I spoke with the doctor and he said that Sawyer's bilirubin levels (jaundice levels) are still a little high. So, with that said, he wants me to bottle feed him only formula all day Monday and all day Tuesday. Then, I will take him back to be re-tested on Wednesday morning to see if that does the trick. There's something called "breastmilk jaundice" and his doctor wants to see if that's what causing his levels to stay elevated. I'm not sure what will happen either way, but please pray that I will be able to continue breastfeeding. For many people, it's just a hassle to breastfeed, but it's something that I enjoyed doing for Sadie for 11 months, and I want to continue and do for Sawyer as well. So many people think that it's a burden, but I love it so much and it's something that I can only do for my children for one season in their lives and then it's over, so I've always been willing to sacrifice my time for that purpose. Sadie's 11 months went by so quickly, and I never minded one minute that it took for me to feed her myself. I just want the same for Sawyer so bad. But, if I have to quit in order for him to be healthy, I will do it in a heartbeat.
So, just pray for me on Monday and Tuesday as I learn how to bottle feed, b/c I never gave Sadie a bottle, so this will be new territory for me. Also, I will be pumping my breastmilk for both days as well, so pray that the kiddos will be patient with me as my time will be a little more limited for a couple of days while I'm pumping.
And, most importantly, pray for Sawyer. I just want him to be 100% healthy. That is my #1 priority above everything else. I just want this all to be over and to know that he is okay.
The doctor also mentioned that one of his liver levels was slightly elevated, but he's not going to worry about it right now. He's hoping this formula thing will clear it all up, but he said if he has to have a liver specialist look at it, we will do that next.
I will keep everyone posted.
Thanks for the prayers. I know that things could be much, much worse, so I am thanking God that this is just a small bump in the road, or as my mom says..."just a little dark cloud".
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Labor Day Weekend Update
Our weekend started out with going to the Station Camp High School game on Friday night. My niece, Emma, got to cheer the 1st quarter with the cheerleaders, so we just had to go and see this. It was too cute! Is she following in her aunt's footsteps???? We hope so!!!
Sadie seemed to like being at the game. There was a lot going on of course, but she seemed pretty entertained by it. She just sat in her stroller the whole time, which is a rare happening. She even began to cheer after a while which was hilarious!
Saturday, we hung out here all day. Dennis smoked a bunch of ribs (yum!) and deer meat (yuck!), and we nibbled on that throughout the day. We had some football games on the TV and tried to "pretend" we could hang out, eat, and enjoy the games on TV (like the old days - ha ha), even though our day consisted more of playing with Sadie and keeping Sawyer fed, happy, entertained, and asleep. I think Sawyer was trying to tell us all to "be quiet" in this picture.
Dennis went to Chance's football game on Saturday afternoon, and I stayed here with the kids while they took their naps. Sawyer's doctor called in the meantime and you can read all about that in the previous blog. Saturday night, we all went to my mom's for pizza. Funny thing is, my mom and Butch were out of town, so we were "partying" at their house without them! ha ha
The reason being is that my sis is living there for now, so since Chance needed a shower after his game, we all just met back there and my dad brought pizza so we could have dinner together. It doesn't get much more twisted than that, does it? We're all at my mom's having dinner with my dad while my mom and stepdad are not even there. I know...crazy, crazy... Anyways, we had a good time.
Emma let Sadie take one of her baby dolls home and Sadie hasn't put it down since. She had to have it sitting beside her in her highchair during breakfast and I could barely change her for church without her holding it. Too cute! Sunday morning, we all went to church again! Success??? Not so much...well, Sawyer decided to wake up right in the middle of praise & worship, so Dennis had to get up and walk around with him until he fell back asleep. But, it could've been worse. At least we got to stay for the service, which was so good.
We all came home and chilled all day. After the kids' naps we took our weekly family trip to the grocery. Thank goodness that Dennis has been willing to go with me every week. Hopefully, before long, I'll go by myself and take the kids like I used to when it was just me and Sadie. Maybe I'll try this coming Monday...we'll see!
