Week 6: August 16-22

Thursday was Kian's 5 week birthday, and the poor little guy spent it sick! I continued to sleep with him in the nursery, and he sounded better intermittently. The night time and early morning seemed to be the worst.
In the middle of Thursday night, I woke up with Kian to feed him as usual. When I went to burp him, I noticed his back was wet. Weird. I thought, "Oh no! He must have peed out of his diaper." He hadn't done that in weeks, not since his circumcision healed (and we started pointing his wee wee down), so I was surprised. Then I realized... even worse. When he peed out of his diaper, either his side or stomach would be wet, and really if his legs were wet I wouldn't be surprised either. This was the middle of his back. Uh oh. Sure enough, he had pooped right up and out the back of his pajamas! I knew it would happen sometime, but having a poo-juice smeared hand in the middle of a night so short on sleep was not my idea of a good time. Luckily, whether because I have my mom's sense of humor, or because I was sleep deprived, it made me laugh :). We already knew that we were going to need to move him to a larger sized diaper, but this incident showed me the time had come!

So the morning of his due date he hit two milestones. Size 1 diapers, and pooping up the back of his last newborn sized diaper! It was so totally bizarre to realize I was just now supposed to be having him. Here I have this 9 pound, 5 week old baby looking up at me, and I should be in labor! Among other things, looking at the size of my pudgy little man I am SO grateful that he came early. Since he ended up being basically healthy, I get to be happy he arrived when he did. Besides, these past few weeks were bonus time where we got to know him better and see his beautiful little eyes and kiss his tiny fingers and toes!

Friday we returned to the bedroom, bringing his swing along for him to sleep in. I just wasn't getting much sleep the other way, and daddy missed us. I felt like his nasal congestion was getting much better, though he wasn't 100% yet. We both seemed to sleep better that way.

Saturday was another big day in the O'Grady household. I went and ran errands for about 3 hours, and left daddy all alone with Kian for the first time! I was a little teary eyed the whole time, and by the time I was coming home I missed him so much. He was pretty much the way he's been for the past week - fussy and needy. It's hard to set him down because he absolutely screams, and when he gets too upset he gets all snotty and then he can't breathe, and it's a bad scene. Poor Brian did really well and said he enjoyed having alone time with him, but it was pretty rough. In some ways it was actually good I think, because it let Brian see how frustrating and stressful it can be to be tied to a needy, fussy, sick baby. It's not like it's physically hard work, but when you have things you want to do and you can't get anything done, it is far from easy. That feeling is hard to communicate adequately, and I think sometimes it probably seemed like Brian came home and I was STILL on the couch holding the baby and nothing was done. He never complained, but I wondered sometimes if he really understood that my "job" is difficult. He's not the only one who works all day. So, while I felt a lot of empathy for his frustration, I thought it was good for him to get a glimpse into my every day life. On another funny note, that was the first time I drove in FIVE WEEKS! Luckily I still remembered how to drive a stick! :)

Saturday was the baby shower of the girl in our squadron due next. One of the errands I ran was purchasing a gift for her. I really considered dropping the gift off with a friend who lives nearby, but decided in the end to go. Brian asked if I was planning on taking Kian with me or leaving him home. He asked as nonchalantly as he could, but I thought I caught the shine of fear in his eyes! I figured it would be a good time for me to go somewhere alone with him, since he's old enough to be in his car seat without someone in the back with him now, so off we went! He did really well even if I was a nervous wreck. Milestones galore this week! The shower was fun and of course everyone had to coo and fuss over him and pass him around. Everyone agrees that he is huge and really noisy! Luckily the baby who was born before him and is almost a month older grunts and groans all the time too. And the woman who was hosting the shower said that her second girl made that same sort of noise, so she ended up sleeping in her own room when she was only a few days old!

That night we had another surprise, this one not so good. In a rare moment Kian was content to nap in his bouncy seat, so Brian and I were running around trying to get a few things done. We still have a stack of boxes to break down and recycle from all of the baby items we have, so Brian was out breaking down this week's share. I was cleaning up the kitchen and doing dishes. Cita (our chihuahua mix) started barking. I figured she was barking at Brian out in the garage, so I yelled at her to be quiet. A little later Brian was inside and she was STILL barking. Stupid dog, she was going to wake the baby! I yelled at her again, and Brian rolled his eyes and went to see what she was barking at. Sometimes she wedges a toy under the couch where she can't reach it or something, and she barks. Brian went around the corner and there was a beat of silence. Then...

