Nathaniel's Dedication

Happy 7 Month Birthday, Little Boy!

My 7 Month old little boy! (Ummm...the banana's are an inside joke. He he he!)

Today is Nathaniel's 7 Month Birthday! It is amazing how much he has grown and changed just in the short time we have had him.

Nathaniel truly is an amazing kid. We love him so much. We are truly blessed beyond anything we could ever dream, imagine are even hope to deserve. Thank you Lord!

Catching Up

It has been a LONG time since I have wrote an real update on our family!

We have had a couple of busy weeks! Last week we had my mom, dad and sister come into town for Nathaniel's big Adoption shower and his Dedication (video coming soon).

We had a wonderful time with family here! The Adoption shower was incredible! I was so amazed and overwhelmed by all the people who came to show their love to little Nathaniel. He was such a trooper and even fell asleep despite all the festivities.

So, there were over 200 pictures taken at the Adoption shower, and now my memory card is showing the pictures are there, but won't let me download them. Anyone have any suggestion??? I don't want to lose them!

The Dedication service was perfect and something I will never forget. It started with a special video I put together about our journey (see this post). We dressed Nathaniel in an Ethiopia outfit, and my mom, Paul's mom and I all wore items we purchased while in Ethiopia. It is hard to explain how it felt to be holding my son, surrounded by Paul's family and my family, while our church family prayed over us. We are truly blessed!

Nathaniel & Grandma

Nathaniel all dressed up on Dedication day

Grandpa and Nathaniel on Dedication day

Auntie Heather, Grandma, Me and Nathaniel

Auntie Heather at our favorite place...Starbucks! Nathaniel is becoming very familiar with this place. :-)

We Will Never Forget...

Nathaniel Goes To The Fair

One of my favorite past times as a kid was going to the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup. Althought Southern Oregon fairs are not close to the size and excitement, I always look forward to going.

This year, for the first time, we decided to go to the Jackson County Fair. I was so excited to take Nathaniel to see the animals! It was a VERY hot day...but we still had fun!!

Me, Melisma & Nathaniel trying on Sunglasses

Nathaniel just trying to keep cool

Paul introducing Nathaniel to his very first Elephant Ear. Nathaniel isn't quite sure what to think about it...

Nathaniel can't wait to sink his soon-to-come teeth into this!

Nathaniel meet cow, cow meet Nathaniel.

Nathaniel meet pig, pig meet Nathaniel.

Nathaniel's 6 Month Check Up

Today was Nathaniel's 6 Month well baby visit. I was very excited to hear how much he has grown!

Nathaniel weighs 18 pounds, 2 1/2 ounces and is 27.1 inches!!!!! Whoa! I knew he had gained weight, but had no idea it was almost 2 pounds since July 3rd!!! I guess his love of cereal (rice, oatmeal and barley) is really paying off!

The doctor was very pleased with how he was developing. He is right on track with where he should be at 6 months. Considering his delays when we first brought him home, I was so pleased and excited to know how well he is doing, and the best is yet to come!

Bye-bye Pacifier and Hello Big-Boy Crib!

So we fought and won (I think) our first battle with Nathaniel this week. After many sleepless nights of waking up to replace the pacifier that Nathaniel spit out or lost, I decided it was time to no longer offer the pacifier. You see, Nathaniel is sleeping in the bassinett (in the Pack-N-Play) in our bedroom.

Let me break down how the "Great Pacifier Battle" was fought and won:

Night #1, ummm....we won't talk about that.
Night #2, a little better than night #1...but that isn't saying much...
Night #3, about the same as night #2.

I am a light sleeper and Paul is a DEEP sleeper. Because I was doing the up and down (Paul didn't wake up to the cries) I thought it was time to move Nathaniel into HIS room to sleep in the crib.

Even though I was convinced I would get good sleep with this move, it was difficult since it would be the first time without him in our room. :-(

Night #4: My sadness of having Nathaniel in our room was quickly diminished when we ALL slept VERY WELL through the night! Oh what joy!!! And the pacifier is forgotten! YIPPEE!!

Nathaniel in his "Big-Boy Crib"! He is growing up so fast! :-) :-(

Happy 1st Fourth of July, Baby Nathaniel!!!

Follow Up Success!

