Little fishy

Elijah was so cute at swimming lessons last night! He was much more comfortable in the water than he was last week. He splashed Mommy a lot and practiced floating and kicking and chasing rubber duckies around the pool. I didn't realize that it is instinctive for babies to hold their breath when dunked (I didn't learn this till today), so I was worried I was going to drown my baby by putting him under water! Now I know...we'll try it next week.

Here are some cute pics. Don't mind the scary lady. I don't know who she is.







It has been almost six weeks since Elijah first got sick and he still has a cough! I can't believe it. His congestion is getting better, and his night sleeping is improving a little bit every day. He is basically sleeping through the night now. He wakes up a few times and cries just for a bit, but usually goes right back to sleep. He has started rolling around a lot more lately, so he's been running into the side of his crib in his sleep and he's not used to that. Hopefully once he is strong enough to re-situate himself a little better he won't wake himself so abruptly. We'll hear bang.....pause.....wwaaaahhhhhhh...... and we'll go in to find his head wedged in the corner, his body twisted all over the place and an arm sticking through one of the slats.

Good cardiology visit

Elijah's cardiology check-up with Dr. Gremmels went great. His oxygen sats were at 82%, which is perfect for him at the present time. Dr. G is having us decrease his Lasix dosage from twice/day to once/day. In two weeks if he shows no signs of congestive heart failure, we are to stop the medication completely. If this goes as planned, it will be the first time that he's ever been medication-free! Elijah's next open-heart surgery will occur when his oxygen sats creep down to the 60% mark. His lowering sats will be our way of knowing that he is outgrowing the shunt that is currently acting as his pulmonary valve. Basically, the faster he grows, the sooner surgery will be. He has historically been a pretty fast grower, so this surgery may come sooner than we anticipated. This will be the Big One.

Elijah also has a surgery coming up this winter to fix his hypospadias, another defect he was born with where his urethra did not fully develop. This surgery will involve redirecting the urethra and reconstructing its surrounding tissue. We're hoping to get this out of the way before it's time for the Big One.

Oh and the most exciting part about today's visit? Unless something unforeseen happens, we don't have to take Elijah back for a cardiology visit for THREE WHOLE MONTHS!

p.s. Pepino bailarin....dancing cucumber!....pepino bailarin...dancing cucumber!...pepino bailarin....baila, baila, ya!
Sorry, too much Veggie Tales!

Developmental report

We got the report back from the Early Childhood Intervention team, and as expected, Elijah has some significant delays. He scored the lowest possible score for gross motor, which didn't surprise us at all, and his gross motor delays seem to be affecting other areas. If he can't get around to explore, he's not going to be as stimulated cognitively, so that's what is happening. His cognitive scores were pretty low as well. His fine motor and adaptive skills were great and his language and social skills were good. Here's the funny part...he scored the highest possible score on LEISURE. That's our boy! Dan and I got a pretty good laugh out of that. Starting on December 3rd, we'll have therapists coming to our house weekly to help him to improve in the areas needed. Our first thing to focus on will be gross motor. We actually have been focusing on gross skills all along, so it's a little frustrating that we aren't seeming to get anywhere. Hopefully these new people can really help us out.

I should also point out that they did NOT take his prematurity into account when coming up with these percentiles, so he's a little better off than they report him to be. Also, there are things that he is able to do that are listed on the report as him not being able to do, so this report is not entirely accurate. I have to share these two lines from the report: "Elijah did not demonstrate rolling to his stomach and cried when assisted into this position," and "Elijah played with his toys contentedly and jabbered during much of the observation." That's Elijah in a nutshell.

He went through the night without eating again! He did need a few back rubs because his plugged, boogery nose woke him up a few times, but those episodes are getting less frequent. I don't want to jinx anything here, but I believe we are soon going to have a sleep-through-the-nighter!!

Dan is taking Eli to his cardiology check today. We'll post later with the details of that. Our sweet skydiving friends Tammy and Doug offered to come down and watch Elijah for an evening on Saturday so we can get out for a few hours and have some adult time. We're very excited for that. Tammy and Doug are so nice to do this. They live pretty far away, so it will be quite a drive to get here and back. Thank you, guys!

Boogers galore

Elijah and I started swimming lessons this week! We'll be going every Monday night for the next 7 weeks. I forgot our camera, but next week I'll have Dan take some pics of our chubby boy splashing crazily in the pool. It took him a minute or two to get used to the water temperature, but after that he seemed to love it. Babies are such natural swimmers. I was surprised to see him try to kick his legs right away.

Last night Elijah threw up for the first time in 10 days. There was baby puke EVERYWHERE...in every crevice of his body, every crevice of Dan's body, every crevice of the couch.. We are hoping this happened because another tooth is coming in and not because he's sick again. The next few days will tell. He slept pretty well last night and seemed just fine this morning so he's at daycare today.

Once we can get rid of the boogers and snot that have taken over our son's body, I think Elijah is going to be ready to sleep through the night! The only thing that really seems to wake him in the night lately is his plugged nose. A few nights ago we did a trial run and didn't feed him when he woke up at 2am and he went right back to sleep. Yaayyy!! More sleep for all of us may be in sight!

E has a cardiology appt on Friday for a post-heart cath check-up. Tomorrow we have the Early Childhood Intervention people coming by to give us the final report from the developmental testing they did a few weeks ago. We'll find out exactly how far behind he is and in what areas and based on that information we will get therapists (physical, occupational and/or speech) to come to our home to help him progress more quickly. He still REFUSES to do tummy time. I'm beginning to think this kid will never crawl. He's not even close. His sitting is getting better every day, but still not quite there. I think he just decided he wants to be a baby forever and have Mom and Dad do everything for him. :)

Feeling better

Elijah is finally starting to feel a bit better. After 4+ weeks of being sick, we're hoping that this is the end of it. He's sleeping better (thank God!) and he's generally much more content. He still has an abundance of boogers and snot stuck inside his body, but it seems to get a little better each day.

Here is a video clip from this morning. He was in a very good mood all day today. It was fun to be able to spend the day with him. His flailing arms are funny.



Here are some overdue Halloween pics. He wore his dragon costume for about 10 minutes before insisting that we take it off.






After his bath tonight


The awesome tie-dye shirt that Elijah is wearing is from our good friend Ellen, who does AWESOME work. Check out her online store when you get a chance. We really love her stuff.


Also in the pic is Eli's cool new blankie from fellow heart mama Samantha. It is the softest blanket I've ever felt and Elijah loves cuddling up with it. She also has a website if you'd like to check out her things.

Pulmonology

Elijah's report from the pulmonologist yesterday was very good. He has no lung issues besides just having a nasty viral infection. This is great news! We'll just continue with neb treatments for now. He said there's a chance of Eli having asthma, but it's way too early to speculate on that. Only time will tell.

