My Two Lovelies

TGIF

I always love and appreciate Fridays because Fridays mean that Erik is home for the weekend! And with two children now, I REALLY look forward to Fridays and knowing that I have my honey here to not only help out but just to be with. One thing we love to do as a family is to take walks. Tonight we took a walk to our neighborhood park and let me tell ya, it was a much needed walk for me. A relief walk, really. When I don't exercise, I kind of start to go crazy. Today was just a busy day, and even though I'm really exhausted and even though I had a mini-meltdown after supper, I knew that I had to get a walk. Once we got Kristi situated at the playground, I spent a little time with her playing and Erik walked Anders around the perimeter of the park. Then we switched off and I walked Anders while Erik played with our big Buggy Girl. While I was walking, I could feel my endorphins kicking in and allowing my tension to release. I prayed and thanked God for the lovely surroundings that I get to see when I'm walking...green grass & trees & flowers, the sounds of the birds singing and children playing, and I thanked Him for being Lord of all the Earth, omnitient, omnipotent, and omnipresent...I usually feel His presence more it seems when I'm outside enjoying nature, and tonight was one of those nights. So, THANK YOU GOD for giving us the outdoors.

Anders seems to be healing up well from his circumcision. We're so glad for that.

Blessings...

Circumcision Day

Today Anders was circumcised. I think it was more painful for me than for him. Anders is such a trooper, and he loved the sugar water that they gave him during the procedure. Thankfully Erik was able to be there, so I didn't have to stay in the room.

Now, hopefully that is the last we'll have to be in the dr's office until the 2 month checkup!

Today, Anders is one month old! I can't believe it! This month has gone by so quickly. Kristiana is really trying to be such a good helper, and I'm proud of her.

We're slowly figuring out how to balance two kids...they're such blessings.

Hooray!!!!!

Two wonderful things were found out today...

1. The results of Anders' ultrasound were completely normal! Ergo, he does not have Spina Bifida! We are SO thankful and praising God for this answer! THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!!

2. I weighed our Little Buddy at the clinic tonight, and he weighed in at 8 lbs! That means that he has gained a pound in just over a week! We are so happy about this positive weight gain. I knew he was gaining, but I didn't know how much. Yeah!

Thank you for praying for our Anders and for us. We so appreciate it. Hopefully we are on the right track now and can avoid going to the hospital for a long while!

**Tonight we went to Erik's parents home on the lake, and Kristi had fun playing in the water with Daddy! I had fun watching them through the window while I took care of Anders. We're trying to help Kristi get over her fear of being in the water. I have no idea where that came from, as we've always encouraged her to enjoy it...must just be an innate fear.

Had an ultrasound

Anders had his ultrasound today on his spine and he was such a trouper! As I thought might happen, the rad. tech. person didn't let on any information at all both verbally and facially, so we won't know anything until we hear from the dr. hopefully tomorrow. I'll write more then. In the meantime, I'm glad that the test is done. Erik & I were able to have lunch together at the hospital after the test, and that was a nice treat.

Ultrasound

Wowsers! I just saw that I haven't written a post in a week, and I cannot believe how quickly that time has flown! Thank you for the encouraging comments and for your prayers. Anders is doing pretty well it seems, and he likes to eat a lot. We've worked out a system of giving him bottles during the nighttime feedings, and then I try to nurse him more during the day. Erik is then able to help me out with one of those feedings, bless his sweet heart! He seems to be enjoying the daddy & son time when he gets to help feed his boy.

Tomorrow morning Anders has an ultrasound on his spine at 10:30 am. I truly have such peace and know that God is in control. I really haven't been worrying about things, and I know it is because people are praying and that God has alleviated this worry from me. I'll try to let you know as soon as I know any results. I'm not sure how that will work, if I will get results right away or if it will have to be read by a dr. and then we won't know for a few days or a week or something to that effect.

Gotta go feed my little monkey man before big sister wakes up...

Good Appointments!

We had two good appointments today...the first with a lactation consultant at the hospital. She helped me a LOT to get some feeding issues straightened out for Anders. I'm so thankful and hopeful! And another good thing was that the nurse weighed Anders at the start of the appointment and he weighed 6 lbs 13 oz, so he gained 11 oz. since I weighed him last Thursday! I was SO excited about that! Hooray for formula supplementation. Our little guy has had so much more energy the last few days and when he is alert his eyes are so beautiful! They're really a lovely shade of blue grey, just like his big sister.

This afternoon, we had our 2 week pediatrician appointment. Our dr. cracks me up and likes to refer to our kids as "cute (& or skinny) little rat(s)" and "cute monkey(s)." We had been concerned that Anders might perhaps have Spina Bifida, and I was so curious to see what his dr. would say. The dr. confirmed the little dimple in Anders' back, but said that it didn't really look like the kind that could be problematic. However, he assured me that we could schedule a spinal ultrasound to determine more accurately if there is anything wrong with the spine. I am relieved that we can do the ultrasound, and I think it will give me a lot more peace of mind to know one way or the other if there is something wrong.

