Friday, February 29, 2008

The Weather is Nice!

Today the weather was so nice that Tate and I were able to take our first walk! Actually, this is the first time I have even used our stroller. It felt great to be outside and Tate loved it! He was staring at everything and taking it all in! It tuckered him right out and he was asleep after a couple of minutes!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Two Weeks Later

Tate is doing MUCH better these days. He had a hard time after the surgery and was very clingy with me and Nathan (he wouldn't let us put him down for a second) and he wasn't sleeping more than an hour at a time at night. Tate also got a rash and cradle cap on top of his incision. It was driving him crazy and he wouldn't stop picking at it. He also had some other issues and we took him to the Pediatrician. He said that Tate was going through Post Traumatic Stress from the surgery and needed to be comforted. Needless to say, Nath and I have been a little worn out these past two weeks. But, over the past few days, things have seemed to turn around and Tate is acting much more like himself. He is sleeping better at night (he only woke up once last night) and he can be put down without screaming. He is such a sweet little boy and we are so happy that he is feeling better. Poor little guy has been through a lot.... Here are some pictures from today (exactly two weeks after the surgery). I can't get this baby to smile at the camera anymore. He just stares at it with his big blue eyes. What a funny boy!!
His incision is looking SO MUCH better. I am surprised at how light it is only after two weeks. Hopefully is will be light and not too noticeable as he (and his hair grows).
Also, I would like to post the following: NATHAN GOT A 276 ON WII BOWLING!! It is the highest score anyone we have ever seen has gotten. I guess Nathan is a professional Wii Bowler... Here's proof:

Monday, February 18, 2008

Nathan's Birthday and A Visit From Grandma





This post is a little late becuase Nathan's birthday was Feb 10 (the day before Tate's surgery). Poor Nath didn't get too much of a birthday with everything that was going on. Nathan held Tate while we sang Happy Birthday to him and Tate got scared in the middle of the song and started crying. It was pretty funny. Also, Nathan's mother was here for the week for Tate's surgery. It was great to see her and have her help!

Before and After

Here are some pictures that I took the night before and morning of Tate's surgery. He looks so different now. The pictures of him sitting in his Bumbo chair (thanks Tess!) are from a few minutes before we left for the hospital. (Blogger is messed up and I can't get those on right now- I will finish this when it stops acting so stupid!) He was so happy, I couldn't believe it!
Now, this is Tate's head after the surgery. It is much rounder and his forehead is wider and doesn't stick out as much. It may be a little hard to tell in the pictures, but we can see a big difference.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Day 4- Tate Can See!!

What a difference a day makes. Tate woke up this morning and could see! His swelling is almost all gone and he is a much happier baby. He is a little needy today- he wants to be held by his mom and dad at all times. I don't blame him; I would want to be held if I had been through what he has! He is getting back to his old self, with lots of smiling, laughing and babbling. He looks so beautiful and we are shocked to see how round his little head is!

Oh, and Happy Valentines Day! Our day is a little different than it was last year, but we are so thankful for the difference-our little Taters!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Day 3- We're Home!!

Today has been a much better day for all of us. We were able to get a little more sleep last night (even though the nazi nurse made us take down our air mattress) and Tate seems to be feeling more like himself. Even though his swelling is worse today, he is in less pain. He has been smiling, playing, and eating his shirt and hands like his old self. The neurosurgeon saw Tate this morning and gave us the green light to go home! We were ready to get our baby out of there and get him to our cozy house! Tate has to take pain meds for a few days and we have to watch his incision and keep it dry. The nurse also gave Nathan a lesson in how to take Tate's stiches out on his little incision (where the tube was). That should be interesting... Here are some photos of him today with his swollen little face. Just half of his face is swollen because he has been laying towards one side. We didn't want to move him because we didn't want both of his eyes to swell. He would freak out! He is already so confused why he can't open one of his eyes and keeps rubbing and pulling at it to try and figure it out.
We were discharged from the hospital and left at about 1:00 pm today. It feels great to be out of that stuffy and smelly room. We are now home and able to play with our boy and try to get things back to normal. The doctors said that the swelling and pain should go away within a few days. So, we are in for a few more rough days but our little boy is worth every minute of it!!!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Tate's Surgery

