Happy Birthday Connor Mac!

Hey there!!!
Connor Mac will officially be 1 at 12:36pm today! WOO HOO!! I know most if not all of you who read this blog went through the NICU journey with us so you all know what an awesome day today is. It is hard not to look back on a year ago today though....

I had been taken off the Mag Sulfate by this point (Connor was coming regardless) and Brian and I had been debriefed on what to expect with a 25 weeker. I remember none of this because of the drugs. Brian's mom Ellie had flown in from Texas, and my mom had flown in from vacation in Palm Springs. Court was at UW with us. Connor was breech we knew that. The docs had been mentioning it could take a bit abd blah blah blah, thenmy water broke and Connor arrived pretty darn quick after that. So fast actually the nurse was trying to hold him in! I can laugh about it now, wasn't so funny then... It was after his delivery that our 97 day (but who really counted right??) NICU journey began.

So where is Connor now compared to then? So glad you asked :)

Connor weighed in at 1 pound 10 ounces when he was born. Last week he weighed in at 17 pounds 14 ounces.
Connor was on and off the vent a few times and on and off CPAP a few times, and then the nasal prongs he came home on... Connor is on no Oxygen anymore at all!
Connor used to take 2cc's of food through a tube and when we moved to the bottle we thought 2 ounces was a huge amount of food. Connor now eats baby food off a spoon, puffy rice things on his own, and holds his own bottle filled with 6-8 ounces of formula PLUS rice cereal to fill this kiddo up. I like to joke that Connor had issues with the whoel breathing thing...not the eating thing, that was one hurdle he had no issues with. This kid LOVES to eat. We might have to buy cattle!
Connor is showing no signs of any real issues that many 25 weekers can and do face, he is behind in some areas for a 1 year old but right on target for an 8 month old. He is catching up quick though and his thearapist tells me to be prepared for Connor walking before August. Connor crawls, pulls up on everything, including unsuspecting people's pants! He babbles all the time, claps, smiles and laughs. He is one happy baby. Every morning i go into his room and he sits up and gives me a huge toothy grin and a big squeal and a couple claps. Then it is a diaper change and he is off the race, places to go and toys to put in his mouth...

So...if you get a chance today, raise of glass of whatever and think of Connor.

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow" Connor is a miracle and a testimony to how wonderful God is and what amazing works he does...

Love to you all,

FINALLY!!!

I am so sorry! I have not been able to get into the blog for months now because Blogger changed the format and our password so I had no idea what the password was so I would guess and then it would lock me out of the account. I finally got some tech support and have access to the blog again. Whew.

Man oh man have things changed around here....

Connor has 4 teeth now, two tops and 2 bottoms. He weighs in at a nice 17 pounds and 14 ounces. That weight is from Thursday of this past week where he had his LAST RSV shot! Thats' right we have successfully made it through RSV season. I am so happy. We had 2 colds but nothing that was not manageable with some help from a puffer and some extra sleep. Praise God. Connor is eating solids now. He eats Gerber mainly but we are hoping that in th enext month we can start him on some table food as well. He loves banana's and almost all fruits. he isn't too crazy about the "meat" dishes" and he enjoys some of the veggies too. Dessert is by far his favourite. he loves the Dutch Apple dessert the best. We are still on the preemie formula for bottles but we should be changing form that later this month when he goes for his 1 year checkup. Its hard to believe that Connor will be one in just 5 days! WOW. As for moving Connor is doing alot of it. he crawls now and he is prtety quick too. He gets into everything and will come looking for you too. He loves this new independence. I think he likes it a lot more than Mommy does. Don't get me wrong i am excited for him but it is a whole new world having a totally mobile little person around the house. Things are great though and he is just so much fun. I find myself thinking "oh this is the best age" and then the next month I am saying "no maybe this is" I just love all the things he does and how much fun he has learning and playing and stuff.
Brian will be home in time for Connor's birthday. He is in for a suprise that's for sure. When Brian left Connor was still sleeping on a wedge (he is just in his crib now) Connor could not even sit up if we helped him (now he sits up on his own and moves intot he position on his own) He crawls, he babbles way more, he eats most about half of his meals from a spoon, takes a sippy cup, holds the bottles on his own, claps, laughs, and reaches for people that he knows. Its just crazy how much he has changed. Plus the fact he is just bigger and has more hair!
I have new pictures to post of Connor but I am waiting for Brian to get home and see them before I share them with everyone, he deserves to see them first I think! I will also post soe birthday pics of Connor Mac.

I am so sorry it has taken so long for me to write. At least now I can get inot here now and so I can keep it more up to date :)

Blessings to everyone,
Ali & Connor

Another Tooth!

Connor has two teeth now. Botht he bottom ones have come in and it does not look like they will go back down or anything. He looks so cute.

Connor's appt with the Liver Dr went well and he will be followed up on next year. Today we are getting our anti-RSV shot and tomorrow it is off to Bellvue to go to Dermatology. I think after the derm appt we have nothing for a few weeks YIPEEEEE!!!!

