The Holidays

Samuel's adjusted age is 6 months today.  He weighs 15lbs 12oz.

After our appointment at Childrens, we began introducing the lactose-free formula into Samuel's normal formula.  Unfortunately that spurred on the eating strike again.  The week of Christmas we battled bottle after bottle.  We finally decided it wasn't worth fighting WWIII - so we switched back to his old formula.  When we made it back home, the home health nurse came by to weigh him.  He hadn't gained any weight since he was at ACH.  We decided to attribute the lack of weight gain to a very active week.....

Samuel had a great time at his Grammie and Pop-Ups house.  I've never seen him take so many steps developmentally in such a short amount of time.  By the end of the week, he was rolling from his back to his sides, holding on to his toes while on his back, and began sitting on his own for a few minutes at a time.  He spent the entire week smiling and laughing.  He loved Christmas day - all of the coming and going - the noise and the PAPER TO EAT!  To name a few gifts he received: Laugh and Learn Puppy, minature rugby ball, baby's first blocks, Bat and Wobble Penguin, Little Superstar Little Jam Band, Inchbug labels with his name on them, a homemade book made by his Aunt Jessica, Healthy Habits booster seat....and more!

Now that we've been back home for a week, Samuel is eating better.  He gained 7 ounces (a little much) so we may try to start introducing the new formula again.  We may also try waiting longer between bottles.

Sunday I came down with some sort of stomach bug (whether it was the stomach virus that's going around or food poisoning, we aren't sure.)  Michael did a FANTASTIC job of taking care of Samuel while I confined myself to the bedroom.  I spent Monday wiping down every surface with Clorox wipes.....hopefully both Michael and Samuel will be spared. 

Samuel will see the pulmonologist in Lowell tomorrow.  Hoping that she gives us good news and also hoping that she doesn't want to do a scope down into his lungs as I can't imagine that helping his eating aversion right now.  I'm curious to see what she will say about him being on the oxygen at night....

On the financial front things are getting a little frustrating.  Samuel's Medicaid ended a couple of months after he came home from the hospital.  Luckily, we applied for something called Tefra which will allow Samuel's Medicaid to continue.  The only problem is that between the time that his Medicaid ended, and the time that he will be approved for Tefra, he will need at least 2 Synagis shots (the really expensive RSV shots) and 2 refills of Prevacid ($200 a mo.)  Prayers for a speedy approval for Medicaid would be appreciated - specifically before the end of January.  We can't continue shelling out thousands of dollars for the synagis shots AND hundreds of dollars on prescriptions......not to mention the cost of the home health nurse visits ($550 a mo.), the oxygen supply (who knows how much), and Samuel's supply of Simply Thick ($250 a mo.)  He has private insurance too...but they cover so little.

That's it for now....here are a few pictures of Samuel's Christmas.....(pictures of him with Santa coming soon!)