4 Months!

I can hardly believe that my little man is four months old.  How far we have come and we still have so far to go at the same time.  Last week was a big week for us.  On Monday, we got our first of five Synergist shots to prevent RSV.  He will get one a month through the season which ends in March.  This shot is really thick but he did great.  Friday we had our 4 month checkup with Dr. Slusher.  He weighed in at 12.2 lbs. and 25 1/2 inches in height.  We dropped from the 25th percentile to the 10th in weight and increased from 95th percentile to 97th in height.  It has been a rough 2 months on his weight.

First, we decided he had a slight milk allergy and switched to soy formula.  Then I decided he may be allergic to soy and switched to Alimentum, which of course is basically the most expensive formula there is.  On top of that, he won't drink the powder.  He wants the ready made formula which is really expensive.  The doc and me still can't decide if he was allergic to soy or just has really bad reflux which makes him refuse formula.  For now, he seems to love the formula and is eating really well so I will pay whatever amount of money to have him eat and put on weight.  Since Aiden's needs to put on some serious weight, the doctor wants us waiting to try and solid foods for another 2 months.  She did want us to add 1 tablespoon of rice per ounce of formula and make it like a slushy. This would make his bottle 35 calories per ounce vs. 20 calories and ounce. Needless to say he hated that and could only eat a couple ounces which doesn't do us any good. So we have put that on the back burner for now until we can come up with an alternative.

Aiden absolutely hates tummy time and is still not rolling over.  He is not the least bit interested.  His neck strength is a tad weaker than what she would expect so we are trying to spend more time on our stomachs.  He just gets so mad though that all he does is lay there and cry.  No lifting of the head at all.  Any tips please pass them on!  Other than that, he is progressing quite well I guess.  He absolutely loves books, music, and Baby Einstein.  He is not that interested in toys and is ready to move onto the next thing fairly quick.  I heard him laugh for the first time last week.  So adorable. 

Milestones:
-Weight: 12 lbs. 2 ounces
-Height: 25 1/2 inches
-Clothing size: He can still wear some newborn if it is a shirt or gown and a couple of 0-3 months as long as not too short in the stride.  They fit him great across your body.  However, he can also wear 3-6 month clothes if they are a onesie. Pants are too big for him.
-Feeding schedule: 5-6 ounces Similac Alimentum every 3 hours.  I do not believe we will ever break him of this.  He's always starving.  He also get a rice bottle every other feeding.
-Medicines: Lasix-0.5ml b.i.d.; Digoxin-1.0ml b.i.d.; Captopril 0.75ml b.i.d.
-Sleeping Schedule: 8:30-9pm til 6-7am.  Occasionally he will wake up early but in general is a great sleeper.  Naps are fairly irregular.

Haddox Family Pics

Just wanted to share a few family pics we took about a month ago.  Aiden was 3 months at the time and I can't believe how much he has grown in such a short time frame.  The super talented Kasey Stringer took these at the in-laws house and property.  She literally whipped them out in 35 minutes.  The hardest part is deciding which ones of him I want to buy and use for a Christmas card.  Below are some of my favorites (not sure why they are so small).

The Battle of the Best

I couldn't resist writing about LSU right now.  Watching this season unfold reminds me so much of my senior year in college. That was the year they won their first BCS National Championship.  I have to admit that I never would have thought we would have two games left and be undefeated but we are!  So are we a sure win for the National Championship?  Let's review the scenarios. 
1.  If we win the last 2 games I think we are in regardless of what happens in the SEC Championship.  Let's say we were to lose the SEC Championship and Oklamhoma State wins the remainder of their games.  Oklahoma State will be in and who else should play them?  Oklahoma who lost to Texas Tech, Oregon, who we beat, or Alabama who we beat?
2.  If Oklahoma beats Ok St. and LSU wins out, who should we play?  Oklahoma who lost early in the season and perhaps will win the Big 12, Oregon who lost to the #1 team in the Nation in the first game of the year, or Alabama?
3.  If LSU loses to Arkansas, they will still represent the west in the SEC Championship because we will have the highest BCS ranking and in a head to head tie-breaker, we beat Bama who throttled Arkansas. WOW, this is a mess.  We then go on to win the SEC Champ and OK St. loses in their championship game, who do we play Bama or Oregon?  Oregon lost to LSU the first game of the season on a neutral site but was basically a home game for us because it was so much closer.  Bama lost to us in OT but on their on turf which makes it worst.  So who deserves to go?  Selfishly, I would much rather play Oregon again than Bama.  I also feel that Bama would bring almost as many fans to New Orleans as we would, only giving us a slight advantage.  Oregon will most likely win the Pac 12 Championship making their point more valid than Alabama who did not evern play in thier conference title game. Another thought would be if the voters changed their minds and still put Ok St. in the championship game to avoid a rematch even though they would have lost their conference championship game.  You saw it happen in 2003 when Oklahoma lost and still made it to the National Championship game. There are great arguments to be made for each one. 
4. Easiest and best case scenario would be for LSU and Oklahoma State to both win out. Done and Done.

