right measurements (I remember the doc saying he was quite tall, so I think I do).
She wasn’t worried about his eating habits—although she was surprised that he hasn’t liked carrots or sweet potato, as those are typical baby favorites. She mentioned that this is about the time to start introducing fruit, but agreed with me that we shouldn’t do that until he’s eating more vegetables.
What surprised me, though? She was not concerned AT ALL that he can’t roll over on his own yet. I mean, I am not really that concerned—I mean, it will happen when he’s ready (and he IS close)—it’s just the physical therapist who was concerned. So at least I am glad the doc and I are on the same page about that. She even said she didn’t really see a need (at this point in time) to worry about continuing the physical therapy (which is nice, since we have to go through the insurance rigamarole to see if it’s even covered, since we found out it’s a “limited” service). The doc just said “He’s a big boy, it might take him a bit longer.” Cool. Of course, I still need to keep doing his PT exercises to help out but she told me not to freak out about it all. Now, if he’s still not rolling over in a month (or two) THEN we can worry!
Everything else is fine. He got shots (which he of course didn’t like) but two minutes later he’s smiling and happy (but maybe that was due to the Tylenol I gave him beforehand). She is glad we got the helmet and wants to see him in a month “to keep an eye on it.” Which I found ironic, since we are seeing an ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALIST every two weeks and they are monitoring it…
Helmet Check-Up
So I had to take Owen in for a sorta emergency (not really EMERGENCY) helmet adjustment appointment today. Over the weekend, when we took the helmet off, we noticed that he had two huge red spots behind his ears—and one of them even had a sore starting (with what looked like a pimple on it!). 88| Poor guy, it must really have been sore and irritating—he has always kinda reaching up and trying to scratch at his face/ear, but we assumed it was just because it was something he wasn’t used to touching his face. Tom tried to use the dremel to pare it down, but of course we didn’t want to do to much in case we ruined the helmet (and had to buy another one).
I called first thing in the morning and they got us in that afternoon (unfortunately, I had to miss a mom’s group meeting) and made the necessary adjustments (they use some type of tool to grind away the foam core) and told us NO MORE DREMEL! We didn’t hurt it, but they said if there are issues like that again, just leave the helmet off until we can get in to see them. Then they made some adjustments to other parts of the helmet (above his brow line, and gluing a side piece in) and that was it.
We have our regular check-up next week, which we may be able to postpone if there are no spots that need attention and if he seems to be doing okay.
Emergency Room!
Tom’s back was hurting throughout the day, and by late afternoon he could barely move. He isn’t one to complain much (or admit to being in pain) so I could tell it was serious when he was wincing and gritting his teeth. (He originally hurt his back during a workout earlier in the week, and it got progressively worse.)
I told him I’d much rather go to the ER at dinnertime than having him wait and decide he wants to go at 3am…so we waited for the boy to get up from his nap (only about 15 minutes), fed him, and we were on our way shortly after 6. Of course, I had packed a crapload of stuff, assuming we’d be waiting in the ER forever (all I know from past experiences). Imagine my surprise when I dropped Tom off—and by the time I had parked (about 40′ away), loaded the baby, and walked inside, he was already being triaged!
After the entrance info was taken care of, we only had to wait about two minutes for him to be called in to see the doctor! I couldn’t go with him because I had the baby, so I waited for him. Owen did really well—I only had to push him around the waiting room a few times to keep him happy! Then Tom texted me from across the hospital, giving me status updates!
I wasn’t really watching the clock, but was amazed at how quickly everything was happening! Then he was texting the diagnosis (“Ligament injury they said it is swollen”) and then he said he was done and just waiting for drugs!
All in all, we were in and out in just about an hour. AN HOUR!! We got there about 6:15ish and were walking out about 7:20! AMAZING! (I guess that new multi-million dollar Emergency Center Expansion was worthwhile after all!) 🙂
The sad part? They can’t fill prescriptions there, so we had to find a 24-hour pharmacy (since it was 7:30 on a Sunday night)! Our normal Walgreens isn’t 24-hour, and we wanted to keep all our scripts there, so we had to drive to Royal Oak. It’s only a few extra miles, but around here that takes some time. So, it took us longer to drive there, wait, and drive home than it did for the entire ER visit!
