I don't really know how to start posts when it isn't a baby countdown anymore. But I am sure glad that this little man finally decided to makes his appearance.
Allow me to introduce to you Elliot.
He was born on January 7th, following his mom's footsteps and arriving four days late. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz (which he was already up to 8 lbs 9 oz at five days old!) and 20 inches long. I know most people say I can't believe he is a week old already, but for me I can't believe that he is only a week old! There has been so much packed into his little life already that it seems that we have had him for a lot longer. And this little face is why its taken me so long to write anything on here. Everything he does is adorable. Well maybe a little less adorable at 4 am in the morning when we still haven't slept yet, but still cute beyond words!
At the hospital I mentioned to the nurse that my doctor had wanted a follow up ultrasound on his kidneys to check out if things have resolved themselves. They ran countless tests, which his heels still show the marks of. When they got the ultrasound done it was found that both kidneys are still dilated and the reason is still unclear. This news was followed by the news that there is concern that one of his eyes wanders a bit too much and that a trip to a larger city over an hour away to meet with specialists was going to happen this week. I don't think Elliot liked the news so he went on a nursing strike and decided he didn't need to eat anything, which isn't so good when there is concern for the kidneys, if nothing goes in nothing comes out and doctors don't really like that. So we won an extra long stay at the hospital with an iv started in his little hand.
We got discharged on Tuesday afternoon (which was such a relief as they were saying we would probably not release us until Wednesday morning when we had to leave for our appointments) and had an afternoon to try to sort out life and get to know our little man. Wednesday came way too soon, and after no sleep we got in the car after the first ice/snow storm of the season and took Elliot on his first road trip at 4 days old. He actually had a lot of firsts that day, a lot that I wasn't really planning on having that early, but what can you do?
Our first appointment was with an eye doctor, who after a lot of confusion with the nurse finally realized we weren't really concerned parents that take their 4 day old baby an hour and a half away for their first eye check but were indeed sent by our hospital, took a quick look and said that things look anatomically correct and that we can't know if the eye is really wandering until he is a few months old, so schedule another appointment later. Great, thank you mr. pediatrician for sending us on a useless mission. After that E had his first Target trip and fast food stop, where he had his first complete diaper explosion going through all the extra clothes I brought for him. We finally made it over to the clinic to see a pediatric urologist. Again we were met with confusion. Apparently he hadn't even looked at the ultrasound results mr. pediatrician had sent to him and was apparently consulting with. We were told that we have to do tests but can't do them until later, and may have to redo them again down the road because he is so young. Frustrated we left and headed home. We wasted our first day home as a family to be told no answers.
The rest of the week has gone better. My mom came out Wednesday night and was so helpful to have here! She kept us well fed, and rested and made sure the house kept going so I just got to focus on little man. Friday night the rest of my family came out to meet Elliot and we had a great time hanging out with them as well. Bryce's parents came for the second half of the weekend. Elliot was well snuggled and loved throughout the weekend, thats for sure!
Elliot has been a joy to have at home. We have nights and days switched around which has been hard, and makes for some really long nights. I keep trying to remind myself that it will pass and soon he will be sleeping through the night, but to keep enjoying the all the time I get to snuggle him during the nights. He definitely is a little cuddle bug, right now he and Bryce are stretched out on the recliner watching the football game together. This week will be an adventure, Bryce goes back to work and I will start taking care of him on my own. Not going to lie, that scares me. But we are looking forward to hopefully getting some sort of schedule down.
Hopefully soon I'll get around to writing out his birth story but I hope this recap of E's life thus far and some adorable pictures will keep you satisfied for now!
