Sunday, May 06, 2007
Battle of the bottle...again
We could really use your prayers in regards to Grant's eating again. Starting yesteday he decided he didn't want to eat while sleeping anymore. Everytime we tried to slip the bottle in he woke up and started screaming. So, we thought, okay, maybe we'll move to all awake feedings. But, he's still not eating enough awake (only about 15% of his daily calories) to keep him out of the hospital. So, right now, he's really short on food and we're puzzled as to what to do. Please pray that Grant would start eating again- awake or asleep!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Grant's bottle update
I think we've had a breakthrough! Grant is now taking about half a bottle awake every morning. It seems that Grant prefers to do this only when Jim is in the room and talking to him. So, in the morning we follow Jim around the house as he gets ready for work and Grant watches him and sucks the bottle. When Jim leaves for work, Grant stops sucking. Weird! But, we're making progress. I think the oral aversion is going away now that he is eating solids. Please pray that he continues to improve on the bottle. We're also trying out the sippy cup this week!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
Ankle in cast
Remember that sprained ankle I had last month? Well...it never got better. I went to an orthopedic surgeon today and he put it in a cast. I'll only have the cast for about 2 weeks then I'll start intensive physical therapy so I can get back to normal as soon as possible.
I'm looking to hire someone to baby-sit Grant while I'm in physical therapy starting in two weeks and then possibly for two mornings a week through the summer so I can take a class. I'm looking for someone who has LOTS of experience with infants, ideally a mom with grown kids who has done this before....Please let me know if you or anyone you know is interested. Thanks!
I'm looking to hire someone to baby-sit Grant while I'm in physical therapy starting in two weeks and then possibly for two mornings a week through the summer so I can take a class. I'm looking for someone who has LOTS of experience with infants, ideally a mom with grown kids who has done this before....Please let me know if you or anyone you know is interested. Thanks!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
A great day for Grant
Yesterday I went to my sister's graduation in Ann Arbor all day and Jim stayed home with Grant. I think I was secretly hoping that I would walk in the door and Jim would bow down and tell me he doesn't know how I do it. :)
This didn't happen. But, what did is even better. While I was gone Grant took a two hour nap (his longest ever) and a one hour nap. He played independently, ate solids and didn't cry once. Jim and I were thanking God and then thought, wow, let's try giving him a bottle awake and see if he'll eat it. I picked him up, fully awake, and he sucked down the bottle. We couldn't believe it. He was like Mr.Normal Baby! Jim and I continued to thank God all night and I was on cloud 9. What a great day.
But then, before bed, I tried to feed Grant another bottle while he was awake. No go. He wanted nothing to do with it until he fell asleep. At this point I started to get discouraged and angry at God. And I realized that when Grant has a good day, I feel loved and cared for by God, and when things don't go well I start doubting God's goodness. I have been wrestling with this since Grant was born. I have been trying to dig into the Bible ( and reading from the website www.peterkreeft.com) as to really come to understand God's character so that on good days and bad my faith in Him and His love can remain strong.
This didn't happen. But, what did is even better. While I was gone Grant took a two hour nap (his longest ever) and a one hour nap. He played independently, ate solids and didn't cry once. Jim and I were thanking God and then thought, wow, let's try giving him a bottle awake and see if he'll eat it. I picked him up, fully awake, and he sucked down the bottle. We couldn't believe it. He was like Mr.Normal Baby! Jim and I continued to thank God all night and I was on cloud 9. What a great day.
But then, before bed, I tried to feed Grant another bottle while he was awake. No go. He wanted nothing to do with it until he fell asleep. At this point I started to get discouraged and angry at God. And I realized that when Grant has a good day, I feel loved and cared for by God, and when things don't go well I start doubting God's goodness. I have been wrestling with this since Grant was born. I have been trying to dig into the Bible ( and reading from the website www.peterkreeft.com) as to really come to understand God's character so that on good days and bad my faith in Him and His love can remain strong.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Grant rolled over!
