Nora's 6 Month Pictures

I braved the JCPenney Photo Studio chaos once again:

May 2009 Videos

It takes me longer to post the videos because of my slow internet connection at home. Here are a couple from May:

Playtime video:

Nora's first meal:

May 2009 Photos

Time to post some new pictures! These were all taken during May.


Here is Nora practicing her "tummy time" with Dad on the ball.






Nora is always on the go. Here is one of her many car rides. Compare her picture to the first ones in the car seat. She is so much bigger!

This is Nora's first time eating "solid" foods (it is pretty soupy actually). She seemed to spend more time staring at her crazy parents as we made all kinds of funny noises and shoveled the rice cereal at her.




Grandma Forester made her his bowl in ceramics class.

Here is a video of the first meal:

Back to Work!

I haven't given a general update for a while since we have been pretty busy this month. I returned to work full time this month. It is going well so far. It is tough to get up so early in the morning and feels a little rushed in the evenings when I get home, but it is working out. Nora has a very nice nanny who comes to our home each day to watch her. She is lucky to have her.



"How is Nora doing?" Now that I am back to work this is the question I am asked by everyone. At first, I felt like I didn't really know how to answer this. Seems like a simple question, but I was struggling with what to say. It seems like so much has happened since the last time I talked to some of these people. Fine seems too brief. A detailed description of every milestone and issue seems like too much. I called a client the other day, a nice guy, but I don't know him too well - strictly business. I told him I was back from maternity leave and apologized for leaving without wrapping up a project that I was working on with him when I left to have the baby. He was of course understanding, asked if I had a boy or a girl, and said, "I presume everything turned out ok then?" I just answer, "Oh yes, she is great." And the conversation moves on. I mean, what do you say? She is. I am now convinced that I am just overthinking what should be a very simple question. People are just inquiring. They want to know that things are good.



And they are. So, "She is doing well" has become my answer. What does this mean? Well, it means that she is gaining weight very well (nearly 15 lbs now!), she sleeps well (about 10-11 hours at night - most of the time), she smiles, she plays, she is starting to roll, she has good head control and is showing signs of being able to sit, she is interested in her surroundings and mom and dad, she crys when she is cold, hungary, or tired, she laughs - but you have to do something REALLY funny, she travels well, she is not afraid of strangers, she wakes in the morning and waits patiently to be fed, she likes her bathtime - but does not like to be cold, she likes to have her diaper and outfits changed, she does not like it when the dog barks, she is learning new skills every week, she has not been sick at all, she has not had any seizures.



"So, glad to hear that it all turned out ok." Not sure what to say to this either. Yes, it is all ok. She is great (as listed above). We are very lucky that she is doing so well. But the effects of her chromosome disorder and brain malformation are still a huge unknown. So far she is making improvements and changing every week; but she is a little behind her baby peers at this point. At 6 months, she has generally mastered most skills through a 3 month level according to her therapists. (Not that this matters much. I do look at the developmental timelines they give us because it is a good chronology of skills and what she will be practicing next, but I have started to ignore the x-axis that shows the age.) She goes to PT once a week. She has a Special Education teacher 2x's per month and additional PT and OT once per month. She has been examined by a geneticist, an orthopaedic surgeon, a neurologist and her pediatrician. She has appointments to visit the opthamologist and audiologist soon. And this is all "ok."



Anyway, this whole experience has definitely made me think a little more about the simple question, "How are you?"

She Rolls! (almost)

She somewhat rolls. Gets her legs going and swings them over to the side, just needs to get her arms involved and she will be all set!

She Laughs!

She has been giggling for a while, but these are the first real laughs.

Nora at Chuck E Cheese

A little young, but she seemed to enjoy the lights and music.



We went with some of our friends.

4 Months today!

Today Nora had her 4 month pediatrician appointment where she got 2 more shots. Ouch!

She weighs 11 lbs 10 oz.

I took her to JCPenney last week for some photos. Here are some good ones:

Countdown to the end of Maternity Leave

My maternity leave will be over in 2 weeks. I am now trying to get serious about some of the household projects I wanted to complete before I return to work. (I work best under a little pressure.) I have some spring cleaning and yard work I would like to do. I would like things to be as in order as I can before I return. I expect that one of the keys to balancing work and the new addition to our family will be being as organized and efficient with my time as possible. Of course, that is easier said than done. I have spent many of Nora's naps dinking around on facebook when I should be washing the windows!

Here is a picture of Nora in her Exersaucer that we just pulled out this week. She seems to enjoy it. Can you believe how old she looks already?

So Big!