Monday started the daunting task of having to feed Sawyer formula and me having to pump. It really went well. I was nervous that he wouldn't take a bottle right away, but he didn't even hesitate. (answered prayer) It made me sad to see him drinking so easily from a bottle, because of course, I want him to just need me in order to eat, but I got over that quickly. The pumping has NOT been fun. I got engorged (sorry if this is too much information) in the middle of the night on Monday night and had to end up nursing Sawyer for one feeding, b/c I felt like I was going to die. Literally. I was engorged, I started feeling a fever coming on, my heartrate was out of control, and so on. My guess is that the pump wasn't getting all of the milk out because it's probably not as strong as Sawyer, so the milk was backing up and causing me to become engorged. Not fun!!! But, I think I took care of it when I nursed him and we both seemed happy.
Monday night, we went to my Memaw and Pepaw's house for b-b-q, but everyone jetted shortly after to get home and watch the UT game. Sadie had a ball playing over there, because my Memaw has this HUGE closet in their bonus room and I swear, it has a million toys in there that she has collected over the years. I am convinced that Sadie will never get to play with them all because there are so many! She just kept playing and didn't want to leave. She literally went and hid behind a mattress in the closet when I told her it was time to go. We were laughing.
Anyways, I take the big man in the morning to get his bilirubin level rechecked. Please pray that the formula has done the trick. I will keep everyone posted!
Sadie seemed to like being at the game. There was a lot going on of course, but she seemed pretty entertained by it. She just sat in her stroller the whole time, which is a rare happening. She even began to cheer after a while which was hilarious!
Saturday, we hung out here all day. Dennis smoked a bunch of ribs (yum!) and deer meat (yuck!), and we nibbled on that throughout the day. We had some football games on the TV and tried to "pretend" we could hang out, eat, and enjoy the games on TV (like the old days - ha ha), even though our day consisted more of playing with Sadie and keeping Sawyer fed, happy, entertained, and asleep. I think Sawyer was trying to tell us all to "be quiet" in this picture.
Dennis went to Chance's football game on Saturday afternoon, and I stayed here with the kids while they took their naps. Sawyer's doctor called in the meantime and you can read all about that in the previous blog. Saturday night, we all went to my mom's for pizza. Funny thing is, my mom and Butch were out of town, so we were "partying" at their house without them! ha ha
The reason being is that my sis is living there for now, so since Chance needed a shower after his game, we all just met back there and my dad brought pizza so we could have dinner together. It doesn't get much more twisted than that, does it? We're all at my mom's having dinner with my dad while my mom and stepdad are not even there. I know...crazy, crazy... Anyways, we had a good time.
Emma let Sadie take one of her baby dolls home and Sadie hasn't put it down since. She had to have it sitting beside her in her highchair during breakfast and I could barely change her for church without her holding it. Too cute! Sunday morning, we all went to church again! Success??? Not so much...well, Sawyer decided to wake up right in the middle of praise & worship, so Dennis had to get up and walk around with him until he fell back asleep. But, it could've been worse. At least we got to stay for the service, which was so good.
We all came home and chilled all day. After the kids' naps we took our weekly family trip to the grocery. Thank goodness that Dennis has been willing to go with me every week. Hopefully, before long, I'll go by myself and take the kids like I used to when it was just me and Sadie. Maybe I'll try this coming Monday...we'll see!
Monday started the daunting task of having to feed Sawyer formula and me having to pump. It really went well. I was nervous that he wouldn't take a bottle right away, but he didn't even hesitate. (answered prayer) It made me sad to see him drinking so easily from a bottle, because of course, I want him to just need me in order to eat, but I got over that quickly. The pumping has NOT been fun. I got engorged (sorry if this is too much information) in the middle of the night on Monday night and had to end up nursing Sawyer for one feeding, b/c I felt like I was going to die. Literally. I was engorged, I started feeling a fever coming on, my heartrate was out of control, and so on. My guess is that the pump wasn't getting all of the milk out because it's probably not as strong as Sawyer, so the milk was backing up and causing me to become engorged. Not fun!!! But, I think I took care of it when I nursed him and we both seemed happy.
