Six Months?!? Get Ready For The Pictures!

(I can't make those large spaces with nothing go away....)

Can you believe my little man is 6 months old?! Crazy! So in his honor, here are 6 things you probably don't know about Jaden:

1. He NEVER spits up. I can count on one hand the number of times he has spit up. He also doesn't drool, but that will come with the teething I'm sure.
   


2. He has to have about 9 medications given to him throughout the day and he never complains. Even when it's time for those gross multi-vitamin drops he doesn't even pull a face. He just takes them like a champ.
   


3. He loves to hold your hand. Whether it's during his feeding, during playtime, when he's in his swing, or being rocked to sleep, he wants to grasp your finger.
   


4. He is a picky eater. He likes his bottle warmed up to just the right temperature and he will only drink fresh milk. I think it is partly because my milk doesn't freeze well and tastes sour after thawing it out. Don't know what I'll do with the thousands of ounces we have stored away.... Also, sometimes he wants to breastfeed, but if you force him, then he refuses to breastfeed for several days. And he goes back and forth on which bottle nipples he wants - the slow flow or slightly faster ones. Oh well.
   


5. He sleeps all the time!! I am talking probably 18-20 hours a day! And he sleeps 8-10 hours straight at night! During the day his room gets really bright and he won't sleep in his crib - only in my arms. So we get a lot of cuddle time. And all of this sleeping leads too:
   


6. He is 10 pounds!!! On Monday we went for a check up and he was 10 pounds 3 ounces! Not only that, but he had gained 1 pound in 1 week! I'm pretty sure it's from all the sleeping.

So now we are on to the pictures, and there are a lot, so get ready!!!

And, of course, the famous hands pictures:

It's really hard to get the hand picture these days. He really doesn't want to hold still. So this was the end of the photo shoot for him - he was pictured out. I'm so glad you're here little one! We love you SO much!

Unexpected Blessings

You know how they say that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade? After toiling and striving to make that lemonade, you are never so grateful for instant lemonade!
I have been given many lemons during the past three years, and I have tried my absolute best to turn those lemons into the best darndest lemonade I've ever had. I feel like I've done fairly well with the cards I have been dealt. And I must tell you that when I am in Costco and I pass by those huge boxes of Crystal Light, I tear up a bit. ;)
An example of a new "Crystal Light" in my life: oxygen
Jaden had an unconventional introduction to life, to say the least. But regardless of the stress and fear that accompanied his birth, I was willing to take him however I could. Ultimately, that meant I had to deal with oxygen tanks, nasal cannulas, apnea sensors, leads, and monitors, and a baby that would rather not have those tubes in his nose. Recently we went to the doctor and they decided he no longer needed any of that during the day - only at night. I was so excited! But what I didn't realize would be the unexpected blessings that went along with that.
The first day off of oxygen, we were upstairs and Jaden was screaming and starving. So I picked him up and we both went downstairs to make a bottle for him. Did you catch that?!? I took him with me! Now, for normal babies and normal moms, they will think, "So what? I do that all the time." but for me it literally caused me to start crying! Before, I had to leave him crying so I could go and get everything for him because to take him with me meant I had to gather up his massive oxygen tank, sling it over my shoulder, untangle his apnea monitor, sling it over my other shoulder, gather up all of the excess wires and sling those through one of my arms, and then pick up the baby all while making sure not to pull out his leads which would set the monitor off with a very loud and annoying alarm. And that is only if he was hooked in to his portable oxygen tank.
Then I decided to go for a walk, and all I had to do was snap him into the Baby Bjorn, and off we went! It was as simple as that! I can't even tell you how free I feel!
And don't even get me started on the ease of getting him in the car! Taking him anywhere used to be the biggest pain. We needed two of those massive Costco carts because Jaden and all of his equipment took up one and the other was for the groceries.
I am so grateful for a baby who's lungs are healthy enough to utilize the oxygen he breaths in. Who knew that something as simple as oxygen could make me so happy? It also makes someone else I know pretty happy too:

Give Them An Inch...