Nora is back to work after her vacation. Yesterday, the home health nurse weighed and measured her for the first time in a month. She is 11 lbs 2 oz, 24 inches! Finally bigger than a newborn!

My Dr. Sears growth charts show that this is average for weight and way above average for length for her age. Looks like she is tall and skinny so far.

She also had a physical therapy session yesterday that she screamed her way through. She wasn't really in the mood I guess. She will now go to PT once a week since there are more milestones in the next couple of months to monitor (sitting, rolling, head raising, etc.) She continues to make good progress.

Today we met with Nora's teachers from Early On. She will start receiving Special Education services next month. We are excited to get started with this.. Hopefully Nora will be too!

Florida Trip Recap

We are home safe from our trip to Florida. Nora behaved well on the airplane ride there and back. On the way there, she was awake most of the time, but didn't fuss too much. On the way home it was just me and her, so I was glad she slept in her sling the entire time. We were lucky that for some strange reason Virgin Air just started a direct flight from Kalamazoo to Punta Gorda, Florida. It was a surprisingly full flight though, so I guess the demand must be there.





Here is a picture of her on the way down. Note the shamrock suit. It was St. Patricks Day!





We spent most days in Florida just hanging out with my parents at their rented condo in Naples. We went out for dinner a few times and Nora got some mileage out of her stroller which she enjoyed very much.

Grandma came home from the hospital during our visit after a fall last month. We were happy to have her home and Nora got to visit her at the hospital and after she got home. Here is Nora and her Great-Grandma and her Grandma!

Florida Baby

Nora is having a nice time in sunny Florida!

Spring?

We got a little Spring preview last week with some warmer weather. Buster enjoyed the sunshine sitting out in the yard meditating for a while.

I had grand plans to take Nora to get her photo taken at Sears last week. I got her all dressed up in a cute outfit and packed up her diaper bag and as I was about to load her in her car seat, she fell asleep. She slept for 4 hours and the trip to the mall never happened. I took these pictures of her myself in her outfit after her nap. She is holding her head up really well now when on her belly and it bobs all around when she is propped up.

Busy Week for Nora

This week was a busy one for Baby Nora. Andy was gone for the week, so Nora had to hang out with Mom all week. She seems to be changing quickly. Her sleep schedule is becoming more routine and predictable with longer naps during the day. Her feeding schedule is also a little less out of control. It seemed like she was eating 24/7 a few weeks ago and now she seems to be more efficient and consolidates her feeding into 5 or 6 sessions per day.

On Wednesday, the special ed teacher from Early On visited. More paperwork and more talking. At the end of the month, the teacher and therapist will give us their recommendations for the services she qualifies for. By the time this program gets moving, she will be 6 months old. I am glad we have just started her in private physical therapy rather than wait for the government bureaucracy to get rolling. In the afternoon, she visited Grandma & Grandpa Forester's house while I went to the salon for some much needed hair maintenance. Thursday morning Maureen came to watch her while I went to the dentist.

Yesterday Nora got her RSV vaccine. Poor Baby. She was all smiles as the nurse weighed her and measured her and took her temp. Then the shot in the leg and she howled at the top of her lungs. She slept good that afternoon. The nurse came to our house to give her the injection which was nice. I went through all kinds of hoops with the insurance company to get her approved for the vaccine since it is very expensive. I still had to pay $150, but that is a bargain since I think the full cost is $1500!

She weighs 9 lbs 14 oz and is 21.5 inches long, which is right on target for her adjusted age of 5 weeks.

Smile!

Nora gave me her first smile yesterday! She did it on Tuesday for Andy and on the weekend for Grandma, but today was the first one she did for me. I managed to capture part of one for the camera.

She met with the Occupational Therapist from KRESA (Kalamazoo schools) on Monday. She played with her on the floor and had nothing but good things to say about her progress. She will meet with a Special Education teacher next, then we will draw up her plan for what services she qualifies for.

The other night I had quite a scare. I almost don't want to write it in the Blog because I am feeling very guilty and it will definitely take me out of the running for the best Mom award. I was up at 1:45 am feeding Nora in my bed. I needed to run down to the kitchen to make her a bottle because after 30+ minutes of nursing she was still hungary and I was getting tired and wanted us both to go back to bed. I set her on my pillow on the bed while I went downstairs. Once I was in the kitchen, I heard a thump and a cry and ran back up to the bedroom. Sure enough, Nora was on the floor screaming! She fell from the bed! I scooped her up and did a quick check and she appeared ok and stopped crying in a couple of minutes and was ready for her bottle. Nevertheless, I took her to the ER to get her checked out by a pro. We were home by 5 am with some instructions of things to watch for the next day; but Nora was ok besides being exhausted from the long night. I guess I learned my lesson with that. The only place I set her down yesterday was where she could be buckled, strapped or contained!

