The Journey of Baby J!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Landon's First Hospital Admission :(

Oh, man, where do I even begin? Long story short, Landon has been sick since Friday, September 5th. We've been to the emergency room three times, urgent care twice, and he was hospitalized once. He is still very sick, but hopefully we are on the upswing of things! I am tired...

Now the long story, so I have this for his records. This is what I remember, but I could've missed something...

Landon started getting a runny nose and a tiny cough (9/5), but we weren't too concerned because we thought it was just a cold. On Saturday, (9/6), it looked like he had pink eye, so we took him to urgent care. I had them listen to his lungs, too, and they said he sounded fine. They gave us an antibiotic for the pink eye and away we went. Later in the day, his cough started to get worse and he had a fever of 99.9. At the end of the night, he wasn't keeping many liquids down and seemed really tired. We gave him Tylenol, had him sleep upright in his car seat, and thought he would be good. By Sunday (9/7), his fever had reached 101.8 and he was only keep some fluids down. His cough was getting progressively worse and his nose wouldn't stop running. By 5:00 pm, his temp was 102.1 and I was worried. He would shake his head back and forth and was coughing so bad. We took him to the ER where they did a bunch of tests. It was SO awful watching them take blood and giving him a chest X-ray :( I tried to stay brave, but I lost it a few times because he just screamed and I knew he didn't feel well. The doctor said he had bronchiolotis (gave us an antibiotic, which turns out wasn't even going to help us bronchiolitis) and sent us on our way around 11:00 pm. He slept on and off in his car seat throughout the night. Both Cory and I stayed home on Monday so we could be with him. On top of Landon getting sick, he was giving it to us, so that was tough.

First time in the ER- 10:00 pm

On Monday (9/8), we couldn't break his fever and his liquid intake continued to slow down. He would drink, but it was only 10-15 ounces or so, when he normally drinks 30 ounces a day. This was a concern, plus the high fever and terrible cough. It got so bad that he could not really breathe, so we ended back up in the ER on Monday night because he needed oxygen and more help than we could give him. They hooked him up to a nebulizer and said we had to give him that every 4-6 hours because we had to get his bronchiolitis and breathing under control and they said to continue giving Tylenol, in addition to the amoxicillin we were giving him. He was absolutely miserable and it broke my heart because there was nothing we could do to make him feel better. We purchased a nose frieda because that was the only way we could get the snot out of his lungs. He hated it, but it worked wonders for him. Turns out that the nose frieda is what actually spread Landon's sickness to us... who knew the filter wasn't germ free? We continued to give the nebulizer treatment every four hours...

Round the clock nebulizer... poor hunny!

Tuesday (9/9) wasn't a great day, but we didn't end up in any clinic or the hospital, so that was nice. We continued to do the nebulizer... By Tuesday night things started to change...

Sleeping in mommy's arms is the only place he wanted to be :(

By Wednesday (9/10), he was so sick, he hadn't gone to the bathroom in 13 hours, wasn't keep any liquids down, would roll his eyes to the back of his head, had a high fever of 102.1 and was miserable. We took him to our pediatrician who took one look at him and said he needs to get to the hospital. He is dehydrated and I believe he has enterovirus d68 and needs to get better, FAST! Needless to say, I was numb and SO scared that my baby was going to the hospital. I knew he needed to get better, but it was awful seeing his little body in the crib. Two groups of people tried to get an IV in him, but they couldn't, so they had to have the anesthesia team help. I left the room, which was good for all of us. My mom came to stay with us, which was really nice! He was monitored and given IV fluids round the clock. Regardless that he was so sick, he continued to smile and laugh with the nurses. The doctors said he followed the exact pattern on enterovirus d68 that is spreading across the country, but thankfully, since we had been in the ER before and he was on a nebulizer, it didn't get as bad as it could have, but he still wasn't great! They gave him oxygen while he slept, as well as the fluids and nebulizer.

Getting admitted... He was so, so, so sick

Hanging out with mommy and grandma and trying to smile...

IV :(

I'm so thankful my mom could be with us!

He just woke up from a nap and was waiting for meds.

