The Terrific Two-Year Old!!

Well, we made it to two years old!  Still hard to believe time has flown by and our boy is two!

We celebrated with a dinosaur party!  This wild, outgoing boy was suddenly Mr. Shy when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him!  He had a blast with friends and family, and got more presents than any kid deserves!!

A few pictures:

The hit of the party was the "Dino Dig" where the kids dug for dinosaur bones!  Everyone had a "Dinosaur Nest" cupcake and Carter got his own dinosaur cake. 

So thankful for this little guy!  Hard to believe this sweet busy boy is the same 3-pounder that had tubes going everywhere when he was born!!

Nearly Two Years Old!

Carter is fast-approaching the two-year mark!  So hard to believe!
Over the last few months, he has learned and progressed at an amazing rate!  He now has many words in his vocabulary, and even know some sign language as well.  And though he doesn't always "say" what he wants, he knows exactly how to make it known to you.  He no longer uses a bottle.  He is at the beginning of potty-training.  (We are hoping eventually it will bother him to have poop in his pants!)
He loves anything water-related, and is an examiner of all bugs and animals.  He much prefers outdoors to indoors, and is always unhappy when it's time to go in.
We are working on using our "whisper" voice for church, although he hasn't quite mastered that yet.  And he is totally interested in the workings of everything.  Think you have "baby-proofed" something?  Just let him see you open it one time and he remembers how to get things open. 
He recently welcomed a new cousin, and he loves to give her hugs, but has a little trouble differentiating between "big" hugs and "gentle" hugs, so we have to keep a sharp eye out when the baby is around. 
His favorite thing is dinosaurs.  We are gearing up for a dinosaur birthday party, which should be a real hoot!
He is a connoisseur of corn on the cob!  He enjoyed the first Fourth of July he was able to participate in at the lake with our family.  Great Grandpa even let him drive the boat!
And he loves to do everything "just like daddy"!  He's got some big shoes to fill, because we think his daddy is pretty special!
Here are a few pictures!!!

Carter Welcomes Spring!

Carter is growing sooooo fast!  It seems like he learns something new every day! And he is actually starting to have hair!  Really blonde but it's there!  He is now the master of bubbles!  And who doesn't love bubbles? Easter was a big hit - new toys and lots of bubbles! 

He helped color easter eggs - sort of.  We handed him an egg and he hurled it into a cup of color with a huge splash!  There was color on us, the table, the floor, everywhere!  When it was all over even his tongue was blue! He has also figured out what a squirt gun does - a great discovery!  He and Great Grandpa enjoyed an I Spy book during church, and Grandpa Shane took him for a "big boy" ride on the Commander! Every time the took off, Carter just laughed and laughed - while his mom shouted things like "Slow down!"
He loves being outside, doesn't matter what he's doing, just so he's outside.  He is busy all the time.  Oh, if I had his energy!  We just love him to pieces!

Growing Like a Weed!

Well, Carter is now 17 months old! He is growing so fast, and learning new things every day, it seems.  He has a mouth full of teeth (and yes, he knows how to use them when he's mad) and eats whatever we all eat.  His favorite at the moment is popcorn!  Of course, we have to be the portion control or he'll have a mouthful before you know it!  And goldfish crackers.  He still takes a bottle a couple of times a day, which is the next hurdle.  I don't know why, maybe because he was a preemie, but he never wanted a pacifier, and never really had a "lovey" or anything.  But the bottle, well, that's it.  He really doesn't care if he runs out of milk, still wants that bottle in his mouth!  So that will be an ordeal when it's finally taken away.
He is the king of pointing and grunting.  I have told him eventually, he will actually have to say words and he just looks at me like I have worms growing out of my head. He knows exactly what is off-limits in my house, and guess what he wants to do? The most fun is turning the TV off and on, done with a big smile,of course! And most of my cabinets are harmless, except for under the sink where the cleaning stuff is kept.  He has no interest in all the other cabinet doors, only those.  So, still never a minute without having him in eyesight.
He is finally starting to have an interest in books.  Not to read, only to point out objects on the page and talk about them.  Reading will come, in time.  Right now, it's too slow-paced for him. 
My husband has a hunting show on TV, and the other night, we were watching it.  I said, "Look, there's Grandpa on TV.  And look, there's Grandpa on the couch."  He had the most confused expression as he looked at the TV, then to the couch, trying to figure out how Grandpa could be 2 places!  He makes us laugh every time we see him.  And there is such excitement, as everything is something new to be explored.  We worried when he came so early that he would be delayed in his development, but we really see no evidence of that. We thank God for this little blessing!!
A few every-day pictures!!

