The Journey of Baby J!

Monday, November 3, 2014

Landon Jay- Seven Months 10/19/14

Weight: 20 pounds 5 ounces (guess)

Height: 27 inches (guess)

Miles Traveled: 7,914 miles! Landon traveled to Ham Lake a couple of times, Hayward for a wedding, Rochester a couple of time for exams, Medford a couple of times for shopping, Springfield to visit his great grandparents, and West Concord to visit friends! Phew!

Sleeping: Landon takes a 45 minute nap in the morning, a 1.5-2 hour nap at daycare after lunch, and then two 20-40 minute naps in the afternoon/evening. He is still doing pretty well at night, so we are thankful for that! We have been trying to put him to bed, sooner, in hopes that he will sleep even longer at night... we are still working on this :) regardless, he sleeps well at night.

Feeding: He drinks about 5, 5 ounce bottles of formula a day and then he eats a container of fruit in the morning and a container of veggies at night. He LOVES his veggies and fruits and we haven't found anything he doesn't like! This has made feeding him really easy because he isn't picky. We tried puffs, and he will eat a few, but only if we give them to him. It is funny to watch his expression when he eats them. We also tried a sippy cup of water this month and that has been funny as well. He understands the concept of picking it up, but he needs help tipping it up to drink it. I think this will come with time.

Clothing: He is mainly in 6-9 month clothes, but we have moved to 12 month for some of his jammies and a few sets of clothes. He is pretty long, so that is the only reason we are slowly transitioning. For the most part, though, he is in 6-9 month clothing sets and they are so cute! Grandma B bought him a cute Halloween outfit, his Godmother Brittany bought him a cute Halloween outfit, and I did, too, so he was set for Halloween... that will be another post!

Diaper Size: Size 3 Pampers

Looks: He is getting a little more hair and it is brown with his baby blue eyes. I feel like his face has thinned out a bit this month, but he still has his chubby cheeks and I LOVE them! He still has his daddy's ears, but I think he looks a lot like me, which is so different than when he was a newborn. He tends to scratch himself a lot, despite that I've clipped his nails, so he keeps me on my toes to make sure I've clipped them every week!

Nicknames: Bugaboo, Cheeks, Ham Ball, Bubs, Cuddle Bug, Babycakes, Little Fish, Beezie, Peanut, Baby Landon. These nicknames have pretty much stayed the same over the past few months, but the main ones are Bugaboo, Cheeks, and Ham Ball :)

Likes: He LOVES his jumper and can't seem to get enough of it. He enjoys his bumble bee rock-a-bye, his sea horse (the minute he gets on his changing pad he grabs it), reading books/chewing on the books (I love the teeth marks), sitting up by his play mat, trying to scoot backwards on his tummy, Bella or any animal for that matter, playing on his changing pad in his room, driving his car, the sit and stand walker, car rides, his bumble bee rattle, bath time while sitting up like a big boy, trying to scoot/crawl, and being a happy baby!

Dislikes: Being overly tired and having clothes pulled over his head, but that only lasts for a few seconds!

Personality: His voice is really coming through and he LOVES to talk! This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I never knew a baby could talk so much. When he wakes up in the morning, he has so much to tell me and I love listening to him. He has said dada and hi so far, but the amount that he talks is evident he will be saying way more in just a matter of time. One time I thought it sounded like he mumbled uh oh, but I'm not sure. Everyone asks us if he is ever crabby, and although he has his moments, it is very rare.

Randoms:

He still only has two teeth on the bottom, but I think he is working on the top teeth.

He had his first EEG and MRI when he went through all of the scary spasm issues. He was such a trooper!

He likes to sit up and try to crawl, which is so funny to watch!

He went to his first ECFE class, which was just a birthday party, but hopefully they'll have more classes at night so we can attend them.

Now for some pictures:

Visiting mommy while she was working at the YMCA!

Just hanging with great grandma, Donna (Nana) Can you tell they love each other?

Landon's great grandma, Marie, moved to the nursing home, so he was talking to her. She loves babies!

Landon's great grandpa, Arnie, moved to the nursing home, so Landon showed him all of his tricks!

Such a special picture to me...

The new playroom we made out of unused dining room space... I smile every time I see this space!

Good morning, world!

Landon's Godmother asked him to be the baby ringbearer in her wedding :) He said YES!

Face Timing with grandma B!

He was telling me so many stories!

Hanging with his uncle Mike (mommy's good friend from high school)

Showing us that he is "Tough Like Daddy" like his shirt says!

Hanging with papa T and great aunt Michelle at Emma Crumbee's

First hay ride... I promise he was excited!


Hanging out on the hay ride!

A Scary Situation...