His sad looking crib :(

Since he had the Enterovirus d68 and it is spread by droplets, if you came into the room, you had to have a mask and gloves on!

By Thursday afternoon (9/11), we were able to leave the hospital armed with a stronger nebulizer prescription, stronger amoxicillin, and a few other things. They said we should be on the upswing of things in about 2-3 days, so that gave us hope. My dad came to stay with us from the 11th-12th, so that was very helpful! Landon continued to have a runny nose, cough, and slight fever, but he was able to keep liquids down and wet his diaper, so that was good. We stayed home that entire weekend and just tried to get better.

Ready to get out of the hospital!

On Monday (9/15) Landon was still not great, so I stayed home with him! I felt so torn because I had SO much to do at work and I left my class in a frenzy, but I didn't want to be anywhere else other than with my baby. The rest of the week is kind of a blur, but he went to daycare some days and other days he was home with either Cory or me. It was exhausting because we were really sick on top of everything else going on with him. We took him to urgent care on the 18th because he was breathing really hard again, but it ended up being okay, so that was great.

We thought everything was slowly getting better, so we took Landon to daycare on the 23rd. Around 11:00, our daycare provider called and said Landon would barely lift his head, he had a high temp, was breathing really heavy, and she was scared. We got to the clinic and they sent us to the ER. After a chest X-ray and some other labs, it was determined that his bronchiolitis was getting worse and they needed to add more steroids to his nebulizer. Oye!

My smiley boy was nowhere to be found :(

So, so tired :(

We got home that evening and my dad came to be with him at night and the next day so we could get some rest. I pray, with all that I have, that we are on the upswing and he will be better soon! It has been so hard watching him go through this knowing that I can't take his pain away. Now I understand how my mom felt when she said she wanted to take our pain away when we were younger... I would've done anything to help him. We did purchase a battery powered nose sucker and that has been great! Landon isn't a fan of it, but at least we are able to get snot out and he isn't transferring his sickness to us.

Trying to be a big guy and do the nebulizer himself!

I pray we are almost done with this and all of us can feel better soon! Cory and I have both been in urgent care and were put on antibiotics, but we still aren't great. Cory feels better, but I'm exhausted and still pretty sick. If you could continue to keep us in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it.

Landon's 1st Day of Daycare

Landon went to his first day of daycare on August 25th, 2014! I am SO thankful I was able to be home with him for the first five months of his life due to having the summers off. I couldn't imagine bringing him any earlier and I truly feel blessed to have had that long with him. Bringing him to daycare was extremely hard for me. As in I cried the entire day before, the entire morning getting him ready, the entire ride to daycare, and then the entire ride to work. I cried throughout the day and then throughout the week. I NEVER would have imagined it would have been so hard to leave him. I am so thankful he is at a wonderful daycare and has a chance to interact with other people and learn SO much, but it was awful! I had so many fears about leaving him, but thankfully those fears quickly diminished and it isn't nearly as hard to leave him. I think what made it so hard to leave him is that we have been through hell and back to have him and now someone else was going to be caring for our little miracle, our most prized baby. Our daycare provider loves him and is so good with him, so I am thankful for that. He is the only baby, which is nice for her and for him. The other kids love him and he smiles when he sees the other, kids too! I wanted to document a few pictures of his first day so I don't forget. Is it June 2015 so I can be home with him, yet? :) Just kidding... kind of!

We gave him the book, "If I Could Keep You Little" for his first day of daycare and he loved it! He kept trying to turn the pages by himself and he didn't want me to hold the book. I love that he enjoys books! The book is a definite tear jerker though... yikes!

He was so smiley when I went to get him in the morning!

Goof ball!

"I'm going to daycare?! No way!"

Until next time, friends, God bless!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Fourth of July

I don't have a ton to say, but I wanted to get this post out before it go too late and so I had it for our memory! Every year, for the past 15 years, we have been going to Sturgeon Lake for the 4th of July. My dad has a permanent camper on the lake, so it has been years of swimming, boating, drunken nights, boat parades, concerts, fireworks, etc. This year, we knew it was going to be different, but honestly, this is something I have looked forward to forever! Maybe I'll come back and add more when I have time, but for now, here are some pictures!

