Another Doctor Visit

On Friday, October 5th, I took Hudson in to the doctor yet again. The day before Nic had noticed his soft spot was somewhat sunken in. Overnight, his urine had a bit of a smell and was slightly yellow. I know these are both signs of dehydration and since we were going away for the weekend I figured it was better to go in to the doctor and see if everything was ok. He was also not eating well: screaming again, arching his back, constantly pulling away during feedings, coughing, etc. which is why I suspected he was having the slight signs of dehydration in the first place. So far, throughout my pregnancy and motherhood, every time I have had a slight incling something is wrong, I have gone in to the doctor thinking better to be safe than sorry and I am probably just being paranoid. Actually, every time I have been hoping that I am just being overly worried, but so far every time something has actually been wrong. I was really, really hoping I would finally become one of the overly worried parents at this appointment, but no such luck. The doctor wasn't too concerned with Hudson's sunken soft spot because his urine tested clear. He was still having plenty of pee diapers so she said as long as that continues he was fine in that department. She did however witness a feeding and immediately diagnosed Hudson with reflux. She saw him go from a smiling, happy baby to a distressed, screaming baby in a matter of seconds. He did all the things he does for me at home during feedings (usually he magically acts perfect at the doctors) and she said with the choking, screaming, pulling away, arching of his back, etc. that there was no doubt in her mind that he had reflux. She also said there was no reason for him to have to suffer through and be in pain, so she prescribed him .8ml of Ranitidine every morning and night. She said it wouldn't actually make any of his symptoms go away, but it would take the burning/pain away. I left bummed that yet again my instincts were correct and my poor little guy had another problem, but I was relieved that he wasn't going to be in pain anymore. Hearing your baby screaming in pain and feeling helpless about it has got to be one of the worst feelings in the world. (On a side note he weighed 11 pounds 7 ounces so he is gaining weight well).

Visit from Vivian and Leah

On Friday, October 5th, Vivian and Leah came over to visit. I couldn't believe how big Leah has gotten. She is so darn cute! It was so fun to see her and to catch up with Vivian!

Post Pregnancy Week 6

So I got a little busy and forgot to take weekly pictures of myself. I'm sure most people would rather see pictures of adorable little Hudson weekly instead of me anyways. ;) Here is a quick update: At 3 weeks post partum I weighed 153.2. At 4 weeks post partum I weighed 154.6. At 5 weeks post partum I weighed 152. By 6 weeks post partum I weighed 149.2. Under my pre-pregnancy weight! 

I was already dropping the weight pretty quickly and then with the new diet, I dropped 3 pounds in a couple of days. I must admit though, even though my weight is below my pre-pregnancy weight, my body is definitely not my pre-pregnancy body. The scale is my friend these days, but the mirror, not so much. I probably should start working out, but to be honest I am scared to. I am already having such a hard time eating enough and I really struggle to drink enough water so I am afraid that if I start exercising I will really drop the pounds, become even more hungry and thirsty than I already am and most worrisome I could jeopardize my milk supply. Plus, who am I kidding, there is no way I could find time to exercise. I think I already get quite a bit anyways holding my 10+ pound baby all day, carrying him up and down the stairs constantly, and going for the occasional walk. 

I also had my 6 week check up with my doctor on October 3rd. She said everything seemed great! I brought her a card with a photo of us from the delivery and a box of chocolates to thank her. She has been such a wonderful doctor and I feel blessed to have had her throughout my infertility and pregnancy journey. I also brought Hudson along and she was thrilled to see him again. She said I didn't need to come back until next year, which seems so weird since I have been seeing her so regularly for the last year and a half. 

Six Weeks Old

On October 3rd, Hudson turned 6 weeks old. He has been smiling a bunch this week. Every time he smiles at me I get giddy. I can't get enough! Hudson weighed 11 pounds 6 ounces this week. He is still eating every 2-3 hours, going about 3 hour stretches at night. 

First Smile and a Visit from Uncle Ty

On Monday, October 1st, I finally got a picture of Hudson smiling. He first smiled at me on September 27th,  and had been smiling a few times every day since, but I couldn't seem to get a photo. He has to be interacting with me to do it, so I had to put the camera next to me and kind of just hope I was getting Hudson in the photo. Can I just say, that every time I see that grin spread across his face my heart melts. Hudson's smile is the absolute best thing ever!!