Wow! I have been meaning to write about this for a while, but it has been a bit overwhelming. Regardless, I need to get this information written down so I don't forget it. As stated in a previous blog post, Landon was really sick during September. We were in and out of the hospital and urgent care a lot, he was home from day care more than he was at day care, and he was really sick. In addition to this, I started to notice he would shake his head back and forth a lot. He has always done this since he was a baby, but the head shakes became bigger and stronger. I will refer to the shakes as "spasms" from here on out. His spsams would last for 1-6 seconds and he would have 1-7 at a time. This went on throughout the day and I knew something wasn't right. My mom also noticed his speech had slowed down and he wasn't talking as much as he used to. I attributed this to his sickness, but it was clear something was wrong with our baby :( In addition to him shaking his head, he began stiffening his arms and shaking his body, which was a clear sign something was going on. I was able to capture it on video, so once I had that, we headed to the clinic. The video can be found here: Spasm Video (I will be locking the video in a couple weeks for privacy.)

Landon's pediatrician saw the video and instantly told us we needed to go to Mayo. She didn't say too much, other than she thought he was having Infantile Spasms and he needed to be seen right away. Don't Google infantile spasms unless you want to be terrified and sad at the same time :( Obviously we researched our hearts out so we knew what to expect. This was a bad idea, especially because the diagnosis and future for Landon looked so bleak. One of the articles I read said that if we can get into Mayo, we need to see Dr. Bodensteiner because he is a specialist in this field.

Mayo had an appointment for us right away, which I was thankful for, but it also worried me. Why could they get us in so soon? Was something worse that we thought? As we checked into the clinic, the nurse said we were meeting with Dr. Bodensteiner and I immediately felt at ease. I always knew God was in control, but at this moment, I truly felt His presence all around us. I just started crying and I am sure the receptionist thought I was a nut job. Once we met with Dr. B, he watched the video, said something was definitely wrong, but he was NOT having infantile spasms- praise God! I started crying, instantly, because we had all prepared ourselves to hear otherwise. He did a couple examinations on Landon and said he wanted to get him in for an EEG right away because although he was 99% sure it wasn't infantile spasms, he needed to rule it out 100% and figure out what was going on. I was nervous, but I wanted answers. Dr. Bodensteiner said we could end up waiting all day for an EEG, however, he knows how to pull some strings and landon had an EEG two hours later, another miracle from God! It was really hard to watch Landon go through the EEG, but I knew it was going to give us answers.

The waiting room at Mayo, designed especially for children.

This was so hard to watch... thank goodness aunt Tami was there!

He wasn't a fan of the cap :(

All better!

Hanging out during the EEG

Seeing if a spasm would happen during play time :(

Almost done with the EEG!

He loves Beezie the bumble bee!

All done and ready to eat!

The EEG lasted about 1/5 hours, and after we were done with that, we were sent home. We didn't know the results, which bothered me, but obviously it was in God's hands. We went home and continued living or life. By this point, Landon's speech had become really limited and he was acting like a completely different baby. It was scary to watch, but once again we knew we weren't in control. Landon was on many different prayer chains and we had the prayer warriors going in full force. It felt comforting to know that people were just as vested into this as we were and we were NOT alone.

Dr. Bodensteiner e-mailed me the next day and said an MRI was needed because although it wasn't infantile spasms, something was going on to impact his brain and we needed answers. I wish I could remember all the dates, but October was such a blur that I can't recall all of them.

The MRI was scheduled for 9:00 on October 7th (I think), so that meant Landon couldn't have formula after 2:00 am and Pedialyte after 6:00 am, so I was nervous how he was going to react. Thankfully my parents we were us, so that made things a little easier. He was a rock star, especially since things got pushed back and he wasn't taken back until 9:45. Since Cory works the night shift, I had him sleep at my aunt and uncle's house in Rochester, during the morning, and then he met up with us around 1:00. My parents were my rock during it all, which is what I needed. I have never been so scared or sad as I was when I had to leave Landon. I was able to walk to the room with him, lay him down on the table, hold his hand, and kiss his face as he drifted off to sleep. When I left that room I just sobbed... I still cry thinking about it.

On our way to Mayo... sleeping peacefully with Mickey by his side!

A whole bunch of nerves are hidden in this picture... thank goodness they were here!

Trying to distract him from being hungry :) He "chatted" with all of the people walking in the hall!

So thankful my mom was there to hold my hand :(

His poor little IV after the MRI :(

Listening to the doctor. He was such a good boy!

My little honey with his angel bear!

Mom, Tom, and I went to the chapel and we prayed. I prayed that everything would be fine with him. I prayed he would come out of the MRI and have no side effects. I prayed God would give us an answer. I just prayed my baby would be okay. They called us up to the waiting area and we snuggled baby Landon until he was awake and ready to take on the day. It amazes me how he remained so positive and happy despite everything he had just gone through. After the MRI, we hung out and waited for the results. Slowly, Landon started talking again, his personality came back, and it seemed as if his shakes had stopped... could this really have happened?

