Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Sweet Seth

This is how I found Seth last night ....

After supper, Kevin got called out on an emergency. So it was up to me to get all the boys bathed and to bed and clean the kitchen. I gave Seth his bath first while the other boys were picking up toys. I got Seth ready for bed and put him in his exersaucer to play while I got the two other boys ready for bed. It took a little longer than I expected to get the two older boys ready because I ran into some discipline problems with a certain big blue eyed boy. After getting the older boys to bed, I went into the living room to rock and nurse Seth and found him sound asleep in the exersaucer. He didn't even wake up when I picked him up.

Seth hasn't been feeling well all month. Actually today, I took him to the doctor for the fourth time this month. We went for his 12 month well baby visit and three sick visits. And he actually wasn't "well" at his well visit. Seth has a terrible ear infection that he can not shake. We have been on two antibiotics and the infection has not gone away. So today, Dr. DeLisi pulled out the big guns. Seth is getting three shots of Rocephin over the next three days. And for the second time this month, he is on breathing treatments for wheezing airways and the deep cough he has.

At his 12 month visit we found out that he has fallen on his growth curve to below 10 percentile in his weight. He weighed 19 lbs 5 oz. He only gained 5 ounces in the three months between his 9 month visit and his 12 month visit. Dr. DeLisi was concerned about the drop. At 9 months we was between 20-25 percentile in weight. Seth eats solid foods three times a day and has a big appetite for his food when he feels good. But Seth hasn't felt very good since January. Dr. DeLisi didn't want me to switch him to whole milk because whole milk has less calories and vitamins/minerals than formula or breastmilk. So I am still nursing him some but I am giving him formula during the day. We will go back to check his weight at his 15 month well visit. So hopefully he will get to feeling better and put some weight on.

Dr. DeLisi was also surprised that Seth wasn't pulling up. Seth did start army crawling in January but he has yet to try and pull up or stand on his own. After discussing some concerns that I had, Dr. DeLisi thought it best to have Seth evaluated by Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), a state program for families with children, birth to three years old, with disabilities and developmental delays. Seth had his initial ECI screening on March 11. Seth was tested on hearing, vision, nutrition, social, gross and fine motor skills, and cognitive learning. He scored age appropriate in everything but gross motor skills, which he scored extremely low. Sallie, the lady that evaluated him, thought he would qualify for the program on his delayed gross motor skills. He has a more comprehensive screening on Thursday of this week to see if he actually qualifies for the program. To qualify, Seth will have to be a least three months developmentally delayed. Next week, a physical therapist with ECI is coming to see if physical therapy would be beneficial to him. I am guessing we will know if he qualifies for the program and if needed, what type of therpy will be needed over the next couple of weeks.

He may not be breaking the scales with his weight or breaking records in physical development, but he is one sweet little boy -- despite that nasty infection he is still fighting. He has expanded his vocabulary by a few words. He can say clap, dog, and cat. He also can bark like a dog. It is simply the sweetest bark you have ever heard. You have to listen closely because he is a soft barker!

Our cup overflows here at the Dickey house with these three sweet boys!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Night-Night Prayers

Our regular bedtime routine is to read one storybook then we read a Bible story. After the Bible story we say our night-night prayers. Then sometimes after that prayer, Kevin will voice a prayer for the boys and our family. Usually in his prayers for the boys, he prays for them using the meanings of their names. He prays that Eli will be uplifted, Luke will be a light giver, and that Seth will be appointed to serve God in mighty ways. We usually say the "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" prayer but here lately we have told the boys that they need to pray for what is on their hearts. Most of the time their "from the heart" prayer is more of a wish list of toys and play dates than anything. But tonight, Eli decided to prayed something a little different and mimicked Kevin's prayer .

Eli's prayer:

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for Mommy and Daddy. And thank you for Baby Seth. We love Baby Seth so much. Luke is the light, Seth is important, and I am the Jedi Council.
Amen

His little red head pops up and he asks "Was that a good prayer?"

Monday, March 2, 2009

The birthday celebration

This past Saturday we celebrated Seth's first birthday. We had 15 family members come help celebrate his big day. We ate a big lunch, ate some cake and ice cream, opened presents, and visited. It was a great day all around.

When I started planning and thinking about his party I wanted to do something to help other families that had premature or sick babies. Seth received a hand made quilt while he was in the hospital that I love dearly. The blanket was made L. Hall and donated to the hospital. I decided to asked every one invited, if possible, in lieu of a gift to make a blanket to be donated to the Good Shepherd NICU where Seth was hospitalized after he was born. So far we have 16 blankets and 5 more in the process of being made. That is a total of 21 blankets! I never dreamed we would get that many!!!


Seth eyeing his smash cake.

Either he is not going to be a messy eater or he was too sleepy to have much interest in devouring the cake.

Checking out the party hat.

This icing isn't half bad.

The smash cake, the big cake, and the plates

Seth and his cousins and brothers
Luke, Karis, Karaline, Seth, Eli, and Will
Wyatt did not come to the party. He was invited to a friend's party so he stayed at home to go to that party.

Big Daddy with his baby girl and his baby boy.

Karaline flying her kite with Papa watching on.

Luke running flying his kite.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

What a difference a year makes!

What a difference a year makes....

Seth Benjamin, born March 1, 2008 at 33 weeks gestation ~ 4 lbs 13 oz ~17 in. long
Seth Benjamin at a year old! Nothing preemie about him now.


Sweet little fingers
Sweet chubby fingers

A tiny preemie foot.
A fat little foot ready to explore!

Mommy holding Seth for the first time when he is 3 day old.
Mommy still loves loving on her baby boy!
We give praise and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for healing our little boy and making him the healthy baby that he is today.

Every good and perfect gift is from above...
James 1:17