Here are some of the other photos I took that morning:

Later that day, Tyler stopped by on the way home from his Argentina trip. He hung out with Hudson for a bit, which Hudson loved! I loved it too because it gave me time to eat some lunch. :)

That evening Nic took this hilarious photo of Hudson and posted it on facebook with the caption "After explaining our real motives..."

Sunday

On Sunday, September 30th, Nic made delicious pancakes with our special mix and special chocolate chips. I was pretty impressed with them. Then he watched Hudson while my mom and I went to a clothing show at Lindsay's house. It was fun and I even found out that I fit into the size 6 jeans! ;) 

That afternoon Sandy came by to visit with Hudson. 

This is a picture from later in the day and one of my absolute favorites. Hudson looks so tiny!

Babysitters

On Saturday, September 29th, my mom came over (with Justin and his friend) to babysit Hudson. She had offered to watch him so we could go out to lunch or the movies or something fun. Unfortunately restaurants are more of a nightmare than anything else because of the diet so that was out and we had way too much to do to be able to sit and enjoy a movie. So instead, on our big first outing....we went to look at rock samples for our BBQ and went grocery shopping at Whole Foods for all the special food I needed. Exciting stuff, huh?!

This is how it looked when we left

We timed it so we could leave right after a feeding and be back just in time for the next feeding, so it was a very frantic outing. We were practically running through Whole Foods throwing stuff in the cart. 

As we pulled up to the house we noticed my mom was outside getting something out of her car! Busted!! She looked really guilty and quickly explained that she was getting her inhaler and that Justin and his friend were watching Hudson while he was in his swing. We walked in the house and Justin and his friend were both on their laptops completely oblivious to Hudson. Hudson was in his swing, not strapped in, but happy. We gave my mom a hard time about it, but it was pretty funny that she got caught being a bad babysitter. ;)

This is what we came home to, except my mom wasn't even on her computer, she was outside!

It was very nice of her to watch him and it definitely made running those errands easier. 

Take a look at what we bought from Whole Foods. I was not going to let this new diet get in the way of me eating sweets!!!

And here is the photo I posted of Hudson on facebook that day with the caption, "All dressed up and nowhere to go." Isn't he so cute?!! This is one of my favorite pictures of him. 

Five Weeks Old

On September 26, Hudson turned 5 weeks old. He all of a sudden seems way bigger and doesn't look like a little baby anymore. He is growing up so fast! He weighs 10 pounds 13 ounces and is 23 1/4 inches long. He kind of smiles now. His eyes get this twinkle in them and I can tell he is really close to giving us a full blown smile. He rolled over from his stomach to his side, then rolled onto his back, but he hasn't been rolling  from his back to his side for a while now. Hudson was also unusually fussy this week and we discovered that he has a milk and soy protein allergy. 

MSPI

On Monday, September 24th, I took Hudson in for his doctor appointment to figure out what was giving him trouble. Here is the e-mail we sent our doctor's office (we accidentally left out that Hudson often sounds like he is choking while eating, he coughs often and sounds congested a lot. 

Hi, We have a couple of questions about our son, Hudson. The last couple of days he has become progressively fussier. He is presenting signs of an upset stomach, especially after feeding. He is crying and we are not able to settle him, tucking up his legs, and arching his back. His poop has also changed from yellow to a more green color. We are keeping track of his eating and overall he is eating for shorter periods of time. (probably beause he becomes so upset when he starts eating he doesn't want to continue). Once he is upset he starts eating frantically and makes really loud gulping noises and seems like he is taking in air. It also takes a really long time for him to burp and some feeds he won't at all. He does fart a lot. Two days ago he also forcefully spit up what looked like his entire feed. We had the issue with jaundince and waited a little bit too long to act on that so just wanted to make sure we didn't do that again. Some people have suggested some kind of drops to settle his tummy? Or maybe he is just colic? Or perhaps he has reflux? Sorry for all the jumbled info. Any feedback would be much appreciated! Thanks, - Crystal and Nic Campbell

