Sunday, November 8, 2009

Home sweet home!!!!!

We are on day 3 of being home and thought I would get in a quick update in case anyone was wondering how things were going. So I would say the first amazing thing with Carsten's eating that we noticed on the way home was that he ate in the car WITH NO TV!!!!!! Chad couldn't believe I just sat in the back and did the protocol and he ate 7 ounces of food with no crying, fussing, turning head, nothing! We had to stop and do drinks because it's pretty complicated and still messy but there we sat in a Wendy's and gave him 4 ounces of milk, not really caring that other people could hear me say "Carsten take a drink, good job taking that drink!" 20 times in a row:)

Once I got over the shock of coming home to a bachelor's house for the past 8 weeks, (catch my drift ladies?:) got a little cleaning and organization going, and a BIG trip to the grocery store, Carsten has been doing all his meals beautifully! We haven't had to tube any formula since before our last week in the hospital! I've been feeding him his three meals a day plus a snack at night. The hardest part has been figuring out the art of pureeing food but I think I'm getting a little better at it. For example, today for breakfast he had pureed oatmeal, fruit, and toaster streudels, mmmm:) Lunch was lasagna, peas, and fruit. They gave me a recipe book before I left that I'm sure I'll be dependent on for a while till I'm ready to branch out on my own but his diet is definitely way more varied than it used to be. He is still learning to tolerate the volume in his stomach and has thrown up once Friday morning for breakfast but other than that he's done pretty good so far, I know it will come though so I have to mentally prepare myself for those days and try try try not to show my emotion when it happens (meaning not kick, scream, cry, get upset with Carsten, and throw a pity party like I'm so prone to doing).

The drinking is slowly coming along and I think in a few months he will be able to take sips from the cup till he drinks it all. Right now we are doing 1/4 of an ounce a drink so it takes about 20 drinks to get 4 ounces in, it really goes pretty fast though and takes about 10 minutes to finish. Yes, it is tedious, yes it is hard work, yes it's like feeding a 7 month old, and yes it's going to be hard getting out for more than 2 hours at a time but I believe it will be worth it in the end and he will continue to progress with textures, efficiency, and independence in eating with this as a foundation. All I can say is that Mimi, Nana, and Daddy better learn this protocol quick because when this baby comes I'm going to need some HELP!!!

As far as a baby update, I have another ultrasound on Wednesday and I'm excited to tell him/her hi again. I think I better be extra careful not to look at certain "places" during the ultrasound not to ruin the surprise:) Chad is currently in the Middle East for the week with his boss, I'm excited he got to go on this trip but ready for him to get back so we can be a real family again. It's beautiful here in Georgia, I LOVE the weather and all the gorgeous trees, makes me really appreciate the south even more.

That's about it for now, sorry it was so long I'm not sure if anyone cares but I thought I'd give a fun feeding update. More pics from the hospital to follow. Again, we are so thankful and overjoyed with Carsten's progress and know it will only get better and better. We miss the schedule and the playrooms, but I hope I can find a good mom's day out program to take him to until we move again next June, after that he will defininitely start some kind of school. Well it's 10:05, 5 minutes past this exhausted preggie momma's bedtime so more updates later and pics to come!

Blessings!
Momma Bridges

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Praise God! My heart is spilling over with joy for your family! Our God is an awesome God who truly supplies all our needs. Thanks for the update. We will continue to lift up your family in prayer, and feel free to send me a message anytime you need to kick and scream! I'm here for you! Stephanie Young (hugs from Ivan)

Jillian said...

Wow! Way to go Carsten! That is so exciting to see all your hard work pay off along with the prayers of many people. Keep us posted. Love you guys!

Chris and Rebecca Lee said...

you sound so much better. so glad you are home and that carsten is doing so well!