NAM is in

Well, I was looking back at my last post and had not realized how long it has been since I've posted. No I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Its been a hectic week and a half. We did get the NAM in earlier this week. The installment went well although Riley cried. Here is a picture of his NAM:

We put denture cream in the 3 sections to get it to stay in. Never thought my 2 month old baby would be using denture cream! He did pretty well and even slept through the night on Thanksgiving Eve. Thanksgiving was a different story. He woke up happy but was very unhappy the rest of the day. He has been cranky for the last week and a half so I can't say for sure if it is due to the NAM. Feeding is a bit easier but we still have to squeeze the bottle a bit to help him out. It does create a bit of a palate but sucking is still a lot of work. Riley will now be going to the orthodontist once a week to get his weekly adjustments on his NAM. Hopefully things will progress well. Here is a picture of Riley with the NAM. You can barely see it but the nasal stints have not gone in yet:

Tony worked Thanksgiving night so it was pretty hard for me when he was so fussy. We made it through it though. Last night we moved Riley into his own room and he also rolled onto his back all by himself twice. It was pretty exciting. He is getting used to the NAM and hardly notices it anymore it seems. Hopefully he continues to do well with it. This week we go in for another NAM adjustment and his 2 month appointment. We've been working on giving him tummy time everyday. Here is a pic of him holding a popcicle stick (with close observation of course) chilling on is back:

Tony and I are doing well with his NAM. I still have 2 weeks left before going back to work. I can't believe that he is 8 weeks old. How time flies. I post more pictures on my facebook page so feel free to view them. More updates soon!

Orthodontist

We had another orthodontist appointment today. I was kind of relieved as the Riley's taping has not gone well the last few weeks. He has been bleeding off and on and keeps ripping off the tape. His cheeks are also continuing to break out from the tape. Poor guy. We have to do the taping but at the same time he keeps bleeding and breaking out. We can't win either way. The orthodontist told us not to worry that we didn't make much progress from the taping. We were told at our last appointment that the impressions would be taken for the Nam on the next appointment after today but we ended up doing them today. Riley did great. He hardly fussed. I was so proud of him. If anyone has had impressions taken for things like braces, it works pretty much the sae way. It was kind of funny watching the orthodontist try to fit the impression in his mouth but she got it in there and she did it with one try. Riley made a face as the orthodontist says it tastes funny. I wish I would have brought the camera but I forgot. Looks like the Nam will be put in at our appointment next week.

Thank you to my wonderful husband

I've been so caught up with giving people updates about Riley that I seem to only mention Tony briefly if at all in my blogs. I can't even begin to describe what this man means to me though. I couldn't help to think about the first time I ever saw him....in my Spanish class our sophmore year of high school. And how we went from friends to becoming girlfriend and boyfriend. Little did I know that the boy I met in highschool would turn into the best thing that has ever happened to me (besides giving birth to Riley of course). Tony has been there for me and has stood by my side through so many ups and downs. He is my rock. It's amazing how far we have come and how much we have changed and grown together. My love for him is so deep that I can't even begin to describe it. And its thinking about the strength of our love that I have to thank God that he brought us together.

Rough Day

I don't know what happened. I was standing in the kitchen this morning and all of the sudden I became overwhelmed with everything. No, I'm not exhausted. I've been sleeping pretty good actually. I think it was the combination of holding my son down while we are trying this new taping method and listening to him scream, watching my husband wipe blood from Riley's lip because its sore, and trying to figure out how we are going to balance work with doctor's appointments and surgery. I haven't cried about Riley's condition since he's been born. Honestly, I thought I was over the crying but I guess I need to remember that it is a roller coaster with him. I love him and would not trade him for the world but I couldn't help thinking to myself is why couldn't life just be a little teensy bit easier. I know that all of the wishing for this is not going to help but sometimes I can't help it. Tony and I both want to give him the best life possible and he does need special care. This taping is not easy (no its not just putting a piece of tape across his lip although I know that's what it looks like in the pictures). Feeding him requires a lot more concentration than just sticking a bottle in his mouth and watching television. Being there everyday for him is something so important to us and we will do our best. Tony returns back to work tomorrow and I'm sad that we won't have has much time together. I think today was just accumulation of problems and I'd be lying if I told you guys that it gets easier each day because it doesn't.

1 month old

Riley had his first Halloween. He was too little to dress up in a costume but we at least had a Halloween onsie courtesy of Grandma Prentice. It was a relaxing night. We took Riley trick or treating at his friend Logan's house (Logan is 6 months old and our good friend's son). It was nice just to hang out in visit with our friends. We haven't had a chance to do that in a while.

Today Riley had another orthodontist appointment. We were going to start the lasso taping which is where we would loop a piece of guaze around his premaxila which would pull it to Riley's right side more to make it center but when the orthodontist tried to do this he started bleeding a little bit. Another problem I asked myself? Of course!! The orthodontist informed us that she believes there may be a tooth starting to get ready to come out and this may be the cause of the bleeding. Also, she informed us that the premaxilla is often times symmetrical and Riley's is not which is another indicator for the possible immersion of the tooth. It would not be a viable tooth so the orthodontist informed us that we may have to have the plastic surgeon remove it. So the NAM has been pushed back further and now we are looking at the end of the month for the impressions to be taken. Instead of doing the lasso taping, we are going to try and bring Riley's lip on the left side to the front of the premaxila so we will start trying to tape to accomplish that. The orthodontist says she was very impressed on how good he is looking and how well we are taping. I should say how Tony is taping. I hold him down which is hard too. Tony is not afraid to get in there and tape him correctly.

Riley is doing great. He is doing well with his new formula and is no longer constipated!! We have a pediatrician's appointment on Friday so we are curious on how much he weights.

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.

A few firsts

Riley's lip taped down

Not a good pic of me but that's what happens with little sleep!

His first stroller ride....yes I know his head is off to the side. It would not stay upright!

Chilling in his carseat

Well, I think Tony and I are now settling into the parent routine. I'm actually feeling like a mommy now that Riley is home from the hospital. We sure love the little guy and are enjoying our time off with him. It has been a busy week. Since, he's been home we have not had one day where we have stayed at home. Riley had his first pediatrician's appointment on Wednesday which went well. Riley is almost up to his birth weight which is good. Thursday Tony, grandma and grandpa Marchelli, and I went to In N Out, Baby's R Us, and Target with Riley for his first outing. We had to pick up some more baby supplies. Riley did awesome. He slept almost the whole entire time. He woke up right before we went into Target because it was time for a diaper change an a bottle. He was awake for a while in Target but it was to look around. He didn't fuss at all! Yesterday was his first plastic surgeon's appointment. We drove all the way to Mesa (about an hour away from our house) to have him seen. The plastic surgeon started the taping process which prepares him for the NAM device. It was a very short visit but we got the number to the orthodontist who will fit and put in the NAM device and the surgeon instructed Tony and I how to tape. We have called the orthodontist a few times an are waiting for a call back so we can get an appointment with her. Mommy also gave Riley his first bath. Tony and I bought a bathing tub for him. I thought I could just tear away the packaging and throw it in the bathtub but it needed some assembly. Seems how Riley peed all over himself and me, I wanted to get him bathed and back into some fresh clothes asap as he was getting cold so I bathed him by myself in the sink. Not a good idea. Babies are slipperly little suckers. I did fine but will not do it again. Not worth the risk of dropping him. And....Riley was read his first story which was 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed. Grandma Marchelli bought him this book along with a book with a bunch of disney stories in them. Enjoy the pics I posted above!