Yesterday was an exciting day. Grant rolled over for the first time. (Both my mom and mother-in-law swear they saw Grant do it a few weeks ago, but this is the first time he did it for me, so now it counts!) Reaching developmental milestones like this is huge for Grant, because they said he will probably be delayed for the first year. But, he is quickly catching up!
Grant is making huge improvements in eating solids. Thanks for your prayers!
We are starting to sleep-train Grant this week so that he learns to self soothe (and so we can get some sleep). The first night he cried for 45 minutes, but last night he only cried for 15! He wakes up once in the night to eat around 1am and then we have to wake him to give him his medication at 5am. We are excited at the prospect of getting more sleep.
We have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital on May 14 to get Grant's leg/hip/shin checked out.
Grant is making huge improvements in eating solids. Thanks for your prayers!
We are starting to sleep-train Grant this week so that he learns to self soothe (and so we can get some sleep). The first night he cried for 45 minutes, but last night he only cried for 15! He wakes up once in the night to eat around 1am and then we have to wake him to give him his medication at 5am. We are excited at the prospect of getting more sleep.
We have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital on May 14 to get Grant's leg/hip/shin checked out.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Visit to the pediatrician
Today Grant went to the pediatrician for his 4 month visit. It was exciting to hear that he is in the 90% percentile in height! (He hasn't really been "above average" in anything yet, so that was fun to hear.) The doctor also said he was extremely strong and appeared developmentally ahead. Yeah!!
She did say that he was one of the most active babies she's ever seen. :) No surprise there. He is in the 25% for weight, so at least he's holding steady at this point. He has eczema all over his body, which has been getting worse over the past month or so, so she finally gave us some topical medication to try for that.
The bummer part of the visit is that she confirmed what Jim and I had noticed in Grant's left leg when he jumps in his bouncer. Something is not quite right. She thinks that one leg is longer than the other. The side of his left foot his the ground instead of hitting straight on. So, she referred us to an orthopedic surgeon.
Please pray:
1. That Grant's leg/foot problem would be healed!
2. That Grant's eczema would go away.
3. That Grant would eat solids with ease.
Thank you!
She did say that he was one of the most active babies she's ever seen. :) No surprise there. He is in the 25% for weight, so at least he's holding steady at this point. He has eczema all over his body, which has been getting worse over the past month or so, so she finally gave us some topical medication to try for that.
The bummer part of the visit is that she confirmed what Jim and I had noticed in Grant's left leg when he jumps in his bouncer. Something is not quite right. She thinks that one leg is longer than the other. The side of his left foot his the ground instead of hitting straight on. So, she referred us to an orthopedic surgeon.
Please pray:
1. That Grant's leg/foot problem would be healed!
2. That Grant's eczema would go away.
3. That Grant would eat solids with ease.
Thank you!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sleep and solids
Grant is catching on to our new sleep plan....kind of. Last night he slept from 9-3am straight! But, then at 3am he thought his day was supposed to start and has been wide eyed ever since! Doesn't this kid need sleep?!
One amazing thing that happened is that at 3am Grant took his bottle awake! He has not done this in months. It was very exciting. Please pray that he is healed and will continue to eat while awake.
Another thing we'd love your prayers for is eating solids. Grant is happily opening his mouth when the food comes near him, which is a great sign, but doesn't have a great suck/swallow because most of the time that he's swallowing food he's asleep (and it's reflexive). Our OT keeps saying, "It's not too bad," but he needs to learn some tongue control. He actually prefers to hold the spoon and feed himself- which consists of sometimes making to his mouth and other times hitting himself in the nose. It's not the most efficient way of eating, but it makes for some great pictures. (To be posted soon.)
One amazing thing that happened is that at 3am Grant took his bottle awake! He has not done this in months. It was very exciting. Please pray that he is healed and will continue to eat while awake.
