4 1/2 Months!

I can't believe our baby is over 4 months old! He's getting so big. Matt and I absolutely adore Wilson. It's amazing how much joy he's brought into our lives. We had a really rough beginning, but I am really enjoying being a mom now.

Wilson has had a few troubles. He spent between the time he was 2 weeks old until he was 2 months old SCREAMING HIS HEAD OFF. If he was awake, he was screaming. It was so hard. I knew something was hurting him because he was totally inconsolable. Then he started having some bloody diapers (I won't go into too much detail)... so I knew something was wrong. His pediatrician told us that it was likely due to a food allergy. So, we experimented with a few different formulas. We ended up on Nutramigen- which is crazy expensive. Just today, a girl in my ward told me about how she makes her kids' formula and she brought me some over to try- so we'll see how that works. Wilson seems to like it. It's a rice milk based formula. So, hopefully we can get off the Nutramigen. Because seriously- it costs us $300-$400 a month to feed him! I was fully planning on nursing him- but that did not work out for us. It broke my heart, but then I moved on. My body didn't have the capacity to produce enough milk- or any milk! The gastroenterologist we took him to told me that even if I had been able to nurse, I would have likely given up anyway because of his food allergies. So, we're doing the best we can.

He's a MUCH happier baby. I can tell that he's still having some tummy troubles- but nothing like what we were dealing with in the beginning. He sleeps through the night- and has since he was about three months old. He's a terrible napper though. He'll only nap for more than five or ten minutes if someone is holding him. We don't complain too much because it is pretty nice that he sleeps all night long. He's also really easy to put to sleep at night- so we're grateful!

Wilson has a very cute little personality. It's super easy to get a smile out of him. He started smiling (on purpose) right on track at two months old. He also rolled over for the first time two days ago. Since then, he's rolled from his tummy to his back quite a few times. He is also starting to play with toys and he puts everything right into his mouth. We've gotten a few giggles out of him- but he makes us work REALLY hard for that. He's a quiet little baby- unless he's mad. And boy- if he's mad... WATCH OUT. He has no problem letting everyone know just how ticked off or hungry he is.

Wilson also had an umbilical hernia that is getting better. At first, it made me really nervous! I couldn't believe how HUGE his belly button was. His doctor kept reassuring me that it was nothing to worry about. Now that it's returning to normal size, I feel much better about it. Seriously- it was the size of a very large olive. It was a little freaky.

Wilson loves bath time. He hated it when he was brand new- but now, he loves it. He used to scream when we took him out because he hated the cold, but now- he's perfectly fine getting out of the bathtub. He loves to splash and pee in the bathtub.

He also loves the tv and looking at lights. His favorite show is Judge Judy. Who can blame him?

Matt ended up quitting his plumbing job and stays home with Wilson during the day. He works for a couple of hours at the Boys & Girls Club a few days a week in the afternoon, so he drops Wilson off at Grandma Patti's (my mom's cousin) or Grandpa Green's and I pick him up an hour later when I get off work. It has worked out nicely.

As for me- my back has been nothing but trouble. I have had two MRIs since I had Wilson and found out that I have four bad discs in my lower back. The bottom two are severely herniated. I also have severe congenital spinal stenosis and short pedicles. I have had severe back and leg pain. My right big toe has been numb since July 25. I had an interlaminar epidural injection on my birthday, Aug. 28 that did nothing. About four weeks later, I had two transforaminal injections and they worked much better. They are MISERABLE to get- but I'm functioning now- which is nice. For several weeks I wasn't even able to feed Wilson because I couldn't sit long enough to do it. There were some nights I didn't sleep even one wink because I was in so much pain. There have also been days I woke up and couldn't bear weight on my right leg. It's been a scary, horrible experience. I've met with three surgeons- all who think I need to have surgery. I actually have a two-level discectomy scheduled with Dr. Reichman on Dec. 11. I do not want to do it. I'm TERRIFIED of the idea of it. If I continue to improve before then, maybe I can avoid it? I don't know. I will probably have back problems the rest of my life and I need to be super careful with it. I just hope that some day, my spine will be able to support another pregnancy so Wilson won't have to be an only child! Having a newborn on top of all of that, plus recovering from the two surgeries I had, plus a bunch of hormonal postpartum stuff made things a little difficult in our house for a while. I really didn't think we were going to survive it all. But, we have so far and things just keep getting better and better. I'm enjoying being a mom much better than I was at first! We're starting to get the hang of things a little better and Wilson is most certainly worth it all. He is for sure the best little thing that has ever existed. I couldn't love him more. I haven't uploaded all my pictures onto my computer from my phone recently- so here are some I took a few weeks ago. Isn't he cute?