Let's talk baby led weaning. BLW, simply put, is when you offer "table" foods instead of purees. We've done purees since Jackson was 6 months old, so I decided to start offering him more "table" food. I started pretty simply with eggs, but have since ventured out. He's had toast, hot dogs, carrot pieces, and mandarin oranges just to name a few things. My biggest fear is Jackson choking on his food, so I always cut things into smaller pieces with the exception of the toast. He's become really good at picking the food up and getting it to his mouth. He's also figured out that if he doesn't like/want something, he can just drop it into his lap. His new favorite game is dropping things onto the floor. Whether it be food, his cup, or toys, he drops them, looks at them, and then looks at me. We've reached that point of "stop dropping ______" and "all gone" when he's dropped something three times.
Anyone like me and have a lot of puree food? Jackson has decided that he likes whole food more than the purees now and I was adamant that I was going to use the purees that I have. I decided to use the purees in the frozen pop tray, the same one that I use for the breastmilk pops, and he loves them! It's a win - win. I get to use the puree foods and not waste them and Jackson gets something frozen to help his gums.
Jackson is just like the cats, he likes to "help" when his help isn't needed. While making his fabric banner for his high chair, he decided that he wanted to help me by pulling on it, putting it in his mouth, and rolling off with it.
My mother-in-law and I took Jackson to the park. It was the first time that he was in a swing. He loved it! He giggled and smiled the entire time that I was pushing him. Granted, he stopped smiling the second that I tried to take a picture. :)
We have a belly scooter! We have a belly scooter! We have a belly scooter! Can you tell how excited I am? I'm pretty positive that our neighbors heard me cheering. Now that he can scoot himself around, nothing is safe! He is already getting into pretty much everything at his level.
Can a child have too many toys? I don't think so... Well, maybe! Jackson has soooo many toys! In my defense, a lot of his toys are educational AND majority came from various consignment sales. Plus, he's very spoiled by all of his grandparents. :)
Now, while he has sooooo many toys, what's his most favorite thing? Coat hangers of course!
Just like Jackson, the cats like to play with things that aren't toys. Aubie has a love for Jackson's braces. Anytime that they are off and within her sights, she always rubs all over them, lays on them, and licks them. It's so strange!
I have to brag a moment and tell you how smart and good at problem solving Jackson is so far. He loves to knock over towers. Doesn't matter what the tower is made of, he wants to knock it over and will wait for me to build it again. If I build a tower using his stacking cups, the bottom one has a handle on it. If the tower is just out of his reach, he will grab a hold of the handle and pull it to him, then he will knock it down! So smart and yet, so lazy! :)
I know that some of you have heard or possibly seen something on Facebook concerning Jackson being ill this month. We had an interesting week trying to figure out what was going on with our kiddo. We didn't tell many people what was going on because we didn't have very many answers. We still don't have many answers, but I want to fill everyone in on what happened. On Saturday, 4/30, Jackson started refusing to eat and/or drink. While we were concerned, he was still acting like himself for the most part. He had been really fussy for a few days and we just assumed that both things had something to do with him teething.
On Sunday, Jackson woke up acting like himself, playing and laughing. Matt took him to change his diaper and noticed that Jackson was constipated. Constipation isn't really anything new to us, it goes along with his spina bifida. However, what was new was how hard he was struggling to go to the bathroom. While Matt was changing his diaper, Jackson all of sudden went limp - eyes closed, not moving, not reacting to any kind of stimuli. Aside from breathing normally, he was out cold! We called the pediatrician and were waiting for a callback. Shortly after calling, we decided that it was taking too long and we got him loaded into the truck and Matt got us to the Stonecrest ER quite swiftly. It's only a few minutes down the road and an ambulance would have come from there anyway, so this was the fastest option.