He has been sleeping MUCH better today and last night. It's a significant improvement. He slept until 7:40 this morning!!! This is an Elijah record. He's normally such an early riser (5:30-6:00...ug!). This morning he took a 2+ hour nap and he's sleeping again right now. I'm going to take advantage and go get a nap myself!

Quick updates

Baby Isaac was in surgery for 13 hours yesterday, but is out and is now recovering. He was able to get his full repair, which is really great news! Thanks for all the prayers for him. Please continue to pray for a quick and complication-free recovery for this sweet baby.


Elijah is slowly getting better day by day. He still has a nasty cough and lots of congestion. Today Dan is taking him to see a pulmonologist to see if we can get some things figured out with his wheezing and gunkiness. I'll post later with details...

Baby Isaac

Ok everyone, I am asking you all to reeeeally pray hard for this little guy, Baby Isaac. He is having his second open heart surgery on Wednesday (7th) and it is looking like it is going to be a long and involved one (possibly 10-14 hours). His family has to be away from home to be with him and they of course are worried and scared. Please say some extra prayers for Isaac and his parents and brothers today and tomorrow. You can follow Isaac's blog here.

The Beast and The NN

Elijah is an absolute Beast today. Really. I mean, I've never seen him like this before. Maybe it's 'Roid Rage? He's been doing the back arching thing and screaming and flopping around like a crazy fish all day long. I actually did not give him any more steroids after we left the hospital last night. Something is telling me it's just not right. We'll consult with E's pediatrician tomorrow and if she convinces us to go forward with them, then we will, but it just doesn't seem worth all of this extra stress. He doesn't sleep and he's a complete maniac. Thankfully Dan came home from his trip a bit early so he's been able to help out today and I've been able to nap. I was just a few seconds away from losing my sanity, so his arrival came just in time.

I have to share my least favorite episode from yesterday's ER visit. If YOU were a mean, cold person, would YOU become a nurse? Yeah, me either. Anyway, here's how it went down:


Nasty Nurse (NN): Bad news. I'm going to have to suction Elijah's nose to get a sample for an RSV test.
Mommy (M): Oh he's used to suctioning, we do it all the time. He'll be fine.

[M thinks this will be a "normal" suction, but it is far from normal. NN sticks a giant tube down Elijah's nasal passage (very harshly, I might add) and this makes E very mad. The kind of mad that M has never ever seen in E. His body flops crazily, the screams are ear-piercing, flailing arms are a blur of commotion. It is a bad scene. M can hardly keep E on the bed.]

NN: Almost done. Theeeeere, done.

[NN finishes the suction and E is still totally freaking out. He is not a happy baby. M tries to calm him, but he's flailing so much that M can't even pick him up. NN grabs a nebulizer mask and immediately puts it on E's face and starts a nebulizer treatment. M immediately takes the mask OFF and picks up her son.]

NN: What are you DOING? You're wasting medicine!
M: ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Do you see how upset he is? I'm going to calm my baby.
NN: But we're wasting medicine!

[M gets E calmed down a bit, but he's still not calm. M can tell another episode is about to take place in the very near future. NN puts the mask back on E and tells M how to position E so he won't be upset. Riiiiight, thanks for the tip. E returns to his flopping, screaming, freakish state, but NN presses on. She keeps her hand firmly on the mask this time so M doesn't try to abort the situation again and waste more medicine.]

NN: He needs to get ALL of the medicine!

[M is basically trying to make a fish out of water sit still and is praying that the stupid medicine is ALMOST DONE. Finally, it ends and M takes the mask off E and once again attempts to comfort crazy mad baby.]

NN: Wow, you can tell who's in control HERE, can't you?

[M wonders, could she really mean what I think she means? Does she think that because a mother wants to comfort her extremely upset baby that the baby is "in control" of the parent? It's not even worth it to respond to this. M does cartwheels when NN leaves the room. NN must tell the staff that she doesn't want anything to do with that controlling mother and her screaming child because E suddenly has a new nurse (who is a peach, by the way).]

Note: E never used to even notice he was getting neb treatments. Ever since our experience with NN yesterday, he won't have anything to do with the evil nebulizer. Thank you, Nasty Nurse. Thank you. Your coldness has scarred our son. Change professions, please. Go do something where you never need to interact with another breathing creature ever again.

More infection

After enduring the most horrible ER experience I've ever been through, I want to crawl into a hole and die. We normally have great experiences at Children's, but today was AWFUL. I'm not going to relay everything that upset me or I will get too emotional and probably start crying again. What we found out was that Elijah was not overly dehydrated, thank God, he does not have RSV, thank God, but he does have another viral infection. Ug!! Already?! We just got done with the last one! They gave him a double dose of steroids today to help out his wheezing/strained lungs, which of course is going to make him not sleep well tonight. We're supposed to re-start Albuterol on the nebulizer every four hours and do two doses of steroids for 5 days and go from there. Hopefully this time we get rid of it. Nasty infections. BUT...at least it isn't RSV. That's what I keep telling myself.

I am thanking God for my friend Jess right now. Without her today, I may have died. It was not a fun day and now I'm going to bed while Elijah is still asleep.

Sickness abounds

This weekend has been very unfun so far. By unfun I mean awful. Dan went on a hunting trip for the weekend, so sick Mama gets to care for sick Baby. I woke up Friday morning with a head cold, which has today turned into a fever and chills and chest congestion. Elijah has thrown up almost every bit of food I've given him in the past 24 hours and has had no wet diapers, so I'm afraid I may be taking him to Children's today to make sure he's not dehydrated. His cough has also gotten way worse in the past few days so I'd like to get that checked out, too. I just tried to feed him a bottle and he only drank 3 ounces!? Wha??? Really not like my hungry man. I'm a bit worried. We were up a lot during the night. Elijah's cough kept him up, so I was in his room trying to help him get back to sleep more than I was in my bed.

Thankfully my friend Jess is on her way over right now and she's going to watch Elijah for a few hours while I get some rest and then I think I might bring him to Children's after that.

Coils

Heart cath #3 is donedonedone! What a relief to have that behind us. We have jumped over another hurdle, in this journey filled with lots of hurdles.
 
Yesterday went very well. The procedure itself took longer than expected, but everything went great and Elijah was a "superstar," as Dr. Gremmels calls him. Dr. G ended up putting eight coils into the collateral arteries that surround E's heart/lungs in order to stop the bloodflow in them. There were a few areas where the collaterals were supplying duplicate bloodflow to his lungs, so the smaller of all the duplicates were the ones coiled off. These coiled collaterals will no longer deliver blood and will shrivel up. The metal coils will stay in his chest forever. Now the bloodflow in his chest is much more efficient and there isn't as much "mixing" of red and blue blood. This is good because his body won't be working as hard to get all of that unnecessary blood pumping everywhere. Now his blood-oxygen saturations will be much lower, but this will be "normal" for him until his next open heart surgery when his VSD (hole) will be repaired. Anything between 80-85% will be good for Elijah right now. Before this cath, they were running around 90%, which was too high for him. Dr. G also ballooned a portion of Elijah's main pulmonary artery that was a bit narrow. Hopefully that artery will continue to grow nice and big.
 
