Professional Photos

Hi, everyone - before I dig in on this post, I need to share some great news -- Ryan is drinking again! He's been downing his formula and juice from a sippy cup for a few days now, so we're thrilled and just working on putting on some pounds to satisfy the doctors. Many thanks to all of our friends and family for keeping us in their thoughts and prayers - they certainly paid off!

Now...on to the photos! Our good friend Maria Donaldson has been taking photos of Ryan and our friends' kids for a while and now she's turning her talent into a photography business. Maria came over last weekend and got some incredible shots of Ryan. Her style is really relaxed - she likes to follow the kids as they play and grab shots as she goes, and it always turns out beautiful! Check out a few of my favorites below and then visit her blog if you want to learn more. She has some fun packages where she goes places with a family and makes a photo/story book out of the outing - very cool!

Our little man...isn't he so GQ? :)

Bottomless Pit

Lately, Ryan's become a bottomless pit for food. He's eating us out of house and home, adding tasty treats like baby "puffs," Cheerios and small chunks of fruit to his steady diet of baby food. That's the good news. The bad news is that he's still not drinking anything. It's been nearly 4 weeks since Ryan had a full day's worth (or even a full serving, for that matter) of milk. He's not dehydrated -- apparently he gets enough liquids (from his purees and the formula that I mix in with his food a few times a day) to keep his body running like normal.

We've been to the pediatrician, the GI and over the past week, an occupational therapist/feeding specialist. No one's been able to crack the code on our stubborn kid just yet, but I'm holding on to a shred of hope that someone's got to have a solution for us.

So for now, we continue to do some therapy at home as recommended by our OT, we go visit the OT a few times a week, and we offer liquids at every meal (we sit down to eat 5x a day, nowadays). Ryan occasionally takes a few sips, but more often than not, he just pushes the cup away. Please keep us in your prayers and hopefully we'll have a miracle sooner rather than later. Below are a few new pics of some food firsts from the last week. Enjoy!

Ryan enjoying his first cookie (a Gerber biter biscuit):


Ryan eating a frozen GoGurt (blueberry blast, yum):

Ah, and yes - that is still a clogged tear duct in Ryan's right eye (if you can see it in this shot). We also visited a pediatric opthamologist recently, and need to schedule an outpatient procedure to surgically open the tear duct as well. Who knows, with all these doctor/therapist visits, maybe Ryan will grow up wanting to be a doctor. (We can hope that something positive can come out of all of this, right?) :)

A visit with cousin Jayden

Ryan had a big weekend -- he got to meet his cousin Jayden, (7) from Tulsa! Jayden came in with Stephen's parents for a weekend in St. Louis and we had a blast shooting off fireworks, going to the pool, playing Wii and seeing animals at the zoo. (Seriously - Ryan actually noticed some of the animals this time, so it was really fun!)

Ryan loved smiling at Jayden, and Jayden loved feeding and playing with both Ryan and Autumn. Ryan's looking forward to seeing Jayden again when he comes through in two weeks with grandma on his way home!

He's on the move!

About a week ago, Ryan started scooting around the floor on his belly after lunging from a sitting position. A few days ago, he started to crawl. Now, he's all over the place. I'm finding myself constantly shifting his attention away from the lamps, fireplace and furniture with corners...we even bought a new leather storage ottoman to replace our coffee table so that Ryan's less likely to smash his face into its squared legs, top or lower shelf (again...sigh).

His crawl is a typical baby crawl only about 20% of the time -- the rest of the time he's on two hands, his left knee and his right foot. Whatever works! :)

Today, he successfully made it to the fireplace, and pulled himself to standing on the hearth (about 10 inches tall). Holy cow! I'll post some video of him cruising soon. For now, you'll have to settle for a shot of him on the beach. Ok, ok - it's the Winghaven pool "beach" area. :) Stephen loves this shot -- says his face is like a GQ model in a swimsuit ad.

Ryan wins...unfortunately

We just got word from the doctor that Ryan's last blood test came back showing everything's just fine. No celiac disease...which is great. The doctor also said that he's never heard of a baby refusing to drink for so long. (Not a record you want your child to hold.) Today is day 7...and Ryan's only had a few ounces total since last Friday night because he's mostly pushed away every cup and bottle we've offered.

Soo...bottom line is, Ryan wins. Dr. Steele wants him to have milk, so looks like I'm back to breastfeeding - for now, at least. Sigh.....

Test results

The results of Ryan's blood tests came back and he's.....stubborn. Everything looked just fine, so the doctor says we should just stuff him full of solids as often as he wants to eat, and to offer milk afterwards. He swears that if Ryan's thirsty, he'll drink, and he said again that the tests showed no signs of dehydration. Maybe Ryan's excessive drooling is keeping him hydrated...who knows.

When speaking about Ryan's stubborn nature, Dr. Steele also said, "just wait until he's a teenager." Holy cow...I don't want to think about that.

We still have one more test for which we won't see results until late this week or early next, and it's a screening for Celiac Disease (a gluten intolerance that affects the intestines and hurts their ability to absorb vitamins and nutrients from your food). We're really hopeful that this isn't the case, and Dr. Steele doesn't think that's it, but we're screening for it just in case.

Until those results are in, we're just feeding Ryan as much as he wants when he wants it. Yogurt, cheese and small pieces of finger-sized fruit and veggies are in his very near future. Pictures and video are sure to follow. :)

Update

It's been an eventful last week or two. We're trying to wean Ryan off of nursing, and he's one seriously stubborn little fellow. We did a week of trying to switch one feeding to a bottle or cup, and the gradual approach didn't work, so we tried (with the pediatrician's approval) going cold turkey this past weekend.

Ryan's last nursing session was Friday night, and it took until yesterday afternoon for him to willingly take a cup with milk. (After 3 full days of trying every bottle, nipple, straw, open cup and sippy cup known to man.) He's still not drinking much, but he's at least drinking something.

Since it took him so long to accept a cup, Dr. Steele asked to see him, so we went in this morning. The good news is, Dr. Steele says Ryan looks really healthy and there are no visible indications that he's lacking in nutrition or liquid. The interesting news is that Ryan has lost weight, rather than gained, since our last visit a few weeks ago. Dr. Steele said any weight loss from the past 4 days of little to no milk intake would be negligible, so we're running some tests to eliminate a few other things. (Which means that Ryan got his blood drawn today too -- from a vein in his arm, just like an adult - crazy!)

Ryan's happy, babbling and scooting all over the place, so we're not worried. We'll just feel better once the tests come back and we have a reason for why Ryan's not putting on the pounds like he should be.

In the meantime, he ate 3.5 containers of stage 2 baby food for lunch today, so his appetite is really growing. :) I'll post again once we have another update from the doctor. Love to all of you!