"Babe... there's a snake."

I freaked out. In our house!? Oh my gosh! Is it by the baby?! *squeal* He assured me it was the same harmless, docile type we found in our pool not too long ago, but I was in a panic. Yes, me, Miss Vet Tech who handled all sorts of reptiles, I was FREAKING OUT. No, it was nowhere near the baby but I had to go scoop him up just the same. We have had a TON of rain, and we think that all the moisture had it seeking a dry place. It was a little tiny juvenile, probably 15 inches long but very thin, and we think it slipped in under our front door. It was writhing around in our tiled entryway, trying to figure out how the heck to get out again. Brian very calmly swept it out, then ended up ushering it out into the wash because it couldn't figure out how to get out of the outside entryway either. We have a towel rolled up against the door now, and I think it's staying there until Brian puts in some new weather stripping. Holy crap. *pant* Even now it gives me the willies. What a weekend!

Monday Kian was still seeming sick, and I considered calling the doctor, but I somehow managed to sleep in a bit (or rather, we both went back to bed instead of getting up after what is usually his last morning feeding) and then he was fussy so I didn't call the doctor. In the evening when I gave him his bath, I noticed his belly button was really bulging. It's always been sort of an outy, but this was... weird. I gently put pressure on it and sure enough, it seemed just like an umbilical hernia. I mentioned it to Brian and he said he noticed it a little earlier in the day too. I read a little about it and decided it wasn't an emergency, but we were DEFINITELY going to call the doctor the next day.

Tuesday we called in and managed to get an afternoon appointment. Brian came along, but met me there so I had to get both of us ready and load the car with stroller, diaper bag, and car seat by myself... with a time limit! It was pretty stressful but we got there on time and it all worked out. Kian weighed in at 9 lbs 13.8 oz! Holy smokes, he's huge. He definitely has an umbilical hernia, but they are common and nothing to worry about. They usually go away on their own, and only 1-2% need surgical repair.The doctor was concerned with the speed of his breathing and some slight "retractions" where the chest really seems to suck in with each breath. He was breathing fast at least partly because he was upset and naked, but still. The doc ordered chest X-rays, which had me worried but I really wanted to make sure he was OK.

Have you ever seen a baby X-rayed? If you had asked me, I would have figured it would be done like we do dogs. The techs would wear a lead vest and hold him in place... right? Wrong! I swear, this restraining thing is a medeival torture device! Look at this - http://www.pediagraph.com/. Now picture a tiny baby, whose head is INSIDE that plastic tube instead of above it. Horrid thing. The fact that he was sitting on a little bicycle seat probably didn't help either - not exactly secure for a baby who is cuddled all the time. The stroller is big and the area behind the lead wall is small, so I waited in the hall. It wasn't far enough to keep me from hearing him scream and scream. My poor little man! I cried, but Brian thought the whole thing was sort of amusing. I guess he did look a little funny all squished with his hands above his head. We waited a bit, then I snuck back to check with the techs - should we head back to the doc, did we need another shot? They were both looking at the digital pictures, seeming sort of confused. The side view was fine but the front to back view was dark, and they used the same technique. I used to take X-rays of course so I thought this was like... duh. They tried to say it was a computer problem, and called another guy to come look at it. He suggested they use a different technique and that they center it better. This shot worked out much better so we were all set. It was neat to see the X-rays, though I was hoping to get a good look at the hernia and they were too high up. I've seen a lot of pneumonia and they looked good to me - what a relief. The doctor agreed and ended up sending us home to keep on as we've been, but with instructions to bring him back before the weekend. Phew.

Yet another eventful week, and he just keeps growing! This week I really started to feel worn out. A newborn is tough enough, but a sick one is just wrong. Of course I love him to pieces, and it just breaks my heart that he doesn't feel good, but I was SO TIRED. Brian and I both ended up saying he might end up being an only child. I can't imagine doing this again, let alone doing it with the active, opinionated toddler Kian is sure to be. I guess time might change that, but we'll have to see. Right now I'm trying to cherish these moments when he's small, but I'm sort of looking forward to him being a little older. Three months is starting to look mighty good. Five years... even better. ;)