The doctor told me yesterday that Jaden is old enough to let him dictate his feeding/sleeping schedule. This was a huge relief, because when we left the NICU I had to wake him up every 4 hours to feed him. Not too bad during the day, but a pain at night. So slowly I let him go 5 hours, and then finally what I decided to do is to set my alarm for 6 hours from his last feeding and if he hadn't woken me up I would wake him up. 90% of the time, he wakes himself up and lets me know just how hungry he is.

So last night we fed him at 8pm and had him in bed by about 8:45. I came back down, finished watching Master Chef while Jake did some dishes. Then I got all of his meds for today drawn up and ready to go, filled some bottles, we read our scriptures, said our prayers, and went to bed. I slept so well and didn't wake up until Jake got up to get ready to go to school. I looked at the clock and realized it was 4:30am - 8 1/2 hours after he last ate. I panicked and immediately sent Jake in to make sure he was still breathing while I went downstairs to prepare a massive bottle. After eating, he went back to sleep again. I guess he's super tired. I did have a talk with Jaden before he went to bed last night to let him know that he was allowed to sleep as long as he wanted but to remember to make sure to eat. You know what they say - give them an inch and they'll walk all over you. Or in our case, sleep like a teenager.

Can You Spot The Difference?

The Cuthbert family has gone wireless!!!

Surviving

Our little family has survived many things during our first few weeks in Chicago:

Jake has survived:

• Having his wife push him awake during the night during the weekends for feedings (I don't let him do any night feedings during the week because he needs his sleep to be on the top of his game for school)


• Sharing the car


• His wife ordering him around and telling him what boxes go where, what needs to be assembled, and other such things


• Not being with his family every 4th day - he has Duty Day every fourth day which means he has to be in his barracks and can't leave for 24 hours, so he can't come home and sleep with us

Mari has survived:

• Taking care of Jaden all on my own (except on the weekends where it's all Jake)


• My first tornado warning! I was seriously freaking out, but luckily we only got the tail end of the storm and not the worst of it.


• Sharing the car


• Managing all of Jaden's medications and doctor's appointments


• Being alone (if you don't count Jaden, which he isn't much for conversation...) 95% of the time


• Living without my camera until The Best Husband Ever found the battery charger


• Waiting an entire year for the best month ever: It's Tour Time!!! (for those not in the know, it's the Tour de France and I am an addict!)

Jaden has survived:

• His first plane ride


• Still having to put up with Oxygen. We are going up to the Wisconsin's Children's Hospital next week to see a Pediatric Pulmonologist (lung doctor) for them to analyze his apnea monitor readings, his chest x-rays, and do a room air test. Hopefully when we drive home from that we will drive home not on oxygen!


• Humidity. He hates it. He doesn't like being outside. It is very hot and very humid here and he prefers to be in our air conditioned house.


• Going from a home where every single person adored him and wanted to hold him, to a home where there are only two people to love and adore and hold him


• Starting to smile on his own and on purpose


• Growing to a chunky monkey 9 pounds 2 ounces!!!!

And now for your viewing pleasure, some pictures of Jake holding his son for the first time, and Jaden when he was in a silly mood:

Thanks for surviving my long post drought!

Getting Settled In

Well, we made it to Chicago! It is hot and muggy but wonderful to be together as a family! Jaden was fantastic on the flight and has settled into his new home and new routine quite nicely. He is still on oxygen until we get our new Pediatrician squared away, but I can handle that. Jake is almost never at home because he is always in classes or doing his Navy requirements, but at least I know that if I absolutely need him, he is only a 5 minute drive away!

