Update on Mitchell

Mitchell is 17 months old today. Where did the time go? The other day I saw a 16 month old boy running and playing and driving his mother crazy and I just squeezed my baby boy tighter. I'm not sure I could handle another active little Jansen right now and was just so thankful to have my 17 month newborn!

Mitchell is doing AWESOME!!! He has made some great progress (that I am so proud of) in the past few weeks. He is REACHING and HOLDING toys. I'm sorry to say, I really thought that would never happen. It has been so intense working those muscles for over a year now, with VERY LITTLE improvement, and now it seems like overnight he can do it, and does it all the time!!!

Mitchell had a great day this morning with physical therapy as he sat for a few seconds!!! I know isn't he cute? Barb is amazing and gets Mitchell to do all sorts of things. We LOVE her!

Oh, those arm and leg things Mitchell is wearing??? He got those yesterday, they are supposed to help stimulate his muscles and joints when he moves and get him to increase movement. He'll wear 'em one week on, then one week off. Jake said "one more thing to help the special kid look more special!"

Mitchell is such a sweet baby. He has no stranger anxiety and will let anybody hold him. I try not to let it hurt my feelings, BUT I do think he recognizes my voice. He loves to be patted and bounced, only while standing. He's about 22 pounds, and is SO HEAVY. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to hold him... He loves toys with lights and soft sounds. He lets us lay him flat on the floor and he'll kick and be happy about it. It's so cute. He's eating baby food 1-2 times a day, but it's very difficult to feed him. He gets very upset if there's too much noise, or just b/c some reason we don't know... so I never attempt with out another adult present. Jake is a pro at feeding and putting him to bed. AND Jake is the one who gets up with Mitchell during the night. (I'm helping Jansen and Reesa, gosh nobody sleeps around here!) BUT last night Mitchell slept through the entire night and didn't wake up once!!! I'm sure it won't last, but it's a start, right?

Somebody got glasses!

Look at my baby boy Mitchell! Isn't he cute?

We think he loves his new shades. He looks right at you, and I think it's obvious he can see better. He has a few scratches on his nose, but I've never really seen him try to get them off.

Several people asked Jake on Sunday if Mitchell's glasses were real. We got a big kick out of that. Really, what parent uses glasses as an accessory for a baby??? (I guess they do look like of fake!)

The Wedge

Hi guys! It's me Mitchell! I got this cool little wedge that fits in my crib to keep me elevated when I sleep. AND guess what? It works! I can sleep 5+ hours now, and my parents are in heaven.

It's kind of girly, ordered by my doctor at the PICU, $329 dollars later we're set.

My mom put it on her bed to get a picture for you, and Reesa was so excited!

Jansen on the other hand couldn't believe he wasn't in on all the action, and demanded to be held.

Here's some picts of Mitchell at Physical Therapy...

Enjoying tummy time, sometimes he's placed on the boppy b/c he likes to keep his arms in so tight.

So alert today!

Mitchell is doing a GREAT job holding his head. (4 1/2 months now) You don't have to support it entirely when you pick him up now. As long as he gets his meds he's pretty content. He still doesn't reach for objects and hasn't smiled at me, yet (Jake's claiming he's seen a smile or two)... But he's started to coo and likes conversation for a few minutes. I can set him down for 10 -20 minutes maybe 2-3 times a day. He's getting better slowly!

Round Two

Mitchell has been having what look like little seizures. He had 2 last Friday and they slowly increased to 5-6 a day lasting about 30-60 seconds. So Tuesday Jansen had his 2 year old check up and we decided to bring Mitchell along to ask about them. Well, luckily he had a seizure in front of the doctor, who told us we needed to get that checked out right away, and wanted us to go to the ER. Not wanting to have to come back another day, I said "well Jansen only needs a few immunizations, so lets get those taken care of first." Dr. Terry must think I'm an idiot. He told me at the end of the day, Jansen would be fine, but we need to leave RIGHT now for the ER and he was calling them to tell them we were on our way.

We got there and they ran a bunch of tests, (a cat scan, blood work, urinalysis) and admitted Mitchell. We go up to the PICU and Mitchell's room has a crib and a chair for me. There is no bed, and the chair doesn't recline! I asked his nurse 6 different times if I could get a bed, a different chair that lays back, another chair to push the two together... no luck! In fact what she said to me, "if you wind-up staying here longer we'll see what we can do for you tomorrow." I about died! WHAT?, I have to wait til tomorrow to see if I can sleep? I'm nursing this baby every 2 hours, so it's not like I can go home. Plus I didn't have a change of clothes, so I wore (AND SLEPT) in the same outfit the whole week! yuck! Luckily the next day I get the best nurse who brought in a chair that pulls out into a bed. I guess it was against the rules, but she didn't care and told me she was in charge, so no one could get mad at her.

Mitchell had 2 EEG's and they both came back normal. So epilepsy has been ruled out. They also had a pediatric GI doctor examine him. The doctors seem to think this is all caused by a severe case of reflux that has gone untreated. They started Mitchell on a very aggressive dose of meds with strict precautions to always have him upright. I was actually sad I didn't have a camera to show you the arrangements they had for Mitchell. He sleeps in a sling, that has him at about a 55 degree incline. So it almost looks like he's standing when he's asleep. I was also told he needed an excellent burping regimen. They ordered me "a wedge" for Mitchell to sleep on that should arrive by Wednesday. So 4 LONG days later I got to come home Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

I have a really nice sister and friends who took care of Reesa and Jansen while we were there, and even brought meals over for Jake and the kiddies. Kids under 5 aren't allowed to visit the PICU, so I just didn't get to see them. I missed them so much.

So we're home now and Mitchell is doing much better. He still cries LOTs, but overall is a different baby. After all, it took several months for this esophagitis to develop, it's going to take a few weeks to heal. He can focus his eyes, and has even tract a few times with his eyes. We no longer feel he is blind. He must have been in so much pain, he just needed to escape and the last thing on his list was to try and focus on anything. I've heard him coo and we've seen him smile maybe 3 times now... slowly but surely, he's coming along.

Tomorrow he has his appointment with the developmental doctor in Charlottesville. I'm hoping we can make a fun day out of it and maybe go to the apple orchards there too!