Another day, Another trip to the U

This blog will be short and sweet for many reasons::

1.  Tyler is having difficulty feeding and keeping it down,, so mommy is very tired!!  Started him on a new stomach med and waiting for it to miraculous cure him!  He is only taking 2-4 ounces and so he wants to eat more frequently, which I am sure he doesn't realize is more work for mommy!  Or, he just doesn't care!

2.  Just got home from our very early morning ENT appointment at the U.  We were in and out of there in about an hour when you factor in  many bathroom stops.  Something about that place makes me have to pee!  Tyler will be getting ear tubes and his tongue clipped with his lip repair in July.  Tyler doesn't do things half way, I guess he figures mommy and daddy don't mind waiting while he snoozes on the OR table for five hours!  Whats a couple more procedures added on??  I did like this ENT though, and loved being the first morning appointment.  It sucked having to get up after being up most of the night with pukey boy, but worth not wasting my whole day in Ann Arbor. 

3.  NAP TIME!!

I think the poor kid likes his long doctors appointments,,, get him away from "the girls!!"

Happy Birthday Sister Addy!!!

Addy will be getting her best birthday present ever, but she probably will not even know it.  Tyler will be getting his lip closure surgery on Addy's fourth birthday in July!  We didn't pick this date, you kind of have to do what the University of Michigan tells you to do.  So poor Addy will celebrate a day earlier, and thank goodness she cannot read a calander yet.  I am sure she will not mind though getting her presents 24 hours earlier than years previous.
Tyler was a champ today at the doctors.  He had his first offical cleft team appointment, met his doctor, and even visited with a social worker.  Unfortunately the social worker said he couldn't have a bridge card or medicaid, little good that visit did us, mommy was hoping for at least a free gallon of milk!  There has definately been movement in his pre-maxilla from the taping and we will continue to tape until July.  Our next appointment in three days will be with the ENT at the U.  They will evaluate him for the possiblility of tubes in his ears.  Even though he has had no ear problems yet, they usually put the tubes in to ward off problems in the future.  We couldn't help but laugh as we were sitting in the clinic today for two hours waiting for the doctor, and Ty was smerking under his pacifier.  I said to him "yes, Ty, this is a fine mess you got us in", and he just smerked away and closed his eyes.  Didn't bother him to give up a day and spend it in Ann Arbor.  I am pretty sure he just likes the shopping options up there.  Last appointment it was Target and Red Robin, today he can add to his list, Babies R Us, Famous Footwear and Chili's.  Most babies don't get out this much in their first month, I wonder if he knows its ok to just be normal and not a social overachiever?
Last thought, Tyler is a porker!!  He tipped the scales today at 10lbs 0.5 ozs,, yikes boy,, he is exactly one month old.  He just started taking 5 ounces of formula at a time, but still wants it frequently.  I am seeing spoons and cereal in his near future!
I am very thankful this weekend that all my eggs have hatched and I can no longer drop any eggs into the nest,,, Happy Easter Blog Readers!! 

One Month In This World

Little Tyler man is nearing his one month birthday.  But maybe more importantly, mommy is nearing her two month anniversary of being home from work.  These are both serious milestones!!  Tyler is still happily sleeping and eating, and not so happily pooping.  He can go about three days of happiness before the fussiness sets in and then a poop.  He obviously doesn't have his daddy's colon, at least not of yet!!  He is holding his head up for a few seconds to see what craziness is around him and then snuggles it back down in the safety of mommy's arms.  He is eating four ounces of formula every 2-4 hours on the dot!  It amazes me how he knows when four hours has passed at night.  He is usually right on time, plus or minus six minutes.  He is typically easy though, takes a bottle, gets swaddled and puts himself back to sleep.  He is still sleeping in his bouncy seat, it helps him breath easier.  The breathing issues are coming from the taping and the backwards movement of his premaxilla.  Its giving him a smaller hole to breath through and he still adjusting to it.  With the tape on, his side flaps of his lip are nearly touching and if you look at his lips at a crazy angle it actually looks like a normal lip/mouth setup.  We are noticing lots of growth in his upper lip segment that is attached to his maxilla bone.  That is super good, it will give the surgeon more to suture and a better closure.  We have an appointment this week with the surgeon, and are hoping for good news.  If we leave with a scheduled surgery date it will be game on for mommy to keep him healthy and prepared for the closure surgery!  Now about mommy's accomplishments..... well,, I haven't filed for divorce or sent any kids to the orphange yet.  I have actually handled the past two months of no work peacefully.  (keep in mind this is a one sided blog!!)  I have tried to establish a routine for everyone, it helps make the days go smoother.  We still have a few things to work out between the toddlers and I.  But those are not quick fixes,,, potty training, leaving the baby alone when he is sleeping, talking back, throwing toys, rough housing, sitting for mealtimes,,, the list could go on and on.  The real problem with this list is there is two of the toddlers and only one of the mommy!!  I could use some backups,,, maybe sister wives,,, haha!!!  My overall dispostition is much better than I expected.  I fully intended on needing meds to get me though, but I am conquering this phase of my life on my own crazy hormones.  We do have some good moments as a family of five, and I just try to keep those in the forfront of my mind to get me through the times of nuttiness!!  I know there will be tears when I drive the last child to their college dorm room, so I am trying to enjoy them now, even if that means enjoying them in the time-out corners!!  (notice corners is pleural,,, yes we need two corners at a time!!).  I guess that is all for now blogging peeps, I will update again after our doctor appointment this week!
PS. its snowing in the middle of April.... love Michigan!!  Some warmer weather would really help being home a little easier,, just in case anyone like mother nature is listening.......

