Duggar Special

I just finished watching the Duggar preemie special on TLC. Their 19th child, Josie, was born on December 10th at 25 weeks. She was born only a week earlier than Brandon was at 26 weeks, 1 day. Josie weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces when she was born. Brandon only weighed 8 ounces more than Josie did when he was born. Nobody should have to go through having a baby born so early.

Watching the special brought back so many memories of Brandon being born early that I thought I had forgotten. I hope that this helps bring awareness of micropreemies to the public. That they aren't just cute little babies but babies that are struggling to live from being born so early. I hope that Josie has as good of an outcome as Brandon has.

I think the hardest thing for me while watching tonight was seeing Josie born through a c-section. I had an emergency c-section so I was completely knocked out and wasn't able to see Brandon right after he was born. The first time I saw him was about 10 hours after he was born when I was wheeled to the NICU and he was in an isolette. I have always wondered what he looked like when he was first born and now I know. I also had a hard time at the end of the special when I saw Josie in her isolette.

Climbing on the Couch

Unfortunately Brandon has figured out how to climb up onto the couch. He thinks it is so much fun to be up on the couch. He runs on it and jumps on it.

Wearing the Sweater that Grandma Knitted

My mom knitted a sweater for Brandon. He was finally able to wear it yesterday since the temperature was close to 20 degrees. We got a little snow last night but not enough to even play in.

ENT appointment

Brandon went to the ENT today. After he had his fourth ear infection in two months the pediatrician suggested we go. Brandon has been ear infection free now for a month and Dr. Tavill, the ENT who we saw today, said his ears are nice and clear. He thinks he should be okay now. At this time Brandon doesn't need tubes. He wants to see us back in two months. Brandon did have a small cyst inside his left ear that Dr. Tavill removed while we were there. Brandon was hysterical the whole time the doctor was looking in his ears and removing the cyst and continued to be when he was done. After Brandon saw Dr. Tavill he had a hearing test done since his ears were clear. He passed it with no problem. He sat on my lap in a sound proof room and the audiologist made different noises on three different speakers (one on Brandon's left, one on his right, and one in front of him). He had to look towards each speaker when he heard the sound which he was able to do. She also tried to put something in his ears to test his hearing but he wouldn't let her have anything to do with that.

Brandon has been sleeping through the night again the past two nights. I think putting him back on the prevacid was a good decision. Dr. Tavill also said he should stay on it because a lot of babies with reflux get ear infections.

A Visit from Stu's Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins

Stu's Uncle Billy, his wife Marilyn, and two of their kids, Christa and Meghan, came to visit on Saturday. Christa had a cheerleading competition at the community college near us on Sunday morning so since they were going to be staying so close to us we got together for dinner. They had never met Brandon and really wanted to meet him. We had a really nice visit with them.

Tunnel

Last weekend we went to our friends house to watch the football games. They had a tunnel with a tent that attaches to one end that Brandon loved. I went to Kohls to buy it for him since he loved it so much and bought the last one that they had. Brandon LOVES crawling through the tunnel.

Oven Drawer

Brandon loves climbing into the over drawer. Our oven drawer is just for storage. It doesn't have the broiler in it like some ovens do.

Two days ago Brandon started to sign more when he wanted more to eat. Last night I got him on video signing more and also saying more.

Unexpected Day Home

Brandon's babysitter's son is sick today with a stomach virus. Brandon was around him yesterday so I am keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't catch it. Even though he was exposed yesterday (she didn't know he had it until an hour before I picked Brandon up) I didn't want to expose him further so I kept him home today. I had to take a sick day since nobody else could watch him. Brandon has enjoyed his morning home. He is napping now. Ignore the insane amount of wetness on Brandon's shirt. He is teething horribly. I think the bottom molars and all four incisors are trying to come through.

Newman Jets

My dad found a college called Newman College recently. I think he said it is a small college in Kansas. Our last name is Newman so he bought a onesie and a shirt for Brandon. The mascot at Newman College is the Jets so my dad was extra excited to buy the clothes for Brandon since it would mean he would have some Jets clothes to wear (my dad is a huge fan of the Jets). Since the Steelers are out of the playoffs and the Jets are still in we decided that Brandon could wear his Newman Jets onesie on Sunday to support Grandpa Jacobs' favorite team. And it seemed to work since they won.

Pictures Finally

We finally got our computer back with a new hard drive so I am able to put pictures from the last few weeks on here. I am upset because they weren't able to recover anything from our old hard drive so I lost tons of pictures of Brandon. I learned my lesson to back things up from now on. At least I have the pictures on the blog so not all are lost.

Delurking Week

I have read on several blogs that I follow that this week is delurking week. I thought I would join in the fun by writing about it on my blog. Do you read here but never comment? Let me know!!!! And...if you have questions, ask and I will answer!I would love to hear from everyone who reads my blog.