I still haven't found my camera charger. I know it's in a brown cardboard box, but there are seemingly hundreds of those lying around with not much time to search, so until then, I will let you see what Jaden and I did for Jake's Fathers Day present. We hired Holly to come over and take our pictures and she did a FABULOUS job! I seriously recommend her to anyone! Notice that we took his oxygen off for the pictures. Isn't it funny how different he can look without his nasal cannula? We got these developed in Chicago and framed a few. Jake loved it! Enjoy our awesomeness:

Get Ready, Get Set, Here We Go!!!

I know it has been forever since I last posted. That is because life is crazy. Here are the updates:

Jake came and saw Jaden for this first time since he looked like this:

He came home for Memorial Day weekend to pack up all of our stuff and move it to Chicago without us. I do have pictures of Jake holding Jaden for the first time ever, but of course, I packed up my camera charger and my camera has since run out of juice, so no pictures for now.

Jake and my dad left on Monday morning, drove straight through, got to Chicago Tuesday morning, and my dad flew home Tuesday afternoon. Which is also the same day Jaden was released from the hospital. That was two weeks ago tomorrow, so now you know why my life has been so crazy!

Having Jaden home is wonderful but also very difficult. Any new baby at home is exhausting - getting up multiple times in the middle of the night, trying to figure out why they are screaming, having a long list of things that have to get done but having a baby who just wants to be held, and getting him to sleep only to have him become wide awake the moment his head hits his mattress - but a new baby on oxygen is even worse. I have essentially a tether attached to him. I can only go so far with him before either his oxygen tubes or his heart monitor cable pull me back. If Jaden gets up screaming in the night because he's starving, I can't take him with me downstairs to prepare his bottle (he has almost completely stopped breast feeding and so now I pump and give him bottles) so I have to leave him screaming in his room while I go get everything ready. And if I'm with him and the phone rings or someone comes to the door? Forget it! So I will be glad when we get to Chicago and we can leave this oxygen mess behind us! He is really only on oxygen to help him through the plane ride, which brings us to our next piece of news:

We are officially flying to Chicago on Friday!!! It will be a nightmare to get the paperwork and equipment needed all squared away, but I can't wait! Neither can Jake! I will miss having my family around to help, but I will be so happy to have Jake and to have Jaden's swing! And my family is already figuring out how they can come visit me because they will all go through Jaden withdrawals when we are gone. So life is crazy!

Miralax + Suppository = BLOWOUT!!!!

And wouldn't you know it, this was his first time in this brand new outfit. Of course!

I'm A Great Housewife!

For the past 3 1/2 months my life has been completely taken over by all things Jaden. Don't get me wrong - that is where all of my time and attention is supposed to be, but it does mean that other things, like my family, my calling, and my friends have all been seriously neglected. One aspect of my life that has been completely left out lately is my apartment. If you were to come over today, you would find: junk everywhere, dirty laundry piled high, clean laundry folded but not put away, a bed that isn't made, bills and other important papers that need to be paid and then filed away, a sink piled high with dirty dishes, a dishwasher full of clean dishes, a fridge that is almost completely empty, cupboards that are equally empty (I eat on the go most of the time), baby things all over the apartment, packing boxes both filled and empty, and just a general feeling of disarray. To prove my point, the other day I was actually cooking something on the stove when I found this: (and may I say it scared me to DEATH when my wrist brushed by it!)

I had no idea why this plant like thing was growing out of the cupboard (and if you look really close in the upper left hand corner you can see another one coming up too) so I opened the door and found this:

Apparently this is what happens to a bag of potatoes that is left forgotten.Very Creepy.

Now on to Jaden news: He did get the sore throat that I had so that explains why he didn't want to swallow. We gave him several days of no feedings to let him rest and get better. We started back up on the breastfeeding yesterday, and while he is not doing stellar, he is doing as well as I could have hoped. It's nice to just have that time back where we can bond again. He is still chunking up and is now at 6 pounds 8 ounces!!! Other than that, not much else has changed. So we just need to get him working towards eating, and then we can FINALLY come home!

