Vision is complicated

Well Gabriel's first Thanksgiving was nice. We stayed home, ate, and enjoyed some company. Grandma and Grandpa Angel came for dinner along with Cynthia. We had a nice quiet day and Gabriel got to try out his high chair.

We also had a visit from his Great Grandparents, Uncle Isaac, and Tia Patti this week. I am so happy that he is able to meet my Grandma and Papo Valencia. It means a lot that they made time to visit.

We did not go black friday shopping, but hit some of the sales on Saturday while Granma Angel and Auntie Cynhtia got to hang out with Gabriel. It was really nice to get out of the house with Manuel. We were given a nice present of a clean baby and clean house when we got home. I am so lucky to have found such a great family to be a part of. They help me so much much with Gabriel and I am so grateful for that.

We went for Gabriel's follow up appointment with the eye doctor and so far everything looks good. I asked him if he thought Gabriel's vision would be fine, and he responded with " vision is complicated". I guess we will just have to watch and see what happens as he gets older.

Manuel took Gabriel to the Pediatrician's office, while I was stuck at the DMV trying to renew my expired license, to get his opinion on a few things. Gabriel has not had many bowel movements, is not eating as much, sleeps all the time, and is very fussy since the surgery. Dr. Lantry said it was the anesthesia that was causing the constipation and his reflux flared up because of the surgery. Prior to the surgery he had started staying awake and alert for several hours and that is a result of the eye medication. We are supposed to wean off them by Wednesday. He weighed in at 8lbs 9 oz today and I could not be happier. He fits really good in newborn size clothes, so naturally I was very excited when I found jeans he could wear. When it gets cool I found him a denim jacket, I can't wait for him to wear it. We just need to get to 14lbs before we can start with the cereal. We are very happy with our baby and are very Thankful to have him in our lives. He makes me smile just thinking about him.

Surgery

Well Gabriel had to have laser eye surgery in both his eyes on Friday. Originally he was only supposed to have it in his left eye, but Dr. Cleland felt it had to be done int he right as well. It has been rough for my poor little baby. He was not supposed to feel much pain after the surgery, but I think the swollen eyes were to much for him. He struggled with his feedings, going to the potty, and sleep. The three nights following the surgery were so hard. If Buela had not been here, I don't know how I would have made it through this. He had a lot of visitors and support while in the hospital. Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Angel, Buela, Aunt Veronica, Katherine, and Allegra for checking on us.

Here we go again...

Gabriel had his 5 month check up and boy has he gotten big. He is 19.5" long, 7lbs 14 oz, and his head is 14.5' around. He is below the 5th percentile, but that is because he was born early and they use his chronological age. He also got his immunizations, he did not like them at all, and he had a fever for the day. My poor little baby.

I was happy to be able to have him with me for my birthday. Grandma Angel came over and babysat so Manuel could take me to dinner. Gabriel is starting to raise his arms when you look at him, letting you know he wants to be picked up. When I say "kisses" to him he will turn his head and open his mouth. He has changed so much, it amazes me every time I look at him.

He had another follow up with Dr. Cleland, his opthamologist, and he is admitted him back into the NICU on Friday for surgery. His left eye needs to have laser surgery because he has some abnormal blood vessels and they are starting to pull. He wants to get this fixed so that the retina does not detach. The surgery will be Friday at one o'clock and he will be admitted around nine or ten in the morning. I will let everyone know how it goes and how he is doing. It is not a complex procedure so everything should be just fine.

Doctor Appointment

Today we had our Pulmonologist appointment today and mister man weighs 7lbs 7oz and is 18.5 inches long. We got our second synergis shot to help prevent RSV. He is in good health so far. We took him for a walk with Kaiya and Hershey yesterday. Hershey is gonna be so protective over Gabriel. She would walk right next to the stroller so she could be next to him. it wasn't the best situation for Manuel because she kept crossing in front of him and getting in the way. It was nice to have a family outing even though it was short.

Gabriel got to meet his Guncle Nick last week. He was so great to go with us to the eye doctor appointment and spend the day with us. Gabriel was so happy and just loved his time with Nick, it helps that mommy loves him too. Uncle Javi came this weekend and spent some time with us, even bringing us some very yummy B-B-Que. it was nice not to have to cook. He and Gabriel are gonna be the best of friends and uncle Javi will be able to introduce him to pinball.

Like Majic

Well Buela came to visit and just like with Sebastian and Noah, she is magic. He was so smiley and happy. She was trying to get him to sit up and reach her. The first time he did it and He sat all the way up and his poor head was too heavy so he started to fall forward. We tried to get him to do it again, but he got tired out. As soon as Buela walked out the door he started to fuss. I called my mom to tell her about it and when her voice mail came on he settled down, and when she stopped talking he got upset again. So thankfully Tia Sarah sang him a song, one that she knew the words to, to keep him calm. It was a hard night and what do you know he just wanted to breast feed.

Doctors Appointments

I am not a morning person and of course Gabriel's doctors appointments are first thing in the morning. We went to see his surgeon yesterday to follow up with his hernia and Dr. Kidd said it might heal by his first birthday, if not he may have to have surgery to repair it. We also saw his pulmonologist Dr. Kiercher and I really like him. He said Gabriel looks good and put him on a nasal steroid. He had us gets an ultrasound to make sure his heart murmur had closed and it did. Dr. Kenton Gabriel neonatologist from the hospital called us with the results, he is a great doctor and I love that he still follows up with him. We could not have asked for better care.

He did weigh in at 6lbs 11 oz and 18 inches, I could not be more excited. He is still in between sizes, preemie fit his arms and legs and newborn fit his torso. I tried to put him in some pants, but they were a little too long, maybe later. We are still having problems with his reflux, but the prevacid Dr. Lantry put him on has made a huge difference.

It was so nice to have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa on Monday. I was able to eat, shower, and run to blockbuster. It was so nice to get out for something other than the doctor. When I came home all three of them were on the couch watching tv, and Grandma gave me the gifts of doing the dishes. When Grandpa would talk to him, he would turn his head and look at him. He is starting to stay awake longer and he is starting to respond to things. I bought him a little eistein toy that lights up when it plays the music and he will watch the lights and smile. He is a very smiley baby and I love when he smiles when I talk to him.

Home Sweet Home

It has been a few weeks since we got home. It has been great, although sleep is a distant memory. Manuel goes back to work on Monday, I am going to miss him while he is gone. It's nice to have someone else around to help with diapers and cleaning spit up.

His pediatrician appointment went good and he finally got put on some medicine to help with is reflux, thank goodness it is finally kicking in. He saw his eye doctor and his ROP is getting better. The doctor said he did not see anything that should keep his eyes from developing normally, and he should not have any long term problems. He will probably end up wearing glasses like mommy and all his grandparents, almost everyone on my side of the family wear them. We have a follow up appointment with his surgeon to look at his tummy and make sure it is on the up and up.

We are still working on getting him to sleep in his crib. I am afraid he is gonna choke up on his spit up and so I wake up with every sound. We have had a problem getting him to take bottles, he is very picky and what worked last week does not work this week. After trying five different brands and who knows how much money, wouldn't you know he's a simple guy. He likes the bottles and nipples he used at the hospital, I wish I had gotten more nipples...

We have had a few visitors and Gabriel seems to love the attention. When Grandpa came he kept smiling as he talked to him. Auntie Colleen came over to visit and wouldn't you know my little munchkin was so well behaved, but the minute she left he started acting up. He also had visits from his Aunt Veronica and Mellie. It is so nice to be able to introduce him to his family. Veronica and Grandma are learning how to feed him and I couldn't be happier, can you say you say babysitter.