Dear all,
I can't believe how fast time flies! Its already been 10 days since I last updated! I might have to do this in 2 different shots - just a narrative first and then pictures and videos later.
Isaac has been doing okay. His weight gain has slowed down a little bit and he just got to 5.70 kgs today. His eating got a little messed up when we tried to let him "play" with some solids (rice cereal diluted with formula) so we decided to stop that for now and wait till he is a little heavier before we start it again. His feedings are finally back to normal now. Basically, when we let him play with solids, he started turning down the formula and breastmilk. Since he is still so small, solids are just supposed to be "desserts" for him and he still needs to get all of his nutrients from the formula and breastmilk so that's why we are going to take it slow. Although he will be getting to an adjusted age of 6 mos in a few days (when most people start feeding solids), his weight is not at the adjusted age of 6 mos yet so we may wait a bit longer.
Isaac is basically a very happy baby until he realizes that he is getting very sleepy and he might fall asleep for the rest of the night. He ends up throwing a bit of a tantrum every night when that happens (sometimes its better and sometimes is worse). Once he really falls asleep, he has a very hard time waking up (for example, sometimes he has a very hard time waking up from naps). Its eerie how much like his daddy he is as Jong hates falling asleep at night but once he falls asleep, it takes a lot to wake him up. LOL. There are also a few other things where Isaac is like his daddy but I don't want to embarrass Jong too much. I don't know what I did to "deserve" two little boys like them in my life. Hee hee.
Oh darn. Isaac just woke up and he is WIDE awake!!! Gotta run! Be back later.
Sonia
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
Trying a little bit of solids and making funny noises
Dear all,
Hi all. Just posting some videos quickly.
Isaac is so eager to put things in his mouth, we gave him a little bit of rice cereal for fun. This was our second time trying it. He has also tasted a little bit apple juice and orange juice and really likes orange juice.
Isaac started making some very funny noises to us earlier this week and now he keeps doing it!
Just one more video - more Isaac tummy time:
God bless,
Sonia
Hi all. Just posting some videos quickly.
Isaac is so eager to put things in his mouth, we gave him a little bit of rice cereal for fun. This was our second time trying it. He has also tasted a little bit apple juice and orange juice and really likes orange juice.
Isaac started making some very funny noises to us earlier this week and now he keeps doing it!
Just one more video - more Isaac tummy time:
God bless,
Sonia
Monday, January 15, 2007
Lots of Videos
Hi all,
Jong is traveling again so I wanted to upload a bunch of videos for him to see. Since I have to go through the process to get the videos online, might as well put them on the blog!
I got too sleepy to do this last night so I have to do this in a rush this (Monday) morning. So I will just post the videos and won't include that much in writing this time.
Isaac in his jumperoo:
Another attempt by me to get Isaac smiling on video. I always bring the video camera a bit too late because I would be enjoying his smiles so much, it will take me a few minutes before I think about the video camera and by that time, he will be done smiling! But he did crack a few small ones on this one. For some reason, he really likes us saying "mama" and "papa" for him and that usually gets him smiling.
More Isaac tummy time:
Isaac has been trying to turn over the past few days but he is not very coordinated and haven't figured out that he needs to turn his lower body too so he gets a bit frustrated and flails around a bit. We usually help his leg get over. Hopefully, he can get there on his own soon!
Isaac likes to eat the bar on his jumperoo:
Hope you all have a blessed week,
Sonia
Jong is traveling again so I wanted to upload a bunch of videos for him to see. Since I have to go through the process to get the videos online, might as well put them on the blog!
I got too sleepy to do this last night so I have to do this in a rush this (Monday) morning. So I will just post the videos and won't include that much in writing this time.
Isaac in his jumperoo:
Another attempt by me to get Isaac smiling on video. I always bring the video camera a bit too late because I would be enjoying his smiles so much, it will take me a few minutes before I think about the video camera and by that time, he will be done smiling! But he did crack a few small ones on this one. For some reason, he really likes us saying "mama" and "papa" for him and that usually gets him smiling.
More Isaac tummy time:
Isaac has been trying to turn over the past few days but he is not very coordinated and haven't figured out that he needs to turn his lower body too so he gets a bit frustrated and flails around a bit. We usually help his leg get over. Hopefully, he can get there on his own soon!
Isaac likes to eat the bar on his jumperoo:
Hope you all have a blessed week,
Sonia
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
A long overdue Isaac update
Dear all,
Sorry I haven't posted an update on Isaac for a while. I was feeling so sad about Emily, Jennifer and Tony all weekend. Please continue to pray for Jennifer and Tony. What they have gone through is harder than most of us can imagine and we really need to continue to lift them up to the Lord.
