The Sweetest Little Pumpkins That Ever Grew

Two years ago, a tradition was born.



This year, the tradition continued. 



The entire photo session took 30 seconds. One thing about Liam...he is unbelievably strong.  I had to wait until he was nearly asleep to attempt this. Once he started to drift off, I wrapped him in a towel and stuck him right in our pumpkin.  Thanks to his tiny size, there was no need for leg holes!  After a few nibbles, he put his head down, so I quickly snapped a few pictures!

 








I wish I would have done this with Dylan and Lexie! I'm not quite sure there's anything much cuter than a baby in a pumpkin!

JUMP!

Lily and Charlie are the best little buddies.  When they're together, trouble ensues!

Progress

Even though Liam was born with a surprise Down Syndrome diagnosis, we have been extremely blessed, because he is healthy and high-functioning! 

The first few days in the hospital were filled with worry, because they had to test for multiple health conditions associated with Down Syndrome.  We were so relieved to hear that he did not have any of those conditions!  His failed hearing test was the only concern, but he ended up passing the in-depth hearing screen at 4 weeks old.

The only health issue we have had to deal with is Failure to Thrive, but he is finally fighting back!

Liam started to lose weight the day after he was born.  Over the following week, his weight dropped drastically.  He dropped into the 5 lb range, and that was the first time I started to worry.  His arms and legs were so skinny, and every time I lifted him up, he felt lighter than he had the time before.   We began to go to the pediatrician once or twice a week for weight checks.

Initially, it was the result of him being very lethargic and having a lazy suck.  We met with the lactation consultant, and started using a supplemental nursing device, which was basically a tiny tube coming from a bottle, that he drank from while he nursed.  He started to gain weight, but very slowly. 

He finally reached 6 lbs, but stayed in the low 6 lb range for a few weeks, without any gain.  The pediatrician said it was time to add a high calorie formula to his diet, in addition to breastfeeding. 

We continued with frequent weight checks, using the supplemental nurser, supplementing with the high calorie formula, and breastfeeding around the clock, but at 2 months old, he still hadn't reached his birth weight of 7 lbs 11 oz.   He had grown in length, but not much in weight.  It had reached the point where strangers and acquaintances were asking if he was a preemie when they heard how old he was.

We were at a loss.  I was producing plenty of milk and had successfully nursed 2 babies that were chubby!  He was nursing frequently, drinking his bottle, and seemed very content.

At 2 months old, he had his appointment at the Down Syndrome Clinic for the first time, and that led to his hospital stay. 


He was diagnosed with failure to thrive.  They found out that he had reflux and Laryngomalacia (floppy airways; it will go away).  The main reason he wasn't gaining was because he was burning off almost as many calories as he was taking in.  They sent us home with a recommendation of getting him to an Occupational Therapist as soon as possible.  Luckily, we already had a meeting set up with one prior to his hospital stay. 

Three days after he was released from the hospital, he was still weighing in at 7 lbs 10 oz.  He had been at that weight for over a week. 

A few days later, we had our first session with the OT.  She had him drinking efficiently from his bottle within 5 minutes.  She noticed that he was moving his chin a lot and not getting a good enough suction on his bottle. He was working way too hard to eat and taking in a lot of air. It was just a simple fix of pinching his cheeks together and holding his chin in place to "train" him how to drink properly.  He finished nearly 4 oz in 25 minutes.  Prior to that,  the most he had taken was 3 oz, and it would take over an hour to finish that! 

Three days after his session, at 10 weeks old, he FINALLY reached his birth weigh!  Yesterday, at his weight check, his pediatrician cheered as the nurse announced, "8 pounds!"

He still has a long way to go, but we are so excited over this progress!  It is very strange to have a 2 1/2 month old baby that is the size of a newborn! He is still wearing newborn diapers and clothing.  We're just happy he finally grew out of the preemie clothing!

He has been healthy and content through this entire ordeal.  He was just tiny.  Now that I know he's on the upswing, I can embrace the fact that I get to enjoy having a "newborn" just a bit longer than others do.  The newborn stage is my absolute favorite!

We have a few more weeks of weight checks ahead of us.  If he continues to gain consistently, we can wean him off the high-calorie formula that he gets twice a day, and go back to exclusively breastfeeding.  The pediatrician expects that he's going to be on the smaller side for quite some time, but is thrilled with his weight gain over the past two weeks.

Our original goal was to have him reach 8 lbs by the time he turns 3 months old, and he reached that goal 2 weeks prior to his 3rd month! Soon, he will kick that Failure to Thrive diagnosis to the curb!

Our sweet boy continues to defy all odds!

Halloween Wrap-Up 2013

It's hard to believe that October has come to an end and November is here!  The last few days of October were filled with Halloween fun! 

On Wednesday, I went to Dylan's class party.  I was in charge of planning it, and his class had a great time!  They had a costume parade, ate a pretzel/cookie/banana snack, created ghost lollipops,  played a spider web game, played ghost bowling, and bobbed for apples, lemons, and potatoes.  Everything went perfectly, and I was so glad I got to spend some time with my oldest child!






Dylan got to leave early with me, so we decided to pick Lexie up on our way home!  They were both excited to come home early, and even more excited to see my dad (he was babysitting Lily and Liam) and open their Halloween goodies from my parents!



After my dad went home, Dylan and Lily went outside to play while Lexie and I worked on some homework. 



My little pumpkin hung out beside us while we worked.



Lily and Dylan came back in, and the girls set the table.



Every Halloween, we make frosted sugar cut-out cookies.  This year, I cheated just a bit, and bought packaged cookies.  I sat back and let the girls make them.  The kids didn't seem to mind the change.  All but 4 cookies were gone by the end of the night!



Grant came home, and we had dinner.   After we ate, we had a rushed, last-minute pumpkin carving session.  Dylan was able to do a lot of the work this year, and Lily happily pulled out pumpkin seeds to roast!  Lexie was still disgusted by it!


 
 




During all this, Liam snoozed in his swing.



We finished quickly, and the kids were really happy with their pumpkins!








The next day was Halloween!  While they slept, the kids got Boo'ed!




A certain little man was a bit excited about Halloween, and woke up early to scare everyone as they woke up!

 

The big kids went to school, and my friend, Steph, came over with Lily and Violet so we could take some pictures.  Liam and Violet weren't overly cooperative.  We ended up sitting and talking while feeding our babies!




After they left, Lily and Liam took a nap, the big kids came home from school, Lexie raved about her Halloween party at school, and we had a quick dinner of macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, and pumpkin pie! 

Finally, it was time for the big event!  The weather was awful.  It was warm, but windy and pouring down rain.




The kids were troopers!  Liam slept in the Baby Bjorn the entire time, Lily had a great time running up to doors and saying "Teeter Teet!", and the big kids were pros.  Grant wore a scary mask, and Lexie kept yelling, "Stop following me, street monster!!!"  



After about 45 minutes, the kids decided it was time to head back to Grandma's house!  By that point, we were completely drenched.  Liam was the only one who was warm and dry!




The kids had just as much fun handing out candy, while Grant and I had some homemade chicken noodle soup!




Halloween is apparently very exhausting to newborns!





Even though he slept through a lot of his first Halloween, he did wake up at the very end.  I took plenty of pictures to chronicle his day!



It was a long, busy, fun day! Despite the rainy night, the kids had a great Halloween!