9 Month Update

Jacob is 9 months old already! 

Since we last posted, a lot has been going on in the Lambert household.  We celebrated Christmas with Matt's family and more of Annie's family.  Jacob came away with quite a haul of toys from his first Christmas! We went to Zoolights at the Point Defiance Zoo.  It was a very cold night, but Jacob enjoyed seeing all the pretty lights and animals.  Annie opened a new cancer clinic on January 10th and Matt has started teaching Sunday School to 1st and 2nd graders at our church. 

Jacob is now wearing his helmet all day, every day.  He gets to have it off for an hour a day, which usually happens when we are changing his clothes or giving him a bath.  He doesn't seem to mind it too much.  We can definitely see the improvements in the shape of his head already.  We are hopeful he will be done with it by his birthday in April, but only time will tell. 

Jacob is still going to physical therapy once a week and making great progress.  He can sit up on his own for a long time now.  His fine motor skills are improving too as he's learning to pick things up off his high-chair tray to put them in his mouth.  Jacob is also eating a variety of foods including bananas, kiwi, pancakes and his favorite little "puffies" (like cheerios), on top of the standard baby food menu.  He has two bottom teeth and two on the top coming in.  We would post more pictures, but our other computer is in the shop. 

Our other big news is that we sold our house!  And we have found a new house that we just love!  So in the midst of everything else that keeps our daily lives busy (work, appointments, volunteering, church), we are packing and preparing to move.  Our closing date is Feb. 22nd and we plan to move over President's Day weekend.  If you are available to help, we would be most grateful!  

Next months update will have more pictures of our new place and Jacob's toothy smile.  

Our New House!

Merry Christmas! and Happy 8 month birthday!

At this time last year, we had just found out that our baby was a boy, but also about his hydrocephalus.  We had lots of questions and Christmas just didn't sparkle very much last year.  But this year was much more fun for all, including the beautiful and happy little boy that turned out to be Jacob.  God is good!

We traveled to Annie's parents in Port Angeles again for the holidays, joined by Great Grandpa Corson and Uncle Steve.  The three of us opted for the family focused Christmas Eve service at 5:30pm, instead of the late-night candlelight service.   Santa left lots of gifts for us all, but especially Jacob, including some new clothes, toys, and eating utensils.  Our Christmas meal was delicious, as usual (Annie's favorite meal of the whole year).  The pork roast was literally as big and long as Jacob!  We will celebrate with Matt's family on the 30th where I'm sure Jacob will be spoiled again.



Jacob loves to read! And Grandma is happy to help.

On the development front, Jacob continues to progress with the help of physical therapist, Laura.  He's sitting up more and getting much stronger.  Now we are working on him getting used to being on his tummy and his knees.  Jacob is also eating lots of new foods, from peas and carrots to apples and pears.  His favorite is sweet potatoes and prunes.  He is now just over 28" and 19lbs 5oz--a hefty load for Dad to carry him in the car seat carrier. 

Today, Jacob received his helmet.  This will help continue shaping his head and provide the best space for his brain to grow.  Fortunately, the surgery corrected a large portion of his head shape, so he will hopefully only have to wear the helmet for a few months.  He looks like a little race car driver!  He'll start wearing it for just a few hours a day, but will be up to 23 hours/day within a week. 

Still no news on selling our house.  We had an offer in early December, but they withdrew after we countered the offer.  God knows the best time and place for us and will make it happen. 

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We count you, our friends and family, among our many blessings this year. 

We are Thankful for...7 months!

We hope all of you had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

We ventured over the river and through the snow to Grandmother's house (Annie's parents) on Thursday morning.  They had about a foot of snow at their house in Port Angeles, but the worst part of the drive was going into their driveway.  We made it with no problems and got right to cooking once we arrived.  This year was a smaller group and we only had 2 turkeys, instead of the usual 3.  Jacob joined us at the table, sitting in his new high chair and even tried some mashed potatoes.  He really did not like them and spit them out right away.  Annie's dad got him a new teething "toy" though--a silicone barrel stopper (aka bung).  Jacob did enjoy that and it must feel good on his new teeth coming in.

Jacob is 7 months old today!  He's doing so well after his surgery and now seems pretty much back to normal.  He's getting stronger and able to sit up with minimal support.  And he's just the happiest little guy we know.

We have so much to be thankful for this year!  Here are just a few...

