Two months?!

It still isn't easy to find time and energy to post. Finn will be two months old tomorrow, and I can't believe it. Where did the time go? How did this happen?

He is so big now! He had a pediatrician appointment yesterday morning and got his vaccinations. Poor guy. I was doing okay with him crying, but when I saw that little tear run down his cheek, I lost it as well. He did fine once I was able to pick him up and snuggle him, and he was less fussy yesterday afternoon than he is many days, so I guess he tolerated the shots quite well. I asked the doctor about his fussiness, which we are pretty confident is due to gas, and he basically said it's something we have to wait out. He said colic is more common in boys than girls, but he's also at the peak time for it, so we should see it start to improve soon. We'll continue giving him Mylocon drops every few hours, keep him upright after eating, and pray for it to resolve soon. Everything else at the appointment was good, and there are no health concerns.

Other updates from the past two months, as I think of them:

We visited the Dulles Air and Space Museum at the beginning of August. It's a part of the Smithsonian, and an extension of the National Air and Space Museum in DC proper. Finn slept through most of it, but Kevin and I enjoyed it quite a bit. My favorite part by far was seeing the Shuttle Discovery. It's huge, and I was amazed to think I was standing next to a vehicle used to transport people into outer space. After the museum, we drove to Annandale to meet one of our breast milk donors, a cousin of my brother-in-law, and pick up over 300oz of milk. She also had a pack of diapers, several bottles and pacifiers, and a lot of adorable clothes for Finn, and we got to meet her family (including her three adorable children) while we were there.

That drive was a trial run for our first big trip with Finn a couple of weeks ago. We drove to Charlotte for a weekend to visit my family. We were anxious about how it was going to go, because it's an 8+ hour drive without an infant, and we were bringing the dog too. Val was confused when we told her to get in the front seat, since she's always been told to get in the back. There wasn't room for that though, and she eventually settled down into her new spot. Finn did excellent, especially on the way down. He slept pretty much the entire time we were in the car; we timed our stops for when he needed to eat or be changed. We took our time whenever we stopped, and it worked out well, even if it did take 11 hours. The drive back was a little more difficult; Finn fussed a fair bit, and we stopped more often. It still wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.

While in Charlotte, Finn got to meet lots of people for the first time, including his uncle Jason, his great aunt Catherine, his great aunt Addy Jean, his second cousin Connie, his future best friend Ray Junior (my best friend's son, whom I also got to meet for the first time, since he wasn't born yet the last time we were in Charlotte), and honorary aunt and uncle Katja and Pat and Katja's parents. We got to spend a lot of time with my parents and my sisters and their families, and it was so nice.

We picked up another 300-400 ounces of breast milk from Jason's Charleston cousin, who had brought the milk up a couple weeks earlier and left it for us.

Last week, my aunt shipped us another couple of days' worth of milk that my cousin's wife had frozen for their daughter and no longer needed. That milk, combined with what we already had and what we are expecting to get from the cousins in the next couple of weeks, was enough to make me realize that with a bit more effort, we might be able to get Finn through his surgery before we have to transition to formula (we aren't supposed to change anything about Finn's routine for the week before or after his surgery, including his milk, so he'd need enough to last til 9/21 for it to work).  I put out a request through two Facebook groups. Through those posts, we have received offers of several hundreds of ounces of milk, which should be enough to get us through the surgery (don't worry; I asked all the screening questions recommended by the lactation consultant and my OB). Many of the offers came from people in the Philadelphia area, and one person offered to pick up the milk from everyone there and meet me so that I wouldn't have to coordinate with multiple people on a single trip. I have cried many tears of gratitude over this. We are so fortunate to be the recipients of so much generosity from so many people.

My surgery is two weeks from today. I had my pre-op physical this afternoon, which was the first time I've seen my primary care doctor since September. I wasn't even pregnant then, so when the medical assistant asked me if I had any changes in my medical care since I last saw the doctor, I laughed out loud.

Kevin's parents have been so excellent about watching Finn for us. I'm not going back to work until the end of September, but I wanted to attend the trainings last week that were held for all staff in my department (great information on trauma-based care, plus needed CEUs). Kevin's folks came to our house (since the trainings were only a few minutes from our house) and kept Finn for us, and they've watched him for a couple of date nights, an Orioles game, and several medical appointments. They are great with him, and it makes leaving him so much easier. I miss him, but I never have to worry even a little. My supervisor asked me on the first day of the training if it was the first time I'd left Finn for a day. Ha! I had to leave him the first time on our second day home from the hospital for an appointment with my oncologist, and for longer than that for chemo when he was just six days old. I guess that has helped make leaving him for work a little easier.