I Hear Ya'

Last night was Daylight Savings and Susanne forgot to reset her alarm clock to the appropriate time. This caused her to be in a complete state of confusion in the morning. All of the clocks showed different times. She wasn't sure which one was right and which one was wrong. Once she figured it all out, she realized that she had gotten up way earlier than she needed to. She thought to herself that it wasn't too late to catch up on a little extra sleep. Having extra time was a problem she wished she had more often.

Susanne decided to get up for good with Paxton's first feeding. She had a dentist appointment first thing this morning so she wanted to make sure she had enough time to get ready. She made sure to book the earliest one that they had because she had other appointments scheduled throughout the day. Since some were back to back, she had to prepare in advance anything that she may need while they were out. She needed to pack a couple of Paxton's feedings, his pump, enteral bag, sterile water, extension to his G-tube, his medications, diapers, wipes, syringes, cooler, toys, blankets, an extra outfit, and the emergency supplies for his G-tube. Trying to prepare for the day was a pretty big undertaking. It was more than she had hoped for on an early Monday morning.

She ended up running a little behind, but the dentist was very understanding. She was another medical professional that Susanne felt a deeper connection with than most she had encountered in the past. This dentist really seemed invested in Susanne's family. She cared a lot about how Paxton was doing and made a point to get updates. She had impressed Susanne and Scott from day one and she still continued to surprise them with her kindness years later. She even personally cleaned their teeth which was rare these days to get that much face time with a doctor.

Susanne's teeth looked great. Yay for no cavities! The appointment ended just in time for Susanne to head across town to make it to the next appointment. She had to connect Paxton up to one of his feedings on the way. Paxton would be seen by the otolaryngologist today for a follow up appontment regarding his ear tubes. The doctor wanted to make sure that the ear tubes were still in the appropriate place weeks after the procedure. Susanne was not thrilled to see a room full of sick children congregating around the admissions office. She made sure to try and stay as far away as possible from them all by standing down the hallway until her name was called. After checking in, Paxton and Susanne were instructed to sit in the waiting room down the hall. She was disgusted to find that every child she made eye contact with was picking their nose. They had no shame in their game. They were digging for gold and they were proud of it. It took everything Susanne had to not dry heave. She was afraid to sit in the chairs or touch anything around her. Her blood pressure was rising every second up until she was called back for Paxton to see the doctor. She had never felt so relieved.

Paxton's ear tubes looked great. They were just where they were supposed to be. The otolaryngologist wanted to retest his hearing since he was doing so well. The audiologist started with tympanometry first. This test was performed by inserting a probe into the ear canal to change the pressure in the ears. The purpose of the test was to measure the eardrum's response to the sound at different pressures. Paxton passed with flying colors. The next test was called Visual Reinforcement Audiometry. The audiologist provided some sort of auditory stimulus coming from the left or right side of Paxton. The goal was for him to turn his head towards the sound source. If he did this, then he would be rewarded with an interesting visual stimulus like a toy that lights up. Normally developing infants should be able to do this by six months of age. Even though Paxton was nine months old, his developmental age was around four months. Unfortunately, this meant that Paxton wasn't capable of passing this test. He would need to come back when he was developmentally older.

By the time they got home, both were exhausted. Susanne set up Paxton's next feeding and put him down for a nap. She was hoping to get caught up on a few things, but instead she fell asleep. She ended up taking an unplanned nap. It was funny to her how her body told her what to do sometimes without giving her a say.

Once Paxton had rested up, he was ready to play. After they played for awhile, Susanne needed to put Paxton to work. She attempted to feed Paxton a variety of foods. She started with bananas, followed by sweet potatoes and butternut squash. He gagged a total of two times, but he was able to recover on his own. Against all odds, he held it all down.

Susanne had discovered that Paxton really enjoyed his changing table. She always knew he loved it, but she was starting to realize just how much. Everytime she would place Paxton up there to change his diaper, he would instantly perk up. He would become very active and laugh a lot. He was very entertained with himself. He loved being changed and he loved being naked. Silly boy!

Susanne had a hair appointment scheduled for that evening. She had previously asked Aunt Leenie to babysit Paxton while she was getting pampered. Unfortunately, Leenie had recently been sick and was't feeling any better. They both decided that it was in Paxton's best interest for her not to come over. It was not worth the risk of him catching a cold. Susanne had to change her plans. She decided to take Paxton with her because it was so difficult to get an appointment with her hair dresser due to her popularity. She didn't want to wait any longer since her last hair cut had been well over four months ago. It was getting harder and harder to find time for herself. Paxton did surprisingly well. He didn't make a peep the entire time. Before Susanne's hair dresser was ready for her, one of the massage therapists asked if she could do some Quantum-Touch on Paxton. Quantum-Touch is a method of natural healing working with the flow of energy through light touch. She basically formed a "hand sandwich" on Paxton that was supposed to focus the energy on the specific areas that needed treatment. Whether or not it was a legitimate practice, Susanne would never know. The one thing she was certain of was that Paxton liked it. He was extremely relaxed and content.

Susanne knew a lot of the employees at the salon that she went to because Scott used to work there. In addition to his many degrees, he was a licensed massage therapist. He worked at this salon for years before he left for his internship. It was so nice that all of his previous co-workers got to meet Paxton. Some of them had been a great sense of support for Scott and Susanne throughout their journey thus far. They were thrilled to meet the living miracle. Paxton was nothing less than perfect.