• Wonderful support from friends and family through prayer, provision of meals, babysitting, etc.
• An amazing little boy who has come through two major surgeries with flying colors
• A warm & dry house to live in
• A good job that keeps Annie busy
• A great church

Home Sweet Home

Hooray!  We're home from the hospital after just 3 nights and 4 days.  We got the green light from the doctor this morning and were home by noon.  It's so nice to be in our own space, without the constant interruptions from beeping monitors and machines and well-meaning nurses. 

Jacob is looking great, especially after getting a nice bath this evening to clean up the mess of remaining hair.  He's getting his appetite back and smiling again.  He definitely prefers to be held instead of laying down on his own.  And a bit of tylenol manages what little pain and discomfort he has.  Matt and Annie feel better too after a good shower and are recovering from their colds as well.  Let's hope we all have an easy transition back into our home routine. 

We thank God for answering our prayers for a smooth surgery and fast recovery!  Thank you all for praying too!  Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!

Hospital day 2 (Friday, I think)

Being in the hospital has a way of sucking you into a time vacuum and you have no idea what day it really is.  Anyway, we are writing to you from Jacob's new room on the regular med/surg floor.  Yay! 

Matt stayed with Jacob overnight and both did pretty well.  This morning though, Jacob threw up a couple times and ended up getting put back on IV fluids.  A teeny set back.  But later in the day, he got his drain out from his head and one of his IV's taken out too.  All steps closer to getting him back home. 

Jacob is now sleeping peacefully and Matt and I are stretched out in a much more spacious room.  Not much of a view, but we'll take it!  Goals for the rest of the day are to get him eating a bit more and make sure his pain is well controlled.  Hopefully his doctor will take the dressings off tonight too.  He's got some really messy hair underneath his mesh cap.  So it would be nice to get him cleaned up some too. 

Annie went to her doctor this morning and came back with a prescription for antibiotics too.  So hopefully we'll all be on the road to healing here soon. 

Hospital day 1

Jacob's surgery finished about 1pm yesterday and they moved him into the ICU.  He looks way better than we expected!  (The swelling may still happen over the next couple of days).  There's a drain coming out of his head to collect the oozing blood and he's got a big net cap on.  Both sets of grandparents stayed with us through the afternoon and then said their goodnights. 

Mom and Dad left the hospital about 5:30pm, nearly 12 hours after we got here.  We literally got home and climbed into bed, skipping dinner or anything else.  Both of us have been fighting colds and really needed the sleep.

Back to the hospital this morning, this time with the sun up.  Jacob was starting to wake up when we got here, so was a little fussy.  Matt and I have both been able to hold him, as well as feed him, which makes for a happier family.  Just a few minutes ago, the nurse disconnected his IV fluids and pain medicine--one more step towards freedom!

Jacob will likely stay in the ICU through the day and overnight again, mainly because the regular floor is crowded (this is the same thing that happened in the NICU after he was born!).  But he is comfortable and in good hands.  We even got a couple of smiles from him today.  If all goes well, he could go home by Saturday!

Thank you again to all of you who are praying with us and thinking about us.  We can feel the love!  And thanks to those friends who are bringing food by too.  We love you!

Surgery Day

 

 This morning we got up at 5 to get Jacob to the hospital for his surgery.  He's wasn't too happy since he hadn't eaten anything since 1 in the morning so by 5 he was pretty hungry and wanted to eat.  We got to the hospital around 5:30 and they showed us to our surgery prep room.  Jacob was happy and had given up on being hungry by that point so it was nice to have some time with him.  Then they came in and tried 3 different times to get enough blood for a blood test and to set an IV.  He screamed through that and looked like a tomato, very angry and very hungry!!  Once that was all done it took a while to calm him down and then we waited...and waited...and waited.  They had to get the blood type and get some blood ordered (for a transfusion) before they would even let him in the OR.  When they finally had the type and the order in they decided that they needed to have the blood in hand before they would even start.  Finally a little before 9 they took him back to the OR.

 

Now we are in the surgery waiting room.  We just got an update from one of the OR nurses--the surgery is underway and going well so far.  She said Jacob didn't even cry when they got there; he was smiling and entertained by the silly OR staff.  Looks like surgery will be done sometime between 12 and 1.  Then to the ICU.  Both sets of grandparents are here waiting with us too.