Tristan's Story

Tristan had an appointment with his new ENT, Dr. Keech, this afternoon. As of today, Tristan will be getting tubes in his ears on March 16th. He has a lot of fluid in both ears, and it's causing the the back-to-back ear infections. Hopefully, this will take care of that problem and he won't be in so much pain all the time!

Today was Tristan's last day of his latest round of antibiotics... he woke up with splotches on his face. As the morning went on and we started getting ready for school, they turned darker and spread all over his neck, tummy and back. =-0

Annie came home from work to look at them, and then his dad came back so that I could head off to school. I was so worried about my sweet boy! Brandon took him to the doctor at 10:30 and she confirmed that it was hives - he has a sulfa allergy, apparently. So we're discontinuing the antibiotics and giving Benadryl until his rash goes away. My sweet boy is itching and scratching and miserable, but it does seem to be getting a little better with each Benadryl dose.

He got a referral to the ENT, so we should be having that appointment soon... Hopefully we can come up with something that will keep him from having an ear infection all the time.

Tristan was up all night last night... he would just wake up screaming. I brought him to bed with me, but he just tossed and turned. I gave him some Tylenol this morning so that he could rest and it seemed to help a lot. I still really just thought that he was teething, since he hasn't had any fever or congestion.

Much to my _____, I took him to daycare this morning. I thought the change of scenery would do him some good and really, I needed a break. When I got home, I called and made him a doctor's appointment.

I went back a couple of hours later and picked him up (they said he did great). As it turns out, he still has a double inner ear infection. His chest is clear this time, at least. He had another really painful shot of Rocephin and they gave him a new prescription and some ear drops. She said that if this doesn't clear up, or if it recurs again in the near future, then he's headed to an ENT, to possibly get tubes in his ears. I would hate for him to have to do that, but he just can't seem to get rid of these ear infections. :(

He's asleep now, with his nana. Hopefully he'll feel better soon!

I do realize that Tristan's birthday party was over 10 days ago and that I never came back with an update. I'm a horrible mommy. Being a full-time mom and student is getting to be a little harder than I imagined. Though I just spent the better part of 36 hours reading this blog: Matt Logelin and that makes it seem like I have such a simple job.

Tristan is doing great... he had his 12-month check-up and shots, which broke my heart. He's older now so all the emotions just seem more real. Also, as of 1/27, he moved up to the "big kid" (12-18 mos) room at daycare. He now only takes 1 nap a day, goes to recess, does art activities and is just generally growing up right before my eyes.

On all other fronts, he's doing great. He now has seven teeth (for the most part). He can walk, run, climb and a number of other special maneuvers. He LOVES to read his (huge array of) books and now divides his time between reading, riding his 4-wheeler and sweeping/mopping. He's going to make some girl a wonderful husband some day. ;0)

I'm adding some pictures from his birthday and party, to make up for the belated update.

Tristan had his 9 month well-baby visit today with Dr. Norris. It was his first regular check-up with his new doctor and we really liked her!! She got down in the floor to play with Tristan and talked to him the whole time. He loves her!

As for him... he is at 20.1 lbs, which puts him in the 75th percentile. A little big for his age, but he started out big for his age! haha. He's still only at 27.5 inches, which is about the 25th percentile, so he's a little on the short side, but that's okay. His head circumference is 19 in., which is the 98th percentile. Again, he's always been ahead of the game on that one, lol.

His eyes and ears and everything look great and she was really impressed that he's so active and already walking. She was also surprised that he also says words and knows their meaning, like calling me 'mama' and Brandon 'dada' and not confusing the two.

He didn't get his HIB and flu shots today, they still haven't been able to get his records from his old doctor. But they're going to call as soon as they get them so we can go in and get him caught up.

Little Monkey is six months + 1 week now... today was his well-baby check-up with Nurse Rossell.

He now weighs 17 pounds, 9 oz. and is 27 inches long. He's five ounces shy of being double his birth weight and has grown by half a foot! =-0

He got 3 shots, with another due at his next visit (they were out of the vaccine). He's already eating fruits and veggies, but he got 'permission' to eat soft table foods and he can have meats at 8-9 months.

I can't believe my little man is already half a year old!

Today was Tristan's four month check-up.

He now weighs 15 pounds, 3 oz. and is 26 inches long. He got 3 shots with 5 vaccines and is *super* cranky, but other than that he is doing okay. His dr gave the go-ahead for him to start baby foods when his cereal isn't filling enough for him, but he could take or leave the cereal right now, so I think it will still be quite a while before he moves on to veggies.

Tristan had his 2-month well-baby visit today.

His appointment was at 10 am, so unfortunately, I had to wake him up from his nap to take him, and he was pretty fussy the whole time we were there. He weights 11 lbs., 9 oz. now (up almost 3 pounds from birth) and is 23 inches long (up 2 from birth). He had to get 5 vaccinations in 3 shots, poor baby.

I gave him Tylenol before we went, and again after we got back, and he's been doing pretty great ever since. No fever or redness, knock on wood. What a strong little guy I have! :0)

Tristan's first week was a pretty eventful one.

We got home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. We had a few visitors and then just enjoyed our first night at home.

On Thursday morning, he had his first appointment with our family practitioner. He had developed jaundice overnight! =-0 He was also down to 8 lbs., 3 oz. - 12 ounces down from his birth weight. The average loss is usually less than 10 ounces. So, we started pushing fluids and had to feed every 2 hours. He did good for a while, but that night, he started refusing to breastfeed. We had to start supplementing formula to make sure he was getting enough calories.

On Friday, I stopped breastfeeding altogether and started alternating between formula and expressed breast milk. He started eating much better, and his color started to improve. We continued that all weekend.

On Monday, he turned one week old. :0) We took him back to the doctor and his weight was up to 8 lbs., 13 oz.! He had gained 10 ounces over the weekend, so that's a wonderful improvement. His jaundice was also much better, so she said we could start spacing out his feedings. His umbilical cord was starting to get a little infected, so we were told to increase the cleanings with alcohol to every diaper change.

Today, he's eight days old and his jaundice is all but gone. His umbilical cord fell off today... which is worrisome to me, but we called the nurse and she said to keep cleaning it and he should be okay. We've got another appointment tomorrow to get his PKU follow-up, so we can check everything else out then, too.

And now, pictures from his "One Week Birthday":

Today was my follow-up ultrasound. The baby's head was measuring 3 weeks ahead last time, so they wanted an update. It's still measuring ahead, but so is the rest of him, so it looks like he'll be a normal - but big - baby. :0) The ultrasound estimated that he weighs 9 lbs., 4 oz. at this point - but it can be off by as much as 2 pounds. By the look of things, the tech thinks that he should be arriving pretty soon.

After the ultrasound, I had my usual appointment with Dr. Carl. I've officially gained 40 pounds this pregnancy. :( But I'm trying to stay confident that I'll be able to lose it. Blood pressure was fine. I was also negative for Group B Strep, which is a relief. Now I don't have to worry about getting antibiotics during labor.

I'm up to 2cm now - not sure about the effacement, since she didn't mention it. She seems to think that the baby is closer to weighing eight pounds than nine, and she thinks I shouldn't have a problem delivering him the natural way. I'm scheduled for an appointment with her next Monday, but she said that there's a chance I won't make it that far (yay!). So feel free to send labor vibes my way! ;)

Today was my 36 week OB appointment.

I hadn't gained any weight, which is great news. :) Blood pressure was normal. I had my Group B Strep test today, and should have the results next week. Hopefully it comes back negative, it would be nice to not have to worry about getting antibiotics during labor. She also did the first cervical check - I'm 1cm dilated and 50% effaced - yay!! That doesn't really mean anything, she still expects me to go to my due date, but at least it's progress. :) The baby's head is also engaged, so we shouldn't have to worry about him flipping back over into a breech position. Next appointment is at 38 weeks, and I'll have a sonogram to check his size.

We also went to the hospital today to meet with the patient care planner and get my birth plan put in my chart. That went really well, I thought. The hospital already does pretty much everything I was concerned about. After initial monitoring, I'm free to move about as I want. They won't separate Brandon from me after that time, either. It's no big deal if I don't want an epidural, but it's available if I change my mind. Once the baby is born, they encourage skin-to-skin contact and immediate breastfeeding. They'll footprint him and put his prints on anything we want. Then, his first bath takes place in the room with me, and Brandon can participate. They'll put a sign on the door from the very beginning saying that we don't want visitors, which leaves it up to us to ask for people if we want them to come in. Brandon can go to the nursery with the baby anytime he goes after that, but he'll really only go for his hearing test and circumcision. A lactation consultant will be on hand to help me out anytime I need the help, and they have a great security system in place. Overall, I was really happy with their policies and feel much better about the whole process. :)

I'm 34 weeks, 5 days as of today. And it was time for my bi-monthly OB appointment.

Blood pressure was good, as usual. I gained 4 pounds, which isn't great, but Dr. Carl didn't say that she was concerned about it, so that's good. Tristan's heartbeat was a strong 150,.. he was a little more active this afternoon than he usually is when I have appointments. :) He's also still head-down, which is great. I'm still measuring right-on for my dates, so it looks like we just have a little over 5 weeks to go now.

My next appointment is in 2 weeks, and then they're weekly after that. So we're in the final countdown now! :)

I didn't take pictures this week, things keep coming up. But I'll try to add one this weekend. :)

Today was my 32-week appointment. Can anyone believe that? =-0

First, I only gained 2 pounds this time. YAY! My OB said that everyone had been really upset with their weight gain this last week or so (blame Thanksgiving) but that she was proud of me for gaining exactly what I was supposed to. :D

I'm measuring right on for my dates, so that's great news. And the baby's heartbeat was strong, in the 130s. That's a little lower than usual, but he's also getting bigger. :)

At my last appt, the receptionist mentioned that my dr is taking vacation the first week of January, so today I asked her about it. She said that she'll be gone, but she had no idea that the receptionist was just skipping that week of appointments. Instead, she scheduled me an appt with her nurse practioner so I can have my weekly appt and she'll take care of anything I might need that week. Which works for me, b/c I didn't want to get stuck with one of the other [male] doctors in her practice.

I think that's all. :) I tried to do a little too much today, so I'm going to go put my feet up and try to relax for a little while before bed. Next appointment is in two weeks. =)

Today was my 30 week appointment, and I got lots of info this time. :D

First, I had my follow-up sonogram, since they couldn't get all of the required shots at the 18 week one. Tristan is looking good, and is just as cute as ever. ;0) She got a good look at all of his anatomy and everything is looking just like it should. He's measuring right on target for his age.
His weight is right around 4 lbs. 1 oz. -- my OB said that's in the 69th percentile for his gestational age, which is g.reat.

As for me,... I only gained 4 pounds this week, so that was a relief. Also, no signs of preterm labor which is good, of course. I tested slightly anemic at my last appointment, but haven't been able to tolerate my over-the-counter iron supplements, so she gave me a prescription and hopefully these will work better.

Other than that... my appointments are now every 2 weeks. =-0 I can't believe we're that far along!! They went ahead and scheduled me all the way through my due date, so we're definitely counting down now!!