JJ had two firsts today:
First tooth! He's been drooling and teething for the last few weeks. His bottom tooth broke through today! Its just a little white spot now, but its through the gum. He seems so relieved. Yesterday he was so crabby. We could tell he was in pain.
First food! He has seemed interested in food while we eat, so we decided to try a little something. He had a little Gerber baby carrots tonight. He seemed to like them. Jeff fed him his first food. Go Daddy!
He is doing great. JJ is rolling around and doing "baby push ups" when he's on his tummy. We are looking forward to him starting to crawl.
He is such a happy baby. He loves to laugh and smile and he's very social. He has started reaching for toys and hair and our faces. He is very strong. He can hold onto our hands and we can pull him up from a laying position. He can also stand a little. He's wobbly, but he pushes up like a frog.
We are in love with our little man!
About Me
- Jeff and Karen Doherty
- We were married in September 2005. We're best friends, and we love traveling and exploring new places. We like sci-fi movies and watching the history channel. Our little boy was born February 1, 2010. He is named Jeff Jr. or JJ. Our daughter Moira was born July 28, 2011. We have a cat named Munchkin. Jeff is a career military officer, and Karen works for a family services program for the Army. We live in Monterey, California. We are making this blog for our family and friends who we miss and want to share our life with.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
June 2 - Well Baby doctor appointment
Karen was not able to get the afternoon off of work, so Jeff had a "Daddy afternoon" with JJ.
As of JJ's four month well baby appointment, he weighs 18 lbs, 9 oz and is 26". 90% for his age. He is such a cutie pie. He is up to date with his shots, except for Hep B. We are hoping he'll hold off on the IV drug use for a few years, so the Hep B isn't that important now.
JJ's pediatrician said he is doing great. He is on target for his development. The spina bifida should not affect JJ's development in any way.
JJ is rolling over from tummy to back, and back to tummy! He is very "chatty" and social. He laughs and smiles all the time. He found his feet earlier this week, and his big toe is the best toy for him so far!
He is this great happy baby. We love holding him and cuddling him and just being with him!
As of JJ's four month well baby appointment, he weighs 18 lbs, 9 oz and is 26". 90% for his age. He is such a cutie pie. He is up to date with his shots, except for Hep B. We are hoping he'll hold off on the IV drug use for a few years, so the Hep B isn't that important now.
JJ's pediatrician said he is doing great. He is on target for his development. The spina bifida should not affect JJ's development in any way.
JJ is rolling over from tummy to back, and back to tummy! He is very "chatty" and social. He laughs and smiles all the time. He found his feet earlier this week, and his big toe is the best toy for him so far!
He is this great happy baby. We love holding him and cuddling him and just being with him!
Spina Bifida
These last four months have gone by in a whirl wind. I know we have spoken to so many of you and the few we haven't spoken to, I'm sorry. We've told the story so many times and so it seems like everyone should know that JJ has spina bifida.
Before you read on, please know that he is OK. He has a very rare form of it, in the good way of being rare, so that if you didn't see his bump, you wouldn't know he had anything wrong with him.
Most of you will remember that I had all sorts of testing and ultra sounds up in San Francisco. It seemed like I was going for some sort of test every month due to my "advanced age."
The spina bifida didn't show up on any of the tests or ultra sounds. Why you might ask? Well, normally the spina bifida has an "open lesion" on the baby's spine. This lesion gives off a protein that shows up in the mother's blood. JJ has a "closed lesion" which is technically called a lipomeningocele.
I ended up giving birth to him via C-Section. I was in labor for about 36 hours. I had planned on doing a natural, drug free birth.
You know how they say that God laughs when people make plans... Well, with each contraction, my blood pressure shot up into stroke level. I had my own nurse in the room monitoring me. My body does not deal with pain well, so I got an epidural and my blood pressure went back to normal levels. The doctors then gave me pitocin to move things along. JJ's heart rate dropped as my contractions got greater. It turns out his cord was wrapped around his neck.
