Fat Tuesday

As our last day alone until Mommy gets back I figured we better have some fun times planned. Olivia had school so that was a no-brainer and while she was there I tried to expose Mason to something other than princesses so we went car shopping. I picked out a truck that would make a great xmas present for me and he got a Ferrari FF that he was pretty excited about:

Then as the kids were napping I got all set up for camping tonight with Olivia

Mall Time

Olivia loves to ride the carousel at the mall, and not so much the whole carousel as just the "zebra" or "frog" so figured that would be a fun activity for us to do. I think I look like I am keeping it together pretty well:

The kids thought these "kissing" tortoises were hilarious, we seriously watched them for about 10 minutes and they were just sitting exactly like this the whole time.

The kids also helped me inspect our sprinkler system and if you notice the last picture you will see both of my hands, I taught Olivia how to use the camera on my phone and she took a picture of us!

Lego Bus And Pancakes!

Okay okay, you can open up with the jokes now, yes I did by a lego set (for myself) and yes it is a VW Bus. Anyone who knows me at all should be aware that I love these two things and the marriage of them both was just too awesome for me to resist. I have to admit the 16+ age rating on the box did make me feel SLIGHTLY less nerdy. Also note that it had 1300+ pieces!! wow

I owe this one to Mr Mike who came over to hang out because Chris was also at dinner and was actually who reminded me of the Bus project! I should note that Chris helped out a ton post-dinner, thanks to both of you (we didn't finish tonight so will have pics of finished project tomorrow!

After staying up pretty late, Daddy declared a pancake breakfast and everyone rejoiced!

Teeth

Hello TEETH!  Last you heard, Mason only had three teeth...

Well, while I was waiting for the other top tooth to come in, one popped up on bottom!

FOUR & FIVE TEETH!

Two on top and three on bottom and we can see the white buds of more coming.

.....

MAN...this post has was scheduled to post in two days...

BUT GUESS WHAT?!?!

Another top tooth just broke those very tender sweet baby gums.

Yes, that's SIX teeth!!

And this man is not happy about it.  He is waking most mornings around 5am just moaning and works himself up to a full scream in 30 minutes.  We've done many doses of advil and are just hoping that the rest make a quick appearance.  

Tooth #2

bottom left (just broke through surface)
bottom right has been up for a few days (tooth #1)

Tooth #1

bottom right has broken Mason's sweet gummy gums...

it's not been easy or comfortable or pleasant.  

wishing him some comfort soon :(

Back to Tummy Roll

3 Months

Happy 3 Months!!!!

Mason's Newest Tidbits :)

*wearing 6 MONTH CLOTHES!

*weight: 13 pounds 15.5 ounces

*no longer swaddled!! (as of two days ago)

*occasionally uses a pacifier

*wants to eat every three hours (there have been a couple of times where he goes longer at night, but not with any frequency)

*will take a bottle

*started using the activity center and bumbo

*eyes are still blue

*likes to suck on his hand, usually the left hand

*naps in his crib but sleeps at night in the pack-n-play in our room

*doesn't like to hold toys in his hands

*becoming more vocal

*spits-up :-/

*still having bowel movement issues

Wake Up

This little boy has the sweetest wake ups :)
It's probably one of my favorite moments everyday.

I'm Fine!

Followed up with the Dr today and he thinks Mason is doing well :)

And to show everyone, sweet video clip.

Doctor's Visit

After talking with the pediatric surgeon and having him view Mason x-rays, he believes that it seems unlikely Mason has Hirschsprung's Disease.   We completely agree, as the only symptom of HD Mason has is infrequent bowel movements.  

The Dr did an internal exam and believes that Mason's anal sphincter tone (the muscle that controls the anal opening) is too tight and does not relax to have normal BM.  Sooooo for the next week we have to help dilate Mason :(  

It is not fun!

We will meet with the Dr again next Tuesday for a follow-up exam to see if the dilation is helping. Thank you to everyone for their sweet messages and warm thoughts.  

How the...

...pacifier stays in his mouth.

Yes, I know that this is not recommended or encouraged...

But it works.

Unhappy

Today Mason had the barium enema. He could not eat for 4 hours prior to the procedure, and by the time he finally got to eat it had been 5.5 hours!!! Definitely felt for my little man...he usually only makes it 2-2.5 hours in the morning between feeds...so this was a stretch for him!!

Overall, the procedure went well....as well, as it could go. Mason looked soooo tiny as he lay naked on the x-ray table. At first he was happy and waving his arms and kicking his legs while the dr and nurses got everything ready.

When it began, the radiologist took lots of pictures while the barium was entering his body. I could look over at the screen and see Mason's colon and watch as the barium was traveling through. Technology is AMAZING! Naturally, Mason was not exactly happy about everything...but he actually calmed down at one point. He was sucking on the pacifier soooo hard. I think he thought that if he just kept at it...some milk would trickle out. And 30 minutes later, it was done. The nurses were in love with him and wanted to help dress him. Each got to put on a sock :)

The radiologist told me he would read the films today and send a report over to the pediatrician and I should hear from the dr by tomorrow.

