Happy Holidays!

Austin shared his first Thanksgiving with family and friends at my Aunt Sheri and Uncle Bob's home in Commerce. He had the pleasure of meeting some new people and trying some new foods, which included mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry salad and a few bites of cool whip. He seemed to enjoy watching everything that was going on around us but wasn't a big fan of anyone getting too close to him. Evidently, not putting him in daycare also has its drawbacks.



In early December, Austin saw his first winter storm, complete with beautiful fluffy, white snowflakes - a rarity for Texas as we usually get only sleet/ice. Amazingly, we were graced with a second snowfall on Christmas Eve. For the first time, in a LONG time, we woke up to a white Christmas. It was so pretty, but not so great for holiday travel.



In mid December, Austin had his follow-up appointment with his cardiologist (Dr. Wright) to see how everything looks since his cardiac catheterization. Per Dr. Wright, the duct is closed, there is no more murmur, and no obstruction to left or right pulmonary arteries or descending aorta, with normal pressures within his heart. She discharged him and we are now finished with that heart business for good. WOO HOO!



On December 18th, our sweet little boy turned one year old. I can't believe it has already been a year, but OH MY, what a year it has been!!!

Austin ~ December 18th, 2008

Austin ~ December 18th, 2009

We celebrated by having a small birthday party - small because our house is extremely small but also because we didn't want to overwhelm the little guy on his special day. Austin met a few of his cousins for the first time, as well as several other new people. Upon meeting Samantha, Austin uncharacteristically took a liking to her, so we will now forever refer to her as our future baby-sitter. :) Anyway, it was a great day! Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts and a special thanks to Grandma Netz and Grandpa Jesse for all the help and also to Deann for taking pictures. I also need to kick a shout out to all the kiddos who helped Austin open his gifts - he would still be opening his birthday gifts today had they not assisted. :)







Austin had his 12 month checkup this month. He is in the 3rd percentile for weight, 25th percentile for height and head circumference. We were advised us to start introducing more table foods and whole milk to help get his weight up, but otherwise, he is doing great!



He has started taking his first steps. First it was a step or two, here and there, from the coffee table to the couch and back. Now he is getting bolder and he's going for 5-8 steps, usually from mommy to daddy. I imagine that it won't be too long before he is walking. It's so exciting - I can hardly wait! :)



For Christmas, we went to Commerce again. Thanks to Aunt Sheri and Uncle Bob as they were nice enough to host yet another family function in their beautiful home. Austin tried some more new foods (too many to mention) and he even let Grandma Netz and Jeanette hold him - briefly, but still a major accomplishment! I think he might be slowly trying to break out of his shell!?! We shall see though...

Surgery Update - Success!

On the day of Ausin's surgery, we arrived at Children's Medical City of Dallas at 6:15am and they took us back to the surgery area at 6:45am. They prepped him and got him all ready and then we waited for an hour and a half for the anesthesiologist to show up. Turns out that lectures are on Thursdays, and he was running a bit late. GRRR! Austin was such a good boy the entire morning, despite being extremely tired and hungry. He even had a little energy to flirt with his nurse, who was wearing a very colorful surgery cap. :)



They finally took Austin to the cath lab to work their magic. We were so nervous when they took him away, but we found a spot right outside the cath lab to setup camp and anxiously await the news. We were struggling to come up with small talk to pass the time when a women came up and sat on a chair beside us. We got to talking with her and found out that her daughter was having the same procedure done as Austin. She told us that her daughter caught a virus in her heart two years ago and had to have a heart transplant. She will need this procedure done every year for the rest of her life in order to test the heart tissue to ensure that her body isn't rejecting the heart. The little girl is only 9 years old. She was such a nice woman with a wonderful attitude. We couldn't have asked for a more pleasant distraction to our wait. After about an hour and a half or so, the surgeon (Dr. Clapp) came and told us that the surgery went great.



They brought Austin to the first recovery room where they were constantly monitoring him, while waiting for the anesthesia to wear off. He had a small incident where he started to bleed from the artery they went through in the groin area, but they were able to get it under control and stop the bleeding. After about an hour, they allowed us to go back there and see him. He was still pretty out of it, but he was able to suck down a bottle of glucose water pretty quickly. After they verified that all was good, they moved him to a different room.



When we got there, we were talking to the nurse about what we could expect and she gave us a little run down and some of the things she said implied that he would be spending the night. Well, the surgeon had just told us that he should be able to go home around 3pm that day. So, needless to say, we were a bit confused and asked her to verify with Dr. Clapp. An hour later, Dr. Clapp came up and told us that she never put an order for him to stay overnight, but she also said that she "didn't not" put one in either. Apparantly they had just implemented a new computer program and someone didn't know how to use it yet. :) She put the discharge orders in and we were out of the hopital at 4pm that day. Very long and exhausting day, but we are happy it is behind us. We have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Wright on December 16th for an echo to check his left pulmonary artery and descending aorta. They will also check to be sure that the device is still in the proper position and that the flow through his arteries is normal.



The next day, Austin was one happy boy. There are very few days that both mommy and daddy are home together so he was just eating it up. He was smiling the whole day except when he started to get tired. If there was any pain, he didn't show any signs. The next couple days, same thing, happiness.



Thank you all for the kind words, thoughts and prayers during this time. We are truly blessed!

Almost 11 Months

Every time we post something on Austin’s blog, we talk about how we need to remember to do it more frequently. However, for one reason or another, time always gets away from us. So, again, here we are and it’s been almost 3 months since our last post. :(



Austin is getting so big. He is 17 lbs 9 oz and he is over 27 inches tall. He is becoming more and more vocal. First, it was “dadadada” all the time. Then it switched to “babababa”. Then to "babamamababamama". Now he mixes them all together and just kind of yells random things. When you smile at him, he likes to giggle. He has been pulling himself up on everything and cruising around the furniture. He often lets go – I think to test himself. It is probably just a matter of time before he’ll be walking all over the house.



He is finally getting a little more hair, but it's so light and fine you can barely see it.



He is also a drooling machine, hence the bibs in all of the pictures. We think he now has 8 teeth - 4 on top, 4 on bottom. We know for certain he has 7, but we think the 8th just reared its ugly head late last week. Hard to confirm as he is not a big fan of the poking around in his mouth.



Austin and Baxter are starting to play more together. Austin will squeak Baxter's toy bone and patiently await Baxter's arrival. Upon hearing the squeak, Baxter will run to Austin and start a gentle tug of war game, during which Austin just giggles.



When you ask Austin, "Where's Baxter?" he looks all around until he finds Baxter. When you ask him “Where’s mama?” or “Where’s dada?” you get nothing. Guess we know who his favorite is.



In mid-October, Austin had his follow-up appointment with Dr. Wright, his cardiologist. When the nurse was trying to do his echo, he was extremely wild and wouldn't lay still. He is also going through the stranger anxiety phase now so he isn't a big fan of anyone who isn't mommy or daddy. The nurse suggested we help him calm down by giving him a drug, like valium for babies, that they just squirt in his nostril. Let the screaming begin. But then, about 10 minutes later, we could’ve sworn we had a drunk baby. He was so limp, he had a bit of the bobble head syndrome going on and he could not stop giggling. When the nurse started the echo, he just kept yelling “dadadadada” in between giggles. It was the cutest and yet saddest thing I’ve ever seen.



Anyhow...Austin still has his PDA and atrial septal defect so Dr. Wright recommended that he have a cardiac catheterization. This is a procedure whereby the surgeon (Dr. Clapp) will go in with a catheter through an artery in the groin and up to his heart to close those ducts with a device called a duck occluder. This is scheduled for November 19th at 7:30am at the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Both mommy and daddy are extremely nervous, but are hopeful that this will be the last of his major NICU war wounds. Please keep Austin in your thoughts.



Early November, Austin also had his follow-up with Priscilla, the developmental specialist. Due to his stranger anxiety and the fact that the appointment was right in the middle of nap time, it was very difficult for her to assess him. He screamed pretty much the entire time we were there, with the exception of when Priscilla left the room to go write up her assessment, then he passed out in Daddy’s arms.



Per Priscilla's notes, Austin was doing excellent in gross motor, but not so great in fine motor and language. Still not a candidate for ECI, which is great news. We go back when he is 1 year, adjusted, which will be in March.



For Halloween, we dressed him up in his monkey costume and handed out candy to the trick or treaters. He wasn't allowed to eat any candy, but he sure enjoyed chewing on the packages. He didn’t really seem all that impressed with Halloween – probably still a bit too young.



Daddy has recently started helping out with bath time. As you see below, he is still learning. He claims that he was just trying to be productive, washing Austin and his socks at the same time...but I don't buy it. He probably wouldn't have even noticed Austin still had his socks on had it not been for my laughter.



My, how time flies! I can't believe our sweet baby boy is almost a year old!

8 Months

Wow, we are really falling behind on our blog updates. Evidently, babies are A LOT of work and require quite a bit of attention. Who knew?! Our little monster is now 8 months old and growing like a weed. He is 15 lbs, 25 inches long.



The first week of July, Austin had his developmental follow-up with Priscilla (NICU flashback). Her assessment was that Austin has made nice progress since his discharge from NICU. He is growing nicely and his development is in line or slightly ahead of his adjusted age. He is not a candidate for ECI, which is great news. His next developmental follow-up assessment will be in November.

He really likes to babble a lot and occasionally sneaks in a squeal too. He frequently has small screaming fits when you aren't doing something he likes or when he is bored.



We have been trying all sorts of new foods - oatmeal (LOVES), sweet potatoes (LOVES), peas (HATES), squash (liked a little in the beginning, then not so much), carrots (liked a little in the beginning, then not so much), green beans (does not like), and now we are on applesauce (likes).

Trying peas...

He has been scooting all around the living room. He really picks up the pace when he sees Baxter eating...surprisingly enough, Baxter is really good with him and just wants to play. He doesn't understand why Austin doesn't throw his toys when he brings them to him. I've explained to Baxter that Austin isn't old enough to throw his toys yet, but he doesn't get it and keeps bringing them to him, time and time again.

Kisses from big brother Baxter...




Austin is really starting to gain upper body strength and he brings his knees in and holds himself up, but he just doesn't seem to know what to do when he gets in the crawling position. I imagine it will be no time at all before he's off and crawling all around the house. He also recently started sitting by himself. He's not a pro at it yet, but we are working on it.



The infamous nightly melt-downs are a thing of the past - THANK GOD! We have minor fits occasionally, but I think he's grown out of the major ones. We happened upon a small saving grace - he has developed a complete love for the movie, Kung Fu Panda. When he starts to get a tad crunchy, we just play that movie and he will totally chill out and is all about snuggling up with you to watch the movie. We have tried other movies, but none of them come close to producing the calming affect that this movie has. I don't know...it just works. I'm sure all the parenting books would frown upon this tactic but whatever. We can just add it to the long list of other mistakes we will probably make as first-time parents. :o)




The most recent development is that Austin has two bottom teeth coming in. This might explain the drooling like a rabid dog as well as his constant need to chew on EVERYTHING. So, I guess we can now officially say that he is actually teething! :o)

6 Months and Counting

Austin had his 6 month check up on June 18th. He is now on the charts in terms of growth for a 6 month old, 10th percentile for most items. With his adjusted age, he's in the 75th percentile for weight and 93rd percentile for length. He weighed 12 pounds, 15 ounces and is 24 inches long. The doctor said everything is looking good and told us to start rice cereal. So far, he isn't taking to it very well. He just rolls his tongue and eventually spits it out. There have been a few times where it looks like he actually swallowed it, but those are few and far between.



We have also started Austin on formula. Enfamel was kind enough to send us a free sample of one of their formulas so we tried that. He's been on it now for about a week and seems to really like it. Which is a relief because we have tried multiple formulas before and he did not like any of them.

He still likes to babble a lot and drool all over the place. His new thing is putting everything in his mouth that he can. Burp clothes are a favorite and his new toy is the remote control with the colorful buttons. He just loves that thing. The one thing that he should be chewing on, he likes to wear instead. Out of 100 babies, I bet 0 actually use teething rings for the intended purpose.


His break downs have been much better. It could be that magical phase that Dr. An told us about because he pays attention to things around him. He has little break downs here and there but nothing like what Shelly posted in the last blog.

Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Kenny sent a box of clothes down for Austin. In the box, were a few items that Shelly used to wear which had been crocheted by her Great, Great Grandma Trimmer. We thought it would be cute to put on Austin, so that's what we did. He must have known it was mommy's at some point because he was one happy kid. Sorry Austin, pink was the only color available.

By far, one of the coolest things is when Austin first wakes up. He is soo happy in the mornings. When he's ready to wake up, he starts making noises and starts looking all around. When he finally notices you, his face lights up with a huge smile. Talk about an amazing feeling when he looks you in the eyes and smiles that big!

But I love my baby...

Ok, so let me preface by saying this...I know that Ramsey and myself are both first time parents and I accept the fact that we are just simply ignorant when it comes to parenthood. Not to mention the fact that we both had very limited interaction with babies/infants before the arrival of our blessed little angel. With that being said, I also felt confident that two fairly intelligent human beings, faced with adversity, could take whatever life threw at them, work through it and eventually figure it out. We managed to survive the NICU and all of the challenges/struggles it presented and I thought "Wow, how great will it be to finally get him home where we can continue on with a "normal" life?!" I was totally unprepared for the completely different set of challenges this would bring and I had no idea that my definition of "normal" was about to change forever.


In the baby books I've been reading, they say that babies have several different cries, each representing a different need and that after time you will be able to tell the difference between your baby's different cries. Apparently, Austin doesn't follow that theory because in my vast 2 1/2 months of experience with him at home, I've come to realize that he has two cries. One is a kind of whimper-type cry, usually signaling boredom or a precursor to the big show. And the other is the ear piercing, holding my breath, squeezing my eyes shut, turning purple, I am dying, there is no consoling me scream that is always present during what we in the Sutten household lovingly refer to as the Melt-Down. The other thing that I’ve come to realize is that I have no idea what Austin wants by his type of cry as I cannot differentiate between a tired, hungry or Melt-Down cry. Whoever wrote those books must have had the text book baby and we do not.

Through this entire ordeal, we've been trying to figure out what is working as opposed to what isn't, especially with his feedings. We've been given many suggestions by the doctors, nurses, friends and family - most we've tried, some we haven't due to the guidance of our pediatrician. People tell me that every baby is different and all parents go through this until they find out what works/doesn't work for their baby. I cannot begin to tell you how many times Ramsey and I have said to one another, "I think we've finally figured it out," and then just as those words are leaving our mouths, all hell breaks loose in the Sutten household. I'm beginning to think we aren't ever going to figure it out.

Since Ramsey's last post (after the visit to Dr. An), we tried the new plan. No waking the baby, no tracking, no schedules, etc. Well, this presented it's own set of challenges for us because even before the NICU turned us into an OCD parents, we both had our little bouts with OCD. Those who know us well, know all about the Sutten family spreadsheets and me and my "schedule" issues - enough said! BUT, I was extremely proud of both of us for managing to discontinue the use of the tracking spreadsheets and just go with the flow. We did try to keep a semi-routine for the last feeding of each day so that we were able to put Austin to bed on a full tummy and we could all get some sleep. We had about 6 days of heavenly bliss...Austin happy, Mommy and Daddy happy! No screaming during feedings, no major melt-downs, you get the picture - all was smooth sailing...until it wasn't.


Up until this point, we've usually been able to point the finger at one or more particular variables that were more than likely the cause of either the feeding issue or the Melt-Down, whether it be parent error or otherwise. But this time, we are completely at a loss. All of a sudden, Austin started having HORRIBLE feedings and more Melt-Downs. Things were going so well and Ramsey and I said to one another, "I think we've finally figured it out." I believe that's where we went wrong...yet AGAIN. Now, his feeding issues are so much worse than they've ever been and he's having two melt-downs a day. During his Melt-Downs, Ramsey and I have to take turns attempting to console him by any means necessary. In the past, his Melt-Downs would last a good 45 minutes and we thought that was just horrible and it only happened once a week. Now, we are at twice a day and usually the early one will last about 45 minutes, but the evening one can go for an hour and a half to two and a half hours, depending on Austin's mood. Let me just say that whatever slim chance Austin had of getting a sibling has diminished to 0%. My mind was pretty much already made up before Austin arrived...I only wanted one child. However, my loving husband, who always wanted several children, has decided that there is no way he can go through this again. One will have to be enough! :o)

Due to Austin’s prematurity, I wasn’t sure what the timeframe should be for him to begin teething…some say to go by his adjusted age (almost 3 1/2 months) and some say to go by his actual age (almost 6 months). It was a shot in the dark, but we decided the other night that we should look up some signs for teething and try to figure out if he is at the age where this could be the problem. Ramsey looked it up and found that most babies start teething around 4-6 months and below are some of the signs:

• Irritability - CHECK
• Refusing to eat - CHECK
• Excessive drooling - CHECK
• Rash on face due to excessive drooling - CHECK
• Trouble sleeping - CHECK
• Shoving fists in mouth - CHECK

We are convinced that he’s been teething for the past 3 months. :o) Hopefully, we will see some teeth soon!

Austin has become more vocal and "talks" a lot. He is also smiling more and recently started laughing. He can roll all the way over from his stomach to his back and from his back to his stomach. He is getting so big...it's hard to believe he was once so tiny!

Grandma Sutten, Uncle Ritchie and Jordan came to visit Austin this week. Austin, of course, put on some stellar performances - I hope he didn't scare them off. :o) Anyhow, Grandma Sutten brought Austin a lot of new toys and he just loves them! Thanks, Grandma!

Something Magical

Austin is still having problems with his eating. He is still fussy, screamy, wormy, arching, screaming, farting, pushing, crying, screaming...you get the picture. We decided that we would take the next step and schedule an appointment with Dr An, Pediatric Gastroenterologist. He basically told us that the NICU turned us into OCD parents. We were tracking how much he took at each feeding, weighing him twice a week and kept him on a feeding schedule which are all things we learned in the NICU. He said that since Austin is gaining weight, he's in the 50th percentile for weight and height, there is nothing to worry about. He even kind of laughed because Austin has a double chin and said he has a little cushion to work with. He also told us that there are two things you never do: 1 - never wake up a sleeping baby, 2 - never wake up a sleeping baby. We had already started to let him sleep through the night a couple weeks ago, but we were still waking him up during the day if he had gone more than 4 hours without eating.

So we have a new plan:

1. Do not push him if he doesn't want to eat
2. Let him sleep through the night but don't let him go more than 12 hours without eating
3. DO NOT wake him up
4. Do not weigh him, that will happen at the scheduled doctor visits
5. Do not keep track of how much he eats
6. Do not worry, he is doing well
   

Shelly mentioned that she read something on the internet and Dr An's response was, "those people on the internet are dumb, D U M". We knew at that point that we liked Dr An! He was probably the coolest doctor we have worked with to this point, and that's saying a lot considering the numerous doctors we have seen. He was extremely friendly and professional but also talked to us without the doctor jibberish. He told us that babies go through a magical phase (no scientific evidence which is why he said it was magical) when they turn 3-4 months old. He said they are much calmer and are less fussy, mainly because their senses are enhanced. Instead of focusing on stomach pains, they focus on things around them that they see, hear and smell. Let's just hope that the magical something that he talked about happens soon!


Dr. An was also quick to pick up the fact that Austin likes to be held. Whenever he would pick him up, he would quit crying. When he put him down, he would start to cry. We mentioned that most of the time, he will not sleep during the day unless he is held. He is still sleeping on his wedge at night, but just does not want to be back there when it's daylight. On several occasions, we tried putting him in the crib on his back and he does well for about 15 minutes. But then he starts to move a little and throws his hands back, like he feels like he's falling. This is a natural instinct that is supposed to go away with time, but it wakes him up and scares him and then he won't go back to sleep. We told Dr. An that he loved to sleep on his stomach in the NICU, but of course they tell you not to when you take him home. Dr. An told us that his son would only sleep on his stomach so that's how they let him sleep. Since Austin already sleeps on his stomach with the wedge, is it really that much different? Dr. An said it's ok and since he already does it with the wedge, we decided to try it. We put him on his stomach in the crib when we got home and he's been sleeping for almost 2 hours! He has even woken up a few times and he looks around at his sheets (which have a lot of colors and animals), then went back to sleep! We have a fan on to keep the air circulating and check on him reguarly though, because of all the bad things we have heard about with SIDS.

So all in all, it was a good trip. We'll let you know how he does with this new plan over the next couple weeks.