Getting to Know Russell

He has a little red birthmark between his eyes, slightly to the right.

He has a clogged tear duct in his right eye. It's always gunky and usually half closed when the other eye is fully open.

He can usually be found like this:

within inches of my...his source of food, whether asleep or awake.

He's been smiling now for a week or two:

He may be cooing, too, but it's hard to tell since he doesn't spend a lot of time being happy and all vocalizations lead to crying.

He is very strong! He has been known to try to stand up on my lap. Every time he's being snuggled with on one's chest, he picks his head up and throws himself to the side. Sometimes I worry that he's going to jump right out of my arms!

(My three boys enjoying tummy time.)

He enjoys stroller rides, just like his older brother (thank goodness):

He wasn't gaining very much weight to begin with. He was 8 lbs 5 oz at birth, 7 lbs 12 oz at four days old, 8 lbs 1 oz at 2.5 weeks old, and 8 lbs 6.5 oz at 3.5 weeks old. Babies are supposed to be at their birth weight at 2 weeks old and then gain 5-7 oz each week after that. It has been determined that I have an awful milk supply, which isn't helped by Russell's possible tongue-tie and his extreme sleepiness while eating.

At 5.5 weeks old he weighed 9 lbs 10 oz...so it seems that his weight gain is back on track. Either that or the scale was off, because he has been getting sleepier and sleepier and Caleb's feeding therapist is quite concerned. I don't know what's going on. But I've decided not to start worrying until a medical professional tells me to. I don't have the energy to worry.

When I say he's a sleepy eater, I mean it! He falls asleep within a few minutes at the breast and between nursing, burping, diaper changes, and bottle feeding I'm lucky if I can get through a feeding in less than 50 minutes.

He still eats every 2.5-3 hours during the day.

He is pretty good at sleeping in his bassinet at night, swaddled very tightly in a crocheted blanket with his hands by his face. But he still goes 2.5-3 hours between night feedings. A few times he's gone 4 hours. Last night I actually got 4.5 hours of sleep in a row! NICE!

He usually has one happy moment about every other day for maybe 10 minutes where I'm able to set him down without him crying. In fact, we're lucky if he has any awake time, whether in our arms or not, where he isn't crying. And we're extremely fortunate if we can get him to sleep somewhere other than our arms during the day.

He seems to be happiest (aka, not entirely unhappy) when there are new things to look at and hear. He was once in a crowded room with a lot of new people, and he was very happy! It was like he was a different baby. I wish we could achieve the desired behavior with the stimulation of toys and music...but alas, that has never worked.

He's very gassy and poops a LOT! He had a terrible diaper rash for a few weeks that wouldn't go away with any diaper rash ointment that I could find. BUT! It went away almost completely after 24 hours of using paper towels and water in place of baby wipes. Thanks to all you mommas who suggested that!

He is just barely starting to outgrow newborn clothes. They are starting to get a little tight around the tummy, but most of them still fit length-wise. But his feet are really filling out the designated foot space. He must have gotten his long feet from me. Nate's feet are the same size as mine. :/ (But for the record, I have very average-sized feet. Nate is the one with small feet.)

And that's my baby. He can be difficult at times, but we love him. Yes, I have to remind myself that I love him when he won't stop crying and I just want to set him down to get a drink of juice, or go to the bathroom, or put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, or feed Caleb. I have been tempted to give him (permanently) to the neighbors, but it's not his fault! He's just a baby. I need to be more patient. We find ways to make it all work, but I'm sure looking forward to the day when he can communicate with us through ways other than crying. And when he can be entertained by things, like toys. And when he can stay awake long enough to eat without me having to use every trick in the book to get him to eat the bare minimum.

Whew. Yes. I love him. And now I'm going to bed.

Christmas 2011!

Christmas doesn't get any better than it does with a toddler! It was magical!

Here is Caleb with his first gift--a football tent from Auntie Jenna. (I don't know why it didn't focus. Sorry if it gives you a headache!)

Yes, you heard right. He went inside, we asked, "Do you like your football tent?" and Caleb promptly said, "No." and got out. HAHA! But rest assured, he sure loves it now!

