Max Has an Announcement ...

Yes, Max is going to be a big brother! His new sibling is scheduled to arrive September 7, 2006 -- which means I'm about 11 weeks along. The little bug is healthy and growing as it should -- I heard the heartbeat for the first time last week. Mom hasn't been faring quite so well -- unlike my smooth and easy first trimester with Max, I've been sick as a dog this time around. I've had morning sickness since day one and my suppressed immune system is now treating me to my second nasty cold in as many months. I don't usually get sick, so this is an unwelcome change for me. Thankfully, I seem to be keeping my germs to myself -- Max is still healthy as a horse (*knock on wood*). I'm hoping that a typical, crummy first trimester means that I'll have an uneventful second and third trimesters!

We've been trotting around to different doctors over the last few weeks. Aside from visits to my regular OBGYN, I've already been to the high risk clinic at U of M and met with the periontologists there. I'm definitely considered high risk this time around and I'll be watched very carefully. Aside from extra ultrasounds and pre-term labor tests, I'll be receiving progesterone shots starting at 18 weeks and ending at 36 weeks. With the shots, my risk of delivering another preemie drops from 20-25% to 10%. We're planning on taking this baby to term -- we love the NICU doctors and staff, but the only time we want to see them again is when we take Max back for his "Holden grad" visits. ;)

On a more mundane note, Max is still growing like a weed. At his checkup the other week, he weighed in at 19 lbs, 12 oz and 29 inches long. He grew two inches since his last visit! Developmentally, he's doing great -- he was doing everything on the 12-month developmental checklist. His weight is a little lower than we expected. Since the new baby is drying up my milk supply, we've been readjusting Max's feedings. He's now being weaned on to whole milk, with the pediatrician's blessing, and is LOVING his table food meals. The boy is an eating machine -- it's funny to watch him shovel it in. He's also become a total mooch -- if he sees that you're eating something, he'll crawl over and beg for a taste.

Max still isn't walking, although he's pulling up on everything and cruising all over the place. He'll stand unassisted for a few seconds at a time, but is showing NO interest in taking any steps. He won't even walk with you if you hold his hands -- he obviously thinks that means of transportation is totally inefficient and prefers to get down and crawl. Max has also turned into a little copycat recently. When I caught the first of my bad colds, I had a nasty cough. Of course, since I can't be put on "baby ban," I was terrified that I'd give Max my cold. After several days of religiously washing my hands and using hand sanitizer, I was horrified to hear Max coughing. He didn't seem to have any other symptoms -- no fever, no congestion, no runny nose and he was acting normally. I also noticed that he didn't cough at night or when he was with his dad. It finally dawned on me that he wasn't sick at all -- he kept hearing me coughing and was just trying to do what Mom was doing! Now, whenever I cough, he chimes in with a fake little baby cough -- little stinker!

On a less happy note, Max's improved sleep schedule seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Although he still goes to bed nicely, he's been waking up multiple times at night and does not want to go back to sleep. We had gotten to the point where all he needed was to be tucked back in after he woke up and he'd go right back to sleep. He was also not getting any more nighttime snacks. Well, we seem to be right back to where we started -- he's waking up several times and wanting to eat before he'll go back to sleep. I'm pretty sure he's doing some teething, but I don't know if that is responsible for the sudden shift in sleeping habits or if he's just hit a growth spurt or if it is "night terrors" or what! So, we need to formulate a new plan of attack and try to get him sleeping better again. I'll take any and all suggestions that anyone might have!

As always, there are lots of new photos on Flickr!