I took Isaac to St. Luke's today for his second in-hospital check up with Dr. Kusakawa. This might seem very infrequent for people outside of Japan but we have had a nurse visit us at home every 2 weeks since our last in-hospital check up in early November. We have also been to the international clinic to see Dr. Che twice since November (and we are going again next week so its basically been monthly so far) as Isaac is getting his vaccination shots, other than his Synargis/Anti RS Virus shots, at the international clinic. However, since Dr. Kusakawa is Isaac's primary doctor prescribing him the oxygen, it was definitely good to see him to ask him some questions about Isaac's oxygen.
In any case, Isaac is basically doing pretty well. He is still way below the normal range in respect of weight and height for his adjusted age. But he is gaining weight steadily. He is also growing in height but at a slower rate than his weight gain. Dr. Kusakawa said that the need for supplemental oxygen will depend on Isaac's growth. So it looks like there must be a target weight before Isaac can start be weaned off of oxygen. Brilliant me of course forgot to ask what the target was when I was there but Dr. Kusakawa did say that he thought Isaac may be coming off of oxygen in April or May. He clarified that we only need to keep his oxygen saturation levels at 90% or above during the daytime/his active time but we should keep his sats at 95% or above at night time. So we will continue to give Isaac 0.5 liter/min at night but we can try taking him off of oxygen for part of the day now as he can get above 90% on his own at times. We are thinking that we can try taking off his oxygen off in the mornings when he usually has more energy. He usually starts getting more and more tired in the afternoons. We will see how that goes.
Oh just for the record, these are some of Isaac's measurements for your comparison:
1/10/07 - weight 5.34 kg (11.77 lbs); height 57.7 cm (22.7 inches)
11/06/06 - weight 3.555 kg (7.84 lbs); height 50.5 cm (19.9 inches)
10/7/06 (when he was discharged from Toho) - weight 2.75 kg (6.06 lbs); height 45.6 cm (17.95 inches)
Isaac seems to be doing okay developmentally but he still doesn't turn over. He can easily turn to his sides but he hasn't done the complete front to back or back to front turn yet. Dr. Kusakawa said Isaac basically has a bit less than a month to hit that milestone on target before he is considered to be falling behind. So we are hoping that he will get there real soon. Other than that he his head control is pretty good now. He can also sit up for short periods of time with his arms out in front of him to hold himself up. He doesn't like that position much as he is crouched over and will complain about it very quickly. He also gets very easily distracted when put on his tummy these days. He will see his hands and move his head down to nibble on his own knuckles.
One thing that always surprises me as I don't see other babies that often (very few babies in Tokyo and I don't go out much anymore) is that I forget how loud normal babies are. Our Isaac is still so quiet. He still isn't very vocal although he is much more vocal than a month ago. And he just can't get very loud because of his small lungs. He is also a very good baby and doesn't cry very much. When we were waiting for our turn at the hospital, Remy and I kept looking at each other in wonder - amazed by how loud all the other babies were crying. And they cried and cried and cried. When Isaac got his Synargis shot, he turned red, cried a bit, but once I picked him back up and the temporary pain from the shot was gone, he was back to his happy old goofy self.
In any case, my eyes are getting real heavy now so I will sign off for tonight. Before I go though I will post some pictures. Isaac looked extra cute today as he wore this hand-knitted beret we got from a friend's MIL. I forgot to charge the camera so I couldn't take any pictures at the hospital but I took some once we got home before we changed him out of the street clothes. Um, I am not sure why Isaac looked so surprised in the pictures. But he tends to look surprised at the camera. Actually, Remy was doing something to catch his attention so I guess that's why he looked so surprised. LOL.
God bless,
Sonia
Sorry I haven't posted an update on Isaac for a while. I was feeling so sad about Emily, Jennifer and Tony all weekend. Please continue to pray for Jennifer and Tony. What they have gone through is harder than most of us can imagine and we really need to continue to lift them up to the Lord.
I took Isaac to St. Luke's today for his second in-hospital check up with Dr. Kusakawa. This might seem very infrequent for people outside of Japan but we have had a nurse visit us at home every 2 weeks since our last in-hospital check up in early November. We have also been to the international clinic to see Dr. Che twice since November (and we are going again next week so its basically been monthly so far) as Isaac is getting his vaccination shots, other than his Synargis/Anti RS Virus shots, at the international clinic. However, since Dr. Kusakawa is Isaac's primary doctor prescribing him the oxygen, it was definitely good to see him to ask him some questions about Isaac's oxygen.
In any case, Isaac is basically doing pretty well. He is still way below the normal range in respect of weight and height for his adjusted age. But he is gaining weight steadily. He is also growing in height but at a slower rate than his weight gain. Dr. Kusakawa said that the need for supplemental oxygen will depend on Isaac's growth. So it looks like there must be a target weight before Isaac can start be weaned off of oxygen. Brilliant me of course forgot to ask what the target was when I was there but Dr. Kusakawa did say that he thought Isaac may be coming off of oxygen in April or May. He clarified that we only need to keep his oxygen saturation levels at 90% or above during the daytime/his active time but we should keep his sats at 95% or above at night time. So we will continue to give Isaac 0.5 liter/min at night but we can try taking him off of oxygen for part of the day now as he can get above 90% on his own at times. We are thinking that we can try taking off his oxygen off in the mornings when he usually has more energy. He usually starts getting more and more tired in the afternoons. We will see how that goes.
Oh just for the record, these are some of Isaac's measurements for your comparison:
1/10/07 - weight 5.34 kg (11.77 lbs); height 57.7 cm (22.7 inches)
11/06/06 - weight 3.555 kg (7.84 lbs); height 50.5 cm (19.9 inches)
10/7/06 (when he was discharged from Toho) - weight 2.75 kg (6.06 lbs); height 45.6 cm (17.95 inches)
Isaac seems to be doing okay developmentally but he still doesn't turn over. He can easily turn to his sides but he hasn't done the complete front to back or back to front turn yet. Dr. Kusakawa said Isaac basically has a bit less than a month to hit that milestone on target before he is considered to be falling behind. So we are hoping that he will get there real soon. Other than that he his head control is pretty good now. He can also sit up for short periods of time with his arms out in front of him to hold himself up. He doesn't like that position much as he is crouched over and will complain about it very quickly. He also gets very easily distracted when put on his tummy these days. He will see his hands and move his head down to nibble on his own knuckles.
One thing that always surprises me as I don't see other babies that often (very few babies in Tokyo and I don't go out much anymore) is that I forget how loud normal babies are. Our Isaac is still so quiet. He still isn't very vocal although he is much more vocal than a month ago. And he just can't get very loud because of his small lungs. He is also a very good baby and doesn't cry very much. When we were waiting for our turn at the hospital, Remy and I kept looking at each other in wonder - amazed by how loud all the other babies were crying. And they cried and cried and cried. When Isaac got his Synargis shot, he turned red, cried a bit, but once I picked him back up and the temporary pain from the shot was gone, he was back to his happy old goofy self.
In any case, my eyes are getting real heavy now so I will sign off for tonight. Before I go though I will post some pictures. Isaac looked extra cute today as he wore this hand-knitted beret we got from a friend's MIL. I forgot to charge the camera so I couldn't take any pictures at the hospital but I took some once we got home before we changed him out of the street clothes. Um, I am not sure why Isaac looked so surprised in the pictures. But he tends to look surprised at the camera. Actually, Remy was doing something to catch his attention so I guess that's why he looked so surprised. LOL.
God bless,Sonia
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Another Very Special Girl in Heaven with Jesus...
Today is a very sad day for us left on earth because a very special and brave girl left us to join Jesus in heaven. Please continue to lift Jennifer and Tony up to the Lord in your prayers.
Goodbye
Emily died today at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
She was only 5 months, 5 days old.
She was very strong, very brave, very smart, and everybondy loved her.
Her Mommy and Daddy love her very, very much.
Tony
Friday, January 05, 2007
Not a good update on Emily
I just read this on Emily's Blog
I am completely heartbroken. I am still praying for some kind of miracle. Please, please, please pray for this family. They have gone through so much.
Sonia
A sad day
Jennifer called me this morning and sadly, Emily isn't doing well.
Jen asked me to post a note to tell everyone they think our sweet little girl may not be with us too much longer.
Emily is stating in the 70s. The Dr's say her PDA was opening again and she has something called Cor pulmonle, which from what I understand is a progressive cardio pulmonary disease. The prognosis is not good.
Please pray for Jennifer and Tony for strength in this the most unbearable time, and for our little Emily who is loved so much by all whom she has touched, our family, and friends around the world.