First bath with an audience!!  It wasn't long before the audience was pee'd on,, they haven't been interested in bath time since!!

He's Coming Alive, and Other Hot Topics!

We have seriously had about 18 days of blissful peace here at the Etue Estate.  Tyler has decided to change all that today!!  He is awake more, and fussy more.  As his sisters would say "mom, he's crying again, go get him!", as if I cannot hear his wails too!  I suppose the every four hour feeds followed by the three hour naps couldn't last forever.  If they did, I am sure the world would be overpopulated with "Dugger-like" families because child rearing would be far too easy.  I don't really mind he is awake more, but come on boy, get content with something!  He seems to hate the swing, the vibrating chair, and most of all his sisters jumping around.  For the last few weeks he has spent alot of time in his quiet room, with soft music playing while he snoozes away.  That room has seemed to work well when the Etue girls are home and rowdy.  But today, all my strategies are about to change.  Although, he seems to like blogging, since he is asleep in my lap as I try to type.  Maybe its just a weekend thing, the girls used to only drop naps on the weekends, so maybe he is starting his weekend gig early in life. 

Now lets turn our thoughts to taping a two week olds face!  Sounds easy right!  It is a pain in mommy's behind!  Everytime I turn around the tape is loose, off completely, or is saturated in formula!  Nice right?  My OCD is in overdrive trying to keep the tape not only on his upper lip, but tight so it can do its job.  We do see improvement in only one week of taping, but the RN in me believes we are wishing seeing!  Our trip to the cleft clinic on April 21st will give us our answer if we are doing a good job at the taping.  It is then too, when we will meet the Dr who will preform miracles on little Tyler.  I am sure to him its just all in a days work, but to us, it is the beginning of the end to this crazy phase we are in. 

What about genetics??  U of M has offered us a consult with the genetics department which is standard for all cleft affected families.  Derek and I are just not so sure we even want to go there.  We are totally done reproducing, and we feel it is Tyler's decision when he is older to make.  I suppose all the kids will need to make a genetic decision when they are older if they want to know their makeup before having babies.  I would hope we are not grandchildrenless due to the possiblility of another cleft affected Etue baby.  But I guess that will be out of our hands!  Let me be clear now, if I had these three brats and none of them give me a grandchild based on a broken lip, they are going to hear about it!  I tried to sugar these kids up and send them home, and my own door bell just kept ringing, so I better be able to do this for real someday in my future!  Oh, but I forgot to mention, Mommy didn't lose her virginity until she was 28, and I expect that out of all three kids too!!  High standards around this Etue Estate!! 

One last random thought, I haven't been out to get him a baby book yet, do you think blogging is the new virtual baby book of the 2011 generation??

Who knew? Maize and blue looks good on Tyler!!

It turns out Tyler was meant to be a wolverine more than his mother was.  Today was our first visit with the University of Michigan Craniofacial Plastic Surgery services.  It was confirmed again that Tyler's cleft lip and palate is standing alone as an isolated birth defect.  Everytime we hear this we are thankful.  We learned that cleft lip and palates that show up together usually are isolated events.  But any clefts that are only the lip or the palate tend to be associated with other anomilies or syndromes.  Tyler's are "typical clefts", despite how severe we think they are.  He will need a bone graft from his hip to his upper jaw when he is around eight years old.  A bridge we will cross when it gets closer!  Maybe some new fancy easier procedure will be developed by then!  We learned how to tape is premaxilla in order to push it back in line, and prepare it for lip closure in a few short months.  We are very excited to start this closure process both physically for Tyler and emotionally for all of us.  He was a trooper thru his appointment and then got rewarded with lunch at Red Robin and his first trip to Target.  Ok, so he slept thru most of it, but I am sure he throughly enjoyed his day.  I am guessing there will be many stops at Target or Toys R Us on our way home from U of M visits to make good on our bribing efforts.  Todays appointment however was short and sweet and by far the best U of M visit we have had.  No adult tears were shed, and Tyler's were simply shed because he had to be fussed with.  Things are looking up between the Etues and the wolverines.  Good thing, cause this relationship has only just begun....................................