Hold That Thought

So we roomed in last night, and it was exhausting. And then near morning, Jaden decided that he didn't need to eat anymore (or at all) so his feeding tube went back in. They are giving him 24 hours of rest to see if that helps him to eat better. It will be a few more days before we come home now, but after last night, and how hard it was to take care of him and his monitors and oxygen and medications all on my own, I'm fine with them taking care of him for a few more days.

Just Kidding

I woke up with a stomach bug, so no rooming in tonight.
:(
Hopefully we can room in tomorrow and he can come home on Wednesday.

So Much Good News, And The Best Is......

We may be coming home TOMORROW!!!!! Crazy, I know. I'm scared to death to take him home. I mean, I'm not a nurse. How can they expect me to take care of him 24/7? He will be coming home on oxygen with a monitor to let me know if he stops breathing for 20 seconds or if his heart stops, so that is at least a little comforting.
In other news, he passed his hearing tests! So as of now (and this can change in the future) both of his ears are all clear!He did his 12 hour request where for 12 hours they let Jaden tell us when he is hungry and he gets all of his feedings orally instead of through his feeding tube. We didn't expect him to do too well, but everyone was shocked at just how awesome he did! So the next day he did a 24 hour request (he has to get 4 bottles a day with fortified breast milk to keep up his weight gain) and he again, did amazing! We have now done 3 days of successful 24 hour requests without any problems! This is such a miracle!
We tried him on room air to see if he would need oxygen, and he failed, but we knew he would. Not a big deal. They have also pulled his feeding tube because he is such an awesome eater!

We also did his car seat test to make sure he gets enough oxygen when sitting in his car seat, and he passed!Even though he is huge to me, all you have to do is put him in a car seat to put his size into perspective. However, he is 6 pounds now! By the way, they put the towels in around him to help him to fit better.
He is getting his last rounds of immunizations today and then I will room in tonight, which means I will sleep at the hospital with Jaden in my room to make sure I can give him all of his meds and that I can operate all of his equipment and monitors on my own. If all goes well, Jaden will walk into the sunlight (unless it's raining) for the first time tomorrow! If you want to come see him just let me know since he will need LOTS of sleep once he is home, and be prepared now that I won't let you hold him. I will be the ultimate mommy bear - I'm not going to let very many people get close to him since he is still so fragile. We are so excited for him to come home!

My 2nd Heart and 2nd Soul

When I married Jake a little more than 4 years ago, I knew I was crazy in love with him. I knew that I was with someone who crazy loved me back. In those four short years, my love for him has only increased. I feel like there are times when my entire body is going to burst because there is just so much love for Jake inside of me. I can honestly say without any doubts that I love Jake with my entire heart and soul.

I was worried with the addition of our first child how the whole love thing would work, because my entire heart was already taken up with my love for my husband. However, I have found what most moms know - once you have a child, you grow a second heart and a second soul. I can now honestly say without any doubts that I love Jaden with my entire heart and soul. Every single day as I hold him, I just look at him and marvel at how much I just love and adore him! And yet, not only has my love for my husband not decreased, it has only grown! I love that our Heavenly Father has created such a plan that love can grow and grow!!

My first heart and soul are consumed with this boy:

My second heart and soul are consumed by this boy: How in the world did I ever get this lucky!?!

The Little Chocolate Baby

One of the things Jaden is known for in the NICU is Dove Chocolates. Early on in our stay there my mom decided it would be a good idea to have a bucket by his bedside that is constantly stocked with every kind of Dove chocolates imaginable. It has proved to be a very smart idea - Jaden gets more attention from the nurses, doctors, and therapists than any other baby in there because they come to get chocolate and then they peek in on him or ask how he is doing. They also tend to congregate around the chocolate, meaning if any his alarms go off, someone is always right there to check on him. So for his 3 month photo shoot, the night nurses thought it would be funny to put him in his chocolate bucket. Hilarity ensued: