The man of my dreams!

Last night we slept until 3:30.  Not as great, but not too bad.  Again I decided to wake George at 7:30 to get the day started.  I don't know why the sleeping situation is improving yet I am getting MORE tired in the morning.  Maybe it's just readjusting to a new schedule.  

JuJu and George catching up.

I wish I could upload a DRUMROLL audio file here.  Are you ready for this?!?!?  George slept until 4 am last night!!  Yippie!!  We're making progress!!  WAY TO GO GEORGE!!!  The only downside was that I got seriously spit up upon during that feeding, so we had to have a wardrobe and sack/blanket change.  It was worth it!  I need to talk to my girlfriends though.  While this is JUST the progress I've been waiting for . . . 5 hour blocks of sleep for me . . . I need to know what to do about the morning now.  This morning I HAD to wake him up at 7 am to feed him so we could get out the door.  I'm thinking that's what I would do on any given day - wake him up at 7 am (or whenever I decide) and get the day started.  Just want to be sure.  I go to the doctor - for our 2 month checkup - next Tuesday.  So I don't want to wait a week to get the scoop on all this.  Hopefully one or more of the girls has a good strategy here.

Today is actually George's EIGHT WEEK birthday.  I cannot believe it's been two months.  He's putting on weight great.  He's eating well.  He looks less yellow.  He's sleeping longer at night (Yeah!!).  And he's doing better without dairy products in my diet.  All seems to be going well.

We had a great visit with the Nunnally grandparents and Mackenzie this weekend.  George got to meet his first cousin.  I think she really enjoyed meeting GV, but she may like Otto a bit more.  ;)  Otto plays more than GV at this point.  After a delay due to snow, they are safely on their way back to NC.

After taking them all to the airport this morning, GV and I headed to JuJu's for some snuggle time.  I think JuJu had a mild case of GV withdrawal.  They had some good snuggles and then I headed home to get the little man back on schedule.   

Happy Monday!

XOX

Mom

After a busy day . . .

We took Mackenzie to the butterfly pavilion today.  She had mixed feelings about it.  She thought it was too hot in there (and yeah, it was warm).  She was also slightly afraid the butterflies would sting her.  But the place was REALLY something.  I've never seen so many butterflies in all my life.  It was sooooo impressive.  There were LOTS of amazing butterflies.  This one landed on a flower and was a great shot.  Enjoy!

George meets his first cousin, Mackenzie Nunnally! They're good buddies already.

The Nunnally grandparents and my niece Mackenzie are landing in Denver in less than an hour.  Judi will be having George withdrawal.  ;)  She spent the night last night during the blizzard to get her fill of George for a few days.  Anyway, as soon as Jeff gets home in the new big car I am headed to the airport to pick up the gang.  It should be a fun weekend.  

Otto loves the snow!

Ohhh - and how could I have neglected to mention . . . we're getting a BLIZZARD today!!  No, not from Dairy Queen, but the actual snow kind!  ;)  Denver has wind gusts up to 45 mph and we're expecting 10 - 18 inches of snow today.  George's first blizzard.  CRAZY!  We'll post pics later.

GREAT news from the pediatrician today!!

Jaundice numbers went from 11.3 last week down to 9.6 today.  Yeah!!  We'll test again at his two month check up on April 7th, but if the trend stays the same we likely won't test again.  VERY good news.  George weighed in at 11 pounds, 8.5 ounces this morning.  That puts him in the 70th percentile.  He's growing great.

Dr. Brandon is the one who called today with the jaundice test results.  Every doctor in our practice has a different take on everything.  I asked Dr. Brandon about the milk allergy issue.  He made some interesting points.  There's a major difference between milk intolerance and a milk allergy.  Intolerance would show us bloody or mucus filled diapers (ICK!!).  We're not seeing that.  An allergy could be the rash we're seeing.  He says an allergy usually goes away after 6 months and we should just stick with it and things will improve.  

Dr. Brandon was very pleased with George's weight gain and jaundice numbers, so he's not too concerned about the potential milk allergy issue.  All is going well!

XOX

Mom

The thinking baby. Still kinda cranky today. Napping next to me on the sofa.

Poor little man.  He's sooooo uncomfortable today.  Upset tummy I think.  Too much cheese for Liz last night??  :(  I just want him to have a good nap and feel better.

It's going to be one of THOSE days.  The good news - I don't have a thing in the world I have to do today.  No where to go.  The only thing to do today is love this little boy.  That's the easy part.

