Is "Christmas Miracle" too dramatic?

There are few words that I like to hear less than "let's get a family picture." It doesn't matter the time of year or number of participants or their age, I find the whole process often torturous. It really doesn't make it much better when I'm the one who wants the family picture of the kids for the Christmas cards. However, the other night, we had a modern Christmas miracle in our own living room. Kandi had bathed the kids and gotten them dressed for our Thanksgiving eve service at church. In another miracle, our living room was cleaned up and we had already set up our Christmas tree. We asked the kids to sit together and hold Brody and.....they did it!
We got several good pictures of them in about 2 minutes and the whole thing was over before I really knew it had even started. I guess I received my Christmas gift early!

Aquarium

This is Ryan trying my hand at writing on this blog to see if we can keep it a bit more updated for our thousands, err, hundreds, uhmm, tens of fans (I don't know what less than tens would be called). Anyway, we made a day trip to the Newport Aquarium this past week. We went last summer and found that if we just purchased a family membership and came at least 2 times, it would pay for itself (the aquarium seems a bit pricey). Anyway, it was a nice drive and the kids had fun. We happened to be there while a worker was feeding many of the animals so we followed him around as he moved from tank to tank. There are certainly some interesting sea creatures out there.
The oddwater exhibit that is there right now has many jellyfish, anemones, sea horses, eels and fish of many varieties. A big hit for the kids are the tanks where you can pet an eel, small shark, starfish and sea anemone. It was a great day long activity!

The casts come on

On Wednesday we took Brody to the orthopedist for a check-up to see how the stretching worked. He asked if I saw a difference and I said I really didn't. The doctor didn't see much of a difference either, so he decided to put him in one set of casts for two weeks to stretch the feet out. We've had one full day of casts and already we are counting down the days. Boy, I'm glad we don't have to do the full 9 or so weeks of casts. The plaster is pretty sharp at the top of his legs so we've been trying different things to cushion it. I bought a pair of plain white leg warmers and tucked the top of them into the casts. This picture shows the casts with the leg warmers on. I'm amazed that he can actually pick his legs up and move them. He seems to be adjusting well, though he fusses a bit more and I have to think some of it must be frustration.

Brody's Miracle

This morning we went to the orthopedist for Brody's first club feet casting appointment. The nurse took us back to the casting room and looked at him and his feet. She said that she didn't know if the doctor was going to want to cast them or not because they straighten out pretty well. Ryan and I looked at each other not sure what to think. She brought us into an exam room and when the doctor came in he told us that they definately weren't club feet. They were just "molded feet." (Molded feet happen when the baby gets into a funny position in the uterus, or sometimes because it's too cramped. Club feet have nothing to do with space or position.) He checked everything else out and said that we needed to stretch his feet out for a couple of minutes after each diaper change and come back in one week to see how it looks. He said the left foot might need one cast, and he might have him start wearing the brace when he sleeps, but that's all.

Ever since we found out about the club feet my dad has been praying for a miracle. I believe God gave us that miracle. We've been singing his praises all day long.

Weight Update

Yesterday we met with the lactation consultant again for a weight check and to see how his sucking is improving. At the appointment yesterday he weighed 7lbs 13oz. Almost back to his birth weight. Praise the Lord. What a relief. We had a rough weekend because basically we were feeding him 2 oz every 2 hours. Well, it took a full hour to get 2 oz into that little body, so it was like one hour on and one hour off. Exhausting, to say the least. He is sucking much better so hopefully he will eat more at each feeding and we can lengthen the time between feedings.

Tomorrow we see the orthopedist for Brody's first set of casts. Pray for us. I'm a little sad about it because his feet are part of who he is and I love everything about them, but I know they need to be fixed if he is going to walk and run and play. I had a couple of photo sessions with him. Enjoy.

Brody's first check-up

We went to the Doctor's office this morning for Brody's weight check. They always check to see that the baby hasn't lost too much weight and that he is eating properly. We were so glad we had this appointment scheduled because he has not been eating well. He is bottle fed and he seemed to take the bottle fine in the hospital, but when we got home, he would fight every time we had to feed him. He was clearly hungry, but would not suck on the bottle. I resorted to squeezing enough formula into his mouth so that he was sort of satisfied and by then he was exhausted from fighting it that he would fall asleep. Once he was asleep I would shove the bottle into his mouth and hope that reflexes kicked in and usually he would suck a little. It took a good hour to get one ounce of formula in him. We were definitely getting frustrated and worried.

Brody weighed 7lbs 14 oz when he was born. When we left the hospital he was 7lbs 8oz and today he was 7lbs 6oz. He had lost 7% of his birth weight which is the most that they should lose. We told the doctor about his eating problems and he yelled out the door asking if the lactation consultant had an opening. She had just had a cancellation so we were able to see her right away. What a blessing. It was totally a God-thing. She watched him with the bottle and then felt in his mouth for his suck and basically she said he had a disorganized suck. He wanted to keep his tongue at the roof of his mouth and sometimes he would just forget what he was doing. Anyway, she worked with him and pulled out a special bottle for us to use. She also put him on a high-calorie formula so he can gain a little more weight. We have had two successful feedings since we saw her and are feeling really optimistic. A huge weight was lifted and this was yet another way we have seen our prayers answered.

God has blessed us so much and answered even the little "please let him fall asleep" prayers. I'm thrilled that Ryan is able to take quite a bit of time off work. The kids are enamored with Brody. Amelia must kiss him 50 times a day.

Brody Evan West

Sunday evening, November 1, 2009 at 9:57PM Brody Evan West came into our lives. He was 7lbs, 14oz, and 19 inches long (that was as far as they could stretch his feet). Just like our other two, he hardly made a peep as he opened his eyes and looked around. What a miracle. He is perfect in every way. There's nothing like the birth of a baby to give you a new view of God's love. I think about how much I already love him and how God loves him even more. I can't fathom that capacity for love. Sure, Brody has some physical imperfections, but in my eyes he is perfect in every way and God made him just the way he wanted him.