Weight Check

Zachary received his 3rd Synagis shot yesterday. It didn't sit too well with him. Screamed bloody murder. Good news is he weighs 8 lbs 6 oz. We're still in newborn clothes, but one day we'll graduate to a bigger size.

Viva La Disney

The Perry family embarked on our annual Disney World trip last week. This year we tackled driving down (against my, Amy's wishes). The drive wasn't too bad I will admit. Robbie did all of the driving. Andrew did beautifully. He was smart both down and back. Thank God for DVD players and loads of DVDs. Zachary on the other hand had a difficult drive down, but a smooth drive back. He still hates the car seat and I believe this trip solidified his feelings. We stayed at Coronado Springs this go round. Definitely not my favorite Disney hotel. The food court is WAY over priced. Most stuff at WDW is overpriced, but this place especially.

Andrew was having a cow to see Snow White (Girlfriend #1). We didn't get park hopper passes so we had to make sure we didn't waste any days on our tickets. Snow White "wasn't home" on Sunday when we arrived so we told Andrew he would have to see her on Monday. Monday morning we packed up and headed to the Magic Kingdom. The first person we run in to when we arrive is... you guessed it, Snow White. I wish you could have seen the stars in Andrew's eyes. See for yourself the love.

Watching Snow White from afar

Andrew happens to have a Snow White jibbit on his crocs (among the 5 billion other jibbits). Snow White immediately spotted her jibbit and gushed over her 3.5 year old boyfriend. Lord, my child was in heaven at this point. The Disney folks take pictures of you as well at this character meetings. I checked out the Snow White pics and they are WAY better, but I can't bring myself to pay $14.95 for each picture download. A little steep don't ya think?

Andrew rode every ride he could. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger is still have favorite, though the new ride, Midway Mania at MGM is a close second. It is very similar to Buzz Lightyear's ride. As the day progressed Andrew came across Ariel (he calls her Oriel, which drives me nuts). In a matter of seconds Snow White has been dumped and Ariel is his new chick. I must admit she is rather pretty. Off we head to Ariel's Grotto where Andrew can meet Ariel and have his pic taken with her. Well, that is if we're willing to wait 40 minutes to see her. That ISN'T happening! I've been to Disney enough in my tender 30 years and I'm not waiting more than 20 min for anything. My child missed out on meeting her, but he did see her in the parade. That will have to do for this time. He was a smart little monkey all day and didn't even take a nap. He was sacked out by the time we go back to our room.

Zachary enjoyed his day at the Magic Kingdom as well. He's not much on the car seat as I've told you, so riding in the stroller was a little tough. I have a sling and a snuggly both of which he doesn't care for. I toted his little self around most of the day. We stopped for a lunch break in the air conditioned baby center. The weather in Lake Buena Vista was a spectacular 80 plus degrees all week. It was wonderful! Zachary enjoyed it as well. We were able to put him in his cute onesies. He was a big hit among the other guests and cast members at WDW. I happen to agree with them all at his total cuteness. Cuteness level last week was at an all time high. Zachary also decided to sleep through the night every night while we were on vacation. Wake up time was a little early on a couple of days, but not too early.

The rest of the week we went to MGM (now known as Disney's Hollywood Studios) and back to the Magic Kingdom. Andrew's second favorite ride (mentioned above) just opened. We got to the part around 10:00am and went to get a fast pass for this ride (Fast Pass = ticket that gives you a time to come back and ride the ride without waiting in the long lines). Usually fast pass tickets are an hour to a couple of hours out from the current time. This wasn't the case with Midway Mania. Our fast pass was for 5:55pm - 6:55pm. I asked to make sure the machine wasn't broken. The wait/stand by time was 90 min. The ride was totally worth it!












Mom and I went shopping on the last full day and Robbie took Andrew to see Bolt. He's obsessed with Bolt, thinks we need a Bolt AND a Mittens. Go see it, I hear it's great. Andrew has seen it 3 times now.

We are back home in one piece and enjoying our first full week of being in the new house. I'm digging this country living thing. We have farms all around us. It's a change that's for sure, but a nice one. I need to take pictures to show you. That's another post. Stay tuned.