Last night he was HUNGRY!  He'd been doing so great on the 10, 2, 6 schedule, but last night wasn't gonna work that way.  It continued through this morning.  Shortly after 9:00 last night he was inconsolable.  He wanted to eat and there was no stopping him.  So, I fed him.  At 10 pm we topped him off with 2 oz and put him to bed.  He was up at 1:30 and again at 5:30.  At least he went 4 hours between those feedings.  I think maybe he needs 5+ oz now (instead of 4).  That 6 pm feeding was a 4 oz bottle.  Maybe it just wasn't enough.

Anyway, I went back to bed after the 5:30 thinking we'd make it until 9:30 am.  Secretly I was hoping I could even hold him until 10 to get back on schedule.  Again - not gonna happen.  Shortly after 8 am he was SCREAMING!  I brought him downstairs and tried to soothe him, but no luck.  I AM HUNGRY!!  So, I fed him at 8:30.  He's still pretty cranky.  He's in his pack-n-play now trying to nap, but he's in and out and crying gently along the way.  Poor guy.  Maybe he's missing his JuJu.  ;)  

Another big development . . . his rash is getting worse and worse.  I thought after the 6 pm feeding it was pretty bad.  His eyes were super swollen too.  At the 5:30 am feeding, same thing - bad rash and big puffy eye (just one of them).  I gotta try to help him.  He doesn't show signs of it bothering him.  He's not scratching or rubbing his face.  He also isn't showing the milk allergy signs the doctors warn us of - not eating, arching his back afterwards, mucus in his diapers, etc.  But still - maybe this is a "minor" reaction.  I am going to TRY for the next few days to avoid major milk products and eggs too and see if he gets better.  The nurse at the doctor's office (yeah, I called), said I don't need to go to the extreme just yet (no need to avoid dairy in processed foods), since we're not seeing the major signs.

First meal of the day - breakfast - geez.  What do you eat for b-fast that doesn't have dairy or eggs??  Well, other than bacon, bacon, bacon!  ;)  After consulting my lactose intolerant friend and my egg allergy friend and my mother (who I consult on all issues), I think I made a wise choice.  I had a flatbread wrap.  The flatbread had no eggs or milk products, so that was good.  In it I put 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and a banana.  Nuts may be the next thing I have to add to this list, but for now I ate the peanut butter.  

My lactose-free friend was heading to the store as we were texting so she got me some lactose-free coffee creamer and some soy milk for me to experiment with.  I CANNOT give up the coffee, particularly today.  Lunch may be a frozen entree (if I have one that meets my restrictions) and/or some soup Mom made.  I guess I can't eat the leftover pizza we made last night . . . CHEESE!!!  

Wish me luck.  I just want my little man to look and, more importantly, feel good.  I also want a smile outta him.  Hey - another upside - no dairy will CERTAINLY help drop some more weight.  All this is just another adventure in new mommy-hood.  

XOX

Mom

Not what I wanted to deal with - twice - today.

George's hip ultrasound was totally normal!  Yeah!!

I think we're finally ready for, and successfully rocking, the 10, 2, 6 schedule.  Last night we ate at 10 pm, then again at 2 am, and final wake up was 6 am.  I wish we could be 10, 2, and 7, but I know that makes no sense.  Another hour of sleep there would be dreamy though.  We did this schedule two nights ago, all day yesterday and last night too.  I think we've got it down pat.  Now it's time to start stretching out the evening feeding.

So, up at 6 am we were.  We ate, burped, and came downstairs.  George played in his play place while I pumped.  Then I washed a day's worth of bottles.  I emptied the trash (Jeff took it out).  I made coffee and reheated a breakfast burrito (we made a whole batch this past weekend - YUMMY!).  I forgot how good our Hatch chilies were.  We froze a bunch last season and haven't been using them as much as we should have.  They're VERY mild this year, but they have great flavor.

Anyway, George is swaddled and in his pack n play for a few hours of rest.   Now it's time for me to shower and get ready for the day.  Our insurance man is coming in a few hours to have me sign all the paperwork for George's new whole life insurance policy.  This is great cause it guarantees insurability for George for his life without any medical testing later.  So, if he got sick he'd still be covered.  PLUS, if he's healthy, he can cash in a whole life policy later in life to get a down payment on a house or pay off his medical school loans or whatever.  ;)

Soooo . . . off to start the day.

XOX

Mom

New pics posted to the March album!  Link to the right.  Here's a sample:

George's ultrasound was quick and painless.  We don't know anything yet.  The radiologist will review the images and then let our pediatrician know what's up.  We should hear from the pediatrician with results.  I don't expect them today, but you never know.  Our next appointment is April 7, although we'll head in later this week for another jaundice test.  I'll keep ya posted.