Tom was loving the drugs (Vicodin and Percoset). He was eventually feeling REALLY good (pain, what pain?) and I made him an ice pack when we got home. I asked if he was going to stay home and of course, he wasn’t. (You know the drill, the recruiting office will go up in flames if he isn’t there, LOL.) He did promise that if the pain got unbearable he’d come home.
Ironically, it was almost six months to the day of the last time we were at the hospital—for the birth of the boy!
One week later…
We are thrilled—we can already see a major improvement in the boy’s head shape! After just 7 days! YAY!! (But he’s still going to have to wear it for quite awhile, though—if he stops, it could just as easily go flat again.)
We didn’t take specific pictures, but these are two we had—you can sort of see the change.
A Busy Day
First we had mom’s group from 10-noon and then we had physical therapy from 3-4. I never specifically woke the boy up, but he still didn’t nap as well as he normally does…so at the moment, I’m waiting for him to fall asleep (he was out within two minutes of leaving PT, but since I moved him to the pack-and-play when we got home, he woke up).
The mom’s group topic was sleep, and surprisingly, I didn’t have much to say or ask about…since Owen really is doing pretty well. The guest’s basic philosophy on everything was “If you like it and/or it works for you, go ahead and do it” — whether that means having them sleep in a car seat or having to take them on a car ride to get them to nap. While I agree with that to a certain extent, I draw a line at using anything really odd to get him to sleep. That said, he is apparently an easy baby since he goes down without a fight (most of the time).
It makes me feed bad (and good!) to hear what some of the other moms are going through sleep-wise…babies that can’t self-soothe at all or who have to be rocked to sleep before being put in the crib. Or babies who scream for an hour first or have to be walked around to calm down. Egads. I guess we have it easy. Most of them are still getting up at night, too, for at least one feeding—so I’m not alone. Of course, there is also a mom or two with a baby that sleeps from 7-7 or 10-8.
The hardest part of the group for me is seeing all the other babies rolling over or stretching themselves up on their arms or sitting up well on their own…since Owen is not quite there yet. Yeah yeah yeah I know all babies are different but it still stinks to see most of them ahead of him. A lot of the babies are also eating a lot of real food—like an entire baby jar at a time! They were surprised when I told them that Owen doesn’t really want anything to do with food—or that we just haven’t found the right food yet. He seems to want to eat (he opens his mouth when he sees the spoon) but he hasn’t liked any of his options yet. I happened to mention it to the physical therapist and she said by six months (which is next week!) he really should be eating some amount of solid foods…and said if he doesn’t start soon, she might recommend I talk to a specialist! Egads. Of course, I need to ask the pediatrician about it next week at his six-month appointment.
So, the physical therapy. She said he’s doing better. He rolls to one side much better than the other, so we have to keep working on that (he still doesn’t roll over on his own, except for a happy accident now and again). He has good neck and leg strength and his arm strength is getting better. We had thought today might be the last appointment for awhile, but after seeing him today, she said still wants to continue to see him. At least we have moved the appointment time to 3pm instead of 7am (although, honestly, I might like the 7am better because it’s MUCH quieter and cooler in there).
Pouts, Part 2
After more contemplation, we think he just happened to learn how to pout so is consequently doing it all the time. Babies learn to smile, right? That’s a milestone. We like to think that you can learn to pout as well…because he’s been doing it ALL day off and on, regardless if he’s wearing the helmet (or not) at the time. And the pout is usually preceded and followed by smiles and/or laughter…so he’s just being a little stinker. 🙂
Pouty Lip
Soooooo cute, but soooooo sad. He NEVER had this frowny face until he started wearing the helmet. It might not be related at all, but of course we can’t help but make the comparison.
At the very least, we know he’s my kid—that’s definitely my infamous pout.
Avocado!
P.S. See the wet, mussed hair? That’s because we just took the helmet off before feeding him!
What missing two naps did…
So, he finally fell asleep for his nap about 6pm. I had put him in his crib, thinking maybe there were just too many distractions downstairs (it wasn’t any different from any other day when he naps downstairs, but you never know).
