Happy Easter!!

Hope you all have a great Easter!

PICTURES

It has been way too long since I have posted pictures of Ethan. So here are some of my favorites from 2 months old and younger. So now I am only 2 months behind!! I will post 2-4 months pics soon!!

He sucks his thumb He chews on his hands and toys

He sleeps anywhere when swaddled

He is happy even when he has a reacation to something I eat, crazy food allergies! (The obvious sign is the rash on his check he gets that day and the black/dark eyes)

He gets bottles from Grandpy and Grammy

His cries with his cousin...poor Ryan

He loves his changing table on the porta crib

But he will sleep anywhere...he doesn't discriminate

He loves football and soccer toys

He loves to cuddle

Poor Baby after his 2 month shots

The first time he ever actually liked the swing

Ethan and Auntie Jenny....he's waiting for his cousin...when's he/she coming???

Ethan loves his Aunt and cousins (2nd cousin in Meg's tummy)

Jake is a good sharer...trying to give Ethan his paci...thanks but no thanks!!Meg says "No Jakey"...I think this pic is hilarious!!

And a cute pic of Jake....I do take some good photos if I do say so myself

He likes the bouncy chair

He loves his "purple man" toy

Videos!!

Ethan Laughing at Daddy

Ethan rolling over

Happy St. Patty's Day

Finally the ER drama

Yes, Ethan had his first visit to the ER last week. It all started on Monday when Ethan had his 2 month baby well check. I mentioned to the doctor how we are still dealing with green mucusy poops (yes, I will be discussing Ethan's poop here...so I apologize to the Ethan when he is older for discussing his personal info on the internet...sorry baby). The doctor told me I should be eliminating dairy from my diet and that is what was causing the green stools, but I had been eliminating dairy and soy from my diet for 3 weeks at that point...I love my google self diagnosis!

Okay so the doctor still didn't seem too concerned but said to bring in a diaper and she would examine it. So Jeff and I waited to get a "good" one to bring to her and on Wednesday I brought the dirty diaper to the ped. I figured she would call the next day and say everything looked okay and not too worry. But instead she called and said his stools are positive for blood and we need to bring him in to her office.

So thinking we would have a quick doctor visit I tossed a diaper in my purse and headed out the door. When we got there she handed us formula...Nutrameign...some super expensive formula that doesn't contain dairy or soy. She said to do 4 hours of pedialite and then use formula for a week and see if he improves.

But before doing this we needed to go have an X-ray of his bowels to rule out any blockages and then to the lab for a blood test to see if he has any allergies. We did all this, and poor Ethan was such trouper, and then we headed back to the doctors to discuss the X-ray. She said it looked fine and she would call Monday with lab results.

And because a long post is always better with pics. Here is a pic of Ethan while we were waiting to review the X-ray with the pediatrician. Poor baby you can see the bandage on his arm from the blood draw.

So we headed home and stopped at Babies r us for some bottles, pedialite and diapers. I stayed in the car and fed Ethan while Jeff ran into the store. Just as he got out of the store his cell phone rang and it was the pediatrician telling us we needed to go directly to the ER. They radiologist saw what could be a blockage in his colon and he needs an ultrasound.

At this point we are all exhausted what we thought was going to be a 30 minute appointment has already been over 4 hours. I had forgotten my cell phone so I finally use Jeff's cell to call my parents and tell them what was happening. It took awhile for them to figure out it was me and what I was saying because I was totally hysterical. I felt like I had failed Ethan with the breastfeeding, I wasn't ready to give him formula and stop feeding him but of course I would do whatever is best for him. And then even more hysterical because we were totally freaked out about why we were going to the ER for and what could happen to Ethan.

We got to the ER around 7 and my Aunt came to keep us company while my Mom and sister started driving up. They did another X-ray, he actually liked those because of the lights he would just start cooing and be happy baby for a bit. Then they did another blood draw this time from the heel which was a lot worse for him. It just took so much longer than the arm and he just doesn't like his feet touched. After those tests we waited for awhile and finally had the ultrasound. I held him and he slept through the whole thing so that made it easy.