When his next open heart surgery will take place will be based on how he grows in the next year. If he continues to eat like a starved lion in the wild and continues to gain weight, he will outgrow the shunt that is acting as his pulmonary valve sooner rather than later. Our way of determining if he is outgrowing that shunt will be his blood-oxygen sats. When those start to creep down toward the 70% mark, surgery will be necessary. Dr. G thinks this may happen anywhere from 6 months to a year, depending on how chunky he continues to get.
 
Elijah did great yesterday. He was understandably crabby for a few hours after the procedure. He was tired, hungry (he hadn't eaten since 3:00 that morning) and in a little discomfort. Once we took care of those three things, he was doing great. We were finally able to feed him at 6:00 last night, and we have never seen anything like the ravenous hunger that he unleashed on those poor bottles. Wow! He just kept eating and eating and when we added everything up, he'd had a whole typical day's worth of food in less than 12 hours! He'd get done with a bottle and just cryyyyyy till we gave him more. Then we tried solids and he gobbled those up. Then an hour or so later he was gobbling down more bottles. The boy does not like to miss a meal....and if he does, he apparently needs to make up for it.

Oh and I'm happy to report that all of our nurses were wonderful!


Daddy and Eli snoozing before surgery


Mommy reading to Elijah after surgery


Some things never change no matter how bad he's feeling....reaching for everything in sight....


...and vigorously eating the tag on his rattle..


Our penthouse suite on the 3rd floor


We're always so glad when we get a room on this floor. We have our own private space. That couch you see in the background is what Dan and I squish onto at night. We've slept on MUCH worse at the hospital, so this is wonderful to us.


Tonight, feeling much better. It's so amazing how quickly these little ones bounce back. Lately Elijah has been swinging his arms around at lightning speed. The camera couldn't even capture them!

Home

Wanted to write quick to say that we're back home. Elijah is doing great, as usual. I will post more details (and pics) tonight. Right now I'm off to work and Dan and Elijah are hopefully going to get some rest. It was a sleepless night, as are all nights in the hospital.

Thanks for all the prayers! More later....

Done

Dr. Gremmels just came and talked to us and things look good. They got everything done they wanted to and the little man did great.
Elijah just had his breathing tube removed and he's in recovery. We'll get to see him soon when he's moved upstairs.

The G-man said they'll keep watching overnight but he expects to be able to send us home right away tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the support and prayer, one more step is behind us!

Another Update

We just got another call from the operating room and Elijah is doing well. They just finished putting coils in where they were needed. They had to use more than they originally though, 7 total, but his bloodflow is already looking better.
Right now they are starting to balloon his Pulmonary artery which has narrowed, this should take about an hour or so.

He should be all done after that, we'll post a final update when we're upstairs in his overnight room.

Cath Update

Elijah has been in surgery now for about 3 hours. We just got a call and up to this point they've just been taking pictures and figuring out everything that's going on in his little heart.
They found 2 areas that they will put coils in to close off the collaterals that aren't needed. There's also another artery that looks like it will need to be ballooned open.
We were told that the rest of the procedure could take awhile, please pray that everything goes smoothly and the Dr's are able to accomplish what needs to be done.

Since they are having to do so much we will be staying the night. The Dr wants to keep an eye on Elijah and make sure his body rebounds well from the surgery.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers.

Heart cath tomorrow

Elijah passed his pre-op physical on Friday and is set to go for surgery tomorrow. He still has a cough, but his lungs sound great, he doesn't have a fever and he hasn't thrown up in over a week. We have to be at Children's at 8:00 a.m. and the procedure starts at 9:30 a.m. Please pray for an uneventful, quick cath with no complications. Oh, and good nurses. At Elijah's last cath, we had some nurses who made the day pretty difficult for us all.

He has been an amazingly good baby these past few days. Aside from screaming when we suction the boogers out of his nose, he is soooo happy and fun. Love this kid!


Riding in his new wagon


Hanging out in the LoveSac


Daddy taking aggression out on a poor pumpkin


We thought Elijah might want to dig his hands in the messy pumpkin guts, but he was more interested in eating the paper we had it sitting on


He wasn't so sure of the pumpkin...he glared at him for a while before we finally had to separate the two of them. Notice the blankie he's wrapped in...it's his new blanket from fellow heart mama Samantha. THANK YOU, Samantha!! Elijah loves it! It is sooo soft.


Could there be a sweeter face?

He's baaack

For the past twelve days we have dealt with nothing but copious amounts of puke, sleep deprivation, nasty coughing, gigantic green and stringy streams of snot and a very unhappy, unrested child. Today, for the first time in almost two weeks, I came home to a happy, smiley, wonderfully tempered boy who loves his mommy! It was wonderful. We finally have our healthy, happy boy back! For the past two weeks we've had to work to get even a smile out of him. Now all I have to say is, Hi Elijah!, and he giggles and smiles crazily at me. I love it.

Tomorrow I'll be bringing Eli to get his pre-op physical and flu shot. Saturday Dan and I have a night "away" in Stillwater. Auntie Lissa will be watching Elijah overnight so we can have some baby-less time to chill. And sleep. We need it. Thank you, Lissa!

Here are some pics of our gorgeous man:


Sprawling out on Mommy....he sure likes to be comfortable!


Trying to get him to use his legs. See how he just sticks his butt out? Thanks so much, Roger, for the great wagon and sled you sent! We love them.


Daddy rubbing Eli's tummy before bed

The Sleeper is (mostly) Back

Aside from feeding him, we didn't have to go into Elijah's room once in the middle of the night. At 4:38am I couldn't believe I was waking up to silence instead of fits of snorting and crying. Of course I didn't get back to sleep because my body is used to being awake at that time anyhow, so I laid in bed anticipating noise. I didn't hear a thing until 5:58! The steroids are done, the cold is getting better every day, and hopefully that means that our sleeper is back. Dan said he heard a few cries in the night, but nothing that lasted longer than a few minutes. One of these days we may be semi-rested again and I am ecstatic at the thought of that.

We are in the middle of getting Eli assessed for home therapy. A handful of therapists and evaluators have been coming to our house, putting crayons in his hand and crackers in front of him to test his "skills." He's 8 months old, do they think he's going to do anything with a crayon besides chew on it? So far they have said he is definitely eligible, which means he's definitely behind, but we have to wait for the final report to see exactly how far behind. Last night I was working with him on rolling and while trying so very hard to reeeeeach for a toy, he actually rolled from back to tummy! I wish I had it on video because it was one of his top 10 cutest moments. He got to his tummy and realized...wait a second! I don't like tummy! So he scrambled to get back to his comfort zone, bulldozing toys and books out of the way to get there. He looked at us like, I'm not doing that again, you sneaky parents.

