A Day in the Life of Adam

I have been contacted several times from various blog fans demanding more pictures of Adam. *Feigns weariness under the strain of demands and looks left and right to take stock of tiny fan base.* Ah, so just the family then. Well then this demand makes perfect sense... Alright, you want updated pictures of Adam? Here is an entire post dedicated to Adam!



A Day in the Life of Adam....

On the days my hubby doesn't bike to work, we wake bright and early so we can drive Troy to work. (That way we have the car for the days there are errands to run) After dropping him off at base, our day begins.

Bath time! One of the first events of the day, and one of Adam's favorite. He'll kick and splash around for up to an hour before he gets bored. We think he's going to be a swimmer ;) Since the washer and dryer are in the same room, I can get laundry washed and folded all while he kicks around in the bath next to me. It's a great deal. 

After bath, breakfast, and taking his daily medicine, it's time for a morning nap

When he wakes, it's time for a workout, "Tummy Time". Here he practices lifting his head, building strength in his neck, back, and shoulders. We try to do this about twice daily, until he's tired out.

Sometimes we go to market to pick up fresh food for dinner. Here I am feeding him on-the-go as I walk back from a shop in our town. 

Other times we'll go for morning walks around the countryside or through the town.

Sometimes he'll hang out in the Jumper (which can move from room to room!) while mommy does chores. 

Each day we almost always have some sort of event or activity to go to. 

Sometimes we visit with friends. 

Here we are learning infant massage techniques to soothe baby. (Adam is at the very bottom, eating his outfit...)

 

During Italian "Riposo" (like siesta) we nap

After picking my hubby up from work, Adam will often spend the evenings hanging out with his daddy.

 

Sometimes we'll go for an evening walk. (And sometimes it includes gelato! For us, not for Adam...)

Books are important, and either mom or dad reads Adam one nearly every day. 

After reading it's time for bed. This is usually where he starts out... but often times he ends the night snuggling with mom and dad.

Sweet dreams little one <3

What to do for the PKU

We frequently get questions concerning PKU, due to its rarity and the oddness of it. I thought pictures might help, so I photographed the processes involved in Adam’s PKU related care.

Daily routine: Administer the medicine.

First I have to cut his medicine pills in half, due to the fact that he only requires a half dosage a day. Before we got the pill cutter we were using a knife, which obviously has a larger margin for error, and with such expensive pills, this was the preferable option. 

I then put that half pill into the mortar and pestle and grind it into a fine powder. 

As you can see, this medicine stains everything deep yellow. We have learned to administer it just before or after a bath, when we have yet to put an outfit on him. Even his spit up will stain his blankets yellow if it's within an hour or so of having been administered. 

Then we add a wee bit of water. I've now started sucking up the water into the syringe first, so I have an exact amount, THEN I put it into the mortar. This prevents accidentally getting too much water and having to give the poor kid numerous syringes... 

After shooting the measured water from the syringe into the mortar, I mix it with the powder until it dissolves. Then I suck it all back into the syringe. 

I attempt to administer the medicine around the same time every day, however we are often very busy and our schedule does not always allow us to be at home during that time. As such, in the instances we won't be home, I suck it up into the syringe and place it into a small tupperware. There it travels quite nicely and fits well in the diaper bag, ready to pulled out when the time finally arrives. 

Here I am also practicing my photography skills (I joined the photography club!) I am focusing on a close object and blurring the background for effect. This also shows the daily amount Adam receives. He's gotten quite used to it and the process is much quicker now that he expects the taste.

Weekly Routine: Draw Blood

A device containing a needle for heel
sticks bottom right, and the sheet with the
circles at top we are supposed to fill with his blood.

         Yes, you read that correctly. One of the more recent developments in our care for Adam. At our last visit to the Padova hospital, they decided to show us how to take the blood sample at home so it could be mailed in, allowing us to skip the frequent, long drives and days spent waiting at the lab at Padova. I liked the idea of less travel to Padova, however I was not fond of having to draw the blood ourselves. They gave us a few starter tools and then said we could get the rest of the tools from our lab on base. And when I say they showed us how to take the blood sample, I mean they talked us through it, neither the nurses or my hubby or I actually drew blood, so it was not a hands on learning or a demo, though I had seen it done many times before.      
           When I left I was still rather surprised. They are letting us take BLOOD samples at home? You can send blood IN THE MAIL??? Who knew. I didn't feel like this was something we could get away with in the states...
          After discussing it with the pediatrician on base, we went over to the lab and asked for the supplies needed, heel sticks and bio hazard bags and such. The lab technician commented on how they had never received such an odd request nor heard of this being done before. We replied that we, similarly, had not heard of doing such a thing before either.
        Every week we are supposed to take Adam's blood and mail it in. My hubby and I decided to designate Saturdays as the given day we would do this. When the first Saturday we were supposed to draw blood rolled around, I made a blood drawing station on the washer and dryer in our bathroom. I laid down a towel for Adam, and set up all of the supplies my DH would need. I didn't want to be a part of it, and my hubby was fine with that. We had seen the nurses do it by themselves and he figured he could too. I handed him the baby and walked away. After some time and a few good screams later, he opened the bathroom door and declared he needed my assistance.

A Heel Warmer used to encourage blood flow.

           I entered the bathroom to find a rather distressed baby, a blood speckled towel, and several used test sheets. The test sheets are very particular in that you must acquire enough blood to seep through the thick paper and can be visible on the backside. However you must be careful not to let the blood come out of the dotted line. They were very clear about us not sending in any test samples that were not in the lines. Getting the blood into these specifications is difficult, and my hubby's first few attempts failed as he needed more practice. He asked me to hold down the baby while he attempted it again on a new one.
          I held the poor squirming kid down while my hubby squeezed his heel and carefully attempted to get the blood into the parameters designated. Eventually we were successful, and successive weeks of blood drawing have improved from the first.

