Toddler Morning Routines w/Dr. Browns

Ok guys, you KNOW how much we love our Dr. Browns products! They are the ONLY bottles we used with our little ones, and now that MJ is a full blown toddler (insert crying emoji) I (Paige) have moved onto their big boy feeding products and my new favorite things from them...their toothpaste and toothbrush!

Seriously they are so much better than anything else on the market! Their toothbrush is adorable which you can see above, and their toothpaste is safe, all natural and tastes and smells delicious :) MJ LOVES when it's time to brush his teeth every morning, and it's made our morning routine so much easier!

I used to have a hard time getting him to sit still while I did his hair, but now that he loves brushing his teeth I brush them for him first, them let him hold the toothbrush and do it himself while I do his hair! It's seriously made my life so much easier, and his hair look so much better! Haha. The only tough part now is getting him to give the toothbrush back to me when I'm all done because he loves the taste of the toothpaste so much!

Find their toothpaste AND toothbrush here for $7! And guys, we did collaborate with them on this post, but EVERYTHING we've said is 100% true and our own opinion!

Lastly, one more tip on getting your toddlers hair to look good! I've LOVED this new cut MJ has because it's so easy! I just sweep it all to one side and pop the front up using my new favorite hair product for boys which I stole from my husband :) Find it here. Just take a SMALL amount in your hand (a little goes a long way) and work it through their hair dry or wet! It will make it look thicker and style it perfectly without looking stiff! I mean look at this doo haha...

Feeding Cal with Dr. Brown's

As I mentioned in this post a few months ago, Cal is still heavily relying on being fed through his g-tube. HOWEVER, he does eat a little bit of "solid" food.  We feed him mostly pureed baby foods, and also try giving him bites of softer foods that we eat.  I feel like when my husband and I eat in front of him, he loses interest with whatever baby food mush we're trying to give him and wants what we're eating.  Which I'm totally okay with!  Yesterday I was eating one of those chicken wraps that I made (blog post on those here), and he was acting like he wanted a bite. So I gave him a black bean after mushing it a little in my fingers.  The chipotle dressing on the wrap is a little spicy so I thought he might hate it.  But he kept acting like he wanted more and probably ate 5 or 6 beans! Haha.  Seems like nothing, but I was so happy. #itsthelittlethings

When I do feed him baby food, I have Dr. Brown's Baby products to thank again for making Cal's meal time go as easy and smooth as possible. I'm sure I've mentioned many times that I'm a bit of a clean freak. I love the non stick base on their bowls to keep them in place, but my favorite solid feeding product they carry is their spatula spoons. I use those suckers to wipe Cal's mouth clean after every bite and they work like a charm. I wish I had the will power to just let Cal go crazy with his food and make a mess.  But I don't. 

I can't believe my baby is almost one! I really thought Cal's g-tube would be much more temporary. I thought we'd have it out by the time he turned 6 months for sure! My hope is that as he gets older and we are able to reason with him a little more to a point where he can really understand, that he'll realize he doesn't need it and will start to eat more on his own. 

On a bit of a side note, we had our first scary gtube experience two nights ago and I want to document it real quick. We went to the Murray hospital to see my grandpa, who just had emergency heart surgery, and as I was getting Cal out of the car, I accidentally yanked his gtube completed out of his stomach! He was in the middle of being fed. So I had his little backpack with the pump in one hand, but as I was pulling him out I felt something get stuck. I thought it was his shoe since that’s happened before so I just tugged and continued pulling him out, not knowing the tubing was caught around the bottom of the car seat. I wasn’t even pulling that hard, but he started screaming and Daniel saw the gtube was completely out. Since he was in the middle of eating his milk and stomach contents spilled out all over him. He calmed down pretty quickly and went back to his happy self. Since we were at the hospital we rushed him over to the ER with my emergency gtube kit I had in he car (that I had never had to use and I was panicking a little). The hole in his stomach can close in as little as an hour if it’s not held open! Anyways, to shorten the story, we put in a Foley catheter at Murray to hold it open, but ended up being transferred to primary children’s to get a new tube put in since Murray didn’t have his size. He was such a brave boy, I know it hurt him and I felt like the worst mom on the planet. It was one of those thing where you’re like, did that really just happen?! Can I PLEASE go back 30 seconds and redo that?! 

ANYWAYS, luckily Cal is quick to forgive and forget.  Love that boy so much!

One more thanks to Dr. Brown's for not only helping me feed my baby, but also for feeding MY OCD with their matching bowl and spoon combos ;)

Thank you Dr. Brown's Baby for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Dr. Brown's Baby Skin Care

Just posting a quick PSA to #sharethegoodness that Dr. Brown's has a skin care line that happens to be AMAZING, in case you didn't know :) I just learned about it and have loved using their products on Cal!

