Life this week

It's been confirmed that Braxton has Hirschsprung's disease.  He is scheduled to have surgery in a couple of months.  Our biggest challenge right now is getting him to gain weight so he is strong enough for surgery.  So far his weight keeps going up and down, so we are now adding formula to his tube-supplements to increase the calories a bit.

Aside from the health issues, Braxton is doing really well.  He is super sweet, and such a content baby.  He is becoming more alert and responsive to our voices and movement.  He is the best snuggler and can sleep anywhere when he's tired.  He's also becoming an excellent nurser which is so great, as that was one of my major concerns.  Praise the Lord!

In other news, I have been working on getting back into shape.  I've talked about some of the races I have planned for this year, which I'm super excited about.  Want to know one of the first thoughts that went through my mind when I went into labor three weeks early?  "Great - I get three extra weeks of training in!"  I know, I'm sick.  I went for my first run exactly two weeks after Braxton was born.  He was in the hospital, the kids were out of town, and I just needed to do something "normal".  The run was pathetic - more like a "trot" with about six walking breaks over a 2 1/2 mile loop.  But I've been getting better quickly, and yesterday ran two miles in 20 minutes.  Not that that's anything to brag about, but considering three weeks ago I was probably at a 13+ minute pace, I am improving quickly.  Now I just need to find the time to start increasing my distances.