Naturally, when we arrived at the hospital he was awake and looking around. They took him in to the triage room and he passed out again within minutes, His temperature was reading 90 and the nurse kept thinking that it had to have been a mistake. She tried several different thermometers and they were all reading around the same temp. His glucose level was also very low at 37. We were taken back to a room and the nurses got an IV going, after three tries. He was so out of it that he didn't even come to when they were doing the IV. We explained everything there is to know about Jackson to the doctor that was assigned to him. He went ahead and called Vanderbilt to get their advice/orders and arrange for transport to Nashville. Other than what was already being done, they wanted him on antibiotics as no one knew what we were dealing with. We were then moved to a critical care room and he was put under a lot of blankets and the heated blanket that resembles an inflated pool raft. Blood was drawn to be tested for an infection and he got a CT scan and chest x-ray.
Vanderbilt sent one of their four Neonatal Pediatric Transport ambulances to pick us up. These are the largest ambulances you'll likely ever see and are basically a rolling ICU for children. They carry a crew of three to four and seat five up front. When they arrived at Stonecrest they had the attention of the entire Emergency Room and everyone seemed to want to help. They got Jackson all setup and ready to roll and we had a few questions to answer before they could leave. I was able to ride with Jackson, in the front of the ambulance, and Matt followed in his truck. Even though I wasn't able to ride with Jackson in the back, the ambulance was set up so that I could see him through a video feed. I couldn't hear what was going on, but there were a couple of times that I saw the paramedics laugh. I remember praying that they were laughing because Jackson was being Jackson and being a flirt.
When we arrived at Vanderbilt, they got him set up in a room in the ER and the doctor came in shortly after we arrived. At this point, he had been awake since the CT scan at Stonecrest. We learned that his temperature had come back up, just a little bit, and his blood sugar was an obvious priority. We were told that Jackson's glucose level should have been somewhere between 70 and 100, with 60 being low, but acceptable. It was scary to realize that his blood sugar was almost half of what it should have been. He was started on dextrose to get his blood sugar back up and fluids to get him hydrated.
With the fluids, dextrose, and warming blankets, he quickly got his temperature and blood sugar back to normal. He was starting to come around more, still not acting like himself, but he still would fade in and out every once in awhile. At one point a nurse was in his room and watched Jackson go from consciousness to unconsciousness. While scary, it was nice for someone in the medical field to see what we had been trying to describe. By the time he paged for the doctors to come in the room, Jackson was awake again.
We were admitted to the PICU on Sunday afternoon for further observation and an EEG to rule out/confirm seizures. He slept for most of the rest of Sunday and well in to Monday. The EEG showed no signs of seizures or anything abnormal going on with his brain, which was wonderful news. The bloodwork that was taken on Sunday wasn't showing any sign of infection yet, but we were told that all of the results wouldn't be ready until 48 hours from the draw time. I have no idea what the test was called that they did in the PICU, but they put a flexible q-tip up his nose and sent it off to check for any viral infections.
On Monday afternoon, we were told that Jackson no longer qualified as PICU status so we would be moved to a normal room. Great news, but we still didn't have any answers. When we got to the new room, his door still had all the precaution signs on it so the nurses and doctors still had to wear gowns and masks to come in the room since they didn't know what was going on. Also, since they weren't positive what was going on and whether or not it was something viral.
On Tuesday, Jackson was almost back to his normal, happy Jackson self. He wasn't 100%, but he was so much better than when we arrived on Sunday. By Tuesday afternoon, the precaution signs came off of the door and the doctors and nurses didn't have to come in with gowns and masks on. The IV that he got at the emergency room was going bad, so they removed it. The IV lady came and decided the best place to put the new one was in his head since his arms and legs are so chunky. I wasn't able to stay in the room for that procedure. Once he started crying and screaming, my heart broke into a million pieces. The first attempt didn't work as well as she wanted, so she had to do it again. This was, by far, the most upset Jackson had ever been. Matt stayed with him to hold his hands and tried to keep him calm while they were working on his new IV. He's seen a lot of things over the years that I don't even like to hear about, so he isn't phased by medical situations or disturbing scenes that would make most people seriously consider skipping their next meal. I guess it's helpful to be able to emotionally disconnect when things have to be done - especially if that means helping out when your infant son is going through the most agonizing thing he's ever been through.