Hanging out on the table at the camper

My everything!

Hanging out with uncle before heading to the beach!

My world!

3 generations

Pirates with grandpa Mark for the boat parade- he didn't do the boat this year though.

So sweet and innocent

Hanging out at grandma Debbie's wedding reception- the day after the 4th!

Watching the fireworks- he fell asleep right away!

Landon Jay- 5 Months 8/19/14

Landon turned five months old on August 19th and I can't believe how fast it is going! I never thought I could love another human being so intensely, but my love for him just gets deeper and deeper, which I didn't think was possible. He had a very busy month with many new "firsts," but I think he enjoyed all of them :) He started daycare on August 25th, but that's a whole other post... For now, let's look at the statistics!

Weight: 18 pounds, baby!

Height: My guess is that he is 25"-25.5", but I'm not sure if that is truly accurate.

Miles Traveled: 5,610 miles! We visited Fairmont (he went with grandma and grandpa with Cory and I were at a wedding), Albert Lea, Adams a couple of times for work, Springfield to see the great-grandparents and for a reunion, Rochester, and Ham Lake to see grandma and grandpa!

Sleeping: Landon is a GREAT sleeper at night! I know this can change at any given moment, but he usually goes to sleep around 9:00 and sleeps until 6:00 am. Now that we leave for daycare at 7:00, I would like to try and get him to bed earlier so I know he will be up at 6:15 or so to drink a bottle and get ready for the day. I am SO thankful he sleeps through the night because it makes things a lot better.

He has been fighting nap a lot more lately. He does have a double ear infection, so that may be part of it, but I'm not sure. Our daycare provider has her work cut out for her, but hopefully it will get better. He is fine at taking 20-40 minute naps, but he needs to sleep longer- poor baby!

Feeding: He is still drink 6, 4.5 ounce bottles a day and that seems to be going well. I tried increasing the bottles to 5-5.5 ounces, but he didn't seem to care for it, so I am going to stick to 4.5 ounce bottles. We are hoping to introduce oatmeal cereal the first weekend of September, so wish us luck :) He is definitely starting to watch us more when we eat, so I think he is ready!

Clothing: He fits in a good amount of his 3-6 month clothes, but I have started to put the 6-9 month clothes on him due to the weather and I want to make sure he has a chance to wear them! He still has such a small waist/legs, so he can fit in 3-6 month down there no problem. His grandpa Mark took him shoping for fall and winter clothes, so Landon is going to be one stylish little boy this fall and winter! Grandpa Mark loves to shop and we love that he enjoys it :)

Diaper Size: 2 for the most part, but we are slowly changing to size 3- Huggies and Pampers. When we put Pampers Cruisers size 3 on him, for whatever reason, he broke out in an awful diaper rash with little pimples for about 5 days. We always use Pampers, so I'm not sure if it was that the diaper was too big or if the Cruisers had a different filling. Regardless, we switched him back to size 2 for a week and then tried the 3s again and we haven't had a problem... who knows!

Looks: I really think he looks like me, but I may be biased. I can definitely see Cory's features as well, but I feel like he looks more like me. I really need to get our baby pictures out from when we were this age to see who he looks like more. He has this one expression which totally looks like Cory's dad who passed away last year. I can't quite describe it, but when he does it, I feel like it is a sign from Jay, his dad.

Nicknames: Bugaboo, Cheeks, Ham Ball, Bubs, cuddle bug, babycakes, little fish, beezie, peanut, baby Landon.

Likes: Sitting in his bumbo and sometimes arching his back, reading books (he likes to turn the pages by himself ), playing on his activity mat and watching the mobile go around and around, this crazy orange rattle and bumblebee that he does not let go of when he is in his car seat, dogs (he saw his first one this past weekend and he giggled for five minutes straight- see link below), jumping in his rainforest jumper, shoving his hands in his mouth, swimming, hanging out with his baby friends, zerberts on his neck because they make him laugh, kicking his piano, and shoving his O Ball into his mouth and throwing it at Bella :)

Giggle video: Giggle Video

Dislikes: His new Nuk pacifier (trying to get rid of the soothie one) and being overly tired! Otherwise, he is a happy baby!

