Eileen's Age:

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

William's Age:

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Eileen the Big Sister

Eileen is really enjoying her role as big sister.

She and William adore each other.  I hope this continues when William is able to crawl and get into her stuff.

At first, Eileen was jealous.  She didn't want anything to do with the new baby, and it was impossible to get a good picture of her next to him.
First glimpse of the new baby
Not happy about sharing mommy...

We had to let her hold an iPhone so she would sit next to William.
Sometimes, she wouldn't even get in the photo with William...

Photo without Eileen

Not wanting to take a picture with William.
We took over 100 snapshots for my Christmas card, and we never got a "perfect" one because Eileen was so upset when we sat her next to the baby.
She did try to give the 10 day old baby some sugar cookie
In the same frame, but not touching the baby
However, it didn't take long for Eileen to learn to adore her brother.  And he already is fascinated with her.  Eileen gets smiles from William when nobody else can.  His gaze follows her wherever she goes.

She now poses with William.

And pretends to read to him.

She loves to give him hugs and kisses.



And Eileen takes special pleasure in photobombing his pictures.



 Eileen is proud of her role as big sister, and she should be because she's a very good sister!


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

William's Surgery

William had surgery on March 2 to fix what we thought was an esophageal web.  It's kind of a long story.
William being dressed in his hospital gown

When William was about ten days old, he began spitting up a lot and he was acting like he was hurting.  So we saw Dr. Powell, expecting a diagnosis of reflux (just like Eileen had).  Dr. Powell did think he had reflux, but she sent William for an upper GI x-ray to verify her diagnosis.

The radiologist found a small esophageal stricture in William and Dr. Powell gave us the option of seeing if it would cause problems or going to see a pediatric gastroenterologist.  We chose to see the specialist and went to Mobile.  The pediatric GI diagnosed William as having dairy and soy intolerances (because his "reflux" symptoms started about 1.5 weeks after birth rather than right after birth).  I was told to cut all dairy and soy out of my diet (which is not easy to do) and to come back in a month to see how William was doing.  It takes one month because it takes two weeks for the offensive soy & dairy proteins to get out of the mother's body (and milk supply) completely, and then another two weeks for everything to leave the baby's body.
William after his first appointment with the GI doctor

William before his second GI appointment
In January we went for William's follow-up pediatric GI appointment, and William was doing SO much better.  Changing my diet, and thereby changing what was getting to William, was making a huge difference.  So we were surprised when the pediatric GI scheduled us for a surgery consult.  Dr. Powell was also surprised by the surgery consult.

We met with the surgeon at the end of January.  Before we knew it, William was scheduled for a scope and possible dilation at the beginning of March.  David and I thought that maybe we should ask for another upper GI xray before we went along with surgery, but we didn't say anything.

William at his surgery consult
The night before surgery, we stayed with David's grandparents in Daphne (near Mobile).  At about 6 pm, Eileen began having trouble breathing.  Luckily, family friend Dr. Meg Moore lives nearby and she was nice enough to see Eileen at her house late on Sunday evening.  Eileen had a bad cold and needed a nebulizer (which I'd packed... because I pack everything but the kitchen sink when traveling with a baby).

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am on March 2.  William had been fasting since midnight, with only a small bottle of Pedialyte at 3 am.  However, he wasn't taken back for surgery until 8:30 am.  All of his surgical nurses were so nice, but it was awful to see the little guy so hungry.  He handled it like a champ.

William on the way to the hospital for surgery
About 30 minutes after he'd been taken back, David and I got a call that William was back out and in recovery.  We happened to run into the very angry surgeon in the hall, and he informed us that the scope showed that nothing was wrong with William- there was no esophageal stricture.  David and I were so happy to hear that William was perfectly healthy that we weren't as upset as the surgeon that he'd been put under general anesthesia for no reason.

Getting dressed for surgery

Napping before surgery
Healthy Baby home after surgery
After the fact, I think we've been a little irritated that William had to undergo anesthesia when there was no cause.  However, David and I should have listened to our instincts and demanded another test before we consented to the surgery.  One day, we'll learn to listen to our parental instincts.

And in spite of this little bump in the road, we are incredibly blessed: William is perfectly healthy and is growing so quickly!

Cute in his hospital gown

Playing with his feet before surgery

William is Four Months Old!

Yesterday, William turned four months old:

We had a photo shoot
which Eileen joined.


Today, at 4 months + 1 day, William rolled over from back to front for the first time.

William weighs in at 15.0 pounds and he's usually a very happy boy.  He smiles all of the time and only cries when he is hungry (which is often) and when he's dirty or wet.  William is very strong and is always trying to pull himself up to sitting.  He enjoys his bumbo seat.

William adores Eileen, and I think the feeling is mutual.  I am so happy, and I hope this continues.

William is wearing size 6 month clothes, but he is fitting into a few 9 month items.

No teeth yet.  Eileen didn't cut any teeth until she was about 8 months old.

The Pediatric GI told us to start William on solid foods at 4 months old.  We are going to start any day, but I just haven't been up to dealing with the mess that comes with feeding a baby rice cereal for the first time.  Ick!  However, William nurses all of the time, so I'm sure he's ready for solids.

William has soy and dairy intolerances, so we had to check the rice cereals to make sure that they don't contain anything that will upset him.  Gerber rice cereal actually contains soy ingredients (ugh!), so we're going to feed him Beech Nut brand, which is much purer in that it only contains rice (no soy or dairy or other fillers).  I am on a soy-free and dairy-free diet until William weans at 1 year (more on that in a future post.










And to catch up-
William at FOUR MONTHS OLD:

THREE MONTHS OLD:

TWO MONTHS OLD:






ONE MONTH OLD:


BIRTH: