Boot Camp Update

 

Boot camp seems to be running smoothly. We have had no problem keeping Samuel in his crib (remember, he was waking up and wanting to sleep in the swing in our bedroom). He has still been waking up about one time each night, but that is nothing compared to what we were dealing with. It seems like the ointment and the Zyrtec are doing their job.

Yesterday Samuel had a wonderful, normal-baby day. He woke up around 8 and ate a bottle (he has been not eating solids at breakfast but somewhat demanding them at lunch and dinner... he is still getting what he needs from the formula so I am indulging him). Then he played for a while and got quite worn out. He was looking sleepy so I took him into his bedroom and dimmed the light and turned on some music. I held him over my shoulder and kissed his head. He was still awake when I put him down, but quite drowsy. I laid him on his belly and he snuggled in for a 45 minute nap. He got up and wanted to eat at about 11:30. He ate half of a bottle and then some rice cereal and prunes (he has been SUPER constipated in the midst of all this too -- I bet that happens at real boot camp too!). Then he played again and around 1:30 I did the nap time routine, laying him down half-awake and he slept until 4:00 when we had to go to Target and the grocery store before dinner. He was very content and playful and ate dinner with the family. After dinner he was getting tired again and I asked my mother-in-law to please keep him awake while I quick made the crust for the fruit pizza (see previous post). I gave him a bath and rubbed him down with the ointment and Cetaphil and then he was giggling, more like belly-laughing, with Katrina. I let them horse around for a bit and then fed him a bottle. He went to sleep at 8 and woke up at about 2. He was still tired and wanted to sleep and I tried to get him back to sleep but I could hear his tummy rumbling with hunger. He tried to sleep for about an hour, waking up several times and trying again and finally at 3 I decided to give him a bottle. He took it and went back to sleep until 6:15 when I brought him into our bed because I was still quite tired and wanted him to kick around there while Panchito was waking up. He fell back asleep and slept until 8:35! Can you even believe it? I am so happy I could scream!

Anyway, I have been through these types of things enough to not have expectations for tonight (how can you not have expectations?). We will see how things progress, but right now I am very encouraged and thankful that the doctor was a bit more pushy than I wanted her to be on Monday.

Finally

 

I made the first fruit pizza of the summer last evening. Fruit pizza is one of my favorite recipes during the warm months. It simply has not felt warm enough to make it and I even forgot about fruit pizza. I was looking at a friend's blog and she had made one and I remembered, "I love fruit pizza."

My in-laws had not tried it before and were very pleased with its taste. I am sure it will be gone before I get another piece!

Boot Camp

 

Boot Camp Basics:

Hydrocortisone ointment (2.5%) twice a day on the itchy parts of his body

Cetaphil all over the body after the Hydrocortisone ointment

1/2 teaspoon Zyrtec at bedtime

10-15 minute bath once a day with Johnson and Johnson head-to-toe

More formula and less solids (no mixed cereal when cereal is eaten)

Sleep in his bed (NOT the swing)

Put him to bed a little bit awake (he is old enough to be putting himself to sleep)

 

These are the mandates we received yesterday from a pediatrician that our doctor referred us to for Samuel's itching issues.

Needless to say, I was not overly pleased with the suggestions she gave... But, after one night of diligence, it already seems to be paying off. Although, as you can see, he still scratched his face. I found him like this at 1:40 this morning, crying. He had scratched his face and woken himself up. I tried several things to calm him down and eventually resorted to a bottle (against the doctor's orders, but hey, I am the mama and I have to live with him 24 hours a day, right?). After he drank the bottle he slept for 6 hours, which is definitely progress.

Because I am a rule-follower, I will stick to her suggestions for at least two weeks (in two weeks she wants us to call her back and talk about his status). I must admit, however, that I cried myself to sleep last night because it is so hard for me to have her words running through my head. I know that she is right and I know that he has developed a "sleep disorder" (her diagnosis of his issue is that he is scratching for some reason and that has lead to him having a very poor sleep pattern. We need to deal with the scratching first and then the "sleep disorder.") and yet like my last post stated, we were in survival mode and it hurts to hear that I have not been doing right by Samuel. I have been letting him sleep in the swing and that has not been good, according to her. I know that, but I had no choice. Anyway, it is just hard to have those words, those criticisms, running through my mind.

But, we will press on and we will endure and we will get through this boot camp and we will be fine.

Highlights from the second week

We continue to have a wonderful time with Panchito's parents. His mom and I have had a great time cooking together in the kitchen as she is teaching me some new Venezuelan recipes to add to my repertoire. The kids have had an absolutely awesome time being doted on by their grandparents and Panchito is enjoying coming home to his parents as well as us.

Take a look at a few more highlights from week two...

Samuel and Abuela have really hit it off. She adores him and he adores her.

Katrina and Abuelo are PERFECT playmates. She is speaking more and more Spanish and he is speaking more and more English! Katrina has an incredible imagination and she has Abuelo come along on all of her adventures. A few days back she was the mama and he was the papa and they were driving up north to the cabin with all their children (about 9 dolls and one bear!). Suddenly she said, "Oh no! I forgot the food. We have to go back." He said, "No. Let's go to the store." It is really neat how involved he gets in her pretend play. As I write they are playing together again and she has him following her EVERYWHERE. When he is tired or doesn't want to play anymore she says, "Abuelo, vamonos." He cannot resist her adorable face and cute "gringa" accent and so he follows her on yet another escapade.

I have hardly given Samuel a bottle since they arrived on June 17! Abuela has given him almost all of his bottles. I do get to feed him the solids, sometimes!

Today Panchito has the day off and is cutting the grass. His mom wanted to help him out (they don't really have yards in Venezuela so it is a novelty to cut the grass). Panchito used the rider because he woke up this morning with a huge callous on his foot (that I had to lance!) and his foot was really bothering him. He gave his mom the task of going around the trees. I think she looks pretty good behind a mower!

Survival Mode

We are in survival mode at our house at night.

Samuel sleeps in his swing most of the night. Most of the time it is not even swinging, it is stationary, but sometimes, I admit, I start the swing so he goes back to sleep. It swings for 5 minutes and then stops.

Samuel stopped nursing when he was 3 months old. Since then he has not slept well at night. He had been sleeping through the night. He got a few ear infections and the conclusion I have come to is that he realized it was much easier eating from a bottle than nursing, especially with ear pain, and decided to strike, for good. I came to terms with that after a few weeks and decided there was nothing I could do except move on.

Now, two months later I am puzzled as to why he is not sleeping well at night. He is constantly waking himself up, scratching his head. It doesn't look like he even has a rash or any irritation but it obviously bothers him and therefore bothers me. Now he is not even sleeping well during the day.

We switched him from milk-based formula to soy two weeks ago in case that was causing an issue. We thought it could be the culprit since while he was nursing he did not have the scratching issues. So far the soy does not seem to alleviate the itchiness. The doctor said it could take up to three weeks for the milk to be out of his system so we have one week to go. We also gave him 1/2 teaspoon of Benadryl at night to at least soothe the itching and that seemed to be working the first two nights. He was still up and down but was handling the scratching a bit better. But after three or four days he has reverted back to the scratching.

I have tried all sorts of creams and lotions and soaps and I have even tried not soaping him or lotioning him up. None of it seems to be working. I have tried swaddling him as tightly as is possible and if he doesn't wake himself up from scratching, he wakes himself by trying to get out of the swaddle to scratch.

So, for now, we are in survival mode. I no longer am concerned about him sleeping in the swing (like I was when he was a newborn and would not lay on his back to sleep at all). I am not worried in the least about soothing him back to sleep from time to time with the swing's motion. I am not fretting about how hard it will be to teach him to sleep in his own bed. I am not ... We are in survival mode. He has to sleep and so do I.

23 weeks

"You have to suck this carrot because you did not go poopy today."

Words from Katrina to her doll while playing house this afternoon with Abuelo.

I guess she hears similar sentences frequently. Only, I never remember telling her to suck a carrot... I tell her to eat them.

Highlights from the first week

Panchito's parents have been here for a bit over a week and we have had such a wonderful time with them. Last week we went to the cabin for a night and two days. Here are some photo highlights from our mini vacation...

 

Every time we go to Minocqua we stop at a horseback riding place. Samuel was still too small to go on a real ride but he did get onto a pony statue with Katrina.

Katrina definitely wanted to ride a real pony and this year she rode on Butterscotch. He was a wild little pony who whinnied the entire ride.

Abuela carried Samuel behind Katrina and the pony.

Samuel is their only grandson (at this time) and they are madly in love with him (they are madly in love with their granddaughters too!).

Katrina went on a go-cart ride with Panchito. He offered to let me take her, but I said, "Go-carts rides are really for papas and daughters, not mamas."

After all the excitement with horseback rides and go-carts, Samuel decided it was time for a nap.

The second day we went to the lake. The water looks nasty but it was simply pollen from the pine trees.

Samuel decided to nap yet again.

This is my dad and Panchito's dad. Even though they can hardly communicate, if you asked them separately who their closest friends are, both would surely list the other. God has given them supernatural understanding of each other and they are dear friends. It is really neat for me to see them together.

Abuelos

Panchito's parents are here visiting from Venezuela and the kids are so happy to have them here, as are we.

We are thankful that God has provided for them to be here with us for a total of 5 weeks. Stay tuned for some highlights of their time here with us...

Petition

Last Sunday Samuel was dedicated at church.

Pastor Engle chose I Samuel 1:27 for him. "For this child I have prayed and God has granted me the petition which I asked of Him."

It was a very emotional time for me personally. I couldn't help but think over the past few years and the losses we experienced and then the beautiful blessing of Samuel five months ago. He has been such a gift and I have enjoyed his infancy so very much. I love him more each day and I cannot believe I have more love in my heart for him, but then the next day, I do!

Verse 28 of I Samuel 1 says, "So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." That is the prayer of our hearts. Samuel has been given over to the Lord and it is our prayer that he will love and serve the Lord all the days of his life.