XOX

Mom

His little ankle ID band.

Heading into Children's Hospital on a rare, rainy day in Denver. Hope that's not a sign!

Judi and George

George did great at Judi's last night.  I think Judi is figuring out the sleeping thing too, so they're having a better go of things.  Unfortunately George got on a weird timeline yesterday, so his feedings were at strange times . . . 9 pm, 1 am, 4 am, 7 am.  UGH!!  I think Judi was more refreshed this morning though, surprisingly.  She moved George's crib into another room, so I think that helped everyone sleep better.

After yesterday's busy day, we were looking forward to a lot of nothing today.  It never quite works out that way though, does it?  I picked up George and we went grocery shopping.  I also assembled & fit Mackenzie's new booster seat into my car.  Jeff did a LOT of work around the house - he picked up poop, fixed our garage door, rehung the tennis ball in the garage to show me where to stop the new car, and he cooked bacon and eggs so we could make breakfast burritos.  

I love having our breakfast burritos made and in the fridge.  It makes the rush of breakfast so much easier.  I just grab one from the fridge and nuke for 30 seconds.  It's a whole wheat tortilla, 1 slice of bacon, some egg, green chilies and cheddar cheese all rolled up.  TASTY!!

Also in the plan for today is a trip back to Judi's so Jeff can program the universal garage door opener in the new car to open Judi's garage.  Then tonight Jeff is making dinner for Judi and me - crispy pan-fried pork chops (one of our new favs) with a lemon caper parsley sauce and some veggies on the side.

What's in store for this week . . . tomorrow morning I am taking George to Children's Hospital for his hip ultrasound.  They say this is routine for breech babies.  They don't hear any popping or clicking when they manually check his hips but this just makes sure he's not gonna get hip dysplasia (I used to think this was just a dog problem - guess not).  Thursday is Uncle Dean and Paul's birthdays.  Thursday we're heading to the pediatricians again for another jaundice test.  Friday the Nunnally grandparents and Mackenzie are heading to town to meet George.  Busy week!!

XOX

Mom

George napping on the sofa.

My boys are watching ESPN.

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Hangin at Judi's tonight.

The iMac is iBack!!  After several phone calls and two trips (with the computer) to the Apple store, the "genius" we saw today was able to fix our computer.  HUGE YEAH!!  

George is at Judi's now.  She took him around 2 pm, which was GREAT.  Jeff and I were able to go to the mall to get the computer fixed sans baby & baby stroller.  Now we're back at home.  Our plan tonight is to have NO plan.  We're going to steam some shrimp and have a glass or two of wine and just relax and sleep.  Sometimes that's all we need.

Last night was Jeff's night to have Dad duty.  George was GREAT!  We fed him at 11 pm from a bottle and then went to bed.  At 3:45 am I woke up to some minor grunting.  Yeah - FIVE HOURS LATER!!  George did great.  I hope he's just as nice to his JuJu tonight!

XOX

Mom

This is George showing his cousin Mackenzie that applesauce is a good thing!!

The car has arrived - again! Last night we picked up the Pathfinder with the new leather seats (and heated) installed. It's NICE!! Today George and I will cruise around a bit to check it out some more. Yeah!!

Last night was date night. Judi had George for a while actually. We hung out at her house yesterday afternoon. By that I mean she watched George while I crashed on the sofa. Ooops - not the plan, but MUCH needed and appreciated. Then Jeff picked me up from her house and we went to Jax for Oyster Week. We had some tasty oysters and I had a glass of champagne. Then we went to get the car and then back to Judi's to get George.

George was GREAT last night. I pumped at 10 pm and then gave him breastmilk in a bottle at 11. I was in bed at 11:30 (the glory of the bottle vs. breast). He didn't wake up until just after 3 am. NICE!! So that was 3.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep for us!! I heard him again at 6, but when I went in there he was asleep again. So, back to bed for me too!! I woke up at 6:45 and hopped in the shower. At 7 am George was awake, so I got him up and we started our day. Not too shabby - 11, 3, and 7. I wish EVERY night was like that!!

Tonight we're heading out with the Klebbas. Wendy is coming to our house to watch BOTH the boys. She's our new nanny, starting for us on April 27th. Tonight is the first time she's watching both the guys. Then, I think Jeff has night duty tonight, depending on how he's feeling. Tomorrow night Judi's doing an overnight. AWESOME!! MORE sleep for me in the immediate future. I like it!!

XOX
Mom

George playing with his new rattle.

George napping on the sofa. I should be napping as well.

