Eight

Another month has flown by and our sweet boy is already 8 months old. A lot has happened in the last month with him!

~He sits up like a pro now
~He army crawls to get around
~He got his first tooth
~He loves food
~He weighs somewhere around 19 lbs 5 ounces
~He wears 18 month size clothes
~He likes riding in the car and bath time
~He hates diaper/clothes changes as soon as he knows whats about to happen he starts doing the crocodile death roll (seriously, if you don't know what I mean look up croc death roll on YouTube)
~Fake laughs when other people are laughing
~Sleeps with his bum straight up in the air, I need to try to get a pic because its so cute
~Is really starting to show his little personality
~Sleeps so good every night (yay!)

We love this boy! We especially love seeing both kids play together, and it is so apparent that they adore each other!

Easter

We had a fun Easter weekend spending time with Marshall's family. Here are some pics of the festivities.

7 Months

Our Landen is getting so big! Our chunky monkey (as I affectionately) call him is already 7 months old. He weighs in at 18 lbs 11 ounces, which is the average size of a 9 month old. He is such a chunk and we love every ounce of him! I love this age, he is so fun right now.

He is on a good schedule and is turning into a great sleeper! He takes 2 naps a day, and sleeps 10-12 hours straight at night. It is so nice getting good sleep again.

He loves to eat and loves just about all solid foods he has tried. Although with his tummy issue it doesn't always get digested before it comes back up hours later. If we are eating he gets mad when we don't share. He loves his jumper now and is starting to enjoy floor time a bit more. He loves his sister and she can always get him to laugh and smile. He is so very sweet and is a pretty happy kid.

Diagnosis

Last friday I made the trip to Spokane to have one of Landens tests redone. He had the test done once here, but they recorded results wrong and in the end called the test incomplete. So his gastrointerologist wanted us to repeat the test up in Spokane. Marshall was out of town, but luckily my awesome sis was able to go with me to help out! His doctor called back Monday and we were told the test came back abnormal, and we finally had a diagnosis. I was so happy to finally have some answers about his spitting up.

So here's what we were told:

Landen has DGE, or delayed gastric emptying. During the test he drank some radioactive liquid, then was strapped to a table and they took x ray type pictures for an hour. For a normal kid, 30 minutes after eating a bottle the stomach should be about half empty. His half empty time is 168 minutes. So his food sits in his tummy for hours after eating. He has reflux along with this, and because the food sits there for so long he spits up hours after eating anything. For now we are starting him on meds that will help speed up digestion. Unfortunately at first it causes nausea and vomiting, so things will be worse before they get better. They will try these meds out for a month and see how it works for him. The meds are just a temporary fix, and they are also an antibiotic so I don't want him to have to be on them for too long.

We aren't really sure what this means in the long run yet. We just have to wait and see. Our hopes are that he will eventually grow out of it, but it's possible that he won't and that something more drastic would have to be done in the future to help fix the problem. As he gets older and starts solid foods it could also get worse, because solid food is harder to digest than formula, and could slow down his digestion even more. So for now, we just hope the meds help and that as he gets bigger his body will correct the problem on it's own.  We are grateful to have some answers and to finally move forward with getting some treatment. Pray that it works!

4-5 Months

Landen is already 5 months old! I can't believe how big he is getting. He is so big and we love him to pieces. At 4 months he was 15 lbs 2 ounces. Not sure of his weight at 5 months old but he is such a chunk!

Likes: being talked to and held, his sister she can always get him to laugh and smile, eating, bath time, putting everything in his mouth, tickles, stocking his tongue out, his feet

Dislikes: having a dirty diaper, riding in the car when it's dark,  watching us eat and not getting any real food, laying on his tummy.

He is still spitting up A LOT, but is gaining weight rapidly! We are learning to deal with all the spit up, but it's still frustrating especially because he spits up hours after he eats. He always smells like spit up. And I probably do too, haha!

His sleeping habits are not consistent at all, he used to sleep thru the night but lately wakes up several times a night. Im hoping this will change soon! He is now sleeping in his own room which has been nice.

He is such a sweet baby and we are so glad he is in our family.

Life is Good....Soak It Up

I have come to realize that life can be so short, and that we need to soak up every moment we can with our loved ones. Of course I already knew this but the last couple of months it has really hit me. I had a rough couple of months with health issues. I started having dizzy spells and after one of the dizzy spells I realized that I had a VERY low heart rate. It rests in the low 40s to 50. While this can be normal for professional athletes, I can assure you it's not because I'm in as good of shape as one =) I also have had a constant headache since about a month after Landen was born. I have had a bunch of tests done and they didn't really find anything wrong other than confirming that I do in fact, have low heart rate. Luckily for now nothing needs to be done. If I continue to have dizzy spells, or if it gets lower and I pass out then they will consider treating it. But the only way to permanently treat it is to put a pacemaker in. Nothing like being told at the age of 25 that a pacemaker could be a future possibility. Yikes! It's not likely it will come to that though. Thank goodness! So for now I just deal with a constant headache (fun right?) and I have an extremely slow resting  heart rate, which the doctor said could be a good thing because then it won't wear out as fast =) I realize that life so far has gone by so fast, and I'm trying more to live in the moment rather than wanting time to go by faster. I'm trying to enjoy my kiddos at the age they are more, even tho a lot of days can be a challenge. I am taking the time to soak it all in! Enjoy the little moments in day to day life, and make every day a good one! We are responsible for whether we have a good day or bad one!

3 Months and Spit Up

Our little Landen is headed up to Spokane tomorrow to see a gastroenterologist and hopefully get some answers about his spitting up problems. We have literally tried EVERYTHING and the kid just constantly is spitting up. Which in turn also means he is constantly eating, and we are going through formula like crazy! We have changed his type of formula countless times, had him on different meds for reflux, thickened his formula, used probiotics and enzyme supplements, and so many other things but he continues to spit up. A lot. Like so much that some days he goes through all the clothes that currently fit him in a day. I'm really hoping we can get some answers and we don't drive up there for no reason. Despite his constant spitting up, he is still rapidly gaining weight. So the doctor isn't too concerned. But it sure would be nice to not have him spitting up so much!

Here are his 3 month stats: (which are a little late)

~ 13 lbs 11 ounces! (He is SO big!)
~Loves watching his sis
~Loves bath time
~Like sucking on his hands
~Sleeps really good most nights!
~Loves his swing now
~Hates having a dirty diaper
~Hates riding in the car, especially when its dark
~Sits in the bumbo, but his head is so big he struggles keeping it up after a while! =)
~Wears 6 month size clothes, some 9 month jammies
~Has started to laugh a bit, and is very smiley!

He is such a sweet boy! Wish us luck tomorrow and I will update more about that appointment later!