I especially love their foaming baby wash. The ingredients are all-natural and made with essential oils. The rosemary and chamomile scents are also super relaxing and perfect for bath time right before bed. 

Is there really anything better in this world than a fresh, clean baby wrapped in a towel?

We are huge Dr. Brown's fans. Read our post on their bottles and Cal's feeding journey here.

Thank you Dr. Brown's Baby for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Cal's Feeding Journey

Hi guys! It's been a while since I've posted an update on Cal. He's 9 months now (SO crazy to think he'll be ONE in less than 3 months!?!).  He is such a little love.  So full of joy and he has the sweetest, easy-tempered personality.

His followups with doctors and specialists have slowed down, which is good! We were able to cross off a couple of things we were worried about when he was born, and are now just following up with those doctors every 6 months to a year (his kidneys, and blood counts look good!).  He still sees cardiology every couple of months, but things with his little heart have stayed stable.  When he was born his cardiologist thought he would for sure need a valve replacement within the first year of his life.  Now he's saying he thinks we may be able to wait a couple more years because things are looking okay.  More time for Cal to get bigger and stronger and that's what we want!

We still work with a physical therapist quite often since Cal is definitely behind in hitting a lot of his milestones.  He just barely learned to sit up on his own, and we are SO proud of his progress, but still have a long way to go. 

He also has an occupational therapist come work with him because he still has his g-tube. Getting him off the g-tube is currently our biggest goal for him.  He is such a happy, content little boy, but his g-tube seems to be the one thing that bothers him and even causes him pain, I think, sometimes.  If it accidentally gets pulled or rubbed the wrong way, or even when I clean around it sometimes, he gets upset and I just so badly wish he could get it out.  On the bright side, it's helping him get all of the nutrients he needs to grow and develop, and for that, I am grateful.

When he was in the NICU we was only taking about 30% of his full feedings by mouth (bottles with my pumped milk), and the rest was given through his ng tube. We worked with some amazing occupational therapists in the hospital on his feeding.  Both of the therapists we worked with swore by Dr. Brown's Baby bottles.  Not only are Dr. Brown's bottles known for reducing colic, spit-up, burping and gas, they also have different sized nipples for different baby stages to control the flow of the milk. We started Cal out with a premie sized nipple, and moved up to a level two.

Cal never progressed to the point where he was drinking enough to come home from the NICU, so after two months living in a hospital, he ended up getting the g-tube placed so he could come home. 

We've been able to work on feeding him in the comfort of our own home, and still supplement what he needs through his g-tube.  He never really learned to master drinking his full feedings from the bottle, but Dr. Brown's also has some great transitional products for going from bottle to a cup, and  also products for solid food feeding.  Cal has done much better with smooth pureed food than he did with a drinking a bottle, and has learned to drink from the Dr. Brown's Soft Spout Cup.

We are so blessed to have so many amazing baby products out there to help with Cal's feeding journey. Now Cal just needs to learn to love food as much as his mama does so he can get that dang tube out ;)

Thanks for reading! Please let me know if you have any questions on Dr. Brown's baby products or if you have or know anyone who has a baby with a g-tube and have questions about that.

Thanks you Dr. Brown's Baby for sponsoring this post.  All opinions are my own.

Our Cal Pal - 5 Months!

Regan here! It's been a while since I've given an update on my little not so little Cal, and since today he is 5 months old I thought I'd share what's been happening since my last post (read more about Cal here, here, and here).

Cal is SUCH a happy baby, which just makes everything so much better and so fun!  He will smile at anyone and smiles all. the. time. 

His eating has gotten better.  He still has his G-tube, but will usually drink 1-3 ounces from a bottle each time he eats, then we give him the rest through his tube.  

About a month after we  brought him home from the NICU we had his followup appointment with his cardiologist.  We were expecting to have seen improvements, or no changes since we left the NICU, but unfortunately there were a few new developments that were a little worrisome.  His heart echo showed some mitral valve stenosis, as well as pulmonary hypertension. 

The cardiologist recommended we do a sleep study to see if Cal has obstructive sleep apnea, which he guessed was contributing to the hypertension. Cal has a smaller jaw that is a little bit recessed, and the doctors thought maybe his airway was getting blocked because of it.

We did the sleep study, and it turned out Cal does have severe sleep apnea.  His oxygen was frequently dropping and coming back up and they gave us all kinds of numbers that I don't really know the meaning of.  I just know they said it's bad.