Personality: This hasn't really changed at all from last month... We are so blessed to have such a happy-go-lucky baby who smiles all the time! Honestly, he loves to smile at you, flirt with the ladies (especially my future sister in-law and friend, Megan), giggles when you blow on his tummy or make zerberts on his neck, and smiles when he sees a fan. I wish the innocence of a child could be in all of us because life would be so much better that way! He is SO much like me it is scary, but cute! He loves to smile, giggle at me, read his stories, sit and listen to me sing songs, music, and be with family!

Randoms:

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

He went to his first family reunion on August 2nd. He was the youngest one there and another lady was 102 years old, so they had their picture taken together for the youngest/oldest. Landon also got to experience his first "cabin trip." Every year, five couples go to our friend's cabin where we jet ski, drink, hang out, swim, boat, and who knows what else. This year was a little different because we had seven babies there, five of them were 6 months old and younger. We have all struggled with infertility, so it was neat that we could all be together. The only couple who didn't have a baby there has one on the way in February, after going through IVF. It is SO exciting!

He got his first cold (double ear infection) and it was diagnosed on August 21st at urgent care in Blaine. I thought he had an ear infection earlier in the week, but it is so hard to tell with kids, so I just kept an eye on it to see if his mood or appetite would change. Up until Thursday the 21st, he was doing okay and didn't seem too bothered. Well, at my brother and his fiance's engagement party, he was so not himself- screaming, not drinking his bottle, and just in pain- so we took him to urgent care. They got him on Amoxicillin and so far he is doing okay. Hopefully it will go away soon because I don't want him to hurt :(

Well, now I'll leave you with some pictures:

Landon's girlfriend, Aubrielle! She is so much fun!

Landon's new playmates and mommy's new hunnies she loves to cuddle :)

All of the babies at the cabin for cabin weekend- Amelia-2 1/2, Owen- 2 1/2. Aubrielle- 6 months, Landon- 5 months, Lillian and Evan- 2 1/2 months, and Avery- 1 1/2 months!

First time swinging... I think he liked it!

Tummy time!!

Landon went to his first story time at Barnes and Noble to read Pete the Cat!

Landon went to Como Zoo for the first time and loved watching Sparky the seal and all of the monkeys :)

First time at the Mower County Fair- I promise he had fun, but he had just woken up.

First time away from mommy all day :( He visited me at work!


Swinging at the park with mommy!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Landon Jay- 4 Months 7/19/14

Landon Jay is 4 months old already! Seriously, how is that even possible? I'm a little late to the game- oops! I feel like those first 5 weeks were such a blur and now everything is going so fast that I can't keep up with it! He is such a funny baby and the absolute light in our lives. We constantly ask ourselves, "what was life like prior to Landon?" I feel like we had a good life, but nothing compares to this! To those of you still in the trenches of infertility, please know that I am always praying for you and rooting you on, even if you don't hear from me that much. My heart aches for you and I want so badly for you to be a mommy or a daddy! If you ever need to talk, please know that I am here!!

Now for the stats and four month information about our Bugaboo!

Weight: 16 pounds 5 ounces! He is in the 79th % for his weight. The doctor said he looked good, so that's all I care about.

Height: 24 inches tall! However, he is only in the 30th % for height, which is fairly common I hear.

Miles Traveled: 4,620 miles! We made a couple trips to my parent's house, a trip to Burnsville, a trip to Sturgeon Lake/Carlton, a few trips to Rochester, and a trip to Springfield. I LOVE that he is such a good traveler!

Sleeping: Landon is finally sleeping through the night! I feel like if I say it out loud that I am going to jinx it, but let's hope not. Between three and four months, he transitioned from getting up at 5:00 am, drinking a bottle, and then going back to bed, to sleeping completely through the night. Every morning is a little bit different, but typically he wakes up between 7:00-9:00, for a total of 9-11 hours! I can't tell you how awesome this is because this took him a long time to get to this point. However, I know it can change in a heartbeat, so I am going to appreciate it for what it is right now.