                                                       LSU is undefeated thus far in 2011.

                                          I think this was how Saban felt when we played them!

                 Does Oklahoma State have the defense to play in the National Championship?

The most interesting thing about Oregon is what uniforms they would wear

I just hope that LSU shows up this weekend to play Ole Miss.  They sure didn't last week against W. Kentucky.   Geaux Tigers!

I also wanted to send a shout out and good luck to my hubby and his team this Friday as they travel to Mangham to play in the second round of the playoffs.  Should be a great game!

randomness

I feel this blog post best describes my life right now.  Nothing seems to flow-everything is pieced together best I can.  My last day of work for 2011 is December 7th, and I am counting down so maybe I can get my life in order.  It seems like everyday I have something extra to do.  Ben too.  It's a shame those "somethings" are things we are doing together.  Here is a snapshot of my life: 1. pack bottles. 3 days out of the week I am packing bottles.  That means sterilizing water, pouring it up, measuring out formula and writing directions for the bottles.  You see, it could be really simple but Aiden has to be on a 22 calorie/ounce formula. That means calculating the water/formula ratio for every bottle.  Also, he gets a rice bottle every other feeding. I measure and pack that.  And finally, he gets his 3 medications twice a day.  I measure those out as well.  I am exhausted just typing it.
2. packing my car.  I need a Tahoe.  Seriously, there is so much stuff!
3. Work.  This is an extremely busy time.  We are planning for next year and just came back from a meeting in Orlando and running around like crazy trying to get business for a new medication.
4. Packing.  Yes, in the midst of all this chaos we are moving.  We only have a few weeks left to get out of the house and I am not sure how it is going to be done.  Luckily, I am able to get some help with Aiden so I, NOT WE, (my husband is no help.  Why? Because it's football season!) can pack.

I didn't even get to dress Aiden up for Halloween.  I had no time to look for a costume and everything little was sold out.  I put him in some Halloween pajamas and took him over to out friend's house in Wedgewood.  He had a blast taking in all the sounds and sights.  He was sacked out by 7:30.  Plus, I didn't even take a picture. 

I make up for the pics when I am at home though.  Here are a few recent ones.  Have a great week!

                                                               Like Father, like son!

                                                                   Aiden's baptism!

                                                  So excited about the big game, he passed out.

                                                                   Lovin' his ugg boots!

3 months!

It's been awhile since I have blogged and I have tried really hard to keep up but man it is hard!  Here are a few updates.  I have been back at work for about 3 weeks now.  It is super hard to get myself ready and Aiden ready in the mornings and both of us out of the house.  We are in the process of moving right no so our house is a disaster area filled with baby gear everywhere.  Aiden is high maintenance! Since I am working and the doctors advised against daycare, we have to take him to my mother-in-law's most days!  Thank goodness for her is all I have to say.  This is an extremely busy time for me at work so most of my "free time" is either spent doing work or running errands (grocery ect..) and trying to get things in line for the new house.  I haven't seen that movie "I don't know how she does it" but I can agree with the movie without even seeing it.  Hopefully soon things will seems easier to me and we will get our routine down. 

On Tuesday, October 18th Aiden turned 3 months old.  I couldn't believe it.  Time really does fly.  I never thought I would experience such a joy in my life and there really is no way to describe how you feel when you become a mom.  I find myself thinking alot about my pregnancy and the moment he was born. Then I think about how much he has grown and been through over the past 3 months.  I love to watch him experiencing new things and I wish I knew what was going on in his mind. 