Healing up

Elijah is feeling a bit better today. He still has a wicked cough and has been throwing up occasionally. His steroids and nebulizer treatments have kept him from sleeping as well as he normally does. Last night he was up from about 11pm to 5:30am, when we finally just got up for the day. He has to take the steroids for two more days and hopefully after those are done he'll start sleeping wonderfully through the night like he did before. This is killing Mommy and Daddy! We are zombies (especially Dan). Because Elijah is still not 100%, we probably won't start his new daycare until next week, after his heart cath. That is scheduled for next Monday, so we pray that he'll be healthy enough to go through with it. We really do not want to reschedule it again. We have realized lately that our boy is....well, he likes to be comfortable. We've watched him from afar while he's playing with his toys and he totally has the physical ability to roll from his back to his tummy. He just doesn't want to do it! When I prop him up in an attempt to get him to sit on his own, he'll just lean back and rest comfortably on my legs. I think he'd just rather not do the extra work. He's definitely going to be a very late crawler/walker. That's ok....that gives me more time to smooch on that juicy, chubby double chin without him running away from me.

Elijah has definitely gotten his appetite back. He swallows his food at lightning speed. I have to be super speedy mommy to get those savory sweet potatoes to his mouth in time.





Getting a nebulizer treatment


Cute weiner dog outfit. And look! He's holding his bottle all by himself!


Don't you just want to smooch on that pretty face?

Life is precious

Please keep these two families in your thoughts and prayers, as both of them have lost a little girl this weekend.

I will be snuggling with my boys a little extra tonight.

'Roids

You may find Elijah pumping iron at the gym in the next few days. Our baby is taking steroids. Dr. Judy thought it might help heal his wheezing lungs to give him a few doses of it over the next few days. He's doing a little better today overall. He still has a nasty, deep cough, and isn't completely back to his usual spunky self, but he's on his way. We are also giving him nebulizer treatments every four hours to keep the airways in his lungs opened up. Yesterday he got another xray of his chest and his lungs looked clear, thank God, so we know we're on the road to recovery! He is still throwing up a bit, we think due to the extra phlegm getting down into his tummy. Last night he threw up his dinner bottle and was pretty fussy and upset, but today he's been eating like a piggy and keeping everything down. He even ate solid food for the first time in a few days! He's finally starting to sleep a little better at night, only waking up a couple of times. Dan has been amazing this week. He's been up with Elijah a lot at night and he has watched him all day every day...he is a tired daddy. I made him take a nap this morning while Elijah and I played downstairs.

Today Elijah is 8 months old! Happy eight months, my precious boy. We love you so much!


Spunky Elijah--last weekend, before the sickness hit


A smile I got out of him this morning.



He's feeling good enough to attack the camera lens cap

new opportunities

We have some news! We have recently decided to switch daycare providers. Carrie and Mike have done a great job with Elijah. We know they care about him and we are definitely leaving on good terms.
 
We have two main needs in mind: that Elijah gets the extra tlc he needs when he's not with us, since he needs a little more than the average baby, and that he doesn't continue to get sick this winter. He has a few surgeries coming up and we need him to stay as healthy as possible for those. Last week, a new opportunity fell into our laps. I found out about a friend of a friend who currently cares for one baby in her home in Eden Prairie (Right next to the high school...perfect for us! More on that below.) and how she may be willing to take one more baby. She doesn't typically seek out business, but if it finds her she figures it's meant to be. We met with her and immediately knew this is where we want Elijah to be. She is very flexible, nurturing, kind and safety-conscious. She has 20+ years of experience and is willing to work with Elijah on his physical therapy, which is great. Since she only cares for one other baby, she has the time to give our man some extra attention and he will not be exposed to a plethora of kiddie germs. We're so excited about finding Carrie (yes, her name is Carrie, too). Elijah's first day with her will be October 25th.
 
So far this school year, Dan has been substitute teaching whenever he's been able to. Having this flexibility has been convenient for us, but Dan would really like to get another full-time teaching job...and we could really use the money. A social studies position has recently opened up at Eden Prairie High School (Dan's alma mater), which is pretty rare, so he applied for the job and has an interview Monday morning. Yay Hubby! He's going to give it his best and see where the road leads. The thought of our flexibility being gone totally scares me, but on the other hand the thought of having a fulfilled husband and not having to pinch pennies makes me elated! We know that God will lead us to whatever is right for us, so we really aren't fretting about this. Either way, we found a flexible, caring woman who is ready to care for Elijah in a secluded environment.

what's your plan?

We're hoping today is the peak of Elijah's sickness because he sure isn't feeling well. Dan took him to see Dr. Judy today and one bit of good news is that his O2 sats were back at 90%! However, when she listened to his lungs, they sounded wheezy, so we are now having to give him nebulizer treatments three times a day at home to open up those airways. He is very stuffed up. Both his nose and his chest are extremely junky. Tonight after eating most of his bottle he threw it all back up and was generally unhappy and agitated. He's working really hard for each breath right now...way more than usual. I feel so bad for him. I hate seeing him like this. We're praying for a better day tomorrow. We're also praying that this viral infection doesn't evolve into anything worse. Thankfully we have a great relationship with Dr. G and Dr. Judy so between the two, he'll be well taken care of this week.

I think I've caught whatever it is that Elijah has. I have a nice throbbing head and a sore throat this evening. Dan hasn't caught it yet, and I hope he doesn't. We all get our flu shots next week and it can't come soon enough!

A funny Tired Story for you. We've been thoroughly exhausted and getting very little sleep since Sunday. Last night at midnight I got up to sit with Elijah for a bit because he was crying and obviously uncomfortable. I was rocking him when Dan came into the room and said to me, "What's your plan?" Uhhhh.....my plan? I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he said, "Are you going to feed him breakfast?" I didn't understand why he was planning so far in advance and I was way too tired to respond, so we both just sat there silent for a bit. He left the room and did his morning ritual of mouthwash, getting dressed and turning the lights on downstairs for us. He came back upstairs and realized it was midnight. He actually thought it was 6am and that we were starting our day. We both had a good laugh about it in the morning. What's my plan....my plan is to get some sleep one of these days..

Recovering at Home

Warning: This post was written with one eye open and my brain shut off, the following words may or may not be coherent.

