Sicko :(

Today I got my very first scary your-kid-is-sick-call. YIKES! I can live without that call for the rest of my life! Dan noticed that Owen was a little off this morning. He felt hot and wasn't doing his usual rolling all over the place routine. Dan kept and eye on him and he seemed fine when we dropped him off at daycare. At about 3 pm I got a call from our daycare provider who temped Owen at 104.2!!! I was a nervous wreck the entire way to the doctors office. Angie was wonderful enough to drive Owen to the doctor's office so I could meet them there. Turns out he's OK, he just has a virus. We need to keep an eye on his fever and dose him with Tylenol. Poor guy! Owen before he realized he was sick.

Now he's catching on!

No extra hormones needed for our family!!

In an unrelated subject, shout out to my husband Dan! Hahaha! Just kidding. I won't even go there! Hello, hello everyone! In continuation of my last blog, I'm giving the lowdown on the endochronology appointment and I've 86ed the annoyed ranting about our appointments (My blog is much more pleasant after a couple beers!). There's actually nothing much to tell. Basically the endochronologist told us that Human Growth Hormone therapy was not an option for Owen. The studies that they have done on the effect that HGH has on dwarfs is not extensive and mostly done in some other country like Sweden or something. No offense to the Swedish but we'll stick to buying IKEA and not hormones from you. This was actually no big surprise to Dan and I as we really didn't believe that it HGH would be an option. Anyway, that really was the extent of our visit. My mother brought up an excellent point to me. She wondered why Owen, the boy with skeletal dysplasia has not been refered to an orthopedist. Hmm...good question mom! We have realized the need for a specialist for Owen so Tonya, I'll be hitting you up for Dr. Pauli's #! On the informative tip. Owen weights 15.9 oz and a far as his legnth, there is a little discrepancy. The nurse measured Owen at 23 1/4 inches which is what he measured at our ped's office at the 4 month check up. When we mentioned this and had them remeasure (twice), they discovered that one of Owen's legs is 3/4th of an inch longer than the other! A measurement taken using Owen's left leg measured at 24 inches. The doc didn't seem too concerned as it is something that could correct itself. It's just something to keep an eye on!

Rock-a Bye-Baby

Once again, I have to apologize for neglecting my blog! Work has been very busy and it's so hard to sit down and get the creative juices flowing!

Owen had a sleep study and an appointment with endochronology on the 12th and 13th respectively and I have do say - it was another disappointing trip. I say "another" disappointing trip because Dan and I have been a little frustrated with our last few treks to Ann Arbor. Over the course of the past few months we have had several appointments made for us in different departments - neurology, genetics, neurosurgery, sleep study dept., endochronology. With the exception of genetics, at each of the appointments they always start off with "So, why are you here today?". The thing is...we don't know! These appointments are made for us and we expect they should know why we are there!

The doctors alway seem to need a recap of Owen's life when we bring him in. It's as if no one shares files (or at least reads them). For as many times as Owen has been to U of M, their familiarity with his case is minimal. Even the nurse, who checks us in everytime we are there shows us no sign of recognition.

Now, don't get me wrong, every single doctor and nurse that we have met has been EXTREMELY nice (and Dr. Misra our geneticist is entirely excluded from this rant because none of these complaints apply to him). I think we are frustrated because we feel as if we are rearranging our lives to make these appointments and end up without a lot of new information. But enough about that and on to the sleep study!

First, I have to say how badly I wish I could post the pictures of Owen during his study. My camera's batteries were dead and the pictures are on my cell phone (I don't have a transfer kit). OH MY GOSH! He was so stinkin' cute! Sensors placed all over monitored different body activity while he slept. He has 3 on his cranium, 2 on his temples, 3 on his chin, 1 on his forhead, 2 on his arms and 1 on his leg. To keep all the sensors on his head in place, they put a tube of gauze with a hole cut out over his head and tied it on top. It was so funny! His face was completely smushed and the little knot on top of his head made him look like a Teletubbie!

Owen also had a strap on his chest, one on his stomach and a breathing tube in his nose. They expected this kid to sleep?! Amazingly, Owen fell asleep at around 9:15pm,that is until the nursed came crashing in and woke him back up. He got back to be around 10:30pm.

Now, as I understood it, the doctors needed Owen to sleep at least 6 solid hours in order to get the readings they needed. Under normal circumstances this is no problem for Owen. I even believe he would have slept throught the night hooked up like a littl science experiment. What Owen can't sleep through is people coming in and out of his room all night, playing with wires, making things beep, shining flashlights in his crib. How much do we expect from this poor little guy? You know who else can't sleep through all that? Me! Yeah, I was pretty crabby in the morning! Anyway, we somehow got throught the night and have not yet heard the results of the study. Knowing U of M though, the will need us to come in for an appointment to get those results and then ask us why we are there.

Endochronology will be the next post!

Has it really been 6 months?

Today it really hit me. Today was the day when I looked at my boy and went "Holy (explitive deleted), your getting so big!" I spent some time watching videos of newborn Owen. I of course became completely weepy and sentimental. This ride we've been on for the past 6 months has been the best thing that has ever happened to us. My perspective on life has changed. I feel that I have more character.

Here's a fun visual chart of Owen's progress

ONE MONTH The beginning of the Budduah belly TWO MONTHS Here Owen demonstrates his puppy dog eyes which will someday be accompanied by "But Ma, that tree came out of nowhere!" THREE MONTHS I see a pretty big difference in Owen between two months and three months FOUR MONTHS Yes, Owen's hair is significantly shorter due to Daddy's barber shop skills. Can you believe I let my husband near my son's head with scissors? I must really trust him! FIVE MONTHS Seriously, could this kid get any cuter?

Life's A Beach for Owen

We took Owen to the beach last weekend and whoa! What an ordeal that turned out to be! Don't get me wrong, Owen was great and seems to love the water/outdoors. However, going to the beach with and infant is a whole differnt story that it was as a single gal. It's one of those secrets that people never tell you otherwise no one would have kids. Let me put it this way, it's Friday and I'm still exhausted. Before baby beach trip gear: Sunscreen, towel, book, water After baby beach trip gear: Sunscreen, towel, book, water, SPF 60 for babies, towel for Owen, Pack and Play, Blanket for pack and play, sheet to go ontop of pack and play, beach umbrella to shade pack and play, king size blanket, cooler, bottles, diapers, diaper cream, wipes, change of clothing, Owen's beach cover up, bib, 2 rattles, 1 baby faces book, 1 book/toy, 1 teething ring, 1 bunny blanket Before baby beach schedule: Set down towel, sun front for 1 hour, turn, sun back for 1 hour, take a dip. Repeat at your leisure. After baby beach schedule: Start packing the night before, rise early to finish packing so you can be a the beach by 12:00, get to beach at 1:30pm, take 1st trip down to beach with gear & baby, set up pack and play, set down blanket, take 2nd trip to car for remaining gear, go to beach store to by umbrella, try to set up umbrella in optimal spot (1/2 hour minimum), feed Owen (because it's now 2:30), play with Owen on beach towel, take him into water, put Owen down for nap in pack and play, enjoy 15 blissful minutes of tanning, attend to Owen who has woken up crying, decied it's time to go, pack up gear, take first trip of stuff up to the car, take 2nd trip up to the car, leave the beach @ 4:30. Consequently, I don't think I'm going to be able to talk Dan into going back to the beach any time soon! 15 lbs. of baby, 50 lbs of stuff!