The past couple of weeks have been pretty stressful.  I officially stopped pumping breastmilk right before I went back to work and started giving him Enfamil Gentlease.  I thought everything was great and then he started spitting up really bad and vomiting alot.  Soon he would hardly eat and began losing weight.  I took him to his pediatrician and she thought he probably had a milk allergy and since I don't eat much dairy in my diet, it had never bothered him before.  We put him on pedialyte for 24 hours then switched to Enfamil Prosobee.  Wow, what a difference.  He went from drinking about 2.5oz to 5-6oz. per feeding.  We went back to weigh him a week later and he still weighed 3oz. less? How could this be? In the midst of this chaos, Aiden got his first cold.  I was stressing out the entire time.  The doctors always tell us how hard on him any simple cold could be and all I could think about was him going back in the hospital again.  At this point, we had our apt. with the cardiologist and went through what had been going on.  I guess Aiden looked really sick because Dr. King told us to prepare for surgery in a month if he can't gain weight like he should and he wanted to see us back in a week. 

Well, one week later we have completely changed course.  Aiden recovered from his cold and gained a whopping 10oz. in a week! This is the most he has ever gained.  I was beyond thrilled.  Because of his outstanding progress, there is a chance after our apt. next week we can come back in a month.  I wouldn't know what to do if that happened.  We have been there almost every week for 3 months.  I swear his first word is gonna be "Dr. king." Ahhh god is good! 

Milestones:
-Age: 3 months
-Weight: 11lbs. (25% in weight on growth chart)
-Height: 24 3/4 in. (95% in height on growth chart)
-clothes:still can wear some 0-3 months but the 3-6 months are fitting great in the stride
-5-6 oz. Enfamil Prosobee every 3 hours with sporadic 1-2 oz feedings in between lately
-Sleep Schedule: random naps throughout the day even though we try hard to get him to sleep on a schedule.  Aiden hates sleep and will do anything to stay awake.  He does sleep from at least 9pm-6am
-He coos and smiles alot and is very vocal.  If he doesn't like something you know immediately.  He also pokes his lip out before he starts to cry.  It is the cutest thing ever.  He loves music and books but he's not really into toys.  Baby Einstein is amazing to him (really t.v. in general). He hates tummy time but love to sit in the bumbo.  He has really discovered his hands and doesn't really want to suck on his thumb but instead tries to shove the whole fist in the mouth.  I think he is trying to learn to roll because when he wake ups in the morning, he is completely sideways.  Aiden can really move his head and find you in a room.  Everyday is a new adventure!

                                      I had to throw this one in there.  Hands in the mouth!!

Baby Bargains

Since I really haven't been able to blog about clothes right now, I thought I would comment on some things that I have found life savers or must haves throughout these last few weeks with a newborn.

1. Bottle sterilizer
Just rinse and pop in the microwave for 4 minutes.

2. Nap Nanny
I didn't register for this but had some credit at a store in Monroe that I needed to use so I decided to give it a try.  Aiden's digestive system had a tough time in the beginning and he really liked to sit upright for awhile after feedings so I bought it.  The lady at the store told me I wouldn't regret it and I haven't.  Almost every pic I take of him is while he is chillin' in the nanny.
3.Gowns
Just pull up and change.  No snaps involved. I can barely see at night I'm so sleepy.  The last thing I want to do is fool around with taking pants off and on. I especially love the Magnolia Baby gowns that can be converted into pants if you want.

4. 3 Martha's Burp Cloths

The material is so thick and soft.  Love them appliqued/monogrammed!

5. Little Tummy's Gas Relief Drops

I tasted these drops when some spilled on my finger because you can tell it tastes good by the way he licks his lips.  It did taste like cherries.  The pharmacist at Walgreens told me these were the best gas drops around and they have saved us.

6. Moms on Call
About a month before Aiden was born one of my mom's best friends told her about this.  Her daughter lives in Atlanta and had used this program with her first child.  It was created by 3 moms who are all R.N.'s and take call throughout the night to new mommy's who have newborn questions.  It is similar to Baby Wise from what I've been told.  We started it when he was 2-3 weeks old and immediately had him sleeping 5 hours when we put him down.  Now Aiden is sleeping on average 7-8 hours a night.  We are so blessed but I am also a big believer in Moms on Call.  You can take an online course or buy the DVD.  Apparently they have courses all the way up to toddler age as well.

7. Sleep Sheep-Giraffe by cloud b
Aiden loves music or noise period and part of the Moms on Call routine involved white noise.  The giraffe has slightly different sounds than the sheep, white noise being one of the options.  My mom does has the sheep and it has the heartbeat which is very similar and still seems to help him sleep.  Set the timer to 45 minutes and you are good to go.

8. Bottle Warmer
I just got one of these 2 weeks ago.  What was I thinking? Seriously, do you know how many minutes of my life I wasted standing by the sink waiting for the bottle to get warm.  These things are amazing.  I wasn't sure they actually worked and since I was planning on nursing I didn't think I needed one.  When Aiden got put into PICU, I had to quit nursing and pump exclusively.  This means everything had to be measured out and put into bottle form. I would encourage everyone to get one even if you don't think you will need it.  You never know!