Random pics:
I'll have to get my mom's camera and download hers too.

Über Cuteness

Double Trouble

You've got to keep your eyes on these two at ALL times.

4 Months Old

Boy, am I playing catch up. Zachary is about to turn 5 months old (calendar age) and 10 weeks old (Friday - adjusted age).

Here's our little turkey at 4 months. Gobble Gobble!

Quick Note

We've been busy, busy, busy! We sold a house, moved into a house and are now unpacking a house. We also leave for Florida on Sunday. I've been told by a few we are NUTS. Yes, yes we know.

I've got fantastic, God handed down news. We had our appointment with our Wake Med doc on Monday. He said Z's eyes are better and we can come back in 2 weeks. We had our Duke appointment yesterday and got even better news. Dr. F at Duke remembered seeing Zachary when he was a patient at Duke. She looked at his eyes and was thoroughly impressed with how they are correcting. He is now completely in Stage 1 ROP and getting better. We go back in 3 weeks. The vessels near the nose are formed and fine. Now we need the vessels to grow toward the ears and we're all set. PTL! My baby's eyes are healing. He's smiling, laughing, talking and cooing at us all the time. He has 2 dimples that are incredibly kissable.

I've gotta run and unpack before the boss gets home.

Thanks to all who continue to pray for Zachary. Please keep it up.

Seriously, Ol' Fat Zach!

Ol' Fat Zachary had his 4 month appointment today. He weighs in at a whopping 7 lbs 15 oz (so close to 8 lbs he can taste it), 19 3/4 inches in length. He is one ounce bigger than Andrew was at birth and 3/4 inch shorter than Andrew at birth. He's filling out quite nicely. Newborn clothes are still a little big on him, but in due time he's going to be chub rocking it all over town. Have I mentioned he's absolutely adorable? He is the mirror image of his big brother. He was, however, the unlucky recipient of 4 shots today. He handled them like I expected. He cried and cried and stopped when I picked him up. I feel so bad for nurse Tina. I'm sure it's very hard sticking little babies. Dr. Steele gave him a glowing report. He called him perfect and I happen to agree 100 plus percent. He is every bit of the word.

I have pictures to post, videos to post, but our computer stuff is packed in a box somewhere in this house. You'll just have to be pleasantly surprised.

Good News

Zachary got very good news at his eye appointment yesterday. His eyes aren't 100% better, but the areas that had progressed to Stage 3 have gotten better and are now Stage 2. It also sounds like the plus disease may be getting better. The doctor did end with, "We're not out of the woods yet, but this is a good sign." Thank you to everyone who prayed for Zachary or thought about him yesterday. Prayers were heard and answered.

We go back next Monday to have them re-checked.

I Almost Forgot

Yes, I know I'm behind on my Thankful days. I'll post those today. Zachary had to get his second Synagis shot this week (boo). He now weighs 7 lbs 7 oz. Dr. Steele was very impressed with his weight gain. He checked his ears and listened to his lungs to make sure the congestion hadn't settled in and thankfully it hadn't. He's still a little sniffly, but overall he seems to be on the up and up. We go back December 23rd (Merry Christmas to Zachary) for our 3rd shot.

We have a game plan for Monday's eye appointment. My mom is going to go with me. We're praying Zachary's eyes are getting better. We have an appointment with Duke on 12/9, but if for some reason things are getting worse and Dr. Magolan talks surgery my mom's boss has offered to make some calls to see if he can get Zachary seen earlier at Duke. We definitely want a second opinion before we put Zachary through any type of surgery. We know the eye surgery is laser, but he will have to be hospitalized, which we'd like to avoid at all costs. We're praying for a complete and total miracle.

On a happier note, Zachary loves to giggle at his big brother. Andrew has taken a liking to Tom and Jerry cartoons. Andrew got tickled so hard at one cartoon he had us all laughing. Zachary included. If you tickle Zachary's belly he will giggle. I love it! He definitely recognizes my voice and will follow the sound. Hopefully I can catch him on video giggling. It is rather cute.

We've got lots to do before next Monday (12/8). We will be homeless for a couple of days. Packing this house has proven harder than I thought. I try to pack stuff, but then realize we have a use for it so I has to stay out. It's frustrating. This week I told Robbie I'm pulling out our suitcases and packing a one week supply for me and the boys. Everything else gets boxed. I'll actually pack a little more for the boys since they are more prone to accidents and such. We've given a ton of stuff to Goodwill. I am starting from scratch with this house. We have a hodge podge of stuff and it's gotta go. Have I mentioned I "heart" craigslist? We've sold a ton of junk on there. Once we get moved in and settled I'll post pictures. Oh, did I mention after we move (i.e. 5 days later) we're on the road to Florida? We are officially nuts. God grant me peace, strength and patience and anything else I've left off. I'm gonna need it.

Off I go. There's more to come.

Day 4 - Thankful

Today I am thankful to be an American. We may get our fair share of bad press (more so now than ever before), but no where else in the world can match what we have. The freedoms we have are phenomenal. I love that I can walk the streets and not have to cover every part of my body except my eyes or that I can say "Thank you God!" and not be persecuted. I was able to exercise my right to vote on November 4th too. I am proud to be an American.

Day 3 - Thankful

Today I am thankful for my job. I work with wonderful people (you know who you are, JPC, MWP), have a great boss and don't mind what I do. With everything in the world going topsy turvy I am glad I have a good job. My employer (especially my boss) hooked this sister up when I had to camp out at Duke in June - August and then allowed me to work a flexible schedule so I could spend time with Zachary each and every day while he was in the hospital. I was able to defer my maternity leave until my little man came home from the hospital, which is what I'm doing now. I am blessed and so thankful!

Zachary and I just returned from the eye doctor. Things didn't go as I hoped. His right eye is worse (since his appointment last Friday). His left eye hasn't changed, but the doctor is concerned about the plus disease that hasn't corrected. He used a couple of words I've heard before, but have no idea what in the world they mean. It's hard going to these appointments. It's hard for me to hold my angel and know his eyes aren't ok. I'm trying to be thankful they haven't gone to Stage 5 and that he's not blind, but it's hard. I want to cry every time the doctor walks out of the room. I keep myself together to avoid having anyone ask me if I'm ok. That would be the loaded question of the day. I tell Zachary every time the nurse brings him to me after the torture has been completed that it's ok and Mommy will make it better, but I'm not sure how to hold up to my promise. We go back on Monday to have his eyes checked again. Please pray things move toward progress.

Beautiful Life

Our beautiful life...

Day 2 - Thankful

I am thankful for my family.

I'm head over heels in love with the 3 men in my life. I am shown every day just how blessed I am to have a husband who works hard so the boys and I can have a roof over our head, food to eat, clothes to wear, toys to play with, cars to drive, etc. Yes, I do work, but Robbie makes sure we can pay for what we have off what he makes. He's cool like that! Robbie and I are both thankful and blessed for our 2 healthy boys. Our lives just aren't complete without Andrew and Zachary. I "heart" the Perry guys!

My mom - she is without a doubt the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful human being ever created. God broke the mold when he made her. There aren't enough adjectives to describe her, but she's pretty special to me (and my family) and I'm thankful she is mine. I'm thankful she loves me and Zachary so much that she's retiring in February just so she can keep him. Zachary Perry doesn't know just how good he's got it!

Last, but not least, my brother, sister in-law and my two incredibly cute and cuddly nephews. I am thankful they live close by and 0ur boys can grow up together. I am thankful for a big brother who had my back when I couldn't watch it myself. Of course I had his quite a few times (ahem). I'm thankful for Lauren who loves my brother and is a wonderful wife to him. She rocks as a mom too! I'm thankful she and Chris had Colin and Robson and made me an aunt. Aunt Mimi loves her boys tons and tons. I'm especially thankful they are a Godly family and desire nothing more than to serve the Lord with all they have.

I am thankful for my extended family and the family that's not ours by name, but ours by heartstrings.

Day 1 - Thankful

Yesterday was crazy busy and I didn't get a chance to post my "thankful" message. That said, I am thankful for life. I am thankful yesterday was crazy, which means I was living and breathing to enjoy everything around me. I am more than thankful I have a savior who gave his life so in return I'll be able to have everlasting life (Andrew is in the process of learning John 3:16). This year I've witnessed the birth of a new life and the departure of a life. It's precious and not something I intend on taking for granted anymore. How about you?

What are you thankful for?

Sniffle Sniffle

My sweet baby has the sniffle sniffles. I'm pretty confident he picked them up from Andrew. Saturday morning I noticed his little nose was running. As the day progressed he started to sound congested. We're trying to keep his nose cleared as much as possible and keeping an eye on his temperature and breathing. We go to the doctor on Tuesday for his Synagis shot. I pray his cleared up by then. If not, we'll be making a doctor's call. He hasn't been sleeping well since the congestion started. He sleeps better in his car seat, which makes perfect sense. He slept 6 hours (3 on my chest and the rest in his car seat). We have the head of his bassinet elevated, but he can't seem to sleep more than 3 hours at a time in that. I do hope things clear up soon.

Eye update (this makes me want to sniffle sniffle):
Things didn't go as I'd hope they would. His left eye is still better than the right and a ridge that the doctor saw last week is gone (YAY!). His right eye on the other hand has gotten a little worse. I'm still not all that confident on my ROP knowledge, but the doctor told us at our first appt they measure the level of ROP in the eye by clock hours. Zachary's right eye has 2 clock hours (on the drawing it looked to be located in the 6:00 - 8:00 hours) that have progressed to stage 3 ROP. The doctor wants us back this coming week for another check up. He didn't feel this was enough to cause alarm (hard for me not to feel this way) and said it could still correct itself. I'm going to continue to see this doctor until our Dec 9th appt at Duke. If Zachary needs surgery I want it to be at Duke.

On to happier things... Zachary has really started to "converse" with us. He loves to talk back and smile at the right times. He and I have really in depth conversations. It's nice. He loves for me to kiss him on his lips. He likes to kiss back and even slobbers on me. Eskimo kisses seem to be a big hit too. I'm not sure just how much he can see, but he does appear to follow our voices and "looks" like he is looking at us when we talk to him. He's holding his head up like a pro. Actually, he's been doing this for a long time. He rules tummy time, can move his head from side to side (again, has been since we left the hospital) and is a tummy sleeper (GASP!). We don't believe in all the hocus pocus of the back to sleep campaign. Andrew hated sleeping on his back, Zachary hates it and thus we do tummy sleep. Right now I've been putting Zachary on his side to help with the congestion part. We're working on touching our toes. The physical therapist wants us to work on loosening up his legs. Hopefully by February (our next SICC appt) he'll get a star for doing his homework.

Tomorrow I'm going to start a new challenge (it's not really hard). Each day for a year I'm going to write about something I'm thankful for. With Thanksgiving this week, I thought it would be fun to give thanks for all the many blessings in my life. I have a ton, a ton, a ton of things to be thankful for and I'm not going to let the moment pass me by. God has been way too good to me and it's high time I give him the credit.

Good night!

It's 5:00 a.m.

and Robbie and I got 6.5 hours of sleep. Zachary got 8.5 hours of sleep!!! My boy slept 8.5 hours ya'll. Praise the Lord to the highest heights! I'm sure this is probably a one time thing right now, but for today I'm going to act like we are on the right track. Zachary has really been a good sleeper for the most part. We usually get a 6 hour stint followed by a 4 hour stint. The time in between can vary from 30 min to 2 hours of awake time. Could be worse, right?

Pray for Zachary (and me) today at 10:30 a.m. We have another eye appointment. I hate them! I hate hearing my child scream blood murder when they exam his eyes. It is nothing short of torture. I really hope we have some good progress. I'll be sure to let you know how things go.

It snowed. Did you see it? Second time this week we saw a mass of flurries. They didn't stick, but it still counts. Maybe we are in for a nice, white winter. White Christmas anyone? If you were in the Raleigh area last year at this time it was in the 70's. Robbie wore shorts on Thanksgiving.

Have a good one!

Happy Fall Ya'll

News Flash

Zachary and I were talking this morning after he finished breakfast and he gave me the cutest smile and a sweet baby sound. I do believe I got my first smile! Way to go, Zachary!

1,000 watt smiles melt my heart!

S is for SOLD

It's official, we sold our house and are moving in December. We're not moving far. No need to worry. We're moving to the Holly Springs/Fuquay Varina area (about 15 min down the road). We close on our house December 8th and hope the builders are done on ours by December 12th. If not we'll be homeless. Robbie and I are excited about our new house. It's got a bigger yard, flat driveway (a huge must for Robbie) and has plenty of room for us plus some. Robbie will finally get his media room (AKA man cave). We met with the builders today to get our game plan established. I'll post pictures of the progress. For the time being I have to pick out what color I want our hardwood floors.

We'll have everyone out to our new pad once we move in.

SIC Appointment

We were here today.


Pretty isn't it? Today was our first Special Infant Care appointment. We went back to our old stomping grounds today. A little deja vu hit me. Our appointment was at 11:15am. We didn't walk out of Duke until 2:15pm. It was a L.O.N.G day. We met with the physical therapist who gave Zachary rave reviews. Yay, yay, yay! She wants us to work on his legs to get them a little more flexible, but she was very impressed with his ability to hold his head up and move it from right to left and vice versa. My super baby I tell ya is something else! Dr. Ashley was also impressed with how he's doing. He's overcome reflux (darn reflux, was the bane of our existence for a while) and has put on weight nicely. He's now 7 lbs and growing. Our biggest battle right now is the ROP. We can't seem to shake it. Our appointment this Wednesday didn't bring us bad news, but it also didn't bring us any news of improvement. We are the same as last week, which was the same as the week before. We're no worse, but no better. I've decided that I want Zachary to be followed up at Duke with his ROP. We'll be saying adios to Dr. Magolan and hello to Dr. Wallace. Regardless of our TCN experience I still feel very comfortable with the doctors at Duke. We don't have to go back to Duke until February.


We saw Gavin and his mommy today. Gavin is our ICN BFF. He was born 4 days before Zachary and his due date is one day after ours. Gavin has done very well too. He's 9 lbs 4 oz and super duper duper cute. I cannot believe how big he's gotten. I was bummed that Zachary wasn't bigger, but Dr. Ashley assured me that an ounce a day gain is fantastic. I wonder if breast milk is the "skim" milk of milks and formula is the "2% or whole" milk version?.? Either way both boys are little miracles. It was wonderful seeing Gavin's mom and catching up. I've missed our daily talks, but I don't miss being in the hospital. Gavin hasn't quite gotten his sleep pattern down pat. His poor mother barely gets 2 hours sleep before he's up again. We, on the other hand, are blessed right now. Zachary will go down btwn 8 - 9, sleep until 12 or 1 and goes back down 6 and sometimes 7 or 7:30. We are LUCKY!


I was hoping to run into the L-V triplets, but we didn't. Gavin's mom said she saw them a while back and Emme was home and doing well, Grace was hanging in there and may even be home now, but Quinn wasn't doing so well. You may remember me posting that he was having a shunt placed in to help drain fluid from his brain. Well, he may have gotten meningitis, the shunt had to be removed and may have to go back in. They are thinking now he might have brain damage and possibly cerebral palsy. Please pray for this sweet family, for Quinn and for the doctors caring for him.

My child is up and hungry. There's more to write, but this will hold you over.

3 Months

Halloween Pics

I didn't do a great job of taking pics Halloween night. Andrew in true fashion decided to throw a fit and so I gave up. This is all you get.

Ol' Fat Zach

Don't read that wrong. In no way do I think my precious child is fat. Robbie was mentioning one night that they used to call our childhood friend, Zack, Ol' Fat Zack. Andrew heard this and now he refers to his baby brother as Ol' Fat Zach and says it with much enthusiasm.

How is Ol' Fat Zach these days? Well we bounce from one appointment to the next. We have something scheduled almost every day.

EYES - We had an eye exam today. We had an appointment on Monday, but the doctor no-showed us. Don't fret, I'm working on sending my no-show invoice to him. $50.00 should cover the cost for gas and time wasted. Zachary's eyes are no worse than last time, but they are also no better. Pray about that would you? We go back in a week for a re-check.

WEIGHT - We also had a weight check today. Ol' Fat Zach is now 6 lbs 10 oz. Can you believe my little man is scratching at 7 lbs? Man, what a journey this has been! By next week he'll be 7 lbs. He's averaging an ounce a day. We won't do any more weekly weight checks since he's doing so well. The nurse said I could bring him in if I want, but it's not necessary since he's doing so well.

SLEEP - Zachary does so so on napping, but he's getting the night time sleep down pat. I really can't complain. We've stopped holding him until he falls asleep. I spent almost an hour trying to get him to sleep. I finally gave up and put him down. Within 5 min or so he was fast asleep. Last night was a great night. He went down around 8:30pm, woke at 12:00am, was back down at 12:30 and slept until 6:15am. Not too shabby! He's a noisy little sleeper that's for sure. He will cry and be fast asleep. He's squeaks and squawks too. I'm looking forward to the down at 9:00pm and up at 7:00am sleep. It'll be here soon enough. He's doing great considering he's really only supposed to be 2.5 weeks old.

Welcome Hailey Elizabeth

Zachary is excited to announce the arrival of Hailey Elizabeth, his newest friend. Hailey was born early (33.5 weeks) just like Zachary so they already share a bond. Hailey weighed in at 5 lbs 7 oz and is 18 inches long. Hop on over to Beth's blog to check out this new cutie.

Congratulations Jon, Beth and Avery! Oh, Hailey also shares her big sister's birthday. What a great birthday present Avery received!

Happy Birthday, Avery!

We love you all!
The Perry's

Weight Check #2

Zachary went to see Dr. Steele today. He's our muy favorito doctor. We weren't scheduled for our weight check until tomorrow, but our Synagis shot came in. Zachary only gained 2 oz from the last weight check, but we now weigh a whopping 6 lbs. Dr. Steele was very impressed with his progress and wasn't concerned he hadn't gained more weight. He's eating the appropriate amount and everything appears to be running smoothly.

In other news... Big Z hasn't pooped in 4 days. Dr. Steele recommended a fix. Stay tuned to see if it works. Big Z isn't a happy camper these days. I'm sure you can imagine why.

Heartbeat

The reason my heart beats...







Thank you Heather for these pictures.

3rd Annual Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday with the Lauffer family for the 3rd year in a row. I believe this year tops them all. We had a wonderful time with the Lauffers and the boys played non-stop. We made a whole day of it at Hillridge Farms in Youngsville. We didn't leave until 6:00pm. I can't wait to go next year!

After the pumpkin patch we ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I am happy to report both boys (Hayden and Andrew) ate like champs. It could have been Heather playing her smart tricks on them to get them to eat. Whatever it was... it worked! Happy plate for both of them!

Enjoy the slideshow.

Eye Check

I took Zachary for his weekly eye exam on Friday. Dr. Magolan said things are progressing nicely, but we aren't out of the woods yet. Zachary's left eye is better than his right eye. The popcorn lesions in his right eye are now gone. We go back a week from today to have his eyes examined again. Hopefully we'll see more progress since we've officially passed our due date and are technically supposed to be born now.

We have our weekly weight check on Wednesday. Last time he gained 9 oz. Wonder how much he's gained this week?? Stay tuned.

Weekly Weigh In

It's been a long time since I've posted Zachary's stats. We go to the ped's office each week for his weight check. My boy knows how to pack on the pounds! I guess I should say ounces. Since our discharge Zachary has gained 10 ounces. We are now up to 5 lbs 14 ounces. He is averaging an ounce a day. We still have plenty of room in the preemie clothes, but before too long we're going to be moving our way up in size. I'm looking forward to his leg rolls becoming chunkier. I'm sure with the holiday season upon us he'll gain weight at an exponential rate.

Here's to getting fat and loving it!

Sleep

This is what cuddling with Daddy will do. Watch the progression.

Ok, this is nice and cushy.

Yawn for the camera.

Smile for the camera.

I'm out.