Jack's big news!

Jack used the potty for the first time...all on his own.  He asked to use it earlier this evening.  I took his diaper off and he actually peed on the potty!  He was SO proud of himself!  I told him if he keeps trying, we'll go pick out some new dinosaur underwear (he loves dinos).

Go Jack!

Sick kids

Both of the boys are sick.  Sam has RSV (or something similar) and a double ear infection!  Plus he developed a fungal infection underneath his helmet.  So he's on antibiotics for his ear and an anti-fungal for his head.  He had his monthly scan to determine how the helmet was working and he had a huge improvement!  The lower part of his head improved by over 50% and the upper part was around 25%.  Part of the reason he developed the fungal infection was his helmet was getting too tight because he grew so much that first month.  I didn't realize it was getting that tight.  I feel really, really bad now.

Sam is wheezing a bit and coughing occasionally, otherwise he's doing quite well for how sick he is.

Jack has the same virus Sam has.  He had a 102.5 degree fever this morning.  He kept telling me "Mommy, I don't feel good.  Mommy, I don't feel good."  I felt so bad!  I gave him some ibuprofen and within an hour he was 75% normal Jack.  I am hoping he'll wake up feeling better in the morning.

Jack has some big news...which I will post separately!

I've been slacking...

Quick update!

Sammy is trying SO HARD to crawl.  He gets on his belly and his little legs are flying all around.  Sometimes his legs are pointing straight at the ceilings.  His stomach muscles are just too weak...but he gets stronger every day.  I would think he'll be crawling within 1 to 2 months.

He is tolerating the helmet.  He has this weird bony bump behind one of his ears.  I don't know if it is because his ear is not in the right place (due to the plagio) or if it's from the helmet or what it is.  He has an appointment with his plastic surgeon tomorrow, so I'll ask him what the bump is.  I wasn't very impressed with the plastic surgeon though, but figured all he was really doing was rubber stamping the helmet acquisition so insurance would cover it.

I suspect Sam might have another ear infection.  If he is grumpy again Monday, I will call and get him an appointment to get it checked.

He ate a bit of banana today.  I think he might be ready for solids soon!

I will make an effort to update more.  Things have just been so crazy!

Quick update...

Sam is doing well getting used to his helmet!

In other news, I have spent probably 6 hours of my life talking to Apria about ONE PART that they kept misordering.  Apria is who has been supplying Sammy's oxygen.  We are switching companies...I am SO DONE.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Helmet acquired!

Sam has worn his helmet for about two hours total so far.  He seems to be fine with it.  He can still lift his head up, but for shorter periods of time.  I bet within a few days, it will be like nothing is different.  He always surprises me with how strong and resilient he is!

The picture to the side is when he first starting wearing the helmet.  They adjusted it a bit around his eyes after the first few minutes.  I need to get some stickers.  Any ideas of what to decorate it with?

My mom will be in town for a week starting Tuesday.  She told me I can take as many naps as I want.

Just another weekend...

Sam's helmet is ready!  We will pick it up on Monday.

Aside from that, Sam is doing very well with his oxygen.  I have re-started using the ideas from the No Cry Sleep Solution to try to get Sam to sleep a bit longer at night.  Last night, he went to sleep in his crib without having to be rocked to sleep.  I had to sing and pat his back a bit, but he was still asleep when I left for work around 1030 PM.  The goal is to be able to put him in his crib and have him go to sleep and to also have him sleep as long at night as his body will allow.  I am okay with getting up once or twice a night if he needs it...but I think a lot of his night wakings are just because he doesn't know how to get himself back to sleep.

Jack has a nasty cough.  Hopefully he gets better in the next day or two.  Poor bub!

Not much to update...

Things have been relatively quiet for once the past few days.  I have been working evening shifts, so I haven't seen Matt much.  Sam slept from 1100PM until 300AM and then from 400AM until 730AM.  It was nice to sleep until 730 instead of 500 like usual!  Jack was pretty riled up when we got to his room.  He has plastic dinosaurs that he likes to play with and he had lined them up along the window pane and was playing some type of game with them.  He always amazes me...the things he comes up with at 2 years old!

I had my eyes checked today and I am safely 20/20 still.  I may have small, asthmatic lungs, but I have killer eyes!

Redesign

I tried to redesign my blog a bit.  Let me know if you don't like it.  I know it's a bit busy, but I wanted to add a little above and beyond the basic template.

Helmet in process...

