a few pictures...

These are few of our firsts...
First brushing of Trigger's first teeth
First time to wear jeans
First time to sit in his high chair (to watch Mommy and Daddy eat supper)
and the other two pictures were just cute pictures!

Izzy's Birthday

NEW TOOTH!

We have exciting news...after many, many long crying evenings/nights, Trigger has his FIRST TOOTH!!!! It was very exciting to wake up to see that tooth!!!

Misc. Pictures

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We traveled to Matt's parents, my parents, and my grandparents! At my grandparents, there were 3 new great grandsons: Trigger (4 months) , Brannon (2 months), and Josiah (3 weeks).
Thanksgiving break sure was nice but I had something planned for each day so it was NOT restful.

Dr. King

We took Trigger to see Dr. King (the pediatric cardiologist) on Wednesday. They did another chest xray and EKG when we first arrived. Dr. King did hear the heart murmur and told us that it was PPS (peripheral pulmonary stenosis), which is one of five normal heart murmurs that many children have.
Here is a link describing it:www.childheartassociates.com/PatientInfo/Murmurs_PPS.htm
Actually, Dr. King said that all babies are born with heart murmurs (100%-no exception).
It's just that most go away by 3 to 6 months.
They expect Trigger's to go away but they will do an echocardiogram on Dec. 10 to get a picture of his heart on ultrasound.
Then we will go back in February.
And he will go back at 2 years old to have another echocardiogram done.
But Dr. King said that at the current time, the PPS poses no health risks to Trigger.
We are VERY thankful that everything turned out ok. Matt and I talked to a lady in the waiting room. Her grandchild had to have 2 heart surgeries after he was born and will have another at 2 years old. And, just today, I talked to our termite guy and he said that his granddaughter was born with two holes in her heart and had to have surgery, feeding tube, and was hospitalized for 3 months. SO...it seems as though there are many people out there dealing with medical issues. We are very thankful that ours have been minor bumps in the road!!
By the way, I am getting to post in the middle of the day because we are out of school today. There has been a horrible stomach virus spreading quickly around school so the administration decided to let us have a day to get well and stop spreading the germs. I made sure I washed my hands a thousand times a day and sprayed lysol on everything! I am enjoying the day off!!!

Pjs and other things...

I stayed home with Trigger last Thursday because Liz (Izzy) was out of town. It was so nice to be able to spend the whole day with Trigger. We even had lunch at Matt's office. After eating, Trigger and I went home and put on our pjs. Chasten (Miss Dance) gave Trigger the pjs and they are PRECIOUS! Of course, they are mostly red because that's my (and Chasten's) favorite color. Trigger also sat in Izzy's bumbo seat that she let us borrow. So...we decided to take some pictures.
The other pictures are of Trigger in his Thanksgiving outfit! We took the pictures outside so he loved it. He loves to be outdoors...just like his daddy!
I hope you enjoy the pictures.

First Outings and HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

We went to see Dr. Slusher on Wednesday for a 3 month check-up.
Trigger weighs 12lbs 10oz. WOW!! My baby is getting sooo big. We got a good report. In fact, she did not even hear the heart murmur this time. But, she said for us to not be surprised if she hears it next time. Dr. Slusher gave us the green light to go in public but told us to still be very careful. We aren't suppose to have him near sick people and she said to keep everyone from touching his face and hands (esp. children)! So...Friday I had an inservice and there were no children at school. On my lunch break, I went to pick up Trigger and took him to school to visit his future teachers and Mrs. Charczenko (our elementary coordinator). And, he sat through his first faculty meeting. He was a little angel! Then, when we left school, we went to visit Daddy at work. This Sunday we will take him to Sunday school with us...WOW...we are starting to feel like a normal family again. It's nice to not be so restricted anymore. However, it does worry me that he's going to get sick...I guess he has to get sick sometime.
HALLOWEEN...Matt and I took Trigger to Arcadia to finally meet his cousins (Chelsea, Corbin, and Anna Grace) and to see Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Clay, Grammy and Papaw. They had only seen him through a window. They were very excited because they have waited a long time to meet this little guy!! Afterwards, we headed to Ruston to see my parents. Trigger got to see Izzy (that's Liz...she used to be Grammy (and still will be to Abby) but Trigger didn't need two Grammys) and Poppy AND Uncle Lance. We would have loved to have had the time to visit Aunt Vanna, Uncle Seth, Aunt Karen, Uncle Will and Sydney and Abby. But, Trigger was pushed to his limits!!! It had been an eventful day for him. As you will see in the pictures, he's dressed as a pumpkin! He was BURNING up so we had to take a few pictures and then remove the pumpkin outfit!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures!
Also, I am adding two pictures from our Fall Centers Party at school. One is of the Pre-K teachers: Mrs. Woodard (me), Miss Dance, and Mrs. Storms. The other is of me (the black cat) and Abby (Sharpay).