Today Nora went to Physical Therapy. Her therapist is a very flexible young lady named Katie. Katie sits on the floor practically in the splits and plays with Nora moving her arms, legs and neck. We are working on her head control and tracking objects. It is fun. The session is 45 minutes though and I think that is a little long for Nora. She is ready for a nap afterwards for sure! After PT, I worked out at the gym. The PT office is in the same building as the gym. I left Nora at the Child Care Center. This worked out great. She slept the entire time in the Child Care Center and I got in a good hour workout. I have 11.5 lbs to go to get to pre-baby weight. My goal is to have it gone by the time I am back to work in April.

2 months!

Nora got her 2 month vaccinations today. She was a brave little girl. Screamed for a second, then slept it off.



She was 9 lbs 6 oz. Just about double the size she was at birth!



This has been a busy week for her. Yesterday she took her first trip to the mall. Slept in the baby sling. That thing is great but it should come with a certificate for a chiropracter visit for the mom.



Andy has been gone this week and Nora has graciously decided to wake only once per night for me! She goes to bed around 9 or 10. We get up around 3 then get up for the day around 8.



Next week Nora starts physical therapy sessions. Should be fun. Lots of toys and the therapists are nice. She is working on moving her head from side to side and the therapists are checking her muscle tone in her arms and legs. Andy and I should learn a lot too.



She also has her initial evaluation with the Early On program. I am hopeful that she will qualify for some services from them.

8 weeks old!

Nora is 8 weeks old today. Hard to believe that much time has gone by.

She is really growning. Nearly 9 lbs. She just started wearing all of her cute 0-3 month clothes since she has really outgrown the Newborn size. She has doubled her weight in 8 weeks and I am trying to cut my weight by 25%! Here is a picture of her after a satisfying meal:

Things have slowed down a bit. I have been getting to the gym a couple times a week with Maureen and hitting the treadmill at home. We finally got our new washing machine delivered and I have been just enjoying playing house for a while.

Sleepy Baby!

Last night Nora slept for 5 Hours!! Unfortunately, she went to sleep at 7:30 and I didn't go to bed until 10:30, so I did not get the same 5 hours of sleep, but still! Not sure if it is the start of more long stints of sleep to come or what. She is still pretty young for that, so maybe it was just a fluke.

Yesterday Nora visited her neurologist. He examined her and said that he can still not see any physical signs of Cerebral Palsy. He said often the signs do not appear until it is time for the baby to sit and walk. Nevertheless, we'll take it as a good sign that she is looking good so far. Other than that there was no real news about her little brain. She is missing a chunk on the Right Side (part of the Frontal Lobe and part of the Parietal Lobe). It is hard for the doctor to say how this will affect her though since she is a baby and the rest of her brain will develop differently to help compensate for these missing areas. We will just have to monitor her development and find ways to help her to compensate as she grows.

The doctor also said he is pretty sure that the underdevelopment in her brain was from the chromosome disorder (although he can't explain why it only happened on the right side - most chromosome abnormalities happen on both sides of the body) and not from an in utero stroke or brain hemorrhage. For some reason this makes me feel better too because it is not another totally separate piece of bad luck.

8.4 lbs!

Nora went to the orthopaedic surgeon today to take a look at her right foot. It is turned in slightly. Since she was born, we have periodically been stretching it and it seems to be straightening out. The doctor showed us how to stretch it properly (a little more aggressively than we were doing before) and told us to do 10 repititions, 10 times a day for the next 3 months. She will continue seeing thr doctor periodically until she is walking. I didn't mind this Dr visit because at least there is something we can DO instead of just hearing a bunch of bad news and uncertainties.



Here are some recent photos. Nora is over 8 lbs - about 1/2 the size of Buster:

Help Wanted!

I am starting to think about my return to work. Although it is 3 months away (I am lucky to have so much leave time), I need to find appropriate child care for Nora. Before we knew about Nora's problems, we had planned on taking her to a nearby daycare center. Although it is very nice, it just doesn't seem appropriate for Nora just yet - at least until we have a better idea of the extent of extra help she will need. The first year is critical for brain development and we want to do everything we can to help her brain to compensate for her neurological problems, which I think means finding her one-on-one child care. We are interested in hiring a nanny to come to our home. If anyone knows of anyone in Kalamazoo who may be interested in this work (particularly someone with an interest in working with special needs kids), please let me know. I think often the best way to find this type of help is through our network of family and friends. Any recommendations would be appreciated!