Back From New York

I'm back and my child is still alive. I knew Carl was more than capable of taking care of his son but I'll admit that I was concerned about his short temper and lack of patience with Justin. But I'm glad that I finally broke down and went. It was nice to visit with my aunt, uncle and cousin whom I haven't seen since my wedding 3 1/2 years ago. But the best part is that I feel this experience has made Carl a better father. Yes Carl helped out before but for the most part I was the one taking care of Justin. I just knew that after 1 day Carl would be calling me saying "come get your child" but that wasn't the case. We talked about 3 times a day but besides one call to ask where Justin's nasal cannulas were I didn't get any "how do I do this" calls". I am jealous because now Carl does this thing with Justin to get him to talk. He was trying to show me how this morning but Justin wouldn't talk to me. But as soon as Carl started doing it he was blabbering away. Oh well, I'm glad they had this quality time together.

Day 3 alone with Justin....

Sunday started terrible! I woke up around 4:30 am to the sound of howling winds and no sooner than I sat up.....the power went out. Being the Army guys that I am, I had my flashlights on standby, a mini mag lite put into candle mode kept the bedroom lit, and a LED flashlight for me to get around the house with. Justin started to wake up so I changed him and fed him and he went back to sleep for a short time. I stayed awake listening to the wind and trying to get Justin back to sleep. Around 6am he started fussing so I fed him a little bit and let him drift off again. Once daylight hit, I started to gather things for our trip to Eddies house later. No power means no heat so Justin and I needed a place to hang out for a while. I loaded up his swing, diaper bag and anything else I needed to take...by 11:30 we were ready to roll. Eddie had just as much fun playing with Justin as Justin had playing with Eddie. Although Justin ate pretty well, he was still fussy off and on, and never really slept of a long period of time. He did get to watch the Lions, play with his uncle and interrupt me from playing Grand Theft Auto!! We made it back home about 6 pm just in time for Justin to eat again, but after eating he was still fussy. I finally got him to chill and take a nap......that's why I'm able to use the computer now! Hopefully tomorrow will be like Day 1 & 2, we'll see! I've enjoyed the time with him as it has helped me learn patience and learn his signals.

Day 2 alone with Justin...

I didn't post yesterday because I feel asleep after putting Justin to bed. For the most part Saturday was a pretty smooth day, Justin ate well and was pretty laid back. Just like Friday, I gave him some time on his play mat and played with him from time to time. I gave him a bath Saturday night and a night cap of formula while listening to jazz in the nursery. Justin was ready for bed and ended up sleeping through the night!

Daddy Daycare

Well I finally put Justin to bed after a fussy 2hrs or so. I finally figured out that he was wet and hungry, and once he got what he needed, he went right to sleep. You may think that I am taking care of Justin for the day......wrong, it's just me and him till about Monday or Tuesday! Why you might ask, well because Georgina is out of town! Before you start asking why did she go out of town and leave Justin, let me add a few things. First off, my wife faithfully went to see Justin everyday while he was in the hospital for 6 months. Second, she has been home with him from Sep until just a few weeks ago when she went back to work! Not to mention the times I had to go out of town for work and she had Justin solo. During all the events that have taken place Georgy has been pretty much non stop.The other day she mentioned to a friend that she wasn't telling anybody she was going out of town because she didn't want people thinking bad of her for leaving Justin. She deserves a break and a good nights sleep, free from the baby's cries and the husbands snoring!! Not to worry, Justin is with his father...........the next best thing to mommy! As we put Day 1 in the history books, I must say it wasn't bad, for the most part Justin was a good boy! We'll try to keep it going for Saturday and hopefully all will be well. It is weird not having Georgy around, and I'm sure Justin notices and missed his mother, I can't blame him, I miss her too! But hey, this give me and Justin a chance to bond!

X-Mas Pixs

Justin says thanks...

to all his aunts and uncles for the cute clothes and toys. A special thanks to Grandpa J for the baby food maker and recipe/cook book. Now, I wonder why my parents didn't buy me anything, hmmm!

Playing with Gifts

Opening Gifts

Update on Eyes

Great news, only trace amounts of the disease can be seen in Justin's right eye and the disease is completely gone in his left. The core eye functions as far as his vision is concerned are "excellent" according to the doctor. At this point (12 weeks past his original due date) the chance of the disease getting worse and requiring additional surgery is highly unlikely so our next appointment isn't for another month. If there is additional improvement at that appointment our visits will be spaced out even more.

It's Cold Outside

My son is a time burgler!!

I gave him the benefit of the doubt for quite a while, every time me and Georgy sit down together to eat or something....Justin starts crying! For a while I thought it was just bad timing...that was until I caught him red handed trying to steal quality time from me and Georgy this weekend. It started with Friday night, while trying to have a movie date, he starts to fuss until Georgy picks him up! OK no big deal, we'll try again on Saturday......same results, arrrrgggh!! Maybe he realized that he wants to be an only child, because quality time is what got him here in the first place!!

Medical Update

So I'm really late in posting but here's an update from Justin's doctor's appointments last week:

Eyes - The doctor was very happy with the improvement in Justin's eyes. I don't know the exact details since Carl took Justin to this appointment and of course he doesn't ask all the questions I ask. We have another appointment on Friday which I'm taking him to so we'll see if the disease has totally regressed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Ears - Justin passed his hearing test in both ears so he doesn't need to be seen again until his 1st b-day. Carl and I have been noticing that Justin is responding more to sound and is often startled, particularly by loud noises, so it's nice to have it confirmed that his hearing is just fine.

DAC (Developmental Assessment Clinic) - Justin's developmental progress will be followed by the Henry Ford NICU doctors until he turns 2. Since he wasn't quite 3 months adjusted at this appointment they weren't expecting him to do much. They looked at his head control which is pretty good. He's not turning his head yet but he's able to hold his head up on his own without support. They also looked at his ability to follow objects, which he didn't too well with. But I'm not too concerned because he does follow Carl and I at home and he loves following his mobile in his swing and bassinet. They gave us some suggestions and things to work on to help improve some of these early developmental skills.

Justin weighed 8 lbs 3 ozs last Thursday (12/4). Although he has been gaining weight it's been slow and he's only in the 3rd percentile for his weight, length and head circumference. Ideally they would like to see him gain between a 1/2 - 1 oz a day so they are increasing his caloric intake by increasing his formula from 27 calories /oz to 29 and they also increased the amount of vegetable oil he gets in each bottle. Hopefully these changes will help pack on the pounds. We're on the right track so far, he gained 5 ozs in a week and now weighs 8 lbs 8 ozs.

Professional Photos

Today we had Justin's 3 month (adjusted) and our first family photos taken. And just like his father Justin wouldn't smile for any of the pictures. Enjoy!

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Back to Work

Sadly I returned to work Monday. It would've been nice to stay home with Justin longer but after 6 months off of work it just wasn't possible financially. Honestly it really wouldn't make a difference staying home longer because it would be hard no matter when I returned. Fortunately my boss has been very flexible and is allowing me to work at home the second half of the week. And since I live so close to work those days I'm in the office I'm able to come home during lunch and get a quick Justin fix.