Weight Update

We went to clinic yesterday and found out that Ethan weighs 17 lbs 4 oz and is 25 inches long. He is in the 58th percentile for weight and the 91 percentile for weight to height. A couple months ago the dietician had us start concentrating Ethan's formula. We started using less water and more formula in hopes that he would gain weight and be able to sustain his current weight. Here we are two months later and he's huge! In fact, he is so big that they may have to stop concentrating his formula to be sure that he doesn't gain too much, too fast.
We also found out that his lungs are clear, which we figured since he hasn't been sick lately. We are so thankful that he is continuing to stay healthy. Hopefully this winter will be smooth sailing and he will stay out of the hospital.

Weight Check

On Wednesday, we went to see the pulmonologist for clinic. Dr. Leong said that Ethan sounds really and for the time being we can stop nebulizer treatments. We are still doing the vest and just started doing it for 20 minutes twice a day.
They weighed him and he was 13 lbs 4.5 oz & 23.5 inches long. He's in the 60% for proportionate weight to height and in the 30% for weight & 30% for height. Dr. Leong and the dietician were pleased with his growth. We will be starting rice cereal and a few others in less than 2 weeks. I'm really excited to put him in his highchair which will probably be way to big.
Here are some pictures of him in his jumperoo. He can't jump because he is still too short so I have to do it for him. He seems to like being in an upright position to see the world from a different angle.

Rolling Over & Sleeping through the night

Last week Ethan rolled over for the first time. I didn't believe it when he actually rolled over so I made him do it over and over again. The next day Ken made a video of it. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGDm8FD_-so&feature=autofb

I know I always say this but it's amazing to watch him grow right before my eyes. He's able to sit supported on the couch or in my lap. He needs to gain a pound or two before he'll be able weigh down his jumperoo enough to bounce. For now, I'm doing the bouncing for him.

Last week I set up his jumperoo and highchair. We will most likely be starting rice cereal when he turns 4 months on the 18th. Can't believe that! I had intended to wait until he was 5 or even 6 months to start solids, but the dietician thinks that in order to continue in the right direction with Ethan's weight we should probably start early. About 2 weeks ago we were told by the dietician to start concentrating the formula. We use less water and more powder. For a 6oz bottle we mix 5.5oz water and 3.25 scoops of formula. This makes it so it's 24 calories per ounce instead of the normal 20. It's amazing how an ounce of formula is the same amount of calories that is usually in a piece of gum. Crazy that babies can survive on that. Ethan is at about 32oz a day now of concentrated formula so he's at 768 calories a day, compared to what would have been 640. Cystic Fibrosis kids needs between 1% and 1.5% more calories than a normal kid because they burn so many calories breathing.

Ethan was weighed on May 5th when we were admitted to the hospital for the 2nd time. He was 11 1/2 lbs then. We went back 3 weeks later and he was 12lbs 15oz. Tomorrow we go in to see the pulmonologist and the rest of the team (social worker, dietician, nurse, respiratory therapist) for clinic. Even though it's only been a week since he was weighed I have a feeling he will be almost 14 lbs. We'll see.

We've been working with Ethan on sleeping through the night or at least only getting up once to eat. For the last few weeks he has been getting up closer to 3/330am for his first feeding, but not every night. Before that he was getting up twice to eat @ 1/130am and 430/5am. We are happy to say that it looks like by giving him an earlier bed time (645pm) he now sleeps from 645pm to 345am before his first feeding and then goes back to sleep until 545/6am. It's been nice to get more sleep and I'm actually surprised that he sleeps longer because he goes to bed earlier. The earlier bedtime is nice for us so Ken & I can spend some time together and Ethan loves to go to bed early.

That's what's happening in our world!

Reading with Grammy - very interested!

Ethan's favorite onesie from his Auntie! Well, one of many cute ones!

We need to remember to take this onesie out for BBQ nights and get him some little BBQ tools :)

My handsome boy!


A Daddy vs. Ethan stare down. Guess who won?

Ethan doing is treatments very contently.

Uncle Tim & Ethan


One of Ethan's crazy faces!

We're going home!

We were really happy to hear that we'd finally be going home yesterday. It took 3 hrs to get discharged, but finally about 230PM we were out of the hospital. We will have to continue nebulizers at home for another 2 weeks and he will still have his normal vest treatments 3x a day. Luckily, a month or so ago I bought a whiteboard to keep track of medications, feedings and treatments. I got it so that whoever came in our house to help us would know the dosages and what he needed everyday. It's still a little confusing, but less for us. For now, we're trying to take it one treatment at a time.
Please pray for patience for Ken and I while we try to adjust to having nebulizers, antibiotics, and vest treatments thrown into our already busy baby schedule!
Thanks for your prayers!
Erin, Ken & Ethan

A small setback...