Vanderbilt is pretty well known for famous and non-famous people coming to visit the kiddos. I was waiting for a race car driver, a TV star, a singer, etc. to walk through the door. We didn't get to see anyone famous, but these amazing singers from Musicians on Call came and sang Jackson "Fishin' in the Dark." The three ladies did an amazing job and commented on how Jackson smiling while they were singing made it hard to sing and smile so much at the same time. On May 4th, you know, May the 4th be with you, Darth Vader, R2-D2, and some Storm Troopers were at the hospital. Darth Vader was on our floor, the next room down, but I decided not to let him in our room for fear of him frightening Jackson.
By Wednesday afternoon, Jackson was feeling better and we decided to take him down to the playroom. The playroom was decked out with all of kinds of toys, books, and a fish tank. They have a toy library where you can borrow a toy and take it back to your room for your kiddo to play with. They have three playrooms and each one is set up for different age ranges. The floor that Jackson's room was on had the teen room. It had a pool table and older kid stuff. It's so nice that the hospital has these places for the kiddos to go and get out of their room and meet new people.
Being on antibiotics for so long tore Jackson's belly and little booty up. He had such bad diarrhea that we were changing his diaper every 15 or so minutes. He would scream at the top of lungs every time that he went to the bathroom. We tried several different things to help protect his booty from the damage all of this was causing, but nothing worked. This was due to none of it having enough time to actually stick and create a barrier before he went to the bathroom again. It was completely heartbreaking and there was nothing that we could do to help. Thankfully, since the Infectious Disease doctor felt fairly positive that he didn't have meningitis, he ordered for the antibiotics to be stopped.
By Friday morning, Jackson was back to his normal self. He was "talking," flirting with his nurse, smiling and laughing, and blowing mouth farts. After Matt again helping him through the agony of the nurse removing the tape, glue, and IV from the side of his head, Jackson was discharged! While we were so glad to be going home, we still didn't have any definite answers as to what caused this entire thing. After 6 days and 5 nights of being at the hospital, our schedule was completely screwed up. It took several days for him to sleep through the night again. We are still working on getting him to go to bed at his original bedtime and not after 10. Any tricks? Please!
We met with Numotion to get Jackson measured for his stander. We are so excited to get the stander and can't wait to watch Jackson become more independent. The stander that he will be getting is awesome. With the stander’s removable large wheels in place, Jackson can self-propel in a standing position – free to explore his surroundings. If we remove the large wheels, the stander easily rolls right up to a table or a counter enabling him to participate in crafts and other stationary activities. With regular use, the stander will provide a way for Jackson to strengthen motor skills and work toward independent standing. The picture that I've included is a stock photo, but it's the stander that Jackson will get, minus a few of the things that he won't need. The stander has a conversion kit, so as he grows, should he still need it, the stander will still be useful.
I'm part of several groups on Facebook that deal with spina bifida. I even created a group for Middle Tennessee. I've become very passionate about spina bifida and want to learn all that I can, educate whoever I can, and meet new people. I want Jackson to grow up knowing that he isn't alone. I want him to see other people with spina bifida succeed at whatever is put in front of them. Through my group and the education lady that comes out once a month, I was able to meet with three other moms and their sweet little ones. One little girl is just a month older than Jackson, the little boy is a couple months younger than him, and the youngest, a little girl, is several months younger than him. It was a great to meet them and talk not only about spina bifida, but general parenting issues. We are planning on meeting again soon and I can't wait!
Jackson LOVES to look at books! I read to him nightly and sometimes several times throughout the day. I'm so glad that he is already showing love for books - makes my teacher heart and mommy heart happy!
Well, I think that's about all for the month. It was a boring month, until Jackson gave us his scare. I can't believe I'm going to have a 1 year old in less than a month! Currently, my almost 1 year old is playing with the magazines that he found. Have I mentioned that nothing is safe now? :)
<3,
Crystal
