Happy Easter!

Here's our Easter picture! We made it to church - a little late, but at least we made it! John Harrison slept through services again. But we loaded him up with food before we left, so it didn't surprise us.

We've had a decent week, although there were some really rough days in it. He had really bad gas pains for many hours which made for a REALLY fussy baby. And a REALLY fussy baby made for REALLY stressed out parents! When I started to think about things, I realized that the only thing that was fairly consistent in my diet was cereal (high fiber, of course) and milk for breakfast. I cut both out and things got better (not perfect). Well, yesterday I had a glass of milk and yesterday afternoon was not great at all! So we'll be eliminating milk from my diet for the time being to see if that really is the culprit. We've read that it's actually fairly common for babies to have an issue with dairy, even if Mom has already digested it. We'll see how it goes...

The only other thing of note is that John Harrison took breastmilk from a bottle for the first time today. The bottle didn't phase him at all. This will help us out immensely in terms of the flexibility of feeding John H. I plan to continue to breastfeed and stockpile some milk. But this will allow me the ability to leave John H with Daddy without me needing to be home in a set amount of time. What a relief!

The grandparents Pitcher are coming on Tuesday. This will be Bev's second time to see John H, but this will be Tom's first trip. I'm sure John Harrison will come away from the week with them with at least a few new nicknames! I'm sure they will enjoy the time and the beautiful weather we are expected to have.

I hope that you all had a great Easter!

-EBP-

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FOUR weeks!

WOW! It's hard to believe that it's been 4 weeks. John Harrison has finally gotten back to his birth weight (6 lbs 5 oz on 3/10/08) and the pediatrician is happy with his progress. He went to the cardiologist last Thursday. Although the size of the holes in John's heart have not changed, he seems optimistic and we will continue to monitor monthly for the time being. He did discover a small flap of tissue near the upper hole in the ventricular septum, which he said could be the heart beginning to repair itself. For now, we just need to say our prayers that John's body will repair the holes itself.

John H is sleeping better and seems more at ease in the pack-n-play by himself. He wakes with a whimper at night instead of a wail, which I think is an improvement. He is feeding pretty well and often tells us exactly when it's time to change the diaper. John likes it when Daddy dances with him and is very attentive to the fishes on the swing. He's starting to turn his head when he hears a toy that makes noise. We've yet to see an alert smile. For now, we are content with his drowsy or REM smiles. I'm sure we'll be delighted soon with a REAL smile in response to our attention.

The crib finally arrived and is now put together in the nursery. I bought a mattress yesterday and ordered the bedding. I'm slowly getting things organized in there. It's just hard to do sometimes when John H is being fussy and wants my UNDIVIDED attention.

We are trying to get out of the house several times a week and we actually made it to church this past Sunday. Baby John slept through the whole service and drew several admirers. Everyone commented on how small he was and how beautiful. I'm still working on managing my free time. John's schedule most days is pretty stable, but other days it's not. Those days, it's really hard to plan a trip out, much less one where we have to be somewhere at a set time.

I have to admit that I'm better at posting pictures than finding the time to update the blog. I'm sure that will change as we find a schedule (and with that I can set aside time to write an entry). For now, look for new pictures, but don't count on a post. If you wish to know what's going on, just give us a call. If we can get to the phone and have time to talk, we'll answer. If not, we'll call you back.

I'll post a few new pictures on the WebAlbums.
-EBP-

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