4 Month Pictures

Bennett is now four months old! He continues to amaze us every day!
Just wanted to add some pictures:










We had a lot of fun at the pumpkin patch today!

First Clinic

We attended Bennett's first Myelomenigocele (his form of spina bifida) clinic at Riley on September 27th. It was a long day, but we were happy with how the appointments and testing went. We arrived at 11:00am for a renal ultrasound and pelvic x-ray. Clinic started at 1:00pm, but we were not called in until about 1:45pm. Bennett weighed in at 16 pounds and measured 25.5 inches, our big boy! (He will be 4 months old on October 7th.) We were seen by someone from the neuro team, not our actual neurosurgeon. She checked Bennett's head and thought his soft spot felt okay, and his shunt seems to be functioning well! We will see our neurosurgeon for a checkup again next month. Next, we met the Developmental Pediatrician, Dr. Brei, who happens to have spina bifida himself. He thought Bennett's leg movement was amazing! He even said that we did not need to meet with Orthopedics because there was nothing he would need at this point for his legs! We will meet them at his six month appointment, and hopefully we won't really need them then either. Dr. Brei spent a lot of time with us answering all of our questions and making sure we felt comfortable. It was great to meet him, and very informative! We left with a prescription for a new diaper rash antibiotic cream. Hopefully we will finally be able to get this under control! He's been battling a diaper rash since birth. After our meeting, we were sent to the Urologist for Bennett's bladder/kidney test called VCUG. Bennett started getting worn out at this point and cried for a few minutes. This was his only breakdown of the day. He was such a trooper! The testing went well, and the urologist said that there is still no reflux into the kidneys and we do not need to do anything at this point! We will repeat the VCUG in a couple months, but this is great news for now! We are so thankful that our little Bennett is getting good news and we pray it continues!

3 Months Old!

Baby Bennett is 3 months old! He's doing great! He's reaching for toys and starting to grab them. He loves his paci and little blanket. And he loves his big brother! Matthew loves to take care of Bennett. The pictures below are from yesterday. Bennett's hat would slide over his eyes and Matthew would make sure that he fixed it each time so Bennett could see. He makes sure that Bennett is included when we talk about going anywhere. He always wants Bennett around! He also makes sure to hug and kiss him every night before bed!

Bennett has his first clinic coming up later in September where he will see the Riley specialists. We have not had many appointments in the past month, and it has been great! The only things that we have had are his 2 month vaccines at the pediatrician and First Steps physical therapy once per week. It's really been helping him strengthen and also loosen up where his muscles have been tight. He's getting better at lifting his head for tummy time and control while in a sitting position. He's hitting his milestones and growing like he should! So it's all good news this month!

Two Months Old and Good News!

Bennett turned two months old this weekend! We can't believe he's already two months, but we also feel like he's been in our lives for a long time. He's smiling now, cooing, and is sleeping well at night. He goes to sleep around 8pm and wakes up at about 2am to eat, and gets up at around 6am. Matthew is still taking great care of his baby brother, and now loves to give baby a paci and always says "I'm going to check on Bennett....Bennett's doing okay!".

Last week was our big week for doctor appointments, and we had all good news! The sleep study went well. Bennett easily slept for the three hours because he was all swaddled up and was able to sleep the whole time in a crib (the first time was half crib, half car seat). The pulmonologist gave us good news that this sleep study went better than his first! He still had some obstructive breathing, but he improved from last month. We will see the pulmonologist again in six weeks to follow up.

The other appointment we were worried about was with the neurosurgeon. We worried because Bennett's soft spot had changed and was more sunken in than it had been. She was very happy with Bennett's shunt. She said the shunt was draining as it should, and his soft spot is very soft which is good because it is not full of fluid. She also said his healing on his head, back, and stomach were looking great! We do not have to use bandages on his back anymore, and he is now able to have a real bath! The neurosurgeon said that Bennett was her best news of the day, and she doesn't need to see him back for six weeks! We were seeing her every two weeks, so this means he must be doing well! All in all, the week went well and we happily celebrated Bennett's two month birthday!

