Baby Jydan - 5 Months.

Five Months:
Wowwee! 5 months. Where has that time gone?
I feel like this has been one of the biggest months. Jydan's made a lot of 'sitting progress', and strengthening his legs. He has started solids and had avocado, banana, pumpkin and pears. He has even had a go at a sippy cup! He was constipated so we tried giving him a little bit of cooled down boiled water. He refuses a bottle so we put it in a sippy cut, he LOVED it!

 He has been interacting more, grabbing, pulling and playing more. He is really trying to explore. His wonderful personality has just shown through a lot this month.
We've had Easter, my brothers 12th birthday, a family holiday, a funeral, Jydan's naming day (which was probably this months highlight).
The coming month I would like to start introducing a comfort blanket for bed for when he is out of his wrap/swaddle. He is sitting independently for up to a minute at the moment so I think this month he will learn to sit completely independently too.


Jydan's Milestones:

Jydan is sitting a little longer now, he can sit independently for up to about a minute and then gets too wobbly and falls. Sometimes he even re balances himself!! If he falls a little bit he will sometimes sit himself back up.
Although Jydan knows how to roll, and has rolled since he was 3 weeks and 1 day he isn't really interested in it. We encouraging him with it a lot but I think he will skip this step!
Jydan is making all different sounds, saying "rawr" "apple" and "mum" (although we rarely say "mum").
Jydan is reaching for object and using his eyes to indicate what he wants. He is really interactive and loves to have a conversation. He is always smiling and loves his belly being tickled.
Jydan is starting to realise that Millie our dog is different, he is trying hard to work her out. We are helping Jydan explore Millie with patting and playing with her.

He is eating pureed breakfast and dinner, about a teaspoon each meal.
Jydan is taking all different things in lately. If I repeat the same thing to him like 'mum mum mum' he will stare at my lips and eyes, trying to work out how I'm saying it. He will stare at the TV too, Mr square eyes!
 

Reflux:
Jydan's reflux has been pretty controlled for just over a month now, but we've just had to up it a teeny tiny bit. Just a little bit of spew and extra hiccups. We haven't had to up it for a while, so it looks like his reflux is on the mend. YEYY!!

Eczema:

We are still struggling with his eczema. This stupid eczema! The cream that we are currently using, a 1 % cortisone works really well, as you can see there has been so many improvements... but he has to use it week on and off, so when he isn't using it for a week, it comes back really bad :(. My poor poss!!

Routine:

I have just started setting a a 'new' routine since Jydan has started waking up earlier (daylight savings ended) and he has started solid foods so spreading out our breastfeeding feeds. Solids and feeding confused me so it was easier to create a routine and stick to it. I have always demand fed Jydan so it's different to routine feed him now, it's all so new, so lets see how we go :)
So here is our new routine:

7:30am- Wake up. Cuddles in bed & nurse from me.
8:00am- Change nappy, medicine, eczema cream and Jydan's breakfast time.
8:30am- Get dressed and play.
9am- Change nappy, nap time.
11am- Wake up, change nappy.
11.30am- Nurse from me.
11.40am- Tummy time, then usually in his bouncer while I do housework, then story time.
1pm- Change nappy, eczema cream and bed.
3.00pm- Wake up, change nappy, playtime.
3:30pm- Nurse from me.
4:30pm- Change nappy, nap for 45minutes
5.15pm- Wake up
5.30pm- Pureed veggies for dinner.
5.45pm- Jydan watches some TV while I get my dinner organised and run his bath.
6.10pm- Medicine
6.15pm- Bath time with me.
6:40pm- Finish bath, get dressed, eczema cream, PJ's on, nurse from me.
7:00pm- Bed time

Then he wakes up about 5am for a feed if he does wake at all :).


Paediatrician Appointment
I'm currently waiting for another appointment letter, not sure when the next one will be but they are suppose to be monthly now.

Weight/Height/Looks:

Jydan has put on about 300 grams this month and grown 2 cms! This is pretty average, what a typical baby his age puts on, so I'm pretty happy with that :). He is now 6.8 Kilo's (14.9 pounds) and is 64 cm long too which is 25 inches. He had been completely in 00's (3-6 month) clothes for about a month now so I think he will be in them for a couple more months. We are starting to stock up on 0 (6-9 month) clothes for when he is big enough for them.

 

Jydan's Likes/Dislikes:

Jydan LOVES reading books. He sits there and just patiently listens to our voices and looks at the pictures. When we pick a book, I get Jydan to help me pick. I follow his eyes and pick whatever book he is looking at :).
Jydan also loves his swing now. It's his favourite play equipment.
He doesn't like being in the car when we are tired, especially when we stop at bed lights. He has become use to it any other time.
Jydan likes to eat pumpkin and banana, not so much avocado.


Feeding:
My little man is still breastfeeding, we're going strong now, I'm pretty proud of myself! He is feeding every four hours, as well as having about 2 tablespoons of solids a day. He has about half a tablespoon for breakfast and then about 1-1 & 1/2 for dinner.


 

Baby Jydan - 4 Months 4 Weeks.

Twenty-One Weeks:

During Jydan's specialists appointment he was weighed and measured. He is now 6.8 Kilo's (14.9 pounds) which is around the weight as a baby in Australia was born at in Feb this year! Crazy huh! He is 64 cm long too which is 25 inches. We got his  head measured too and it's the same measurement as last month, his little heady hasn't grown.. and we still have no answers and have to wait for ANOTHER specialists appointment. It's all a waiting game.
Solids are going really well this week. He has around a teaspoon for dinner each day. He had avocado for about a week and then we introduced him to banana. The first night he had banana he slept the whole night. He slept from 7pm - 6.30am!! I was awake at 4.30 just waiting for him wake and checking that he was breathing.. and waiting.. and waiting. And then he had a feed and went back to sleep 'till 8.50am. I never thought I would see the day. What a brilliant boy I have.
Day light savings ended through this week so Jydan has been waking an hour earlier, but since he's sleeping so much better, I don't mind that much :).
This week it's been a bit colder then what Jydan is use to so luckily we have a heat pump, it's been on for the first time this year. I also got my 'Jydan tattoo' which you can read about HERE, we've had lots of play dates and lunch dates, Tim's had an extra day off work, shopping, introduced new foods, still battled with his eczema, better sleeping habits and more interactive play!

Favourite Toy This Week:

His thumb! Jydan's loved putting his hands in his mouth for a couple of months now but he's now favouring his thumb... hehe funny boy!

Favourite Thing To Do:

Jydan has discovered blowing bubbles and loves it! Blowing bubbles/spitting. As if there wasn't enough dribble! haha.


Favourite Book:

Jydan really just loves books in general. If it's bright and colourful he will sit and look at the pictures and listen to your voice while you read with him. If there is a book or magazine near by he will stare at it until you read it to him, and read it many times!








Favourite Food:

Banana's, he likes them more then avocado. Yum yum! We have started giving him breakfast now too. Since he can't have grains, wheat or dairy, baby cereal is out of the question. So banana's are a great breakfast food. We are introducing him to pumpkin for dinner tonight.. let's see how it goes :).

Favourite Word:

"Apple".. He says this over and over and over again. He says it more like "aaaaa-pool". I think he likes the 'bubble' feeling it has on his lips, since he is all about blowing bubbles at the moment.

Milestones:

Sleeping, woohoo. Definitely a milestone, right? If we aren't sleeping through the whole night, we are only waking once and we are achieving 2 hour naps through the day.

Personality This Week:

A big big chatterbox this week. He is always trying to join in on conversations. He isn't afraid of strangers anymore, he's happy to interact with anyone.

Moment Of The Week:

Sleeping again... after spending months waking every 2-3 hours, I'm over the moon about this sleep thing.. you can't half tell, huh!



Outfit Of The Week:

I'm obsessed with the very hungry caterpillar and LOVE these overalls. Too cute!

Photo Of The Week:

Jydan loves his food! He's eating avocado here with a little bit of banana and breastmilk :).

Jydans Head Growth - 4 Months.

Last Thursday I finally received an appointment letter from the paediatrician, after a month of waiting! It's for the 4th of April, another months time.. Which means all up we waited two months for an appointment! Goodness me.
I'm so glad we have an appointment though, we will hopefully get some answers. I  might actually start to sleep better (but hey, when else can I blog?!). Since the Xray was clear though, I'm sure it's nothing really, really serious.
Thursday we also had a clinic appointment and got all Jydan's measurements done. His head circumference is now 40cm! It's grown 1 & 1/2 centimeters in 4 weeks! The biggest growth it has done. I'm so glad, it's put him back on the growth chart! I've uploaded his new measurement on his chart and you can see its jumped up a little bit (yeeyy). So that's looking more positive! Just waiting for the paediatrician appointment next month to know more :-).

Jydans Head Growth - 13 Weeks

After Jydan's X-Ray on Friday, I don't think I slept much for 48 hours from worry! The weekend went by so slowly that I decided that at 9am Monday I was going to call for the results.

By the time Monday came around I was on the phone at 9:00am asking for his X-Ray results... they hadn't come in yet and asked me to call back in the afternoon. Tick tock, tick tock.. Time went so slow... so 1:00pm I called back... and they still hadn't come in. They asked me to call back tomorrow afternoon. The more time that went past, the more research that I did about what could be going on. I was so frightened and they are making me wait yet another day.

Argh, now this was really testing how strong of a mother I was. I know children go through worse, but when it's your own child, I just felt like his results should of been a priority. Seriously, this was an X-Ray of a 12 week old baby's skull, with a very worried mother behind it... HURRY UP ALREADY!

Tuesday morning I had butterflies like nothing else, I was so eager to find the results and 1pm came around so slow. 1pm on the dot I called the doctors. This time they seemed annoyed that I had called again and said they would follow it up and call ME back. I guess they had on the computer how many times I had called because they said, 'yes, you've called a couple of times'. 2 went by, no call. 3 went by, no call.. I called back at 3:30 (I know, I know).. and it went straight to the answering machine... then again at 4pm. The results had finally come back and the X-Ray came back normal!

Although it came back normal, and I'm relieved it was normal it still doesn't answer why Jydan's head had shrunk and then started developing really slowly so according to the doctor's notes, Jydan has to undergo more tests and see a paediatrician. 'Sigh'... I guess it's time I put my very patient mummy hat on and just wait again. I feel like we're back to square one, no answers. At least an X-Ray is ruled out.

Jydans Head Growth (12 weeks)

I haven't had insomnia this bad since being pregnant, you would think after an exhausting day today I would be fast asleep but I'm up blogging at 3:30am, eating jelly babies and watching my beautiful boy sleep.
I mentioned in Jydans 9 Week Blog that during his checkup his head circumference was smaller then a previous measurement. They sent us for an extra checkup (yesterday) to see if it was just a miss measurement or if there was something going on.
Well in the last four weeks Jydan's head circumference has grown but only half a centimeter. I've uploaded his growth measurements on a growth chart for you to see. It's a bit blurry but you can see steady growth till 6 weeks, a drop at 8 weeks and minimal growth at 12 weeks. His circumference is now on the 5th percentile.

So after his clinic appointment we were sent to the doctor who wrote out a referral for an x-ray and to see a paediatrician. The doctor felt around his head and explained that she couldn't feel a gap in his fontanelle it felt like it had closed up too prematurely. This isn't suppose to happen till he is two or older. She explained what she thought it was (Craniosynostosis) & that she has only seen one other case of it in her professional career.
After the doctor we went of to the hospital to get Jydans Xray. I got Tim to finish work early and meet us there.

Argh, the xray was horrible. First off, only I could go in but I had to hold my little man down still. I had to hold his arms next to his body and hold him down tight while one radiologist held his head down and one took photos. It was horrid. He screamed and screamed so much that when they took a break to check the photos I would pick him up and he would fall asleep from exhausting himself out.. And then they didn't get the angle right so I would have to do it all over again.
For the second time in his life he was in tears - the first -time was when he had hurt his face during tummy time. So then I was off! His watery red eyes and bright red face isn't how I want to see him again!
We are now waiting for the xray results to see if and how bad it is.

So tonight I cuddled my little man almost the whole night as he slept in my arms, I just couldn't put him in his bed.

What Is Crainiosynostosis?
Craniosynostosis effects one in about two & half thousand babies. It's a birth defect where one or more of the joints (sutures) between bones in the skull close prematurely, before the baby is two, not leaving enough room for the developing brain which can cause the skull to grow in an unnatural shape and in some cases the brain also.

Baby Jydan - 9 Weeks

Nine Weeks Young:

This week I've realised how smart my little darling is. I've spent alot of time just admiring how much he knows and has learnt in only 9 weeks. How much he has grown and learnt. I also can't believe that my little one is NINE WEEKS. For some reason I expected him to stay so little forever and find myself so shocked when he grows or learns something new. Each day he is learning. Each day my husband comes home from work and say how much he's changed in just one day!

Finally Some Christmas Photos:
Yeeyy... they finally let me upload the Christmas photo's!! Better late then never ;).

Clinic Appointment:
We had Jydan's 8 week appointment which we learnt that he isn't putting on the weight as much as we had hoped. He has put on 18 grams in two weeks. The health nurse said it's probably because of his reflux. Also, according to his measurements at 6 weeks, his head circumference is a centimeter smaller. We have another appointment in a few weeks to check his head circumference again. I am really worried, I keep telling myself that they measured it wrong - his head can't possibly be shrinking. But, unfortunately, even if it wasn't shrinking it's not growing properly. I'll keep everyone posted. Thankfully he is such an intelligent little man I know it's not his brain.
 

Reflux:
Jydan's reflux has improved SO much. He is vomiting alot less... most days it's just one in the mornings! I am just thrilled to see the progress the medication is making. There are still days where it really plays up, my word doesn't he tell us! There are still days where I am glued to the couch cuddling my baby boy because his tummy hurts so much, but they are fewer and he is much happier baby.

Jydan's Milestone's:

Jydan's had a big week of learning association. He crys when we put his swaddle on him. He knows it's sleep time. He gets excited when I lay him on my lap. He knows he's about to get fed. He becomes calm or smile's and coos when I wash his eyes, he knows he about to have a bath. He is just one amazing, clever boy!

Weekend Away:
Myself and Jydan stayed at my mum's last weekend for a little weekend away. We spent the weekend relaxing and going for walks by the river, napping together, getting to know each other, playing together and spending time with my mum/ Jydan's nanny!

Routine:

This week we are teaching Jydan to self settle. The first day was horrible. I couldn't stand his cries. All I wanted to do was pick him up! I decided to teach him to self settle as he would wake up every 30 minutes, every time he would get into a light sleep he would wake himself up. So I had to teach him how to get himself back into a deep sleep. The second day/night was much better.. the third even better.. We are still working on it, but night's he has the picture! He puts himself to sleep at night! It takes him a while and he plays for a while, but he does it :). Day's are still hard, we are still working on them. Little by little.

Weight/Height/Looks:

Jydan is now 58 centimeters according to his 8 week check. He is getting so tall! I don't know where he gets it from since Tim and I are short! My mum's really tall, so if he keeps growing at this rate he must have got his tallness from her. He will over-take me by the time he is 10, haha!


Jydan's Likes/Dislikes:

Jydan's finding new things that he likes everyday, and this week he is especially loving interaction. When you talk and smile and engage with him he smiles and talks back. It's just amazing really, makes every moment so fun!


Breast Feeding:

(He's learnt to pinch!!) I haven't had to give Jydan an expressed bottle for weeks now so feeding is going pretty awesome! I think we are FINALLY getting the hang of it! The only thing now is he like to suck on his hands and anything else he can get in his mouth all the time. I use to use this as an indication that he's hungry, but now he does it anyway so I have to learn his hunger signs all over again!