When I arrived back at the hospital this morning Ethan sounded a little bit worse than yesterday. He's still not on oxygen, and his oxygen #'s are still above 95% which is great, but he is breathing a little harder. He's asleep right now finally after a night of coughing with my mom. It's unfortunate that we have to wake him to eat during the night so he continues to gain the weight back from last week. We have to do 4 vest treatments during the day and they have to be at least 4 hrs a part. Add that to eating every 4 hrs at night and 3 hrs during the day and it gets crazy. He can't do the treatment until 2 hrs after he eats or 45 minutes before he eats. It makes it difficult because it seems like we're constantly waking him up to do something to him.
He's a trooper. He loved reading, "Goodnight Moon" with me this morning. He stared at the pictures and listened intently to the words. I can tell that he's trying to be in a good mood, but he's really tired too.
I think he sounds like yesterday now that I listen to him. Usually nights are worse than the day. The pediatrician will be by in the next hour or so with the virus test results so we can see what exactly this virus is. He should also be able to give us a better idea of how much longer we will be here. I'm still hoping for tomorrow, but he would have to get back to where he was yesterday and then some. I'll send another update in a couple hrs.
Erin

He's coming home soon!

Ethan is doing much better. We were told initially that they most likely wouldn't have admitted him if it wasn't for the wheezing and the CF. When we got to the hospital he had lost 6oz in a week, but now he's gained 4 oz of that back. He is still puking up phlegm and some formula because of his treatments, but everytime the respiratory therapist comes in to do a treatment they say he sounds better. Dr. Treis said today that he will be home on Sunday or Monday. I'm still really hoping for Sunday, not only because of Mother's Day, but because Sunday night will be my turn again to stay the night. I stayed from noon Thursday until about 1030 this morning. I slept for about 30 minutes last night because Ethan had something in his throat that he couldn't completely cough up all night. I was completely wiped when I got home. Luckily, because I was stranded at the hospital without a car, my dad and grandma came to get me this morning. I slept from 12-6pm completely zonked out. I will be going back in the morning so my mom, who is staying tonight, can go home to sleep and will be there until late tomorrow afternoon until Ken comes back for the night.

We are lucky that this is just a cold and not bacterial. He does have a viral infection, but because it's not bacterial it will not leave damage on his lungs. Any infant could have gotten the Brochialitis he had 7 weeks ago or this virus. They are just being extra cautious.

For now we're trying to take it as it comes. I have had my moments of completely losing it more this time that last time. I think as a mother you feel guilty when something happens to your child. You want to shield them from everything and wave your magic wand and make it all better. Thankfully, we have great doctors, hospital staff and great family and friends to help us along the way. Thank you so much for praying for our family and our little boy! We really hope that this is the last time he is in the hospital until he's ready for a "tune-up" in a year.

Ethan is still in good spirits. If a man comes in to work on him he doesn't really pay much attention, but once any women comes in his eyelashes start to bat at her and he grins. He likes the ladies! The only time I see him looking miserable is when he is having a coughing fit. He still turns red, but thankfully more is coming out and he's eating better.

I'll try to send out another update as we know more, but things are looking better. We're hoping that because it's spring and almost summer that sicknesses will be non-existent until the fall.

I'll attach pictures later today.

Thanks!
Erin, Ken & Ethan.

Good news!

Earlier this morning we got the test results back for whooping cough. It was negative for whooping cough. He's been coughing a lot more frequently here, but that most likely is because of the albuterol treatments which irritate his throat so that everything can loosen up. We are continuing his vest treatments at the hospital 4x a day for 10 minutes. One of the pulmonologist told Ken today that he will be here for a few more days, but that he couldn't give us exact date because they need to see improvement first. It looks like we'll most likely be here on Mother's Day. I guess we'll do the baby dedication at church on Father's Day instead.

He's eating a little better now so hopefully he'll start gaining weight again. He was 11 lbs 14.5 oz last Wednesday when I initially brought him in at the beginning of the cold. Yesterday when I took him in he had lost 6 oz in a week. It's weird, I noticed earlier this week that he had lost weight. Luckily, he's still sleeping 10PM-3AM, like at home. Right before he got sick he was just getting to the point where he would sleep 6-7 hrs a night. Hopefully once we are home and he is well we can get back to that again.

For now, we're just taking it day by day and hoping we'll be home by the end of the weekend.
Erin, Ken & Ethan

Ethan's Hospital Stay

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. We have had a whirlwind life in the last few weeks.
Ethan ended up in the hospital for 8 days a couple weeks ago. He was 25 days old! It ended up that he had Brochialitis. We are still unsure whether the Brochialitis effected Ethan's Cystic Fibrosis. It could be that he just caught a virus that turned into Brochialitis and the Cystic Fibrosis wasn't an added problem. We both had staph infections from breastfeeding and he had thrush. He recovered quickly and after 8 days in the hospital he was sent home with nebulizer treatments and antibiotics. Thankfully, 4 days after coming home he was able to stop the nebulizer treatments. The doctor had us giving him nebulizer treatments 4x during the day. Each treatment would take 30-40 minutes with chest percussion on his back and front to loosen up whatever mucus was left in his lungs. Since Ken went back to work 2 days after Ethan came home from the hospital, I was on my own. It was really overwhelming when added to his normal feedings, medication and the lack of sleep that I have come to find normal.
We were really lucky to have my mom, sister and Ken's mom each take a night at the hospital so we could get a full nights sleep. Ken and I each stayed 2 nights. We learned a lot in the hospital about what to expect in the future. We should expect to have a hospital stay once a year with Ethan. We learned how to do chest percussion, which is done with a plastic circular instrument by thumping on his chest and back. It sounds like it would hurt him, but he loves it! We also heard stories about families that become noncompliant with doing treatments at home. We are going to have to make a routine and hopefully Ethan will never know any different and will cooperate.
Ethan is still a bit congested at night, but he is pretty much 100% and back to himself. He's been smiling a lot and even laughing. He loves it when we talk in low and high pitches. He also loves fans and clocks. When he sees either one he beams.
He will be 6 weeks old tomorrow and last time he was at the doctors office he weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/4 inches. He's growing so fast!
Here are some current pictures, including a pic from his hospital stay.

