Karl
Couple new photos of boy...
Monday, February 20, 2012
Quick Update
Just letting everyone know that I added some links to the right on the blog. They show Kaleb's heart condition and give information about the blood drive.
Karl
Couple new photos of boy...
yummy avacado
sleeping in momies arms
Karl
Couple new photos of boy...
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
And So We Grow
Hi everybody! I know it's been forever since we've updated the blog, and I can only apologize profusely. We've just been so busy enjoying life at HOME with our little man, the time has really flown. Let's get everybody caught up on the latest Prinz happenings!
At the end of November, Kaleb had his 2nd Cath Lab procedure, and it took him a bit longer than expected to recover. I was able to spend the first week with him, but before his discharge mommy had to go back to work(....insert scary movie music here!) We all knew it was coming, but as usual, the timing was terrible. While I taught, Karl and my mom took turns caring for Kaleb. On Karl's days, I'd rush home to relieve him so that he could get to the office for the rest of the evening. He and I rarely saw each other except to trade off the little guy, and neither of us got any sleep. We survived this for exactly 3 weeks, but long before that we knew it would never work. I gave my notice at the school before Christmas Break, and as of January 1st, I joined the ranks of "stay at home mommies."
The decision to leave my job of 9 years for my family was easy, but the act of leaving it was much harder. I don't think good-byes are easy for anyone, but I feel especially terrible at them. Some of our students have absolutely grown up before my eyes, and I'll really miss sharing what I love about music with all of them. I've also made really good friends at the school where I worked, and when we found out about Kaleb's conditions, so many women(and the few men) wanted to help, listen, pray, and care about me and this precious baby they hadn't even met. I won't ever forget the kindness and compassion shown to our family, and I can't wait for the day it's safe to take him to the school for his "Grand Introduction."
I adore my new role at home with Kaleb, but make no mistake-this job isn't for sissies! I thought I was exhausted at the end of my teaching days: singing, dancing, playing instruments, chasing kindergartners(mostly kidding!), and so much more! Nope, this is a whole new level of tired. There is no beginning or end to the day...no coffee break, uninterrupted lunch period, or even bathroom break! I consider that the day officially begins after 6 am, when daddy finishes his feeding. Yes, I did say DADDY finishes his feeding. I have one of the most helpful husbands on the planet, thank goodness.(and yes Karl, this is in writing!) You should understand up front that Kaleb is exclusively NG tube-fed. He decided a month ago that the bottle/boob was no longer his thing, and after much discussion and coaxing to change his mind, he won. So we have a pump that runs his feedings over about an hour. We take turns with the night feedings, which is awesome!! Although our sweet Kaleb is 5 months old, he is incredibly sensitive to change and then there's the reflux. So we are still feeding him every 3 hours round the clock...again, with the scary music cue please! So our feeding schedule goes like this: Karl takes the 6 am before he gets ready for work, and then he brings Kaleb in to me when it's finished. I'm here for the 9, 12, 3, and 6 so those are mine. I do the 9 PM, so Karl can get sleep before he takes the midnight...and I do the 3 am, as well. Factor in that I take him any time he wakes up at night, and that I'm still pumping every blessed ounce of breast milk for his dining pleasure 5 times a day, and you've got one tired mommy on your hands! And you'll never hear me complain about any of it, even in a moment of weakness. Perhaps it comes from the perspective of being mom to a critically -ill child, but I find beauty even in the things that make this "job" incredibly hard. I suppose that sounds a bit hokey, but I'll never apologize for it.
More on our daily life later, let's talk about how Kaleb is doing now-GREAT! We're 2 months post-Cath, and his oxygen-saturation is still 87-92ish. He weighs an astounding 5.29 kilos, which is almost 11 1/2 lbs. Since he started 6 weeks early and 4 lbs 10 oz, we're so proud of him! We still go to Cardiac Clinic every Monday to see Dr. Nugent, and we regularly check in with Kim or Joy with "Safe at Home." We've been looking towards his big cardiac surgery at the end of Feb/beginning of March for some time now. However, at clinic this past week, Dr. Nugent mentioned that he and Dr. Forbess might want to do a 3rd Cath procedure and wait for surgery until Kaleb reaches 8 kilos. Holy cow, that's 17 lbs!! As long as he remains stable, it appears that's the new plan. Dr. Nugent thinks the Cath will take place President's Day week in February. I'm sure we'll have many more details in the next few clinic appointments, so I'll try not to worry about it for now!
This week we started rice cereal!! Mommy was waaay more excited about it than Kaleb could ever have been, I even dubbed Tuesday "National Rice Cereal Day." Karl watched on Facetime and we video-taped the whole thing. Our wonderful speech therapist, Holly, got him eating, and we all cheered him through every bite! We'll have to see how it goes when we're on our own for the rest of the week. Like probably every other baby in the world, he didn't love it right away. But he did try really hard which is all that really matters, right?
He's ridiculously adorable these days! He started babbling several weeks ago, and there are times when he starts talking and just won't stop-wonder where he gets that?! He's constantly moving, and he LOVES music! Wonder where he gets that?! Everybody who sees him regularly seems to have a different opinion about who he looks like. Several of the wonderful ladies from our church who help us regularly and Auntie Martha think he looks like me. Karl and his family think he looks like my dad. My mom and sister think he's his own person. Dr. Nugent thinks he looks just like daddy. I have no idea! The only thing I'm sure of is that he's still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! Feel free to cast your own opinion when you see the pictures below.
I won't even begin to tell you how long it's taken me to finish this post, so I think I'd better hurry and send it before another few days pass. Now for the seriously cute part...the pictures! Hope everyone is well, and thanks for catching up with us! Please keep us in your prayers!
One day, one hour, one minute at a time,
Jenifer
Right after his bath-one of his favorite things!
This precious Santa Suit was a gift from his Nana. We took 20 pics and he cried the whole time!
Our favorite Christmas picture! Yuki just walked over and turned around perfectly in it!!
Some of his funniest moments are in his diaper on the couch before his night weigh-in
Rice Cereal Day! Doesn't he just look like he's loving it?!
He's got his mama's sideways smile! This little guy is quite the charmer!
I shot this one while he was helping me clean the kitchen from his froggy chair.
He loves playing with his musical flowers!
At the end of November, Kaleb had his 2nd Cath Lab procedure, and it took him a bit longer than expected to recover. I was able to spend the first week with him, but before his discharge mommy had to go back to work(....insert scary movie music here!) We all knew it was coming, but as usual, the timing was terrible. While I taught, Karl and my mom took turns caring for Kaleb. On Karl's days, I'd rush home to relieve him so that he could get to the office for the rest of the evening. He and I rarely saw each other except to trade off the little guy, and neither of us got any sleep. We survived this for exactly 3 weeks, but long before that we knew it would never work. I gave my notice at the school before Christmas Break, and as of January 1st, I joined the ranks of "stay at home mommies."
The decision to leave my job of 9 years for my family was easy, but the act of leaving it was much harder. I don't think good-byes are easy for anyone, but I feel especially terrible at them. Some of our students have absolutely grown up before my eyes, and I'll really miss sharing what I love about music with all of them. I've also made really good friends at the school where I worked, and when we found out about Kaleb's conditions, so many women(and the few men) wanted to help, listen, pray, and care about me and this precious baby they hadn't even met. I won't ever forget the kindness and compassion shown to our family, and I can't wait for the day it's safe to take him to the school for his "Grand Introduction."
I adore my new role at home with Kaleb, but make no mistake-this job isn't for sissies! I thought I was exhausted at the end of my teaching days: singing, dancing, playing instruments, chasing kindergartners(mostly kidding!), and so much more! Nope, this is a whole new level of tired. There is no beginning or end to the day...no coffee break, uninterrupted lunch period, or even bathroom break! I consider that the day officially begins after 6 am, when daddy finishes his feeding. Yes, I did say DADDY finishes his feeding. I have one of the most helpful husbands on the planet, thank goodness.(and yes Karl, this is in writing!) You should understand up front that Kaleb is exclusively NG tube-fed. He decided a month ago that the bottle/boob was no longer his thing, and after much discussion and coaxing to change his mind, he won. So we have a pump that runs his feedings over about an hour. We take turns with the night feedings, which is awesome!! Although our sweet Kaleb is 5 months old, he is incredibly sensitive to change and then there's the reflux. So we are still feeding him every 3 hours round the clock...again, with the scary music cue please! So our feeding schedule goes like this: Karl takes the 6 am before he gets ready for work, and then he brings Kaleb in to me when it's finished. I'm here for the 9, 12, 3, and 6 so those are mine. I do the 9 PM, so Karl can get sleep before he takes the midnight...and I do the 3 am, as well. Factor in that I take him any time he wakes up at night, and that I'm still pumping every blessed ounce of breast milk for his dining pleasure 5 times a day, and you've got one tired mommy on your hands! And you'll never hear me complain about any of it, even in a moment of weakness. Perhaps it comes from the perspective of being mom to a critically -ill child, but I find beauty even in the things that make this "job" incredibly hard. I suppose that sounds a bit hokey, but I'll never apologize for it.
More on our daily life later, let's talk about how Kaleb is doing now-GREAT! We're 2 months post-Cath, and his oxygen-saturation is still 87-92ish. He weighs an astounding 5.29 kilos, which is almost 11 1/2 lbs. Since he started 6 weeks early and 4 lbs 10 oz, we're so proud of him! We still go to Cardiac Clinic every Monday to see Dr. Nugent, and we regularly check in with Kim or Joy with "Safe at Home." We've been looking towards his big cardiac surgery at the end of Feb/beginning of March for some time now. However, at clinic this past week, Dr. Nugent mentioned that he and Dr. Forbess might want to do a 3rd Cath procedure and wait for surgery until Kaleb reaches 8 kilos. Holy cow, that's 17 lbs!! As long as he remains stable, it appears that's the new plan. Dr. Nugent thinks the Cath will take place President's Day week in February. I'm sure we'll have many more details in the next few clinic appointments, so I'll try not to worry about it for now!
This week we started rice cereal!! Mommy was waaay more excited about it than Kaleb could ever have been, I even dubbed Tuesday "National Rice Cereal Day." Karl watched on Facetime and we video-taped the whole thing. Our wonderful speech therapist, Holly, got him eating, and we all cheered him through every bite! We'll have to see how it goes when we're on our own for the rest of the week. Like probably every other baby in the world, he didn't love it right away. But he did try really hard which is all that really matters, right?
He's ridiculously adorable these days! He started babbling several weeks ago, and there are times when he starts talking and just won't stop-wonder where he gets that?! He's constantly moving, and he LOVES music! Wonder where he gets that?! Everybody who sees him regularly seems to have a different opinion about who he looks like. Several of the wonderful ladies from our church who help us regularly and Auntie Martha think he looks like me. Karl and his family think he looks like my dad. My mom and sister think he's his own person. Dr. Nugent thinks he looks just like daddy. I have no idea! The only thing I'm sure of is that he's still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! Feel free to cast your own opinion when you see the pictures below.
I won't even begin to tell you how long it's taken me to finish this post, so I think I'd better hurry and send it before another few days pass. Now for the seriously cute part...the pictures! Hope everyone is well, and thanks for catching up with us! Please keep us in your prayers!
One day, one hour, one minute at a time,
Jenifer
Right after his bath-one of his favorite things!
Sitting like a big boy in his Bumbo!
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