New front yard, no more constipation, and 1st Easters

Yes, I know it's an interesting title. It's been a busy couple of months. I have finally uploaded pictures of our front yard. Before it had lighter color rock and sporatic, ugly plants planted. Our front yard looks 100 times better and we are enjoying it.

Riley is doing great. He's been having constipation problems for the past few months and I think that we are getting over that. The pediatrician told us to increase his fluids between feedings. The problem with that is Riley hates every type of pedialyte and also hates apple juice. We even tried to dilute the applejuice but that didn't work. Developmentally, he is doing well. He's making the funniest expressions. For one day, he kpt his face in an O shape and the other day he found his tongue and kept sticking it out at everyone. Not fun for when it was time to feed him his rice cereal. We just moved Riley to mixed grain cereal for a week and then we get to start him on jar foods next Sunday. I think we are going to introduce apples first. Riley also got to go to his first b-day party on Saturday. His BFF turned 1 on Saturday.

Yesterday was Riley's first Easter. Unfortunately, he's a little too young to put together an Easter basket or color eggs (although grandma colored eggs). However, he did get his first Easter bunny. You can tell that he isn't a big fan of it. It sings If Your Happy And You Know It and claps but when we turned it on last night, Riley just glared at it. We didn't do too much. Tony and I actually had a Sunday off together so we spent the day at home relaxing. We did have a very very yummy prime rib dinner at my parents and then Tony and I came home and watched the new Harry Potter movie. It was an enjoyable night and sure nice to be with my boys for the weekend.

Another milestone and 6 month well check

I think one of the hardest things about being a working mom are the "firsts" that I've missed. Wednesday, Riley figured out how to flip onto his stomach from his back. Of course he does this while I'm at work. It was still amazing to see and he did it for me when I got home later that evening. What a stinker. He loves his mommy but there is no doubt in my mind that he is a daddy's boy. They are so cute together and my heart fills with pride when I see them together. Riley had his 6 month wellness check yesterday. It couldn't have come at a better time since the poor thing has been pooping nuggets. He happened to poop right before the dr walked in so I was able to show her. She suggested to increase his fluids so to give him pedialyte between feedings. It's starting to get warm down here and he is becoming more active thus the need for more fluids. He's still on the small sign but seems to be developing normally. The dr said that he is a little underweight and gave his a layout of a new feeding regimen. We will be adding oatmeal to his diet this weekend. Right now we have upped his rice cereal and he's eating about 4 tablespoons of it (before I add the milk so it is probably twice as much). He seems to be doing well with it. He's now just a little over 25 inches and weighs 13 lb 14 oz. Yesterday evening, Tony got Riley's footprints tattooed on his arm. It looks really good.

6 months old and almost 6 weeks post op

I've been really bad about keeping up on my blog but the last few weeks have been busy. I have been sick for the last week and a half and have been so busy with work. I can say that the last 6 months have been such an emotionally charged 6 months but I wouldn't trade them for the world. Tony and I are so thankful for how Riley's surgery has come out. The conformers (the plastic thing that was in his nose that kept his nostrils symmetical) were removed yesterday finally. We are excited and plan on having his 6 month pics taken at Walmart to show how different Riley work. Tony and I have also started Riley on rice cereal. For those of you who do not have a baby with a cleft palate, moving to solids is a bit tricky. Because there is no palate, large amounts of food tends to come out the nose. Riley also sneezes frequently resulting in the spray of rice cereal shooting all over me, Riley, and the kitchen floor. I have gotten smarter and will place his bib over his nose when I can tell a sneeze is coming on. My best advice if someone is reading this that is going to have a cleft palate baby.....invest in a ton of bibs!!

In other news, Tony and I got tired of our front yard and so we (or I should say Tony and my dad) redid our front yard. We just got done with it Tuesday which was also Tony's 29th birthday. It looks beautiful. The only pics we have are on Tony's phone so I promise to take pics of what it looks like now and post it on my facebook page shortly.

Yes We Are All Still Alive

know I know. It's been forever since I've blogged. It's been quite the (almost) 2 weeks since Riley's surgery. Between Riley recovering from surgery, both tony and I alternating caring for out little man while working full time, and both being exhausted I just have not had the energy to blog. I took 2 naps today....2. That is a world record for me.

