Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Vacations and Viruses

I can't believe its been so long since I posted! Jensen is now a big 7 month old! At our last doctor's appt  he weighed just under 8 kg (17.6 lbs). 
We just took our very first (well deserved) family vacation to the beach. We went with my parents and my sister's family to Emerald Isle, NC which is my favorite spot on the coast! Jensen did great on the trip, he is getting much better about long car rides. As soon as we got there of course we ran out to the beach and put the kids' toes in the water! Jensen absolutely hated it!He clung to me for dear life and didn't let go!

However, he did love the beach! We put him on a towel under the shade and he was one happy baby! He played with shells and learned to imitate Jeremy banging them together. Just one week before at his occupational therapy evaluation he wasn't able to do that. 

 Jensen has always been very observant and loves to watch everything going on around him. We were so excited to take him to the aquarium because we knew that was right up his alley. He LOVED it! It was so fun watching him, he was mesmerized! 
 I was holding him in front of the big tank looking at sharks and one of the scuba divers noticed him. He started waving and making bubbles for Jensen, then he took his regulator out and stuck his fingers in his mouth just like Jensen was doing! It was so darn cute =) Definitely a proud mama moment!





 Jensen was exhausted every single day and slept great the whole trip! He especially loved sleeping in his new ergo carrier while I walked on the beach in the mornings. 
Jensen finally warmed up to new people. He gets easily over-stimulated by loud noises and having a lot of people around, which I'm certain stems from all that time in a hospital. On this trip he was able to go to both of my parents and play for a long time without crying! This is a huge step for him! 
He also started sitting up by himself!! He developed so much strength at the beach...what a difference a week makes! Also, he started clapping which is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen!

On Friday night Jensen woke up coughing and wheezing. He had an episode of sats around 70 earlier in the day so we were keeping a close eye on him. When we heard that barky cough we immediately called the on-call cardiologist. He thought it was just a virus causing croup but told us to monitor his sats and bring him in if they were too low. We decided to pack up and head home, so we could be closer to UNC if we needed to go. He ended up not having to go in but we called the cardio (at home) a few more times over the weekend to check-in. (Thank goodness they are super nice and happily answer my calls on the weekend!!)
Jensen is still coughing but seems to be getting better. He has his 6 month shots and flu shot this week. Next month starts the monthly RSV shots =( I'm dreading cold/flu season because I've loved having him out and about. Also, the Synagis shots are very painful. But, if it takes us going into seclusion again to avoid another round of illness then that's what we will do!