first sick visit today...

Mercer woke up around 1 am wheezing and coughing (deep - from his chest)... and 2 am... and 3... and 4... you get the idea.

We called the pediatrician's call service this morning & a nurse called us right back. After using the nose aspirator on him to clear up the schmoo in his nose, describing the symptoms to the on-call nurse, and taking his temp (slightly feverish), we were advised to take him to a children's center that's open 7 days a week (or the ER). We got to the center 15 min before it opened, took a number from a message board posted on the door (Mercer was patient #1), and saw the doc right away. He didn't have a fever when he got there -- and his wheezing had calmed some. Todd read (in the middle of the night) that for congestion the head should be elevated so stuff can drain... sitting in the car seat did him some good.

His chest was clear according to the stethoscope... the oxygen in his blood was normal according to this electronic thing they put on his foot (instead of taking his blood for an oxygen count)... and his demeanor was pretty good. It's hard to say if he has allergies (that's mine & Todd's thought b/c we were outside basically all day yesterday) or if he was getting a cold. She sent us on our way & told us to follow-up with a doctor's visit later this week.

The doc was not alarmed. Boy - Mercer sure sounds horrible, though! We're still heading up to Asheville today -- just later than expected (which is ok!). Todd has a jobsite meeting on Tuesday and we're going up a day early to hang out up there. The doc here told us to see a doc up there if things got worse, but as he is now... he's ok. We just need to put saline up his nose / aspirate / try to keep the drainage down b/c that's what she felt was causing the wheezing and the hoarse cough.

it's SO tough. We feel so bad for the little guy.



****On another (very important) note**** this is bicycle safety month. I heard something on the radio about it around the same time period we found out that Todd's brother, Jim, was hit by a car riding his bike home from work Friday night. (He lives outside of DC). He has a broken ankle, scraped up knee and his helmet cracked in half (thank goodness he was wearing it!) PLEASE share the road and be safe!! http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/

3 months old today....

I guess I shouldn't have bragged Wednesday morning. Because he slept so much -- he didn't do so well Wednesday night. Only got a few hours of (broken) sleep.

We did SO much stuff Wednesday. Maybe we did too much for him to sleep soundly through that night? We went to Stroller Strides aka Mommy Boot-Camp (I'm still sore Friday from Wednesday's class)... fed Mercer... changed Mercer... met a friend at the mall for lunch... walked over to Sears for a photo session... went to a play date afterwards... fed Mercer... changed Mercer... early evening - walked up the street to meet the other February baby boy, Harry.

Todd & I had not met Harry's parents (Mollie & Stephen) before, so it was really a chance to meet and get to know them. Harry is a few weeks older than Mercer and is about the same size. (I think Mercer looks older than 3 months -- because of the hair?) The two boys stared at each other a little bit, but that was about it. I'm sure they'll do more when they're older. It's just crazy how there's been a lot of babies on our street lately. Little M will have a lot of kids to play with - for sure. (In the pics, Mercer is sporting his madras pants which he wore for his 3 month pics. Look for those on a future post when we get them back.)

Thursday, we took things a little slower. Mercer had his 2nd round of shots (we did 1/2 of his 2 month shots at one appointment and the other 1/2 Thursday). He slept a lot throughout the day and at daycare. I dropped him off for a few hours because I needed to take a class and earn some Continuing Education Units... I'm in danger of my architecture license going into default b/c I need 18 CEUs each year -- and it's the end of May and I only had 1 from January. (Been off these past few months!) He seemed happy when I picked him up. The daycare gave me a little beef about his feeding schedule and I agreed that if he's screaming 10 - 15 minutes before his next feeding -- sure. Go for it. (But I stressed that I would not approve of them feeding him every 2 - 3 hours as they originally suggested. Don't want to go back to that schedule - like in Mercer's first month of life!)

Mercer had a fever this morning around 4 am when I changed him (nope - he didn't sleep through the night Thursday night either. Oh well!) I took his temp, then spent about an hour reading books & looking on the internet about what is "too high" and worthy of calling the doc / rushing to the ER. He was really in between the alarming temps. He clocked in at 100.8 F. For babies 0 - 3 months old -- I found that you need to go in for anything above 100.4 F. For babies 3 - 6 months old, anything over 101 F is the breaking point. He literally just turned 3 months... so I was on the fence. I stripped him down to his diaper and gave him some infant tylenol before going back to sleep around 5 am.... he clocked in at 99.1 this morning around 8 am. whew!