We wanted to let everyone know that Tate's surgery is over and everything went very well. He was such a brave little one. We got to Primary Children's Hospital at 7:45 am Monday morning to report for the surgery. Tate couldn't really eat anything past midnight, so we expected him to be fussy. He actually was a very good little boy and didn't really cry at all. We had to wait for quite awhile once we got to the hospital because there was at least 20 other kids reporting for surgery. Once they called us back, we changed him into his gown, went through some tests with a nurse to make sure he was ready for surgery, met with the Neurosurgeon, then met with the Anesthesiologists. We then had to hand him off to the doctors for his surgery. That was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do. The surgery started at 9:15 and we heard from Dr. Brockmeyer at 10:15. He gave us quite the scare because he asked to see us in a private room to tell us how they surgery went, when all of the other doctors talked to the patients in the waiting room. Thankfully, he had good news to tell us and everything was great. We then got to go see him while he was waking up in the recovery room. His head looked differently right out of surgery. If it was possible, he is even cuter!The hospital was so packed that we weren't able to get into a room for almost three hours. Tate was on so much medication that he was pretty out of it for most of the day. But, he did find the strength to smile at the nurses a few hours after surgery.



The incision is almost ear to ear and in a zig zag pattern (so that his hair doesn't part on his scar).
Day 2- Tate has been having a little harder of a day. His poor little face has swollen and one of his eyes is swollen shut. Part of his incision where they had a tube to drain the fluids has been leaking and they finally took the tube out (which you can see in the picture below). Poor little baby boy is still such a trooper and he is being so sweet.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Tate's Trick

Tate started doing the cutest thing a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't sleep in his crib at night, but he likes to lay in it and play with his crib soother toy. He learned how to push the button on it to turn it off and on. He cracks himself up when he turns it on and gets sad when he turns it off. At first we thought that something was wrong with the toy, but we went in his room and saw him pushing the button over and over again. Is he smart, or is it just me?? :)

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Will It Ever Stop? Yo! I Don't Know!


I wanted to post one blog about our current snow situation. For those of you who live in Utah, you know what I am talking about. For those that don't.......IT WON'T STOP SNOWING!!! It just keeps piling and piling up. It doesn't have a chance to melt before the next snow storm comes (the next day!). I can't complain too much because it seems to only storm when I am home with Tate and not when I have to drive with him. Someone is looking out for us, I guess! :) This is our house (for those of you who don't know that) with the snow piles. I am counting down the days. What is it, 43 days until spring??

Monday, February 4, 2008

Can you Believe It??

The Giants won the Superbowl!! I still can't believe that they pulled it off. Since the Cowboys weren't in the Superbowl, we were cheering for the Giants. Nathan is not too much of a Patriots fan, so really he just wanted them to lose to anyone. We watched the game at home with our little family because we didn't want Tate to be around too many people the week before his surgery. (Any sort of sickness could delay his surgery and anymore of a delay could cause him to have to have the most invasive surgery. So we are EXTRA careful with him these last days before the surgery!) Sadly, I did not have any Giants gear to dress Tate up in because, frankly, who would have expected them to be in the Superbowl. But, they managed to win anyways. :)

Here is a little update on Tate: He is doing really well. He is a happy baby and loves to play. He especially loves his hands and has to have them in his mouth most of the time. Sometimes, he tries to fit his hands in his mouth when he is eating his bottle and then cries cause they both can't fit.Weekends are our favorite because we get to spend time with Nathan. Tate loves his daddy and has to have his attention at all times when Nathan is home. It is really cute. Tate rolled over last week for the first time. He didn't seem to be surprised by it, but we were so excited that we scared him with our enthusiasm. He hasn't done it since, but we are working on it. He loves to babble and imitate voices. Mostly, he is just a fun little baby. We are loving every minute (even the sleepless ones)! Tate's surgery is a week from today. We are confident that everything will go well, but we are still pretty scared. I just don't want my baby to be in pain...

Here are some photos of Tate chillin on the couch while watching TV on Superbowl Sunday. He is getting hair and it is blondey blonde like his mom (well, like she used to be..) :) He doesn't like to smile at the camera anymore. He just stares at it and seems fascinated. So, no smiley baby pictures right now!