Let's Get Him Fat!

So...last time we left you, Luke had sniffles and a slight cough. Well last Saturday night I didn't want to push it anymore and wanted to be told he was okay. So at nine o'clock at night Jonathin and I took off to Goshen ER with Luke. It was a whole different world there, no doubt about it. Instantly we were taken back and the doctors saw him before we even had him undressed. They were more knowledgeable about him being a preemie and from Riley. They even commented on how he didn't look like a preemie due to his head shape. As you can remember there was much work put into Luke's toaster head while on the ventilator. Within 2 hours we had an x-ray and a sputum sample and were on our way home. It was so nice for the x-ray to come to us. When we are at Memorial we have to go clear across the hospital to get it done. Luke wasn't as much of a fan of the sputum sample though. However, he was negative for RSV, Flu 1 & 2...yay! His x-ray came back with a little cloudiness in one lung, but they couldn't compare to others from before. It could just be from his chronic lung disease. He also had a minor ear infection. The doctor decided to treat him with an antibiotic for the ear and as if he had a touch of pneumonia. I was just relieved. Needless to say, we all slept better that night.

On Monday afternoon Luke and I headed to Indy for our first road trip alone. We did pretty well I think. We only stopped once in Argos for a little nose sucking. I don't think it bothered him, just his mom. We spent a little time at our hotel, then went to visit Danielle and Cassie. It had been awhile since they had seen Luke. They used to visit him often while we were at Riley. We had a good time catching up and Luke had a nice conversation with Cassie while Danielle made dinner. Then we went back to the hotel to try and get some sleep before our early doctors appointments. Luke had other plans. Instead we stayed up and watched many hours of Duck Dynasty, not that it bothered me too much. At least it was good entertainment. Even with our late night, we were ready for out first appointment at 7:50am.

These appointments used to seem like a lot of work to begin with, but now after 7 months of them, we are finally getting the hang of it. Of course the first appointment was with Developmental Pediatrician. We did not have a good appointment last time we saw them. You can reread it here...Don't Treat Us Like Failures. We were seeing a new doctor that was recommended to us, Dr. Keck. She was great with Luke. She was friendly and helpful. She was happy with Luke's growth, except for his weight....no surprise there. So the dietitian was called in. Luke's weight to length ratio isn't great. Since Luke still isn't a bottle baby, we had to figure out how to gain weight with his habits. The answer....PURE BUTTER! Luke will now be eating high calorie baby food with a teaspoon of butter in every jar. Also, since Luke isn't getting a lot of protein in his formula he will have to start eating baby meat. So once a day Luke will have a jar of meat added to veggies. She offered to add it to cereal and fruit....gag me! I couldn't ruin all foods for this little boy. His doctor describes him as an opinionated eater. She would like to have him seen by the speech therapist...been there and was then forgotten about again. She would like to see if they can break him of his habits. If that doesn't work and he doesn't start catching up with weight we will be recommended for an inpatient stay. They would have Luke for a week or so inpatient and a team of specialists would work with him. Including a psychiatrist...lol. We shall see about that.

We had an hour to waste before our last appointment so we went and sat in the main lobby for awhile. Luke napped while my mind wandered. All the noises and the surroundings brought me back to the 3 months we were there. It seems like forever ago, but then I could be right there again tomorrow. That was our way of life for so long. I think it will be interesting when Luke can finally know this amazing place and what they did for him.

Lastly that day we met with our Pulmonary Nurse Practitioner. Nancy was happy with how Luke looked and sounded, even after his ER visit. She was also happy with his growth and weight gain. She doesn't see the weight and length ratio, she just sees what he has gained over the past month. Since Luke hasn't had a trouble really over the winter she was happy if we don't see her till the end of August! That is only if we have problems this summer and if we need her help to get Synagis shots next fall/winter. From a baby that was on a ventilator for 2 months to where we are now...amazing. I never thought we would get to this point for quite a while.  After that good news we headed home. The ride home wasn't as easy as the ride down. Luke was tired of being in the car seat, and I didn't blame him.

He has started his new feeds and hasn't done too bad with it. Hopefully he will keep it up. We still haven't closed on our house, hopefully on Tuesday at the latest. I think Luke will be happy too when we move. The poor baby has no toys or entertainment other than his swing. I think Mom is getting pretty boring to look at and play with daily.

Not so happy with his meat.

Whoa It's Been Awhile

I can't believe it has been over a week since I updated everyone. Luke has been doing really well with his food. He has only showed dislike to green beans. He takes one bite of them, and out they come. He started doing the same with peaches, but now he likes them in his oatmeal. I think his oatmeal is his favorite food now. Which is funny to me, cause it was a big dislike when we first started. I am just happy that he likes spoons and food. It was a worry to me, because preemies are have a great risk of oral aversion. My new worry is that he doesn't eat a lot of bottles. He will eat 2 servings of real food and still want more, but won't take more than 4 ounces at a time. He also enjoys a good morning conversation over oatmeal. He is just a little chatterbox at 7 am in the morning. Then after he eats a big bowl of oatmeal we take a small nap.