Oh yeah -- at the doctor's office yesterday, he weighed 13 lbs, 11 1/2 ounces (with his clothes and (dirty) diaper on). I'm thinking that he's somewhere between 13 and 13 1/2 lbs.

All-in-all, Mercer has been GROWING, HEALTHY, and HAPPY his first 3 months of life. (Todd and I are happy as well!!!) And - of course - I'm thrilled to have been able to spend the time with him before going back to work. As you can see from the blog entries between late February and now... he has changed and developed so much.

We're happy you have joined us in this journey thus far.

"Oh what a beautiful morning...

Oh what a beautiful day.... I've got a fabulous feeling... Everything's going my way!"

Sorry - just felt like flinging the curtains open and singing that song because baby slept through the night!! yay!

He stirred & kicked around 4 am - like normal - but the stirring & kicking were not followed by crying this time... eventually he settled back down and went back to sleep. So did we. I know not to expect this every night - but it's a start. It has to start somewhere!


Yesterday was better, too, in terms of daycare. I dropped Mercer off at daycare around 8:30. It was a much calmer experience. The part-time teacher was there in the morning and there was soft music playing. There was not the craziness I experienced the day before.

I "thought" I had a meeting at 9:30 downtown at my office -- but it was actually at 1:00. So, I was there almost all day. The meeting usually lasts around 2 hours; I thought I could stick it out 'til 3:00, but it dragged on to 3:10, then 3:20 and I bolted up and said "I've got to go!" For some reason I had all of this anxiety - perhaps because in my mind I knew I was going to go see Mercer after 3 pm?

I picked him up from daycare and the full-time teacher who was there the previous day greeted me. She was much happier Tuesday. She said that the two older babies went to the other room that day (although I saw them in the morning and in the evening when I picked Mercer up in the infant room). Maybe they were there in the middle of the day?

At any rate -- it made for a happier teacher... and she wasn't pushy about his feeding at the end of the day. She pretty much fed him on schedule. She said it was a much better day. I'm *hoping* that the Monday daycare experience was just a bad day and that there are few of those!

I should run... but wanted to share the news about Mercer's accomplishment!

an "OK" weekend... but a "not so great" Monday...

Saturday - I participated in a neighborhood street clean / Todd, Mercer, and I walked to the square with some neighbors for a late breakfast afterwards. Then, Mercer and I went on an "artful" garden tour that afternoon. (Put on by the High Museum of Art -- so there was art in most of the gardens & plein aire painters in all of them providing demonstration.)

Sounds like an ideal day -- and it was pretty good -- except for at the 2nd garden we visited.

Mental image: baby sling down around my waist / holding Mercer hiding a wet spot on the front of his outfit and on the front of my shirt / trying to feed him but it's not working because we're trying out new (faster) nipples on the bottles so he's got milk running down his face and he's wailing because he's not getting the food he so desperately wants.

And -- at least there was violin player trying to serenade the visitors to the garden above Mercer's wailing -- so it made the whole situation described above all the more elegant! (kind of like that scene in the Titanic movie... the orchestra was playing while the ship was going down... right to the end!)

Note: This was NOT my favorite moment with Mercer! It wasn't any fun at the time, but looking back now... it wasn't completely intolerable or horrible. I was comforted by my neighbor who went with me saying it wouldn't be the last time! OH WELL!


Sunday, I worked on the nursery and gardened some. Todd worked on installing a gutter on the garage so that we can hook a rain barrel up to it. We had to pass Mercer back-and-forth between the two of us to keep him fed / changed / entertained while we tried to work on projects. It was tough to get stuff done, honestly. We both realized, I think, that we're just not going to work on things like we used to. But... the CUTEST thing that happened Sunday: Todd dressing Mercer in the morning. He promptly put on a Mets Onesie.... and grabbed the Mets snuggly bear too to accessorize. (even his G diaper (hybrid diaper) matches -- as it's orange!) It was a big game Sunday between the Mets and the Yankees. And - Mercer was very happy (well, really Todd was) that the Mets swept the Yankees.