ONE YEAR OLD!!!!!

Well, we have been sooooo busy with Carter, I haven't posted in a LONG time to this blog.  Felt it was time, now that he is ONE YEAR OLD!  September 3, was the actual day, but we celebrated his birthday on the 6th, so friends & family could come.  We are all amazed at how far he has come in one short year, and marvel daily at all the new things he is learning.  He has 6 teeth, and eats "Big People" food now.  He is about to turn loose and walk, and often stands alone until it occurs to him that he is standing alone.  He gets around so fast with this weird crab-crawl thing and it's hard to catch him when he has his mind set on going somewhere.
We celebrated his birthday with a "monster" theme.  The cake & cupcakes were made by local baker, Mindi Jennings, who did a marvelous job! Attaching some pictures below.

Five Months and Trucking Right Along!

Wow!  Didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted!  Time flies when you're having fun - or having babies! 
Carter was 5 months old on Feb. 3.  He is nearly 14 pounds now. The doctors said to judge his development by his "adjusted' age, not his real age, which as of Feb. 3 would only be 3 months old.  I think in some areas, he is equal to 5 months, others still 3 months.  He is just now starting to grasp things on purpose and look at what he wants and reach for it.  He has been sleeping through the night for some time now.  I told his mother, she was very lucky - a good night's sleep is worth a lot!
He is just so cute!  He smiles and laughs at everything.  He is already a TV junkie - seems to be mezmerized by it!  He has rolled over a few times, but we're not sure if it was on purpose or an accident.  He wants to sit up, but can't totally do it yet, so he gets frustrated with that.  And he is already becoming a little bit "bossy"!  When he is mad, everyone knows it!
We have decided that from the nose down, he looks like Courtney, but from the eyes up, it's Cole.  I think his eyes are going to be blue.  But the little expressions he has on his face are totally Courtney!  And we all know, when that bottom lip begins to curl out, you'd better be scrambling for something, because the mad wail is coming!  He loves to read books and now wants to feel of everything. 
The doctor upped his medicine he takes for the hemangioma and he is tolerating it well, so he no longer has to go every week for a blood pressure check.  His next appointment will be his six month well baby check.  He has to go to a follow-up NICU appointment in a couple of weeks, and will see the speech therapist and occupational therapist that visited him in the NICU and they will see how he is progressing.  I am excited for them to see what a big boy he is now!
More to come...

4 Months Old!!

Well, Carter has survived his first Christmas, and attended his first New Year's Eve party!  He is now 23" long, and up to 12 lbs.  His coo's are becoming much more often, and sometimes really loud!  We did a lot of reading about preemies, and most things say that for their development, you need to judge them according to their age if they would have gone to term.  In other words, even though he is 4 months old, he should be behaving like a 2 month old.  This is kind of weird, because some things he does are that of a 2 month old, and others a 4 month old.  So it's really hard to determine if he is even, ahead or behind!  He is real champ at holding his head without bobbling now.  He looks and really studies everything around him.  He has some weird fascination with ceiling fans - it there's one in the room you're in, he cranes his head to watch it.  His reflux has improved vastly, as has his choking episodes.  For a while, he would choke nearly every time he was fed, and now it's only every few days or so.  The reflux seems to be better, with him only having a few episodes a week.  And it seems to be worse if he is jostled around after eating.  The doctor says he can begin to explore some cereal, so we will start that soon. And we no longer have to use distilled water to mix his formula.  His last visit, he got 3 shots and made it known that he did NOT like it! 
They make you fill out a "4-month questionnaire", which asks the most ridiculous questions - do you do drugs in the presence of your baby? Do you drink hot liquids while holding your baby?  Do you ever shake your baby?  Really?  Are there people who answer yes?
His blood pressure remains good with the beta blockers he is taking.  The hemangioma has shrank, both in diameter and depth.  The doctor is really impressed with how well it is doing.  We still ask a thousand questions at each visit and get in the car to leave and remember at least one thing we forgot to ask!  The nurse said they are finally getting their own blood pressure machine, so we don't have to walk to the icu to borrow theirs. 
For Christmas, I got him a huge plastic bucket with the rope handles, and Courtney asked why.  After Christmas, she knows. We all went crazy with toys and such, so now he has a place to keep them! 
He joined us for our annual New Year's Eve Party, and had a major reflux while I was holding him - went on my shirt, my pants, the floor, everywhere.  So I smelled like baby spit up from head to toe!  Oh, well, such are the woes of babies! 
All in all, we are amazed at how well he is doing. 

