Psh, he's fine!

I'm so glad, the ultrasound on Max's spine was nice and BORING. woopeee!!!! So far in his life, all my "routine" tests have ended in the bad news nobody wants or thinks they'll get. SO, I'm happy to report nothing. No Spina Bifida or "tethering" (where one leg or the other wont work) to worry about. Just thought I'd get back on the blog to report that quickly.

Max has been feeling kinda sicky the last couple days, and I was so bummed because he was kind of faltering on his eating and acting really out of sorts. But tonight he "chomped" down his whole bottle and was smiling up a storm, so I hope he's feeling better! It's so weird when Max isn't quite himself, because I start worrying about the worst! I suppose any new mom does this, except I have some legitimate reason to freak out, haha! I'm just learning...

Random side note...hehe...I had gained 35 lbs during the pregnancy. The first 15 literally just fell off in the first 2 weeks, and then, nothing! I truly didn't lose even a half of a pound in the last 2 months, so I started to really worry! I know I've been stressed...BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! :) All I know is, I joined Weight Watchers, and I LOOOVE it. I already lost 4 lbs, and I'm eating really well. I like having a focused plan. It's kinda a game for my mind, and I'm so motivated now. I can't wait to be at least close to my previous weight. :) Gotta be a hot mom! Just kidding!!! (Mostly.)

Alrighty...
Claire :)

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Don't hold it against us...

We've been so busy!!


We got home two weeks ago from this last Friday, and it's been a blur since then. In fact, every day I've said, "I'll blog tonight!"...ok yeah right. I have had a crash course in mommyhood. Whew, what a life! I've always admired mothers, but NOW i GET IT!! :)

Max is still just doing great. When we got home, we met all our new doctors; a pediatrician, a pulmonologist, and a Gastroentinologist. We still have Max on oxygen, and maybe at our pulmonologist appointment on the 22nd, we can be free of it! No rush if he needs it, but I am excited to be free of the 7 foot tether called Max's oxygen tank! :)

Some kinda neat stuff: when we can home, Max was eating about 30 of his 70 mL's of milk by himself...and it was tough! When we went to the GI doc appointment right after coming home, he switched Max to a higher calorie formula. The next morning I started him on it, and he literally gulped the WHOLE bottle down. And then I proceeded to cry for a while! :) (Out of excitement) Since then, Max eats his whole 70mL's by mouth about 80% of the time! HOORAY! I am so happy...I wonder if it's because the formula is a bit thicker, or if it tastes better, or both. Either way, it's a victory for Mr. Max!

We've only taken him out a few times...I run errands with him if I have to, but not really any "group" things like church (just once but I was having an anxiety attack the whole time...maybe a bit later we can try again!). It's funny how ready I felt, but the second we were in a group of people paying attention to Max, my stomach was in total knots. For now, we'll stick to family visits!

I have an ultrasound appointment with Max tomorrow (for him), to check a dimple he has at the top of his behind-crack. The pediatrician said it's overly cautious, but could be a sign of spinabifida. We don't need to take any chances! I'll post how that goes.

Mr. Skinny got weighed at the pediatrician...5th percentile for height and weight! But, he's rapidly gained weight since we switched formulas, and earlier last week he was 8lbs, 15 oz. So, we are making progress! It's hard to remember he's already 2 months old...it feels like I've always had him!

Max is the nicest baby ever...he has such a happy disposition, never really fusses, just smiles and toots. ;)

I'm going back to work Saturday the 24th, part time; I'm excited and not! Pretty normal response I think. I feel a little crazy sometimes just in my house with Max all day, but I don't actually think I want to leave him either.

Here's a couple cute pics!
Max and Dad...chillin' on Sunday morning! (today!)...check out his "wild things" tattoo peeking at Max!

And, here's Max all hyped up for the Gators Game with Dad! He is a Floridian, ya know, so he has to represent!
And...Max discussing the serious things in life with his friend the blue elephant...he loves looking at him!
And...another cute one of Father and Son! I LOOOOVE this picture..do you all see the resemblance now? It's too bad Max doesn''t look more like his dad. ;)


Well, I think that's really it?? Max is great, we are good, Thank You God For You are Good!
Thanks for all the support folks!
Love ya,
Claire

Ps, never got to thank everyone for the "circ-support"...Max is looking great. We've had more highly opinionated but poorly educated (on this topic) people commenting...but oh well I have the delete button right?? :)

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Home Sweet Home

Can you believe it!? 2 months (more for Claire), 5 surgeries, 5,000+ miles, and over 65 hours of travel time later, we are finally HOME. I really cannot express the joy that Claire and I feel about being here right now. We got home at about 1:30am yesterday morning and when I went upstairs to Maxs room, I just broke down. All of the stress that we have been carrying with us for the past 7 months was now gone. My perfect, beautiful baby boy was where he belonged.

Yesterday was a little crazy with getting unpacked and all of our families that wanted to come see him. I think at one point there were 9 people here. It was totally overwhelming, but great to see. Our parents and brothers and sisters all got the chance to see him or hold him. Claire has one sister that lives in Oregon that will be able to meet him in a few months. She and her husband were not able to make it down, so we miss them. :)

One of the friends that came over yesterday to see him was our friend Misty Dunn. Misty is am AMAZING photographer and we wanted the first pictures of him home to be taken by her. She has a website (www.mistymichellephotography.com) that you can check out if you would like. She is super talented and we just wanted to share a few pictures of Max in his NEW place!

Thank you all again SO much for the prayers and thoughts. We really could not have done this without it. You have all been such a blessing for our little family as we went through this.

So, this ends that volume of our lives, and so we begin on a new journey with having our baby home. We will continue to post things as they happen, but it may not be as often as before. We will still be keeping you all updated though. :)

Make sure (if you have not already) that you fill in your information on the “subscribe” box on the left side of the page, and the blog will e-mail you whenever we update, so you don’t have to be checking all the time.

Again, we appreciate and love you all. Except for “Anonymous.” You know who you are.

From Arizona. From Home.

The Griffin Family

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