officially three months old 11-8-08

So on the 5th Blake was officially three months old...adjusted of course. He is starting to teethe now and is trying to chew on whatever he can get his hands on. He is getting to where he can pick up small toys and put them in his mouth. Only a few things because he uses his palms and hasn't quite got the grasping with fingers part down yet, but he is getting there. He holds his head up really well when upright, but can't quite lift it up when he lays on his tummy yet. He is at 12 1/2 lbs. and 23 inches long. He has started on his Synagiss shots which is for his lungs. He will be on that at least 6 months. He has to have it since he had Chronic Lung Disease. It is a shot that will help him from getting RSV since he is around strangers a lot with all his doctors appointments. It is a very big shot so I feel so sorry for him when he has to have it. They are switching his contacts to a new kind that just came out recently in a high presescription that he needs. It is a mix between hard and soft. They are silicone and should fit and work better for him. His hard ones aren't fitting so well right now. We had fun with some friends on Halloween. Blake had several different costumes and outfits. He was superman, a giraffe, a skeleton (from his grams) and also wore his first Boo shirt that his Grandan and Grammie gave him along with his beenie hat and socks from his Popo and Grammie. Lots of love from so many grandparents haha. He wasn't too thrilled with all the outfit changes. Since he was never really able to get his infant pictures made, we took him this past week and had some done along with some Christmas pictures. He didn't last long, but we were able to get some really cute ones out of it! You can check them out at a website we made through Shutterfly.
http://pokludafamily.shutterfly.com/
Hope you enjoy them!

10-26-08 6 months old today!

Yeah Blake is 6 months old today! Little turkey is getting so big. He goes for a check up tomorrow to the Pediatrician so we will see what his new weight is. On the 5th of Nov he will be officially 3 months old! haha He is getting so big!

BILL!

Holy crap! I just got the bill from St. Davids and apparently our insurance has not paid anything yet for just Blake's account so our grand total for JUST the hospital alone (Blake's bed and stay)and nothing else is (drum roll please.....................) $587,430.70 Yeah you heard me right Five hundred Eighty Seven THOUSAND, Four hundred Thirty dollars and Seventy cents. OH MY.... That is on top of the specialist bills, Neonatologists bills that bill $1,750 a day just to see him once, xrays......you name it he has a bill for it. So the amount above is only for his bed stay! HA Oh and there is the case of my bills as well. So you know what I will be doing first thing Monday morning when my insurance opens up. Anyway Rob thought I was having a heart attack when I opened the letter because he heard me scream from across the house and came running. Guess Blake really is the Million Dollar Baby (well half a mill)!

10-17-08 Off Oxygen

Just a quick little update. Blake went in for his OCRG Oxi Sleep test this morning where he slept for 6 hrs and they studied his oxygen saturation levels and breathing patterns. He did great. He is still having high levels of periodic breathing, but he was able to hold his O2 levels at 97% and higher. He did great, so his pulmonary specialist has taken him off his oxygen and is leaving him just on his monitor for the next month just to be safe. He has been so happy today with out the tubes taped down to his face. He has smiled all day long! I still try to reach for oxygen cords when I stand up to walk with him until I remember "oh yeah, no more cords" haha. So my little Pinochio has one less wire holding him down. We can carry him around freely with out worrying about his O2! YEAH! Oh and he weighed in at 11 lb 3 oz.

10-10-08

Aunt Gwen with Blake

Proud parents!

Passed out after a long weekend

My diaper cake Tiff made me

Me and Mel...NICU mommy's

Me with Bella

Are you kidding me? Mine is plenty thanks!.. Me with Grant, Blake and Grey

Me and Katy with the boys...Blake sees me, Nicu Fams

Strike a pose

Taking a break from his oxygen

Cissy with Grant, Katy with Blake and me with Grey

Cuddling..my tired boys

Blake's first football game

He is so sweet!