Elijah is doing pretty good dealing with his first cold. Overall his disposition has been amazingly good, considering what his poor little body is going through. Oh look, a sheep.
He's doing a little better today than yesterday, eating well and seeming pretty comfortable when he's awake/alert. The sleeping has been the most difficult part. With his coughing/congestion he's up a lot and crying with his sad yet cute little hoarse cry. We've been trying hard to keep him soothed and sleeping so he can get over this fast and get back to being his usual self. Yeah, soft pillows.
He's taking a nap right now, hopefully he'll get some solid rest in and have a good rest of the day.

hallucinating

I'm so tired that I don't even really remember writing that last post. Dan and I have slept 2 out of the last 30 hours, and Elijah hasn't slept much more than that. I think I was hallucinating in the ER. The screws on the back of the door were moving in circles!

We are finally home and Elijah is doing fine. He has his first cold with a lot of chest gunk/congestion. He sounds like Darth Vader when he breathes. His heart condition is making things more difficult because his body and heart are already working very hard but now everything is working extra extra hard (and hence the reason for the scary episode last night). The docs don't want to give him any medicine to treat this, so we basically just have to do the old-fashioned remedies to keep him comfortable and as gunk-free as possible: vaporizer, saline drops in the nose, propped up a bit in bed, etc... Nighttime will be the worst part since junk tends to settle in his chest while sleeping, so we'll be extra cautious tonight, as it's possible an episode like last night could happen again. They gave us the option of staying at the hospital overnight, but we're feeling comfortable enough to do things here and now I know that I don't have a problem calling 911 if need be! We're feeling confident that we won't have to go that route again (please God!). Tomorrow we have to follow up with Elijah's ped and cardiologist to make sure those oxygen levels are back where they should be. They were still a bit low when we left the hospital, but not low enough to keep us there.

Elijah is chugging down a bottle right now and then we ALL plan on taking a giant nap. I just pray the little man stays comfy enough to do that. He sure needs it. Through all this commotion, he has honestly been AMAZING!! He has been all smiles all night/morning/day. What a wonderful boy. I know I say that a lot, but really.....he amazes us more every day.

Pray for some sleep for us and for a gunk-free Elijah.

we're back

Well Elijah and Mommy got their first ambulance ride tonight, this morning, whatever time of day it is. We attempted to let him sleep a bit more at home and he woke up barely able to breathe. He started to turn blue and was somewhat unresponsive so we called 911. By the time the paramedics got there he was doing much better, but we still went in. I rode with him in the ambulance and Dan followed us in the car. Right now his O2 sats are low to mid 80's, which is low for him. We're waiting to hear what the doc thinks we should do. Gotta get back...more later...

This is why our boy can't get sick! His heart cannot handle it. :( This is the first time he's ever been sick, so it's hard to see.

Short hospital visit

We had to take Elijah to Children's last night. After being in bed for 2 hours, he woke up laboring really hard to breathe and sounding really congested. We didn't even bat an eye and ran him to the hospital right away. With his heart condition, we do not mess around with anything. Listening to him, I was a little worried about pneumonia, but thankfully his lungs looked and sounded clear, so that means he probably has a viral infection. Eli's O2 sats were on the low side for him, which would suggest that his heart function is a little strained, so we need to keep an eye on him these next couple days. We are going to call Dr. G in the morning to see what he suggests. For now, we are going on little to no sleep, propping Elijah between us in our bed so his congestion doesn't settle in his chest and so he can hopefully breathe a little easier. Right now Dan is sitting with him in the bathroom with the hot water running in an attempt to humidify and clear some of his gunk up. The ER doctor was hesitant to give him a prescription of any kind before talking to his cardiologist. It's amazing how simple things are never simple with a baby with a heart condition. Keeps us on our toes!

Anyway, please say a prayer for our man. He needs some good, uncongested rest. Also, we just wish for this not to be (or turn into) anything more serious. He was AMAZING in the hospital last night. He hadn't gotten hardly any sleep and was still so happy and cooperative. He flirted and smiled and giggled at all the doctors and nurses. We're so blessed to have such an amazing baby.

Ok, change of plans. Elijah is really struggling to breathe right now so we are headed back to the hospital. More later..

Cute pics and a Christmas wish

Elijah's new winter hat. Isn't it cute? Have I mentioned his desire to reach for EVERYTHING lately?



What a ham. You'd never guess that just minutes before this pic was taken, he was screaming his lungs out at the physical therapist's office, which also included back arching and giant tear drops. We had to leave after only 12 minutes into his visit.


Daddy's Gophers hat



Dan and I want to do something a little different for Christmas gifts this year. We're going to buy small gifts for our parents, and a small something for Elijah, but aside from that we'd like to take all the money we would have spent on gifts and donate it to an organization that is very important to us, The Children's Heart Foundation. We'd also like to ask that if you had planned on getting a gift for us (not that we we ever expect anything from anyone), that you hold off on getting us anything and/or make a donation to the CHF yourself. If there is ONE thing for us to be thankful for this Christmas it's medical knowledge/advancements, so we'd like to support the advancements that have helped and will continue to help our son and many other children.

"The goal of The Children's Heart Foundation is to bring health, hope and happiness to children impacted by congenital heart defects, the number one birth defect in the United States. We accomplish this goal by funding the most promising research to advance the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of congenital heart defects in children."

Some facts I grabbed off the CHF website:
This year almost 40,000 babies will be born with a congenital heart defect. 4,000 of them will not live to see their first birthday.
The cost for inpatient surgery to repair congenital heart defects exceeds $2.2 billion a year.
CHF has directed almost $2 million to 24 different congenital heart defect research projects.
CHF is the only organization strictly created to fund congenital heart defect research.

If you'd like to help out, click here. Thank you!!

Snook knows best

We consulted with our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Judy Snook, tonight, and she gave us wonderful words of encouragement regarding Elijah's helmet. As most of you know, we've been having an internal struggle trying to decide if it is worth pursuing. We really trust Dr. Judy, so we called her out of desperation today. We asked her what she thought we should do, since she medically knows Eli so well. She said that if she had ever thought that he should get a helmet in the first place she would have said something to us (our physical therapist is the one who suggested it to us and the reason we sought out help). She also said that she has seen much worse cases and that Elijah's flat spot was very "mild," and not worth enduring major skin irritation and further emotional turmoil for. It was so good to hear her give us an actual opinion and not be vaguely supportive. We love our doctor and trust her completely and therefore have made a FINAL decision...

THE HELMET IS GONE!!!!

No offense Helmy, but good riddance! You have caused nothing but difficulty for us. We think you look very cute on our son, but we are happy to not put you on his head anymore. Rest in peace, you colorful little thing.

Funny new noise

Every day brings something new and fun with Elijah. Today he suddenly started making a kissy-type face, accompanied by a funny giggly noise that we just had to record and share with everyone. He's been doing it all day long. It cracks us up every time.