Turns out it was LUCKY I put him in his crib…because he didn’t just nap for a few hours like we thought he would. Noooo, he slept straight through until…4am! 10 HOURS! Holy wah! Tom and I had stayed up until about 10, hoping that he would wake up so he could wear his helmet again for a bit…but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
At 4 after I fed him (after he sucked down his 6oz bottle in a matter of minutes), he was NOT his normal tired self. Crap. But I guess it should have been expected since he had just slept 10 hours! But he needed to go back to bed—he can’t start learning that the day starts that early!! So I turned on his mobile and left. I watched him for a few minutes on the monitor, and he was just chatting with himself and making not-tired noises and moving around. I turned off the monitor and shut our bedroom door so I didn’t hear anything…and I was able to fall back asleep. I checked around 6am when Tom was up and getting ready for work, and Owen was out. So, I’m not sure when he finally fell back to sleep, but he did.
Tom got him up around 6:30 and put his helmet on (by himself!) so by the time I got downstairs at 6:45 Owen was watching Sesame Street and jumping like normal. He still looks cute in the helmet, but he also looks so pathetic… Poor kid. I think it’s still cut too low above his eyes (they trimmed it some, but I think they can do more) because it looks like it covers his eyes and I constantly want to adjust it so he can see better. We’ll see what they say at our next appointment.
My Letter to Owen
Dearest Owen,
You got your helmet today. It was a rough day for us—we know it’s the best thing for you and we know you won’t remember it AT ALL—but it still breaks our hearts knowing we have to put you through this. Your poor mommy is so emotional anyway, that just thinking about you having to wear a helmet for months brings tears to her eyes. We never knew how hard it would be to be a parent at times like this.
But you were a trooper, like always. You never cried or whined or anything like we thought and worried might happen. You’re such a good little boy. And you’re as cute as a bug in your helmet!
You just have to know that we want the very best for you. If we could make your life perfect with a snap of the fingers, we would do without hesitation…but unfortunately life doesn’t work that way.
But your dad and I will do our best to make this helmet a fun experience for you. We will only be positive about the helmet. We will try to educate people who might stare or point fingers. And heaven knows we will take a thousand cute pictures for you to have forever (and maybe, just maybe, to potentially embarrass you with when you bring home your first girlfriend!).
We love you, peanut. You are the very best thing that has ever happened to us. You are healthy and happy and we couldn’t ask for more. (Well, I might ask that you start sleeping through the night consistently because mommy is T-I-R-E-D, but that’s a letter for another day.) Soon enough this will all be over, and you will be even cuter than anyone ever thought possible. Trust me. I’m your mom—I know.
Love,
Mom
Owen has a helmet!
Just to be on the safe side, I called in the morning to MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE they 1) had the helmet and 2) it was the right one. They couldn’t check it at that exact moment (from the gist of the conversation, it seems only the specialist can open the box?). But I was assured it would be double-checked as soon as he was free, and we would get a call if there was a problem. We didn’t get a call, so it was off to Livonia to try on the helmet and get it fitted! Tom was able to go, so I was happy about that.
Our “substitute” specialist was nice, but it will be good to see our regular guy again (I am sure they are both equally qualified, but the guy we saw today made sure we know they do things a little differently from one another).
So without further ado…here’s Owen the first time he tried the helmet on:
Making the marks of where to cut it out for his ears and around his face:
The burp cloth is there because he just ate, hadn’t burped, and we wanted to be prepared. Oh, and still making marks and checking the fit:
Just one of those cute baby faces we didn’t know we got until we looked at the pics afterward. It just makes me laugh…because he really wasn’t uncomfortable or upset or anything:
TA DA!
On the way home…since it was past nap time, he was out in a few minutes. But isn’t he cute?
He only had the helmet on for 45 minutes (it takes 5 days to work up to the 23 hours a day thing) and look how sweaty his head is! I can’t FATHOM what it will be after 23 hours! Hoo boy. And they said after a while, there’s no real way to clean it. Lordy.
So, the first day he has to wear it one hour, then off an hour, then on an hour, etc., and no naps or nighttime. The next day, it’s two hours on/one hour off with no naps or nighttime. The third day it’s four hours on/one hour off but then including naps and nighttime. Day four is eight hours on/one hour off plus naps and nighttime. And then day 5 we jump to wearing it 23 hours. We only get to take it off for an hour to bathe him and let the helmet air out. (Although, he did say we could take it off for like 15 minutes here and there throughout the day to dry his head and let it air out IF he’s truly a big sweater. We assured him he IS. I really don’t think they believe us. Oh, and there are holes in the back of the helmet, but it’s not for air flow—it’s so they can look in and check how his head is fitting. They guy assured us that more holes did NOT help with air flow.)