My Birthday

My birthday was yesterday. It was a good birthday. Stu, Brandon, and I went out to dinner on Friday night with my parents, brother, and his wife. We went to a restaurant in Red Bank called The Brothers that a friend of mine recommended. It was really good. Brandon was so good at the restaurant even though he woke up from his nap at 12:15 that day. We didn't go out to eat until 6:30. He lasted the whole time at the restaurant and finally fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Yesterday my parents and Stu's parents came over for dinner. My mom made stuffed shells and birthday cake. Everything was delicious.

18 Month Well Visit

Brandon had his 18 month well visit yesterday at the pediatrician. He is now 31 inches so he grew 1 1/2 inches since his 15 month visit. He weighed 20 pounds, 8 ounces. The reason he was down 2 ounces from Monday is because he was weighed with his diaper on at the pulminologist. Brandon hasn't gained any weight since his 15 month visit. However, he started walking a month after his 15 month well visit so the pediatrician thinks that he hasn't gained any weight since he is more active. He didn't seem concerned.

The pediatrician did say I need to give Brandon less whole milk than he has been drinking. He only wants him to have 16-20 ounces a day. For awhile that is all he was drinking but once he started getting sick in October he started to crave milk. So he has been drinking more than that the majority of the time. According to the pediatrician if you drink to much milk you can become anemic. I never heard that before so I am not sure if that is true.

Brandon got 3 shots yesterday. He didn't react right away after the first shot but about 5 seconds after the first shot he started to cry. He cried right through the next two shots and then continued to cry for 10 minutes after.

One and a Half Years Old

Brandon turned one and a half yesterday. I can't believe my baby is now closer to being two than one. He has changed so much in the past year. He goes to the pediatrician tomorrow for his 18 month well visit so I will update tomorrow with his length and weight.

Brandon has been doing so many new things in the past week. He claps all of the time now. And he claps the right way. He no longer claps his one hand on the back of the other hand but claps both hands together the way that he should. He dances whenever he hears music now. It is really cute. A lot of the time he gets his head involved with his dancing by shaking it back and forth. Brandon continues to say Elmo all day long. He just loves him.

Brandon had speech yesterday. He has a DI (developmental intervention) teacher work with him. I was a little confused about why it was a DI and not a speech therapist so I called his coordinator and she said that they don't get a speech therapist until they are 28 months old. Before that they have a DI to work on language prerequisites. She heard him say Elmo several times. She worked on him with animal sounds. He says a monkey sound and he was making a roaring noise with his throat when she said roar for a lion. She also worked on the sign for more with him again. He claps his hands together for more. I think he is confused between the symbol for more and clapping since they are similar. It did sound like he was saying more several times after she said more.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. Our new computer broke so we have the old one hooked up and it doesn't have a card reader. We are going to look for our old card reader. If not I will post a bunch of pictures when the computer is fixed.

Daddy's Birthday and RSV Shot

Stu's birthday was on Saturday. We celebrated with a trip to Costco to buy filet for dinner and a trip to Target. I cooked Stu dinner and his parents came over for dinner.

Brandon had a pulminologist appointment today to get his RSV shot. My mom took him since I had to work. We aren't allowed to take off a day before or after a holiday so I wasn't able to take off to bring him and today is the day they scheduled it for. Brandon weighed 20 pounds, 10.6 ounces which is the heaviest he has been so far. He had gone down to 20 pounds, 3 ounces a few weeks ago when he was sick so I am happy he finally put back on the weight that he lost plus a few extra ounces. Dr. Sembrano said Brandon is doing great. His oxygen saturation is great and his lungs sound clear. He wants me to continue to give him the pulmicort for another week and then I can stop it. But if Brandon starts to cough again then I have to start it two times a day and put him on the xopenex again and then once he is off the xopenex go back to one time a day. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't have to go back on it after the next week. Brandon does have fluid in both ears. No ear infection yet but this is the pattern he seems to follow so I have a feeling the ear infection will be back in another week. We will see.

Brandon is in love with Elmo. He says Elmo all the time. He wants to watch Elmo on Elmo's World all the time and carry around his stuffed Elmo.

Brandon has been having some rough nights. His top two molars cut through so I don't know if it is teething related, pulmicort related, or just his age. He wakes up about a half hour after he goes to sleep crying and then wakes up every few hours throughout the night. It makes for one tired mom. He has been taking 3-3 1/2 hour naps because he is so tired.

New Year's Day

Stu had to go to the firehouse this morning for the New Year's Day swearing in ceremony of the new officers. Stu is not an officer anymore but he is president of the fire company this year so he had to run the ceremony. Brandon and I went to give Stu some support. Brandon had fun running around in the bay of the firehouse and screaming as he was running but once the ceremony started he didn't want to sit in my lap. We stayed for a little more than half of it before I had to take him home. My parents came to watch Brandon this afternoon so I could go with Stu to the different firehouses in towns near ours that were having parties for New Year's Day. It was nice being out for a few hours.