Monday night, we went to my Memaw and Pepaw's house for b-b-q, but everyone jetted shortly after to get home and watch the UT game. Sadie had a ball playing over there, because my Memaw has this HUGE closet in their bonus room and I swear, it has a million toys in there that she has collected over the years. I am convinced that Sadie will never get to play with them all because there are so many! She just kept playing and didn't want to leave. She literally went and hid behind a mattress in the closet when I told her it was time to go. We were laughing.
Anyways, I take the big man in the morning to get his bilirubin level rechecked. Please pray that the formula has done the trick. I will keep everyone posted!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sawyer Update
Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us. I took Sawyer this morning to Vanderbilt and they drew his blood. It went a lot better than I had thought. Normally, they prick his little heel, and it takes FOREVER to get a very small amount of blood out. The few times I've seen this done, it's been traumatic. It takes 15 minutes or so just to get a few drops, so I was expecting this to be done again.
But, they actually took it from his arm, which was pretty traumatic too, because they have to put the rubberband around it just like they do with adults, and he was not happy about that, but the whole process only took about 2 or 3 minutes and they were done. So, the screaming only lasted that long, thank goodness. It breaks my heart, so I wasn't sure how I'd handle it, but I did very well. My mom offered to take him back for me so that I wouldn't have to see it done, but I felt like I'd be a bad mom if I put him off on someone else, so I sucked it up and God gave me the strength as usual.
We won't know any of the results until sometime this weekend. I will probably call and check on the results sometime on Saturday but it may not be until Sunday that we hear anything.
So, keep on praying! Thanks again!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Quick Little Prayer, Please
I took Sawyer for his "jaundice" check-up today. When I took him 2 weeks ago for his 1st jaundice check up, his doctor said that everything seemed to be going well, but he wanted to see him again in two weeks just to be sure. I was thankful for that, because he could've just said he'd see us in 2 months at the 2-month check-up, but I could tell he was being proactive, which was one of the many reasons I chose him as our new doctor.
Well, although Sawyer is up to 9 lbs. 4 ounces (you go, big boy), Dr. Johnson is sending us BACK to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital tomorrow to have some more lab work done.
I thought all was going so well!!!! Sawyer has been eating great (obviously), he's sleeping good (he went for a 6 hour stretch last night - yippee!), he's pooping like a champ, etc. And, his color to me looks great. So, I'm hoping and praying that Dr. Johnson is just continuing to be proactive and just wants to have all of Sawyer's levels checked to make sure he's doing okay. But, as a mom, especially a mom of another newborn, you automatically get the bad feeling in the pit of your stomach and begin to think the worst.
Dr. Johnson mentioned some things about his liver, etc., and he just wants to be sure all is well.
So, if you don't mind, please say a quick prayer for little Sawyer that he will be okay, and that if anything is wrong, it will be an easy fix. And, as usual, please throw a prayer up for me, because as you all know, the worry and fear is eating me alive today.
Give it to God, Give it to God, Give it to God (sorry, I'm talking to myself)
Thank you so much!
Well, although Sawyer is up to 9 lbs. 4 ounces (you go, big boy), Dr. Johnson is sending us BACK to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital tomorrow to have some more lab work done.
I thought all was going so well!!!! Sawyer has been eating great (obviously), he's sleeping good (he went for a 6 hour stretch last night - yippee!), he's pooping like a champ, etc. And, his color to me looks great. So, I'm hoping and praying that Dr. Johnson is just continuing to be proactive and just wants to have all of Sawyer's levels checked to make sure he's doing okay. But, as a mom, especially a mom of another newborn, you automatically get the bad feeling in the pit of your stomach and begin to think the worst.
Dr. Johnson mentioned some things about his liver, etc., and he just wants to be sure all is well.
So, if you don't mind, please say a quick prayer for little Sawyer that he will be okay, and that if anything is wrong, it will be an easy fix. And, as usual, please throw a prayer up for me, because as you all know, the worry and fear is eating me alive today.
Give it to God, Give it to God, Give it to God (sorry, I'm talking to myself)
Thank you so much!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)