Jude's big day out

Jude has his big debut on Friday at Jon's annual back-to-school departmental lakeside bash. He was interested in all the new faces and was very cooperative with all those who wanted to hold him. It is such a pleasure to introduce Jude to those who have kept him so close in prayer and in thought. We get to show them our little sandy-haired, answered prayer. I'm so glad we have the blog and all of the comments to show him how many folks were cheering him on from the moment he was born. We are so thankful for all the support and the continued kindness from our friends and family.

Beginning this past Wednesday Jude has really improved in the reflux arena. I don't know if the Prevacid finally kicked in or the Carafate took hold, but he is a MUCH happier baby. We have also been employing the strategies of "Happiest Baby on the Block." We are swaddling, shh-ing, swinging and such and feeling more confident each day. I don't want to downplay the challenges of an infant because we certainly struggle with finding what works on a given day, but we went to bed at 9:45 last night and I'm feeling pretty dang good.

A few pics

Can't stop the reflux

Jude's reflux was full tilt yesterday, and he hardly slept at all. But yesterday evening he went to sleep at about 8:45 and didn't get up until 1 a.m. and then again at 5 a.m. Our pediatrician has now prescribed Carafate to coat his throat and prevent the acid from penetrating. The trick is the Carafate will also prevent the Prevacid from being absorbed if taken too close. We have developed a schedule to administer. He had a bad moment in the car today in the form of a screaming, sweaty fit. It was kind of scary because it was not crying, it was screaming. I was checking fingers and toes and clothes to be sure everything was intact. Once I sat him up at 90 degrees in my lap (we were parked), he stopped crying and fell asleep. Acid reflux is a mean, mean dude.

Jon has his first class of the semester tonight, so I'll be flying solo with Capt. Judeman. I'm hopeful that tonight will be like last night. The med schedule puts him taking the coating agent before bed, so falling asleep should be easier.

We have some leads in the childcare area and anticipate having a decision made by the end of the week. I am not looking forward to putting him into someone else's hands especially with all this acid stuff. I am hoping it is a lot better by the time I go back to school and it won't be a worry. We told everyone we've interviewed that he must be upright 20 minutes after he eats and if he's not it gets ugly. Of course, everyone said no problem, but we are leaning toward a provider with 3 other kids, one who is at school all day, over the one with two 2-year-olds and two-1-year-olds . We just didn't see where she would be able to devote the time to Jude that he needs and that I need to rest my mind.

Oh, and on Thursday, Jude weighed 10 lbs. and 10 oz. He's a moose! He's a month old too!

First day of school

Normally I would be all geared up for tomorrow. I would be rehearsing my script in my head, remembering the bad jokes I always tell on the first day of school and trying to describe to 6th graders how to read their schedule (it actually takes a college degree). I would sleep poorly, scared my alarm wouldn't go off. And Jon would finally have to say, "Amanda, it will be fine." I would spend the morning helping with combination locks and giving directions. I would come home exhausted from all the talking but call my mom immediately to tell her how it went.

This year is different. I will spend my day with diapers, feedings, and Jude the 10-pound wonder-kid. I know these next two weeks are going to go by so quickly before I have to go back to work. I'll be ready to see my friends and meet my new students, but leaving Jude is going to be hard. I'm so glad Jon will be here with him. We are still looking for someone to keep Jude about 10 hours a week when mine and Jon's schedules are off set for a few hours. We had something arranged, or so we thought, since April, but it fell through.

Anyone know of a good baby sitter? Must have experience with baby acid reflux :)

1500 meter swim

Thank goodness for the Olympics. Jude came home August 1, and the Olympics started a week later as did Jude's acid reflux and the colicky behavior. The competitions have given us good topics of conversation and diversion during these first few weeks without sleep. With swimming and gymnastics in the evenings correlating with Jude's fussy time, we have something to focus on while we let him "self-soothe." In the wee hours when Jude and I are up having a snack, I can stay awake watching women's doubles table tennis instead of infomercials for that sandwich maker thing. (By the way, if you have never watched women's doubles table tennis, you are missing out on some fast action. Their reaction time rivals that of major league hitters). I have also enjoyed replays of the day's highlights, badminton, beach volleyball, men's volleyball, handball, and water polo.


Tonight, the Websters paid a visit and brought dinner (thank you! thank you!), which was just what we needed as Jude had a rough 8-9:30pm. He is in bed now and asleep. The pediatrician told us to let him cry for 15-20 minutes, so he will fall asleep on him own. This waiting period is going better for him each day, and he seldom cries longer than 15 minutes. It continues, however, to be hard for me. We've received good advice and support from friends, so I am hopeful this won't last too many more weeks. No mom wants to see their baby cry, but I'm trying to keep perspective (easier now that he's sleeping in the next room). If this is our biggest issue, we are truly blessed.