We met with Dr Bodensteiner's partner, Dr. Patterson, and he told us Landon's brain was pristine! Praise God and sweet baby Jesus! My baby boy was going to be okay! The doctor said he had never seen such a turn around and he had no medical explanation as to how or why everything changed. We thought for sure there was a tumor or fluid pressing on his brain, but by the grace of God, everything was okay! The only medical explanation they can think of is that the Enterovirus d68 he had in September, which was in his lungs, had transferred to his brain and was on the way to paralyzing his brain. Research has shown that d68 tends to move from being a respiratory problem to a neurological problem, but there hasn't been a ton of research with it.

Regardless, I truly believe God performed a miracle and healed Landon. Landon was so sick, and something was seriously wrong with him, yet everything turned out great. I keep trying to see the lesson God was teaching me in all of this and I think he was trying to tell me that just because life is calm and good, that doesn't mean we should stop praying and being content in life. We need to remember that life is too short, so we need to enjoy each day and remember to praised and thank God for His abundance grace. I think He was also showing us how happy and strong Landon stayed throughout everything, so we need to remember that despite what we are going through, we need to stay happy and optimistic because it can make a big difference in the end.

I am so thankful for all of the prayers we have been given over the past two months. September and October were ugly months for us, but I finally feel like I can breathe a little bit and you can bet I have been hugging my little guy just a little bit more! God is SO good and miracles CAN happen, thank you for the prayers!

Until next time, friends, God bless!

Friday, October 31, 2014

Landon's Fall Pictures

My mom took pictures of Landon for his 6 month fall pictures, so I thought I'd share them for his keeping. We also had 6 month professional pictures taken, but I haven't received those, yet. Be prepared for picture overload (I'll only post a handful)!

My whole world- I love him SO much!

Such an innocent look!

My life! I am so thankful for my family!

Stop and smell the roses... or carnations!

His two little toothers!

Proud grandma B and papa T

Wee!!

Awe, mom and dad, no kisses, please!

Landon Jay- Six Months 9/19/14 WAY LATE!

Weight: 19 pounds 5 ounces

Height: 26 inches

Miles Traveled: 6,280 miles! Landon traveled to grandma and grandpa's house, mommy and daddy's friend's cabin, Rochester, and St. Paul! Not as many places this month, but it was nice to be home for a little while. Bring on the next month!

Sleeping: Landon is still doing pretty well at sleeping. Since he has been sick, he hasn't been eating as well at night, which makes him get up around 4:00 to eat, but I can't complain about that. His naps are hit and miss at daycare, but for the most part, I think he is a great sleeper!

Feeding: He is still drinking 6, 5 ounces bottles a day and that seems to be going well. We introduced oatmeal cereal at the beginning of the month, but then he got really constipated, so we took a break. Then, he got really sick and ended up in the hospital, so we have been a little slow with the foods. He LOVES peas and gobbles them right up. We stopped giving him cereal because it just seems to constipate him, so we are going to stick to veggies and hopefully fruit soon :)

Clothing: He is mainly in 6-9 month clothes. He has so many fun clothing sets from his grandpas, so I love dressing him! For a couple weeks he just stayed in pajamas, because he was so sick, but now he is back in clothes and looking cute as ever. We purchased a few Green Bay Packers outfits and I LOVE them! We are huge Packers fans, so this was a given. He drowns in the pants of the 6-9 month clothes, but the tops fit him, so we pretty much just roll up the bottoms of the pants.

Diaper Size: Size 3 Pampers

Looks: He is getting more hair and it is darker, so my guess is his hair will be brown. He has the brightest blue eyes though and they just melt my heart. I pray they stay blue because that would be so neat! He has the chubbiest cheeks and I can't help but squish and kiss them ALL. THE. TIME! I'm sure he will get annoyed with this when he gets older :) I feel like he doesn't change his looks too much, but then when I look at pictures, I can't get over how much he has changed!

Likes: He LOVES his jumper and can't seem to get enough of it. He enjoys his bumble bee rock-a-bye, Ellie the rattle, standing on his legs and falling towards you, sitting up by his play mat, BELLA (he lights up the minute he sees her), playing on his changing pad in his room- we call it his happy place- sitting in his Bumbo and driving his car, car rides, his bumble bee rattle, bath time, swimming, and just being a happy baby!

Dislikes: Being overly tired, getting his nose sucked out with the nose sucker, and that's about it :)

Personality: Like I've said before, he is such a happy baby and he truly lights up our life. When he wakes up in the morning, you can't help but be in a good mood because his smile fills the room. Despite being super sick, he still managed to smile and flirt with the nurses. I have learned so much from my 6 month old child, but the most important thing is that you need to be happy and take life as it comes because it goes way too fast! He loves to giggle, receive zerberts on his neck, and dance to music!

Randoms:

He still only has two teeth on the bottom, but they are cute!

He was hospitalized for the first time and diagnosed with bronchiolitis, enterovirus d68, and an ear infection. September was the start of a nasty cold and scary situation...

He is sitting up a little at a time and I can tell how excited that makes him. I think he appreciates the independence, but it makes me said that he is growing up so fast!

Now for some pictures: