another first checked off the list...

I really am horrible at updating my blog, I am so uninspired to write and when I do write its always long and too much detail for anyone to read. Nicholas is now 8 months old...well 8 and a half months haha I feel its cliche to say he's growing up so fast but he really is! I love that his personality is coming out so much and he is such a little stinker! There is really no other way to put it than saying he.is.a.stinker :-) He has started to army crawl EVERYWHERE and is really stinkin fast and of course loves to crawl to places he shouldnt be. Nevermind the HUGE open space we have in the living room for him to play in and crawl around he insists on crawling in the 6 inch space behind the recliner and since he is little he can fit in all these ridiculously tiny places that make it near impossible for Donnie and I to get him out of.

I dont really want to baby proof my house, like, I kind of think we just need to work with him on not touching things he shouldnt touch because when we go to other people's houses they arent going to have every little thing baby proofed. I am going to probably get a gate to block off the kitchen but thats more for my convenience than for him. I dunno maybe I am being silly and will change my mind when he gets even more mobile but its what we agree on for now.

He also is doing AWESOME with eating!! PRAISE GOD! We had really been struggling, I was at my wits end (probably why I didnt blog much), etc. He has started feeding therapy and is doing great--the therapist has some interesting tricks for us to try and we are currently working with him to get him to be able to hold his own bottle and tip his head back to drink, working on pacing himself (he gulps and doesnt breathe which is problematic for a variety of reasons) and we are working on introducing more solids. Right now he is pretty consistently eating 1/4 jar of baby food twice a day...1/2 jar total. I gave up on making his own food b/c we 1. have no freezer space, 2. with him only eating 1/2 jar total I think we can splurge the 47 cents to buy him a jar every two days haha He is also going to be evaluated for physical therapy in the next couple weeks to work on his low muscle tone.

Nicholas also had his first surgery which went well (thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!) I didnt even cry (well just tears welling up) when they took him back. I am such a big girl! haha He was so stinkin cute in his little gown w/ his itty bitty blood pressure cuff and little IV. He was such a trooper through it all!


RSS kids are at a pretty high risk of developing fasting hypoglycemia and ketonemia so I requested he come in extra early for surgery and get an IV w/ a sugar solution to help w/ that since he couldnt eat. His sugars stayed great during surgery and after (he was still on the IV) but he was in a decent amount of pain so they gave him some morphine so we between trying to wake up from the anesthesia and the morphine he was really out of it and didnt want to eat. After 2 hours of not wanting to eat they were wanting to discharge us but I was "that mom" and said I wasnt comfortable taking him home until he had eaten. They decided to take him off the IV to see if that helped his appetite and...it did nothing. He still wouldnt eat and after being off the IV for 20 mins they tested his sugars and they had dropped about 20 points....sooooo they admitted us which I am glad they did b/c I would not have wanted to take him home and had to be dealing w/ all that, second guessing whether to bring him back, etc.

(He looks so sad...)

(Just kidding! He was smiley and flirting with nurses about 85% of the time we were there)

We stayed until he was doing okay with feeding and was able to stablize his feedings w/o fluids and keep his sugars up. We were finally discharged Thurs. evening after meeting with an educator from the Diabetes Center to get a glucose meter and learn to check his sugars. The endocrinologist (who we are already seeing in march) wants us to keep track and make sure he doesnt get low sugars...but after all that we can at least say we are done with his first surgery, I've experienced staying in the hospital w/ LB, watching him get an IV, etc. and we all survived and came out unscathed (well LB is still not 100% but doing well)

We also found out this month that Nicky definitely has Russell Silver Syndrome (RSS). We had some genetic testing done and we finally got the results back which confirmed his diagnosis. About 40% of kids with RSS never get a biologically positive test result but we did which was good because it got rid of any doubts we had.

In the last year so much has happened, as a family we have been through so much between my hyperemesis and IV therapy, 10 weeks in the hospital on bedrest, a scary and hard labor and delivery, having an amazing & miraculous healthy 3lb baby!, taking my baby home and being terrified by his lack of growth, seeing too many dr's to count, spending hours in waiting rooms, getting tests done, talking with dr's, doing research, having therapy evaluations, therapy sessions, etc. This past year has been far from easy but it has been SO GOOD! We are so blessed and even as things arent really seeming to slow down (or get easier) with having the addition of blood sugar issues, physical therapy, etc. I am so thankful for everything in my life. I've been really meditating on Psalm 71 lately and have found such peace!


In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress...

Though you have made me see troubles,
many and bitter,
YOU will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
You will increase my honor
and comfort me once more.

He is SO good!