Our First Medical Scare

It finally happened... our first medical scare with Addison. Yesturday was a great day. Addie was happy and we played all day long. Ryan had been away all week, so he was looking forward to giving Addie her bedtime routine. Ryan gave her a bath and she was smiling and playing like she had been all day. After the bath, Ryan gave her her massage, gave her a bottle, read her a story and swaddled her up. Then Addie started screaming, and I mean SCREAMING!!! She was clearly in pain, and we could not figure out what it was. Ryan tried to comfort her and burp her (we thought it might be really bad gas pains) but nothing worked. Finally, after half an hour, we stripped her and put her back in the bath. As long as she was in the bath she was fine, so we figured it must be gas. When we took her out of the bath she instantly started screaming again, so Ryan dressed and swaddled her and just held her and rocked her to try and comfort her. She refused to take any gripe water, so we gave her some Ovol, and it wasn't helping. Another half hour later, Addie finally fell asleep. She was utterly exhausted from all the crying.

Then the scary part happened. Addison was gasping for breath in her sleep and her body could not calm down. It was 11pm when she fell asleep, and Ryan and I watched her until midnight. At that point I called telehealth to see what I should do. I called and talked to the nurse for 45 minutes and together we decided that whatever had happened, Addie was okay now. Addie slept from 11pm to 7am and I got up about every 10 minutes to check on her. I was so scared that something could happen but realized that her little body had gotten into a breathing pattern when she was screaming and it had a hard time re-regulating. Today, she has been happy as a little clam and is obviously just fine. Ryan and I know she was okay and have decided that it's okay to be typical first time over-reacting parents.

Cloth Diapers!

Before Addison was born, Ryan and I decided that we wanted to cloth diaper her for many reasons: they prevent diaper rash, they don't have any chemicals next to her sensitive skin, they are better for the environment, softer on her skin, less expensive than disposable diapers, and really easy to use. Addie was born so small that our cloth diapers didn't fit when we brought her home, so we used the Huggies organic cotton disposables until she reached size 1 diapers. Then, we had received so many sposies at my baby shower, we figured we might as well use those up first. So... It's been 9 weeks and we are finally ready to start using our cloth diapers. The time couldn't have come sooner! Over the weekend, Addie had a diaper blow out. It was no ordinary diaper blow out either.... we were literally cleaning poop out of her armpits! So today I put Addie in her first cloth diaper, and of course she filled it right up. Now, a sposie wouldn't have been able to handle it, but these cloth diapers fit so well that it held it all in. I was amazed, and soo happy that we are using these. We will probably use a sposie at night because it is more absorbent, but from now on, cloth it is! Hopefully one day, Addie will appreciate all the poop I'm cleaning for the sake of her bum.

The Two Month Shots

Yesturday Addie had a doctor's appointment. She is now exactly 10lbs, and in the 28th percentile for her weight, 22.5 inches long which is the 56th percentile for height, and her head is 34.5cm which is in the 5th percentile for head size. It is kind of fun to find out where she is in comparison to her peers, but it doesn't really matter overall as long as she is healthy. The doctor did comment on the mark under her chin, she called it a raspberry birthmark, and said that it is normal for them to appear around three weeks of age. We haven't noticed a change in it since it appeared, but the Dr. said it will grow until she is 4 years old, and then will either shrink remarkably, or disapear completely by the time she is six. As for the birth mark on her arm, there was no change.

The reason we had the appointment was for Addie to get her two month shots. This was the part I was dreading because I can't stand it when she is upset, and I knew she was going to be in pain. At our office, the nurse Donna does the shots so that if the child associates the nurse with pain and hates them, at least they still like the doctor. I held Addie while Donna gave her one shot in her left leg. Addie cried, but not for very long and just continued sucking on her pacifier. Then Donna put the other one in her right leg, and I've never seen Addie cry that hard before. She could barely breathe she was so upset and her little face was bright red. Addie was a very good sport though. She had a bottle (even though she threw up most of it after) and I sat and held her for 15minutes before we left to make sure she didn't have a reaction. By the time I went to dress her, Addie was giving me all kinds of smiles. The whole experience was easier on me than I thought it was going to be. It definitely bothered me seeing her so upset, but her taking it as well as she did made it better. I was so proud of my girl.

