First solids!

Well, I had planned on waiting until 6mo to start solids with Preston.  That was what the recommendation was with Hayden.  Apparently it has been changed back to 4-6mo and I've been reading that there are new studies showing that starting closer to the 4mo mark actually reduces allergies more than waiting until after 6mo.  So I've been going back and forth for awhile trying to figure out what we should do with Preston.  At our 4mo appt she said to try him on solids, when I talked to his developmental pediatrician she said that he has the head control and that it wouldn't hurt to try but he didn't NEED them right now so it was up to us.  

I asked on Facebook and got mixed reviews, seemed like all of my UK friends said not to try until 6mo and then all of my US friends said 4mo (or even before which I'm not comfortable with). We waited until 6mo with Hayden and he refused solids until 9mo and he has more allergy and digestive issues than any of them...actually he's the only one with issues like that.  Landon was started at about 3.5mo which I'd never do again but he has no issues because of it.  Casen was started right before 5mo and same with him.  It seemed like waiting longer backfired in our situation.  Hayden has always been the hardest to get to eat as well.  

In the end we decided to go ahead and give it a try and see how he does.  I made a trip to Target and got him some bowls, spoons, cereal, fruits and veggies and also the little spoons that attach to the pouches of food.  Oh and a couple bibs :)  

So tonight I pumped some milk and mixed him up his first bowl of cereal!  We bought Plum Baby organic whole grain brown rice cereal.  I made it up really loose at first.  He was so mad when I put him in his bumbo because he was sleepy, I was trying to talk to him to calm him down but it wasn't happening lol he was MAD. 

 I decided to just give him a bite to see if that got his attention....

It did...instance silence!

Very interested

He absolutely loved it!  He does still have the tongue thrust reflex so most came right back out but he wanted it, he was leaning in to get the next bite and got really mad when I stopped long enough to thicken it up for him

Smiles

Leaning to get the food

I don't think he's ready to eat it often, he did get better after I thickened it and he had had a few bites, he started swallowing more and he absolutely love it.  But we aren't going to push it, he won't be eating daily for awhile still.  He was very happy afterwards though, I think he really enjoyed just eating in general.  He isn't a hungry baby so I don't think it's that he was really full...he barely actually swallowed any anyways, I think he just enjoyed the process of eating.  He was so smiley during and afterwards and just talking away...very good mood <3

Landon and Casen's Check-ups

Landon and Casen had their check-ups today.  They are both doing really well.  

Landon first!

He is 51 1/4in tall and 54lbs.  They checked his vision which he did good on, he did miss a couple though so just to be safe I'm having him checked by an eye dr.  They still put him at 20/20 though.  He passed his hearing screen.  All in all he checked out perfectly, yay!!  At least one kid does lol.  She did comment on how skinny he was, just making sure he eats well (which he does) and said he's probably just going to be skinny his entire life.  He's a little under the 25th%...which Casen is too but Landon actually LOOKS super skinny.  

Casen is now 46 3/4in tall and 44lbs.  He actually passed his hearing exam there but they only checked 4 sounds in each ear and he has failed at school 2 different times (the first day she double checked, so really 3 hearing tests) so she is sending him to an audiologist to get a more thorough test done.  His vision was about 20/30 so she wants his eyes checked too.  Then she looked at his skin and referred him to a dermatologist.  She told us to buy T Gel shampoo and use it daily for 2wks, if there is no improvement on his head to bring him back because it might be fungal so she'll give him meds for it then but she thinks it's probably part of all of his skin problems.  She prescribed something stronger for the huge spot on his back and all in his ears, so hopefully that helps him.  Other than that though he's doing really well.  

Really racking up a long list of specialists here lately...

pediatric urologist (preston)

pulmonologist (preston)

optometrist (Landon and Casen)

orthodontist (Landon and Casen)

speech therapist (Hayden)

dermatologist (Casen)

developmental pediatrician (Preston

audiologist (Casen and Preston)

Jeez.  My kids are falling apart lol.  At least nothing is life threatening for any of them...could be worse.  Thankful that they are generally healthy and definitely happy little boys <3

Ready for 2011 to just be over

We just can't catch a break, it has been one thing after another since the end of my pregnancy with Preston.  I'm so ready for this year to be over and hopefully next will be MUCH better!  Between my rough pregnancy, induction, LONG labor, Preston being very sick after birth, still dealing with health issues with him, Casen's hearing issues, us getting nails in our tires THREE times, replacing my brakes, my transmission going out, Mark's car having a lot of problems, him wrecking his car, issues with certain family members, the boys getting bad coaches for baseball therefore not wanting to play, dryer broke, washing machine broke and is STILL broken.... the list goes on and ON.  

Today I got in my car to take Hayden to school and 4 warning lights come on!  The Failure of anti-lock braking system light, electronic stability program/brake assist light, brake system warning light and traction control light.  I went over to Heather's work and they scanned and it came back saying it has an "internal anti lock braking system failure".  He was able to reset the codes so we hoped that they would stay off and it was just a glitch.  Nope, as soon as I started driving they came back on.  FANTASTIC!!!!!  Luckily Heather is awesome and is able to get a great price on it to get fixed but it's still more than I can afford right now because of everything else that keeps happening.  So ready for this bad crap to stop happening to us and things to get better.  I keep trying to tell myself it can only get better from here...I keep getting proven wrong.  We need a break.  

$75 Zutano Gift Card Giveaway!!!