We had a strange night last night. Lily was back with Judi, so we thought it would be a semi-relaxing night of semi-normal (for us) sleep. Jeff wasn't feeling good, so he was relieved of Daddy duty. I fed George around 10:30 pm. I changed him and topped him off. It was just after 11 pm when he went to bed. Around 1:45 he started crying, so I went in to feed him. About TWO HOURS later he started desperately crying. Very odd. He shouldn't be hungry. I went in there, picked him up, loved on him a bit and popped in a pacifier. That seemed to do the trick.

At 5 am he was back up, but hungry this time. OK. So I went in with the whole feed one side, change the diaper, feed the other side and then back to bed for George. That was normal and fine (except for my exhaustion). After that feeding I came downstairs and had a fairly unsuccessful pumping session. Back to bed for me around 6 am.

At 7 am, the screaming started again. Still, it was too early to be hungry, so very odd. I went in and got him and we came downstairs for some cuddle time. Closer to 8 am I fed him and we started our day.

So, not sure what was up with the strange screams in the night. Maybe he slept too long yesterday. A friend thought maybe he could have some sort of reflux. Or, another thought is that he's teething already. OH MY!! Who knows. A shower and a cup of coffee during his morning nap and I am feeling alright and ready for the day.

XOX
Mom

Billi went from 13.6 to 11.3. Headed in the right direction!!

Ohhh - and he weighed 10 pounds and 14.5 ounces this morning. He's growing great!!

Out for a walk in 75 degree weather.

I had a LITTLE easier night with Lily last night. I put foil on the sofa and left her out, thinking she could let herself in & out of the house through the doggie door. Well, she could let herself out, but not back in. So, she'd get out there and then start barking and flapping the doggie door flap to get my attention to be let back in. UGH! The good news - Mom is coming back today, so Lily is headed home tonight. I just need to get her better with the doggie door and I think future visits will be easier on everyone.

George went to the pediatricians this morning for another heel prick. We should know tonight how his number is doing. Last week we were at 13.6, so hoping that's gone down to at least 12. That's my personal goal for GV anyway.

After the doctors (and a quick drive through at Starbucks) we headed to Babies R Us where I FINALLY remembered to use two gift cards I've been holding on to. I still spent $125 of my own money. These little munchkins are pricey! We got more diapers, more wipes, a few lightweight sleepers, a milk storage thing for the freezer, a bottle drying rack, a few more lap pads, and some strap covers for GV's car seat - so the straps don't cut into his sweet neck. I looked at car seats too. Ours is HUGE - it doesn't fit into highchairs at restaurants. It rarely fits into a booth. And it's so big, if the car seat isn't in the middle of the car (if it's behind the driver or passenger), the front seat has to be moved way up to accommodate it. Problem is, we've invested in ALL these car seat bases already too. So, it would be a big loss to replace all that stuff. I think we'll continue to try to make so. I didn't see any other seats to go with the bases we've got. Oh well.

I'll post more tonight when I know about the jaundice levels. Stay tuned! In the meantime, I am REALLY looking forward to having JuJu back . . . for Lily, GV and for me too!!

XOX
Mom

Can you read this shirt? LOVE it!

Someone has a full belly.

Oh Lily!! What a night. As if having a six week old wasn't a challenge enough, we're watching JuJu's dog, Lily, for a few nights. It's not easy work. Jeff and I are believers that dogs should sleep in a crate, so that's where Lily goes. Maybe we should get over that. Lily whines for the first little bit she's in there at night time. She's used to sleeping in the bed with Judi. When she's gotta go the barking starts. I knew she didn't make it through the night, but I thought we'd be fine . . . when we got up to feed George I thought we'd take Lily out then (preventatively) and then we'd be all set. Well, I have learned that Lily likes to go when SHE wants to go, not when she's asked to do so. When she's barking, and you let her out to go, she makes a super fast B-LINE for the door and goes about her business immediately. She also comes right back in and goes straight back into her kennel. The problem is just the waking up MORE in the night . . .

Here was our evening . . .
I took Lily out at 11 pm
Then I fed George at 11 pm
At midnight I climbed into bed
At 12:30 am Lily started barking, so I let her out
At 3:00 am George started crying
While right in the middle of the feeding, Lily started barking
I stopped and let her out and then finished feeding George
I was back in bed around 4:00 am
At 5:30 am, Lily started barking, so I let Lily out
At 7:00 am, George started crying
We got up and the day started.

So, George did pretty good . . . 11 pm, 3 am, and 7 am.
Lily was 11 pm, 12:30 pm, 3:00 am, 5:30 am, and 7 am. GEEZ!!

I thought babies were harder than dogs!!

XOX
Mom

George's new ride!