5:30pm the doctor calls. The actual doctor and immediately my heart sank.

A) the doctor is on the phone

B) she is calling today

The two radiologists that read the films believe Mason has a mild case of Hirschsprungs’s Disease. I won’t go into details about it, because honestly the only information we know is from google. However, our next step is to meet with a pediatric surgeon next Tuesday (October 26) at 11:15am. This surgeon will also review Mason’s x-rays and if he has the same conclusion as the radiologist he could request a biopsy. The biopsy would confirm if there are dead nerve cells in Mason’s large intestine. If there is, the only way to fix this problem is through surgery.

boo hoo.

Obviously this information is all really new and we have a lot of questions and lots of unknowns. We are skeptical about everything, as when we look up the symptoms, the only one Mason has is the constipation. However, we are not doctors and we haven’t seen Mason’s x-rays. Of course, we’ll update after our appointment next week.

2 Month Well-Check

Today was Mason's 2 Month well-check.  And his stats....

weight - 12 pounds 13 ounces (75th percentile)

height - 24 inches (75th-90th percentile)

head circumference - 16 inches

Big Boy!!  We are soooo proud of his great weight gain (what a difference compared to Olivia!). Mason received his first round of vaccines and I only had two other concerns to talk to the doctor about (haha, also different from Olivia where I walked into every appointment with a word document filled with questions).  

1) flat head - dr noted it and said to just try and give him more tummy time when he is awake and encourage him to look the other direction (the flat part is on the left side of his head...he frequently looks to the left)

2) bowel movements - Today was actually 13 days with NO bowel movements.  ugh.  I knew Friday was day 10 and the last time I was at the dr for this issue, I was explained that up to 10 days can be normal, contact us if he goes more than that.  So I was grateful for our appointment when Monday morning he still had not gone :(  Dr was immediately concerned about Mason not going to the bathroom and said to give him a suppository as soon as we get home.  She also said to start giving him 2 ounces of prune or apple juice in the morning and evening.  AND, she wants him to have a barium enema tomorrow.  

I left the drs office a little frustrated.  I had been told, countless times by other drs in the practice and nurses, that up to 10 days is normal for breastfed babies....I felt silly for contacting the office so much about his lack of bowel movements.  And now there is this urgency and concern...why is it a concern now and it wasn't before???  However, I am grateful that we will hopefully find out if there is anything else going on, preventing Mason from having normal bowel movements.  

Happy 2 Months Mason!

STOP...will someone please just slow things down. I can not believe that Mason is already 8 weeks old. Just a few of the many faces of our Little Man :)

Tidbits:
*takes 4 naps a day

*eats every 3 hours (sometimes he'll do one stretch of 4 hours...if so, it's usually from 8pm to 12am)

*naps in his crib (still sleeps in the pack n play in our room at night)

*wearing 3-6 month clothes!!!!

*size 1-2 diapers

*likes to suck on his hand

*starting to vocalize

*smiles lots

*has multiple chins

*has bowel movements once every 10 days

*still likes his pacifier...although doesn't use it at all at night

*looooves his sister (usually saves his biggest smiles for her)

*does not like the car to move slowly or stop

*spits-up....not Olivia style...but enough to require burp cloths and to ruin multiple outfits in a day

*attended his first Texans Football game

*gets swaddled for naps and at night

*rolls over and is pushing up higher

Red Eye

Okay, I don't want to jinx things....

But I have NEVER needed to "fix" red eyes in ANY of Olivia's pictures!

(click on picture)

Mason

Roll Over

Mason has been rolling over for awhile now...the first time was at 3 weeks! We thought it was just a one-time event, but it's been happening more frequently ever since.

Our BIG Man

Here are pictures of our Man having some tummy time. Originally, I had this post titled "Our Little Man" and then we went to the doctor.

I decided to take him in because he is still not going to the bathroom (#2). Dr explained that this is normal, especially for breastfed babies, and that Mason can go up to 10 days between bowel movements. GOODNESS! Has anyone had experience with this?? His stomach is not hard nor distended. There are times when I think he might be in pain, but it could be gas or acid reflux...and I can usually get him calmed down.

About acid reflux....yes, he spits up :( Not Olivia style and not with every meal, but he's already spit up on other people and frequently it's very forceful and comes out of his nose too :( Mommy does NOT like that at all. Dr said that she could put him on meds but for now we've decided to hold off. Why? Mason is not nearly as fussy as Olivia was and...for the BIG news....

He is gaining weight REALLY WELL!

Mason Wayne is now 11 pounds 9 ounces!

This is very different from Olivia who wasn't gaining weight very well and weighed only 11 pounds 6 ounces at 4 months old.

Needless to say, the Dr thinks that Mason is just using all the breast milk to grow (oh, our nursing sessions are still only 5-7 minutes on one side...crazy!).

Sleeeeeeeeeeeepy