Firsts

Since Henry's surgery he's had a spate of recent developments. He continues to smile broadly and frequently and often supplements with giggles and squeals. He's a pretty intense baby-- most often he's either smiling and happy or screaming and very, very unhappy. He doesn't have a lot of in-between. He recovered well from his surgery, but other than the cessation of his gigantic projectile vomit episodes-- he's basically the same Henry.

H went on his first vacation this past week to Estes Park, Colorado. He was quite a hiker and enjoyed taking naps at high altitude while being front-packed by Dad. There's new photos in yahoo of the trip. Henry slept almost the whole way on the flight there and only cried for a bit on the way back. It's funny how once you have a baby, you start evaluating everyone that's walking down the aisle for how baby-friendly they seem. We wound up sitting next to an older woman who was very sweet towards Henry but not overly chatty-- perfect!

Looking at his left hand is a constant source of entertainment now and runs second only to looking at lights-- a favorite since the early days. I wish we had good news to report in the sleep department, but actually Henry's nighttime sleep has been deteriorating. Other than 2 days of constant and sound sleep after his surgery, Henry has been sleeping in shorter and shorter chunks at night. Things reached a logger-head on Tuesday night. After working for an hour and half to get him to sleep, he only slept the rest of the night in 30 minute chunks.

The next night i put him to sleep in his carseat and he slept for 6 hours straight. He's been somewhere in between since then-- sleeping 4-5 hours when i first put him down and then not going back to sleep soundly after that. We've tilted the mattress of his crib again and have a pediatrician appointment tomorrow to see if the sleep issues are related to continuing stomach problems or not.

This week my grandmother comes to visit us and then she, I and Henry are taking a trip to DC to spend the 4th at my parents' beach house and catch up with friends in DC. Look for more pictures at the end of next week!

Pyloric Stenosis

Thought i would update everyone on our slightly traumatic past few days. The short of it is that Henry was diagnosed with a stomach condition called Pyloric Stenosis. We went to the ER on Saturday, had surgery late Saturday night and we just got back home Sunday evening and Henry seems to be doing well.

The long of it goes like this-- on Thursday Henry had his two-month checkup and his immunizations. At the appointment Dr. G found what he described as a "mass" in Henry's stomach and wanted us to have an ultrasound performed. Thursday night he was really unhappy after his shots and super fussy (read screaming his head off) the next day. We were lucky enough to get the ultrasound Friday morning and although they didn't find any type of mass, they did confirm a diagnosis of pyloric stenosis. This condition involves the pyloral muscle which is located at the bottom of the stomach which opens to release the stomach contents into the lower intestine. The muscle becomes thickened, reducing the opening the food passes through. The stomach contents build up and you are rewarded with projectile vomiting.

In the past several weeks the spit-up had increased and at least once a day Henry would erupt, losing the entire contents of his stomach. This was both scary and disgusting-- especially when it came spewing from his nose. The only fix for pyloral stenosis is abdominal surgery. We were told that if your child was going to have a problem requiring surgery this was the one to have. It has a 100% success rate, is minimally invasive, and very quick. We spent Saturday at the ER and being admitted to the hospital and then late Saturday night they did the surgery. Henry did great in the surgery and his been recovering really well.

They kept us in the hospital all day Sunday to make sure that he was able to tolerate food once he started eating. He progressed through the feeding ladder like a champ and was able to keep everything down. So-- we were able to come home this evening. We're hoping that this helps Henry be a little more comfortable and perhaps cut down on some of the loud crying that was getting worse in the past several weeks.

Personality Development

A friend asked me recently if i was noticing Henry's personality developing. There are a few things i've observed and i'm curious to see if they are borne out as Henry grows. So that i can remember what they are down the line i though i would post about them.

Henry seems to be a very observant baby. He likes nothing more than to sit and look around wide-eyed. In fact he likes looking at the light and his surroundings so much that he fights sleep-- even when he's completely exhausted. He also seems fairly sensitive to transitions and new things. If something takes him off guard he isn't very happy-- trouble is it's hard to warn a baby. I provide a running commentary of what is going to happen next, but somehow i'm not always sure he gets my gist. Certain things that he wasn't very happy about at first-- like the bath-- seem to get better with time and repeated occurrences.

I'm so curious to see Henry develop more and find out if these particular traits stick around.

Outings

This past week i had two notable solo outings with Henry-- Old Navy and the grocery store. It's no surprise that after birthing a child your clothes don't exactly fit you in the way they used to. In order to get through the summer i realized i was going to require some new t-shirts, so i decided a trip to old navy was in order. Luckily Henry fell asleep in his carseat on the way there and slept in the stroller while we were in the store and i was trying on clothes.

This trip emboldened me to tackle the weekly grocery shopping after we didn't make it to the store this weekend. Again Henry slept in the car and in the stores but getting all the groceries up into the house and put away wasn't as easy. By the time we got home Henry was ready to be out of the carseat and to be held, which is not easy when you're trying to cram frozen goods into the freezer.

All in all though it feels good to be more mobile.

Smiles

This week Henry has started smiling real smiles at us. When he's in the mood, he's not stingy, choosing to smile at the walls and windows as well, but it certainly feels good when he looks right at you and flashes you a big grin. Mostly i see these smiles in the morning after he eats, when he's alert and happy, but sometimes he gives us some smiles in the evening so that JT can catch them too.

I won't say something trite like "they make it all worth it," but the smiles do certainly help to sweeten the deal-- especially after particularly sleepless nights.

First Month

A bit tardy, but i wanted to post something about Henry's first month. Each week feels like i'm making the adjustment to motherhood a bit more. We've enjoyed visits from several family and friends in the last few weeks and i've gotten to know my son better through each of our visitors-- the things they notice and admire in Henry, and what he responds to helps me see him in different ways.

My parents came a few weekends ago and we got to celebrate our first mother's day and successfully ventured out with Henry to dinner. The next weekend brought my good friend Laurie's visit, where we discovered the kind of pacifier that actually pacifies Henry. Then this past week i was fortunate enough to have my mother-in-law stay with us and help me out the entire week. The constant support really gave me some breathing room and helped me feel more confident about comforting and caring for Henry.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday for Henry's one month check-up and from a birthweight of 6 lbs. 10 oz. he was up to 10 lbs! The nourishment aspect is certainly going well and i feel like i'm getting better at reading Henry's cues. His reflux has been mostly better which provides for calmer days and evenings. We've also learned that several times when he gets fussy in the evenings, he wants to just be laid down-- it's like he gets tired of being calmed and wants to do it himself. We are happy to oblige. I've posted some new pictures of the last few weeks which you can view by clicking on the yahoo link at the left.

Oh, also today is my 30th birthday which seems like an afterthought considering the import of having a child!

Small Blessings

Now who knows what kind of child Henry will ultimately be, but if you asked me to describe him honestly in one word, it would currently have to be fussy. I'm sure in part it's perception, but it seems like if he's not sleeping or eating, he's fussy. This morning he was making his normal range of seal-like noises and i knew he was starting to wake up. I went into his room to help him along so that i could change him and we could eat before he had a meltdown. Turns out he was already awake, just sitting in his chair wide-eyed, looking around, really content. Might just be a blip, but it was the nicest start to my morning and i felt like i should go ahead and log this before the fussy afternoon period takes over!