Finally all our test results were in and they didn't see any blockage. The doctors believe the blood in the stool to be a food allergy or intolerance. So they discharged us and sent us home.

On Monday the pediatrician called and said that he tested negative for all food allergies (and thanks again to google) I inquired about the test showing false negatives because he is so young. Most gastro doctors recommend waiting until 18 months to do the test. She said we would keep repeating if he continues to show intolerance's. We are praying his digestive issues are just intolerance's, as that would mean he will out grow them. If they are "allergies" he would have them for life.

So the final summary of my long ER drama is that currently he has food intolerance's to dairy, soy, egg, wheat, corn and so many more. But we are thankful they aren't allergies.

Since they are not allergies I have continued to breast feed and yes, with the pediatrican's support. This decision meant I go on what they refer to as the total elimination diet. I eat only turkey meat, potatoes, rice, zucchini and yellow squash, oats, peaches and bananas. It is amazing the food they make with rice. Rice milk is surprisingly good!

Ethan is doing well, he is a happy baby! Yes, he is on meds for acid reflux or GERD and without them he screams in pain. But the poops in his diapers are still mucusy and sometimes green but they are getting better and seem to be getting more yellow (that is what we want). I just hope that my diet helps him to get better. The google research says breast feeding is the best way to help cure the food intolerance's.

Okay, I am ending this post now. I will post more about TED (total elimination diet) the foods I add into my diet, their effects on Ethan, and of course some pictures of Ethan later.

8 week Pictures

We did a portrait setting with Ethan last week at our house and I thought I would share some of our favorites. Enjoy!

Anyone in the Sac area looking for a good photographer here is her website www.kimberlydunnphotography.blogspot.com . She was so much fun to work with, we would highly recommend her!!

2 months old

Ethan is 2 months old today. We had his baby well check and here are his stats:

Height: 24 1/4 inches (90 percentile)

Weight: 12 pound 4 ounces (60 percentile)

Head: 14 inches, i think (25 percentile)

He is getting bigger by the day and he is also a lot more active. He smiles and coos for us all the time. It is so fun to talk to him and get a reaction from him. At the doctors today some kids were playing and he just sat on my lap and watched them. It was so cute to see him focused and interested on what the kids were doing.

Okay, so it has been a long time since I posted and a lot has happened around here. So to start it off her is my post that I started on January 31st.

6 going on 7 weeks:

I can't believe Ethan is almost 7 weeks old and that Jeff has to go back to work on Monday!

He is going to need a lot of coffee to get going in the mornings as we are still learning all about Ethan. He has decided it is a wonderful idea to scream and cry from around 7 or 8pm until 1 or 3am. It is sad when we feel lucky to be asleep at 1am. And assuming he went down at 1 he is up at 3, 5, 7 etc... and every time he wants to eat!

However, he is a great baby during the day and we are having so much fun with him, we just don't want to have to go back to work just yet!!

And since I haven't posted in a couple weeks here are a couple of pictures, he is getting so big!!

So that post was never posted because Ethan went from screaming and crying at nights to screaming and crying all the time, so obviously there was no time to blog.

The painful crying lead to some googling and self diagnosis of the problem, which we then confirmed with the doc. Ethan has acid reflux and food allergies. He is most likely allergic to dairy and soy, but this won't be confirmed until a blood test at 3 months. I have changed my diet and must avoid all foods with allergens and caffeine(ouch, that one hurts). But since my diet has changed and the meds for reflux kicked in he is one happy baby who finally sleeps again!!

So now that my baby is better I can blog and share some cute pics of Ethan.

*** okay, I lied no pics on this post....but pics to come along with the story of Ethan's first visit to the ER, don't worry he's okay!!

We have snow!!

Well we did have snow. We were woken up by Ethan around 7am yesterday and while Jeff was on diaper duty he saw all the snow! It hasn't snowed here in almost 3 years but each year it is predicted in the forecast, I have even set if the house alarm while checking for snow, so needless to say I was beyond excited. I started planning what I could dress Ethan in so he could build a snowman as big as him, I was even planning on using ziploc bags over his feet, but then it started raining and our snow was gone before I had a chance to take him out. But we are predicted more and I am on the look out!!