Caleb somehow got obsessed with Angry Birds. We don't even know how he learned what it's called. He doesn't play it. He just looks at it on Nate's phone. Well, Nate is a wonderful, thoughtful father and he got this for Caleb, unbeknownst to me:

Ah, the joy!

Other Christmas presents that made the top of the list: A tie. Yes, Caleb has his own tie, and no suit to wear it with. But when he opened it, he shouted, "A TIE!" with great zeal, and started jumping up and down (you know, in the way that a toddler jumps before he really knows how to get both feet off the ground at the same time). So far, he has refused to let me put it on him. But it was worth buying, if only for the initial reaction. Too bad we didn't get it on camera. We weren't expecting it to go over so well!

He also got a little drum and some other instruments (he has grown to love the kazoo). When he opened the drum and saw what it was, he shouted, "Drums! HOORAY!" Priceless.

The Littlest Purser turned one week old on Christmas, so he was clearly not as excited by the magic of the day as Caleb was. He did, however, sleep in his bassinet between feedings during the night, and gave me a few hours of sleep at a time. I think I even got three straight hours! That was the best night of his whole life so far! AND he was content to lay on the bed without crying while I got ready for the morning. That was also a first.

Together, all of my boys made it the most wonderful Christmas ever.

2011, in review:

January: Caleb was diagnosed as Failure to Thrive due to insufficient weight gain and chronic dehydration.

March: Caleb was hospitalized for 5 days with RSV, a nasty stomach virus, and an ear infection, all at the same time. The day after leaving the hospital, at 16.5 months of age, he took his first steps!

April: We found out that we were expecting another little Purser!

May: Caleb was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Enteritis.

June: Caleb spent the afternoon in the ER for vomiting and dehydration. The next day he got an NG feeding tube and started his elemental diet.

July: We found out that Caleb would have a little BROTHER! Caleb had surgery to place a g-tube to take the place of the NG feeding tube.

August: We had a lovely vacation visiting my family in Minnesota.

November: Caleb turned 2! I made it to full-term (37 weeks)! Caleb had a clean scope--the eosinophil cells were gone!

December: Caleb started getting a few new foods to eat. Baby Russell joined our family, big and healthy and just in time for Christmas! Nate and I celebrated our fourth anniversary.

-------------------------------------

It's been quite a year. In January, Caleb was just barely starting to pull himself up and walk around furniture. He had just figured out how to go from a crawl to a sit. Now he's running everywhere and starting to walk up stairs! Caleb went from being 16 pounds in January to 18 pounds in July to 21 pounds in November. I won't tell you what happened with my weight. ;) He went from wearing size 3-6 month clothing to 12 month clothing! I can't even begin to describe how much has happened with his vocabulary and cognitive development.

A lot of good things happened in 2011. It was a pretty big year! Sure, we had two hospitalizations, two diagnoses (one quite major), and one surgery, but it sure is nice to end the year on a good note! We have two healthy little boys (relatively speaking) and a lot to look forward to.

I couldn't ask for more.

Russell's Birth Story

I know, I know, my baby is already four weeks old and I'm just getting around to writing his birth story. Can you blame me? I have hardly slept in the last month. It's a little crazy around here.

The Story:

Wednesday, December 14th: At my regular OB appointment the doctor stripped my membranes and scheduled an induction for my due date, December 21st. I was 3cm dilated and about 90% effaced.

Saturday, December 17th: I finished the last of my Christmas shopping. While buying Russell a bank for his Christmas gift, the lady at the check-out asked when I was due. I told her that I had an induction scheduled for Wednesday, and that I was too comfortable being pregnant to think that I'd be going into labor on my own. That evening, around 6PM, I went from having no contractions whatsoever to having really painful ones every few minutes. They were too painful and too fast to even be able to time them. Jenna was planning on coming to our house that evening anyway, and she got there just in time. I was ready to go NOW.

So, Nate and I left for the hospital around 7PM. When we got there I was dilated to 5cm, my water was bulging, and I was having very strong, regular contractions lasting at least 60 seconds and coming every two minutes. They admitted me right away and offered an epidural. Remembering how awful the epidural made me feel last time (and how it hardly even took the edge off of the contractions, anyway), I wanted to wait as long as I could before getting it. But my contractions were soooo strong that every time I would get one I would say, "I think it's time for an epidural!" But every time the contraction would end, I would be sooo happy that I could feel my legs. So I decided to get an epidural once my water broke, because I had heard that contractions were much stronger after that.