Beta Blockers Working!!

So Carter has begun taking the beta blocker medication for the hemangioma on his forehead.  We met with his pediatrician and asked a thousand questions about this medication in babies.  He said he had personally used it on two other babies who had them in locations that would have been inoperable and said it worked very well.  But it is basically kind of uncharted territory.  He didn't have a lot of answers to our questions, and of course we had googled everything we could find on it.  Carter had to go in for a base blood pressure reading, and the doctor felt of the hemangioma and measured it.  He goes once a week for a blood pressure check and the doctor takes measurements and feels of it each time.  Courtney is taking pictures to chart the progress.  He has been taking the medication for a week and a half and already it has greatly reduced in size and appearance.  When he started, the skin was very red and tight-looking where it was bulging out.  Now, it is much softer, smaller in diameter and has a different appearance.  The only side effects noticeable are that Carter is really tired for a short time after he takes the medication (he takes 3 doses a day).  So we are very hopeful that this will speed the reduction of this. 
His last weight check was 10 lbs. 2 oz.  He has like 2 or 3 chins now!  He is fascinated with ceiling fans!  If there is one in a room, he cranes his neck to stare at it no matter which way you turn him.  And he is starting to make little cooing noises, but usually acts surprised when it happens.  I told Courtney, in a short time, he will be doing that non-stop and probably at inopportune times!  He now holds his head steady for long periods of time and is getting stronger by the day.  And he wiggles and riggles all over.  Still hoping he can sit in a bumbo seat by Christmas - will make for really cute pictures!
More later...

Carter's First Thanksgiving

Well, Carter survived his first Thanksgiving!  He visited with the Gann family early in the day, and then came to see the Myers/Alexander's for the afternoon.  His last weight check was 9 lbs, 4 oz!!  He is just growing like a weed!  He has begun to smile on purpose, and is starting to coo some.  He is becoming more vocal when things aren't like he wants them - I wouldn't call it a cry - more of a yell!  He lets you know when he's mad!  He has had several nights that he has slept for 6 hours or more.  All good signs of growing and maturing.  He is quickly outgrowing his clothes.  He wore newborn for a good while, and the 0-3 months size are now starting to be too short!  He is holding his head up for longer periods.  Maybe by Christmas he will be able to sit in a bumbo seat.  We are all so excited for him to experience his first Christmas.  I said I wasn't even going to buy a bunch of toys because he doesn't know it's Christmas, but you know how that goes.  One trip down the baby toy aisle and I had several things tossed into my cart!  His daddy says he is already spoiled, but isn't that what we are supposed to do?!  He is not a big fan of the bounce seat or anything really, that involves not being held!  The doctor says by the time he is around 6 months, it will be OK to let him fuss a little and try to soothe himself, but for now, the spoiling continues!