Addie slept for the rest of the afternoon, and was fussy in the evening. I checked her legs and they were both a little swollen and red so I gave her some infant Tylenol, and she calmed right down. She had a restless night for sleep, but is doing really well today. She is eating a little bit less than she was, but she is all smiles today.

Now we have two months to wait and will be back in September to do it all over again.

Mommy and Me

Today Addison and I started our first class together. It's being held at Serenity Birth Studio and Spa, the same place that Ryan and I took our Lamaze/Birthing classes and the class is called "The Fourth Trimester". Addie fell asleep in the car on our way over, and slept through the whole class. The class is supposed to help new mothers with the newborn experience; talk about post partum feelings, how to handle little sleep, breastfeeding, playing with our little ones and ultimately meet other new moms that we can bond with. Today's class was discussing our birth stories, and it was fascinating to me to hear how every single one of the 10 women in the class had such different experiences. Just the fact that 8/10 of us had c-sections was interesting to me. I met some great women today that I think I will be able to have great relationships with. I did find it really funny that since Addison is the oldest baby in the class, all the moms were asking me for advice on things. She's the oldest by 2 weeks at 8 weeks old, most of the babies in the class are 6 weeks old so it was funny to me giving advice to these women when I've only got two weeks of motherhood on them, but it felt good too. I am excited to go back next week. Maybe next week Addie will wake up and I'll get the chance to show her off a little bit.

Two Months Old

It's so hard to believe that our baby girl is already two months old. As cliche as it is to say it, it really does feel like just yesturday I was telling Ryan that I was pregnant and we were running out to get multiple pregnancy tests to make sure. We were so excited to be parents, and now that we are, we could'nt be happier with our baby girl. Our lives have definitely changed; we can no longer pick up and go like we used to, we can't just lie around all day doing nothing if we feel like it, and we can't pack light when we go somewhere overnight. But it is totally worth it.

This weekend was the first time we left Addie for an extended period of time. She was with my parents for 9 whole hours while we went to Jackie's stag and doe party and it was really hard for me to leave her. I thought about her all day, talked about her to anyone that would listen (and continued talking about her to those who didn't want to listen) and I just couldn't wait to get out of there so I could hold her again. I was really disapointed when we got back to the marina and Addie was asleep. I wanted so badly to pick her up, hold her close, and snuggle her, but she looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake her up. Instead, I just watched her sleep and kept kissing her. I love that baby more than anything. These past two months have really flown by, and although we are sad to see her get bigger, we are also so excited to watch her grow. So far she has started squaking when she doesn't like something, and just last monday, she started cooing. Her smiles are so big that they just melt my heart and I can't wait to hear her laugh for the first time. This week I am going to start packing up the clothes she's outgrown. Looking at the tiny newborn clothes now, it is amazing to me that at one point, not so long ago, she was so small that the newborn sizes hung off of her, and now I am putting them away so that hopefully one day her little sister will wear them. Just two months gone by, just two months of her entire life, and I am soaking up every minute of it.

Addie in the pool, rocking out her new life jacket (pink as picked out by Daddy) and her new shades!

And a sleepy Addie having a nap with Mama

My new midnight cleaning schedule

I never thought I would be up at midnight cleaning the toilets, but I guess that's what it's going to be like for awhile if it's going to get done at all. Addie is a high maintenance snuggler and needs to be held most of the day, so I don't have any time to clean or do anything for myself until after she goes to bed at night. The good thing, is that she usually sleeps through the night now, but that means she is up all day wanting to be held and entertained. Aside from my messy house though, things are great. I absolutely love being a mama and spending all day snuggling my beautiful baby girl is my favorite thing in the whole world. Today I held her for four and a half hours while she slept on my chest and just watched her sleep. Seeing Addison sleep peacefully really warms my heart. I think about what a blessing it is to have a healthy, beautiful baby and I am so thankful.