George has a new ride. Tomorrow he'll be cruisin' the streets of Denver in his new (to us) Nissan Pathfinder. Look for pics tomorrow. It's a black, 2006 SE. We're having the cloth seats replaced with heated leather seats. That's coming later this week. It's a 4x4 with 4.0L V6 engine with 266 horsepower. Woa! That's some power. We should be able to get over those mountain passes with ease now. This beast can tow up to 6,000 pounds. Where's the boat??? It fits great in our garage (which was a slight concern). It will hold 7 people, so not quite an entire soccer team (when George is old enough).

Later this week I will also see about adding an iPod auxiliary outlet as well as a remote starter. That will make it perfect!! Until then, some of our favorite features: TONS of cargo room, dual climate control, powerful engine, roof rails, universal garage door opener built in, compass and outside temperature display on the rear view mirror, third row seating, bose radio with 6 disc changer, and soooo much more. It really meets our wish list while feeling great too.

Pics coming tomorrow!
XOX
Mom

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George is hanging with his buddy AJ today while Jeff and I car shop. We're close to buying a Nissan Pathfinder. We'll see what kind of offer they make us.

We're coming up on six weeks. The bad part of that . . . growth spurt. It feels like the little man can't get enough to eat. During the day - no big deal. At 1:30 am and AGAIN at 4:30 am, that's not so fun. UGH!

Today I was home with the little guy all day. It was nice. We slept in - after our multiple feedings during the night. I tried to feed in bed this morning once and that was interesting. Anyway, so we got up late. I finally showered and headed out with George around lunchtime. I needed to go to Sam's Club and the grocery store. We're making all the entrees for the neighbor gathering tomorrow night, so I needed some Sam-sized salmon and then it was to the grocery store to get the ingredients for our eggplant rollatini casserole. Tonight Jeff and I assembled the eggplant dish.

Tomorrow is a day of car shopping for us! We've got two neighbors ready to watch George during the day while Jeff and I car shop. Good times. So, with our entrees practically ready, we can just show up and bake.

Jeff gets nighttime feeding duty one night each weekend. He usually wants the Friday night - so he has more time over the weekend to recover. Since we're heading out early tomorrow, I am going to take tonight's shift. Jeff will do Saturday night. It'll be interesting to see how George does this weekend.

XOX
Mom

PS - Did you like the videos??

My sweet little man has a nasty cough/cold. I videoed it a little, but then we needed to go snuggle.

XOX
Mom

Neighbor/Super Mom shows Liz how to swaddle George.



Tonight the girls came over to watch an Oprah episode that I had taped from earlier this week. While here, my neighbor (and mother of three) swaddled George and it was so perfect. I had her undo him and do it again so I could tape it. Whether or not you need a lesson in swaddling, you do get to see a little more of George in this video.

XOX
Mom

Today I visited two Denver hotels in search of a venue for a event in September. Each spot gave me a little something for George. Here he is with his Brown Palace bear. I love that they're about the same size. After play time with the Brown Bear it was off to bed for George.

While I checked my phone often today for news from Lillianne, there were no calls from her. I got home at 4 pm and he was as happy as a clam. She said it was an easy gig - he just ate and slept. Tomorrow I am taking him back to her, but at a house with TWO OTHER KIDS!! I know she can handle it. Soon after George arrives the other two will go down for a nap. Good luck Lillianne!!

XOX
Mom

OK - so today George is having his first sitter come. I am going to meet a colleague downtown for a few meetings today. The sitter is someone I know and trust - she's watched Kristine's kids for months and months now. It's just awfully soon to leave the little man. It's going to be almost all day too, not just a few hours. I know he'll be fine. I just hope I will be. ;)

XOX
Mom

Funny Photo Booth pic of the night.

Jaundice levels dropped from 15.0 to 13.6. Headed in the right direction. Gonna wait and test again next Tues.

IMG00173.jpg

George always has something up. We went to the doc today to test his jandice levels again. We're still waiting for those results. While there they heard his murmer again, so now they want him to go to Children's Hospital and see a cardiologist. They think it's nothing, but they want to check everything out.

Now he's got a low fever (99.5), a minor rash, a cough and a stuffy nose. My theory - milk allergy. After I eat this pizza Jeff just brought home, I think I'll do a few days without dairy and see if that helps him.

George and I had fun tonight with the iMac's "Photo Booth." Well, maybe I was the only one having fun. Below is our film strip. Enjoy!!

This one may be my favorite of the series.

This one is great. He's looking at me, thinking "why are we doing this?"

Got lunch? Would you believe it's time to eat? This guy doesn't look hungry at all. He still looks sooooo little in his car seat.