Carter's Visit with the ENT specialist

Carter saw the Ear, Nose & Throat doctor yesterday.  This appointment was scheduled for him while he was still in the nicu.  And it is always tough trying to time feedings with an hour drive to Springfield.  So we get there and go to check in, only to be told that this is the day the doctor is in Lebanon seeing patients.  And we were the second people to arrive at the Springfield office instead of Lebanon.  Thank you "Beth", whoever you are for making us drive 100 miles with a crying baby when we didn't need to.  So after all that, we came back to Lebanon and saw him here.  He had some concerns because of the hemangioma on his head.  He said sometimes if they are prone to have those, they can get them in their throat and it will constrict their airway.  So he ran a scope down Carter's throat to have a look (this was less fun than driving with a crying baby).  He has what he calls a floppy airway.  This causes him to have a stridor, or make funny squeaking sounds when he eats, essentially trying to get all the muscles working correctly between his windpipe and throat.  It is expected he will outgrow this by about 7 months.  There were no signs of a hemangioma in the throat, which is great news.  He suggested prescribing beta blockers, given orally, to begin to reduce the hemangioma on his head.  He said earlier treatments involved steroids, but they had greater side effects.  I guess beta blockers are the newest treatment for this.  The down side - they slow the heart rate somewhat. We are going to discuss this with Carter's pediatrician and get his opinion.  I have also read they can lower blood sugar levels, so I feel like if we do this, he should be frequently checked for both blood pressure and glucose levels.  Hard decision to make.  The studies say the sooner you begin treatment for hemangiomas, the more successful their reduction is.  But he just got off his apnea monitor and not sure we want to do anything that might affect his health.  Praying God will show us what decision to make.

A Clean Bill of Health!!

Carter saw his pulmonologist today and they said he no longer needed his apnea monitor!!! Yay!  No more loud alarms in the night!  He had several alarms this past 2 weeks, but they were all false.  And they said he should be growing out of his "periodic breathing", which is common in preemies, where they have periodic pauses.  A pause of longer than 20 seconds is considered apnea.  He hasn't had any of those in a while.  His little face looks fatter every day!  He is now up to 8 lbs, 5 oz.  Growing like a weed.  At his last pediatrician check-up, he was in the 25th percentile for his weight.  He is now in the 50th percentile!  We are so thankful for his progress. 
When he was still in the NICU, he developed a small pink spot on his forehead. The nurses called it a "storkbite", or birthmark, and said it would likely go away.  Well, It didn't.  It is now referred to as a hemangioma.  It is a collection of blood vessels close to the skin.  The pediatrician said it was common in preemies, and most of them reduce in size or totally go away by the time the child is 18 mos-2 yrs old.  Carter's is about as big around as a nickel, and raised maybe 1/4".  We asked about just having it removed, but the doctor said if you do that now, he will have a permanent scar.  If we wait and it goes away on its own, there will be no scar.  So we will wait and see.  It doesn't seem to bother him, or hurt or anything. 
So, all in all, a great report today!!

Happy Two Month Birthday!

Carter is two months old today!! He had his two month doctor visit on Friday. He now weighs 7 lbs. 5 oz. And he is 19" long!  He has grown so much. He got his first vaccinations, cried the biggest cry I have ever heard him cry!  Poor guy! We gave him some Tylenol to help with the pain and avoid fever, which he didn't care for, but it seemed to help him sleep. He is really starting to look at you now. At first he didn't really focus on anything, but now he gazes at your face while your talking to him. We read our first real book on Saturday and I thought he would like seeing the bright colors of the book, but he just watched me as I read, which was just fine! In the last week he has had more spitting up than usual,  and the doctor said they usually peak about now and then it will taper off. He suggested giving him a half of a pepcid instead of a fourth and it seems to be helping.
It's still amazing to think that this is who we all wondered about while he was in the womb.
What he would look like, who's eyes he would have, if he would have hair, what would his personality be. Time has nearly stopped - my house is a total disaster, all projects are on hold,laundry piles up, and its all ok, because we have paused to watch this amazing new life unfold before our eyes!  We are truly blessed to have this little guy in our lives!

Carter is up to 6 lbs 10 oz!