So Blake is now 11 pounds! Yeah. That is so great. He has come so far. He is 5 1/2 months and adjusted he is really 2 months old. He has started smiling more now and is being more vocal. His sleeping is better at night but during the day he does whatever he wants. We went back to Austin this past weekend for my 10 year high school reunion...Rob was not thrilled to be going back to Austin so soon. Blake went to his first football game Friday where my team got the pants beat off them, but we had fun. Saw some old friends and Blake met a bunch of new kiddos. My best friend Tiffany had a "Meet Blake" party for us Saturday where we got to see a lot of friends and some of our close NICU friends as well. My friend brought her twin boys that were next to Blake in the NICU and they hung out so we could take pics and catch up. My best bud Gwen came as well as other good friends of ours. We had a really good time seeing them. Tiffany baby-sat him Saturday night so we could go out for our party. He was so well behaved for her. He got to go on a picnic Sunday where we caught up with old friends and met their new little ones. We also went by the hospital and saw the staff and our friends Mel and Tim that are still there with Isabelle. She is getting so big...up to 5 lbs. We also met some new friends that are at RMHC that were sent in from Galveston during Ike. Her name is Becky and her son is fighting for his life. He was 26 weeks I think but is having a much harder time and isn't doing very well so we brought Blake by to see her and cheer her up. They bonded very quickly. Our prayers are with Devin and his mom Becky...... This week I have been sick and trying my best not to get Blake sick. I have had a really bad upper respiratory infection and feaver and am just now feeling more like myself a little. He saw his pulmonologist today and next Friday he will have his sleep study to see how his breathing is coming along. Cross your fingers. Not much to update on right now. Just that he is doing good. We miss everyone and would love to hear from you.

Pictures

Go to www.myspace.com/jannapokluda to see recent pics of Blake. More coming soon. Just click on the picture of him at the top of the page there and it will take you to photo albums.

9-25-08...one day away from 5 months old!

Blake will be 5 months old tomorrow. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. He went to see his pediatrician yesterday and weighed in at 10 lb. 6 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. The boy has some major legs. His muscles are so big in his legs and arms. The doctor said you can already tell he is going to have a sports build like his dad. He got his second round of immunizations yesterday. Oh by the way we are now finally back home...yeah.. Houston we have electricity! Now we just have to replace our fence. OK so he got his shots which of course he cried and made the most pitiful face so I started crying because I hate to see him in pain. After that appointment he went to see his cardiologist who gave him the all clear on his blood pressure. It is finally back down to normal. So after a long day visiting doctors we were headed home when his apnea alarm went off. It beeped a couple times so I started to look for a place to pull over, then it went off so I thought OK he is breathing again but was still trying to find somewhere to pull over. A few seconds later it started going off again. This time it didn't stop. I freaked and sped up cutting people off trying to find somewhere, anywhere I could pull over. There was no where. So I started doing like 100 to get to a place I saw up in front of me. I pulled in, slammed it in gear, jumped out to get to the back and he was so not breathing. His face was pale white and his lips were turning a bluish purple. I did everything I could to get him to breathe again. He finally did and started getting color back in his lips and face, but now he did not want to wake up. Boy did I make him mad rubbing his legs just to wake him up. Talk about giving me a heart attack. Once he was stable and I felt better I made sure he had NO blankets and turned the ac on high right on him so he stayed awake. haha. No more deep sleeps for him. He slept the entire rest of the day at home with me hovering over him constantly. I am so glad he is still on that monitor other wise who knows what would have happened. He is feeling much better today and went to see his Pulmonologist...one more of the many specialists he sees. We love his Pulmonologist Dr. Robertson....even though he is an Aggie....I am sorry, we love all his doctors, we just like giving Dr. Robertson a hard time because he is an Aggie and he hates it when Blake wears his burnt orange outfits. haha. So we went and saw him. He said for sure one more month on oxygen. If he continues to have these spells he is putting Blake back in the hospital, so I told Blake NO MORE SPELLS! PLEASE! He also said that Blake's jaw sits back a little farther than most babies and that could be one factor causing him a harder time breathing. He is going to keep an eye on it and if he notices it not growing or getting any better he might have to have surgery....ahhhhh no please. My brother had the same issue and had surgery when he was in junior high. That was so horrible for him. I do not want to see Blake go through the same thing. Well that is about it for now. Oh I found out my best friend Tiffany is going to have a little BOY! Whoohooo a playmate for Blake. I think she is due in February or March. All my other friends have had girls so he has plenty of girlfriends and now a best bud to add to it. He is also doing good with his contacts. He goes for his checkup on those on Monday. I am falling more and more in love with this little man every day.