(Side note...yes I did have his Owlet monitor on every night and it was never going off, but the doctors said it may just be that his oxygen was dropping and coming back up so quickly that it wasn't picking up.)

So now Cal is on oxygen to help with this.  He is supposed to be on it 24/7 because of the hypertension, but we give him breaks every once in a while during the day (doctor approved). And actually, California is now Cal's favorite place (not surprised) because his cardiologist said we could keep his oxygen off for the most part during the day when we are down there since it's easier to breath at sea level. Maybe we need to move ;)

P.S. Cal's beach outfit from Lulu + Roo is too much for me to handle (heart eyes, heart eyes)

About a week and a half ago Cal underwent a little procedure where they put him under so that they could scope out his airway while he was asleep, and see what was causing the obstruction.  They did a procedure called Supra Glotto Plasty where they trimmed up some extra/floppy tissue inside the airway.  The ENT thinks this will help him a little, but when they were scoping out his airway, they determined it's Cal's tongue falling back into his throat that's causing most of the airway obstruction. Which is a bummer :(

The ENT we've been seeing (who did the procedure) says this is something Cal could possibly grow out of in the future, but we also may consider doing a jaw distraction surgery where they will bring the jaw forward, helping the tongue to come forward as well. This is a pretty invasive surgery and the ENT just isn't sure if it's right for Cal yet.  

Throughout all of this Cal has been such a champ.  He smiles through it all, and continues to surprise us all with how well he's growing and developing in other areas.

He is also followed by a Hematologist, Urologist, and Neurologist, and has monthly visits to our home from an Occupational and Physical Therapist.  We are so grateful for amazing doctors and therapists who have been following Cal closely and making sure he has all of the help he needs to continue growing and developing. 

There are still a lot of unknowns for what the future hold for our sweet Cal.  It would be very unlikely (we've been told) that he won't have at least some degree of mental and physical delays, and we know it's going to be a long road ahead of doctors visits and followups, but we are going to give him every opportunity in the world to reach his full potential.  He has already shown us his strong will to push through every obstacle thrown his way, and we know he'll continue on that same path.

Happy 5 Months buddy, we couldn't love you any more!

DockAtot

I've already mentioned how much I love my DockAtot in this post, but, I've had a couple of friends who have been on the fence about getting one ask me how well I really like it. So I wanted to write up another quick review.  Plus, it seems like some of the cutest pictures I have of Cal are of him in his Dockatot, and I need an excuse to post them ;)

First off, my husband and I do not co-sleep (meaning sleep with Cal in our bed).  At night he sleeps in his Halo Swivel bassinet (which I also love). But the Dockatot is not just for co-sleeping.

Cal naps great in the Dockatot, and it's so nice keeping it right next to my "office" where I work during the day so I can be close to him while he naps.  It's also so convenient to travel with.  We haven't traveled much with Cal yet, but last weekend we went up to Park City to my grandparents condo for the day, and I brought the Dockatot for Cal's naps instead of his pack n' play (which is so much heavier and spacious). It was perfect!

The other thing I love about the Dockatot is that it's great for tummy time! The cushy, breathable bumpers can be positioned under the arms to help develop neck strength and motor skills during tummy time.  

Have I sold you yet?? Ha! 

If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

xx

Regan

Tummy Time with Lorena Canals Rugs

This picture (below) makes me so happy! 

1. I LOVE my rug from Lorena Canals Rugs. Why can't all rugs be machine-washable?! Cal can do his tummy time right on this soft, cozy, all natural rug without any worry about him spitting up or drooling all over it (lol).  It's the perfect touch to our entry room.

2. The handmade sign over our sofa by Birch Marie Designwrks might be my favorite thing we have hanging in our home.  The message is a perfect reminder as we walk through the door each day.  Especially with everything we've been going through with our sweet Cal.  

and 

3. Cal is doing SO great on his tummy time! He's such a strong boy with so much will to make it in this life.  He's already come so far.  Our family is enjoying every minute of having him home.  We don't know what the future holds for him as he develops, but right now he is just our perfect, normal baby and we are soaking in every second of this stage. 

Details on my entry room are linked below.  Thanks for reading!

xx

Regan

Cal's Newborn Pictures with FotoFly

Hi! Regan again :)

If you read my Newborn Baby Essentials post, you know that one of things I think every parent needs to invest in is photos of/with your new little love.  I wasn't able to get Cal's pictures done as a brand new baby since he was in the hospital for the first 8 weeks, but I'm so glad I still decided to get them taken once he came home.

We did them with FotoFly at their SLC City location and I am so in love with how the photos turned out.  I will truly cherish them forever!