I think this helmet it going to be WAY STINKY in a month or so, considering how much the boy sweats. I mean, seriously. His head sweats just laying on your arm for a 15 minute feeding! And his hair was soaked from just the 45 minutes he wore it on the way home! It can be cleaned, but not REALLY cleaned—they say you can wipe it out with rubbing alcohol or try to get rid of any smells with nail polish remover. You aren’t supposed to put powder in it and you can’t use Febreeze or anything chemical because it’s touching his head and could cause an allergic reaction.
It’s also going to be a challenge for the next few days—as it’s nearly impossible for one person to manage the helmet alone. It takes two hands to open it/put it on…so it really is necessary to have someone hold the boy while the other person puts it on. If he would sit on his own (which he can almost do, but not well enough to sit STILL for helmet placement) it would be doable. At least it’s the weekend and Tom will be around for the most part, and by next week maybe I will have mastered the art of baby wrangling with my legs so I can put the helmet on alone.
The worst part of the day was that he missed his 1pm and 3pm naps—he had about a 30 minute catnap on the way there and back, but anything less than an hour doesn’t count as a NAP (according to my sleep expert book!)…so he’s extremely cranky at the moment not wanting to sleep but desperately needing to.
Wait.
The mobile has stopped and I only hear ever-so-faint whimpering and heavy breathing. I think he’s finally out. Phew.
Oh crap.
He sneezed and woke himself up. Now he’s fussy and screeching again. DAMMIT.
Anyhoo…I still can’t fathom him having to wear this for the next X number of months. We asked when he will have to be rescanned (to see how much his head has changed shape) and we were told maybe at eight weeks or maybe not until 16 weeks since we should be able to tell just by looking at him. Eight weeks? 16 weeks? Logically I know it’s going to be that long—but actually hearing it out loud was another story. SIXTEEN WEEKS….FOUR MONTHS. That’s a long time. 🙁
That said, they said we might be able to see some changes within 2-3 weeks, so I’m really looking forward to that and hoping we do…just so I can SEE it working.
We do, however, have to go back for bi-weekly checkups. Except for the first one, which they like to schedule for one week. Unfortunately our guy still won’t be back from vacation, so that means we either get a SECOND new guy if we don’t want to drive to Livonia—or we get to see the same guy we saw today, but we have to drive the distance to Livonia. GRRRR.
P.S. It’s now 5:21 and someone STILL isn’t asleep. And he’s been fed AND changed. Hoo boy. He needs to sleep so we can get the helmet on him again for a bit tonight before he has to go to bed!
Helmet Appointment
Today was the day Owen was supposed to get his helmet. Yes, SUPPOSED to get his helmet.
We were fit into the schedule for today because our specialist was going on vacation for 1.5 weeks. Luckily we only had to drive about 15 minutes, as the appointment was in Southfield (versus Livonia, where we had to go for the laser scan). I picked up Tom, and off we went.
As we were waiting in the exam room, we heard our guy (the specialist) say to his assistant, “It should still be in the box. It’s probably not even opened yet.” And we didn’t think anything of it.
Fast forward a few minutes when he comes into the room to apologize—seems they sent the helmet in the wrong color/pattern. We were supposed to get a light blue helmet but instead got this:
Yes, a PINK helmet with BUTTERFLIES! 88| >:XX
They are rushing the second one and it should be here Friday. (So, hmmmm, it took 1.5 weeks for the first helmet, but after a mistake it only takes 2.5 days?) But now, since our guy will be on vacation, we have to drive to Livonia. Ugh. And Tom might not be able to go. Double ugh. >:XX
Yes, mistakes happen. And they apologized over and over and over. But it’s still annoying. And we could have avoided even GOING today had they actually OPENED the box when they got it and saw it was the wrong one.
Sigh.
Tricare gets a thumbs down from me today.
Long story short, the helmet is NOT covered like we thought it would be. Apparently the physical therapy appointments are but not the actual orthotic device that will help the most. 🙄
After doing some research, A LOT of military families are dealing with this, and have filed appeals. Some get it covered, some don’t. Lovely. What a pain in the ass.
But I guess that’s what savings accounts are for, right?