First Family Vacation

Call us crazy, but we decided to drive to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina last week with the kids for our first family vacation as a family of four. It was a long 13 hour drive with a 2.5 year old and a 7 week old, but it wasn't as bad as we expected. It was a little difficult to figure out new schedules in a new environment for the week, but we accomplished everything we wanted to do, and had a much needed break from the day to day. And it was fun! We enjoyed the beach, kiddie pool, and lazy river at the resort. We also went to Ripley's Aquarium, the outlet mall, and a carnival down the street from our hotel. Matthew and Bennett did so well during the whole trip, and it was great to have so much time together as a family of four. We just got back last night, and we all feel refreshed and happy to be home!

This week is full of doctor appointments for Bennett. Monday, he has a three hour sleep study. Tuesday, we meet with the pulmonologist about Bennett's sleep apnea. (We haven't had many alarms on the monitor lately, so we are hoping this study gets better results.) Friday, he has another head ultrasound to make sure his shunt is functioning properly, and then we meet with the neurosurgeon. We pray that we get good news this week!

One Month Old!

Bennett turns one month old today!

Yesterday, we had his one month pediatrician well visit. He is about 21.5 inches, and now weighs 10 pounds! He's growing well and checked out just fine at his appointment! No shots until next month, so it wasn't too painful! The only bad news that we had is that his sleep study results showed that he has mild to moderate sleep apnea. We have another sleep study and pulmonologist appointment in the beginning of August. Until then, we do not know much about what will this means for him. We will just keep him on the sleep monitor and find out more information at our next appointment.

Since we have been home, Bennett has done so well! He is a very content baby and usually cries only if he is uncomfortable or needs something. He is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night. He is really alert when he is awake and loves to watch mobiles! He also loves to be held and cuddled. Matthew is doing a great job being a big brother! He loves to kiss, hug, and take pictures with his little brother. He is acting out in other ways, but we are so happy that he is in love with his baby brother!

We're home!

We were finally discharged from the hospital yesterday(Friday) at 5:00pm! We were supposed to arrive at the hospital in the morning, but when I called the NICU, the nurse told me that they were unable to complete Bennett's sleep apnea testing because they could not get a machine in time. This delayed his carseat challenge because they wanted to do the apnea testing first. I was really upset by this news because I had hit the point that I really felt I needed him home right away! After a few phone calls, they found out that another machine would not be available until Monday, but they could send Bennett home on a monitor if we would come back to do outpatient sleep apnea testing. I quickly agreed, but that meant that Andrew and I had to attend a class later in the day to learn about the monitor and infant CPR. We decided that we would do anything if it meant we could leave the hospital with our baby. I felt that with a monitor, I would not worry quite as much while he was sleeping, so I wasn't too opposed to the idea. On my way to the hospital, I got another call from the nurse. She said they could not start the carseat challenge because our carseat was not working properly. They wanted me to bring the manual so we could figure out what was wrong. I decided to stop at Babies R Us and just buy a new carseat to get the process moving. It turns out that a button on our old carseat was broken, so it's a good thing I opted to buy a new one! We arrived at the hospital at noon and spent the next five hours listening to discharge instructions, filling prescriptions, taking the monitor class, and setting up future appointments. It was a long day with a few setbacks, but we luckily were able to bring Bennett home! We were so happy to be home last night as a complete family! We had dinner together and watched a movie. Matthew was a great helper with baby Bennett and seemed a little overwhelmed, but definately happy that his brother was home. Bennett did well during the night, although his monitor alarmed many times because it was not sticking well to his skin. I was up at least 20 times trying to restick the censors! He did have a great 3.5 hour stretch of sleep from 4-7:30am that I was really thankful for!

Today was great! First, I took both boys to a bridal shower while Andrew got some work done at the office. After the shower, Andrew helped out with Matthew a lot. He even took him to Toys R Us and bought him a special new sand/water table. Matthew was so happy and played for hours--until we had to drag him to the bath to get ready for bed! Bennett slept a lot and was mostly content when he was awake. The times he was upset seemed to be mostly at diaper changes. I can't blame him with the surgeries he has been through. His back dressing needs to be changed when it is dirty, which is often. His skin is so sensitive and gets so red when you change the dressing. His stomach incision is still covered and his umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet, so it takes a while to fold the diaper properly in front and back. Also, he has a powder, non-stick barrier, and diaper rash cream that needs to be applied to protect his bottom from the constant bm's. And, his circumcision is still healing. Poor guy has been through so much! Even so, he doesn't show that he's upset too often. He's such a sweet and strong baby! We're so happy to have him home!