My 1st B-day!

Mommy & Daddy had my 1 year photos taken where I tried hard not to flash my pearly whites. Sure I have no teeth but humor me a little, you all know what I mean. But I finally gave in and gave the silly photographer lady a couple smiles which made mommy happy.

Then we went to the NICU where I spent the first 102 days of my life. It was really nice seeing the nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them so I brought cupcakes to show my appreciation. I even got a birthday present, a cuddly teddy bear, from Dr. E. Sadly mommy forgot to bring the camera so I didn't get any pictures.

Anyway, here's what I'm up to these days:

I'm sitting unassisted.

I'm pushing up on my hands and knees into the crawl position but have no desire to do anything else and fall down after a few seconds.

I've been rolling from tummy to back for a while. Now I'm trying to figure out how to roll from back to tummy, although I'm perfectly content on my back so I don't know why they keep trying to get me to roll onto my tummy.

I love eating my feet, and anything else for that matter that doesn't really have any nutritional value. Feet, computers, cell phones, you name it, I don't discriminate.

I think I have this babbling/talking thing under control. I'm saying da da, ma ma, and bob and slowly starting to imitate sounds.

I'm still working on my fine motor skills but I'm getting better at grabbing things, especially something that I want to put in my mouth and chew on.

I'm sleeping through the night in my own crib. Mommy says I'm a night owl and need to start going to bed sooner than 10 or 11 though.

Enjoy the pictures
Love, Justin

Justin's First Year

My first b-day present

came from my Grammy (mommy's grandma). I just hope the parents don't ask me for another loan, lol. 1 more day until my 1st b-day!

Justin

Check out my helmet

I finally got my helmet today and I'm not happy. Can you believe I have to wear this thing 23 hours a day, you guys know I don't like being restricted. AND I'm teething, not a good combination. But check out my new look and tell me what you think. It's not pretty but at least I'm still cute, I think!

Justin

14.5 ozs vs. 14.5 lbs

Here are pictures of Justin with his Wee Bundle which was made to his exact birth measurements. I was surprised that I got so emotional when it arrived. It was a painful reminder of his birth but also a nice reminder of how far he's come.

Two Nights and Two Days with Justin

As Justin already explained in his post below, Richard and I kept Justin for two days. I was going to add pictures, because I think they always make a post more interesting, but Justin "stole" the pictures I took and put them in his post. lol

When I first brought Justin in the house, Richard immediately took him from me. If you know my husband, you know that he is not the most outgoing person; but when he is with Justin, his personality completely lights up.

The 1st night: We ended up having Justin sleep in the bed with us in a mini bassinet (I’m not sure what to really call it). We have a queen size bed and I tend to toss and turn in the night so having the baby between us was interesting. Anyway, Justin woke up at 3:45 in the morning with a short cry. Richard and I both shot straight up to figure out what was wrong. But Justin seemed fine; Richard and Justin went back to sleep but as for me, I was wide awake for the rest of the night. A few more times, Justin gurgled, coughed, or sneezed. I just left my glasses on so I could easily look over and check on him. One time, Richard jumped up again to check on Justin, even putting his hand on him to make sure he was breathing. I thought that was pretty touching.

The 1st day: I tried to follow all the rituals: medicine in the morning, a morning story, tummy time, stomach massages, and neck stretches. Oops, I forgot the prune juice. Whew! Completing everything in the routine was exhausting so when Justin took his morning nap, so did I. In the afternoon, I took Justin outside so I could plant vegetables and flowers. I guess that was fine with Justin because he took his afternoon nap.

The 2nd night: Justin got fussy about 8 p.m. I changed his diaper, and tried to feed and burp him, but nothing was soothing Justin. So, Richard took him. His question to Justin was, “What is your auntie doing to you?” Even Richard couldn’t calm Justin down permanently, so he gave him back to me. In the end, Justin ended up being fussy for about three hours and I never did figure out what was wrong. (Georgina, here is a prime reason for teaching him baby sign language.)

The 2nd day: I had an errand to run so I had to take Justin out in the morning. Richard dressed Justin (but I guess you would know that from Justin’s post.) When we got back home I tried to follow the routine; this time I remembered the prune juice.

By the time Georgina and Carl picked him up Saturday afternoon, I was thoroughly exhausted. All I can say is that my hat goes off to parents! :-)

Memorial Day 2008

This time last year I had just been put on hospital bed rest, unaware that Justin would be born just a few days later. I thought I had moved past the fears that accompanied his birth and NICU stay, but as his birthday approaches I’m realizing that I’m still bitter about a lot of things.

I’m bitter that I wasn’t put on bed rest sooner. I was monitored pretty closely early on in my pregnancy, but I feel like the ball was dropped once I was released to my OB and subsequently seen by a high risk doctor. I’m bitter that I never made it to my 3rd trimester. I’m sure I would’ve complained the entire time, but I never got the chance to complain. I’m bitter (with myself) that the first question I asked once I woke up in recovery after Justin’s birth was “Is he cute?” Obviously that should’ve been the last thing on my mind, but I think I was in denial that he was born, let alone born that early. I’m bitter that I wasn’t able to hold Justin for 3 ½ weeks. I’m bitter that I never got to breastfeed. Justin did receive breast milk his first few months of life, but I never got to enjoy that special bonding and emotional relationship with him.

