Critter’s Krib

And a quick video

Introducing Kyne Adam

I need to catch up, not ketchup. I am tired and it sounded witty in my head, so you will have to deal with it. It’s been ages since I have posted. To be honest, I am not entirely sure why. I have been busy and not so busy, but when I fire up the blog editor, I just draw a blank and any motivation of writing anything quickly leaves.

There is a lot of things to catch up on, but I won’t go that far back. Let’s just start fresh from today, ok? And today we traveled to the auto show at the fair grounds. There were a couple cool cars, the Ford Reflex Concept car (pictured below) was pretty damn cool. It’s a shame they didn’t have the doors open on it. They open up like lambo doors, except from the back.

They also had a few nice Ford Mustangs and a Ford GT. Honda and Acura did not make a showing at all. Jeep had a kickass concept car called the “Hurricane” I’ll take one. kthnx. The thing has TWO HEMI engines and a zero turning radius. Schwing!!

The Dodge Concept car that was in show was absolutely horrid.

There really wasn’t all that much there. I was a bit disappointed. Talon enjoyed looking at all the cars, though. And that’s good enough for me. We also ran into his pre-school teacher, Ms. Cahill ? she’s married now, but I don’t know her new surname. It was really weird, you should have seen how Talon was acting. All of a sudden, he was Mr. Shy! I haven’t seen him act shy around anyone in ages. Too cute. I wonder if he didn’t have a crush on her or something.. ?

Anyway, that is it for today. I shall work on keeping the family better informed of the goings on. I promise

Sheesh, do I even use this thing anymore? It sure as hell doesn’t seem like it. I think I have just been too stressed to jot anything down lately. I have thought about catching up on things, but that never seems to pan out. Hell, I even have a speech to text program on my computer, but I can’t even be bothered to use that lately.

Other than my stress nothing is much different. Phoenix is steadily gaining weight and doing great. Talon is doing alright. Still struggling with his talking in class, but his reading and spelling has greatly improved over the last few weeks.

That’s about all I can squeeze out at the moment. *shrug* I’ll leave you with a pic of the boys to keep you happy. eh?

I do love how things look with a light coating of snow. It is amazing how different things look.

This is the last photo I took of Talon outside. Milliseconds after this was snapped there was a sudden blockage of wetness on my lens. lol

Besides the gray in my hair and the white in my beard, I am actually sitting here watching American Idol. It’s actually quite comical, some of the “performers”. The remarks from the judges are priceless.

All is well on the home front. Phoenix is doing well. He is a good baby and doesn’t really cry unless he is wet or hungry (so far). Talon was the same way, though, a very good and quiet baby. Phoenix is eating like a little madman, which is good, because he does need to put on some weight.

We had our first doctor’s appointment with him yesterday. He weighed 7 lbs 13 ozs and measured 19.5 in. in length. He is in the 10th percentile for both weight and length, so he has some catching up to do. He’ll get there though.

The nights have been decent, we pretty much have to wake him up for his feedings, and prod him during the feeding to keep him awake.

I had forgotten how much babies strain to push when they go poop. It doesn’t make much sense. He’s not throwing out a log or anything. I think pudding is thicker than his poo. *shrug*

Ah well… he’s crying for food now. I’ll get some new pictures up tomorrow for ya’ll.

Definitely not I. We brought Phoenix home on Thursday, January 11th. We are still getting settled into a routine, but he is doing great. His feeding amounts are steadily increasing and everything seems to be passing through his system properly.

Now, if I could just get Jenene to put him down.

Just before we left the hospital

Talon - Proud big brother

to be continued …

Sorry for the lack of updates folks (all 6 of you), but I have terribly ill. Saturday morning I awoke feeling absolutely horrible. My entire body felt like one big cramp, while my head floated a few feet above my body. Just after my morning tinkle, I refunded the previous nights delectable FireHouse Subs ‘Hero’ Sub. Needless to say, I felt like poop. But I struggled on since I was supposed was supposed to help Katie and Ricky move into their new house
(Congratulations, again!). I was seriously under the impression I had a hangover. The upset stomach lasted a few days, but I had attributed that to an improper diet over the last few weeks (along with the “hangover”).

Talon became ill last night, which obviously means I was not suffering from a hangover. Either way, I’ve sworn off alcohol for a bit. Talon has been resting all day, playing the PSP and sucking down Gatorade. Hopefully his system sorts itself out a bit quicker than mine did.

Phoenix is doing well. We had been worried he might throw-up after having his tube removed on the 5th, but so far he hasn’t thrown up. We were allowed to begin feeding him 5 cc’s of Pedialyte every 3 hours on Sunday. Monday morning we were given the OK to start him on breast milk (yeah!). We have been slowly ramping him up 5 cc’s, 10 cc’s, etc.. every 3 hours. It’s still a slow process, and the little amount of food he is getting is just enough to make him hungry and fussy. But he is doing good great
and we are all hoping to possibly have him home in the next week if all goes well. So far he is keeping every thing down.

Here are a few pictures, they all link back to the larger versions on my flickr account. I still have to get a picture of his sutures from his closure. I swear you cannot even see it. The surgeon was able to shape the suture to the sides of the belly button. You will be shocked. We were.

So where are we?

We are still waiting. First we were waiting for poop. This would show that Phoenix’s intestines had begun to work properly. The poor boy would strain and strain, turning red in the face, but nothing would come out. The doctors finally decided to help things along with a glyceryn chip (read: suppository). Phoenix did not take too well to the insertion of the chip. He grunted and pushed it right back out. The nurse actually had to hold his little bum cheeks together for a bit to keep it in.

Jenene said, “The look on his face was priceless. He was beet red and straining so hard he was sticking his tongue out. The nurse and I were dying laughing.”

Laughing at the poor little boy. Shame on you! Anyway, the glycerin chip did it’s job. Phoenix had the world’s smallest poop the next day. It was perhaps the size of a BB, but it was a start. He has continued small greenish bowel movements since then.

Unfortunately, our excitement for the event was quickly squashed. We were under the impression he would begin feedings once he pooped, but we were told they wouldn’t begin until the drainage from his stomach turned from the nasty dark green to clear. We figured this would take a long time due to the dark and thick coloring of his output. Jenene and I were extremely surprised that it cleared up in a matter of days.

( Phoenix and Talon )

They removed his drainage tube early this morning and should start feedings this weekend provided he continues to pass his stomach fluids and doesn’t throw them up.

It is possible he could be home in the next couple of weeks!

( In between the changing of tubes )

Time moves at a different pace in here. Close your eyes. Now open them. It is now bedtime. Close your eyes. Now open them. It is now morning. Quick huh? Unfortunately, there is a whole lot of crying and screaming that goes on in between, but I try not to do it all that often.

Nothing seems to have changed much. We are still waiting for him to have a bowel movement. It has been 8 days since his surgery to fully close his gastroschisis. According to all the doctors and nurses he has “bowel sounds” which, according to them, means things are working — just not fast enough for us!

Oh yeah, Happy New Year.