We had such a great experience with the photographer there, Max.  Cal was such a good boy and was smiling right on cue and slept through the first images, which was perfect.  Max had some great tricks to get him to wake up and open his eyes when we needed him to and to look right at the camera. 

One of the best parts about working with Fotofly is that they guaruntee you'll have your edited photos back within 24 hours! Also, their prices are pretty unbeatable.  You can do a 60 minute session for $125 and that includes all the edited images emailed to you.

Thank you FotoFly!

Regan's Newborn Baby Essentials

If you haven't heard yet or seen on our Instagram, my sweet little Cal is HOME!!

I am so out of my mind happy and loving life with him home! I am NO baby expert, but wanted to share some of the things that have made life at home with Cal so great.  These are things that I think every new mama needs.

Dockatot

I can't say enough great things about the Dockatot.  Cal sleeps SO well in it.  He sleeps in his Halo Bassinet at night (which I'll share more about below) but naps in his Dockatot.  I love that I can put him up on our bed and not worry about him rolling off, or suffocating because the fabric is breathable and 100% safe for infants. I also love this adorable play yard from Finn & Emma.  It fits perfectly over the dockatot.  Cal is still a little young to play with it, but it sure looks cute out in my living room :)

Little Unicorn Swaddles

These are by far my favorite swaddle blankets.  I got a couple as shower gifts, then I had to go buy myself more because there are so many cute prints.  I need them ALL. They are breathable, soft, nice and big, and just so cute.  They also keep your baby swaddled nice and tight.  Nothing better than a swaddled up burrito baby. haha. When Cal was in the NICU he couldn't always wear clothes because of all the monitors and they were constantly unwrapping him to look at his breathing and poke him or listen to him.  I did bring him a new blanket and hat every day though and always got so many compliments on his Little Unicorn swaddle blankets.

MamaRoo

I'm pretty sure the MamRoo is a well-known baby product, but I had to add it in here as one of my baby essentials.  Cal's occupational therapist when he was in the NICU recommended I get one.  Apparently swings are good for babies' brain development.  At the time I didn't have one for him, but I knew I needed one after she told me that and I'm so glad he has it now! I work full time from home, and it's a life saver being able to put Cal in the mamaRoo next to me while I work at my computer. 

Sollybaby Wrap

I always thought these wraps and all the colors they come in were so cute when moms would wear them.  It wasn't until I tried one myself that I realized how amazing and comfortable they are to wear. I love carrying Cal around in it and this is another thing I feel like I need in every color, ha!

Owlet Monitor

This should maybe be at the top of the post, because, really, I think EVERY parent needs one of these. The Owlet is a little sock your baby wears that tracks and allows you to check your baby's heart rate and oxygen levels anytime.  I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night without it! Below is a screenshot from my phone showing what the app looks like.

Halo Bassinet

Paige talked about this in her 2016 baby product review post, and she told me this was by far her #1 favorite baby product, so I knew I needed one for Cal. It really is SO nice that it can sit right up next to your bed and swivels back and forth and side to side. My mom also got Cal this cute mobile that fits on the side of the Halo bassinet and Cal LOVES it :)

WubbaNubs

There's something about those Soothie pacifiers (the round green ones they give you in the hospital) that babies love. The only problem is a lot of times babies can't keep them in and you're constantly having to hold them in your baby's mouth (at least I was!).  The WubbaNubs are those same Soothie brand pacifiers with a soft stuffed animal attached, that helps weigh the pacifier down and keep it in.  Paige's son, MJ, loved his and Cal does now too!

Fawn Design Bag

These bags are not just for diaper bag use.  They're cute for anyone! But I love all of the pockets for organizing everything I need in my diaper bag.  They come in great neutral colors that go with everything and I love that they can be worn as a backpack!

Fisher Price Bouncer

This is a super simple little bouncer but Cal loves it and it's perfect to keep in my bathroom to put him in while I shower and get ready.

Hands Free Pumping Bra

This is only for those who know they are going to need to pump...a LOT.  I couldn't nurse Cal when he was on IV fluids, and had a hard time nursing him when he was finally able to eat.  He did great with a bottle, and we just wanted to get him home, so I figured I'd practice nursing at home.  Well, now he won't nurse because he's so used to the bottle and getting his food right away, PLUS I don't like not knowing how much he's getting.  Long story short, I am exclusively pumping and bottle feeding now.  And it's a LOT of work. When I finally heard about this bra, I immediately bought it and it has been a game changer.  I pump for 25 minutes each time, and not being able to use my hands for 25 minutes 7-8 times a day is impossible.  

