Home, hernia, & diaper rash...

ahh, the struggles of being a baby..

Nate got to head home to Monroe this past weekend to meet his extended Ruf/Dahmen family members who have been anxiously awaiting his presence. Of course my camera was dead by the time I got there and can only be charged by being plugged in, not by battery. However, I did get a good shot of Nate meeting Great Grandpa John and Great Grandma Rose with my moms camera. Great Grandpa John sat with Nate on Friday and Sunday for a long time and comforted him every time he squirmed, which is quite often!

Nate traveled like a champ by the way. Joe was up north for the weekend so Nate and I decided to make the trek down on our own. We had to tack on 2 extra hours for feedings so 5 hours is now 7 but I was very impressed with him. I didn't hear a peep out of him except for one cry on the way down when he spit out his Nuk and one cry on the way back when he happened to poo himself awake...I mean, who hasn't? :)

Here's Nate meeting my friend Kelly in Madison on the way down. We also stopped at my friend Kristi's mom house (Marilyn) who got to meet him although he was a bit squirmy and angry when he met her...mostly gas induced I believe.
We got to Monroe and spent the next couple of days with visitors. Thanks to all the aunts and uncles for stopping by to say hello...you too Christopher :) Auntie Katie and Auntie Leanne came by with presents as well. These explanations would all be better with photos...i know.
Nate also got to meet my parents three cats and had no problems with coughing/allergy signs around them. They weren't too thrilled with his presence in the home but eventually they warmed up to sniff out his toys.

On the way back up to Minnesota I decided to call the doctor to check on a few issues. I thought Nate had diaper rash but turns out he has an infection on his little tush. Basically it equates to a bad butt burn..not enjoyable when he toots or poops which is quite often. We stopped in and our wonderful doctor prescribed a little diaper cream specifically for his tushy problem. Hopefully it clears up in the next few days so he can toot with ease :)

I had also noticed that his outtie bellybutton had began to really really stick out. Joe refuses to let me show a photo of it, but I think it's interesting...maybe someday I'll post it! Anyways, it turns out he has a hernia which is fairly common in babies, especially preemies. If it doesn't take care of itself in a year they will have to do a routine procedure on it to fix it. Basically the doctor just watches it over the next few months to make sure it doesn't get bigger or seem to cause him pain.

This one's of Nate just getting home from the doctors office...he needed a little tv fix after the poking and prodding. Oh, and weight check update...since we stopped in unexpected they still wanted to see his weight. He came in at 7 pounds 13 ounces, what a little tanker! About a week before he had been 7 pounds 2 ounces so needless to say he's eating just fine. He's even made it on to the "normal" baby weight chart and is now in the 10th percentile for weight. Next appointment is for May 7th and hopefully by then the diaper rash issue is healed and he's weighing in over 8 pounds...till then!

Chubby cheeks and a puppy!

Nate and I went to the doctor's on Tuesday and he weighed in at
7 pounds 2 ounces. We had to go to a different doctor because his was on vacation and she was very impressed with his weight gain and how strong he is.

She gave us some formula to give him to help with his gassiness and fussiness. Hopefully it will start working here soon because he still has some issues with not burping. It's funny to see his little legs and cheeks getting chubbier. His double chin is quite cute, I wish mine was :)


I took Nate to my friend's Matt and Kristi's house to introduce them to their dog Bella. We were worried she might be a bit hyper but if you can tell by the picture she was quite the protector "mama" for him. Any time he would make the slightest noise she would come sit on point or want to lick his head to calm him down. It was pretty funny.



Below, Nate started to cry so mama Bella came in to inspect to make sure we were caring for him properly.



Bella got a sniff in to see if we needed to do any diaper changing.



Nate's doing wonderful and the next doctor appointment is in another two weeks to check his weight again.

Uncle Jonny visits

Nate had a few more visitors this weekend. Uncle Jonny and his girlfriend Kayla came up to visit for a few days. We took Nate outside to go to the zoo for about an hour. He wasn't really able to see or appreciate the animals but we got a kick out of em. He's definitely growing and fitting better in to his car seat and still likes riding in the car- we're hoping this will last for when we come home to Monroe.



Jonny enjoyed holding Nate but was not quick to jump up to change any dirty diapers... that's ok because neither is Joe :) Nate showed Jon and Kayla his two favorite things - his grunting abilities and tooting powers.