Grandma Diane
I am completely heartbroken. I am still praying for some kind of miracle. Please, please, please pray for this family. They have gone through so much.
Sonia
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Urgent Prayer Request for Emily
Dear all,
I just checked Emily's blog (Jennifer's and Tony's surviving triplet) and she is not doing well. Please pray extra hard for Emily and her parents right now. My heart is so heavy for them. Please pray for miraculous healing - they have gone through so much already!
Please click here to link to the latest news on Emily - Emily's Blog
Thank you for your prayers.
Sonia
I just checked Emily's blog (Jennifer's and Tony's surviving triplet) and she is not doing well. Please pray extra hard for Emily and her parents right now. My heart is so heavy for them. Please pray for miraculous healing - they have gone through so much already!
Please click here to link to the latest news on Emily - Emily's Blog
Thank you for your prayers.
Sonia
Some new pictures and a video
Happy New Year everyone! I have been wanting to write about my thoughts and feelings as the New Year was approaching but it proved to me a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. So that is still in the works (well, more still in the thinking stage) but I thought I'd post some pictures and a video first.
I had Jan 1 to 3 off in Japan so it was a nice 5 day weekend. I don't know what happened since its already gone and I have to go back to work tomorrow but it was certainly very nice to spend more time Isaac.
Isaac is now really interested in putting a lot of things in his mouth. In fact, he seems quite obsessed with it and its very funny. Every time we bring a toy towards him, he will start opening his mouth first and if you put your arm or hand near his mouth, he will start nibbling it. He doesn't just try to put them in his mouth. If he can't get it into his mouth, he will start licking it.
We also decided to going back to cutting open a hole with his nasal cannular as they don't have children/baby size nasal cannulars in Japan and the adult sized one (albeit size small) was really bothering his nostrils. He still doesn't like the cannular and tries to rub it off when he can but at least he is not constantly rubbing it like before when he had the two tubes inside his nostrils.
Also, he officially went over 5 kg tonight!
Okay, here are the pictures.
More pictures of Isaac on tummy time:
This one is kind of fuzzy but I kind of caught Isaac smiling a bit. Isaac in fact smiles a lot these days but for some reason, whenever I pull out the camera, he would stop smiling and start looking very seriously at the camera. ^_^
Isaac was sleeping on me and then woke up and started crying. I handed him to my dad who was visiting for Christmas and New Year to run and make his bottle. Before I got back, he had fallen back asleep again in my dad's arms like a drunken sailor!
This is a picture of Isaac eating one of his toys. He is particularly interested in eating or licking brightly colored toys or anything that is soft (fabrics, towels, stuffed animals etc.)
This is a very funny video of Isaac frantically trying to put another toy in his mouth. I was on the phone describing what Isaac was doing to Jong while trying to video tape him.
Take care and God bless,
Sonia
I had Jan 1 to 3 off in Japan so it was a nice 5 day weekend. I don't know what happened since its already gone and I have to go back to work tomorrow but it was certainly very nice to spend more time Isaac.
Isaac is now really interested in putting a lot of things in his mouth. In fact, he seems quite obsessed with it and its very funny. Every time we bring a toy towards him, he will start opening his mouth first and if you put your arm or hand near his mouth, he will start nibbling it. He doesn't just try to put them in his mouth. If he can't get it into his mouth, he will start licking it.
We also decided to going back to cutting open a hole with his nasal cannular as they don't have children/baby size nasal cannulars in Japan and the adult sized one (albeit size small) was really bothering his nostrils. He still doesn't like the cannular and tries to rub it off when he can but at least he is not constantly rubbing it like before when he had the two tubes inside his nostrils.
Also, he officially went over 5 kg tonight!
Okay, here are the pictures.
More pictures of Isaac on tummy time:
This one is kind of fuzzy but I kind of caught Isaac smiling a bit. Isaac in fact smiles a lot these days but for some reason, whenever I pull out the camera, he would stop smiling and start looking very seriously at the camera. ^_^
Isaac was sleeping on me and then woke up and started crying. I handed him to my dad who was visiting for Christmas and New Year to run and make his bottle. Before I got back, he had fallen back asleep again in my dad's arms like a drunken sailor!
This is a picture of Isaac eating one of his toys. He is particularly interested in eating or licking brightly colored toys or anything that is soft (fabrics, towels, stuffed animals etc.)
This is a very funny video of Isaac frantically trying to put another toy in his mouth. I was on the phone describing what Isaac was doing to Jong while trying to video tape him.Take care and God bless,
Sonia
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