Random stuff: Dan and I were watching him play tonight and he is soooo good with his hands. He has very steady, confident hands. Maybe he'll be a heart surgeon! He's been a bit "off" lately because of his new teeth. They look so cute in his mouth. Tonight he ate his first cookie all by himself (well, sucked on his first cookie)! He looked like an old pro, like he had eaten a thousand cookies before. Today he got his first RSV shot of the season. Poor man didn't like that too much. And another first today--he didn't wake up till 6:45am (amazing!) and didn't go to sleep till 7:15pm (amazing!). Our next goal will be to attempt sleeping through the night. Aaaahhhh, can't wait for that! Or should I say, Dan can't wait for that. Ever since I've been back to work, my wonderful hubby has gotten up almost every night to feed Elijah. He's the middle-of-the-night guy and I'm the early morning gal.

Helmet update: We ditched out on our appointment today with the orthotist. Elijah's forehead is still discolored and peeling from wearing it 10 days ago (totally ridiculous if you ask me), so it's not like he would have been able to leave the office wearing it anyway. I think we may really be done with it. It's been a topic we haven't really discussed lately because we both want to pretend it doesn't exist. Unless I hear some sort of miraculous voice from God in the next few days, I'm pretty sure we're through. Yes, we feel a little guilty about that, but really...we started this whole process on August 29th! That's way too long when we have many other more important things to be dealing with. His head looks fine to us. It will probably be a tiny bit assymetrical, but you'll only be able to see it if you look closely.

Fun things

Well..................
That's actually about all I have to say about the helmet. Dan and I have nicely placed it in a safe place this week and we've avoided talking about it because we're both so irritated by Elijah's skin irritation (which is still present, by the way, after almost a week of not wearing it). We have agreed to hear Orthotist out on Monday at 3:30 to see what he says to encourage us to keep with it. We'll see.
 
On to more fun things....
As I mentioned last week, Elijah is now rolling over a lot! This is a good thing because this is what we've been working with him on for months, buuuut.......with his new ability, he now will not tolerate a single moment of tummy time. That sneaky baby. I have a feeling we're going to have one of those babies who walks before he crawls. If he continues to snub the time on his belly, crawling is going to take a while. He has been so funny lately and his personality is really starting to show. Feeding him his breakfast and dinner have become challenging these past few days. He is so enamored by...everything.....that he has a hard time concentrating on Mommy trying to put a spoonful of food in his mouth. He'll arch his back just to look up at the sticker/logo on his high chair that is right above his head. Well, it's not easy to feed a baby who is arching and looking toward the sky. I reposition him, thinking he'll forget about the sticker, and then he starts looking for it again. If I cover the sticker up with a blanket, he becomes obsessed with the straps holding him into the chair. He inspects every side of every strap very closely, while turning them in his hands. Again, can't feed a slumped baby who is looking straight down. Then I'll bring the bowl of food close to him to distract him and he tries to grab it and flip food everywhere. Now as I'm describing it, it does sound pretty cute. As I'm feeding him at 6am and trying to get ready for work and out the door, it's not so cute.
 
Elijah has two teeth now! His bottom front teeth are just poking through. So far his little body goes through a series of events about 48 hours before a tooth breaks through the gums. Saturday was the first time we experienced his body's Teething Ritual, and we got to relive it on Tuesday. First, he gets a little cranky, which isn't like him. Thankfully the crankiness is short-lived. Then his whole body gets really clammy. Then, after eating whichever bottle is next, he throws up. When this first happened we were a bit worried so we called a nurse and she said it was common for babies to get upset tummies because of the excess saliva they are swallowing. The first time he did this, WOW...he really puked! The aftermath was amazing. We're looking forward to many more teething experiences! :) Really though, those are the only things out of the ordinary. After each episode, he was fine. His sleep was a little broken a few nights last week, which we attributed to teething, but he's a total champ and shows no glaring signs of discomfort.
 
He's ALMOST sitting on his own now. I'm pretty excited for that day to come so we won't have to put him on his back (and head) every time we set him down (especially if this helmet thing doesn't pan out). I give it a few more weeks. He still "talks" a lot. He's constantly making some sort of noise. The only "word" he says still is "Aboo." I'm working hard on "Mama"!
 
We have a few appts here in the next few weeks, including cardio, ortho and flu/RSV shots, and then his big heart cath is on the 29th. We're so anxious to get that behind us! Just another hurdle. :) 

Oh, Dear Helmy, this may be goodbye....

We feel defeated by our little helmet friend right now. We learned that the issue may not be that it isn't fitting Elijah's head properly, it may just be that his skin is irritated by the material that the helmet is made of. If this is the case, then there are a few concerns: 1) After all that has been shaved off from the inside with the assumption that it was ill fitting, is wearing it going to do any good for his head right now?  2) Concern number one is moot since we don't want to risk Round 4 of serious skin irritation, so we'll either need to ditch it altogether or start the whole process over with a helmet made of a different material. I'm not sure why our orthotist, after all the problems we've been having, never brought skin irritation up as a possibility. A totally different doctor suggested this to us, so when we asked Orthotist about it yesterday, he confirmed that yes indeed, this could definitely be the case.......BUT to try another night with the helmet and to call in the morning to schedule another refitting. Wha...??? No thanks! Is God trying to tell us to set Helmy (and all future unborn helmets) down for good, or is He trying to tell us to persevere and be strong and get through this?? In all honesty, Elijah's head does not look that bad to us right now. Maybe it's just wishful thinking? 


 
On a good note, today I was given a couple good reminders about perspective. I was sorting through my work emails this morning and ran across a note I had sent to my boss the day I found out Elijah's 20-wk ultrasound was abnormal and that there was something wrong with his heart. That day was October 24, 2006--almost one year ago! Shortly after finding that email, I received the below daily passage from a friend. So I will take this as a sign that I should give thanks to God today for the richness we have in our lives.
 
Moving Through Darkness
The Places We Go

In life, most of us want things to go to the places we have envisioned ourselves going. We have plans and visions, some of them divinely inspired, that we want to see through to completion. We want to be happy, successful, and healthy, all of which are perfectly natural and perfectly human. So when life takes us to places we didn't consciously want to go, we often feel as if something has gone wrong, or we must have made a mistake somewhere along the line, or any number of other disheartening possibilities. This is just life's way of taking us to a place we need to go for reasons that go deeper than our own ability to reason. These hard knocks and trials are designed to shed light on our unconscious workings and deepen our experience of reality.

Often it takes something major to wake us up, to shake us loose from our ego's grip as it struggles to maintain an illusion of control. It is loss of control more than anything else that humbles us and enables us to see the big picture. It reminds us that the key to the universe lies in what we do not know, and what we do know is a small fraction of the great mystery in which we live. This awareness softens and lightens us, as we release our resistance to what is. Another gift gleaned from going to these seemingly undesirable places is that, in our response to difficulty, we can see all the patterns and unresolved emotional baggage that stand in the way of our unconditional joyfulness. Joy exists within us independently of whether things go our way or not. And when we don't feel it, we can trust that we will find it if we are willing to surrender to the situation, moving through it as we move through our difficult feelings.

