Finally, it's over....

Well some of you know we have had one heck of a time trying to get our little man circumcised. I never felt either way about it, but hubby wanted it done so before birth we decided to get it done. Now, in retrospect, WHY didn't we tell people immediately? I don't know. You can bet your bottom we will be doing so next time.

At the hospital, we were told that my OBGYN could do it, well, that didn't happen. No idea where communication broke down but she never did it, we were told by an administrator that our insurance wouldn't cover it at the hospital (which we later discovered it would have).

While seeing Andrew's pediatrician we were given a list of doctors that could do the procedure. We spent 3 months searching but couldn't find anywhere that would do it.

Finally, at Andrew's 6 month appointment we learned he had Phimosis. This meant that our insurance would cover the procedure at a urologist the pediatrician referred us to. Later that month we met the doctor, talked everything out and set a date.

At the end of August we went in but #1 we had the wrong location so we were 30 minutes late. #2 we misunderstood their instructions so Andrew had eaten too recently. They sent us home and rescheduled for a month later.

SO long story's end... we went in yesterday and got the whole thing over with finally, and man. Little dude is a trooper.

Diaper bag, breakfast, etc packed and ready to go

Time to get going!

Little man is very confused why he is up before it's light out and why there is not a bottle in his mouth.

Needed a Pumpkin Spice Latte to start the day....

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All Children's Hospital

Playing with daddy in the waiting room

Still so sleepy... 1.5 hours without a bottle after waking up

He loooooved the bars. Even more than his toys lol

Pre-op room

In his little gown

Paperwork

See what I mean about those bars???

Kisses from mommy

Bottle after waking up

He was very cuddly

Waiting at the pharmacy

Kid is on hydrocodone. He gets very smiley and giggly after a dose lol

We thought he deserved a maple biscuit after the day he had haha

Playing after a pain med dose

He seriously did SO good. It was about 3 hours of no bottle after being woken up early, and similarly 3 hours of no naps before he got wheeled in to the OR. He had caudal anesthesia (which is basically like a baby epidural that allows the bottom half to be numb longer (making the ride home easier) and is easier to wake up from). 

I will admit to tearing up when they wheeled him away, it sucks that you have to let them go on their own for scarier things like that. We were to wait in a consultation room for the 45 minute procedure, the Doctor came in and said everything went perfectly. We then got a beeper and were sent to a family waiting room for about 30 minutes.

We then were led to the recovery room. Baby was still pretty lethargic until he finished his 2 ounces of Glucose Water and then he let us know he was awake and hungry lol! The nurses said he was very good and calm and of course he was flirting with them all.

We were able to dress him right away and give him a bottle and some pain meds. After 30 minutes of making sure he had no reaction to the hydrocodone we were sent down to the pharmacy for the rest of his prescription. 15 minutes later we were in the car on the way home.

All the nurses were very nice, helpful, patient and kind. The doctors were fantastic and the atmosphere was great. The parking meters were part of parkmobile so we could extend our parking limit on our phones from the waiting rooms, and it really was a very quick process! All in all, I'm very pleased with how it went and even happier it is over!!

After coming home, he napped for a few hours and woke up in a lot of pain, so we quickly gave him another dose with lunch and he did great with it - no nausea, yay! He had one more dose before bed and the rest of the time was very content to roll around on the floor all evening.

Well, I have been awake for almost 24 hours now so I think it's about time for bed. Since Andrew gets a pain med dose every 4 hours I am sure the morning (after 12 hours of sleep with no pain meds) will be pretty....um...fun. For all of us lol

TTFN! <3

Lastly, check out Ebates.com, I recently ordered diapers through them (from Target) and made money back! They are also doing a fall sale at the moment so you can get a higher percentage back-- totally worth it, all you do is enter your email and I've maybe gotten 2 emails from them period. It's a pretty sweet deal :)

"Fighting for Finley"

First off, I am totally ripping off karlshappilyeverafter blog-- but it was too heart wrenching not to.

"FIGHTING FOR FINLEY"

This is Finley:

She was born with little to no heartbeat and was put into a medically induced coma. She was given an EEG last week and had flat brain activity and Doctors gave her a one in a million chance of surviving.

However this week, she is responding to some stimuli and seems to be improving little by little.

"Today has been a good day. We woke up this morning with a peace and vigor we haven't felt since Finley's birth. After several affirmations through seemingly random scriptures that have found us and through the many, MANY prayer warriors out there asking blessings for us, we have a real sense of peace and hope.

This morning as we were driving to the hospital we prayed that God would not just show us signs of hope, but that He would baffle the staff at the hospital. God answers prayers. Finley has started responding to hand and foot stimulation! She doesn't always do it, but from time to time, scratching her feet or plying with her toes causes her to try to retract her feet! And sometimes she'll move her hands when we are holding them. On top of that, her legs are starting to resist movement, albeit ever so slightly. We don't know what these movements mean yet, but we do know that they've baffled one doctor and two nurses! We're praising God for showing us signs of improvements and confusing the medical team all at the same time! Please continue to pray for leaps and bounds in the improvement of our little world changer."