Today was Mercer's first day of daycare. (He's in an "educational" outfit... T is for Turtle!) I took him late b/c I went to Stroller Strides this morning. We went shortly after 12:00. When I went, the director of the facility was there in the infant room (lending a hand, I suppose, to the teacher in the room). She promptly came to us and spent 20 minutes or so holding Mercer and comforting me that they would take great care of him. While there, I witnessed one 15 mo old child (sitting in this table with 6 chairs sunk into it) flinging food all over the place. Another child (18 mo) was running all over the place and coughing horribly and then promptly coming over and touching Mercer's car seat & toy hanging on it. (Mental note: need to sterilize that tonight!!). He also dropped his pacifier, picked it up, put it back in his mouth. Another 18 mo old child was not wanting to lay down / take her nap so she was reaching out of the crib grabbing whatever she could -- including a box of toys which she landed to the floor. A 12 mo old was sitting in a swing and a 8 mo old was asleep in another crib. Including Mercer that makes 6 children -- and a 3 month old who is normally there wasn't there today.

When we signed him up, they said that they were about to bring another teacher on and move the older children to another (adjacent) room. That room has always been empty when we've been - so I believe them... but - they haven't done it yet.

When I picked Mercer up today around 5, I heard him crying when I went in. The woman was trying to give him a bottle as he was in a swing. She was feeding him only a couple of hours after he ate his afternoon bottle. (This isn't cool, as Mercer eats every 4 hours.) She said he was crying b/c he was hungry and that we needed to feed him every couple of hours.... NOOOOO.... he wanted to be held and he was tired!

Ugh.... it was really hard today! I got a bit done in the nursery, though, and I got to try him out (try me out) with the daycare thing. I don't know that either one of us did so great today this first day. Maybe it will be better tomorrow? (The teacher told me that they were going to open up the new room tomorrow and the older kids wouldn't be in the infant room.) Let's hope so!

Wiggle and Giggle

There are two things I forgot to blog about in the last post:

1 - We had our 2nd post-placement visit with the social worker Monday. It was a new social worker, as we found out that our previous one no longer works there (and she was the owner of the company!!) We really liked the first social worker.... she was a cool lady. The new one is nice, though, and will get the job done just as well (we hope). We have one more visit next month and then go to court the following month to finalize the adoption.

2 - The birthmother has begun contact again... she responded last week to an email I sent a month ago. She said her phone was turned off. She texted me yesterday several times giving me her new number and asking about Mercer. She said, too, that she got me a mother's day card but hasn't sent it yet. WOW. I didn't expect that from her! I had a "we're thinking of you" card to send her around that time, but didn't send it either.

There have been so many wonderful moments shared with little Mercer this week:
*He has been checking out his hands. He'll hold his arms up and stare at his fingers. Sometimes, he'll move his fingers around and watch them wiggle. He's fascinated for a few minutes then promptly sticks his whole fist in his mouth.

*Tuesday, Mercer giggled. !*HE GIGGLED*! It was so cute. I wish I could remember what I was doing to make him laugh out loud... but I can't.It melts your heart, though, and we can't wait to hear more and more of it!

*He continues to smile, coo, and gurgle. He's a happy happy little guy.

Wednesday, Mercer & I went to lunch on the square with a couple of neighbors. The little 6 month old boy who lives on the next street was being held up on the table (standing up). I stood Mercer next to him & he looks slightly taller. The baby, Jackson, was premature and neither of his parents are tall -- he checks in somewhere around 5% on the growth charts compared to babies his age. Mercer checked in at 75% on both height and weight at his last doctor's visit - so he is a little bit on the big side. Wednesday, I came to the realization that we'd no longer be getting baby Jackson's hand-me-downs anymore. Oh well. We "had" such a well-dressed baby for a short while! : - )

One of the things discussed at lunch was "am I stimulating / working on Mercer's development enough?" So, he and I did a baby & mommy yoga workout that night. I like it because the dvd works on development & strenghtening of his stomach, neck, and back muscles and also incorporates some massage for his arms, legs, and even stomach area (to aid in digestion & gas). Some of the exercises for the moms actually uses the baby as weight for some leg and arm exercises and others you lay the baby on the ground & do things over him (like downward dog yoga pose)... which makes me a little nervous b/c I'm such a clutz!

