Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Long Time Coming...
...Uh-oh...it's been a long time since I updated this blog. (I used to wonder why my brother didn't update his blog more than once a month...it's how I get to see my niece, Addison while we're in different towns-now I know. Babies make down time pretty much non-existent). So, sorry it's been so long, but here goes.
Since I've last updated, Maddie has gone from "talking"
to mimicking
to rolling over...kind of.
It has been absolutely amazing and Maddie is such a blessing.
I will update more later...there are so many things...Thanksgiving (which was also her first road trip) and meeting the family. More pictures to come....I promise.
Since I've last updated, Maddie has gone from "talking"
to mimicking
to rolling over...kind of.
It has been absolutely amazing and Maddie is such a blessing.
I will update more later...there are so many things...Thanksgiving (which was also her first road trip) and meeting the family. More pictures to come....I promise.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
5 Things I Wish I'd Been Told...
(1)The reason behind making sure formula is room temperature before feeding the baby: Apparently, if formula is too cold or too warm the resulting reaction from baby is to projectile vomit. This generally happens just as you're switching positions so that it cannot be caught by anything but your face, chest, and/or shirt. The amount of vomit is directly proportional to the hour of the day and your sleep levels. If it is light outside and you are feeling rested (or at least, not exhausted), then the vomit will be minimal and easy to clean. If, however; it is the middle of the night and you have just suceeded in not only getting baby back down, but rocking yourself to sleep in the process, the vomit is most likely to be a flood. This vomiting will splash across your face and down the front of your shirt. At this point, baby wakes slightly so that you must continue to rock her, all the while trying to ingnore the spit up that is dripping off your chin and running down your abdomen.
(2)When people say "Sleep While You Can," they're not just being cute: I cannot stress this enough! There is no way to predict when baby will sleep, much less when baby will completely lose her cool and SCREAM until you are willing to try anything to make her stop, including but not limited to (a) dancing, (b) singing, (c) begging, (d) crying, (e) pleading, and (f) bargaining. Again, this behavior is in direct proportion to the amount of sleep you got the night before. The less sleep had by you, the louder and longer baby is capable of crying. Additionally, be aware that baby will gladly sleep all day long, until you want to nap. As soon as your head hits the pillow, baby is up and hungry, wet, gassy, etc.
(3)Not all diapers are created equal:Unfortunately, there is no way to be sure which brand will (or won't) work for your baby...it is all trial and error. The frustrating part of this phenomenon is that not even all brands are the same. Example: We loved the Parents Choice (an off-brand made by Wal-Mart) newborn diapers in the yellow package; however, when we went to buy more we found only Parents Choice newborn diapers in the blue package...has to be the same, right? Wrong! Same brand, same size, different packaging = different results. These were scratchy, and thin and leaked, while the ones in the yellow package were softer, thicker, and held up like a champ. From what I've been told (as I have talked through this occurance with friends) not all brands work the same in all sizes either. Some brands that work well now, won't hold water (so to speak) in the next size. In other words, constant leakage will just be a part of life until the potty makes its appearance. Something to look forward to...
(4)Poop Hand is not a myth:Nor is it a rarity. Poop happens...be prepared to wear it on every appendage and to discover it after you thought it had been washed away. Poop can also appear on baby, seconds, minutes, or hours after changing. Be sure to check the soles of the feet (as they can mysteriously become poop smeared with no recollection of how or when it may have happened). [A side note for breastfeeders: When they say that breastfed babies have 'seedy' poop...they mean what they say. It looks like there are lots of little seeds in the poop...frightened her daddy a little].
(5)You will never, ever be able to articulate how much you love your new little angel:You'll try to explain it, but its just something that can't be put into words. Be prepared...life is no longer about you. You won't be allowed a full night's sleep; you have to pee during naptimes only; you'll often find yourself sleep deprived at 3 AM, covered in puke, poop, and holding a screaming baby and you won't want to change it for anything in the world.
