6th sense

Benjamin's 6th sense is maturing faster than all his others... you know that one that prompts him to be upset the moment I pour milk on my cereal, or sit down to a meal or hop in the shower...  How does he do this?! 
Today I put my jeans on while holding him... perhaps I should apply to "America's Got Talent?" :)  

*don't worry, I was being very careful and was next to the bed in case i needed to lean on it

And the other shoe, I mean parent, drops



Why is it that Joe and I go down at the same time... first it was swine flu last October and now today.  I'm still recovering from a plugged duct, doing my best to rest, heat, etc.  Joe came home today and said he wasn't feeling well.  It seems as if he has a case of food poisoning.  So we have the most exciting house on the block. (sarcasm)  I'm surprised Benjamin hasn't figured out how to use the telephone to call for someone to save him from these boring, under the weather, parents :)



My parents are boooooring and sick :(



I'm sure this will all blow over soon, just stinks right now.

Grrrrr

Mastitis anyone?  In bed with a fever etc.  I HATE being sick.  It's even worse being sick as a mom, Benjamin is in good hands with Dad when Joe gets home, but during the day all I could do was stumble around and try to keep him from being miserable.  Blech.  Let's hope this goes away quickly, in the meantime I should remember the good old Catholic phrase of "offer it up."  There's so many intentions for that, esp having to do with babies- hospitalized, just conceived, in want of being conceived, etc.

Things my son sounds like:

I'm sure I'll be able to add to this in the next minute but I might as well through some down... :)
- propellor plane
- lamb (cry)
- pig (grunt)
- horn
- kazoo
- elephant
- a newborn :)

Benjamin's sonogram, diagnosis and what needs to be done...

Pediatric Urologists exist and are great to have in town when facing serious things.  We know this because Benjamin had to go see one this afternoon. Our story begins yesterday morning...

Ben had a stubborn umbilical cord that wouldn't come off for several weeks after birth.  I went back and forth to the dr for a few weeks and then gave it 2 weeks to "heal" where I forced myself not to be the crazy rookie mom who took her kid in for everything.  Finally though there was a nagging feeling that I just needed to get this looked at.  Once at the doctor's she said that she was a little concerned because his belly button (which is an outie due to an umbilical hernia) was leaking a little fluid each day.  She sent us down to OSF hospital to get a sonogram on it to see if his navel was connected to any internal organs, which would be very serious and need to be repaired though surgery quickly.  They could get us in right away so off we went!



Click on the pic to see it real size...
is he not the sweetest thing when he sleeps!



I was sure that Benjamin would scream through the sono because he was already hungry but he did quite the opposite!  I don't know if it was the warm, dark room or the warm jelly on his tummy but he actually fell asleep!  Afterward I found an empty waiting room to nurse him in (yay for nursing covers!) and then up to see if Bonnie was around the NICU area.  It was good to see her as always :)  Remember friends and family to pray for James! (http://www.learningtobeanewlywed.blogspot.com/)

We got the results Thurs afternoon and it's not what we wanted- Ben's bladder is connected through a small tube to his naval, this tube is essential when his umbilical cord was in use but should close off after birth.  This is a rare condition that can be very serious if there's an infection because it can quickly go internal through this "fistula."  (Jill, bring back memories of your cow friend at Purdue?) Our pediatrician set up an appt with the ped. urologist for this afternoon but let me know that there was a good chance that he would want to do surgery early next week.  This of course set my mind reeling about how he was going to be under general anethesia and in for a least a couple nights... not to mention that they would be cutting into him!  to see what surgery for this entails: http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/patent-urachus-repair-picture.htm

We saw the urologist today.  Sidenote: how awesome is it to live in the town where the Children's Hospital of Illinois is located with outstanding doctors.  We are so blessed to already have leaned on them twice in Ben's 7 weeks of life outside the womb. 

The urologist did give us some good news though!  He doesn't want to do surgery right now, he wants to wait for at least a month and recheck things.  This month will give the urachus (the tube connecting the navel and bladder right now) a chance to possibly close on it's own, he says its very small and give Ben some time to grow.  So Benjamin is now on a daily antibiotic to prevent any infection and we go back in a month to see if it's still open and we'll figure out what needs to happen then. 



Brows furrowed... a common look from
my ever inquisitive infant son.



In other matters, like I mentioned before, Ben's started to smile at us which is rediculously amazing and creates a fuzzy feeling in my heart every single time.  Today I laughed out loud when he smiled so big he laughed and let out a frat boy sized belch in the process.  He then looks at me with those eyebrows furrowed as if to say, "what's so funny, I did what you asked!"  Then he spit up on my shirt.  How many of my stories end with that these days!!!

