Rice Cereal

Now that Noah is six months old, we have been given the go-ahead to try some rice cereal. Normally, Noah feeds a little less than an ounce of milk by mouth and the rest is fed through his G-Tube. Because he has long since refused to suck from a bottle as well as from a pacifier (Wubba is gone but not forgotten) we squirt small amounts of the milk into his mouth from a syringe. It is a painful process for me because Mr. Man HATES to swallow and whines and cries the entire time it takes to feed by mouth (about five minutes).

I suppose a small part of me was holding out hope that once Noah tastes "real" food, he will all of a sudden look at me with joy in his eye and want to swallow more. Alas, this was not the case. Here Noah is quite interested in what Mama is so excited about.
We were both cautiously optimistic that what was on the spoon would go in quickly and easily.Once the food hit his mouth, however, Noah sang a different tune. The wincing, crying, gagging and whining continued for three spoonfuls. At this point, Mama could not take it anymore and the feeding stopped.Well...we'll keep on trying, perhaps with some pureed fruit, but I'm less optimistic that Noah Man will be eating by mouth any time soon.

Pumping

Since Noah was born, I have been expressing breast milk for him. Over these past six months, I have truly developed a love/hate relationship with my pump. I loved the fact that it allowed me to give my little man the best food I could, but I hated the amount of time it took to pump and always feeling like we were attached at the hip (well not actually at the hip, but you get the idea).
I originally set a goal of pumping for six months, knowing that without a goal I would be more likely to quit. I thought six months was SO long, but here we are. I must admit that I am not the least bit sad about quitting. I gave Mr. Man the best I could and am now thrilled to say good-bye and pack the pump away.

Half Birthday...

It was my half birthday yesterday! Mama and Daddy planned a whole lot of fun for me. We celebrated with half of a cupcake. Daddy took my nose off and Mama sang to me. I got so excited that I was able to blow my own candle out! Then it was time to eat the cupcake...well actually Mama and Daddy ate it, but I got to taste the frosting. I also got to put a half dollar in my piggy bank. I know, I know, it's not a piggy, but Mama thought the green turtle was just too cute. I get to add more half dollars to the bank at each half birthday. Pretty soon, I'm going to be rich! All in all, it was a great way to celebrate my half birthday. I'm looking forward to doing this again in another year.

Six Months

Six months ago, Kc shot this picture as we were heading out the door to St. Agnes Hospital. I cannot believe how far we've come in such a short period of time. I knew my life was going to change that day, but I had no idea how much!
Noah got a clean bill of health at his six month check-up yesterday. His current stats are:

Weight: 18 pounds
Length: 26 inches
When Noah was born, he was in the 75th percentile in weight and length. Over the past few months, he dipped down below the 5th percentile. Since his fundoplication and g-tube surgery, however, he is back up to the 5oth percentile. Now that Mr. Man is no longer bulimic, the pounds are just packing on.

New Feeding Pump

During the night, Noah is put on a pump which slowly puts food through his G-tube directly into his stomach. We have actually been using the pump at night for several months because we found Noah tolerates food much better while sleeping. Before he has his fundoplication surgery, Noah would throw-up an ounce or two of food after every feeding during the day. At night, however, he would only throw-up once. In order to help him gain weight, we slowly fed him all night long. His old Kangaroo pump attached to an IV pole and was quite large and difficult to travel with...although we took it on every overnight trip we've been on.
On Friday, a nurse came to the condo and traded his Kangaroo pump for a new portable pump. We are SO thrilled with how small and compact it is. It is so portable, that Noah can strap it on and carry it himself - although we just put it next to his crib at night.It truly is the little things in life that make me smile!