Smart?

I think I finally thought of something smart!   Jim Beau is doing pretty well with solid foods.  He really likes the brown rice cereal.  I can't get him to enjoy bananas yet, though.  Maybe I ate too many when I was pregnant!  

Anyway, the only issue we have is that Jim Beau gets preoccupied with the spoon while I am feeding him.  He grabs onto it and sometimes I let him have it and go get another one.  But, then he wants that one too.  So, tonight I put my arm sort of across his stomach and he was playing with my watch while I fed him, which made me think of those toys they make that velcro to babies' ankles.   I went and got one and attached it to my watch and he LOVED it!  He played with that thing the whole time I was shoving food in his mouth!

I can really tell that since he has started solid food that he has gotten bigger.  Go Jim Beau!   We go back to see Dr. Kays on August 22 so I hope he is happy with how Jim Beau is growing.

Powerful Prayer

Billy Graham's daughter, Ruth, has been praying for Jim Beau and visited Capitol Hill last week!   Check out her blog post.

Ruth Graham Visiting Capitol Hill

Eating

I'm thinking that it is really time for Jim Beau to start enjoying his first foods.   He still really loves his milk and I'm not sure I'm ready to cut back on that until I think he has the eating thing down a little better.  We had a cardiology check up today and he is gaining weight, just not enough.   Tonight I gave him cereal and sweet potatoes.  It is so funny.  He doesn't open his mouth, but instead I put the spoon up to his lips and he sips it off of the spoon. Very messy!  

He has reverted back to waking up every three hours at night to take a bottle.   He nearly takes four ounces at a time at night, which  is really good for him.  During the day, however, I think he is distracted by the things around him and he won't take that much and so it seems like he is eating all day long!     I would LOVE to get him on a better schedule, but right now I'm just going to feed him when he's hungry.  Eat Jim Beau!!

Well Baby Check Up

We had Jim Beau's 4 month Well Baby check up today.  He is really 5 1/2 months old, but he could not get any immunizations until 8 weeks after his heart surgery, so we are a little behind.    He is 25 inches long and weighs 12 lbs.   It makes me laugh because Jim Beau's cousin Alexa who is about 6 weeks old, already weighs 12 lbs!

I asked the doctor to figure out what percentile Jim Beau is in because Paul is always wanting to know that.  Turns out he has been in the 0 percentile for weight the past three times he has been weighed!!   Let's hope he really catches on to the cereal thing so that he can gain some weight.   Doc put him on a bigger dose of Zantac to help with reflux, so maybe it will start feeling better to him to eat more.   He is in the 44% for head circumference (shocker!) and 14% for length.

Jim Beau wasn't too excited about the rice cereal so I went ahead and tried the oatmeal and I think he likes it!  I'm also already trying pears and apples.   Yesterday and today he actually opened his mouth for me to put the spoon in, so that is good!    Here is a picture from a few days ago!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

Where, Why and How to Donate

Several of you have asked and I wanted to you know where we have decided to donate our money with regard to Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia research and education.    Since Jim Beau was born at Shands and they have such a significant leading survival rate, we feel it is important to donate to them.  Clearly they are doing something right!
They have their own active philanthropic program to support CDH research and education at UF.  Dr. Kays says they feel it is incumbent upon them to refine their techniques, publish their data, and to teach locally, regionally,  and nationally.  Their philanthropic initiatives are all focused on these goals.

Donations to the program go to a special fund within the College of Medicine that Dr. Kays controls completely.  They are used entirely for CDH research, education, and program development initiatives that Dr. Kays directs.  Their vision of what this program can do and be is big, and there are many unborn children who could benefit from what they can do and teach.   Obviously, they can use anything from $10.00  to $1 million and up!  :)

If you are interested in making a donation in honor of Jim Beau or another CDH baby, here is the information you need:

You can donate online here.  Sometimes the website takes a while to load, but I donated online and it worked fine.


All donations are tax deductible (tax id  59-0974739) and checks can be made out to:

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Fund
Send to:
David W. Kays, MD
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Fund
c/o Pediatric Surgery
University of Florida Box 10119
Gainesville, FL  32610-0119  

Save the Cherubs

Check out the new "Save the Cherubs" campaign that was recently started by CHERUBS.   Here is the link to the Save the Cherubs blog where you can see some of the ads that have been created.  They look pretty cool.

www.savethecherubs.org