Carter is growing, growing, growing!!!  He saw the pulmonologist on Wednesday, and they downloaded the information from his apnea monitor and said that all the breathing alarms were false, and most of the heart rate alarms were false.  There were a few low heart rate alarms that were real. They were when he would reflux.  He did this in the NICU as well.  The dips were only for a short time and he always corrected himself.  Carter now only needs the monitor when both he and mama are sleeping.  So he can be free of that machine when he is awake.  He goes back in 2 weeks to have another check and see if it can be totally removed.  He saw his pediatrician yesterday, who thought he probably didn't need the monitor at all.  His weight curve is excellent and his legs are starting to look a little pudgy!  And I know you can't tell baby's eye color yet, but I am betting on blue - just like his dad! And while we were waiting for the doctor to come into the exam room, he pooped, so we changed his diaper and right when we took the dirty one off, he decided to pee and we looked like a comedy act trying to avoid a total disaster!  Of course, it didn't bother Carter! The pediatrician also said to let him sleep through the night until he wakes up - Courtney has been waking him every 3 hours or so to feed.  So that's good news and maybe worth a few more minutes of that precious sleep!  Next visit to the pediatrician, he will get vaccinations :(.  I am sure he will cry and probably mama will too!

Carter's First Trip to Grandma's House!

Well, Carter came to visit me last night!  And he brought his mom!  It was her first solo drive with her in the front and him in the back, and they survived.  And he lived through the commotion at my house.  Courtney brought her dog, Kyba, who joined our dogs, Weezer and Remmy.  There was lots of barking, and he slept right through it!  Weezer was mad and pouted most of the night.  Remmy was very curious.  He passed by the pack 'n play several times before he realized there was something alive in there.  He stood for the longest time looking through the mesh trying to figure out what that little grunting thing was.  When we sat on the couch with Carter, Remmy got as close as we would let him, trying to sniff where he could.  He really wanted to lick him, but we wouldn't let him get close enough.  Carter was asleep when he got there, but eventually woke up and stayed awake for most of the visit.  There were lots of new things to look at!  He even got an early Christmas present - a noisy, bright colored ball to look at and listen to.  Lucky for us, this Christmas, he won't know he got one less thing when the day arrives!  He goes to his pulmonologist this Wednesday, and we hope he will remove the apnea monitor.  It goes off so often that no one pays any attention to it now.  He will see his pediatrician Thursday for a weight check.  We are anxious to see if he gained.  His belly and legs look a little fatter to us, so we are hopeful he's packing on that weight.

Not much weight gain this week

We took Carter to his pediatrician yesterday.  This past week, he advised to try mostly breastfeeding, hoping it might help with his reflux, as he seems to do it worse with formula.  But he had only gained 1 ounce in a week, which is not enough.  It seems that he is still so small, that the energy used up while breastfeeding is pretty much equal to what he is taking in, and in a sense, being a little counter-productive.  So this week is doing partial breastfeeding, with formula each feeding.  We will take him back in a week and let them weigh him and see what his weight is after that.  He is taking liquid vitamins, which always seem to make the reflux worse and upset his tummy a little, so the doctor told us to pre-mix his day's formula and mix the vitamins with a large amount and then he would only be getting small amounts at one time.  We also asked about trying Zantac, as we had read some babies are on that, but he said Zantac is harder to tolerate than Pepcid, so we will continue with that.
Our dumb question of the day was, what do we do if mama or daddy gets sick?  Our funny doctor replied, "Well, we come and take the baby and give him back after about 10 days or so."  He said if mama gets sick, her body is making antibodies to whatever she has, and while Carter is breastfeeding, he is also receiving those antibodies.  He said Carter may get sick with whatever they have, but he should also be able to fight it fairly well. 
It is still so frustrating not being able to take him out anywhere because of the germs and viruses, and once in a while it is really tempting.But if we can hold out until this winter's "sick" season is over, we will be out and about with him.  I guess it's not worth the chance of having to go back to the nicu!