I’m bitter that this experience makes Carl & I question if we even want more children. I’m bitter that if we do decide to have another child I won’t be able to experience a vaginal birth. Justin’s delivery was an emergency classical c-section, which means my uterus was cut vertically. In short, this means that I will never be able to deliver a baby vaginally for fear that the scar might tear while in labor.

With all that said, this experience has definitely made me much stronger. I am VERY thankful for our little fighter and realize that we are very fortunate that Justin is doing as well as he is.

My Aunts Rock

Mommy hasn't been feeling well since Wednesday. So Thursday Ty C and aunty Lalla offered to keep me so that mommy could get some rest. Mommy wouldn't let Ty C watch me though since she's on bed rest, but it was still nice that she offered. But Aunty Lalla was already keeping me Friday night so mommy and daddy could celebrate their wedding anniversary. I think mommy's finally feeling better now, she's not wearing that funny white thing on her face anymore. Anyway, here are some pictures from my stay at Aunt & Uncle's. We had fun, although Uncle Richard put my clothes on backwards Saturday.

Justin

8 months (adjusted)

Jedi Warrior

Its been 2 months since Justin was originally fitted for his helmet so we had an appointment yesterday to take new measurements. They now scan the baby's head instead of casting it. It was kind of neat, seeing a mold of his head automatically pop up on the computer screen. Justin looked like a little Jedi warrior in the cap.

I did voice my concerns/frustration with how long this process is taking. According to Wright & Filipis the hold up has been my insurance company. Medicaid will automatically cover the cost of the helmet, but only after they receive a denial from the primary insurance. Apparently they just received notification from my insurance that the claim was denied. But we still have the hold up with Carl's insurance. I've been to Department of Human Services twice and left the necessary information for Justin's case worker to update our insurance information in the system, but nothing. I've also been calling for weeks now but can never get anyone on the phone. At this point I'm fed up so I told Wright & Filipis to just bill me for the helmet and I'll submit a claim for reimbursement.

What a smile

Carlene's on bed rest

Carlene was told at her appointment last Friday that her blood pressure was elevated and there was protein in her urine. So she had to do a 24 hour urine collection and go back to the doctor today. Unfortunately her blood pressure is still elevated and there's still protein in her urine so the doctor put her on bed rest. And depending on the results from the 24 hour sample she could be admitted to the hospital tomorrow. She'll be 35 weeks on Wednesday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed my nephew stays put for a couple more weeks until he's full term.

My First Mother's Day

Carl, Justin & I celebrated my first mother's day at Andiamos with Carl's mother and brother. Dinner was really nice, the only thing missing was my mother.

Random Videos

Justin is putting everything in his mouth nowadays. He has to be teething but no teeth have broken through yet. But I thought these videos were pretty cute.

Happy B-day Kyndal

Justin attended his first birthday party yesterday. Although he couldn't fully enjoy the clown and train he was still pretty worn out at the end of the party.

2009 Mother of the Year Award

A friend sent me this cute video, Mother of the Year, thanks Nikki!

Another play date

Kelicia brought my homie over today for a play date. I've had play dates with lil Donne before but today was the first time that we really played together. Lil Donne even inspired me to sit up on my own and play when I saw how well he sat up on his own like a big boy. But I wonder why they call him lil Donne. He's 3 1/2 months younger than me but a whole baby bigger than me, hmm!

Justin

Test Day

When Justin started physical therapy 5 weeks ago his therapist, Julie, set 6 goals and today was test day to see how well he's doing. We've met 3 out of the 6 goals and the remaining 3 we're about 50% there to reaching.

Justin is turning his head both left and right at more than a 45 degree angle. This is good because they were concerned about tightness in his neck muscles due to the torticollis. He's also pushing up and bearing weight on his hands. Lastly, Carl and I are doing good because we're doing his stretches at each diaper change and giving him stomach massages 3 times a day.

The areas that we need to continue working on are sitting, maintaining a crawl position and rolling, all unassisted. Right now Justin is able to do all of these things but needs help (with the exception of rolling from tummy to back which he does on his own), so Julie showed me some techniques today to work on those 3 areas.

Ear & Eye Update

Justin had is 1 year hearing test this morning and passed with flying colors. They checked his ear drums and ran a series of tests which all came back normal. They will follow him yearly until age 3 , which is when his risk factors for any hearing loss decrease.

Justin also had a follow up eye exam on Friday. Now that he's almost 1 they've switched the focus from looking for any remaining signs of ROP, to looking at his tracking and following. His eyes look pretty good so he doesn't need to be seen again for 4 months.

We've come a long way from the weekly eye appointments and being told that he had mild hearing loss in one ear.

My First Baby Shower

Mommy and I went to Ty C's baby shower yesterday where I got to meet my great grandma, aunts & cousins for the first time. I can't wait to play with my little cousin. Ty C is calling us brousins.