Elephants!

I just wanted you to see Trigger in his precious elephant outfit that our cousin Kim (and Daniel) got for Trigger. If you know Matt well, you know that he has a wonderful talent of making animal noises. The elephant noise is definitely our neices and nephew's favorite. Sooo...this outfit is perfect for Trigger! And..I love the BRIGHT colors!
The last picture is of Trigger's first bandaid. The accident is really just too sad to explain (especially since it was my fault!).

More and more FUN!

Trigger is getting more and more fun everyday! and more and more chunky!!! It is actually an arm work out to hold him. We will go to Dr. Slusher on Wednesday and I can't wait to see how much he weighs. Maybe this time it will actually be a WELL baby check-up and we won't find out anything new. We are hoping that Dr. Slusher gives us the thumbs up to start taking Trigger out in public. I do know that we will still have to be very careful since he hasn't been approved for the RSV vaccine which is another aggravating story!
Trigger is smiling more and more! We are trying to get him on somewhat of a schedule now, and he is doing alot better at night! I have attached some pictures..The last picture has a story. It was a weekend and I had been working on school stuff all day and taking care of Trigger. I had not had a shower and it was 3ish that afternoon. I put Trigger in his bouncer and got in the shower. As soon as the water hit me, he started screaming. I thought...Let him cry. He'll be fine for a few minutes until I get out. When I got out of the shower, I was greeted with these pitiful tears!!!! Oh...I was soo sad! I picked him up and (after taking a picture) wiped away those tears and loved on my baby!!! Poor thing!!!

Fall is in the air!

Fall is definitely one of my favorite times of the year! For starters it means that the temperature is dropping. It also means the start of decorating the house...first with fall decorations and then...the MOST exciting...decortating for CHRISTMAS!!!! Those of you who know me and Matt, know that we LOVE decorating for Christmas. We even start decorating way before most people do. Anyway, back to fall. I love watching the leaves turn colors. And, this year we have a baby that will have lots of firsts: First Halloween, First Thanksgiving, etc.
Below I have a slide show of Trigger's most recent pictures. The "Prince" onsie came from Anna Kate (she was one of my precious children in my last year class). Then, I bought that Halloween pumpkin outfit the other day. So...we had to have a photo session with it! He is really starting to smile more. Izzy (Liz) got several smiles out of him too.

The Good News

I got so caught up in the negative news that I forgot to tell you that Trigger weighs 10lbs. 2oz. Dr. Slusher was very pleased. His weight is now in the 25th percentile. His length and head circumference are still in the 5th percentile. He is a growing boy that loves his rice cereal bottles!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr.'s Appointment and Prayer Request

Trigger went for his 2 month "Well Baby Check-up". I put that in quotes because it didn't seem like a well check-up. The first thing Dr. Slusher always does is listen to Trigger's heartbeat. Well...she listened and heard a heart murmur. I know what your thinking...my child had one of those...no big deal. They sent us for an EKG and a chest xray just to make sure there isn't any structural problems with his heart. We went and had the xray and EKG done. Trigger was so wonderful during the tests. He actually slept through most of the EKG and Matt took a picture of him with his electrodes all over his body.

Anyway, we heard back from the tests yesterday. The radiologists said the xray showed that Trigger's heart was a little enlarged. And, Dr. King (who is suppose to be THE best pediatric cardiologist around) read the EKG and said it was "suspect". From my understanding, that means there were some abnormalities in the test results but he didn't know what was wrong. Dr. Slusher said that we would have to go see Dr. King for an appointment. They base their appointments on the seriousness of the patients problems. We didn't get an appointment until November 12th because Trigger doesn't have any symptoms of heart problems right now. I'm hoping that waiting this long to see him is a good sign that everything is going to be okay!
That's not all....Trigger also has a hernia in his belly button. They warned us in the NICU that he might develop one because he's a preemie. Well...of course he did! We will just watch it for now and hope it doesn't get any bigger. Then, he had a few other things that she mentioned to us. After this whole traumatic ordeal, Trigger had to get his shots!!!! Two in his right leg and one in his left and one orally! He was NOT a happy camper...in fact, HE HAD TEARS!!! He has never had tears. It was very sad. So...needless to say, we were all exhausted when we left Green Clinic.
Prayer Request: Please just pray for Trigger. He is a very strong boy and I know that he is going to be okay! Please pray for us. Matt and I, along with many other family members, are worried and are wanting our appointment in November to come quickly.

Matt's Birthday and other updates!

