Steady Improvement

Paxton woke up again for the second morning in a row without letting Scott and Susanne know. His eyes were open, but he didn't make a sound. He was just laying there so contently in his bed. Susanne wasn't even sure how long he had been awake because he had been so quiet.

She quietly walked into his room and peered over his crib. The moment his eyes connected with hers he smiled so big. He did end up gagging once when she picked him up, but he recovered nicely.

He started his morning off keeping his mama very busy. He peed then pooped, then peed again. Susanne decided to let him air dry for a while to try to help resolve the ongoing diaper rash. Not even five minutes into Paxton being diaper free, he pooped back to back and made a whopping mess. Luckily, Susanne had predicted this kind of explosion and put a couple layers of towels underneath him. Just as she had finished cleaning up the disaster area, poor little Paxton sneezed with such force that a small amount of poop came out. This was a sure sign that Paxton's diaper free time was over.

Paxton started his morning with some tummy time and propped sitting in front of the television. He always seemed to work so much harder if he had Sesame Street to distract him. It encouraged him to hold his head up higher and longer than anything else that Susanne had previously tried. Susanne was excited to see Paxton stay in propped sitting on his own for at least twenty to thirty seconds with no help. He was also visibly putting more weight through his hands and she could tell that his core was getting stronger. Susanne was truly impressed with his continued improvement. He was building mucsle strength slowly, but surely.

As the day progressed, Paxton was showing signs that he was getting sleepy. He couldn't seem to get comfortable though because he was overheated. Ever since the weather had warmed up outside, he was having trouble regulating his body temperature inside. If the thermostat was any higher than about 72 degrees, then he was sweating. Susanne stripped him down to his diaper and he finally shut his eyes.

After waking up from his nap, Susanne set him up on his playgym for him to work on reaching and grabbing at his toys. These motions helped Paxton to work on bringing his arms to mid-line, which strengthened his chest muscles. These were definitely some of his weakest muscles because he had previously had his chest opened up twice for his heart procedures. If given the right toy, he had no problems going for it. The funniest thing was that one of the things he was most fascinated with was the multi-colored beaded necklaces that his therapist gave him. It helped that they were easy for him to grab ahold of. He loved to yank and pull and tug them around. While busy at play, he laughed a lot. He seemed so excited about everything. Susanne didn't have to work hard today for a giggle. This always made her feel great.

As the evening set in, Susanne made Paxton work a little more on sitting, head control, and tummy time. He appeared to have the energy, so she wanted to take advantage of it.

After a good workout, she gave him a nice relaxing bath, followed by gentle massage. To help him wind down, she read him a few books. She decided to offer him the oral swab soaked in water to see if he would suckle on it. He tended to suckle with nothing in his mouth as a soothing mechanism for falling asleep. This would not only encourage him to suckle on something, but also to reinforce his suck swallow reflex. Her hope was that the more practice he got, the better chance he would have with making a major turn around with his ability to take things by mouth.

It was all working out as planned until Susanne laid Paxton down. He kept tossing and turning because he was too hot. Once Poppy changed the thermostat again to a cooler temperature, Paxton fell right asleep. Susanne feared it was going to be a long summer for the bug. If only she had a walk-in freezer for him to sleep in....hmmmmmm.

Susanne cooked up a mean meal on the grill for dinner. While the London Broil was getting the perfect sear, Scott and Susanne sat outside drinking a beer and enjoying the breeze. They couldn't think of anything more relaxing and perfect.