Today we took Nathaniel for his second set of follow up blood tests and doctor's appointment. It was amazing as we went from the lab to the doctor's office, every person knows Nathaniel by name and was so happy to see him doing so much better. :-)

The good news is, all his levels are within normal range! That means he is maintaining them on his own! Go, baby, go!!!

A day in the life of little Nathaniel...

After a weekend of recouping from the hospital, today (Monday) was a busy day.

We began with a Memorial service for a dear church member, George Hill. George and his wife Phyllis have been such a wonderful support to Paul & I here. I truly value the friendship we have with them.

Nathaniel did really good and loved the attention everyone gave him. It was so wonderful to see our church family lovin' on my little boy! These people have prayed fervently for us and Nathaniel.

Right after the service we rushed over to Medford for the follow up blood tests. We spent several hours running errands afterward, praying that the results were good.

The doctor's office called to let us know that his lab results were GREAT! So GREAT that they rescheduled our doctor's appointment for Thursday afternoon, to allow for a repeat lab in the morning. Paul & I are so relieved with this outcome! We are praying for more good news on Thursday!

Nathaniel was quite cranky this afternoon, due to the fact that his "schedule" was a little messed up. Not so much the feeding schedule, but the napping schedule. Trust me, boy needs his naps and bottles or he is NOT happy! :-)

Now on to the pictures:

I have been very anxious to introduce rice cereal to Nathaniel...not sure why, but I really wanted to start it. I have tried twice before tonight and he has NOT liked it at all!

After his last bottle of the night, I decided to try again. This time he LOVED it! The proof is in the pictures!

One more thing...

I almost forgot to mention. He weighed in at 15 lbs 1 oz on Monday evening when we checked in. This morning he weighed in at 16 lbs 13 oz! He is definitly feeling better and eating better!!!

Home Sweet Home

I have never been more happy to be home as I am today! As you can see I am not the only one!!!

This mornings blood draw showed the potassium level right about 1/2 in the middle of the normal range! His carbon dioxide level made it into the 20s, so on the low end of normal, but normal enough for us to go home!

We have follow up labs and appointment with the doctor on Monday to make sure everything is still going in the right direction.

Have I mentioned how glad I am to be home?!

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I Love Ya! Tomorrow! You're Only A Day Away! (Maybe?!)

The Good News: Nathaniel's Carbon Dioxide levels are up 2 points.

The Bad News: They are still several points under normal. (Normal is in the 20s, his are at 18)

The Good News: The Doctor said we possibly could go home tomorrow.

The Bad News: This will be the 3rd time we have been told this. All depends on if his levels continue to rise.

The Good News: After over 2 weeks of changing horrible blow out diapers, my son's diapers are almost "normal".

The Bad News: My son LOVES to fill them there diapers! Whew!

The Good News: We continue to bond and fall more and more in love with the most adorable little boy ever.

The Bad News: Uh...hmm can't think of anything bad about that! :-)

Love,

Holly

More Information

So, the doctor has started Nathaniel on Sodium Bicarbonate to fight the acidosis. It is a 4 dose treatment and he has already finished 2 doses tonight.

They will be taking more blood tomorrow to see the results. It is *very possible* that we could go home tomorrow as long as his levels cooperate, and he is able to maintain the levels without the IV.

Meanwhile, I am seeing my happy, smiley, silly little boy come back to life! We can tell he is feeling better and it is so encouraging so see his face light up.

This picture was taken after we discovered a rash around his next. We think it was the fire retardent that is on the hospital gown. We gave him a bath to clean any off his skin and are now swaddling him tightly in warm blankets.

Update from the Pediatric Ward

Thank you for all your prayers and comments! It has been so encouraging to read!


This morning's blood draw was about 50% good. The potassium level continues to rise higher into the normal range! We are very happy about this. On the other hand, the carbon dioxide level is still the same. :-( This means he will stay on the IV for now and we just have to wait.

This afternoon we had the Respiratory Therapist come and do a blood gas test. The results determined Acidosis (click on the word to read a definition). The next plan is to give him sodium bicarbonate (orally). We have yet to have that happen, but are hoping they will do it soon. Afterwards they plan to just monitor him and hopefully his levels will go back to normal.

Until then, we are still here at the hospital. *sigh*

Please pray with us for our little boy. We love him SOOOO much and the last thing we want is for him to be sick.

I will update more later.