Here are some more photos from last weekend when Grandma and Grandpa Olson and Great Grandma Komprood were up.













Olson Boys.











Family Photo- one of these days I'll get out of my pajamas long enough to actually have a nice picture of the three of us...one currently does not exist :)









Nate busting out of one of his preemie outfits. He has graduated from preemie diapers to newborn diapers- woo hoo! Last week an at-home nurse came to give Nate an RSV shot- basically a shot that lasts for 30 days to help preemies if they were to get a cold - like a preemie flu shot. She also weighed him - 6 pounds 12 ounces- yikes! He gained a pound in about a week and 2 days. Needless to say, he's eating well. We go to the doctor on Tuesday for more check ups and another weight check so we'll see if he's passed the 7 pound marker!

Happy "Birth Day" Nate!

Well, today the 14th is Nate's due date, so he's officially here! I've gotta admit, I'm kinda glad at this point I don't have to go through labor :) I would NEVER want to deliver the way I did the first time, but I'm just sayin...trying to find the positive in it all.



It's crazy that he's already been here for 9 weeks and he wasn't even supposed to be here until today. I wish we knew his weight for today but he doesn't go back in for a weight check until the 20th. He's doing great, Joe and I have figured out the exact bottle that he prefers so that he is now actually getting the food in his stomach rather than over his entire bib.




Grandpa and Grandma Olson were up this past weekend along with Joe's Uncle Al, Aunt Sandy, and Great Grandma Komprood. Nate got plenty of snuggle time with everybody and very much prefers being held by them all rather than laying down on his own to entertain himself.




Nate is doing much better on sleeping solid during his down time. We still have to feed him every 3 hours which gets quite tiring but he's learning to burp and toot a little easier which makes putting him down less of a battle. He's on a medication to help that happen because he tends to hold on to gas, VERY unlike his father :) Other than that he's doing wonderfully, much more awake and aware during the day so it's fun to actually see his little eyes and expressions - more so when he's not screaming.

The outside world!

Nate, Aunt Trisha, and I ventured out of the house last week for Nate's first real outing besides going to the hospital for doctors appointments. It was only about a 20 minute walk but it was nice, especially in that 70 degree weather! Nate was calm and quiet the whole time. He is definitely a big fan of movement and does not mind the potholes littering the sidewalks, unlike my car which now requires new tires due to the Minnesota potholes...grrr.




Joe got home from work right as we got back from our walk so he got to see Nate in his stroller for the first time....and then we started to do that annoying parent thing where we bug the baby as you will see demonstrated below :)







Now that's just plain fun. Nate had a doc appointment last week where he weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces. We took him yesterday and he weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces and got his 2 month shots - I think he hated the band aid removal more than the shots. They had to find smaller needles for his little legs because he doesn't have enough fat on them...I have the same problem :)









I'm lovin the look. We continued to bug Nate a little bit more inside, as you'll see down below again. My friend Mary got Nate the smallest, cutest pair of shoes I've seen so I had to put them on him quick to show how big they still are for his little feet.









Sure, he doesn't look thrilled but I got a kick out of it! Then, I promise we left him alone.










Here is a shot of Nate grabbing Mary's finger- his hands have grown quite a bit. Mary brought her daughter Anya up to visit Nate and she did a great job of playing nice with him especially for being only a year and a half. Having her run around the house showed us how unprepared we are for Nate to start walking and crawling around!



Nate back to sleep in his play pen after a full day. He did great at his eye exam a few weeks back as well. Grandma Jeanne was still in town so she accompanied he and I for that appointment. We didn't stay in the room for the actual exam and "pushing" on the eyeballs- both of us are known for our fainting abilities so we figured it best we get out. Nate's eyes look good and we don't go back for a full year.

We hope everyone had a great Easter. We weren't able to make it down to Monroe since Nate isn't supposed to be in his car seat for more than a few hours so we missed hanging out with our families. We did get to spend Easter however, with our friend Nik and his family who were kind enough to invite us over. In fact, they didn't really want to let us out of the house they were having such a great time loving on Nate! We look forward to being able to make the drive home in a few months when Nate is a bit bigger and able to tolerate the drive. Happy Spring all!