Updates Galore!

Yes people, as you can see from above, the three of us are still alive! I know people have been wanting me to update my blog, but last week has just been insane! Last Monday was the start of Drs appointments every day that week. Monday Tony had a tooth ache so he went to the dentist on Monday. Our dentist is also a friend of ours so of course I had to go to show off baby. Tony had to go back to the dentist again on Tuesday to get a temporary crown. Tuesday was also hard because I made the decision to stop pumping. I felt very guilty but I was not producing enough milk. I would pump for 45 minutes to an hour and would not get enough for a whole feeding. It was very disappointing and time consuming (which isn't working when we are driving to drs appointments everyday across town).

Wednesday was a big appointment. Wednesday we met with the orthodontist......never thought I would be taking my baby to an orthodontist but she is going to play a big role in Riley's life. The orthodonitist is really great which is a relief since she is the only one in the state of Arizona who can use the NAM device. She informed us that his premaxila (the piece that sticks out that is part of his lip and gum) is twisted so he'll need even more special taping to help bring it around to prepare it for surgery. Right now she wants us to continue the single piece of tape as you can see above in the picture. She wants to retract the premaxila more before we start additional taping. The taping is going well as far as it is doing our job but Riley's cheeks and premaxila keep getting sores and keeps breaking out. Luckily I have a husband who is a nurse and is very resourceful. The steristrip (the single piece of tape across his premaxila) is the major cause of the breakout. Tony has been using two pieces of tape used to secure ivs on both cheeks in which we stick the steristrip on to rather tha directly on its cheek. We also stick a little piece of bandaid to the steristrip where it would lay on the premaxila to help protect that area as well. His face is clearing up but we still have a bit of trouble. The taping is hard as I have to hold his head still and he DOES NOT like it one bit. He cries and cries and its never easy for a mommy to hear that. We see the orthodontist again on Nov 3 to check his progress and possibly start more taping. We also met with the feeding specialist there as well who said we were doing an excellent job with feeding and that she figured we didn't need her but she gave us her tips and will continue to meet with us to keep up on his progress.

Thursday was a 2 week post partum check up. My OB is so awesome that I really don't mind going. Tony came along and we brought Riley so he could see him. He said that I looked very tired and for me to take it easy. He says he usually advises his patients to stay in for the first few weeks after delivery but he knew that it was impossible for me. He still doesn't want me to "hit the gym" until he sees me in another 4 weeks which is hard as well. I've lost 19 lbs but now I'm kind of at a stand still and I am really worried about not being able to get rid of this baby weight as my weight has always been an issue for me.

Friday was Riley's pediatricians appointment. He had hit the 6 lb mark and doing well. Friday Riley's Uncle Timmy and Auntie Janine came to visit him for the first time. I could not for the life of me find the camera so I only got videos of this visit. It was relaxing. We didn't do much but I was happy they got to meet him.

Monday I had a dentist appointment. Not fun. Had to have a deep cleaning and have to go back again next Monday to have the other side deep cleaned. Tony and I noticed that Riley was starting to become fussy and appeared constipated.

Today Riley had an appointent with the urologist for his hypospadius. 1 in 300 boys get this and is kind of rare. He is just a rarity all the way around. He pretty much confirmed this diagnosis. It is not dangerous but it's just his "hole" is not in the right place and he is a curvature to his penis. The urologist will try and repair him at the same time we will do his lip. Riley is very constipated and fussy. We called the pediatrician who suggested we start a formula for fussiness and gassiness. The last few feedings he hardly wanted and he continuously bears down but does not have a bowel movement. Tony being a nurse reached up on in there and managed to get a hard piece of stool out. We've also given him a suppository to help him along because the poor thing is miserable. Again, thank God Tony is a nurse because he was able to disimpact him a bit. Also, Riley also has a hard time clearing his secreations so at least once a day he chokes. He lets out this shrill cry to let us know he has a build up of secreations in his throat. We were told this was fairly common with babies without a palate. It scared me the first few times it has happens and it still does but I am geting used to it and I know now how to hande this when it happens.

We are adjusting to being new parents and are enjoying it. Tony doesn't go back to work until Nov 7th so we still have some time before he heads back to work.