M is for Mighty: 8 months.

Eight months ago today -14 weeks ahead of schedule - Max came into the world, took his first breath, let out a tiny yelp, and was promptly whisked away to be resuscitated by a medical team. We held our breath waiting to hear that our baby was okay. It felt like an eternity. Nearly an hour after Max was born we learned we had a boy. Hours later we were able to see our new baby, first Dad, then Mum. We spent hours staring at his tiny body through the glass of his incubator, not able to touch or hold him. It was 10 days before Mum was able to hold him for the first time. It took about as much time to get him out of his little house and situated with all his tubes and wires as the cuddle itself lasted. He fit quite neatly in the palms of our hands.

Those first few weeks were scary and filled with much uncertainty. We've come so far from those early, nerve-racking days. Our birth experience was a far cry from what we had envisioned, and even now, life with a baby, while mostly pretty typical, isn't quite what we had pictured. But we couldn't be happier, and couldn't possibly be prouder of our little Mighty Maximilian.

Max continues to grow and develop much like any 5 month old (he'll be 5 months corrected in 6 days). We continue to concentrate on his weight gain, as we'd like to see him catch up a little more. Reflux is a daily battle, which is not only really messy, but one that makes weight gain more of a struggle. Throwing up frequently is also a bit of a deterrent to eating. Once Max reaches 6 months corrected the plan is to start introducing solids little by little. For now, we're "painting" his lips with various flavours - breast milk, cereal, carrots, avocado - in the hopes that it will prepare him for the introduction of eating orally. We can't imagine what it must be like to try eating after going months without really tasting anything, but it has to be strange.

Earlier this week Max got his G-tube changed to a lower profile model. G-tubes are generally placed with a PEG style tube (as you can see below) until the stoma has fully healed, about 8 weeks post-op. On someone as little as Max, this dangling tube gets in the way a whole lot, so it was nice to get the tube changed. It's not an invasive procedure, and in fact, Mum did it herself in the clinic. It's just a matter of deflating the balloon that holds the tube inside Max's stomach, removing the tube, inserting the new one, and inflating the balloon with water. Easy as pie - which is good, because now we're responsible for changing the tube approximately every 4 months.

Otherwise, things around here are just in full-hibernation mode. We spend our days, eating, reading, playing and sleeping, and hiding away from all the germs that live outside the walls of our apartment. Thankfully, (or not), the cold weather hasn't made staying inside feel so bad. We're eagerly awaiting spring, and the adventures it will hold.