Hudson fell asleep on the car ride over and slept the entire time we waited to be seen (which was over an hour because they had a problem with the insurance). We had the only doctor we hadn't met during that first week of marathon visits. She did all the normal checks (of course he was a perfect angel the entire time) and kept telling me how happy and healthy he seemed. I explained all his symptoms and told her that I had read it could be food allergies so I had cut back on dairy. She looked through a few of his diapers that I was told to bring in and told me that those were in normal range as well. She said I definitely didn't need to cut out diary (I immediately started thinking about the large glass of chocolate milk I was going to down when I got home). She acted as though allergies was very far fetched and it was the least likely explanation for his symptoms. She basically said that he might have a bit of reflux, but it was up to us if we wanted to give him medicine. She said every parent can tolerate different levels of fussiness so see what you can handle and if you can't handle it we can give him medicine. I'm not sure what exactly she meant, but the vibe I was getting was "your son is perfectly healthy and seems like a very happy baby. You obviously just can't handle a little bit of normal baby fussiness." I was pretty annoyed because I knew Hudson was probably less fussy than "normal babies" but I also knew his personality and I knew that he was acting fussier than what was normal for him. The doctor left to test Hudson's stool and Hudson finally got fussy. (I kept thinking she was going to think I did something while she was gone to upset him just to prove that he could in fact be inconsolably fussy. 

When she came back she had a completely apologetic look on her face and told me that Hudson had microscopic traces of blood in his stool. This apparently means that he does have some sort of food intolerances (i.e. allergies). Apparently only 2-3% of babies have this so I can sort of understand why she was skeptical when I suggested it. She told me the most common is dairy so I needed to cut out all dairy if I wanted to continue to breastfeed. She said soy protein is very similar to dairy so I should cut that out as well. She made it sound like I had just been given a death sentence. She told me she felt so sorry for me and said it was an extremely difficult diet for anyone to follow let alone someone who is extra hungry from breastfeeding. She basically said it would probably be too hard and that I would most likely need to give Hudson formula. Of course, if we went that route, our only option would be to give him special (i.e. very expensive) formula. 

I was initially a bit smug that I had been right and I thought to myself that no dairy would be easy. I could cut out milk, butter, yogurt, etc. I knew soy would be a bit trickier because soy is in so many things, but I had no idea how limited my food choices would be just by eliminating those two things.

I came home and looked through our pantry and quickly realized that we didn't have anything for me to eat. Soy and/or dairy is in everything! Plus all the substitutes for one includes the other. I did some research and found out how difficult this diet really is. I read somewhere that only 10% of breastfeeding women whose babies have MSPI (milk/soy protein intolerance) are able to follow the diet and continue breastfeeding. I found a few websites with some tips and recipes and started to make grocery lists. I was pretty bummed as I was discussing what I could and couldn't eat that night with Nic. If you know me at all, you know how much I LOVE food. I thought pregnancy was hard when I had only a handful of no-no food items, now I only had a 4 page list of foods I could eat! 

It was extra bad timing because Nic had gone back to work that week. We now had tons of frozen dinners prepared to make this time easier that we now couldn't eat. I spent most of what little free time I had that week (because Hudson often doesn't feel well, he doesn't sleep well and needs to be held constantly) researching what I could eat. Nic stopped at the grocery store every night that week. We ate pretty basic that week: chicken with mustard and panko crumbs, salads with dairy free, soy free dressing (there are only a few options), vegetables, spaghetti with dairy free, soy free tomato sauce, and I ate a lot of pretzels and fruit for snacks. 

I read that soy takes about 1 week to get out of the babies system and dairy can take up to 5 weeks, but the rash on Hudson's face that we assumed was normal baby acne began to clear up almost immediately. I know this diet is going to be extremely challenging for me (especially with our vacation and the holidays coming up), but Hudson's health is obviously good motivation and I am determined to succeed.