This bra is a life saver.

Baby Pictures

Okay, this is the last thing, and it isn't a baby product, but I definitely think professional newborn baby pictures are something all parents should get.  I'll be sharing a future post soon with all of Cal's pictures, but here's a little preview.  

FotoFly did such an amazing job and we are so glad we got these done! I'll cherish them  forever.

I hope this is helpful for any new moms or moms-to-be! I knew nothing about which products I needed, so I asked around a TON and I'm so glad I did! Being prepared and having everything you need before baby arrives adds so much less stress to the mix when bringing home that new little life.

Thanks for reading!

Regan

Tags baby boy, baby, essentials, must haves, newborn baby essentials, newborn

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Cal's Nursery + NICU Update

Putting together Cal's nursery was one of the things I was most excited about and eager to get started on when I found out I was pregnant with him.  I wanted his room to be boy-ish but not too baby-ish to make it easier to transition as he grows and gets older.  I love how it came together.  It's my favorite room in the house!

I got almost everything from Target!  One of my favorite things is this dresser/changing table that looks to me like it could be from Restoration Hardware. Such a great price and really good quality!

The animal prints are from Etsy and the picture frames are from Target. The rug, crib, and lamp are also Target.

Scroll to the end of this post for all the linked details from Cal's nursery as well as the latest update on him. 

Cutest and tiniest pair of moccs from Freshly Picked

I'm so excited to get Cal home and show him his room! 

The number one question I get is, "When do they think you'll be able to bring him home?"  I SO wish I had the answer to that question, but it's so hard to say.  One thing we've learned from Cal being in the NICU is that it's just a huge waiting game and requires a lot of patience and faith.  

We've gone through ups and downs during the last four weeks in the NICU, and we've learned that we just need to trust Cal's doctors and give him the time he needs to get better.  We learned the hard way that we just need to take things slow with him and not push him too hard.  

Right now Cal is still getting respiratory support.  They have slowly started to wean him off a machine called NIPPV.  Once he's on a low enough flow of oxygen we are hoping we'll be able to start feeding him again.  Right now he's getting my breastmilk through his feeding tube (so sad thinking about him having a constant tube down his throat and not being able to taste or eat anything orally!). 

So at this point we will just continue to pray and have have faith that he will continue to get stronger and better.  Thank you again for all of the kind words, thoughts and prayers for our family, and especially for Cal.  Each time we pray for him we also thank God for all the wonderful people we have supporting and praying for us.  I will update again soon!

-Regan

Our Miracle Boy

On January 11th at 8:15am we welcomed our sweet baby Cal into the world!  He decided to come a few weeks early and it's such a miracle how it all happened.

As I mentioned in a previous post when I announced I was pregnant with Cal, we knew there was a chance he'd be born with some chromosome abnormalities.  We knew it was out of our hands and just felt so blessed that we were even pregnant with him, so every day we just prayed that he would continue to grow and develop into a healthy baby boy.

After a fairly normal and easy labor and delivery, Cal made his debut! He wasn't breathing well on his own and needed respiratory support.  Because we knew he might be born with some abnormalities, we had lots of doctors ready to care for him right when he was born.  A heart echo was one of the things they did right away, and the results came back showing quite a few defects with his little heart.  At that point it was pretty clear he had the unbalanced chromosome translocation, but the microarray test results confirming this would take over a week to get back. 

Over the next few days Cal was showing a lot of improvements and after a follow up heart echo, his cardiologist told us we could pretty much rule out a heart surgery at that point because his heart was functioning normally and doing its job, despite all of the little defects it showed.  What a blessing it was to hear that! 

During the next week as we waited for the chromosome test results we started to get a little bit hopeful that maybe he didn't have the chromosome translocation after all.  He was looking so good and healthy, it was hard to believe there could be anything wrong with our perfect baby boy.

Well, the test results came back and did confirm his unbalanced translocation - a partial trisomy of chromosome 15 and a partial deletion of chromosome 16.  

Because this is so uncommon and there really aren't any known cases of people with this exact genetic condition, we really don't know what this means for Cal or what effects it will have on him in the future. What we do know is that we love him so much and that he is the perfect baby for us.  We know he was meant to come be part of our family and fulfill his purpose here on earth.  

Today marks day 23 in the NICU with Cal.  It's been tough but we are so grateful for the care he's receiving from incredible doctors and nurses and are continuing to pray for his body to heal so that he can come home with us soon.

Thank you for all the love, prayers and support.  I will be posting another update soon!

-Regan

P.S. The nurses all tell me Cal's the best dressed baby in the NICU so I thought I'd share a few of his outfit details below ;)