Thursday, March 25, 2010

A Night (and Morning) in the Life...

Last night, around 2:00 am, Little Man was crying in his sleep because he couldn't find his pacifier (we call it a noonie because that's what Dude called his as a baby). He generally feels around in his crib and then pops it in his mouth and falls back into a deep sleep.  I often hear him whimpering and watch this on the video monitor.

But last night he couldn't find it and so I went into his room and moved him (he'd rolled on top of it) to put it in his mouth. But when I moved him, I felt that he was sopping wet. He'd peed through his diaper, pajamas and sleep sack.

The dilemma!

He was ASLEEP. But I couldn't let him sleep in soaking wet clothes (sheets were dry, peed up front). So I tried to change Little Man in his sleep without waking him.

No go! He woke up SCREAMING!

He wailed throughout the diaper change as I fumbled in the dark, only lit by a night light. Then he sniffled and snuffled for about 15 minutes as I rocked him back to sleep in the glider.

I went back into my bedroom and Dude was like "what was that all about?" When I told him he'd peed through he was like well you had to change him and we both went back to sleep.

Little Man kvetched again at 5:45 am, but I easily popped in his pacifier and then he slept until nearly 7.  I changed him, gave him his bottle and he was rubbing his eyes. He was still tired. So I put him back in his crib but he was having none of that this morning! He just wanted to be HELD! So I rocked with him in the glider for about a half hour. I thought, how often in life will he want me like this? So I held him and he's sleeping again and now I'll get my day started.

And he's teething, no less.  Top right center tooth and two more bottom teeth (that I can see). Haven't poked out of the gums yet... but soon!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Having a baby is fun, too!

I seem to have blogged primarily about Little Man's problems. The torticollis. The brachycephaly. But for the most part, having a baby is pretty darn fun.  You get to watch your little one make discoveries, like when Little Man found his feet.  And he smiles when he's happy and is beginning to say dada and mama—and perhaps he'll know what those words mean someday soon.

There is a look of pure joy on Little Man's face when he's in his exersaucer.  He jumps up and down and almost cackles in enjoyment. I so wish I could get him a jumperoo... but, alas, the torticollis prohibits that (per his physical therapists). But he sure does love to jump. I'm sure he'll be jumping all over the place when he's older.

It's so hard to believe at times that seven months have gone by.  My baby boy doesn't really look so little, since he's a big fellow at 22 odd pounds. He's wearing 12 month clothing, too.  He WANTS to crawl. He creeps backwards as he tries to get to toys or other objects he wants (our TV remote) that's in front of him. And he's clever, too, as he rolls around the crib to get to a toy. He's figured out how to get what he wants.

I know one cannot spoil a baby, but it's become apparent he's playing me now.  He knows too much... he knows he can get mommy to do pretty much whatever he wants.  But I want to foster independence and I'll let him play by himself in the pack-n-play in my office while I attempt to get some work done.

His smile cheers up everyone who meets him.  I think Little Man inherited that from my grandfather, who he is named for. Grandpa always smiled—and so does my son.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Saga of DOC Band #2

When we had the DSi for Little Man's second helmet, it was 7 weeks into his first one.  I was told he had two weeks remaining and, thus, thought there would be no lapse. However, when he went for his weekly adjustment at Cranial Technologies on February 18th, his clinician shaved the foam inside the helmet down to the plastic and told me if I see redness on his forehead or anywhere else that doesn't fade after an hour to just discontinue use.

Of course that happened that very night.

So Little Man was  going to be sans helmet for a week.  As he now sleeps on both sides, rolling all over the crib, I wasn't too worried about regression. But I was a bit upset that if he had a growth spurt, he'd miss the opportunity to redirect the growth to the back of his head.  We were scheduled to pick up DOC Band #2 on Thursday, February 25th.

Then it snowed.  And Little Man got a cold.  So we rescheduled for Monday, March 1st.  Little Man didn't wear a helmet for 11 days and when he got the new one, I was all pumped. I'm thinking, he's only 6.5 months old and has lots of growth ahead of him. I thought some babies don't even get helmets this young and they see great improvement and this is my son's SECOND one.  Well, the posterior (some call it "brachy") band he wears has stronger pressure than most of Cranial Technologies' designs. And I took him back the next day for a check.  We were on a modified schedule at first but he slept in it by Wednesday night and wore it all day on Thursday (3/4).  I took it off for his torticollis stretches and all looked OK. But during his hour off on Thursday night, the red marks didn't fade.  So he slept without it.

Friday, March 5th, I called Cranial Technologies in the morning and told them what had happened.  They had me put the band back on for a few hours and come by. I'm lucky that the one I go to—in Paramus, NJ—is only 30 miles from my office (a bit further from my home) so it wasn't too bad of a trip.  The tech who saw me (not my usual one, though she stopped in) made some adjustments to the holding points and told me to let the redness completely fade before putting it back on.  And after that, to be on a 3 hours on/1 hour off schedule through the weekend and to call on Monday.  He tolerated it well during the weekend but did not sleep in it.

Monday, I called and we were on a 6 hours on/1 hour off schedule.  Tuesday morning (3/9) was his first day wearing it 23/7.  He did OK and when I took off the helmet on Wednesday morning to check him, there were red marks again. They faded, but it took around 2 hours.  We saw our usual clinician on Wed. and she made another relief on the holding point and an adjustment to the back of the band (to allow for growth).  He seemed fine last night.  But, again, this morning, he had redness.

I spoke to our clinician and she feels for the next several days, to just give him more off time. If he doesn't adjust to the pressure of this helmet, Cranial Technologies will make a new band. But they're not sure if it's a fit issue or because of something else. Honestly, it is fitting OK but after he sleeps in it and rolls around, it shifts too much.  I don't think I'm doing the wrong thing by not insisting they remake it immediately. This could happen again. So he'll have two hour breaks (in the AM and in the PM) instead of one. I don't think that 22/7 should hinder his progress.

So that's the saga. I hope we're on track now. I'll update next week after his appointment.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Another Fly By Blog Post

For now I've settled on a blog design.  I liked the mommy giraffe and baby and the soothing green colors. Of course I may change my mind—change is good. And I think I've wasted too much time today on this when I should have been doing work.

So here's the most recent updates about me and Little Man.

Torticollis regression: This began after he outgrew DOC Band #1 on February 18th.  I'm not sure if he was too used to the helmet on his head or if it was another reason, but Little Man's tilt came back.  I don't have percentages and he hasn't seen a specialist. My pediatrician sent him to physical therapy when he was 2 months old and he's been going for 4.5 months now. I'm really frustrated and worried. More so about his neck muscle than his head shape.

He Got DOC Band #2: Finally! After delays due to snow and a slight cold, Little Man got his new helmet on Monday, March 1st. Because of the style of band (specialized for brachycephaly) it tends to tip forward. And the helmet was seriously rubbing on a spot on the bridge of Little Man's nose.  I think it's fixed now, but I'm keeping an eagle eye on it.

Of course he's more "aware" of this helmet because he's older now (6.5 months) and he's often tugging at the band and the velcro.  So I'm not sure how much that affects the redness. And I think it bothered him last night as he slept, since he was extremely restless.

Got his "Big Boy" Carseat: Since Little Man is a big baby, we moved him to a convertible car seat about two weeks ago. He seems to like it. We got a Britax Marathon CS in the Matrix pattern.

Not much else to report except that our dog, Casey, got his teeth cleaned.  Another expense we just put on the credit card. Debt is SO not fun. But Casey's breath smells much better and as soon as his hot spot clears up (he was licking the shaved spot where his IV was) we'll be good.

Ciao for now!