Returning to Work :(

January

Twelve weeks have gone by really fast. Unfortunately - I will return to work next week. I'm sad to leave Aiden 3 days a week but it will be nice to get back to normal. I do miss the people who I work with and the sense of purpose that comes with my job. I'm grateful that I'll be able to return 3 days a week and share the position with another educator so that the unit is covered five days a week. Jeff is still working at FedEx and is doing well. He went skiing the other day to get "out of the house" and enjoy his favorite passion. He and I both enjoy the outdoors and it's been a little rough being held captive in our house these last 3 months.... but we wouldn't have it any other way :)

Aiden is doing so well. He is 11 weeks old and weighs 12 pounds and is 24.5 inches long. He is gaining weight nicely. He's a little finicky with bottle time but we've got some tricks up our sleeves to get him to take the volume he needs. He's being followed by a developmental specialist (courtesy of a federal program for all "at risk" babies) and she states that he is progressing nicely. He's right on target for all developmental milestones. He does loathe tummy time though and is a little weak in the upper extremities. This probably comes from the fact that we didn't put him on his belly for obvious reasons until the second month. He's sitting up with support and loves to sit on the couch like a big boy with mommy and daddy. He is also full of lots of baby talk. He loves to make new noises and wiggle around. The bouncer is his favorite place to be and he loves to smile. If you smile at him, he raises his shoulders and flashes a smile back that will melt your heart. He's holding on to rings and rattles and absolutely loves to watch baby tv and music concerts that his dad records. Currently, his favorite band is Dashboard Confessional. He bounces up and down when the songs are upbeat. It's so cute to watch.

Aiden is being followed by his pediatrician closely and his cardiologist. But we don't have to return to the heart doctor for another 6 months. At that point she's going to discontinue his medication since he will have outgrown his dosage and won't need it at that point. His echo this week showed good heart function and good valvular function. He does have a trivial amount of leaking from his aortic valve but the doctor did not seem concerned. We are hoping that it will go away on it's own as Aiden grows.

This week we saw a neurosurgeon to have Aiden's anterior fontanel (soft spot) evaluated. It's quite large and irregular. The surgeon said that it's not uncommon to have a large fontanel and Aiden's head is a little on the larger side... he's in the 75th percentile. He did however want to do a head CT to make sure that there isn't excess fluid around the brain. Luckily this issue is probably familial as the surgeon found that the size of Jeff's head is larger than normal. One less thing to be concerned about would be great!

Aiden is sporting lots of Steeler attire these days. He's a true fan already. He's looking forward to the Super Bowl... he has a Steeler Onsie hanging on the wall in his nursery and a football in his crib.

We'll update the blog next month. Hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed.

Love,

Kimberly, Jeff and Aiden