Anything to Keep them Entertained...

What a yummy lemon...

... Good thing Dad cleaned this for me to chew on...
...Uh Oh! I dropped my lemon!

He's Finally Tube Free!

Yesterday’s doctor visit was a good one. The tube got taken out…by me! Allan is now tube free and he loves it! As long as his weight stays increasing we won’t have to do the whole tube thing again. Good thing we have a baby scale at home now so that we can make sure he doesn’t loose an ounce. So far he’s doing well. Yesterday he weighed in at the doctor at 12 pounds 10 ounces. This morning on our scale, before he ate he weighed in at 12 pounds 13 ounces! He’s looking better and better every day! Kirk and I could not be any happier. Allan’s still trying to sleep through the night, but last night I set the alarm to wake him up every 3 hours to feed him since he’s not getting those nightly feedings. The first couple feedings he didn’t want anything to do with eating. He just wanted to sleep. But I made him eat anyways.

Promised Pictures...

...and a video.

Dr. Visit

We leave in about an hour for our follow up with the specialist. Keep your fingers crossed that we get the OK to take out the tube. But if not, that's fine too. We'll do whatever needs to be done.

Allan has been doing really well this past week. He's growing a lot and trying his hardest to sit up on his own. Gravity still gets the better of him, but he's trying. I'll let you all know how the doctor visit goes and of course with new pictures!

Growin Up Fast

Allan is just ounces away from weighing 13 pounds. He was almost there this morning after a belly full of formula and breast milk. He’ll definitely be reaching the 13 pounder mark by this week! Another huge step for Allan this weekend? He’s got a bottom tooth coming through!! I’ve tried to get a picture of the little white nub, but the timing isn’t working. Now it looks like Allan is trying his hardest to sit up on his own. He has it for a second and then tumbles over. Hopefully soon he’ll be able to sit up on is own and then be able to play with all his toys!

12 Pounds!!!

He’s such a big boy! Now, granted, when I weigh Allan in the mornings right after I feed him and turn off the formula he weighs a few ounces more than he does the rest of the day, but this is still a big step. I got so excited to see 12 pounds on the scale!! It won’t be long now before he’s caught up to all the other 5 month old babies!!

Pictures

The Love of My Life!

So sweet.

Look at that BIG belly!
Eating carrots...
...and loving them!

Back in With the Tube!

So last Wednesday Allan pulled his tube out. I didn’t want to have to put the new one back in, so I called the doctor’s office to see if I could just try supplementing formula with breast milk in a bottle. 2 days of that and Allan lost a few ounces so Friday I sucked it up and put his NG tube back in myself. I do have to toot my own horn because I was not nervous or anything. I put that sucker in with no problems and Allan didn’t even cry. He just coughed a lot, but that’s expected when something is going down your throat. So since back on the feeding tube he’s gaining a ton of weight again. I asked the specialist Monday if that was going to be a problem we’ll face when we finally do decide it’s the right time to take the tube out. He said no and that he’s not worried. It just wasn’t the right time to take it out. The doctor wants the tube in for at least 2 more weeks. He wants Allan to be at his ideal weight before we take it out. Ideal weight is about 14 pounds or more. I bet he hits 12 pounds before the week is over. This morning he weighed in at 11 pounds 14 ounces!! We now have a baby scale at home to weigh him. I weigh him at all hours of the day now! Allan is also allowed to eat whatever I want to feed him, the specialist told me. The weekend he’ll get to try bananas. Last week was carrots and he loved those. Then, we move on to meats! Whatever helps to add some calories and weight on him.
(I need to upload some more pictures, so there are more to come soon…)

He's Free...

…From his tube!!!

Allan woke me up this morning coughing like mad. I knew before I picked him up that the tube was out. Sure enough, it was half way out. I had to pull the rest of it out. It sure was nice to be able to clean his nose up from all the boogies around the tube. After I talked to the doctor’s office about not wanting to put it back in and then talking to the nutritionist we figured out how to get him the formula with my breast milk in a bottle. So that means no more tube as long and Mr. Allan keeps gaining his weight!! Hooray for him! With that being said, we went to the specialist yesterday for a check up. My butterball is now up to 11 pounds and 5 ounces!! That’s almost exactly 2 whole pounds from when we were checked into the hospital! Allan is doing great!!! Thank you again to everyone that prayed for my little man. It worked!
Allan can hold his own bottle!

He Eats Everything!

Allan loves new foods. Right now his favorite is chewing/sucking on an orange. At first he didn’t like avocados, but now he’ll eat them and love them.

Tube Feediings

So far Allan’s nightly feedings are going well. He gets a little irritated with me at first when I try and attach the tube to the one on his face, but he’s a good boy and forgets all about it quickly. We go back to the doctor Tuesday for a follow up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll want to take out the tube, but I think he’ll tell me not for a couple more weeks. That’s OK too…whatever my baby needs!

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a little problem with Allan’s tube feeding, so we weren’t able to make it to church. But Kirk’s parents came over and brought lunch! It was yummy and Allan had a great time. He’s doing really well with his feedings and showing a huge change in his appearance. Kirk and I couldn’t be happier! (Aunt Aimee made Allan’s Easter basket. He was very interested in the candy. Must have a sweet tooth like his mommy.)

The Hospital + An Infant - Your Home = No Fun

So when we went Tuesday to see the specialist, he said that Allan was “severely malnourished.” That’s definitely not something a mother wants to hear. There was no question about it…we were admitted into the hospital that afternoon. Allan had a feeding tube put in his nose for nighttime feedings (when he sleeps). Originally, we were told that we were going to be staying until Monday, but the wonderful doctors knew how badly we wanted to go home, so Friday evening they let us! Allan still has the tube in his nose and probably will until at least two more weeks. They doctors want to see him hold onto a good amount of weight.

So here’s what all happened…
When we were admitted Allan weighed in at 9 pounds 7 ounces. A baby his age should be weighing somewhere around 16 pounds. They drew blood, took chest X-Rays and did a sweat test to rule out the most obvious problems. Allan passed all those tests with flying colors. What we think happened is that his old (we’re going to find a one) pediatrician told me to take him off the breasts too soon which ended up putting him on a diet and making me make less milk, causing him to loose so much weight. The doctors weighed him before and after each of his feedings and first thing in the morning. They gave me a prescription to help increase my milk production. Things seem to be slowing getting back to where they should be. We left today and Allan was weighing in at 10 pounds 5 ounces!!! That’s almost a whole pound! We go back to the specialist Tuesday to see his progress since he’s been home. Things are looking a lot better for our little man. He’s definitely on his way to being our little butter ball!
Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. It really means the world to our family. I’ll keep you posted on his progress and all the soon to come chubby pictures!

Dr. Visit

Friday I took Allan to the doctor to get weighed. He lost a couple more ounces. So the pediatrician called the specialist and got our appointment moved up to this morning. We're about to leave here soon and head downtown. Please keep your fingers crossed for Allan that we don't get very bad news. Pray that this is something easily fixed. I'll update soon with what the specialist tells us.

Eatin'

My son's a piglet...

Fatten Him Up!

I gave Allan his first try at some rice cereal…and he seemed to love it! I decided not to put it in a bottle, but rather a bowl and a spoon. At first I wasn’t sure if he was more interested in the spoon, but he ate it all like a champ. He didn’t even throw any up after he was finished. Now his tummy is good and full. It won’t be long before he is packing on those LBs. My little man is going to be a chunk before long!!