Sleeping like mom and dad used to

Ethan sleeping-8 weeks old

Daddy and I both have baby pictures of us sleeping this same way I wish I could figure out how to use my scanner so that I could put them all side by side. The doctors all say that no days babies should ALWAYS sleep on ther backs which I do at night but if I'm awake and can check on him every few minutes he does seem to sleep longer during the day than he usually does. I have been reading in one of the many baby books I have and it says that fussyness during the day can sometimes be caused by sleep deprivation. Most of the time he just took little 20 minute cat naps and was really really cranky towards the end of the day and I believe that was the cause because now he seems to do alot better. I have also been using a few of the ideas I got from a nurse that comes out to our house every couple of weeks to answer questions, weigh him and just seem how he is progressing. Its called Mother Baby Center and I am really glad that while I was still pregnant I signed on to do this because with his condition its nice to have. I only have a few more visits that my insurance will cover but I am looking into new insurance that will cover it longer because she truly is a huge help and relief to know that he is completely normal other than his seizures.

Ethan and I spent yesterday with his daddy. First we went to a remote control airplane show it was amazing that these guys can fly these huge airplanes like its nothing. It was alot of fun. Then we walked around the mall (because it had air-conditioning it was in the low 80's) then we went for a drive down a highway of the coast which is a great drive a nice day. Then we went to my mom's house for a BBQ with a few family members. We ate steak and talked and watched Ethan as he was mesmerized by the ceiling fan and was not at all interested in anything but that. LOL.

The weather has been pretty hot for us here in Washington. I've been taking Ethan outside a little bit it seems to help when he's cranky its a nice change of scenery for us both. I was nervous at first because out here we have alot of bee's around the yard and i'm afraid he'll get stung but i just keep my eye out for those little stingers!! I can't wait until we go camping this summer it will be interesting with a baby but it should be fun to watch him grow and observe everything around him when we go.

New mama, new blogger

Ethan Michael (and daddy)

5 weeks old

Hello my name is Jenn and I am a new mom and blogger!! On April 10, 2007 at 5:14 am I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Ethan Michael he was 7 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long. (exact same measurements as I was). Daddy (Jake) despite what we all in the family had thought was there and conscious for the entire birth. I've never felt so loved by him in the entire 3 years we have been together. We really surprised not only each other but ourselves with the amount of strength we had to get through labor as well as we did. We both LOVE being parents more than either of us could have imagined.



I have decided to blog as sort of an outlet now that I am a stay at home mom. I've also decided to blog because Ethan's great grandma Bev is a blogger and through her blogs she asked for prayer and support of alot of you fellow bloggers out there to help Jake and I through a very tough time after Ethan's birth. I CAN'T THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH!!!! (you know who you are).

When Ethan was just 5 days old he started to have seizures. I've never been so scared and unsure of the future in my entire life. Jake and I took him to our local hospital ER in Bellingham where the poked him and tested him for every infection and possible cause that is the most dangerous for infants. I guess the list is very long for what can cause seizures in infants so they usually test for the worst things first. After about 4 hours of unknowns Ethan was admitted to the hospital and would have an MRI the next day. Needless to say it was quite a restless night. The next morning the Pediatrician came top tell us that all his initial tests were coming back normal and no infections were showing but that the MRI machine at the hospital was not properly equipped enough to monitor an infant his size while he was under anesthesia. So they then told us we were going to be sent to Children's Hospital in Seattle by ambulance. At first I was nervous and unsure of how to feel. I felt better after a few hours because I knew that taking him there he would get the proper care and have the specialists he needed in order to find a cause. While in Bellingham Ethan had a total of 11 physical showing seizures. While at Children's he had one seizure that showed on his EEG test. While there the neurologists and anesthesologists decided to wait one more week to do the MRI because they weren't yet comfortable with putting him under at his age and size so we were sent home with only one possible answer. The 5 day fits. Its when seizure begin on an infants fifth day of life and may go away after a few months or could go on for up to a year. He was released and put on an oral version of the Phenobarbital that he had be given through IV since he was in the ER. The next week he had his MRI and all that showed from that was two spaces or holes in his brain one on each side if his ventricles about the size of my finger tip (about 1/2 an inch). This is not uncommon and something that happens late in pregnancy and is usually never pin pointed by any specific event but that it could have been anything from and injury or trauma to an interruption in the blood flow to his brain. I had no injury or trauma so it maybe the later of the two. We have a follow up in August with his neurologist (Lauren L Plawner, MD) at Children's he will have a little more development by then and we should know if his motor skills have been affected. (so far they are fine). Dr. Plawner told us that we probably won't know anything until he is between 6 and 9 months old so its just a matter of time.



Anyway, I just want to thank all of you who's thoughts and prayers were with us through this hard time and thank you for listening to this new mom and blogger through this long first blog. And please excuse my poor spelling of medical words. LOL