I'm very tired today as I think I only have had about 2 hours of sleep in the last day, so I'm looking forward to having a relaxing evening at home and perhaps more sleep tonight??? Ha, we'll see. :) But ah, these are the joys of the early days of parenting a newborn. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I treasure the moments I have cradling my new son, and I thank God for his precious life. He is such a sweet baby and a true gift.

Off to happy feeding land...

more pictures

Pictures...

Losing weight...

Today I was noticing that once again Anders wasn't having enough wet diapers, even though I've been trying to nurse him a lot. So, I called the clinic and was able to talk with my dear long time family doctor who happened to be on call. He suggested that I take my little guy in to the clinic to weigh him and then think about giving him some formula if need be in addition to nursing. I weighed Anders and he had lost nearly 9 oz. since his Monday appt. NOT GOOD!!!!!!! I just started sobbing because I felt so bad that he was not thriving yet again. I went out to Target and picked up some formula and we did our first formula feeding tonight after I tried to nurse Anders. We're going to supplement with the formula as much as we need to and I'm going to try to keep nursing and see how it goes. I'm hoping to go to a lactation consultant this coming week to get some help and tips.

Gotta run...baby crying...please pray that our little guy can gain weight...

Anders Per!

**I just sent this as an email and thought I'd put it into the blog...***

Dear Friends & Family,

I'm sorry that we haven't been able to give you this news sooner, but if you read on you'll understand why. We had our baby boy Anders Per on Sunday, June 22nd at 1:18 AM. He weighed 7 lbs. 1 3/4 oz, and was 19.5 inches long. Labor and delivery went fairly well and quite quick. We stayed in the hospital for less than 48 hours and went home. Anders (on-durrs) means Andrew in Swedish, but originally the name Andrew is Greek and it means "manly." Per (like "pear") means Peter in Swedish, and in Greek it is "rock". We were excited to be able to combine our Scandinavian heritage with Biblical names as well.

A few days after coming home, I was noticing that Anders just wasn't as lively as he should be and he was not eating and going to the bathroom enough. His temperature reached a low of 95.6 on Thursday, the day that we took him into the ER at Childrens Hospital in St. Paul. Immediately, Anders was wrapped in very warm blankets and began a bunch of tests, including three spinal taps. Because of the dehydration, it was very hard to get enough spinal fluid on the first try, so that's why it took three tries. The same thing was true for taking blood and inserting iv's. It took several tries for that as well. Even though he was so sick, our little man put up quite a fight and cried really hard during all of these experiences, which was difficult for us to see and hear but also reassuring.

All the tests that have been done on Anders have come back negative, which is good news. The conclusion is that he probably had a really bad virus that caused him to be so sleepy and not able to eat and thus become dehydrated. We stayed in the hospital with him for three nights while he was getting re-hydrated with saline and also receiving antibiotics and anti-viral drugs intravenously. After one night of fluids, our Anders started to be himself again and had enough energy to eat.

We're home again, as of Sunday afternoon. It feels so good to be here, instead of at the hospital listening to beeps and having our sleep interrupted. We're grateful that Anders seems to be feeling better. Because of his infection, we're going to have to be more careful with him these first few months as far as not exposing him to illness and large groups. So, please do not be offended if we need to say no to having you all hold him and touch him, or if we ask for you to wash your hands. I already was a germ freak, and I'm even more of one now after this experience.

Another thing that we're going to have to investigate more is that I noticed a small dimple/divit on Anders' lower back, along his spinal column. I asked the Dr. about it the other day at a follow up appointment and she said that it might actually be an indication of Spina Bifida, a condition in which the neural tube does not close completely during pregnancy. I'm baffled by this possibility as I have faithfully taken my prenatal vitamins, containing folic acid which is supposed to help prevent neural tube defects. However, after reading some information on Spina Bifida, I learned that not only is it an environmentally caused condition but also a hereditary one...another thing that we're not sure of as there isn't anyone we can think of who has had something like this in our families. There are several varying degrees of Spina Bifida, and the mildest form is sometimes completely undetected and people can live completely normal lives. The more serious forms usually cause paralysis and muscle and joint problems, among other things. My mind has been wandering off worrying about whether or not Anders may have this condition, but the fact is, nothing has been formally diagnosed yet. We are going back for another follow up appointment with Anders' regular pediatrician who has been out of town and hasn't met our little guy yet, and that appt. will be on Monday. If you think of it, we would greatly appreciate your prayers for Anders. He might be completely fine and the little dimple might just be something unique on his body and not harmful at all. From what I know, he will have to have an ultrasound to detect any mishaps in his spinal column. I'm also hoping that we can take a closer look at the x-rays that were taken on his entire body when we were at the hospital. Maybe that will give us some more clarity.

In the meantime, Anders seems to be doing okay. I'm just trying to be very careful to watch him and feed him as much as he wants to eat and then some.

Thank you to all who have been praying for us and encouraging us. We so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. This has been a really dramatic week here and I know that it is God who is upholding us.

If you are in the area, we would love to see you for a short visit or chat with you on the phone.