Nathan sat up all by himself in his glider

Nathan is getting stronger and stronger everyday. When laying on the floor he will try to push himself up to sit, and while he doesn't get too far, he can pull himself up, if we help him.

Well tonight Kevin placed Nathan in the glider so he could watch Diego, while we figured out dinner. Kevin gave Nathan his pillow Diego book to play with as well. After a few minutes, I looked over at Nathan and he had gotten himself into the sitting position. YAY!!!! I couldn't believe it. He was sitting there, playing with his book. After a little while he laid back down in it, so I walked over and put a toy in front of him to see if he would do it again. After a little while, he grabbed the sides and pulled himself up again. I am SO happy to see him trying, and getting better at it.

He is also sitting on the floor longer unassisted. While he will topple over every once in awhile, you can definitly tell he is getting better at his balance. We are so proud of him.

Random Update

I think Nathan is doing great!!!!! I do think he is teething because he is chewing the crap out of his fingers, and was VERY fussy over the weekend. It's hard to tell 100% because he will not let me check inside his mouth. He also has had a runny nose for the past few days. I hope its because of the teething, and that he is not getting a cold. His stomach has been upset for a few days, so he has not been on a constant 24 hr feeding schedule either. We did just bump up the feeds from 42ml/hr to 45 ml/hr. So far so good. He has an appointment this Thursday (tomorrow) with the GI. So Kevin and Nathan are going to pick me up from work, and we will head down to Children's. I hope his favorite nurses will be working Thursday, so he can go and say HI. We really miss them. Remember ladies, Nathan's party is June 6th at 1pm. It would be great if you all could make it. If you want to come, send me an email at roosbratt@comcast.net and I will give you our address and directions.

I do think he is getting stronger everyday. He is trying to get himself in the sitting position when he is laying on the floor. And when we do sit him on the floor, he seems to be balancing himself up a little longer. Every once in awhile he will roll on his belly, and try to get to the crawl position. I think he is finally starting to come along. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

We have been taking Nathan on a lot of walks. In his wagon or stroller. He has been loving every second of it. He loves being outside. I just wish the weather would stay warm. We took Nathan to the DQ for the first time, and bought him a ice cream cone. It was SO funny, watching him eat the ice cream. I have been trying to upload the video, but I think the file is too big. I do have them posted on facebook, so here are the links to the video. I hope you are able to watch them. If not let me know, and I will see how to fix it.

Video #1

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=680425806&ref=profile#/video/video.php?v=82151045806

Video #2

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=680425806&ref=profile#/video/video.php?v=82201050806

Kevin and I wanted to take Nathan to the zoo Sunday, but its only going to be 62 and mostly cloudy. I think it may be a little to cool yet. And I know Nathan is supposed to be on a 24 hr feeding schedule, but it's SO hard. We want to take him out and do things with him. It's hard being cooped up in the house all day and night. I mean don't get me wrong, for the most part Nathan is hooked up, but there are a few occasions where we go out for a bit. For instance: Sunday, he was Fussy ALL morning, not to mention did not sleep at all Saturday night. So I decided we needed a change of scenery. I took Nathan up to Kevin's work, and we walked around for awhile. We even grabbed some awesome lemonade and pretzels from the mall. He LOVED them, and did really well eating them. The last piece he ate though, he gagged some. It was a little scary because we were at the mall, and out of our element, but Kevin and I handled it just fine. After that I took Nathan home and he was as happy as can be. I think he needs to get out every once in awhile.

I am going to talk to the GI and dietitian tomorrow about the 24hr feeds. We really need to have him off the pump more, so he can feel hungry, and want more jar food. Right now we offer him food, but he will only eat MAYBE 10 bites at a time. I did however reintroduce veggies to him. So far we are back to liking squash and sweet potatoes. I think I may try carrots tonight.