The nurse didn't think it would take very long at all for Russell to come. She thought he would be here before midnight since it was my second delivery and my contractions were so strong and close together. Our goal was to make it past midnight, since I needed at least four hours of antibiotics since I was group B strep positive.

About an hour and a half after getting to the hospital, the nurse checked me again and I was 6-7cm. Right after checking me, my water broke and the first thing I said was, "I want an epidural!" It took almost another hour before the epidural was in, but I guess my contractions were so strong to begin with that it didn't get any worse after my water broke. And the epidural was much better than last time--it took the pain away, but I could still feel and move my legs!

Then Nate slept, and I tried to sleep. The nurse checked me every hour and surprisingly I wasn't 10cm until about 3am! At that point she noticed that Russell was posterior (facing up towards the ceiling, not down towards the floor). Posterior babies are much harder to push out, because they can't descend down the birth canal as easily. That's why it took me so long to dilate even with those crazy contractions. So, then I got another dose of epidural, threw up, and the doctor came in and I started pushing.

After about 15 minutes of pushing with the doctor trying to turn Russell so he wasn't posterior, the doctor told me that I was pushing effectively, but that this wouldn't be a typical second delivery. :( Russell was big and he wasn't able to turn him, so I shouldn't expect delivery to be fast or easy. Sad! So, then the doctor left and I pushed with the nurse for the next TWO HOURS! Yikes! Two hours of giving it my all in the middle of the night. It was HARD WORK!

At that point, I needed another dose of epidural. And I started getting this excruciating pain by my left hip bone that didn't go away with the epidural. It felt similar to an ovarian cyst rupturing (which I've had many times), only much more painful. I couldn't think of anything but the pain. I had to press my fingers into my side to make the pain even somewhat manageable. I kept saying, "I can't...I don't..." thinking, "I can't do this any more! I don't know how much more I can take!" But I knew that I didn't have any other options.

Then I threw up again. The doctor came in and said, "How do you feel about forceps?" And I said, "YES, PLEASE!" So, after about two pushes with the forceps and a few more pushes otherwise, Russell made his grand entrance!

Eleven hours of labor and two hours and fifteen minutes of pushing in the wee hours of the morning, and I delivered my 8lb 5oz, 19 inch boy!

I got to see him get cleaned off and weighed, and I got to hold him skin-to-skin right away for about an hour. He was born hungry and had enough energy to nurse for over half an hour right after birth. I swear he's been hungry every second of his life. VERY different from Caleb!

And I'm proud to say that between all of my sisters, I now hold the record for the smallest baby and the biggest baby. :)

Introducing:

Russell David Purser

12/18/11, 5:24AM

8 pounds 5 ounces

19 inches

Bye-Bye Eosinophils!

Caleb had another scope on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Everything appeared normal, just as it did on his first scope, when he was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Enteritis. After all, eosinophils are allergy cells, and you can't see cells with the naked eye.

So, the GI doctor took biopsies of every part of his upper digestive system (just as she did the first time) and tested them for everything under the sun (just as before). We got the biopsy results back on Monday morning and guess what...? NO MORE EOSINOPHILS! The diet of just an elemental/hypoallergenic formula along with apples, rice, grapes, chicken, tuna, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes (well, he basically only ate apples, grapes, and sweet potatoes for the past few months) worked!

"Bye-bye eosinophils"

"See ya [daddy??] eosinophils"

"No-no, all done, eosinophils"

You probably can't tell, but I'm happy to point out that he has cooked rice and pureed sweet potatoes on his chin and bib. :D

Now we just have to hope that he has gained enough weight to have a stronger small bowel so that he can fight off any new allergens as we introduce new foods. He has only gained three pounds in the last 4-5 months, and he's not even close to being on the growth chart, but the GI doctor thinks it's time to start new foods. I really hope that we're not moving ahead too soon. If he's not ready for new foods then we could lose all of the progress that we've made. I'm just scared that, if he isn't able to fight off the allergens, we won't know what the offending food is. After all, the only clues that anything was wrong before his diagnosis were occasional vomiting of huge amounts and refusal to eat. And even though at the start of his new diet those symptoms were completely resolved, they are now worse than ever because his body is rejecting the formula. So it's going to be hard to know what's going on.

