6 Month Appointment

In my most tired moments I long for when Noah is a teenager, but only because at that age kids sleep. A LOT. At least I know I did. We finally introduced some formula to supplement my dwindling supply (although I have been able to pump a little more consistently). The last two nights I've mixed 3.5oz breastmilk with 2.5oz formula. Both nights he drank it like a champ. He was slower to fall asleep both nights, and he's woken up around 3:30am both times as well. And here I thought formula was supposed to help them sleep longer. Instead we seem to be going backwards. Oh well. If I've been able to hang in for 6 months, I know I can keep it up. And it all feels worth it when I'm burping him at 3:00am and he falls asleep on my shoulder. As much as I want to go back to sleep, I often wait a few extra minutes to enjoy his breath on my neck. Sometimes I miss the days where he would only nap if he was napping on me. Time goes so fast!

Last Thursday Noah had his follow-up ultrasound to check on his kidneys. (Just to recap, at our 20 week prenatal ultrasound, he was diagnosed with pyelectasis, which essentially means he had extra fluid in his kidneys. A follow up u/s at 6 weeks postpartum showed it was still there.) The tech said he still had some fluid in each, but that his bladder was really full which can sometimes cause that. We waited and waited for him to pee, but he wouldn't cooperate, so we gave up. Monday morning was his 6 month appointment. Our pediatrician checked the u/s results and delivered the not so stellar news. Basically, at this point they expected his kidneys to be fluid-free. Since they aren't, he has to have a procedure called a cystogram in which they stick a catheter up his urethra, inject dye up into his bladder, and then watch where it goes. If there's a problem with the valves in his bladder, then the dye will make its way to his kidneys. If that happens, they rate the severity of the problem on a scale of 1-5. A score of 1-3 is okay, in that he will just continue to be monitored by a urologist. A score of 4-5 though and we start to discuss surgery. I guess at his age, the odds of that are miniscule, and since he's never had any sort of urinary infection, it's very unlikely. But still, no one wants to hear the word "surgery" for their baby. He'll have the cystogram done next Friday.

Aside from all of that, Noah is a long little peanut. He weighed in at 15lbs, 9.5oz (13th %ile) and measured 27" (65th %ile). He's getting more and more personality each day. He is starting to babble instead of making random shrieks and grunts, and it's so fun to babble back at him. When I feed him these days, he likes to reach up and grab at my face. Today (11/7) I pretended to eat his fingers, which highly amused him. Each day he also gets better at sitting on his own. Wow, they grow up TOO fast!

It's so hard to leave him every morning, but he's in amazing hands. I guess I haven't elaborated much on "daycare." Every day, one of my friends makes a 30 minute commute to my house to watch Noah along with her 10 month son. On Wednesdays she leaves her son home with her husband and Noah gets one-on-one care. There's no way we're paying her what she's worth, especially considering she often goes out of her way to clean the dishes and kitchen, and she sends me picture messages and takes videos of him. I love her and feel so lucky to have such an extraordinary friend!