Also Kevin and I are taking Nathan to Frankenmuth May 13th-15th, since our Anniversary is the 14th. And I want to be able to have him unhooked, so we can walk the town, or play downstairs. I also have to ask about the pool. If he can go in or not. I think the answer will be no. But it doesn't hurt to ask. I am SO excited to get away for a bit next month. It is very much needed, for all of us. I just hope we have enough room in our car. We have to take SO much for Nathan. Here is a short list: Stroller, pack n play, oxygen, IV pole, feeding pump, his bag of clothes, diaper bag, our bag of clothes,and a few other things. It's going to be tight, but I think we will manage.

Well that's about it for now. Stay Tuned....more updates to come.

Nathan & a Pretzel

Well NOT a whole pretzel, and only just the inside part of it. But he did really like it. He does such a good job, making sure he chews it really well so he won't have a hard time swallowing it. He did very good until the last bite. He gagged on the last piece, so Kevin ran to get him water as I patted his back. We were a little scared since we were out of our element, but I think we handled it just fine.

Nathan & DQ Ice Cream

Kevin and I took Nathan for a wagon ride up to the Dairy Queen where he had his first baby vanilla cone. He LOVED it. First he put his hand on it, and was unsure about the feel of it. But then he opened his mouth wide for a taste. He was in heaven.~Lol

There are more pictures in his Album. There is also 2 videos that have been uploaded to watch. Please see the links below:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=82151045806

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=82201050806

Nathan & Peas

Nathan tried peas for the first time today. He really did not like them. Plus they are thicker than all the other veggies and fruit, so of course he gagged on them. So we will hold off on the peas for a little while.

Nathan & an oatmeal cookie and a piece of chicken

Kevin decided to make some oatmeal cookies today. After the first batch was done he gave all of us one to try. Well as we were eating them Nathan started chopping his teeth together. (He does that every time he sees someone eating) Since we had given him 2 Nilla wafers earlier in the day, and he ate them fine, we decided to give him a piece. Well he LOVED it. He ended up getting 3 small pieces and did just fine. I think he loves those more than the wafers. ~Lol

I decided when we came home things would be different. One is that we ALL eat at the table together. So when dinner was done we put Nathan in his high chair, and we sat at the table for dinner. Of course Nathan did not want his sweet potatoes, which I can't blame him. I mean I am sure he is not hungry since he is getting his formula 22hrs a day, but he did take 2 spoonfuls. We decided to let Nathan try a piece of chicken. I sat a piece on the table, and he grabbed it right away, but being that it's so small he dropped it. So I took another piece and placed it in his mouth. He chewed it for awhile, and seemed to like it, but then as he swallowed, he gagged on it. (We kind of figured he might have) So now we are sure he is not ready for that.

WE ARE HOME!!!!

Thursday, April 16th 2009

We were discharged about 10:50pm and arrived home about 11:15pm.. When we arrived home Kevin, Grandma (S), Bryan and Lindsay were over. Nathan was of course passed out. He fell asleep before I hit I-94. Once we got into the house, he was wide awake, and you could tell happy to be home. He was passed around, and received tons of lovin. Mom showed us how to use his pulse ox machine, and oxygen. He still needs it at night. However he did not need any throughout the night.

Friday, April 17th 2009

Nathan was up about 8:30am, and ready to start the day. Can't you tell he was happy to be home????

We watched some Diego, and played for awhile, then it was off to the doctors. He needed to see his doctor for a follow up. Dr. Hoisington was SO happy to see Nathan, and thought he looked good. She said he needed 2 shots, since he was behind, and assured us that it's okay to give them to him today. Plus, it would mean 2 less shots at his 1 year appointment. Of course he screamed, but as soon as she was done, he stopped. His next appointment is at his 1 year well visit. She does want me to call her every week with his weight check. She is also going to follow closely with Dr. El-baba, and Sarah the dietitian.

After we got home, we had some lunch, and then took Nathan for a walk around the block. So, Me, Kevin, Nathan and the IV pole headed out, and man was the weather nice. At first Kevin seemed weirded out having to push the IV pole, but quickly got over it. I just told him, that this is normal for us. Yes people may look oddly at us, but who cares. Nathan had the time of his life. He just LOVES to go for walks.