This week marked Luke's 7 month birthday. He has officially moved to 3 month clothes. Some fit great, and some are little big, but he is out of newborn clothing. We went to the doctors on Thursday for Luke's 2nd Synagis shot to help prevent RSV. He weighed in at 10 pounds 10 ounces. Slowly but surely we are getting there. I have yet to hear from Riley on Luke's sleep study. They said they would call in 7-10 days, but I wonder if we won't hear anything till we go back on the 26th.

This week, I started school again. It was a long Friday and old to get out of the house for so long. Not to mention I had to drive to Gary at 7am in the snow. I usually have 45 minutes of extra time, but I barely made it to school with 6 minutes to spare. Then when I walked in, I got a bunch of stares. Since I had to postpone school, I am now with a whole new group of people. I miss my girls, but I only have to get through 16 weeks.

Hopefully it won't take so long for me to update again. Sorry this isn't in depth, hopefully I can get to the computer more than once a week.

Jordan

Right after Luke's Synagis shot

Ask for a smile and this is what I get...

How we spend our afternoons, naps and studying

Happy boy after his cereal

Medical Chaos

Sorry it has been awhile since we last updated, but it has been pretty calm around here...till today. We finally got some answers from our doctors that we have been waiting for. First let's start with pulmonary.
We saw them two weeks from yesterday. That is when Luke was taken off oxygen during the day and turned to low at night. We were ordered a pulse oximeter during that visit along with being ordered for a sleep study. We are still waiting on that pulse ox. Last Monday our home health care called to let me know they were working on things with our insurance and they would let us know when things would change. I then called them on Friday to see if things had changed. Well, they then tell me that they needed our NP's signature or something and they had faxed the paper twice and still nothing came back. So....I then go to call Riley, but they closed for the holiday till Tuesday. I woke up this morning with this on the top of my list, along with scheduling the sleep study since that was never done. Apparently the paper was signed on the 28th, but it takes 7-14 days to process. Which blows my mind, since our friends got theirs the very next day... On a good note, we might not even need it. We were scheduled for an overnight sleep study tomorrow night. So Luke and I will be traveling to Indy tomorrow afternoon. He has to be at the lab by 8pm and they will wire him up. I was told he should sleep like a baby with all of the beeps. Apparently it will bring him back to his NICU days. Hopefully we will be a little early so we can visit our night nurses if any of them are there. I am told that we will know Luke's results in a week. Realistically I should know in the morning, cause they will put oxygen on him if he gets low. Fingers crossed and prayers said it goes well....then no more oxygen!

Another phone call on my list was to the hearing doctors. Since Luke's CT scan we have never heard anything from them. We are getting dangerously close to when they wanted his hearing aids on full time. Right before they called, our First Steps coordinator called to schedule a meeting. We go through them for our special hearing aids also. She said she had never received anything either from the office. So...after finally speaking to the assistant to the doctor we are moving again. Apparently, they never received word that the CT was done and that we were going through First Steps. So we are now scheduled for a hearing aid appointment the first week of February. More balls are rolling now.

Other big news around here...Luke is sleeping in the travel crib. For the past three nights we have been swingless. Just in time for his sleep study. He does pretty well with it. Two nights ago he slept for 11 hours straight. It was crazy! He just needs his two crocheted blankets and he is ready to go. We aren't moving the swing out of our room just yet, but hopefully it is in the near future.

Also the little man is eating like a champ. We have moved from just cereal to some fruits and vegetables. He really likes it. I've been making him fresh food with my baby bullet, and it's pretty easy. You can tell he is getting more hungry and wants more food. He has upped his formula intake at times, but eating 2 servings of vegetables or fruit during his dinner. A far cry from what the developmental pediatrician crying NG tube last month. We have run into some constipation, but we will take what we get.

Hopefully we will have some great news on Thursday morning to pass on, fingers crossed.

Luke's IU overalls

Riah's  reading to Luke with Watson the Raccoon 

11 hour night

Jordan

Christmas Collection

Luke made out like a bandit this Christmas. We had 3 Christmas' this year. Luke was able to make it to two. It was so nice to be able to see everyone this year. Hopefully next year the little man can go meet the rest of his family at the Watson side's Christmas. Luke received lots of clothes, some toys, books, and many other things including his own Riley red wagon. For the time being Luke will only get to ride in it in our basement, but watch out this summer. He also got his high chair from my parents. I think he likes that almost the best. It allows him to sit up high and see what is all going on. Not to mention it helps us now that we are feeding him real food twice a day. My mom got us a Baby Bullet, so just this morning I made our first batch of bananas and sweet potatoes. He likes bananas in his cereal, and tonight we shall try the sweet potatoes. Jonathin went back to work last night for the first time in almost 2 weeks. It was like things were back to normal for Luke and I. It was night with Jonathin being here all the time, but it kind of threw off our schedule a little. I through in a few pictures of the past few days for everyone, I am sorry this is kind of short. I am currently on the phone with insurance over our Synagis shot....yay! Let me tell you, this little baby makes you grow up real quick and take care of stuff you know your parents usually take care of.

Yummy cereal and bananas in his new high chair.

Luke's new wagon with a side of Vader cat

Luke's new giraffe hat from Uncle Calvin

Finally sporting his Superman shirt that Denise bought him when he was 3 pounds!

Jordan