Happy 7 Week Birthday, Graeme!

Smiles

Chef Louise and her Sandbox Creations

Jammie Time

King of the Remote

At seven weeks old, Graeme has started to show us a bit of his personality. He has begun to smile on occasion and is beginning to sleep for a bit longer each night. He still absolutely loves to eat. In fact he would perfer eat every 2 hours all day (and sometimes all night) long. We figure he must be making up for lost time. He is packing on the pounds and is working on filling in his third chin. He has officially inherited the nickname "Little Winston", as he resembles Winston Churchill, with bald head and three chins.

Mariana continues to enjoy loving on her Baby Graeme! She also loves playing outside in her sandbox and playing with her baby dolls. She still would love to drag her brother around like she does her dollies, but at least she is getting used to his presence.

Mommy and Daddy are tired, but managing well. Daddy finally was able to take his paternity leave this past week and we so enjoyed having him home. He was a huge help with the kids and managed to tackle several projects that needed to be done around the house.

Beautiful September Weather in Asheville

Mommy's Boy

Sweet Baby Graeme

Sister Hugs

The Kennedy Clan

Gran's little wiggle worms

Tickle, Tickle, Tickle

We are thrilled to report that after four weeks at home, Graeme continues to thrive. He is such a happy baby and we feel very blessed!! Mariana has become such a good big sister. She loves to play with her baby brother and entertain him by reading him books and singing him songs. She is quite a good helper to mommy when it is time to change the baby's diapers or give him a bath. We really miss Gran's help, but we are slowly settling into a routine of our own.

Good Reports from the Surgeon

Yesterday, we went for our follow-up visit with Graeme's pediatric surgeon. Amazingly enough, he weighed 9 lb. 12 oz and was 23 1/2 inches long. This means he has gained over a pound and a half since is inital pediatrician appointment and has grown 2 inches- Yeah Graeme!! His surgeon was thrilled, as obviously this means he is eating well.

The doctor was also amazed that Graeme was not having more issues with reflux. He is doing so well, that they have decided to take him off the Prilosec. His incision is completely healed and the surgeon seems to think that he will no longer need to follow Graeme, unless he develops some sort of esophageal stricture in the next several months. This is a complication that tends to present itself between 6 weeks and 3 months post surgery.

Otherwise, as Graeme continues to grow, his esophgagus should continue to grow with him and in a sense "self-dilate".

We were thrilled with the good news from the surgeon and we are prayerful that Graeme will not develop a stricture or any complications down the road. God has been so faithful in the healing of Graeme and we are continually blessed by all of your prayers, meals, notes of encouragement, phone calls and support! We can't thank you enough!!

September 8, 2010 - Four Weeks Old and My First Week at Home

Go Penn State!

Bubble Fun


Our Peaceful Boy!

Yummy Watermelon

"Man, these photo shoots are exhauting!"

Rub a Dub Dub, Kickin' in the tub!

Checking myself out in the mirror

Hanging out in the swing

I love my sweet Gran!

Graeme is now home and he is 4 1/2 weeks old. Mommy Sprout must apologize for taking a bit longer to get back into the swing of things with the blog, as having two kids under the same roof has been absolutely exhausting! (And I thought it was rough commuting to and from the hospital). Anyway, we feel very blessed to have Graeme at home and we are extremely grateful to have Gran here, helping us as we adjust.

Graeme really seems to be thriving at home. He is eating well and had gained 4 more ounces at his first pediatrician appointment. Despite the fact that he does have reflux (as a result of his surgery), it doesn't seem to bother him too significantly. He doesn't spit up at all and he has had no signs of aspiration. Pretty amazing for a child undergoing a TE Fistula repair (or so we are told).

Graeme is also sleeping quite well both at night and during the day. We can only hope that this will last in the coming days, weeks and months. So far he seems to be a really laid-back fellow (wonder who he gets that from). He will go with the flow if we need to run errands or take Mariana somewhere and he can fall asleep just about anywhere. Mommy is so jealous!!

Tomorrow we will meet with his pediatric surgeon for his surgery follow-up appointment. We are anticipating that they may take him off his medicine for reflux...which would be truly miraculous given what he has been through!

Mariana has struggled quite a bit with sharing the attention in the house. She has begun to really show us just how bad the "terrible twos" can be and she certainly knows how to push her Mommy's buttons!! She does best when she is able to "help" Mommy with diaper changes and giving the baby a bath, but she just can't understand why she cannot carry Graeme herself or put him into the carseat and swing.

Outside of having several sweet moments of loving on her brother, Mariana has spent most of the week playing with Gran! Oh, how she will miss all the fun times with Gran, when she has to return home on Saturday. What a lifesaver Gran has been!!

Well, that's about it from this week. We are all adjusting to a new normal and trying to catch up on sleep when we can. Thanks again, for all your prayers and support. We hope to update the blog at least weekly, if not more often.