Putting George to bed at 8 pm didn't work. Maybe he's too young to try that trick yet. He's downstairs with Jeff watching a movie. We'll feed him shortly and try again.

Well - the NEWS first - the jaundice number went DOWN again. I guess that's a good thing. No - it's definitely a good thing. The up and down is just confusing and frustrating. It went from 16.4 to 15.0, so that's a 1.4 decrease in one day. Who knows what's up with that. The doc wants us to test weekly, starting on Tuesday morning. We'll look at Tuesday's number and decide whether to try a super special formula for 24 hours - that kids with allergies all use - to see if that helps bring the number down quicker.

Judi had George last night and she was up a few times. I think she still loved it (right?), but she was happy to catch some much needed zzzz's today. Jeff and I picked him up around 10 am and headed to the hospital for the jaundice test. He did alright. He's just had enough of it all. He hasn't forgotten that it hurts though. That's for sure.

From there we got cheese steaks for lunch and then headed home. It's mostly been a lazy day around here. We heated up Jackie's frozen lasagna for dinner and it was perfect - tasted fresh! I just didn't get enough of it before I had to feed George again.

Tonight we're trying a new trick. After the 7 pm feeding we put George to bed - around 8 pm. This will give us a few hours of together time (although we're not together now) and some adult time. Then we'll wake him and feed him again around 10 - 11 pm before we go to bed. We'll see how this all works out. Jeff's got feeding duty tonight, so hopefully George treats him well.

I am looking forward to a few 4 hour blocks of sleep. It's too bad I gotta still wake up and pump in the night. I wonder when we'll ever get 8 hours again!?! It's all worth it though. I love that little man.

XOX
Mom

It's already past my bedtime (at 8:45 pm), but I wanted to post about our chat with the doc tonight. All the major tests appear to be negative. The CBC looked great and that would have shown elevated white blood counts if he were fighting an infection. But no, it all looked great. The problem is . . . the jaundice number is back up - close to 16. UGH!! It went up about a point a day this week. That's also not good. At that rate we'd be at 20 by Tuesday and that's when it starts to get dangerous. Sooooo . . . they want us to go to the hospital tomorrow to their lab to test the jaundice AGAIN. I swear it will never end. I got George an outfit today that says "Tough Guy." He certainly is. I think the idea is that we want to make sure it's not going up FASTER than 1 point a day. Clearly we can't try the formula trick again, given his rash. Sooooo . . . we'll know tomorrow night how that's looking and I will report back.

George is at Judi's for the night - hence my desire to be asleep VERY soon. Too bad I gotta wake myself up at least once in the night to pump. Solid sleep would be nice. Not sure if/when that ever happens. Maybe by 12 weeks??

XOX
Mom

Another day. ANOTHER visit to the pediatrician. George's fever is a little better - 98.9 at the doc's today - but still worrisome. They of course wanted to redo the blood work. After some convincing, I let them go ahead. The concern is that he's got a bacterial infection and indeed that would be a BAD thing. Judi went with us to the doctor's today. Judi and I left the room when the nurses came in to take the blood. We just couldn't watch. It was a GOOD THING we left. They tried both arms again, but his veins were so badly damaged from the 3 vials on Tuesday and the attempts yesterday that they got nothing. UGH! They came out with George to get a different nurse who was "better" at it to try. Why wasn't she trying in the first place?!? Anyway, she got it done pretty quick. When it was over Judi and I went back into the room and I held George. He showed off his "Jeff Kegg" signature quivering lower lip and I was a complete sucker for it.

Tonight we'll know CBC (complete blood count) and jaundice level results. They also did a blood culture. They need that to "grow" for a few days, so we likely won't have the results on that until Monday. We're just supposed to stay attentive to him. If he stops eating or sleeping, if he gets too fussy, if his fever gets back to 100.4 or more, we're to call and they'd likely send us to the hospital. We were also advised to stay in with him, so we're not heading to the neighbors house tonight for dinner with everyone. They don't want to risk him getting any additional bugs/viruses.

George is spending the night with Judi tonight. I will be fast asleep.

XOX
Mom

You ready for this - the lab botched the blood. Ruined it. No results coming. We'll decide tomorrow if we want/need to redraw. AS IF!! His fever is dropping and rash looks better. HAD to be the formula.

My sick man. Band aids in both arms.

At the doc's. 9 lbs 12 oz. Fever of 100.5.

I think George is allergic to formula.

George just had his first taste of formula. He seemed to enjoy it and it didn't upset me, like I thought it might. He's proven to not be a finicky eater - he'll take the breast or a bottle - he'll take it warm or cold - he'll talk formula or milk. Hopefully these are early signs of a good eater and a laid back kinda guy.