26 days and counting...

We're getting closer to E-Day as Ken's been calling it. We've been really busy the last few weeks. A week and a half ago, my sister, mom, and mother-in-law gave me a wonderful baby shower! I couldn't believe how generous people were. The only problem Little Man will have is helping Mommy pick out an outfit in the morning. He has, no joke, forty to fifty 0-3 month short sleeved onesies and about 50 blankets. Many of the things we have were hand-me-downs, but he still managed to get more really cute clothes.

I can't believe how much bigger I've gotten. My belly continues to grow out and not side to side. I look like I have a basketball or a watermelon under my shirt. I've officially gained 33 lbs.

Ken and I went to the Dr. today for my 36 week appointment. Ethan is headdown, with his butt just under my right ribs, and his back downward to my left. The only position I can guess is that he's hanging with his head down and his back all along my front. Whatever floats your boat, son!Dr. says that it looks like he is about 6 1/2 lbs right now, and if I make it to 40 weeks he will most likely be between 8 and 8 1/2 lbs at birth. It is quite uncomfortable when I sleep because he seems to like that position during the night. It's getting harder to sleep on my side and I have to get up 4-5 times a night to go to bathroom now. I'm already feeling really tired, but thank goodness, I am now off of work.

My last day of work was Friday. It was very sad to leave. Surprisingly, I didn't cry all the way home like I originally thought I would. I've got plans to go pick up a kid or two at the Weaver's over the next week or two.

Ethan's room is almost done. We put his bedding on his bed a couple days ago. It is so stinking cute! I'll take a picture of his room once my sister, mom and I get the last few things done this coming weekend. I'm getting really excited as the days get closer and closer. I can't wait to see my beautiful baby boy's face.

The house is almost done!

The house is almost done! We only have 4 weeks and 4 days to go until we should close escrow. In the last 3 weeks the house has gone from being drywalled, to textured and painted. The doors were all put in and the vanities in the bathrooms. All of our gorgeous cabinets went in all 3 bathrooms and the kitchen. The cultured marble countertops went in the bathrooms and our tile counters went in. We were really surprised to find that our cabinets were so dark. We don't remember during the design center appointment them being darker wood. It looks so nice though! Who knows if it was their mistake or not, but we're not saying anything.

Last week they poured the cement for the driveway, the walkway, porch and at the foot of the doors in the backyard. Oh, and the house was painted about a week and half ago. It's beige with white trim and has a dark green door. Can you tell I'm in love with my house? We're so ready to leave this apartment, but it's always a little bittersweet to leave any home, no matter the size.

June 11th

The port-o-potty was still in front of our house!

Smelly and it had a pin up girl inside of it!

We found this lovely drawing on our master bedroom wall a couple week ago.

Thankfully, it was painted over about a week later.

June 21st

It's painted!

Our huge kitchen. I can't wait to fill it up!

The cabinets are so high I will need a stool to reach anything above the 3rd shelf.

9 inch deep sinks

Double sinks in master bathroom. They are higher counters too!

The view across the street from the 2nd bedroom.

June 28th

No Trespassing!!!

It's becoming a weekly event to walk through the house every Sunday after church. The house is still progressing quickly. The builder says that it will still be done around July 31st. Last week they added walls upstairs, so it wasn't just framing upstairs. I think it was a week and half ago that they put all the windows in. I realized there were a few more than 10 windows to cover with blinds. It turns out its about 16 windows. They also started putting in insulation.

May 15th -

The view of our master bedroom before they closed it in.

Last week I couldn't wait until Sunday to drive by for a look and noticed that they had put up a "No Trespassing" sign in one of the windows. I guess they are on to us. It won't stop us from going in. We'll just continue to go in on Sundays when they aren't working ;)

Today we went to go take a look and there were quite a few things that they did this week. They put in the piping for our water system, continued with insulation, put in air conditioning vents, and started putting on the tile roof. We also noticed they put our bathtub/ shower in. The bathtub/ shower for the baby's room is in a box in the 2nd bedroom. It should be in by the next time we go see.

May 24th -

This is our Smart Design Water System. If we ever have water problems we can turn off that specific pipe. It's supposed to make the water warm up faster.

Air Conditioning Ducts