Well, I haven’t posted in a very long time. Hopefully I will be able to get back to posting at least once a month now. We have had a few hiccups with the baby and he seems to be eating up most of the time I used to have to write. However, he has recently begun sleeping much better, both at nap times and at night, so I should be able to get back to this now!
So, the bumps…
At about 10 days old, Henry stopped eating. I spent the night worrying about it and wondering if it was me. The next day he was inconsolable and still not eating well. In the afternoon I decided to check his temp, he didn’t feel super warm, I just had a feeling that something wasn’t right. He had a fever. Now, I know that newborns must be taken to the emergency right away if they have a fever, so, I packed him into his seat and drove him to the hospital. Now, it was the weekend, so I hadn’t even gotten dressed. I threw on a sweater and a coat and took off. I spent the entire drive to the hospital trying to keep him crying just so that I would know he was still breathing and still okay. When we arrived at the hospital, they put us in a separate waiting room, which I was not ready for but makes perfect sense because his immune system was not built up enough to be around potentially ill children. They took him in fairly quickly and began poking him. This is not fun when you are in the very hormonal post-partum stages, but we got through. After several tests, and three attempts at getting a urine sample they finally decided that it was a urinary tract infection. This is good, easily treated and minimal risk for him. But, because he is so young he must stay and be observed for at least 48 hours. We stayed in the hospital for three nights. They took his vitals regularly, they weighed his diapers, I had to keep track of how long he was nursing. They sent him for an ultrasound and the next day he was released. We then waited for an appointment for another test, which had to be done 6 weeks later. They sent us to the x-ray department where a dye was put into his bladder (I will leave the details on how this was done out) and they took x-rays as he peed to make sure the pee wasn’t going back up into his kidneys. Stressful test, but it went well, there were no problems. We then had to see a pediatrician about the results. She tells us everything looked fine in the x-rays, but she wanted another ultrasound to make sure everything had gone back to normal before declaring that he was fine. Second ultrasound, I’m feeling pretty good at this point, he hasn’t had any fevers since the visit to the hospital, he’s been relatively happy and eating well, this should be no problem. Problem. 10 days later, we find out that in this ultrasound they have found what looks like kidney stones. Kidney stones! But, don’t worry, the pediatrician tells me, it’s fairly common and nothing to be concerned about but keep an eye out for fevers still and take him into the hospital if he gets a fever and have them test for a UTI. Okay, don’t worry, fairly common. Sure, I can not worry, right? Wrong! I have spent all the time since his last appointment worrying; every time he screams in pain I wonder if it’s the kidney stones (pretty sure it’s teeth).
He also got a lovely eye infection in there. Don’t really remember how long ago it was, just remember having to try to put the silly eye “drops”, more like ointment, on his eyes. He was not a fan. He looked pretty miserable, but he was in good spirits throughout.
And finally, the sleeping. This one I had a really hard time with. He was so different from Lily with his sleeping I was finding it difficult to get used to and was worrying about getting past it. Henry loved to be swaddled. For the first couple of months it didn’t really bother me, I knew that he would be warmer that way anyway and it also gave him a very clear signal that sleep was coming. However, as he started getting closer to rolling over I became a little concerned. Lily never liked being swaddled, not even at the hospital when she was born, so I never had to worry about the rolling over, she always had her arms free. So, I decided to try to keep one arm out, he didn’t go for it. After that, I would try periodically to keep his arms out and see if he would sleep. The answer was no. He would be asleep when I’d take him to bed, but as soon as he hit the crib mattress his eyes would pop open, he’d take his soother and start chatting with it – wide awake. This was getting frustrating. It was only a matter of time before he figured out how to roll while swaddled, but not swaddling him would mean no sleep at all. I was beginning to think that I would be teaching him how to swaddle himself as he got older. Then he got a cold, and was teething, at the same time. He was having a hard time sleeping, for naps and at night. Then he became congested. My husband took his arms out of his swaddle as we tried to comfort him one night. I was skeptical that he would be able to sleep, but I knew that sleeping on his tummy would be better with the congestion so I gave it a shot. It took me a while to get him to settle and fall asleep on me, but when I took him up to bed he didn’t wake up immediately. In fact, he slept for at least three hours on his stomach without his swaddle. He was also on Tempra which probably helped the matter as well. But, from that point on he has not needed to be swaddled. It has only been four days or so, but he has not been on the Tempra for the last two days and is still doing great without the swaddle! I am not
happy that he was sic
k, but I am very happy that because he was sick he was able to transition easily to no swaddle.
Now, the fun!
The hotel on the way home from New York
Fredrock
Henry has already been on two road trips! The first when he was only three weeks old, still on the antibiotics for his UTI, we drove to Fredricton, NB for the night to see I Mother Earth at Fredrock. The second was in November, we went to Dobbs Ferry, NY to visit my great aunt for a week. Henry was a trooper for all the long car rides which was quite surprising since at that point he did not like the car and did not immediately fall asleep in the car unless it was for his 30 minute nap. While in New York we went into the city to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Lily loved all the dancing, especially the large number of Santas; and Henry was quite taken with all the music and lights as well!
Veteran’s Day waiting for the train into NYC
The hotel on the way to New York
Lily started some new activities in September. She was very excited to be able to start dance lessons. She also switched to a new gymnastics club, one with a trampoline! And, in January she began Aquatic Kiddie Kapers at the Spryfield Wave Pool which is a half day program where she gets to do crafts, story time, play time for about an hour and a half and then goes to the pool for a 30 minute swim lesson. Having all these big girl activities has made being a big sister a little more tolerable for her as well.
Outside the dance studio with her cousins
We also celebrated Henry’s first Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas. Lily had her first out of home birthday party at the Spryfield Wave Pool. It was a great time, all the children (and grown-ups) seemed to have a great time.