So. We're going to take a leap of faith. Our GI doctor has seen a 100 percent cure rate with this type of eosinophilic disorder, so I've got to trust her. And it will be nice to have a head start on all of this by the time the baby comes.

So, what comes next? New foods! We will add one new food every three days and see how Caleb reacts. We've already started our first new "food"--a non-hypoallergenic formula. Instead of using a medical formula with completely broken down proteins that is impossible to be allergic to, we are now using Nestle/Gerber Goodstart (it's an infant formula that you can get at any store). It has partially broken down proteins, so it's still very gentle on his system. We're in the middle of day five on the new formula and we've already seen major improvements!! He only threw up once in the past five days and his appetite has increased! He is (kind of) swallowing food again and the other day he wanted me to spoon feed him an entire jar of applesauce!

I don't know which food we will introduce next, or how we will go about introducing the most common offenders (like dairy, eggs, wheat, and soy). But the GI doctor and I decided to wait for two weeks to offer another new food, just to make sure that he will continue to tolerate the new formula. After that, we will probably go with the "new food every three days" rule...depending on what we see, I assume.

And at some point, depending on his symptoms, he will probably have another follow-up scope to make sure that the eosinophils are under control.

I had no clue that motherhood would be about watching your baby suffer day in and day out. It's not supposed to be like that. You're supposed to watch them suffer when they get an ear infection, or a stuffy nose, or the 24-hour flu, or their first vaccinations...not when they take a bite of food. Not when hunger pains are more tolerable than eating pains. Not when they're so dehydrated that their lips crack and bleed. Not when they get surgery so that they can do one of life's most basic functions--eat. Not when projectile vomiting becomes a part of everyday life.

I'm just so thankful that my valiant little guy's happy spirit hasn't been effected by this disease. Today we went to the store and for no apparent reason he just couldn't stop laughing. He may be wild and crazy and uncontrollable at times, and his medical issues are certainly trying at times, but he is almost always happy. He loves to do things that please me. He hardly ever throws tantrums, and if he does, a quick time-out cures everything. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect child, medical problems and all!

37 Weeks!

Yes, I made it to full-term! I may be 3 weeks away from my due date, but at this point, the baby is considered "full-term" and wouldn't be considered a preemie if he was born now! To my understanding, his chances of needing to be in the NICU are the same now as they are three weeks from now.

There is a very, very good chance that I will get the four things that I have really wanted from the beginning: to hold my baby after he's born, to hear him cry, to take him home from the hospital with me, and to be able to feed him without a feeding tube and/or stress/feeding therapy/medical concerns.

AMAZING!!!

In fact, my new goal is to give him nothing but breast milk for the first four months. After all, getting formula too soon is our best guess as to what caused Caleb's feeding problems. If we have children with weak digestive systems, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Yes, Caleb was under three pounds when he first got formula (as a fortifier to the breast milk), so of course it was hard for him to digest it, but still. Can you blame me for being paranoid? We've been living a nightmare. I'd do ANYTHING to keep my next little baby from having to suffer like Caleb has.

It's so nice to know that he has such a good chance at not suffering.

Nate and I celebrated by having pizza, wings, and cupcakes. :) I know that sounds so unhealthy, and that I look huge in the picture (who am I kidding, I AM huge!), but my weight gain is right on track, so no worries! It's worth the cupcakes!

37 weeks!

So, last Friday I had strong, painful contractions, every three minutes, for three hours. Then they went away. BUT!! Apparently they were kind of the real deal, because I am now dilated to 1.5cm and 60 percent effaced! Ever since 26 weeks I've been dilated less than 1cm and 50 percent effaced. So, it's nice to know that I won't be pregnant forever, and that some day in the not-too-distant future I will get to meet this little guy! I'm so excited to see him!