No Explanation of Delivering Early

Courtney went for her six-week checkup yesterday and everything is fine.  Her incision is healing well.  They did several tests to try and determine the reason for the premature delivery, and there was nothing wrong.  Her doctor said about 10% of women deliver early for no apparent reason.  He also said if she chose to do this again, she would be considered high-risk and would probably need to take progesterone shots to try and ensure that she made it to term.  And said she would probably want to do another C-section. 
Carter slept all the way to Springfield, the whole time we were there and all the way home!  What a trooper!  We figured we would have to stop along the way home to feed him, and he fussed a few times on the ride home, but then went right back to sleep.  Of course, he was really ready to eat when we finally got him out of that seat! 
So glad all is going well at this point.  Carter goes for his 6-week appointment this week, and we will be anxious to see how much weight he has gained.  Next week he sees a pulmonologist  who will download the activity from his apnea monitor and supposedly he can tell if the alarms were real or false. We are hoping he tells us we don't need it any more.  It is such a pain lugging that thing around everywhere!

Sleeping Beauty

It's 10:30 in the morning, and I'm just sitting here watching Carter sleep. I bottle fed him this time around so Courtney could get a little rest. Amazing how peacefully he sleeps during the day and how often he wakes during the night. Yesterday he was awake in the early evening for around 2 hours. I just think he is doing miraculously well, considering he's still not supposed to be here for another two weeks.  Courtney goes for her six-week checkup this coming week and Carter goes for his, as well. I am anxious to see how much weight he has gained. We are not sure how much he can see at this point. Sometimes it seems as though he looks right at you. He does seem to like the bright colors of his toys and books.

Finally, a little sleep

Night before last, Carter didn't do very much sleeping. Last night, however, he slept for almost 3 hours, which allowed Courtney to get a little sleep. Yesterday, I came over on my lunch hour, and laid him on his tummy time mat and turned on the music, and he laid there listening and looking around for probably 20 minutes. He seems to be having more "awake" times and loves to be talked to and entertained.  The nicu nurses told us to swaddle him until he is able to bust out of it, which he has done for a couple of weeks now. And he also rolls from his back to his side on his own. This morning  I laid him against me and he raised his head for what seemed like a long time. We are amazed at how strong he is. Aunt Chelsea came to visit him today and was amazed at how much he had grown! I am babysitting this morning while mama does a few hair cuts. I keep trying to imagine what his personality will be -only time will tell!

Quick trip to the doctor

We took Carter for an unscheduled doctor visit today. He has been getting choked fairly often when he feeds, and last night he actually threw up afterwards. So we were concerned that there might be something wrong, as well as wondering how much he was actually keeping down and wanting to make sure he was retaining enough food too continue gaining weight. Last Thursday he weighed 5 lbs. Today he weighed 5 lbs, 11 oz! So apparently he is gaining. The doctor said he is actually gaining 50% more than he needs to. We discussed the breast feeding vs. Formula with him.  The nicu nurses said to always offer him formula just to be sure he gets enough calories, and we think he is getting enough, so the doctor said to only breast feed for this week and see how his weight is next week.  He seems to be doing fine with it - didn't act hungry for about 3 hours, which is normal. We are excited about the possibility of not having to mess with formula, plus the preemie formula is really expensive. And breast milk is more easily digested, so that may help  with his reflux episodes.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that he has an uneventful night tonight!

Still kicking!

Well, the last couple of days haven't been too bad, except we think Carter has his days and nights mixed up.  He seems to be rather content to snooze the day away, and then fusses and cries all night.  He has to take vitamins with iron, and we have been giving him 1/2 in the morning and 1/2 in the evening, and we are wondering if that might be upsetting his belly.  We will try giving him the second 1/2 in the afternoon and see how that goes.  His bandage from circumcision finally came off, so tonight it's bath time! And maybe we can soak off those darn apnea tabs and put new ones on to ensure the connection is good.  But his reflux doesn't seem to be as bad today.  And he is doing much, much better when he eats, remembering to pause and breathe every few sucks.  He has gotten strangled several times while eating - not sure what that's about, hoping it is something transitional that will pass.  We hope to weigh him tonight. His face has really filled out and his color is very good.  I hate not being able to take him out and show him off!  Can't take the chance of him getting rsv or even a minor cold would be a big deal.