Houston... We have a

SMILE!!!  Ben smiled at me for the first time yesterday and Joe this morning.  And these were real ones... not the "you'll be changing my diaper soon" smiles.  We talked, made eye contact and he SMILED!  It's amazing that this little baby I've been caring for for almost 7 weeks now know that I'm a part of his world.  He's growing up so fast :)  More pics tomorrow!

Please Pray!

To my family and friends that read my blog, please keep Bonnie, her new baby James, her family and all the medical personnel dealing with James in your fervent prayers.  She's a wonderful woman whom I feel honored to call a friend and really look up to when it comes to this vocation of motherhood. 

James is in desperate need of your prayers, to get the scoop check Bonnie's blog: http://www.learningtobeanewlywed.blogspot.com/

Thinking about myself

I had company this week... Becca, Joe's childhood dog (who lives with his parents.)  The in-laws were visiting their 4th new grandchild in Atlanta so she came to stay with us.  Becca is a lab mix who is 14 years old.  She's a character!  I get followed from room to room if I leave the living room/kitchen space.  She didn't seem to mind Benjamin but if he got to crying loud (not just the usual grunt grunt sounds) then she did start to look at him funny.  Made me wonder what life will be like with two children when we get there... Becca's a piece of cake compared to a toddler.  Let's cross one bridge at a time!

Anyway... thinking about myself. 
Ug, I desperately don't want to look pregnant.  I want to put all my maternity clothes in storage.  But- this would be stupid since they're over half the clothing that fits me.  I spent hours in our closet trying to find that magical piece of clothing that will suck in my tummy and make me feel perfect.  Now I understand that there's some weight that had be put on in order to make sure that the pregnancy went smoothly.  I'm actually pretty proud that for the first time around and not really cutting out too much junk (read "I had chocolate shakes every chance I got") I'm only left with 20lbs to lose.  I was hoping that breastfeeding would help take some more off with it supposedly taking an extra 400-500 calories a day, but I've evened out at a number that I won't mention here :) Now usually I would go shopping, realize that things aren't fitting like I want, go home and cry about it and then figure out a, usually drastic, plan of action.  This time is a little different, with breastfeeding I have to be careful to really get the extra that I need and the water that I need (more on that in future blogs).  This all requires more moderation which is always very good but very hard.
This week really has felt like a turning point for me.  I'll admit I was scared to leave the house with Ben in case he would get hungry and cry in front of other people and then I'd be all embarassed.  I know... silly.  This also goes along with the fact that I don't want to breastfeed in public, it's another bridge that I'm not ready to cross yet for a couple reasons.  Well this week I've sorta figured out how to get a good feeding in before we leave the house so that I have 3 hours of a happy, mostly sleeping baby.  To leave the house I have to go through a process: get his clothes set out, get myself ready to go, wake him up and feed him well- meaning keeping him from falling asleep half way through- then getting him ready and all the gear we need to leave the house.  It's alot of work, but to get out, it's worth it!
(Now, of course, as soon as I say that I have something figured out it will come back to bite me in the butt!)

Sad end of game for the Irish... maybe next time. :(

Life with a baby...

This is such an interesting job- being a mother.  It's so simple and yet so challenging :)  I'm sure that this blog will be full of reflections on motherhood from now on.  Benjamin is growing leaps and bounds every day.  He's been staring at us and focusing on faces alot lately and I keep thinking that a good solid smile at Joe or I could be just around the corner.

Benjamin had his first "play date" last Friday with some cutie kids of my friends.  The others are all around a year or a little older so he has some catching up to do, ha ha.  It was really nice to see my friends and be able to ask questions about realistic expectations of caring for a baby and sharing birth experiences etc.  It's nice to have that support, especially from girls with such great caring and loving attitudes.  Be sure to check out the Picasa site to see Ben's party trick regarding his "double ended" push up :)



aren't they cute!



Labor day was heavenly- I woke up and fed Benjamin in the morning but then Joe brought him downstairs to hang out and have dad time.  I got a solid 3 hours of morning nap and the boys got to bond over the weekend paper and coffee... glorious.



What a weekend!

I am so blessed!  This past Labor Day weekend I was able to see my son get baptized and around lots of family.  Kevin flew into Peoria last Thursday evening and then Mom, Dad, Emily, Eric and Jill all arrived on Saturday.  We had lots of extended family around for the Baptism and reception afterwards.

Benjamin was so good all day!  He slept through Mass and just hung out during the Baptism celebration.  Fr. Schultz did the baptism at St. Vincent.  The Godparents, Peter and Emily, promised to help Joe and I raise him in the faith. :)

I can't believe how much he's growing already!  I feel like he's already so big.  He's got great cheeks!  See the Picasa site for more pictures of the great weekend.