Sam had his "laser fitting" for his helmet earlier this week.  He'll have his helmet either late this next week or the week after.  He is also going to physical therapy every other week now instead of every week.

He is really doing better with his oxygen.  He seems to be okay with the cannula now.  Plus, I figured out how to get everything on him so that he wouldn't get the cannula off through his proven method of rolling on his face and moving his face up and down until it came out.

Once we get over the helmet bump, we should be done with new things for awhile.  Matt and I will be able to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief.  We've had a very difficult two months or so, between Sam rolling over and having to wean the swaddle, then the oxygen, then he gave up his pacifier, and now the helmet.  Jack contributed as well with his jumping out of his crib and attendant toddler bed transition.  I haven't had a weekend off in six weeks.  I have my first one off mid-February then have a stretch of weekends off for 4 or 6 weeks.  Thank goodness.  Matt and I both need time where we aren't the only parent home.

Various updates

Lots of things going on in the Kruse household!

• Sam is adjusting to his cannula well.  Mom and Dad are adjusting to how to put on the tender grips so that he can't get it out of his nose easily.  It's definitely been a huge adjustment for us.  It's hard to look at your little baby covered in wires every night.  
• Sam decided that since he has a cannula in his nose, he wants no part of his pacifier.  This has been probably the hardest part.  
• Sam has his helmet consult on Monday, but he is switching to every other week for physical therapy after next week because he's doing so well!
• Jack had his adenoids removed and a new tube put in one ear Friday.  He did very well with the surgery.  The pain medication made him hyper and he spent the rest of the day running in circles (and stumbling).
• Sam appears to be teething on top of everything.
• Sam is doing so well holding his head up now!  He can hold it up for long periods of time without any help!

Night one of oxygen...

...is going very well!  He's doing so good with it!

I put the cannula on at around 3 PM and he got used to it pretty quickly.  It took maybe five extra minutes to get him to sleep.  

Here's a cute picture of Sam while he was adjusting to wearing the cannula...

Brothers

Jack "reading" one of his all time favorite books to Sammy.  My house looks very messy in this picture, but the playroom gets ridiculous during the day.  Jack loves to spread every single toy around.  The pillow next to Sammy's head is my breastfeeding pillow that Jack likes to wear.  

Update about sleep study results!

After a day of calling various departments at Primary, I finally spoke to the ENT that requested the sleep study.

Sam has complex apnea, meaning it's a mixture of central and obstructive apnea.  Sam mainly has central apnea, at least according to the ENT.  We are switching ENTs to Jack's ENT next week and I'll get his reading of the sleep study as well.

In the meantime, I am going to order the oxygen equipment.  I dread the first few nights.  DREAD.

Sleep Study results are in

And...

Sam has sleep apnea.  Matt talked to the doctor, which is never good because he doesn't know what questions to ask.  Plus Matt is an extreme introvert, so he just tries to get off the phone as soon as possible.  I am going to call over there in the morning to get some more answers.

I need to know...

1. Do they think he has obstructive or central apnea?  Or both?
2. How severe is the apnea?
3. When they told Matt that Sam needs oxygen when he's sleeping, did they mean a CPAP or a canula?  At first I thought it was a CPAP, but the way Matt said oxygen and had no idea what CPAP meant as well as they way they said just oxygen and told us to set up delivery with our pediatrician...makes me think canula.  From what I understand, to get a CPAP, you need to schedule a second sleep study.  
4. Are there other measures we can take to decrease his apnea?  Should we be looking at removing his adenoids and tonsils?

And for fun...here's a video of Sammy with his favorite toy.

Helmet consult

Sam's plagio is not improving even though he sleeps on the side of his head (or tummy) 95% of the time now.  He has a consult with an oral/facial/plastics doctor in two weeks to assess whether he needs a helmet/band.  His torticollis has improved almost completely though!

Look how happy those babies in their helmets look!

Big boy bed!!

Jack is attempting to sleep in his big boy bed tonight!

Here's an adorable picture of when I tucked him in for his nap (failure).

He's a growing boy!

Sam has been gaining weight like crazy to make up for his slow growth between 2 and 4 months.

On December 27th, he weighed 11 lbs 4 ounces.
On January 3rd, he weighed 12 lbs.
On January 12th, he weighed 12 lbs 9 ounces.

Go Sammy Go!

Sleep Study...complete!

