Under the weather

Wow just when we were reaching record levels of exhaustion Owen slept through the night. Meaning WOW! 7-7 with a bed change in the middle of the night due to a post-feed gag session...We have been utilizing a sleep book in order to help with his night waking. It's pretty straightforward- put them to bed earlier to avoid becoming over tired, getting naps in, etc. Until last week the majority of Owen's naps have been on us, or in the car on the way to or from doctors appointments. We have laid him in his bed before for naps but he really only adhered to his 20-30minutes of cat napping 4 times/day. Well he took his first 2 hour nap the other day! Chris and I were loony~ we moved furniture around, and took a nap ourselves! Wow, if he did that every day or even every other day I could really catch up on some rest. Owen has been sleeping between 10-12 hours at night the last 3 nights but he also has had a tummy bug...which he shared so kindly with Chris and I. I have no idea where he got it but it didn't take long to spread to us. I hope we are on the mend, and thank goodness for his tube! We have been giving him his normal volume with added free water to help him stay hydrated. We also have been holding his diuretics and adding rice cereal to a feed a day to help him out... Hasn't been an easy few days for us but we have had some help from the BEST family EVER! Chris's mom picked up some sickie foods from the store for us, and also some more over night diapers for Owen. Court came over and relieved us from tending to Owen through the night, and she did his last feed and first feed the next day. WOW! Gotta say to all you moms and dads out there that taking care of someone who is sick when you are sick is a real challenge. We were not too proud to ask for and accept help. So grateful to have the extra hands. I didn't leave our bedroom/bathroom from 5pm-830am thanks to Court. Hopefully she steers clear of the bug and Owen gets better. He is only down 3 ounces but we are bummed his gaining is on hold for sure for a little while. Hopefully he will be back to gaining for his cardiology appointment on monday with EKG, echo, and sending info to UCSF. Here is to more sleep, happy tummies, and good results on monday!

Peas please!

Believe it or not some did end up in his mouth...He enjoyed rubbing his hands over his face which explains the peas on the nose... His oral intake is still variable but somedays he will eat a few tablespoons of rice cereal, peas, or zucchini.

First Harvest

Pictured below is an amazing little man. He is 6 months old today! We have had quite the ride, yes we have. Chris went off to work today and Owen and I held the fort. We waited until the fog burned off and went to Lotus Park. I am doing a 10K on the 23rd and have been running in preparation. Owen is a great running partner, as long as he has something to put in his mouth. He loves his hands/thumbs/fingers combo but will also enjoy a variety of toys, squishy things, wet bibs, towels, you catch my drift.

Home life has been wonderful yet hard. We have not really been sleeping much since December...Sometime... Teething...fussy...gassy...paci wanting...who knows...Hungry? We pump him full through the day literally of food so that is unlikely...Although we do enjoy our nightly breastfeeding session. That is the only time he will consistently breastfeed so we are rocking it!

The wonderful part of home life comes from not working, devoting my time to my boys, and just having fun loving them! Getting to spend 24/7 (almost!) with Owen is such a joy, I couldn't imagine another way to be living my life right now. The hard part is the sleep deprivation. I have become a light sleeper, teamed with Owen's restlessness...We moved him out of our room 2 nights ago in an effort to see if that would improve all of our sleeping situations. We do have a twin bed air mattress set up in the den for those treasured 11-4 or 5 am nights that I have slept in there! Or for when Chris is working and needs a good nights sleep. So, to make a long story longer (is anyone really reading this?!) Chris and I have slept in our bedroom alone the last 2 nights! We have the monitor on of course, since we are feeding Owen while asleep. That way we can hear him if he has a gag/vomit session. The last week has been pretty great as far as that goes, but the last 2 mornings notsomuch... Between Owen and I we have pulled his tube out a few times this last week. I tend to be a little more klutsy when so tired...there is a pattern there...

Just had a minute before setting up his sneak feed ( 7 ounces over 2.5hours while asleep), pumping, and then heading off to bed myself... Wanted to share this delectable delight of a harvest-our little 6 month old trooper! He tried these carrots today, and did pretty well. That is the sweetest thing I have given him poor boy! The strict RD in me has only given him rice cereal and peas. I should be nicer and give him bananas or pears or something...We'll get there!

Also note the moose on his shirt! His nickname still sticks, although Chris and I call him mouse at times, he does not eat like a moose anymore. He did take 80mls today, which I don't think he's done since November! Such a silly boy, the other feeds he took 10-15mls....The stars must not have been aligned!

Happy ides of January to you all, and off to start that feed.

Wait and See- Owen's mantra

Well we had a cardiologist appointment last week and it was just a weight check and sat check. Owen was very good as usual. It was nice not to have the echo because that takes at least 30minutes and he has to lie still. Thanks to their strobe light he usually is ok, but it is hard to hold his down. So we were a little relieved to have a month off of this test.

Per Owen's cardiologist he is happy with his growth. At 5.5 months he was up to 10th%tile for everything. Without any growth or gains by 6 months he will fall to 5th. The reason this is so important, even though he looks chubby and all, is that he will be hospitalized again this year. Due to stress, not eating, surgery , and healing, most babies, kids, or adults for that matter do not gain weight when in the hospital. And this first year is so crucial for brain growth, and most babies triple their birth weights. Owen was 8pounds so we have further to try to get to, he will likely be as close to 20# as we can get!!!!