Connor must be haviong a growth spurt or something. He has been sleeping through the night for months now, the other night he woke up at 2, 4, 6 and ate 6 ounces at each of those wake ups, then at 8 he ate again. The rest of the day he was on his normal schedule. Then last night Connor was up again needing to eat. It has to be a growth spurt, he is after all almost 7 months!!!

The therapist says we may see crawling as early as Easter. Figures this is one of those years that Easter comes early!!!!

Love to you all,
A.

Guess who has a TOOTH!!!!

Yup it is in. I think it is in fully now. There was just a corner last night but by tonight there is 2 full corners stuff in the middle too. I don't think it will go down again but it is possible. I am so exited. I don't know why really, other than the fact it is his FIRST tooth! It is on the bottom right and it is beautiful. There looks to be another one coming in right next door so maybe that one will come in soon too. Connor handled getting this tooth pretty good, it took forever but it has only been the last 2 weeks that tylonel has been on board and only at night. He drools like he is part St. bernard but other than that he is his normal happy self. I have started to use the baby Oragel to help a bit too but even that was just at night. Connor doesn't seem to get why I am excited and keep wanting to put my fingers in his mouth but whatever, I will explain it later to him. :)

I emailed Brian and told him all about it. I don't think he was quite as excited as I was, must be a dad thing. I think I would take out an ad in the paper if I could! So now instead of brushing gums every morning and night, I have one tooth to brush too :)

Love one happy mommy!

Happy 6 Months Connor Mac!

Hi everyone,

Connor is 6 months today!!! He is doing so great. He is not sleeping on his big wedge anymore. He has a wedge about half the size of his other one just under his mattress in his crib now. So Connor has way more room to move around now and is quite often found at the other end of the crib fast asleep. I will have to take a picture one night soon of when I put him to bed and where I find him when I go to bed and again where i find him when he gets up in the morning. I am hoping that by the time Brian gets home he will be off any sort of wedge support and just sleeping flat.

Teeth seem to be on the way for Connor. I know I have been saying this of ages now but you can actually see the bumps now. there are two on the bottom and what looks like one on the top. Hopefully he will get all three at once and be out of this pain for a bit. We have been really lucky actually with Connor's temperment when he teeths, he only gets fussy at night and crys at night about them. So he gets tylonle at night and some oragel type stuff for babies and that seems to help him a alot. During the day he is happy with a cold cloth or some cool teething rings.

I think I mentioned it before but if not..his physio guy thinks Connor could be crawling by April! He is already showing signs of trying and he is determined. He sits on his knees by the stairs now and plays with his car there or a ball. He will also sit in his bumbo chair and roll a ball back and forth with you. Of course he needs to put the ball in his mouth before he gives it back to you but that's ok!

We have also introduced the sippy cup. Seems sort of early I know but I did this with the spoon as well and Connor was taking food quick from that and it only helps catch him up sooner. So far he just chews on the sippy cup doesn't actually drink from it, maybe next month. We have just been trying juice or water in the cup. We don't want to do formula because come April we change his formula to one that is not for preemie;s (Thank goodness because it is WAY cheaper than what we pay now. One can of formula is 15 bucks for Connor right now) and the nutrionist suggested we change him from the bottle around then if we can. Then when Connor is adjusted to 12 months in August we can introduce whole milk. YEAH!!!!

All in all things are good around our place. We are looking forward to some new and exciting times and I am sort of even looking forward to baby proffing the house. Might make me a better house cleaner!!!!

Love to you all,
Ali

Pics

March of Dimes/Walk America
Every year, half a million babies in the U.S. are born prematurely. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death and many life long disabilities. The funds we raise in WalkAmerica support research that saves babies' lives.


Our mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.



I have started a team for Connor called "Connor's Crew" anyone can join us on the walk and anyone can sponsor us. Our team goal is $2500.00. For those of you who saw Connor in the NICU you know how small he was and what a tough road he fought. Help us raise money so that eventually no babies and no families have to go through all that we did. Check out our page and if you can't walk or sponsor us, please pray for us and all the other NICU families.

http://www.walkamerica.org/375526

Blessings,

Ali

9 Month Well baby check up

Hi everyone,

Today Connor had his Nine month check up. He did great of course. He weighed in at 16 pounds 4 ounces and 25 inches long. He is finally on the charts of "normal" kids. He is in the 3rd percentile but hey he is on the chart! Dr Chad was really happy about all of Connor's progress and deemed him fit for some new things. One being he can go to the nursery at the church for the Sunday School hour, he can interact with other kids so long as they are not sick, and that we can pretty much treat him as a normal 5 month old now. Most of Connor's medical prematurity is either gone or well on the way out. PRAISE GOD!!!!

We have some more appointments coming up next month about his liver and with the dermatologist about his hemagiomas (which seem to be fading and or goin away all by themselves!)

Connor rolls front to back and back to front now on a daily basis. Its awesome. He doesn't think so but we do. We are supposed to encourgae him to clap more now and sit up. He is getting the hang of sit up, just doesn't get the balance part and is pretty mad when he falls over!

Don't forget to pledge us in the walk america!!!

Love,
Ali