One Month Old

I can't believe my little guy is already a month old. This past month flew by!! I'm amazed at how much our little guy has changed and grown since he was born. Two friends gave me monthly onesie stickers that are both so cute! I was trying to come up with a way to use them both differently and thought I might use one for Hudson's first 12 years (until I realized they say month on them). My second idea was to use one in the scrapbook next to a close-up photo of Hudson, but I forgot to take close-up pictures this month. :/ Does anyone have any other cute ideas to use both? I was also bummed when I realized one pack included a newborn sticker that we didn't use! He has changed so much and it would have been cool to compare, but what can you do. Unfortunately I can't go back in time to when he was so new and tiny. It all just happened so fast. In fact, I haven't taken nearly as many photos as I would like in general. Between normal first time parent adjustments, jaundice, weight loss, and breastfeeding challenges this past month seems a bit like a blur. 

Despite all the challenges little Hudson has had, he still seems to be excelling. We found a milestone chart on Baby Center and he seems to be doing quite well. He can lift his head when lying on his tummy, he responds to sound, he stares at faces, he follows objects with his eyes (this is Nic's favorite skill to practice with him), he can see black and white patterns (he loves to stare at our shutters), and he is just starting to vocalize...mainly with grunts and squeals. He doesn't ooh and ahh yet, smile, or laugh and holding his head at a 45 degree angle is up for debate. 

Most people think he looks a lot like Nic. We often hear the following, "He is Nic's mini-me," "He looks just like Nic when he is grumpy," "He has Nic's heavy brow." I also see a lot of Justin in him, especially when he makes certain faces. This was confirmed when we went to my parent's house and looked at a few of Justin's baby photos. Hudson looks quite a bit like Justin. After looking at some baby pictures of my Papa Fred, I have decided that he doesn't have the Wallasch nose after all (we all thought he for sure did), but instead, I think he got Papa's Farago nose. Even though we get that he looks like Nic most often, I think it is pretty clear that he is a combo baby. There is some of both of us in him. He is just so perfect and beautiful!!

*Hudson has always loved sucking and is a really fast nurser so Nic and I jokingly started singing the Australian drinking song to him while I nurse him. 

Here's to Hudson
He's true blue
He's an Aussie 
Through and Through
He's a sucker (we changed this to sucker since he loves to suck)
So they say
Tried to go to Heaven
But went the other way
Drink it down, down, down. down (this is the part where someone would chug a beer, but Hudson chugs my milk instead. ;) )

Inspiration Unlimited

On Friday, September 21st, Nic watched Hudson while I went to my classes. Our hotel room was right near the ballrooms, so he would text me as soon as Hudson was hungry and I would run upstairs and feed him, then go back to class. I missed a bunch of each class, but it was so nice to do some scrapping. 

We all went to lunch together at the Italian restaurant at the hotel. Then Nic went back to the room with the little guy and I went to my afternoon classes. After the classes, I went back up to the room to cuddle my little man. Even though I had seen him every few hours for feedings, I missed him. We decided to go to the sushi restaurant for dinner, which I was pretty excited about because I had craved it my entire pregnancy. It was amazing!! Hudson was really good too! He slept through dinner and then Nic and I just left a little early when he started fussing to be fed. 

When we got back to the room, I fed Hudson and then we skyped with Nic's family. It was the first time Stu met Hudson. After that, Nic watched Huddy a bit longer while I went down for a few of the evening IU activities. My mom, Tomi and I took some really cute photo booth pictures, so when I get a copy from my mom I will post those. :)

After Hudson was so good all day (or so I thought-Nic later told me that Hudson had pretty much screamed the entire time in between feedings unless he was asleep! Apparently he didn't want to tell me because he wanted me to enjoy my event without feeling guilty) he was horrible overnight! Since Hudson has been born, he has been great overnight. Even when he fusses during the day at night he turns back into an angel baby. He wakes up every couple of hours, whimpers, then as soon as he is fed and changed he goes immediately back to sleep. Not that night! Two minutes into feedings he was screaming!! Not only screaming, but arching his back and refusing to eat. It was as if I was suddenly feeding him poison. He barely ate the entire night (and barely slept too). We felt so horrible for the people in the rooms near us! 

Luckily, Sabrina "the Baby Whisperer" had arrived late Friday night, so she helped Nic watch Hudson on Saturday. We could tell his stomach was still bugging him and he was showing signs of reflux (both of which he we had suspected he had for a while now), but overall he was pretty good. He still wasn't eating that well and his poops (sorry tmi) had changed to a green color a few days before we left so that combined with not eating and the obvious pain he was in caused us to call our pediatrician. We explained his symptoms and told them we weren't sure if it was gas, reflux, allergies, or just colic and they agreed that without him coming in they wouldn't be able to figure it out either so I made an appointment for Monday.