So the plan is an echo and ekg, weight check, and sat check on 1/31, and the MD will send it to UCSF and get their opinion. We want to let O grow into the shunt without outgrowing it, as that could cause heart damage. The benefit of waiting for surgery is his pulmonary veins will be larger (although still very small!) and easier to operate on. The surgical plan is still a modified Glenn to make Owen a 1.5 ventricle kid (as opposed to 2). So we wait and see...

He is such a joy! He has been teething and I have some goofy pics of his teeth (I know, me? taking pictures? so uncharacteristic!)

He is sleeping and I am going down too! Only have a few minutes to catch some zzzzz's.....

Skiing revisted- a decade later!

Well it had been since 2000 that I had ventured up to ski or snowboard. I went up last winter with my girlfriend Erika and we snowshoed pregnant. That was a complete blast! Even though I was in desperate need of sleep I decided to go up to Sierra with Brian, Bryce, and Wynt.

I really did contemplate checking into a hotel room and sleeping for 8 hours instead of going skiing but I was soooo glad that I decided to go. With Owen teething and being in a new place there wasn't much sleep going on.....

Haha me with a dorky lean! I was soo thrilled it really did come back to me. I have fond memories of going up at least 2 times/month in junior high through the winter. Our school would have a bus take us up and we would have a lift ticket and rentals for something ridiculous like 40$ for everything. My uncle Brian would also drive me and a friend up to sierra or kirkwood and we would have a blast going through the trees, and tearing up the intermediate and beginner trails. Wynter and I would also perform tricks like going through each others legs...tricky and no we did not try this this time (she was boarding).
Wynt was really good. I have tried to snowboard a few times but I would always trade in my rental for skis because I was tired of falling. So I knew this time to just start off skiing. I am a skier. Wynt on the other hand can do either!
Brian and Bryce chilled with us newbies for a while. Uncle Brian was hopeful for powder but didn't get it, so he stuck to the groomed runs with us.
I took the chair lift risk and took this shot. It was so peaceful up there, I forgot what quiet was like! The first half of the day was not busy at all, and this quiet peace was everywhere. It was very freeing to be up there and was so weird to not be responsible for anything other than myself. It was the longest I had been away from Owen (besides in the hospital) but it really felt good to leave the boys for some quality guy time. Other than pumping in a very busy lodge !twice! It went very smooth.

I was very glad to have the opportunity to enjoy the season. I look forward to the days when Owen will be able to tolerate higher elevations. I know he will love the snow.

Christmas #5

**Just have to say that Owen is sleeping on me right now....This time is precious and I know that I will laugh at myself in the near future at the fact that he would actually nap on me...I have a feeling he is going to be on the go and hard to stop for a nap, let alone on me!**

Uncle Dave hooked Owen up with this extra cool pacifier. It's a little ironic because his first tooth (bottom one) poked through on Christmas Eve.Christmas morning we enjoyed oatmeal with multiple toppings, and eggs. That night Court made turkey soup and mom made popovers...MMMM!
Elise is in a very loving stage, she is very verbal about it, who can complain? "I love you" comes out of her mouth multiple times a day. You are a lucky one if she's talking to you!
Santa's little helpers.
Literal table tennis.
The womens. It was nice to get away for a few days and be with family 24/7. Thanks for the cozy house and bed, mom!

Owen and I packed up the prius and headed up to my moms house. I hadn't been there since my shower in June!! Can't believe it! Since Chris was working anyway, we decided to go up and stay a night early. Wow the car was packed-IV pole, pack and play, a million changes of clothes (he goes thru 3 on a good day). We made it up there and Christmas was in full effect! Court came up early too, as well as Julian. We watched an old classic, Mean Girls (haha not classic at all, just a funny surface movie) and off to bed, for Christmas morning once again was ahead! (Due to 2 nurses in the immediate family, we had Christmas on the 27th this year since their schedules were so conflicting).

Christmas #4

Thanks to the Turners Owen had quite the first Christmas outfit. Jamie gave me the beanie and socks last year when I was newly pregnant! So this spoiled boy had christmas socks and booties! Owen doesn't look too sure of all these girls, but he was still at least for the picture!

Bryce likes to make a fashion statement at water polo and swim practice.
Dave got a levatron thing that uses magnets to levatate certain items...Chris and Dave were obsessed with making it work and played with it for at least an hour. The 3 girls were being so good and had grammy's extra room set up as a tea room and were having their own party. They kept asking us all to go in there and join them. When Dave and Chris kept putting them off, this is what Lily drew for them. HILARIOUS!! Look how mad the little girl is!

Christmas #3

We headed over to Lois and Jims for another stop. It was so good to see everyone and Owen hadn't met most of the bunch! I hadn't seen Susie or Katie since the day Owen was born. They waited and waited and waited! They got to see me after he was born but of course not Owen. I was also in an interesting state after 26 hours of non-drugged labor:) I was actually pretty high on life at that time, but it was nice to visit with them and celebrate the season.Lois had a yummy spread out and we were amused at watching the older boys play. Pure entertainment that is for sure! AJ is now old enough to open presents and play with them all also. Jacob is 5 and sooo cute. He scored points with me also because I sat down with him to eat and his plate had broccoli, mushrooms, and carrots on it-that's it! He sang Owen some songs from a distance to help calm him down.
Look at that little flirt! He was singing Christmas songs without a hitch!
What a big boy-sitting up all by himself!