This picture is of Sammy getting ready to be wired in.  Isn't he cute?  :)

Sam did so well with his sleep study!  I am so proud of him.  He was smiling the entire time while they wired him up at hours past his bed time.  He did get mad when they put the nose monitor in, but he eventually was persuaded by nursing, singing, and swaying to go to sleep.  He had one period where he was in a weird position and had his "sats" drop pretty low, so they were forced to give him some oxygen.  The tech told me that he fixed it himself, but they still needed to give him the oxygen.

We should have more information in a few weeks.  The good news is that he doesn't stop breathing in his sleep AND he goes through all his sleep cycles like he should.
 

Sleep Study tomorrow night!

Sam's first sleep study is tomorrow (Thursday) night up at Primary.  I have been really dreading sleeping on the little chair bed thing, but hopefully they release us early so I can get some sleep at home.

Sam is up to 13 lbs!  Go Sammy!!

Today I walked into his daycare and they had  him wrapped in blankets and then sort of clipped into this stroller thing they used to move the kids around.  Of course he loves it.

I am going to have to talk to them about not putting him in the stroller.  I gave them a "how to prevent kyphosis (spinal curvature)" brochure last week but apparently the connection was not made.  So I won't be able to be subtle.  I am going to claim I talked to the doctor and he said that Sam can't be in strollers until 12 months.  It makes me feel better to do it that way because I have a hard time being assertive in these situations (yes, I do have some introversion left in me).

Jack was a mess this evening.  Only Mommy could help him do anything.  I don't know what that was about, but I think we are going through another Mommy is the only parent I have phase.

Toddler beds...

I have been trying to get Sam to nap better using the suggestions from the "No Cry Sleep Solution" book.  Yesterday, during Jack's alleged nap, I was rocking Sammy when I heard a door slam.  Since I was the only one home, I was suspicious.  I look in the hallway and there is a nearly naked and very surprised Jack.  He climbed out of his crib.

Matthew and I have dreaded this day.  Jack is one of those kids that needs naps but likes to skip them.  So at least we could put him in his crib and let him relax.  Plus, he has little impulse control at this point.

Reluctantly, we are going to move Sammy's easy to convert to a toddler bed crib into Jack's room this weekend.  Sam will get Jack's crib.  We don't want to switch rooms because that might be a little too much change for Jack.

To try to make this change interesting/exciting for Jack, I bought him his first set of real sheets.

I bought him these: 

He's going to be so excited to sleep with "gis-es (giraffe in Jack speak), lions, and elephants.  

I thought about getting the Elmo ones, but I don't want his room to be a shrine to Elmo.  He already has enough Elmo products.

4 Month Well Baby Visit

We had a bit of a surprise at the 4 month Well Baby Visit.

It has seemed like Sam's diapers were on the lighter side since I came back to work, but I thought that was related to his smaller size.  That makes little sense now...but hindsight is 20/20 and all.  When they weighed him, he had only gained 5 ounces in 6 weeks.  Way, way below what he should have been gaining.

That day I started taking domperidone.  I suspect my supply started decreasing when I went back to work for whatever reason.  A lactation consultant I spoke with said it may be related to my thyroid disease.  Domperidone has SAVED us!  He gained 11 ounces in one week!  His diapers are much, much heavier now.

I imagine his height measurement will increase more than expected.  I think we'll try to measure him today to see how tall he is.  He had been averaging about 75th percentile on the achon growth charts, but was down to 50th at the appointment.

Other health news...

Sam has his sleep study next week.  Hopefully we'll get good news from that.  Then we have a break in doctor appointments aside from PT until 6 months.  Whew!  So what did I do, I scheduled everyone else's appointments over the next month.  Matthew and I will be getting our eyes checked.  Jack will be seeing his allergist.   I am going to get my weird toe issue looked at.  Matthew will be getting a physical.  I am holding off on my physical until I'm neither pregnant nor nursing.

Sam is doing great!

We have seen such changes in Sam the last few weeks!

• He has started babbling up a storm.  Jack never babbled like Sam is babbling.  He has full hour long conversations!  I am guessing he doesn't have any fluid in his ears like Jack did.
• He can roll both from belly to back and back to belly.  He's much better at back to belly though.
• He has great head control!  With his torticollis, he sometimes leans to the weaker side, but he is slowly getting better at having his head in the middle.
• Speaking of torticollis...he is a pro at his stretches.  We may be switching to every other week PT soon.  His plagio measurements have gone from 10 mm to 9 mm.  Hopefully the fact that he no longer sleeps on the back of his head will keep the improvements coming and he won't need a helmet.
• He is starting to sleep longer periods of time at night.  Last night he slept from 10 PM until 5 AM!!

Big changes for Sammy!