We can take our inspiration from any fairy tale that finds its central character lost in a dark wood, frightened and alone. We know that the journey through the wood provides its own kind of beauty and richness. On the other side, we will emerge transformed, lighter and brighter, braver and more confident for having moved through that darkness.

ARGGGggg

Well....it looks like Elijah made a cute post this morning. What a smart baby.

I can't believe I'm typing this, but Elijah woke up this morning with another red mark from Helmy. We will be heading back to the orthotist yet again next week. This time the red mark is on the left side of his forehead and goes down to his temple/ear.




And not only is our baby smart enough to speak, write and type, but he's also gotten wise in another way. Just today, he has shown us that he knows when we're about to put him on his belly and he physically protests. Every time I put him on his belly this morning, he rolled right over onto his back. I suppose it's good....at least he's rolling consistently by himself now. For his morning nap we put him on his belly in his crib and when we came to get him up, he was on his back! Even after all these months of trying to get him used to his belly, he still hates it.

Elijah's heart cath was postponed and now it's on October 29th. G-man said he expected to be doing a lot of "work" and didn't have enough time alloted for him on the 3rd. We're a little bummed because we were looking forward to getting it out of the way, but there's not much we can do. The 29th it shall be!

After my first full week of work, I'm trying to cherish every moment with both of my boys. I better go squeeze them now. Here's a cute picture of Elijah's milk coma from the other night:

100 things about me!

Hey everyone, it's Elijah here. This is the first time I've written on my own blog! For those of you who would like to know me a bit better, I've made a fun list of 100 things all about ME! Enjoy! My daddy is wonderful! Grunt, grunt......squeak......Aboo!!!!!

1. I’m 7 1/2 months old.
2. I weigh 17.5 lbs.
3. I love peas and sweet potatoes.
4. I love all food, but those are my two favorites.
5. I can eat two jars of food and four bottles a day!
6. I love to eat.
7. I’m chubby.
8. Mommy tells me that’s a good thing.
9. It means I’m healthy.
10. My thighs are especially chunky and round.
11. I have a chubby neck, too.
12. I like to blow spit bubbles.
13. I started making kissy lips this week.
14. It makes me look like a fish.
15. Mommy and Daddy laugh hard when I do it.
16. I’m not sure what color my eyes are.
17. They are grey, blue and brown all at once.
18. I have to wear a helmet.
19. It makes my head sweaty and red.
20. Mommy and Daddy are thinking about throwing it away.
21. I’ve been practicing rolling over.
22. I’ve done it a few times all on my own.
23. I don’t like being on my tummy.
24. Tummy time is hard work!
25. I smile a lot.
26. My giggles are so cute.
27. I poop a lot!
28. The other day, Mommy and Daddy changed 5 poopy diapers!
29. When I poop, I grunt. Loud!
30. It makes Mommy and Daddy giggle.
31. I just started liking baths.
32. I splash my arms and legs in the water and giggle and squeal.
33. Mom and Dad have to wash my hair every night because it gets so dirty from Helmy.
34. My mom and dad are weird and silly.
35. I think they could get their own reality show.
36. They tell me all the time that I’m a very special little baby.
37. My mom has a lot of nicknames for me.
38. She calls me Peanut, Sweet Pea, Munchkinhead, Little Man, Big Boy, Pumpkin Butt, Chunky Monkey, Sweetie Pie, Handsome Man, Honeybunch, Chubster and lots of other things.
39. Daddy called me Chunko-butt the other day. What does that mean? Does that mean I’m fat?
40. Mom and Dad do a lot of work with me to get me strong.
41. I practice sitting, rolling, standing, pushing up, and I even do sit-ups.
42. I guess my surgery slowed down some of my progress.
43. My surgeon’s name is Dr. Moga.
44. His voice sounds like Kermit the Frog.
45. He’s very smart and nice and did a very good job fixing my heart.
46. Dr. Gremmels is my cardiologist.
47. Mom and Dad call him “G-man.”
48. He is so nice and he likes to say, “Goodgood” a lot, like it’s one word.
49. Daddy thinks he’s a sharp dresser.
50. I started going to daycare.
51. Carrie and Mike watch me. They are so nice!
52. There are a bunch of other kids there. Mostly boys.
53. They can all walk and crawl.
54. I will be doing those things very soon, too!
55. Mom and Dad read me lots of books.
56. Mommy knows the Tooth Book by heart and recites it in her sleep.
57. We always read in the loft before I go to bed.
58. Then either Mom or Dad holds me in their arms and bounces on an exercise ball.
59. That puts me right to sleep.
60. I have three favorite toys right now: my rattle, my toy cell phone and my little mirror.
61. I like to hold my rattle and pound it on my leg like it’s a tambourine.
62. I’m very good with my hands!
63. Ever since I was born, Mom and Dad have said that I’m going to do something with my hands when I grow up.
64. That and my voice.
65. I love to make noise.
66. I’m constantly grunting, talking or gurgling.
67. I love to sleep and I need lots of it.
68. If I don’t get enough, I’m a very grumpy boy.
69. Tiredness is the only thing that makes me cry besides pain.
70. I have always slept well at night.
71. From Day 1, I knew that bedtime was bedtime and I never cry in the night except to eat.
72. Then I go right back to sleep!
73. I don’t want to go back to the hospital.
74. They poke me with needles there.
75. Mommy says I have to go back to get better. Just a few more times.
76. My heart isn’t all fixed yet.
77. Dr. Moga will fix the rest next year.
78. I love to be outside.
79. I especially love stroller rides.
80. Mom and Dad say I have a fondness for the outdoors.
81. Daddy wants to teach me to hunt.
82. I make lots of funny faces.
83. Two second before I cry, I make a giant frown and furrow my brow and then I say, “Baaaaaa” and the tears start flowing.
84. It’s actually really cute.
85. I love it when Mommy sings songs to me.
86. The Itsy Bitsy Spider is my favorite.
87. I also love it when she makes animal noises.
88. The one that makes me smile the biggest is the sheep noise. BBa-aaa-a-aaa-ahhhh!
89. I have eight different doctors.
90. That’s a lot of people looking out for me.
91. My mommy says I’m pretty because I have big eyes and long eyelashes.
92. My lashes are longer than hers.
93. I hear a lot that I’m a handsome boy.
94. I will get chased by girls on the playground.
95. I have two teeth that are about to poke through my gums!
96. I can’t reach my feet because my body is too long.
97. I think I might be tall when I grow up.
98. I love playing with the tags on toys more than the toys themselves.
99. I just got a new high chair!
100. I started holding my own bottle this week.