We then put on a cotton ball and bandage wrap until bleeding stops.  

            The test sheet is placed into a Biohazard bag, which is then placed into a regular mailing envelope and sent to the Padova hospital. (I then got to learn how to navigate the Italian post office. That was an interesting experience... but I now know how to work their post versus the American style post office they provide us on the base) Once at the hospital, the blood is evaluated and they only contact us if there is a problem with the levels. So far so good!
          The blood drawing is an experience to be sure, but all parents must play nurse to their children in some fashion. Some parents may be fortunate enough to get by with just band aids and hydrogen peroxide on their medical care resume. Our medical requirements extend a little further than that, but we're okay with it. It's all in the job description and we welcome every new experience that adds to our learning and understanding. 

American Military Spousal Business in Italy and Adam's Newborn photos

In this post I will discuss employment in Italy and disperse it with the “newborn pictures” of Adam. (That’s in quotes because he was really a month old when they were taken)

Here in Italy, military spouses cannot seek employment outside of base. Spouse employment is limited to the base (so you can imagine that’s tough competition) and on top of that it is given priority to Italian citizens first. We are tenants at an Italian base, and understandably they’d like the jobs to go to their own people before the Americans, however, this makes it very difficult for spouses to find a job. 

            I have met many military spouses who were stay-at-home moms, but here at the Aviano base there is a HUGE stay-at-home spouse group because it is so challenging to get a second job for the family.

            Furthermore, Italian regulation “prohibits the operation of home-based businesses”, so one cannot hope to gain financially in that manner either. If you are a military spouse reading this and are interested in knowing more, this link here details all of the rules surrounding American military spousal employment in Italy: Employment in Italy

I have heard some women, (generally those whom are very career driven) lament the fact that their resumes are suffering the three years they are here and how it will hurt them when they return to the states and recommence the job search. However, a way around the rules has been found, for the home businesses at least.

What people are doing is offering “free services” to others in the effort to experiment with their business/build a resume, and the unspoken rule is that it is polite to offer a “donation” or “tip” for their services. This provides an interesting aspect because essentially the customer, er… recipient of the services, determines the worth and value of said services.

There are also some rules and cautions along with this method, for instance, say I were to offer in-home child care (which isn’t allowed, as that would be considered an in-home business), I could not advertise or set designated hours of operation or anything of that sort. I could however offer to babysit my friend’s child daily and we would privately work out the hours she needed a babysitter and then she would determine how much to “tip” me. Through word of mouth others could learn that I was offering to babysit for friends and contact me.

I learned of this system when Adam was born and I had several aspiring photographers offer to take “free” newborn pictures of him. Free? I thought. Well of course! I am generally not one to turn down free things (particularly food...), and I commented on their kindness to a friend who in turn explained the system to me. The “free service” providers do get some benefit out of this, they get to upkeep their skills, have the freedom to experiment where they may not have before, they get the chance to build their portfolio, and earn a wee bit of extra money.

So the “newborn” photos of Adam you see sprinkled throughout this post are a result of this system, and I accepted two different photographers offers to take pictures of him. Both women had started up in the last year and are hoping to make a full time business out of it when they get back to the states.

This one is supposed to be Adam as a turtle, note the little green tail at the back. 

This system and the Italian employment rules may have been a huge benefit to them, for without the stereotypical jobs to apply for, they instead had the time to pursue their passions and then attempt their hand at starting their own business and preparing it for their return to the states. They now have a year’s worth of photos for their portfolios and have been able to experiment with logos and all other sorts without being locked into a business and having paid for advertisements with a certain logo or anything like that. They get a free few years for trial and error and to hone their skills.

For the receivers, we get very cheap services! I messaged the owners tagged on the photos of the photo facebook pages of the photographers and asked what they had donated for their pictures, and it was generally in the range of $20-$60, depending on the amount of people in the shoot and whether or not they went to a studio or location. Speaking from experience I know photos like these would cost hundreds back in the states! Also, the photographers here don’t have an affiliation with a printing company, because they aren’t a business, so they simply give us a disk of all the photos and we go to the company to print them ourselves. I like this soo much more! I can upload a nice copy to my facebook (and blog!) and I can make as many as I’d like of a certain kind without a middleman or being restricted by “package deals” that only allow certain amounts. 

The other woman also had a "turtle" set. lol.

             Now a brief discussion on newborn photography and our session; Newborn photography sessions are looonng. They last a minimum of two hours and I was at both of Adam’s for around three hours. (One photographer said she had a 6 hours newborn shoot… ew) This is because in between feedings, tears, and changes, one also has to get them while they’re sleeping.

For newborns, photographers prefer them to be asleep. This is because they are easy to pose and position and to dress up. I can understand this, and I bet it would get old having numerous positions of an infant with flailing arms, however I wouldn’t have minded some pictures like that. I think that most babies look very similar. They are generally chubby, bald little things, and dressing them up as crochet animals (which seems to be the fad everywhere I’ve seen) makes them look even more similar. Perhaps this is why my favorite photo taken is the one below. He’s not sleeping or dressed up as anything, but in it he looks more like our child than any of the others. You can see his lovely blue eyes from his mother, the generous lips his father gave him, and the expression indicating a part of his personality.  

I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures and a description of the military spousal employment system here in Italy. I am thankful for it because I know I wouldn’t pay for such a thing back in the states, but here I was able to get some fun photos of him for a cheap price. Also I don't feel guilty staying at home with my little one, knowing there are few other options if I did desire to leave him and attempt to find employment.