Afterwards, we just hung out, and played on the floor with Nathan until Kevin headed off to work. After Kevin left, Nathan was sleepy so I laid him down for a nap. While he was napping I caught up on some TV shows. Later in the evening Stephanie our neighbor came by with Donovan. I haven't met Donovan yet, and I can't believe he is already 2 1/2 months old. He is SO adorable, and he gave me a little laugh and smile. Nathan checked him over and decided he was ok.~lol It was adorable, he would pet him and grab his hand. Then my friend Shannon came in with her 2 boys. I hadn't met Shannon yet prior to today. I met her via babyfit.com back when we were pregnant together. We finally decided to get together. We had a great time. Her oldest son Logan was great. He played with some toys, and watched Spongebob. He also told me about his first car. Ridley was on the move~lol He his almost a month older than Nathan. He loved chasing Roscoe around. But he also sat on the floor with Nathan and they played. Nathan was having the time of his life. At one point Ridley went up to Nathan and took his binker. (Right out of his mouth) Shannon and I were cracking up. Nathan had this look on his face that just priceless. A little while later Ridley was getting tired, and started screaming and crying, which in turn made Nathan cry. So we knew it was time to call it a night. Shannon also gave me a card that was from her, Julia, Sharon, Jenny & Anoukin with a Visa Gift card. They all went in to get us a gift to help us out. It was so unexpected, and so nice of them. I have met some great people and I can't wait until we can all get together for a big playdate.

Saturday, April 18th 2009

Today was pretty uneventful. The visiting nurse came in and got all the paperwork filled out, and then assessed Nathan. All is well so far, and they will be back twice a week for follow up visits. After she left, Kevin, Nathan and I played on the floor for a little while, until it was time for Kevin to leave for work.

Nathan was getting tired, so I him and I laid on the couch while daddy was getting ready to leave. Well Nathan and I must have been exhausted cause next thing I know we woke up and it was 3:45pm. (He laid down around 12:15pm) I haven't napped like that in forever, and it felt good. A little while later Lindsay came over to help me with the basement. Our city wide garage sale is May 9th, and I have a lot to sell. So we all went down stairs, put Nathan in the pack n play and got to work. Nathan did great. He just talked to us and played, and was perfect. Later Grandma (S) came by with dinner, and played with Nathan for a bit. Afterwards we went back to work until Nathan's bed time. I took him upstairs, and laid him down. He fought sleep for awhile, but finally gave in. He did need oxygen again during the night.

Sunday, April 19th 2009

Today was a GREAT day!!!! Kevin got up with Nathan so I could sleep in some, and boy I needed it. Once I got up we took Nathan off his feed, (he has to be off for an hour to get his medication) and got him dressed. He got to wear his first pair of blue jeans. He looks SO adorable in them.

We headed to the grocery store, and it was very much needed our house was bare. He got a lot of stuff, and thanks to my babyfit gals, we only had to pay $25 for all our stuff. That was a HUGE help. Once we got home, we hooked Nathan back up and put the groceries away while Nathan played on the floor. Shortly after that Kevin's parents came by with dinner, and to bring Nathan his wagon. They took him for a short walk in the wagon, then came back inside. My mom and dad came along with GGma, and Bryan. GGma got Nathan a tiger, and a Precious moments fishing figurine for Easter. We all had Nathan just cracking up. I have NEVER seen him SO happy. He was ALL smiles and just laughed and laughed.

After everyone left, Nathan napped on the couch for a few hours, so we watched some TV then got our side items readyto go with the chicken and ribs his parents made. After dinner, Nathan played for a bit, and then we took him to bed. We thought for sure he would fight it, because of the long nap he took, but he didn't. We hooked him all up and he went right to bed.

This has been one of the best weekends EVER!!!! I wish it never ended. But tomorow is back to work for me. At least I know when I leave here, I am going right home and not to the hospital.

I have a few pictures from this weekend in the photo section, but you can view all of them here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90297&id=680425806&l=28a4d82b04