What have been some of your favorite "must-have?"  Am I missing anything I need to get?

Aiden in the Nap Nanny

2 Months

Today my baby boy is 2 months.  I can't believe how fast time has flown.  This week will be my last on maternity leave and I don't know how I am going to leave him everyday.  I feel like everyday I'm with him I get to witness new milestones and I can't just don't want to miss anything.  I have to admit though, I have so much more respect now for stay at home moms than I ever did before.  It is a hard job.  I have double respect for working moms and moms with multiple kids.  To be able to juggle everything is a huge task.  I can see why women and the child bearers.  Men would give up.  It's way to difficult for them.  Even my husband admits it.  Not too long ago I left him with Aiden for a day and he was truly exhausted by the time I got home.  He said he could get nothing done while he was in charge of watching him.  Well, welcome to our world.

                                    Height and Weight: Unknown.  We go to the doctor on Tuesday.  Last weight   check 2 weeks ago was 9 lbs. 8oz. and 23 1/2 inches long. 
                                   Milestones:  Aiden has definitely found his voice.  He loves to coo and hear himself talk.  He can almost roll completely over. When he get to his side, he can't quite figure out how to get his arm out from underneath him.  His eyes are really focusing on things and he will turn his head to try and find you when he hears my voice.  He also loves to smile.
                                  Sleep Schedule: Around 7-8 hours a night.
                                  Clothing Size: Some 3 month outfits fit but we are still wearing our 0-3 month outfits quite well.  A couple we have grown out of because of length.
                                  Feedings: Have switched from 4 oz. of expressed breast milk to Enfamil Gentleease every 3-4 hours.  We are still adding a healthy teaspoon of neosure per bottle and teaspoon of rice to the bottle twice a day.  We have increased our Lasik medication from 0.3 to 0.4ml b.i.d. and Digoxin from 0.6 to 0.7ml b.i.d. because of your weight gain.

What are you Watching?

I love the fall because it's when all the new and old shows debut and there is no longer nothing to watch on TV.  Plus, the days are getting shorter so you can't stay out as long and need some entertainment.  Here is what I'll be watching.  What are you looking forward to?

Up All Night
Premiers tonight! Since I am a new mommy, the previews look hilarious to me.  Most of their lines are exactly how I feel!

Rachel Zoe Project
If you read my blog you know I love me some Zoe.  The show features her pregnant this season. And can she ever look chic with a belly!

Project Runway
Although this is the same ole stuff, I DVR then fast forward to the runway show if I don't feel like watching the whole thing.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
I am a huge reality junkie and can watch anything.  I watch all of the housewives series but love this one.  I think their reality is so far from my comprehension and that's why it intrigues me.

Grey's Anatomy
I don't think the show will be the same with Patrick Dempsey leaving.  ER was never the same when George Clooney left but I will still watch.

Desperate Housewives
I've followed from the beginning.  Heard a rumour this could be their last season. 

The Sing-Off
If you love singing competitions or appreciate music this is the show for you.  You truly have to be talented to put on an acapella performance and create your own background music.  It's phenomenal.

The X Factor
If Simon Cowell created it, it should be good.

Newborn Pics

It seems like yesterday and forever at the same time that we took Aiden's newborn pics.  He was 10 days old at the time and it is crazy how much he has changed. For one, he had more hair then than he does now.  We are losing our hair at a rapid rate.  Hopefully, it will still be the same color when the new hair grows back. Secondly, he looks chunkier there than he is now.  He was 8lbs 12 oz there and today weighs 9 lbs 8oz but has grown 2 and 1/2 inches.  Still, I think he was and is the most precious thing ever.  I am partially bias though. 

I have to sing the praise of the photographer.  The adorable and talented Brandi Smyth came to our house and took the pics.  It was great to have Aiden in a comfortable environment so I think she is a genious for setting the shoots up this way.  You can take your time and everyone feels more at ease.  She also has an assistant that is also fabulous.  She can just take those babies and mold them into the most amazing positions.  They never even wake up!  Check out Brandi's website here.  She truly does incredible work and it's all with natural lighting.  I wish I could post all the pics.  However, I tried just to pick a few of my favorites.  If your in the market for some family pics or even special ocassion pics, she is your girl.  Enjoy and everyone have a safe, happy labor day.