to dress up Claudia’s post below. In the last photo, he is glowing healthy!

It has been soo long since I have added anything to Oliver’s site. My sis has done such an incredible job. I thoroughly love getting my updates. Odd, as it is our lives she is writing about.

So there is alot to tell you guys. First of all, I finally chopped my hair. I have been wanting to cut it for a long time! My mom walked around town with the kids and I got it cut. I was also in the mist of having a breakdown. I seem to have less and less, but they build up and eventually it leads to a huge explosion (well several, quite honestly). After my meltdowns, I do pick myself back up and I feel refreshed. I have changed several things in the past few weeks besides my attitude. I am no longer pumping every two hours for 20 minutes. I realized that it was no longer working for me or my family for quite some time now. It was getting too hard. Oliver crawling all over while I was chasing him around all the while pumping! So I decided I was going to wean myself from my pump, sad as that may sound. I began to formulate a plan in my head to get rid of the guilt that comes along with this. I had nursed Nathan and Bella to about a year and a half, so I was almost there. I had never thought about how difficult it would be to quit. I was so scared of getting mastitis again (it happened at the end of August). This is where I had one of my big revelations. I did not have to go cold turkey and quit completely. Duh!!!! I am so brain dead sometimes. So now I am pumping every 3 hours and wow what a huge difference. I can get so much done. It is invigorating and I feel so independent and free. Its crazy!!

My release of emotions also led me to tackle another huge dilemma in our lives – the horrible feeding pump. Oliver (since we left the hospital) has been on a continuous feeding pump at night, starting at about 9am and ending at about 6am. Sneaking in additional calories to fatten him up. Well, that sweet pump clogs, beeps and demands attention all night long. With refilling the bag with fresh milk and making sure Oliver’s lines weren’t tangled up or choking him was keeping us and him awake. It also is not healthy for him as it does not allow his stomach to shrink and expand in a natural way. It also was not allowing him to feel hunger. Well you may have already guessed but for the last 3 nights we have not used the pump!!! Instead I have been feeding him 3 bolus feeds at 10pm, 1am and 4am. As insane as this sounds I sleep so much better and he does as well. I am not costantly waking up to check his lines. I never realized how truly worried I was about that.

Also another wonderful thing is that Oliver at last weight check, the 26th, weighed 17lbs and 8 oz!!! That is 8 oz in 2 weeks- but who is counting? Well actually I am and it really is a HUGE weight on my shoulders (no pun intended) at every weekly weigh in. So that is the reason I have switched appts for now to be twice monthly. Why put myself under such stress?

So in the end, my breakdown has led to a lot of good changes in our lives. Life is peaceful once again!

I hear things are going well but I don’t have anything specific to update.

Here’s a beautiful photo Claudia sent me.

Sorry everybody, I haven’t updated this site in so long… is anyone still watching???

I just talked to Claudia and things are going great. Oliver is happy as ever. He’s crawling really fast now, and can charge up the stairs in no time. The time has come for baby gates. He weighs more than 17 pounds and gained 5 ounces just last week. This is good weight gain for one week. He’s been drinking cow’s milk for a couple of weeks, in addition to mommy’s milk, and that seems to be working well. Now that Oliver is crawling so fast, Claudia can’t be tied to the breast pump as long. She needed to change things around and find a schedule that will accommodate his new mobility. Anyway they are in the midst of making those changes and it seems to be going well. One of Oliver’s new favorite things is bike riding with the family. Claudia puts him in a little seat on the back of her bike and off they go. She says he loves it! Oliver is also learning sign language. Claudia says he makes the sign for “more” a lot.. which makes me laugh, because I remember teaching that to Ingrid and then somewhat regretting it : )

Last week Oliver fought a small cold all on his own, without antibiotics. Dr. O was watching the cold’s progression carefully and he decided to give Oliver a chance to fight it himself before bringing out the antibiotics. Dr. O was encouraged to see how strong Oliver’s immune system is. October 1st will be Oliver’s next Cardiology appointment, and it’ll be a big one. They’ll really be able to see changes in his heart because three months will have passed since the last look.

Here’s a photo Claudia sent me today.