He has been napping pretty well throughout the day. He is up for two hours and then sleeps for 30-60 minutes, up for two hours and then sleeps for 30-60 minutes, and repeats that all day. Every day is a little bit different, but I've noticed that if he naps more during the day, he sleeps more at night... seems opposite of what it should be, but I won't argue with it :)

Feeding: He eats a 6 ounce bottle when he wakes up, then 4 ounce bottles every three hours, and then a 6 ounce bottle before bed, for a total of 24 ounces a day. I thought we were going to start oatmeal at four months old, but many pediatricians, and the Mayo Clinic, suggest waiting until 5-6 months so their digestive system is fully developed.

Clothing: He is completely in 3-6 month clothes and I love the clothes that he has. He definitely has short legs though, so he could fit in 0-3 month pants/shorts if needed. I just bought a ton of clothes for him for next summer and it is hard to believe that he will be in 18 month clothes then... slow down, time! Some of my favorite clothes he wears are rompers because they are all in one and many of the ones he has are bright colors with cute animals! A few of my favorites are his blue jumper with the polar bear and a white onesie underneath it... his white romper with yellow and blue stripes... his onesie with a blue bow tie, shorts, and a little cardigan sweater...a lime green and blue alligator romper with a lime green onesie... and his baseball romper :)

Diaper Size: 2- Huggies and Pampers, but mainly Pampers

Looks: Everyone says he looks just like me when I was a baby and I totally see it. However, at the same time, I think he looks just like my husband, too. Therefore, he must have an even mix of both of us, which is fun. He definitely has Cory's ears, a mix of our eyes, my round head, my toes, Cory's hands, and Cory's tiny legs. He has a little red mark on the back of his neck by his hair line, so I'm not sure if that is a birth mark or still newborn skin... who knows! One thing I will say is that his nails grow like crazy and I hate clipping them because I'm afraid I'm going to hurt him :( He changes on a daily basis, so who knows what he will look like next month!

Nicknames: Bugaboo, Bubs, cuddle bug, babycakes, snookums, half-pint, little fish, beezie, peanut, baby Landon.

Likes: A new thing for Landon this month was swimming. Since he loves bath time, we thought we would take him to the YMCA to see how it goes and it has been great! He loves to splash, watch the other kids, and float (obviously with us holding him) on top of the water. He also loves bath time, playing on his activity mat, sitting in his Bumbo like a big boy, jumping in his rainforest jumper, watching the fan, going for walks, car rides, shoving his fists in his mouth, and playing with his new kicking toy. He loves to kick, so I found this toy at an online garage sale for $8 and he LOVES it. It plays music when he touches the toys and kicks his feet, so he thinks it is the greatest thing ever!

Dislikes: Being overly tired and tummy time after about 5-7 minutes. He isn't a huge fan of getting out of the bath tub, but I don't blame him because the air is cold!

Personality: His personality is really starting to shine! We are so blessed to have such a happy-go-lucky baby who smiles all the time! Honestly, he loves to smile at you, flirt with the ladies (especially my future sister in-law), giggles when you blow on his tummy, and smiles when he sees a fan. I wish the innocence of a child could be in all of us because life would be so much better that way!

One thing that is super cute is when you walk into his room in the morning he gives you the biggest smile you've ever seen! Honestly, if you are having a rough morning or overwhelmed, he will just flash you the brightest smile and all of your worries will go away- it is so precious!

Randoms:

He has two TEETH right now! He cut his first one on his four month birthday- July 19th- and then he cut his second one on July 24th! It seems hard to believe that he has two teeth already because I feel like he is way too young for this!

Landon got to go to his first wedding, of many, on July 26th! He did so well during church and at dinner. He was able to dance with me for a little bit, but then he got to spend a lot of time with his grandma B and Papa T! (oops, I suppose this was after he turned four months, but oh well ;)

He is following all of our movements and beginning to reach for different toys. He absolutely LOVES his bumblebee and orange rattle (we named Ellie) from on his car seat! He will grab Ellie and bat at her all day, it is pretty sweet. Thank goodness for fun car toys!

Well, now I'll leave you with some pictures: