Whew, I'm exhausted!

It's been a busy busy busy week in the Bledsoe house, and all I can say is that I am one worn-out Mama!  :)

I worked on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then we planned to head out to Nashville on Thursday morning.  Unfortunately, I haven't been feeling well for the past couple days (this crazy weather has gotten the best of me!), so working was a little harder than I expected it to be.  I came home those 3 days with lists of things to do, but usually ended up going straight to the couch to rest!  David had to work Monday and Tuesday nights, so his schedule was off, too.  It was a crazy couple of days to say the least!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Grayson already has one tooth, and now he is working on having another one break through.  It's almost there...I don't know how it hasn't already!  :)  Needless to say, he loves his orajel and teething tablets, and Mommy and Daddy do to!  :)

On Wednesday morning, I took Grayson with me to Jackson so he could spend the morning with my mom.  He usually takes a 2-3 hour nap every morning, but, since his schedule was off that day, he only slept about 20 minutes!  He did sleep on the car ride home, though, so I figured he wouldn't be too off for the rest of the day.  I worked that night for a few hours, and, when I came home, I found a very fussy little boy.  He ended up eating a little early, and he fell asleep in my arms at 7:00pm.  I figured he would be fine since he has been sleeping through the night every night since teething has started.  Well, I couldn't have been more wrong!  :(   He woke up at 10:00pm, and was not a happy fellow.  I went upstairs, swaddled him with one of his arms out (a trick that has always helped to calm him down), and he fell back asleep....only to wake up again at 11:30pm!  This time, nothing (and I mean NOTHING) would calm him. I reswaddled him, and he cried.  I let him cry for a little while, he would almost fall asleep, and then he would scream.  I put him in his swing, he would scream.  Finally, I picked him up to cuddle with him, and I noticed he was wide awake.  There was no way this boy was going back to sleep!  I gave him some tylenol, put some orajel on his gums, and woke up David to tell him we were going for a ride--I just KNEW that would do the trick!  We drove for about 45 minutes, and Grayson was still bright-eyed and bushy tailed.  By this time, it was almost 2:30am, and I had gotten about 2 hours of sleep.  The rest of the night is pretty much a blur, but I know that Grayson ended up sleeping with me on the couch until about 5:15am.  He fell back asleep around 5:45am, and then woke up at 6:00am ready for the day.  What a night that was!

Thankfully, he slept on and off in the truck on the way to Nashville Thursday morning  and was able to take a few good naps during the day.  He loved getting to see his Aunt Karen, Uncle Adam, Nonnie, and Gammi!  We headed to Nashville to celebrate the fact that David's mom was retiring!  She worked her last day on Thursday!  What a great feeling that must have been!  David, Grayson, and I surprised her at her office on Thursday afternoon, and she really enjoyed getting to show Grayson off to all of her co-workers.  Then, on Thursday night, we took her to Morton's for dinner!  (Grayson slept through the entire meal...what a good boy!)  I think she really had a good time.  We headed back to Karen and Adam's house and opened Christmas presents.  Grayson was once again very spoiled, and he loved all of his presents.  He especially loves a vibrating teether than Aunt Karen and Uncle Adam got him!  I will try to catch a picture of him chewing on it--he makes the best faces!  :)   We put Grayson to bed in his pack-n-play around 9:00pm, and our little boy slept through the night, only waking up at 7:30 the next morning!  David and I loooooooooooooved being able to catch up on our sleep!  :)

We headed home Friday morning, so that David would have a chance to take a nap before he had to go to work.  Yes, he had to work on New Year's Eve.  :(  BUT, thankfully, this was the last weekend that he will have to work for a couple months!  He has worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday since before Grayson was born, so I know we are all relieved to have him home on the weekends.  It will be great to spend some quality time with him!!!  So, he napped, and so did Grayson.   :)  The weather turned stormy, so we all cuddled on the couch for a while, and then Grayson went to bed.  David left for work, and I fell asleep around 10:00pm.  Can you tell it was a thrilling beginning to 2011?!?!  :)

In other news, my sweet baby nephew, Jarrett, is still in the hospital.  :(

Here is an update from my brother:
Yesterday the doctors decided they don't like how Jarrett is swallowing.  He is taking bottles better and better, but he can't always "keep up" with them, even when using a slow-flow nipple.  His general practitioner and speech therapist agree that this could be a problem.  If he chokes, and the O2 level in his blood goes down too far, it could lead to a bad situation.

Essentially, Jarrett's main doctor said he could not release Jarrett in this condition.  As parents, he said, we won't always be aware of what warning signs to look for when Jarrett is eating.  The doctor is afraid Becky or I will miss something during a drowsy 4am feeding.  Rather, the doctor feels it is best that Jarrett's feedings are continuously monitored in a medical environment.

So, the hospital will monitor Jarrett's feeding for five days.  If he can make it through five days without any issues, and nothing else pops up in the meantime, we'll start having the conversation about his release from the hospital.  However, if on the fourth day, Jarrett has a choking incident, the clock resets, and it's five more days from that point.

This entire conversation came AFTER the doctor said we might be able to bring him home Friday.  Unfortunately, that doctor didn't talk to the speech therapist about the swallowing problem until after he told us our son might be released.

Emotionally, Thursday was a really 'up and down' day.  Obviously, we want Jarrett to be "right" before we bring him home.  But we are so aching to bring him home.  Today is Jarrett's 29th day in the NICU at Le Bonheur.  There are babies that have been in there far longer.  I swear, I don't know how their parents can handle it.


Obviously, this has all been very disappointing for Jason and Becky (and all of us anxiously waiting to love on Jarrett).  Please continue praying for Jarrett, his mommy, daddy, and Big Sister, and for the doctors and nurses taking care of him.  

There isn't much else going on in our lives, so I will leave you with some fun pictures of Grayson I took earlier this week.  

As always, we love you!  Thanks for checking in on us!!