Today my messy house is getting cleaned. You know how you always have to clean up for the cleaners? That just isn't happening today. I am sorry. It's mostly stuff we don't know where to put things or things to file, bills to pay, etc. that hasn't gotten done yet. I guess all that gets better with time . . . or worse. ;)

Tonight is date night. Mom will have formula duty while Jeff and I head out to dinner and to then to the first half of a late starting Nuggets game. It should be fun. It's still Denver Restaurant Week, so we're heading to a new place to try their fixed menu. Here's what we've got to work with . . .

First Course

Our choice of:

• Hearts of Romaine - Caesar dressing, Grana Padano, grilled bread, avocado, sweet pepper bacon
• Organic Baby Lettuce - Baby greens, tomato and pine nut vinaigrette, house made croutons
• Poached Pear and Gorgonzola Salad - Spinach, Mission figs, Seckel pear, gorgonzola, sherry and shallot vinaigrette
• Carrot and Coriander Soup - Crispy carrot garnish, crème fraiche

Second Course
Our choice of:

• Brick Pressed Chicken - Tuscan marinated chicken, three cheese polenta, tomato ragout
• Butternut Squash Ravioli - House made butternut squash ravioli, mission figs, candied walnuts, sage cream sauce
• Pork Tenderloin - Maple brine, mustard spaetzle, watercress, apple, aged cheddar
• Atlantic Salmon - Dijon crusted Atlantic salmon, braised field greens, olive oil poached fingerling potatoes

Third Course

Our choice of:

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Terrine - Crunchy peanut butter crust topped with chocolate mousse, chocolate ice cream
• Caramel and Banana Bread Pudding - Banana infused bread pudding topped with a salted caramel and homemade Marcona almond ice cream

YUMMY!!

The pediatrician called as I was on my way to dinner with the girls. The blood work all looks normal, which is GREAT news. So, next up - we try formula for 24 hours. This won't get rid of the jaundice. This hopefully will just confirm that it's "breast milk jaundice." So, starting with the first feeding of the morning - sometime between 6 - 8 am - I will switch George to formula for 24 hours. Then on Friday morning we'll head BACK to the pediatrician's office to test his levels again. They won't be gone, but if they do in fact drop a few points we'll know it was simply a breast milk thing and that's all. So, then I can switch back to breast milk and we'll just monitor things for a month or two until the number goes away. Today we were at 13 and change and we need to get to less than one.

Our friend Mason just went through the same thing and his number dropped to 9.something. So, if we can get under 10 I think I'll be happy. Sooooo . . . I've got the Enfamil powder in a bottle upstairs. I will add water in the morning and shake and voila - breakfast is served.

I hear babes get constipated on formula at first. That should be interesting. He'll be MORE uncomfortable with his grunting and pushing except this time, nothing will happen! Ohhh - poor George. At dinner tonight we nicknamed him "Jaundice George." My poor little man.

Did I mention today how cute he is?? LOVE him. ADORABLE!!

XOX
Mom

So I finally called the pediatrician. She got all but one test result back and was hoping to get that back before she called me. Everything looks good. The jaundice number even went down a little - from 14.2 to 13.7. The one thing left is his blood smear. My pediatrician isn't used to looking at newborn smears, so she wanted to consult with a pediatric hematologist first to just confirm that looks normal. She'll call me later today after she talks to that doctor. So far so good though.

Future PR professional.

I got this paci from a colleague who saw it and thought of me. CUTE!

More and more George is looking like his dad. They're very cute together too. After a feeding, George always makes these funny faces - almost like he's drunk. Clearly he's not - just happy and with a full belly. Anyway, it's hysterical because Jeff will mimic him and make similar faces. TOOOOOO FUNNY! It cracks me up. When he does that they DO look alike. Maybe one day soon Jeff will let me video that and share it with you all. Hysterical.

We still haven't heard from the doc. I am going to call there soon and try to see what's up. At least this way I hope we'll hear something by tonight. We'll see.

Jeff has solo duty again tonight. This time, he'll have George a little longer and his time with definitely include a feeding, so maybe they'll actually interact and play. Last time (on Monday), George just slept through everything.

Well, he's calling. Time for lunch.

XOX
Mom

George and Taggie in the kitchen "helping" me make banana muffins.

Action shot!

It's almost 7:30 pm here and we still haven't heard from the doctor. It's looking like we may not hear from them tonight.

Jeff's frying pork chops while George and I assist.

George is enjoying the ride in his sling. I love this half smile he does. I was finally able to capture it.