So, after 36 hours, it was c-section time. When they lifted him out of my body the room got very quiet. My doctor said it looks like your baby has a tail. Of course the best response from me was "I think that runs in Jeff's family." (Sorry Doherty's, blame it on the drugs)
The doctors did not really know what JJ had at the time, but they knew it was not normal. He has a "bump" on his base of his spine, right where his little butt crack begins. The bump, which Jeff named Norman, looks like a third butt cheek (really thats the best description). So, JJ was born Monday night, and Wednesday afternoon he was air lifted up to the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) which has the best children's hospital in the area.
JJ had a team of about 30 doctors at UCSF: pediatricians, neurosurgeons and urologists. It was there that they determined that what he had, was not life threatening, but would need additional care. People with spina bifida generally have bladder and bowel problems. JJ is doing ok with his. We got to take him home on February 8th with a long list of follow up doctor appointments.
May 4th, we returned to UCSF for his MRI and got the results on May 17th. (there were lots of other other doctor appointments in between. All went well.)
JJ is missing his bottom 2-3 vertebrae. The doctor said this shouldn't be a problem, that his muscles would grow around the area and it wouldn't cause a problem. His spinal cord is completely developed, but Norman the bump, is acting like glue and "tethering" his spinal cord onto the spinal column. JJ has what they call a complex tether. Eventually, they will have to remove Norman, but for now its safer to leave him on.
JJ has complete feeling and movement in his entire body. Generally, from the point of the "defect" down, there are problems. JJ is fine.
We are getting a second opinion at Stanford University. From our uneducated, non-medical backgrounds, it sounds like UCSF is giving us good information, but we think this is too important not to get another opinion.
Before you read on, please know that he is OK. He has a very rare form of it, in the good way of being rare, so that if you didn't see his bump, you wouldn't know he had anything wrong with him.
Most of you will remember that I had all sorts of testing and ultra sounds up in San Francisco. It seemed like I was going for some sort of test every month due to my "advanced age."
The spina bifida didn't show up on any of the tests or ultra sounds. Why you might ask? Well, normally the spina bifida has an "open lesion" on the baby's spine. This lesion gives off a protein that shows up in the mother's blood. JJ has a "closed lesion" which is technically called a lipomeningocele.
I ended up giving birth to him via C-Section. I was in labor for about 36 hours. I had planned on doing a natural, drug free birth.
You know how they say that God laughs when people make plans... Well, with each contraction, my blood pressure shot up into stroke level. I had my own nurse in the room monitoring me. My body does not deal with pain well, so I got an epidural and my blood pressure went back to normal levels. The doctors then gave me pitocin to move things along. JJ's heart rate dropped as my contractions got greater. It turns out his cord was wrapped around his neck.
So, after 36 hours, it was c-section time. When they lifted him out of my body the room got very quiet. My doctor said it looks like your baby has a tail. Of course the best response from me was "I think that runs in Jeff's family." (Sorry Doherty's, blame it on the drugs)
The doctors did not really know what JJ had at the time, but they knew it was not normal. He has a "bump" on his base of his spine, right where his little butt crack begins. The bump, which Jeff named Norman, looks like a third butt cheek (really thats the best description). So, JJ was born Monday night, and Wednesday afternoon he was air lifted up to the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) which has the best children's hospital in the area.
JJ had a team of about 30 doctors at UCSF: pediatricians, neurosurgeons and urologists. It was there that they determined that what he had, was not life threatening, but would need additional care. People with spina bifida generally have bladder and bowel problems. JJ is doing ok with his. We got to take him home on February 8th with a long list of follow up doctor appointments.
May 4th, we returned to UCSF for his MRI and got the results on May 17th. (there were lots of other other doctor appointments in between. All went well.)
JJ is missing his bottom 2-3 vertebrae. The doctor said this shouldn't be a problem, that his muscles would grow around the area and it wouldn't cause a problem. His spinal cord is completely developed, but Norman the bump, is acting like glue and "tethering" his spinal cord onto the spinal column. JJ has what they call a complex tether. Eventually, they will have to remove Norman, but for now its safer to leave him on.
JJ has complete feeling and movement in his entire body. Generally, from the point of the "defect" down, there are problems. JJ is fine.
We are getting a second opinion at Stanford University. From our uneducated, non-medical backgrounds, it sounds like UCSF is giving us good information, but we think this is too important not to get another opinion.
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