Baby Alleman's Superman Heart: Guess who is 2 months old today!

These past few weeks have blurred together but we are all doing good! Alexander is doing great with gaining weight. He currently weighs 7 lbs and 7 ounces! He continues to keep us on our toes, with him changing every day. Last week he had his mommy worried because for 5 days straight (7 lbs. 1 oz), he wasn't gaining or losing weight. Then the nipple shield that was used during nursing was removed and with the 3 bottles a day being continued, he is now gaining weight at a great pace.

Over the past few weeks, Wes & I have been working on getting Alexander into some sort of routine and we are still working on it. It seems that as soon as Wes and I get comfortable with a routine, Alexander changes it. Sometimes he sleeps all a day, sometimes not; sometimes he wants to eat every 2 hours and some days he has to be woken up to eat; some days he vomits and some days he doesn't; and so the ongoing question: is this a normal baby thing? or a cardiac baby thing?

Alexander having one of his "moments"

Being a mommy is GREAT but challenging! I know all moms will agree with me on that, but I feel as though having a cardiac baby is a little bit more challenging. When Alexander cries for a reason I can't figure out (feeding, cold, hot, tired, and diaper changed, have all been ruled out) I wonder if something is hurting him internally. I could give him Tylenol but I don't want to give my son drugs if he doesn't for sure need them...so he cries it out, turns a red, blue, purplish color until something distracts him (usually this involves going up and down the stairs or playing heavy metal or country music!). The part of not knowing why Alexander is crying after all variabes have been ruled out is what I don't like dealing with but have been told "that's normal..."

Our life saver!

Alexander"s cardiology and electrophysiologist (pacemaker doctor) appointment he had two weeks ago, went great. Both doctors were pleased to see how well Alex is doing. Alexander's Cardiologist stated she almost didn't recognize him! :) We go back to CHLA next week for another check up with his Cardiologist.
This week we were down at CHLA for an Ophthalmology appointment. We had the appointment because during his previous MRI (before his surgeries) the NP saw that his right optic nerve looked small. His opthamologist stated that his optic nerve was small, but that he is small and that it is common for babies to have small nerves at this age. She also said that Alexander is far sighted in both eyes. Again-kind of normal, but she wants to see him in 6 months, to see how his eyes are. Overall his opthamologist said that there was nothing they could do about his eyes right now because he's so young and was surprised the NP suggested for him to come see her. So, the appointment was kind of a waster of time, kind of not. Tomorrow, Alexander sees his pediatrician. Alexander has been coughing and sneezing a lot more, so hopefully it is nothing and that his appointment goes well.

Wes went back to work last week and has been fighting with his allergies ever since. Lucky for me, that even though he may not be feeling the greatest, he is still helping me out and being a great dad. G-Ma Jeannie came to help out last week and Auntie Jenn helped us out this week.

We are hoping Alexander will continue to gain weight at a good pace.We've been having play time during the day when not sleeping, eating, or being fussy and hopefully soon Alexander will start smiling at us during play time.