Awesome, awesome giveaway going on over at Mom Spotted!!!!

Zutano is offering one of her readers a $75 gift card to spend at their store!  Zutano has awesome clothing for babies and toddlers.  Great quality and very cute!  Head over to Mom Spotted to enter!  

Developmental Pediatrician Appt

Today was Preston's developmental pediatrician appt.  This is the appt the NICU had us set up to have him checked at 4mo to see how he is doing.  

They said he's doing really well.  We knew he'd be delayed, he was 3wks early and really sick.  So while he was technically full term he's considered a premature baby because of how sick he was, he was underdeveloped.  So she said after reading his history before seeing him she knew he'd be delayed but he's doing really well.  Like he's where he should be in the delayed range...he's not even further behind what they'd expect after his birth.  He's 4mo 1.5wks right now and she put him at 3mo developmentally...which is right where I thought, I'd been saying he seems about 6wks behind to me.  He is smiling and cooing and laughing some.  He's a very content and quiet baby so he isn't very social, he's pretty serious most of the time.  You have to work pretty hard for those smiles and laughs but if he's in a really good mood he'll be really social for a little bit.  He's following with his eyes and responding to sound which is good.  He still isn't reaching out to grab things or bat at them...though he has started to the past few days some.  The only things he'll hold are his paci cloth and obv lovey sized blanket, nothing with much weight to it.  He's got good head control, is rolling from tummy to back and lifting his head when on his tummy.  She said he's actually about where he should be as far as how he acts on his belly and then asked if he sleeps on his tummy and I said yes and she said that's probably why, because he spends a lot of time on his belly because he also puts himself to sleep.  

She said that the nitric oxide and cause delays with how their muscles develop so he's doing really good seeing he was on it for quite awhile.  Also with the nitric and how he had pulmonary hypertension, that can cause hearing loss so even though he passed his newborn screening it is still a concern for awhile.  So they have referred us to an audiologist to have his hearing checked sometime before a year old and then depending on how that goes he'll either be giving the all clear or need further follow ups with them. He will go back to the developmental pediatricians in Feb and she said if he isn't sitting confidently, no support at all and trying to get from sitting to the crawling position then we will probably put him into physical therapy but for now his delays can be managed at home with some exercises she showed me.  He isn't sitting at all, he needs to be fully supported so we will be working on that with him so he can get to sitting with little support and then on his own.  But she thinks he'll do really well, he'll just be behind for awhile but should catch up.  

They weighed him and got exactly 15lbs but that was in a big long sleeve/pants outfit, socks and a wet diaper....I weighed him last night and got 14.5lbs still lol

They measured him and got 25.5in, they got 25.25 at the dr so he's somewhere around there (50th%) and his head is 41cm (25th%)

So for now we will do all the exercises she showed me, follow up with the audiologist and then with them again in Feb.  

Preston's 4mo and Hayden's 4yr checkup

Today we had Hayden and Preston's checkups!  

First, Hayden is now 33lbs (fully dressed) which is 22% and 39in which is almost 20th%.  He passed a hearing and vision screening and is doing really well overall.  I did request a speech therapy referral because he can't say words that start with an "s" sound and he's started stuttering the past couple weeks.  But other than that he checked out completely healthy :D  

Preston is now 14lbs 11oz about 35th% though the poor kid hadn't pooped in 8days (until tonight yay!) So I bet he lost a few ounces haha.  And he's 25 1/4in which is about the 55th%.  They suggested I start him on cereal which I told them we wouldn't be doing until he showed signs of being ready, which is isn't and we wouldn't be starting with cereal.  I told her again about him turning purple and this time she took it serious and is sending him for a chest xray and a referral for a pulmonologist.  She said they can run tests and check his lungs again to be sure everything is healing properly and that there isn't something going on that is making it where he isn't getting enough oxygen at times.  

Tonight the big boys are staying with Grandma so we went to dinner just Mark and I and Preston.  He was so good!  He was in a really good mood just giggling away.  Then he started getting sleepy so I laid him next to me on the bench and he went right to sleep so we just sat and talked for awhile.  

On Monday he has his developmental pediatrician appt and then Thurs we have checkups for Landon and Casen (I will be asking for an ENT referral and dermatologist referral) so we will have tons of dr appts coming up.  So all of those plus the chest xray, pulmonologist and speech therapy...going to be busy!  

Genius Baby? I think so.

Today has been a pretty big day for Preston, a few firsts.  

First, last night he slept 9hrs!!!!  Which isn't a first but he's only done it once or twice before!  But then this afternoon he went 6.5hrs between feeds, NEVER has happened during the day!!!  Especially after such a long stretch last night, I couldn't believe it!  He napped 3.5hrs of that time and when he got up I weighed him then fed him and weighed him again...he takes about 4oz :D  He was in such a good mood after that too.  He was sitting in my lap supporting himself really well!  Which was huge, I was just saying yesterday how he is no where close to that and today he surprised me big time!  Then he was laying on the floor and Landon came up to talk to him and said "hi preston!" and he said "hi" right back haha.  I'm sure it was just coincidence but it was great...Landon freaked out about it.  

He's now back asleep, 7pm bedtime tonight apparently.  It's 8:45pm now and it's already been 3hrs 45min since his last feed, I'm interested to see how long he goes.  He's only eaten 5x total since midnight.  

Here are 2 videos from Friday night, he has never laughed that hard before

And 4 mo pics from Friday