Jack is on the go!!

Jack is fully crawling now! I can't believe it! He pulls himself up and is getting into EVERYTHING! He plays catch with his ball, waves hi and bye, and rolls his trucks across the floor. It really amazes me only because with Jack's condition, he is supposed to be behind in his motorskills, but he is right on. Childrens Hospital called and asked that I bring him in to check on his motor development due to the fact that they are supposed to be behind. This is a study on children who have had Heart surgeries to see how far they have come in development. They want to play with him for a few hours to see how he does and then give feed back to what can be done to help him get further. I told the coordinator how well he was doing and she said it would be great to have him in the study to show that some of these babies can succeed in reaching motorskill goals in his age group. It makes me proud that my son is one of the babies that are doing so well.

I am waiting to hear back from Jack's pediatrician to do a test on milk alergies. Jack since he had started formula, has had a Milk protein alergy. Usually babies outgrow this alergy and can start milk by age 1. The peditrician said to start introducing dairy to him now so that we can transition him to milk at age 1. Since Christmas he has been having yogurt and cheeses as well as mashed potatoes and other dairy products. Well, since we have started those, Jack has had congestion along with eczema and really messy diapers. His congestion got so bad we ended up bringing him into the hospital because his oxygen levels were dropping. He had a full check on his heart, and for once, it was not his heart! Thank goodness for that!... So we left the hospital with the doctors saying its a "virus" and he will get over it. I started putting timelines together on when he has changed things like, diet, sleep, congestion, and his ezcema. It all started with him eating dairy. And as we all know, you aren't supposed to believe everything on the internet...but I googled milk alergy in babies and all the symptoms shown were exactly what Jack had. So I stopped the milk and about two days later all the symptoms went away. Congestion and all.. So I have asked that on Jacks next weight check visit, we re-test him for milk alergy. Hopefully if that is the case we can still find foods for Jack to eat that will still beef him up. He may just have to be the meat and potatoes kind of kid! But thats ok... what ever it takes!!

In 6 weeks, Jack is going to be 1!!!! I can not believe it!! What a very exciting time in our lives! Jack reaching 1-is a huge milestone! I swear he is gonna be walking by then!! And... Justin is finally letting me take him for a haircut! His first little boy hair cut! I will definately post pictures when that time comes!!!! My little guy is growing up!

Happy 10 Months Jack, and happy new year to everyone!!

Jack is 10 Months, I honestly can't believe how fast time is flying by! Not only that, I am really knocking hard on wood as I say this, but this is the longest Jack has gone with out having an unexpected hospital stay. Or any kind of hospital stay at all... It feels so good knowing we have been home for this long and Jack is doing great! He is crawling around, running me over in his walker, and babbling up a storm, and he has 3 teeth! Oh and He LOVES to Dance!
Jack decided that he no longer likes babyfood. Who can blame him, that stuff is pretty blah!! So he has been eating real food. He LOVES grilled cheeses and cherios. He eats chicken, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots,waffles, and pancakes. And anything that needs to be spoon fed, he insists on doing it himself, honestly we have to wait to give him a bath until after dinner because he is covered by the time dinner is over. But, I like that he is persistant on doing it himself. It fits his personality and I love his drive to do things on his own.
We have to go back to the pediatrician in a few weeks to check his weight. He has been in the 1 percentile in the weight category for quite some time now. You would never know it if you saw his cheeks!! Hopefully all this real food will beef him up in no time and we can get him from 16 and 1/2 to 20 pounds by his first birthday, which is in 2 MONTHS!! My goodness I can't believe it! Although, I am sort of resistant of him reaching the 20 pound mark... at that point we will no longer have his home visits from his nurse. I like the nurse coming once a week. She is sooo good with Jack and she definately knows her stuff. I think its just the reassurance that Jack is doing ok and we have weekly visits to tell us so. At the same time, its a good thing because it means jack is doing so well, he doesnt need a nurse anymore!
We also go back to the cardiologist in a few weeks (now doing monthly visits) to check on Jacks blood clot and heart functioning. I have this feeling as though the blood clot has left his leg. I do not see any discoloration of his leg anymore, so I am praying the doctors were right that it was old and will go away on its own. I like not having these weekly visits to the cardio doc, its nice to not have the hospital be the only place we really get to visit. Again, I miss the reassurance of Jack being checked out weekly. But it just means he is doing so great and I wouldn't want it any other way!
Glad to be saying goodbye to 2010. It has definately been the most crazy and eventful year of my life so far. I have learned a whole bunch of things about myself and I have definately done most of my life changing in this past year! Having Jack as a part of my life (actually he is attached to my hip, no joke!) has honestly given me light on who I am really supposed to be. Everything I do now, revolves around decisions that can only better our lives and ofcourse what is best for Jack. I have had to make some pretty hard choices this past year and being a mom to a child with a heart defect was the first of the hard choices I made. I can say though, I have no regrets what so ever. Jack has brought so much to my life. He has brought so much love, strength, gratitude, and knowledge into my world. In ways I have never felt before. I have also met a lot of really great people because of Jack. I am not the only heart mumma out there... there are quite a few that are going through the same things as we are and its so nice to be able to share and compare with other moms. Helps you feel not so alone..
I love watching Jack grow and change. I was going through my pictures of Jack and to see from when he was born till now, what a difference. He is adorable and funny. His personality just makes you want to eat him up! I love how much he loves his mumma, and how much he adores his daddy. He crawls over to the door and says "DA" and it is the cutest thing. I never knew being a mom could be so rewarding!
So Cheers to 2011!!! Let this new year bring great new things, great health, and no unexpected woes! Oh and some more money would be nice too, hehe! I am looking forward to a great year! Happy New year everyone!!!