Yesterday, it rained almost all day -- but that made for good baby-sleeping weather. He spent a couple of hours in this pack-and-play. We've been laying him on the short side (2' long) because we have toys and stuff on the other half. It looks like laying him this way is coming to an end too. We'll have to clean the stuff out & lay him long-ways in it from now on. He's wearing my *favorite* pants (khaki with turtles all over). I love them so much so that I bought them in 2 sizes. (the 2nd pair was on an ultra cheap clearance)

Now onto today: I signed up for a week's worth of free classes in this thing called Stroller Strides. It's fitness for mothers where you take your baby / exercises are designed around the stroller. Lunges, jogging, etc. They also use exercise bands to do arm work and do ab work too. I went for the first time this morning and it was actually a pretty good workout. I'm definitely checking it out some next week as my free week continues -- and will consider getting a 3 month membership b/c I really liked the instructor. (Got to lose this pregnancy weight, wink wink!)

I know this is a long blog, but there's one FINAL thing I wanted to mention. Some of the kids on our street & the next street over were running a lemonade stand as a fund-raiser this afternoon. A little boy, Gavin, has Cystic Fibrosis and they're raising money for CF research. This is actually something close to my & Todd's heart - as we found out that we were both carriers of CF when we were going through fertility stuff. If we were to have conceived a child together... we would've had a 25% chance of having a child with the disease. (There was a 50% chance that the child would be a carrier and pass it on to their children and 25% chance that the child would be unaffected.) I was talking to Gavin's mom Nikki (who's also an architect!) and she was telling me that 1 in 30 adults is a carrier. Two carriers (like us) is where these scary odds come about. Because of the likleyhood, insurance companies conduct testing for females who are in the child-bearing stage of their life. It's HIGHLY recommended to get tested if you're of child-bearing age. (FYI -- if you & your partner are both carriers -- it is still possible to have children without the disease through Pre-Genetic Determination where they look at the cells under a microscope / implant the healthy embryos during invitro fertilization (IVF). Fascinating stuff -- and AMAZING research is being done.) If anyone's interested -- I can tell you more, as I was completely blown away by the science of it and technologies now available. I'd really encourage you to go to this site & donate a few bucks. Five bucks. Ten bucks. More bucks if you can... whatever you're able to do -- in support of the CF fund-raiser that "Team Gavin" is working on. http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/NicoleBartlett4670

Ok. I'll go for now.

Finally got back onto blogger...

(don't know why it says Saturday.... post was actually made Tuesday the 13th)

I was having MAJOR trouble the past few days & couldn't log into the blog. Thankfully, I was finally able to create a new account and this blog was still associated with it. (I was afraid I was going to lose it.)


This past week was almost perfect.

Friday, Mercer and I met some of mine & Todd’s former co-workers for lunch. Afterwards, little M had a late lunch in a park (he started to have a melt-down before we got home, so we had to pull over / chose to eat on a park bench). When we did get home, we had some neighbors stop by & hang out ‘til dark in the back yard… then we all walked up to the square for an impromptu / late dinner. We are known as “the stroller gang” I hear, as the other couples each have a 2 year old and one of them also has a 6 month old.

Saturday morning, Todd / Mercer / I walked back up to the square and went to the farmer’s market. We bought some more tomato plants, some basil, dill, and oregano. Todd and Mercer hung out by the pond while I attended a 1st Communion ceremony for a friend’s daughter. It was really cute… a couple of dozen “little brides” and a number of little boys in suits. I think they were all finishing 2nd grade at a local Catholic school. Todd and Mercer met us at the reception for 3 of the girls. (notice that Mercer is wearing the attire of a proper southern boy - seersucker pants!)


Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay at the reception long. I had a Memorial Service to attend for one of our interns who passed away suddenly in his sleep. He was 25. Insane. We don’t (and probably won’t) know why he passed. His family either does not know or is not disclosing the reason. His father said a lot of nice things… and the preacher talked about his passion (for sustainability) and how in his 25 years of service, he affected a lot of people. He was a really nice / out-going guy and will be missed very much. Our office is planning some sort of memorial at our new building for him.