Matt's birthday was Sept. 13th. Because of the little one, he didn't have much of a celebration. Trigger (with the bow on his head) was one of Matt's presents. I worked really hard to get that present here!!!!!
Trigger is doing good. He sleeps almost four hours at a time at night, but he still eats every two hours during the day! We are dealing with acid reflux now. He's on zantac and had to start rice cereal in his bottle. Trigger now LOVES his bottles and usually gets very upset when you take it away to burp him. The cereal is definitely helping him add some fat to his body. In fact, we have had to "retire" alot of his newborn clothes. AND, he has moved to size 1 diapers. This probably sounds stupid, but everytime he moves up a size, I get very upset. He is growing TOO fast. In fact, he is now TWO months old. I can hardly believe it.
Liz and Mrs. Marcia (Matt's mom) keep Trigger during the day while I go to school. Right now they are coming to my house which is really nice!!!! School is going good. This time of the year at school is always very exhausting. Add a new baby to the mix and it makes for one tired mama!!!
I ALMOST FORGOT!!! Trigger had his first smile for me...I believe it was about two weeks ago! There is a picture on the slide show below of his second smile!
Okay...I've got to go get busy!!! Trigger's asleep and Matt's gone to his flag football game...time to get a few things accomplished!!! haha...

It's been too long!

Trigger has kept us busy lately! Check out the pictures below.

Trigger's Pictures!

Trigger is getting so big! In fact, we had to go back to the doctor this past week on Wednesday to have his bilirubin checked again and he weighs...are you ready for this...7lbs 9oz...My baby is getting so big!!! And, his bilirubin has gone down a point! He is still pretty yellow especially his eyes.
Trigger is eating great...obviously. He has been working on his head control! The NICU and Dr. Slusher were very impressed with his head control. I have attached pictures of his tummy time so you can see him holding his head up!
He usually sleeps pretty good at night especially when his Grammy spends the night! :) We are still feeding him every three hours around the clock. I am going back to work full-time tomorrow...and I have very mixed feelings about it! I absolutely LOVE teaching, but it's really hard to leave my baby! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Pictures!

I forgot...

I don't know how I forgot...probably trying to block it out! BUT, Trigger has now grown out of most of his preemie clothes and preemie diapers! It was very sad for me to take those precious clothes out of the drawer and put them in a tupperware! He's getting so big so quickly!

One Month Tomorrow!

Trigger will be one month tomorrow! WOW!!! Time does fly. We are learning alot about Trigger. He cracks us up with his never ending grunting! He does NOT like his arms to be swadled because he likes them by his head. Trigger spent most (or maybe all) of his time in the womb with his hands/arms by his head. In fact, that would be the reason we never got a good ultrasound picture of his face. Things haven't changed much. He is comforted by his arms...especially his right arm.
Everyone keeps asking how much he weighs now...we don't know but we will go back to Dr. Slusher on Friday. I think he's got to be 6 pounds by now. He feels so much heavier and he's starting to get fat rolls. I shouldn't be surprised by the weight gain...he's eating 3 ounces now (or actually a little more than 3oz.)! That's alot for such a little guy.
Bathtime! Trigger's first bath was not the most pleasant experience. He screamed pretty much the entire time. He doesn't like the sling in the bath tub; he prefers to be in the water! Bathtime has gotten alot better except he likes to tee-tee after his bath (or anytime you change him) and then you have to bath him again.
Life is pretty much back to normal...I mean as normal as it's going to get with a new addition to the family. I will start back to school part-time next week and then full time Sept. 8th. Please pray that it will be a good transition back to work! People keep asking if I have had a break down yet...I haven't but I haven't really had a chance to stop. I am praying I can handle going back to work so soon! But, my little people need me so I will be there!
I will try to be better about updating. My free time (which there's not alot of) has been spent working on school stuff.

More Pictures of Trigger!

BATH TIME!!!

Trigger is HOME!

Well...Trigger came home last Thursday (the 7th). He is doing great! We had to have an exit interview before we could leave the hospital. Part of the interview was making sure we understood how to take care of a premature baby. The doctors have told us to limit visitors since he has almost no immune system. We were also told that Trigger didn't need to be exposed to children for 4-6 weeks. This, of course, makes me very sad because I would love to show him off to everyone. He's sooo precious.
He had a special little procedure today at Green Clinic Surgical. Dr. Harper did the procedure and everything went great. Tomorrow we will go to the pediatrician for a check-up. Dr. Slusher will check Trigger's bilirubin level (for jaundice). I hope his number is still down.
Trigger is keeping us VERY busy. Liz has been coming to help me during the day while Matt is at work which is a HUGE help and gives me a break! We have had so many phone calls and emails. I am sorry if we haven't responded...it's been very hard to keep up. And, any chance I get, I try to grab a nap...haha!
I looked at the calendar today and I only have 4 weeks left before I have to go back to school full-time. Usually I would be very excited but right now I am completely overwhelmed. There is alot to get done before school starts!!!
Anyway, I will stop rambling. Time to feed the little one! Hope everyone is doing okay!!!!

Pictures!