I'm so pleased to inform everyone that our little guy is doing so great. I will post a pic taken today which is just 2 days shy of being 2 weeks post op and I am posting his post op daily pictures on facebook. The first 3 nights Riley would wake up and fuss of course. He had only 3 doses of tylenol with codeine and only 2 doses of regular Tylenol. Usually given at night time to help ease the pain so he could sleep better. I would say by day 3 or 4 he was almost back to himself. We are so pleased with his results. Riley had his first post op appointment yesterday. The plastic surgeon said he no longer needed his arm restraints which we are very happy about. He did not like them. The surgeon said he's very happy with the results and Riley seems to be healing well. The nose conformers are still in (helps hold the stitches in place) and will probably fall out in a few weeks. The surgeon thinks that he will not have to have any further lip repairs which is nice but still expects at least 3 more surgeries which we already knew about. His nether region is also healing well. Here is his new look almost 2 weeks post op:

Home safe and sound!

Before and after surgery....please find my facebook link if you would like to see more pics.

Tony and I woke up at 3:30 this am to take Riley for his surgery today. I worked last night until 10 pm and it was a 12 hour day. I was exhausted when I got home and then didn't sleep to today was a rough day in many ways. I can honestly say I'm dead tired. I don't even know how I am still awake.

We got to the hospital a little before 5 am and got registered. We then went upstairs and waited to go back to the presurgical area where they take vitals and the surgeons come and meet with the pt. We had a very nice anasthesiologist and was very calming to talk to. I must admit I was a bundle of nerves and had already cried before even getting to the hospital. Then finally it was time to say goodbye. It was hard to believe that my baby would be coming back to me in a few hours as a whole new baby. Of course seeing him taken back to surgery was hard and I cried of course. I tear up just thinking about all those mixed emotions....then throwing being exhausted on top of that was too much.

Tony convinced me to go out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel which was about 5 miles away from the hospital. He reassured me everything was going to be okay and that there was nothing we could do if something went wrong anyways. He had a point and honestly sitting there would have been harder I think. So, I hesitatly obliged and enjoyed a nice french toast breakfast and hot tea as it was actually very chilly this morning. We looked around the store part for a while and then headed back to the hospital where we waited around for maybe another hour at the most. Both surgeons said he did fantastic and had tolerated both procedures very well. It was such a relief. We had to wait about 15 min. before we could go back to see him. Strangely, I didn't cry. I was just so relieved that he was done and safe and sound.

We had to hang out in the PACU for about 2 hours to make sure he recovered okay post anasthesia which he did and then they let us come home which was a relief. So we are home safe and sound. I will try and update with pics frequently. I wish I could make this longer but I really need to go rest. Thank you for all your support and prayers. It is very much appreciated.

Surgery is scheduled

The time has come. Riley's lip and hypospadius repair is this Monday at 7 am. We have to be at the hospital by 5 am to get all the presurgical stuff out of the way. Riley is having his operation at a hospital called Carden's which is an hour away from our house which means we need to be out the door at 4 am. I work the night before in the er so I won't get home until 10:30. I'm going to be very tired but I don't think I'm going to be able sleep much anyways.

I have a lot of mixed emotions. I'm very excited because I want to get it over with and I want him to have his lip fixed. I'm scared and anxious because I don't want anything to happen to him. I know that this operation is safer than driving home from work but there's always that risk. I love my little guy and will think he is beautiful no matter what but I'm so used to seeing him the way he looks now.

I will try and post pictures as soon as soon as I can. I plan on taking a few and posting them so family and friends can see. I will also try to keep everyone updated if I have access to internet. Please keep my little man in your thoughts and prayers.

4 month well check up

Riley had his four month well check up. Things went well. The pediatrician is great with him and says that while he is on the small size, he is developing very well. I guess his head circumference is only in the 10th percentile but she says she is not worred as he is developing the way he is supposed to. I'm relieved to hear this as we are nervous for developmental issues. He got 4 immunizations--3 shots and 1 oral. He did well and was pretty tired the rest of the day. He weighs 12 lbs 7 1/2 oz and is just over 23 inches long. I decided I should call and see where the plastic surgeon and urologist is with getting our auth. The urologist rep is out of town on a family emergency of course and the plastic surgeon rep said she had no record that we met with the surgeon last week. I told her she needed to talk with the surgeon. So frustrating. I just want to get this over with!

And thanks for your support Darcy. It's nice to have a contact of someone who has been through this!