A Sad Goodbye

Yesterday was Wyatt's last appointment with his pediatrician, Dr. Germanson. Wyatt weighed 13lbs9oz (15th percentile) and measured 23inches (3rd percentile). Dr. Germanson was happy with his progress and comfortable with him staying off the tube.

We brought Dr. Germanson a basket of goodies to say thank you. She was in the delivery room when Wyatt was born - so she was literally there from the start. She was so supportive of me trying to give Wyatt milk. After dealing with other Drs from her practice, I can tell you that if another Dr. had been there that night, I may not have decided to give pumping a try. I am so glad that I did because being able to say that I have pumped for Wyatt for 5 months makes me very proud.

We are very sad to have to say goodbye and hope our next Dr. will "click" with our family the same way she did.

They Can Fix That

This particular topic has been discussed recently on one of my message boards. Its not something in the forefront of my mind right now, but I have definately had days where its the only thing I can think about. I've copied and tweaked a posting from a friend's website as its so relevant. I think most of the women agreed that people don't mean harm when they say "they can fix that". They are just trying to be positive. Its just that there are days when even postive ignorance can really get on your nerves.

Stranger says: "Oh, they can do so much now-a-days with those kinds of things. They Can Fix That."

I say: "Yes, they can, we live in a wonderful time."

I really want to say: "I want to cry, do you know how exhausted I am. How long it will take to get there? Do you know how hard I work to make sure he's getting enough to eat so that he won't need a feeding tube. Do you know the Drs think he has Stickler Syndrome. Do you know he may have low level hearing loss, he's subject to retinal detachment and arthritis at an early age? Do you know I have to wonder every day if he's hearing the same things I am and seeing things the way I see them? Do you know that he'll need speech therapy and occupational therapy for years? Do you know he'll have to have medical evaluations for his whole life? Do you know that I worry about my grandchildren who aren't even born yet? Do you know that I worry about him meeting a woman that will love him and want to have his children, even though they might have clefts. Do you know how I worry?"

Life Without the Tube

Sorry its been so long in between postings. Here's a picture of Wyatt with Eric's sister Samantha.

Wyatt weighed in at 12lbs 6oz last week. He was 2oz shy of his goal.

His regular pediatrician wasn't available, so we saw Dr. Ashley who has also helped take care of Wyatt during his hospital stays. The last time Dr. Ashley saw Wyatt, he was 7 weeks old, 7lbs 10oz and admitted for "Failure to Thrive". Dr. Ashley was very pleased with Wyatt's growth and said it was fine to continue without the feeding tube. Yay!

We love seeing Wyatt without his tube. I have an extra hour in the day of flexibilty which is wonderful. I am still "hyperscheduling" because he absolutely HAS to have 6 bottles in order to get his minimum in. We still struggle to get him to eat. I stay close to home, I make sure he gets his naps in and I watch the clock. BUT ITS ALL WORTH NOT HAVING IN THE TUBE! :-)

Eric has been off this week, while we wait for his orders to come through. He has managed to feed Wyatt 5oz TWICE. This is something that I have not even achieved. Eric is an awesome Daddy! He's been splitting the feedings with me and telling me to get out of the house - even though he's busy working on the cars for our upcoming trip and various other chores that need to get done before we leave.

Wyatt has brought Eric and I even closer together.