"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

-Isaiah 41:10

This so breaks my heart. 

I cannot even begin to imagine what her and this family must be going through. It makes me so incredibly thankful for Andrew's health. I wish he was awake so I could hold him... and the fact that we are able to do that just reminds me of how lucky we are.

Our prayers go out to this family, I wish them peace and strength and most of all I pray their baby girl continues to make progress and prove those doctors wrong! 

Please pray for this family, send them good and healing and peaceful thoughts. You can also follow them here.
You can also show support by donating here to help with their medical bills.

God bless you all <3

Andrew is SIX MONTHS OLD!!!!

"Paging Mister Personality! There he is, smiling, waving, talking, and entertaining anyone in his orbit. Your baby is also ready to explore a bit more, so beware his impulse to touch (and taste) everything and anything within his reach (including dog biscuits and poop!). He's probably able to bear weight on his legs when you hold him upright and may even be ready to hit the road, albeit at a crawl. Some little acrobats can pull themselves into a standing position or get into a sitting position when placed on their tummies. Stimulating your now-older baby requires new activities that'll help boost large and small motor skills as well as social, intellectual, and language skills. Get ready for the third round of immunizations (and remind your practitioner in advance of any previous reactions) at the 6-month checkup.

In other news, plenty of babies (really, not just yours) are still not sleeping through the night— so this may be a good time to consider some sleep strategies. Your growing baby may also be ready to make the move to the big bathtub: Start slowly (a dry run in the empty big tub can ease the way), and always practice safe tub-time. Nursing moms who have yet to offer a bottle might be in for a bit of a battle once you do, but there are ways to win over your picky man. If your baby's got teeth, it's not too soon to start brushing baby's teeth (with a baby toothbrush only, please). And speaking of teeth, the best way to keep your baby's choppers (and gums) in good shape is to avoid baby-bottle mouth (the result of falling asleep regularly with a bottle — or breast — in her mouth). What else is up? Perhaps your baby's appetite — so now's the time to consider dietary dos and don'ts, such as introducing new foods one at a time and avoiding certain foods altogether (steer clear of citrus fruits until the eighth month and honey until after her first birthday)."

--Whattoexpect.com

...Wow. Our little man is SIX MONTHS OLD today!!! SO insane.... I cannot believe it has been six whole months. Although in a way it seems like just yesterday we came home from the hospital with him.

New developments (I'm thinking this should be a regular occurrence on these posts from now on):

• Sitting on his own, supporting himself on his hands-- he even catches himself if he begins to fall over and is now experimenting with letting go of the floor and sitting straight up!
• He is getting EXTREMELY interested in solid foods. We really wanted to wait the full 6 months, and our pediatrician agrees so I think next week will be the week Andrew gets his first taste of Rice Cereal (organic o'course!) It is so cute, he stares open-mouthed as you eat and even reaches for the food. He is gonna gobble that cereal up haha!
• STILL sleeping through the night. Funny how everyone says immediately "Wait 'til your next one"... what is with parents who constantly say things like that?? We know we are dang lucky, we say it all the time. If our next kid is nuts, whatever but can you let us enjoy our many blessings for a while without being pessimistic?? LOL
• Andrew is now sleeping extremely well without a pacifier OR swaddle pod. And putting him down for bed is heart-achingly precious. We give him a  sandwich kiss (which gives him the giggles), lay him down, I hold his arms up while Jesse swoops in with the blanket and tucks him in, and then we hold out his stuffed elephant. He smiles and reaches out for it and usually ends up smiling, gabbing away and waving the elephant around as we whisper good night and sneak out. SO sweet.
• He reaches for things like a pro. My new favorite activity with him is to lean him up against the back of the couch and line toys up on the top. He reaches for things one by one and examines them.
• He also ADORES this toy. We sit him up, hold it sideways in front of him and ask him to take each ring off by color. He looooves taking them off and examining/ tasting them and is starting to be interested in putting them back on but has not figured that one out yet.
• Babbling!! Lots of bah-wah and ba-ba and even an om-nom here and there :)
• He loves taking showers!!! After swimming or the beach, we wear our swimsuits in the shower, strip baby down and wash him off-- he can't stop grinning and chatting!
• We THINK he is teething. For quite a while now he has been drooling buckets and chomping on his fingers but now he is starting to also chew on everything else he can get his hands one, has one or two white spots on his upper gums and really like cold teething rings. Also a bit more fussy and some grabbing his ears (yes we are on the lookout for signs of ear infections as well due to that last one)
• He loves touching peoples faces.
• He imitates sounds-- most recently, blowing raspberries  The other day he and I blew them back and forth at each other :)
• One of the funnest things is when you say something or make a sound or laugh-- he will stare SO fixedly at your mouth and then look up and grin or giggle until you do it again and then gets all focused on your mouth again. So clever. But I may be biased ;)
• And last but not least, he stares intently at every page of every book we read him and even helps turn the pages!

Our little man sitting all by himself!

Wellllllll, we have baby's 6 month check up on Monday-- of course y'all will get another post after :)

TTFN! <3