Another thing we'd love your prayers for is eating solids. Grant is happily opening his mouth when the food comes near him, which is a great sign, but doesn't have a great suck/swallow because most of the time that he's swallowing food he's asleep (and it's reflexive). Our OT keeps saying, "It's not too bad," but he needs to learn some tongue control. He actually prefers to hold the spoon and feed himself- which consists of sometimes making to his mouth and other times hitting himself in the nose. It's not the most efficient way of eating, but it makes for some great pictures. (To be posted soon.)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Snuggles and bathtubs
Grant is making improvements in the area of his sensory struggles. For the longest time he didn't like to be held. Now he loves to snuggle and be rocked to sleep! He also used to really not like water. We had been doing sponge baths only until recently because he'd freak out when we put him in his baby bathtub. But, in Florida I started taking baths with him. (The pool was too germy, but we were in Florida, so we had to go swimming every day. :) )He really likes it now, especially when I leave the water running so he can run his hands under the spout and feel the water pressure. He can amuse himself with that until we both turn into prunes. Yesterday Jim sweetly asked me, "Are you always going to take baths with Grant, or do you think he can start going in the tub without you?" I think he was picturing a 13 year old boy being forced to bathe with his mom. :)
Back to life in Michigan
Grant is starting to eat more food again and do better at home now that we are settling into our routine again. I guess he must not like transitions or something. :)
I talked to the doctor yesterday about switching the times for Grant's medication so that Jim and I can get more sleep. Right now he takes 1 out of his 6 meds at 2am and lately we've been having to work pretty hard at waking him up to get him to take it. And then we have to work pretty hard to get him back to sleep so that he can eat while he sleeps. (Okay, I need to be honest- Jim is the one who does this feeding, not me...) Needless to say, that takes quite a chunk out of the middle of the night. So, we got our doctor's permission to switch the schedule to give him that medication at 8pm, 4am and noon. Grant tends to wake up for the day at 4:30am, so we can probably give it to him then. He is pretty close to getting enough calories during the day to make this possible. It would surely change all of our lives! We tried it for the first time last night and he still was up from midnight to 2am and then again a few hours later, so we're off to a rough start. But, at least we have permission to head in the right direction. Our prayer now is that Grant would sleep from 8pm-4:30am straight. (And maybe even go back to bed after his 4/4:30am meds!) :)
I talked to the doctor yesterday about switching the times for Grant's medication so that Jim and I can get more sleep. Right now he takes 1 out of his 6 meds at 2am and lately we've been having to work pretty hard at waking him up to get him to take it. And then we have to work pretty hard to get him back to sleep so that he can eat while he sleeps. (Okay, I need to be honest- Jim is the one who does this feeding, not me...) Needless to say, that takes quite a chunk out of the middle of the night. So, we got our doctor's permission to switch the schedule to give him that medication at 8pm, 4am and noon. Grant tends to wake up for the day at 4:30am, so we can probably give it to him then. He is pretty close to getting enough calories during the day to make this possible. It would surely change all of our lives! We tried it for the first time last night and he still was up from midnight to 2am and then again a few hours later, so we're off to a rough start. But, at least we have permission to head in the right direction. Our prayer now is that Grant would sleep from 8pm-4:30am straight. (And maybe even go back to bed after his 4/4:30am meds!) :)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
We're Home
We made it home from Florida and Jim just got home from his business trip in LA. Grant grew almost 2 inches while we were gone and gained over a pound. Florida was really good for him!
Since we've been back (only 2 days) Grant has been eating only half of what he ate in Florida. I'm not sure what all the variables are, but even in his sleep he is refusing the bottle again. We started solids (rice cereal and applesauce) last night under the guidance of our occupational therapist. She said he did okay, but has some work to do in terms of tongue control and swallowing that he didn't learn because of struggling with the bottle. Please pray that Grant would take his bottle again and would quickly take to solids.
We're missing grandma and grandpa Niedzinski already and counting the days until they come to visit in June!
Since we've been back (only 2 days) Grant has been eating only half of what he ate in Florida. I'm not sure what all the variables are, but even in his sleep he is refusing the bottle again. We started solids (rice cereal and applesauce) last night under the guidance of our occupational therapist. She said he did okay, but has some work to do in terms of tongue control and swallowing that he didn't learn because of struggling with the bottle. Please pray that Grant would take his bottle again and would quickly take to solids.
We're missing grandma and grandpa Niedzinski already and counting the days until they come to visit in June!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)