Week 3 in review

It has been an emotional week in the Sloan household, but I'm glad that I can report good news. Last week, our pediatrician (Dr. T.) told us that we needed to have a blood test retaken for Joshua because he had tested positive for cystic fibrosis. In my sleep-deprived state, I turned that into cerebral palsy, though neither were welcomed news. We were reassured that the test returns false positives often and that we should not worry about it. Sure...nothing to worry about. Me, worry?? Bah! (You know I was worried since I tried to keep it quiet, to keep others from worrying.) So anyway, more than a week has gone by since we took him in for the retest, but we finally learned this morning that Joshua is normal. Thank you, God!

We also can report that after 3 weeks of marathon feedings, Joshua is finally back to his birth weight of 6 pounds 10 ounces. He's gaining .5 ounces a day instead of the preferred .75 to 1 ounce per day. Short of duct taping him to my breasts, I don't know how I can feed him more often. We're getting better with the whole nursing bit, but I have been so ready to throw in the towel dozens of times. My friends make it look so easy. My experience says otherwise. But we persevere...and we supplement when we have to.

Another perhaps less significant, but still noteworthy highlight of the week is that his umbilical cord stump feel off. Hooray! That thing was getting stinky!

Each day, we're learning more about Joshua and what he likes and dislikes. Matt and I were talking about his preferences this morning, and here's what we've come up with.

Likes:
- eating (except for when he'd rather be sleeping)
- sleeping (except for when he's rather be eating)
- burping and farting (he is a boy, after all)
- cuddling (this part is pretty nice)
- car rides (I'm really glad the price of gas went down, 'cause I think we may be doing more of these if I can't get him to sleep)

Dislikes:
- bright lights, especially camera flashes
- wet diapers
- the changing table
- being naked and cold on the changing table
- hats (but we keep putting them on him anyway)
- the hospital (we're going to try to stay away for the next 5 weeks)

His current nicknames are:
- bug, little bug, cuddle bug, stinky bug
- little buddy
- munchkin

That about sums it up. He's asleep right now, and we've finally realized that we really should take a nap when he takes a nap. So, I think that's what I'll go do.

Love,
Beth, Matt, and Joshua