Yu Have Come to the Right Place.

One Up, One Down

Taisei update: He hit three weeks yesterday. We took him to Dr. Lindsay's to complete his PKU testing. They squeezed at least 21 drops of blood out of his left heel! His weight has gone up 20% in the past 3 weeks and he's now 7 lbs, 11 oz. Length, 20.5". Lately, he's still eating about every 3-4 hours. We found out that we don't really need to force feed him. When he's done, he's done. That's a relief, since it was taking us an hour to try to get him to eat for 30 minutes. He used to fall asleep between feedings. But now he often stays wide awake, just looking around and waving his arms here and there. He's a good baby.

Wami thought this set of pictures was pretty humorous. I'm totally knocked out - had no idea she took these. Neither did Hiro, apparently. Looks like only Taisei is stirring a little.


Wami update: Many of your ask me how Wami is doing. To be fair to her, I think I have to give a real update on how she's doing. Wami's been brave and hasn't even complained to me much about what's going on with her body. But as I've begun to pry and research, I've realized the extent of her suffering. The best resource I found is a group of mothers online suffering from the same affliction. If you want to know what Wami's going through, take a look. It made her feel much better to read that and know that others are facing the same things as well. According to doctors, PUPPP is an irritating rash that comes in the 3rd trimester of the first baby and goes away as soon as the baby is born. It affects about 1 in 250 pregnant women. According to real live accounts (and Wami), it's a lot worse than many doctors realize. It causes nights of deprived sleep, hysterical scratching -in some cases so severe that scars may not heal for years, emotional breakdowns, fear of future pregnancy (apparently in some cases, more so than the labor), and maybe worst of all, the inability to feel joy in pregnancy and in care for the newborn baby. Unfortunately, after three weeks, it has not gone away. They look like leathery patches of rough, red, scaley skin that ooze yellowish pus. A picture here would definitely not be appreciated by a certain significant other. She's tried everything - Benedryl, 2 prescription steroid topical creams, oral steroids (prednisone), flax seed oil, dandelion seed extract, oatmeal baths, baking soda baths, cold showers, ice packs, gloves and socks during sleep. The only things that made any difference were the prednisone and ice packs. But those merely temporarily helped with the itching and pain. We've now consulted two dermatologists, 3 ob/gyns, 2 pediatricians (hey, might as well try!), several nurses, one doctor of chinese medicine and multitudes of caring friends. Generally the professional response is: "give it another week. " If you have had PUPPP, tell us your story. If you have had hives or eczema, so have I . . .

I sincerely hope that by the next report, things will have taken a turn for the better. Forgive me for this unhappy, non-uplifting update. I wanted to briefly tell Wami's story just so, at least with some of you closer friends who read this blog, I no longer have to feel like I'm betraying my beloved wife by saying "Wami's doing fine."

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