Sunday was Mother’s day (my first!) and Todd made sure it was very special. He (and Mercer) surprised me with a necklace that I have admired for several years. It’s a stylized fish designed by a famous architect. Actually, on our honeymoon, we saw the inspiration for this line of jewelry in Barcelona, Spain. The architect designed a large sculptural fish for the Ritz Carlton there & we thought it was pretty cool back then (10 years ago). Todd made apple bread French toast. We ran some errands. We went to Willie’s for lunch (my fav for black bean / red pepper quesadillas). I got to tinker in the garden and plant a bunch of flowers. (Included are a couple of shots of us by the pond... the irises are blooming inside the pond... as well as a number of things in the back yard.) Todd then made dinner. It was a great day. (Also – check out this ADORABLE picture of Mercer “flying” in the back yard - below.) Sort of caught him in a smile. ahhh... love his gum-filled smiles!

The new discovery of the week: Mercer is beginning to discover his hands. He’s been wriggling his fingers around and watching them move. It only lasts a few minutes (where he entertains himself) but it’s really fascinating to watch him develop!

talking to Mercer...

There are a few things I wanted to tell the little guy the past couple of days, but since he doesn't understand my words / won't remember what I say... maybe he'll read this one day?

"Yesterday, we had a nice day. We walked to the square to run errands and have lunch. When we returned - I fed you on the back porch. While there, a butterfly landed on your leg. You were wearing these blue pajamas with yellow ducks on it -- and perhaps the butterfly thought that you were covered in little yellow flowers? The butterfly flitted around and came back to find another "flower" on your arm. He (or she?) had iridescent lower wings and the upper wings were brown with orange dots. There are so many fantastic things for you to explore in the back yard. I was reminded of this yesterday during your feeding and visit from the butterfly."

Today, Mercer had a doctor's appointment. His 2 month visit (actually conducted at 2 1/2 months). He did great... he had a lot of gunk in his ears, so the doctor cleaned them out for us while she was in there looking around. His cradle cap is looking a little better -- nothing that she was concerned with. She commented on his complexion. She thought he looked like he may also be part Italian or part Hispanic. The nurse who saw him before the doc came in -- said that for sure -- Native American. Who knows?! They all think he's extremely handsome. We think he is too!

They commented on how strong he is. How attentive he was throughout the exam. And the nurse was quite surprised at how Mercer did NOT cry when she took his temperature (it went in his bum).

"Mercer, I saw a baby in the waiting room of the doctor's office. He was 7 days old and weighed about 7 1/2 lbs. He was so small. So frail. He was all curled up in a quiet little ball in his dad's arms. It was SO hard to believe that you were once that small -- or actually smaller. The baby's dad asked about you. He was so shocked to learn that you were only about 2 months older than his baby boy. My eyes welled up and I had to look away, for the tiny baby was reminding me at how quickly you have changed! In two months, you have doubled your weight AND grown 6" longer. (12 1/2 lbs / 24" long) It's been amazing to be able to spend these past two months with you and go through this development with you. You were -- no....you ARE -- such a miracle. "

This evening, a neighbor came over and brought her February baby, Luther. He was born 6 weeks early and was about 4 1/2 lbs in weight. When Dorie brought him over, I didn't know he was born early when we talked on the phone so I was shocked at how small he is compared to Mercer. He's pretty long (his fingers are long too), but his head and body are tiny as seen in this picture. We are glad we met her -- for we're sure the boys will be playing together before we know it. She was funny and was really "together" / seems to be handling motherhood like a breeze. She's been working during the day and taking him with her. In fact, she worked a full day today and still managed to bring an appetizer down to our house! I didn't get squat done today it seems. Mercer got a few shots today at the doctor's (we're spacing them out into several sittings) and he was very needy after he woke up from a very long nap. You can see one of his band aids on his leg.

c

ps - Here's a shot of Mercer in a CUTE little consignment-store find.... a "classic" baby boy's outfit. He's asleep in the car seat after the doctor's visit and errands... and I didn't have the heart to wake him / move him... so he ended up napping in the car seat under a shade tree next to the pond.