We met Sabrina, Nic and Hudson for lunch again at the Italian place. Then my mom, Tomi and I went to our afternoon classes. One of the classes this year was taught by Stephanie Hunt from Bella Blvd. (www.bellablvd.typepad.com)! I am obsessed with her products and her blog so I was really excited about the class!! We got tons of great products from her and learned a lot of really cool techniques. I always leave IU much more confident with trying new things and ready to get home and create products using what I've learned. Nic and Sabrina spent the day drinking wine, watching tv and Nic even made some money betting on sporting events. :)

That evening we went to the steakhouse for dinner. Hudson was so good, he slept through most of the dinner. It was fun to have a nice meal. 

After the meal, we went to the closing ceremony of IU. I showed off Hudson to all the teachers, event coordinator Ginger and my friends from Remember When. 

On Sunday morning, we packed up the car, grabbed breakfast at a crepe place and drove home. Overall, we all had a great weekend and I was really proud of Hudson. He did fantastic on his first weekend away!!

1st Road Trip

On September 20th, we took a little drive to Vegas (technically just outside of Vegas) for Inspiration Unlimited (IU). IU is a scrapbooking event my mom, Tomi and I attend every year (well since last year). It is two full days of inspiring scrapbook classes, going out to eat, outlet shopping and a spa day (I had to skip the spa day this year). There is a waiting list to get in so you have to commit to the event a year in advance, so Nic came along with me this year so I didn't have to miss out. 

Luckily for us, Hudson loves the car. He sleeps the entire time, only waking up when he is hungry. On our way through the Mojave desert we noticed that tons of cars were stopped near Edwards Air Force Base and we realized they were waiting to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor. We kind of wished we could stop to see it too, but new we had to keep going because of the little guy. All of a sudden, Nic spotted it, so we pulled off the road and I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped a photo. It was pretty exciting to see it! :)

Since Hudson was doing so well, we also quickly stopped and took photos with the World's Tallest Thermometer in Baker. We decided it was an important photo op and worth the 5 minute side trip. 

We did have one little issue at the Outlets when Hudson spat up his entire feeding all over me! It was pretty shocking and made a huge mess. Even after that, he was really good at the outlets while Nic and I shopped and only got a bit fussy that evening at the hotel (we assumed because missing that feeding had messed him up and he seemed to be playing catch up). 

Construction Part 9

Call us crazy, but as soon as we finished the kitchen, we got to work on our outside construction. Since a good portion of the backyard got torn up during the kitchen remodel, we figured this was the perfect time to do our built in BBQ project. Here are some post kitchen remodel pre BBQ remodel pictures.

Mailers Haven Visit

On September 19th, we took Hudson to Mailers Haven to meet all the wonderful people Nic worked with. They were all really excited to meet him and they kept commenting on how cute he was, how small he was and mostly how good he was. He slept the entire time even through all the noise and talking. That's my boy!!

Construction Part 8

It has been a long time since I have posted about our construction...probably because I have been in denial that the kitchen project was still going....long after it was supposed to be complete and long after we brought the little guy home and our lives got all crazy (in the best way possible). The kitchen is finally done!! Construction wise that is. We still need to move everything back in, buy a table, barstools, chairs, a cushion for the window seat, pillows, shades for the bay windows....the list goes on and on. For now though, I am pretending like it is completely complete and we are truly enjoying our other "baby". ;)

Four Weeks Old

On September 19th, Hudson turned four weeks old. How did that happen so fast?!! He now weighs 10 pounds 1 ounce. This week Hudson had his first bath. He is still eating about every 2 and a half to 3 hours during the day and every 3 to 4 hours at night, with the occasional 2 hour feed mixed in. He continues to become more and more alert and my love for him keeps growing every day. 