Lucy and Clara are doing a nice job of accepting Jude into the pack, so I have included their pics here too. Clara is in the green harness, and Lucy looks disinterested. She is such a teen.

Colic, acid reflux, and sleeplessness

Jude's umbilical cord finally fell off so we could give him a real bath. He really enjoyed it, and was very curious the entire time. One hurdle down.

It's been a crazy week. We took Jude to the pediatrician last week after he threw up several times overnight. We found out he has acid reflux and needs to take medicine, sleep at a 30 degree angle, and stay upright after eating for about 20 minutes.

She also diagnosed him with that lovely collection of symptoms known as colic. It started over the weekend. Jude was fussy from about 4-9pm, but the last two days it's been more like screaming from 6p-12a. We had his 2 week check up today (he's 3 weeks old) and the doctor gave us some good advice about trying to get his schedule straightened back out and keep him less stimulated during the day so he doesn't melt down in the evenings. Our doctor is also certified in infant massage and will be showing us a few things to help Jude relax and sleep. No infant should be awake for hours on end, and no parents of an infant should be up past midnight.

In other news, Jude weighs 9 lbs. 12 ounces, having gained a pound in a week. He is an inch longer, as well. He is in the 75th percentile for length and weight and the 90th for head circumference. We had a photo shoot today to try to capture some cute moment for a birth announcement, but when your 3 week old is in the 90th percentile for head circumference, a lot of the photos make him look a lot older than he really is. There is a real sweet picture of him sleeping in the NICU, but that's not how I want to remember the blessed event nor do I want to distribute that picture.

Lobster Hat!

Catching our breath

Last night was Jude's (and by that I probably mean our) best night home so far. He's on a pretty consistent 3 hour schedule at night. During the day he's closer to 2.5 or even 2 hours, but at night he lets us sleep a bit more. Bless him. Last night I was able to feed him every time he woke, and we didn't have to use the bottle we made.

We are gaining confidence each day, and learning what works for us and what doesn't. We're figuring out how the baby works and what he needs and when he needs it. I think before your baby is actually home, it's hard to read books about having babies and really understand what they mean. There really is nothing like being a parent the first time and finding yourself going from fantastic to frustrated in the same moment. We love this baby so much, and after last week, this week of no sleep and crying and discovery is really a beautiful time.

We had so many plans leading up to Jude's birth, and they had to be changed--no natural delivery, no holding the baby and breast feeding right after delivery, leaving the hospital for the first time as two and not three. The bittersweet part of all of those plans is that we didn't make many plans for after the birth. Everything now is just unfolding.

Jude

Living with Jude

I would have to say that after four days and three nights home with our baby, we are the happiest zombies in the world.

Our first night was the battle of the pacifier. In the NICU, Jude was first given a pacifier so that he could learn to suck and swallow on his own so that we could start feeding him. However, his dependency on the thing led to a terrible evening of him losing the pacifier and screaming every fifteen minutes when it fell out of his mouth. We 86'd the pacifier that night, and I think we are all better for it. We ended up with about 5 hours of sleep, four of which came all at once. Saturday morning at the doctor he weighted 7.12 lbs.

Night 2 was frustrating at the beginning because Jude wants to cluster feed, which means he was eating his meal over the course of an hour and a half in about 20 minute increments. This made for a very tired mommy and a daddy who felt like he wanted to do more but couldn't. We wanted to get more sleep this night, so we went to bed at 9:30, and with all the interruptions probably ended up with 8 hours over the course of 12.

Night 3 is where I got really frustrated and really leaned on Jon. I was sore and Jude wanted to latch and unlatch and relatch, and I was in PAIN. We went to the fridge and heated up a bottle of what I had pumped the day before and Jon delivered it. This ended up being just what I needed to recover, and it took Jude through to 8:45 this morning.

At his 9:15 appointment this morning, Jude weighed in at 8.6 lbs., and the doctor told us we can start working to end the cluster feedings. We tried it this afternoon by insisting that he eat longer instead of falling asleep at the breast and making him wait at least 2 hours before he eats again. Jude was not happy about it at first, but now he's asleep and he should be really hungry at his next feeding, making him eat longer without the battle to keep him awake. It feels like a step forward in learning about how to compromise and preserve my parts, keep from feeling a constant milk maid, and give Jude what he needs. He is obviously gaining weight!

Guess What?

We get to pick up Jude today!

More later today.

Also, I had a dream that Jude's real parents were Darko Milicic and Heather Graham. I don't know what that means.