Strong and Steady

The kissy lips he's been making lately. Funny man.

Elijah's helmet is re-re-refitted now! Dan brought him back to the orthotist yesterday and got a little more shaved off from the inside of Helmy so hopefully no more fittings will be necessary in the next few weeks. So once again, we are weaning him into wearing it full-time. How long has this been going on? Oh yeah, two and a half weeks, that's right...  We hope to have him wearing it full-time again by this weekend. 
 
I know we sound very hostile towards Helmy, the poor guy, but we've definitely dealt with worse. Yes, Helmy is a bit of an annoyance and yes he smells like vinegar, B.O. and pickles, but when we stop and look at the big picture, we almost embrace that colorful little 8-oz. ball of plastic and foam. Eight months ago, we didn't even know if Elijah would survive the pregnancy. Once we saw his sweet face, we didn't know if he'd be capable of much, with all the strikes that were against him. Once he showed us that he was capable of almost everything any "normal" baby was capable of, we weren't sure how he'd do during and after that first surgery. He flew through that like a champ and now....now look at him! He's strong, he's chubby, he eats well, he's thriving, he's happy, he's smart, he's cute, he has an amazing little personality and he's just a little miracle man! This helmet thing is peanuts to him....and to us. He's our strong and steady man who isn't phased by a thing. We keep reminding ourselves that we are amazingly blessed and that this helmet hurdle is miniscule.
 
Elijah's heart cath is next week already! In fact, a week from today. Please say some prayers that it will go smoothly. I'm a bit nervous about it, based on our history with heart caths and the Short Stay Unit at Children's.
 
p.s. Elijah just yanked on my sleeve and told me he has something to write on his blog...??!?!? I didn't realize he knew how to type, much less form words or sentences, so I'll be curious to see what he thinks he's going to do. Hmmmm.

Helmet Update

This whole helmet thing is not going as smoothly as we'd hoped for. Elijah has adjusted to wearing it but after we got back to him wearing it while sleeping we noticed that his forhead was once again being rubbed wrong and looking sunburned.
We'll call the orthotist again today and see if we can get in right away and hopefully get the helmet fitting correctly. The helmet has already been kicked across the room so if things don't work out soon it may accidentally end up in the trash.

ps. Megan goes back to work full time today, the boys will have to try to survive without wonderful Mommy for a few days :(

pps. A favorite from our large 6-mo. photo collection:

Setback

We've had a bit of a setback with Helmy (my lil' pet name for Elijah's helmet). The first night he wore it all through the night, Saturday, it wasn't kind to his head. He woke up Sunday with a dark red welt-like mark across his forehead. Arrgggghhh...I really wanted to throw that thing in a dumpster, but I took a deep breath and nicely set it down. We kept Helmy off until yesterday when we could get in to see the orthotist, who looked shocked at what it had done to his head. Mr. Orthotist reshaped the inside of the helmet so it hopefully won't happen again. So here we go, at square one again. We are to re-start wearing the helmet very slowly and he should be wearing it full-time again by the weekend. I had it on him for a bit this morning and it appears to be sliding all over the place now! Really?? If we have further major issues, I may revisit the dumpster idea. Elijah is such a trooper and nothing bothers him. Even with a raw forehead, he was happy as a clam!

p.s. Who's the cute little helmet man?

The decision is....

Yes! We will have a little helmethead rolling around here for the next few months. We did a lot of thinking about this and it feels right in our hearts to keep going with the helmet. While we had serious doubts and concerns about going forward with it, it just doesn't feel right to stop. We may have to work harder to get him the physical therapy he needs, but we're up for that challenge. And besides, how could we say no to something that looks soooo cute on him?

Tonight we took Elijah to his physical therapy visit and he worked on rolling. He rolled over for us the other day, but hasn't done it since. That's going to be our main goal for this next week--training his muscles to roll roll roll. He's so close so much of the time, so I give it just a few more weeks till he's doing it regularly. Now that he has his helmet, putting him on his back isn't such a no-no (no more flat spot management! yay!). His sitting is getting a lot better, too. He sits very well supported now (no more bobblehead), but if we let go of him he plops forward. His tummy time has been great and he's lifting his head and chest comfortably now, but doesn't have much longevity. He'll hold himself up for a few seconds and then he'll just lie down and chill. Silly boy.

Eli is still quite squeaky and wheezy, which is a concern to Mommy, but none of his doctors have seemed worried at all about it. His heart cath on 10/3 may tell us something....at least I hope so. It would be nice to have a reason for it all, instead of just hearing the standard, "I'm not sure of the cause. Maybe he'll grow out of it?"

Elijah has been introduced to the world of daycare this week! It's a bit strange for me being back at work, but in a way, it's kind of nice having a routine again. Dan has been able to be home with him a few days this week, but the other days Elijah has gone to Carrie and Mike's and he seems to do great there! He definitely loves people, so that helps out a lot with this transition. Slowly we'll get into even more of a routine and as subbing picks up for Dan, Elijah will get to spend more time with Carrie and Mike and will get to know the eight other kids that they watch (there's a total of 8 boys there! yikes!). It'll be fun watching him progress, as he interacts with the other kids and watches them crawling and walking. He's the youngest one there, so we're hoping he'll be motivated to keep up!

A Little Help

Megan and I are going back and forth about this whole helmet thing. Granted it's only the first day, but as expected Elijah hates it and screams like a Lemming who has foolishly followed the Lemming in front of him off the edge of a cliff. If it were just that, we could press on because the first few days are always the toughest and he'd get used to it eventually. Our main concern is that his neck muscle development and range of motion will be affected and essentially put on hold. We didn't fully realize how much impact the helmet would have on those things until we saw how the helmet affected his range of motion and movement. We've worked very hard to try to get him caught up and he's still quite a ways behind. That and the fact that we've had a few people comment on how they couldn't notice the flat spot have us second guessing our choice.
It comes down to this: Is an unnoticeable flat spot that is not a medical concern worth 4-5 months of helmet time and even more delayed development? We just want what's best for him and if pushing through this first week of torture is what is best we'll do it without question. We just aren't sure what's best, I'd really hate to see him not rolling over/sitting up/crawling until he's a year old. Is a perfectly round noggin worth those developmental delays? Personally, my noggin is not in the best shape...inside and out...but I seem to do okay.
Basically, we're leaning towards not using the helmet and wondering what other people would do in our shoes, please give us your thoughts?

ps. I'm a married man and therefore allowed to say such things as the following: Megan is SEXXXXY and I Loooooove smooching her!

pps. Check out Elijah's 6-mo. photos on our Shutterfly acct (link to right). He's sooo cute.

Here's a couple pics of the helmet man, he's okay at first but then gradually becomes a beast!