Poor George. He had a really rough morning. First - let me say how excited I am that he slept in his crib all night last night. We got up twice, but that's been the norm for the last few nights. I really want to get him back to once a night. Anyway, I think the new sleeper helps us all feel better about him sleeping in his crib.

Sooooo . . . the blood work. We just got home from the pediatrician's office. The poor little guy had to fill THREE VIALS of blood and still get his heel pricked. UGH! They put a tourniquet around his little bicep and used a butterfly needle to get the thing started. The whole works. SAD. His arm turned purple and he was inconsolable. Poor little man. I was tough and stayed strong - surprisingly. Even the nurse afterwards commented on how well I did through the procedure. When that was all over . . . all three vials filled . . . they did another heel prick to test the jaundice again. You would have thought that was worse. I think George had just had enough. He lost it. His face was soooooo red, you would never have known he was yellow-ish.

Anyway, I had big plans to go to Target afterwards because I thought he'd be zonked. Not only is he still awake - although in his pack-n-play resting now - but I just felt like he'd been through enough. We came home to rest and eat again (in 30 mins). The process took longer than I had thought. Hopefully we'll hear from the doc tonight and I will report back with more.

XOX
Mom

So yeah - the jaundice numbers went from 12 to 14. UGH! Soooo frustrating. No one knows why. The pediatrician consulted with a hematologist today who recommended a few more blood tests for poor little George. So, we're headed back to the doc tomorrow to get some more blood drawn from George's foot. Then we'll know tomorrow night whether these other things could be the cause. They're checking for thyroid, spleen, and gallbladder problems, among other things. If everything there checks out, then they'll just continue to speculate that this is "breast milk jaundice." I read that 1 in 3 babies has jaundice just caused by breast milk. Our friend Mason has the same issue. Last week they went off breast milk for 24 hours to help break the jaundice issue. That would be our next step as well - 24 hours of formula to cleanse his system of breast milk. His number (14) is still well below troublesome (20), so we can even decide to wait and do that if/when the number gets closer to 20. In the meantime, more blood draws and more tests. We'll see how it goes.

A shout out to our buddy Mason today who endured a not so pleasant procedure like a true CHAMPION today!! I was very proud of him (and his mom) today.

Ohhh - and as I type this, George is sleeping IN HIS CRIB!! I will let you know tomorrow how that worked out through the night. Until then . . .

XOX and Happy One Month Birthday
Mom

The quick version: Jaundice levels up again today. More blood tests tomorrow. Hope those are OK. If they're normal then we'll likely go off breastmilk for 24 hrs to try to bring down jaundice.

More on all this later. Just wanted to post something.

I love this man!

George napping in his crib

One Month Old

We went to the pediatrician this morning to test George's jaundice level again. We got his height and weight. We'll hear from the doc later today with test results.

George's One Month Stats:
20 3/4 in long
9 lbs 4 oz

He's growing great!

AJ and George chillin at JuJu's house on Friday while the ladies brunch.

George napping in JuJu's pack-n-play on Friday while Mom gets her taxes done.

NEW PICS!! Check out the link on the right for pics of George after bath time today. Warning - they're very cute!!

Last night George spent the night with JuJu. I can't believe we let him go already, but we knew he was in excellent hands. I guess it's good we were able to do that (emotionally) and I think it's fantastic for both George AND Judi as well. This was Judi's first overnight. It sounds like she learned some things about feeding George and getting him to sleep. Next time (she says yes, there will be a next time), she'll be more prepared. I may not cry next time or call/text her every second.

Last night, baby-free, we played cards with neighbors and I enjoyed one and a half beers. ;) BIG, I know. Then I was too tired to continue. Hey - it's a start. I still don't have my taste back for red wine. I will work on that some more. It was almost 1 am before we went to bed. You would think we would've enjoyed the opportunity to go to bed at 9 or 10, but no, we decided to play with friends instead.

Over the weekend we got some sad news about one baby friend, so we're thinking of him (and his parents) a LOT this weekend. It's nothing major and everything will be fine, but I just know how badly we all want our babies to be perfectly healthy and totally happy. We also got some GREAT baby news from a family member. There's always an up with a down I suppose.

George is snoozing a little now - in his pack-n-play - and we'll have another snack shortly. Then tonight we're off to Mason's one month birthday party. ;) FUN! Tomorrow George and I are headed back to the pediatrician's office for ANOTHER jaundice test. Tomorrow George will be ONE MONTH old. It went soooooo fast!! I'll get his height and weight while we're at the doc's and post that here to update everyone.

Happy Sunday!
XOX
Mom