Lunch Date with Auntie Beena

Sabrina was in town for work, so on September 18th, we went down to LA to have lunch with her at her hotel. Before we left, Hudson and I took a few photos. :)

Sabrina grabbed us lunch from BJs and we picked her up at the mall on the way to the hotel. We ate our delicious lunch, while she cuddled with the little guy. I fed Hudson, then we were off. It was a quick visit, but it was really great to see Sabrina. Hudson just adores her!!

I just have to share this photo too. We ended the day in our favorite place to be. On the couch, cuddling. 

Lunch Date

On September 16th, my mom came over for a visit. We decided that we should venture over to the mall to get some lunch. As soon as I finished feeding Hudson, Nic, my mom, Hudson, and I hopped in the car to take full advantage of our time before the next feeding. Hudson fell asleep in the car on the 10 minute drive to the mall. We put him in his stroller and decided to go to the burger place. We knew it would be fast and more casual in case Hudson had a melt down. He was so good and slept most of the time we were there, even with the really loud music they had blaring (must be because he is so used to loud construction noises at home). After lunch, we decided to grab some Menchies. It felt great to get out of the house!! After Menchies, we hopped back in the car (side note-someone was waiting for our spot and we got Hudson, the stroller and ourselves in the car in record time. It was pretty impressive for first timers!) and got home just as he was waking up for his next feed. Success!! 

1st Bath

On September 15th, we gave Hudson his first real bath. We didn't really know what we were doing, but it sure was fun. Hudson actually seemed to somewhat like it. He was pretty relaxed and stayed in for quite some time. Just as we were pulling him out he pooped a little, so I had to wash him again (I guess he really was relaxed). After the bath, I wrapped him in his adorable whale towel. A few minutes after the bath he pooped again and just like that, he was dirty again. ;) 

After his bath, I gave him a massage, swaddled him and read him a story. I just love him SO much!!

Meeting his Great Grandparents

Hudson already met his great grandparents on my dad's side at the hospital, but he hadn't met his great grandparents on my mom's side yet. On September 12th, we drove down to Orange County so Hudson could meet Papa Fred and Grandma Annabelle.

We stopped at Papa Fred's first. Papa was so happy to meet Hudson. He thought Hudson was a very good looking baby. I told Papa that I thought Hudson has his nose and he said, "Poor kid. Hopefully he grows into it." He did a good job holding Hudson (especially considering he just had open heart surgery), but would get anxious and want to give him back the second he got fussy (can you blame him?). It was really great to see Hudson and Papa Fred together. 

After visiting Papa, we went over to Grandma Annabelle's house. She was so excited to see Hudson. She kept saying how soft his skin was and asking when he was born. She had a twinkle in her eye every time she looked at him. It was very sweet seeing her with my little boy.

Hudson is so blessed to be able to meet all four of his great grandparents on my side of the family. 

Three Weeks Old

On September 12th, Hudson turned three weeks old. He weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces this week. He started wearing 0-3 month clothes. I must say the newborn onesies were shaped so much better for his body, they were all long and skinny, but they were getting a bit tight. The 0-3 month onesies are slightly shorter in length and are extremely wide and baggy on Hudson. Because of that he only fits into certain outfits so far. I have been trying to put him in all the one piece outfits first because I know with his length they will be the first ones he outgrows. Hudson eats about every 2 and a half to 3 hours during the day and every 4 to 4 hours at night. He From the beginning he has done really well at night. He is usually alert after feedings during the day, but at night, he goes right back to sleep. Hudson tried his swing for the first time this week, but wasn't overly thrilled with it. We tried official tummy time this week. He didn't like it as much as he does on mommy or daddy, but he was fine for the first few minutes. He lifted his head, switched his head position from side to side and scooted himself all over the place. 

1st Official Tummy Time

Hudson had been having tummy time on Nic and I (so usually at a slight angle), but on September 11th, he had his first official tummy time on his super soft bear mat. He is really good at picking his head up and switching sides. I tried to capture that in the photos, but I don't think you can really tell.

After tummy time, he was all tuckered out so we cuddled on the couch. :) 

We also sent Auntie Chelly a little birthday message.

1st Time in Swing

On September 10th, we put Hudson in the swing for the first time. He wasn't a huge fan.

Doesn't he look so much like Nic in this photo?!

Unlce Love

Tyler and Justin love Hudson so much! Here are photos of them with Hudson from September 9th.