Hungry Jack

Made it back for another update. It's amazing how Jack is gaining his weight. He has packed on a full pound since his last update. Yesterday when Mary weighed him he was 10 lbs 14 oz.....that's almost 11 lbs. What a big boy. He is doing wonderfully in all other departments too, well perhaps he gets a little cranky in the afternoon but we can forgive that. With me back at work it's nice that Jack isn't crying through the night like he was a few weeks ago. We're hoping he's gotten himself a night time sleep schedule. Next week Mary goes back to work and we'll see how I cope when he wakes me up during the day (my graveyard sleep hours).

This week we have a couple therapists coming to check in on Jack. Since he was born so early and is considered high risk they come as a free service to make sure Jack gets all the help and assistance he needs. Hopefully they will tell us everything is good. We know he's not where a normal 3-4 month old would be developmentally, we just want him to be where a 1-2 month old would be.

Another Week Has Past

Well, it's been another week since my last post. Thanks to everyone that continues to check in on Jack. He's still trucking right along. Mary weighed him last night and he was 9 lbs 14.5 oz. (he's moved up from small bowling ball to medium bowling ball). This was Mary's first weekend all alone with the boy overnight as I am back at work and there were no visitors. So far she says things are going well. He is pretty good about going to bed at night, but does have his moments of stubbornness. Last week Jack had a follow up head ultra sound, we haven't heard anything and as all the doctors have told us no news means good news. We don't have any plans or appointments for a while so we can just chill at home. It is nice for each of us to get out of the house, even if it's only a trip to the store. It gives us a little recharge and fresh air.

Lazy

I didn't realize it had been almost one week since the last post. I know that at least family stops by here to check on Jack's status, so I'll try to be less lazy. Jack is still getting bigger and bigger. We weighed him earlier tonight and he was up to 9 lbs 8 oz., it might be a couple ounces high, I'm not sure if I zeroed out the scale after I put the blanket on. Tomorrow Jack goes back out to the hospital for a head ultra-sound. It's just a follow up since he is considered high risk since he was born so early.

Jack got a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Passalaqua. I think all parties involved enjoyed the visit. It also helped out Mary who would have been home alone overnight with his since I am back at work now.

Doctor Week

Hi all. Things are going well at Casa de Passalaqua. Jack had his weight check appointment yesterday. He is now up to 8 lbs 12 oz (we pretty much knew that since we have a scale at our house). We talked to the doc about his reflux, and he said it's fairly common in younger babies. We got the OK to add a little rice cereal to his milk/formula to thicken it up. That will help to keep the food in his belly and not splashing up into his throat. It seemed to do some good last night, as he seemed to sleep a little more soundly. I'm going to either contruct a matress wedge or buy one so that he will sleep with his head slighly elevated, that is supposed to help as well (and we'll be able to put him in his crib.

Today he has an appointment to get his RSV vaccination. Then no more trips are planned for a couple weeks. Jack got to visit with Aunt DeAnna the other day. She stopped by after some meeting she had in Roseville. This weekend Grandma and Grandpa Passalaqua are going to be swinging in for a visit.

Great Grandparents Day

Hello all. Today the family made the trek down to Vallejo to visit the Passalaqua-Jeffcoat relatives. Jack got to meet his Great Grandpa Joe for the first time, and hung out for a few hours while everyone got to know him a little better....outside of the hospital. Great Grandma Nan, Great Uncle Mike and Great Aunt Mary were alos there. Jack behaved himself for the most part, and was very content to be passed around and have the family hold him. Jack also seemed to enjoy his car ride (both there and back again). As soon as his head hit that car seat head rest he was out! It was very good to get down that way to see everyone, and it was a success as a first outing for Jack.

Tomorrow Aunt DeAnna is supposed to be stopping by to visit with er favorite nephew. Then Jack has a couple days of doctors appointments. One for a routine check up to make sure he is still gaining the weight (we'll also enquire about his possible reflux issue), then the next day for an RSV vaccination. Now if we can just figure out how to get him to sleep between 7 and 11 pm.

It's Been a Few Days

Hello out there in innerweb land. For those still keeping track of Jack, he is doing very well. At our last weighing of him he was up to 8 lbs 4.5 oz. That was 2 days ago I believe. It's been pretty quiet on the visitor front. Nothing like the first 2 weeks. We had a lot of people that wanted to say hi to Jack....and it was very good to see everyone and have them in our home. We go a visit from Mary's aunt Sharon on Thursday. She made us some pot roast dinner and came to lend a hand with Jack during the night so we could get a little rest.

Jack still has some fussiness at evening/night. Every time we think we figure out what's going on he switches it up to keep us on our toes. We think he may be having bouts of reflux, because he seems to be in some pain after eating and is making some throaty noises/having little spit ups. He has a hard time laying in his crib on his back. We have found that he gets the best sleep and most comfort when sitting semi-upright in his swing. So, we have let him sleep in there, we just move it from his room to the living room during days and nights. We'll keep that up until we talk to his pediatrician on Tuesday.

We took Jack and the dogs for a walk today. Down to the dog park, it seems to allow everyone involved to get some rest and play. Tomorrow we are going on a road trip to Vallejo. He is going to hang out with the Great Grandparents and Great Aunt & Uncle. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures.

Growth Spurt?

It been an eventful few day s in the Passalaqua household. Today Grandma Christi left to go back home to Oklahoma. So, Mary and I are getting are first few days alone with Jack. We had one last we but we don't count it. Jack had numerous visitors over the week, Janet and Amy Rohrbough and Cousin Pam stopped into say hello to Jack. Also, we don't have any other visitors on the schedule, so we are just all going to chill at home.

We also think Jack maybe hitting a big growth spurt. He has started getting fussy in the evenings to night-time, and has the need to eat every 1 to 3 hours. From everything I've read it sounds like a growth spurt. I did weigh him today and he's up to 8 lbs 1 oz, per our baby scale. Last week at the doctor he was 7 lbs 10 oz, so he is still gaining pretty good. It says that most growth spurts last about 3 days to 1 week so we are hoping Jack will get back to his normal routine, just a little bigger.