(2)When people say "Sleep While You Can," they're not just being cute: I cannot stress this enough! There is no way to predict when baby will sleep, much less when baby will completely lose her cool and SCREAM until you are willing to try anything to make her stop, including but not limited to (a) dancing, (b) singing, (c) begging, (d) crying, (e) pleading, and (f) bargaining. Again, this behavior is in direct proportion to the amount of sleep you got the night before. The less sleep had by you, the louder and longer baby is capable of crying. Additionally, be aware that baby will gladly sleep all day long, until you want to nap. As soon as your head hits the pillow, baby is up and hungry, wet, gassy, etc.
(3)Not all diapers are created equal:Unfortunately, there is no way to be sure which brand will (or won't) work for your baby...it is all trial and error. The frustrating part of this phenomenon is that not even all brands are the same. Example: We loved the Parents Choice (an off-brand made by Wal-Mart) newborn diapers in the yellow package; however, when we went to buy more we found only Parents Choice newborn diapers in the blue package...has to be the same, right? Wrong! Same brand, same size, different packaging = different results. These were scratchy, and thin and leaked, while the ones in the yellow package were softer, thicker, and held up like a champ. From what I've been told (as I have talked through this occurance with friends) not all brands work the same in all sizes either. Some brands that work well now, won't hold water (so to speak) in the next size. In other words, constant leakage will just be a part of life until the potty makes its appearance. Something to look forward to...
(4)Poop Hand is not a myth:Nor is it a rarity. Poop happens...be prepared to wear it on every appendage and to discover it after you thought it had been washed away. Poop can also appear on baby, seconds, minutes, or hours after changing. Be sure to check the soles of the feet (as they can mysteriously become poop smeared with no recollection of how or when it may have happened). [A side note for breastfeeders: When they say that breastfed babies have 'seedy' poop...they mean what they say. It looks like there are lots of little seeds in the poop...frightened her daddy a little].
(5)You will never, ever be able to articulate how much you love your new little angel:You'll try to explain it, but its just something that can't be put into words. Be prepared...life is no longer about you. You won't be allowed a full night's sleep; you have to pee during naptimes only; you'll often find yourself sleep deprived at 3 AM, covered in puke, poop, and holding a screaming baby and you won't want to change it for anything in the world.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
1 Month Old...
...and what an amazing month it's been! I can't believe that Maddie's already a month old...it seems like yesterday that she made her first appearance in the world; however, on the other hand, it seems like she's always been here. I can't imagine life without her.
She's spent the majority of the last month sleeping, but even that has been fun...I can't wait until she becomes more responsive and aware of her surroundings. She started cooing about a week ago and has even blessed us with a laughing sound this week.
I never knew I could love some one so much...she's amazing and beautiful and brilliant. (She's already made the cooralation between her bib being put on and the bottle coming). We've also battled acid reflux, but that's been taken care of with infant zantac (which we HATE because it tastes gross).
Brian has been amazing with her...and boy, does she love her daddy! There's no way I could do it on my own...and have a new respect/empathy for single moms.
Everyday when Brian comes home, he takes her and holds her (pretty much constantly) until we go to bed. He's such an amazing father...I couldn't have hoped for a better dad for my little girl. I love my family and am so blessed that God saw fit to put Brian and Maddie in my life.
We've also been working on our neck strength...(she's learning to hold her head up by herself). She's getting so big, so quick. When we went to the Dr last week, Maddie weighed in at 8 lbs and 4 oz. Big girl!
She's spent the majority of the last month sleeping, but even that has been fun...I can't wait until she becomes more responsive and aware of her surroundings. She started cooing about a week ago and has even blessed us with a laughing sound this week.
I never knew I could love some one so much...she's amazing and beautiful and brilliant. (She's already made the cooralation between her bib being put on and the bottle coming). We've also battled acid reflux, but that's been taken care of with infant zantac (which we HATE because it tastes gross).
Brian has been amazing with her...and boy, does she love her daddy! There's no way I could do it on my own...and have a new respect/empathy for single moms.
Everyday when Brian comes home, he takes her and holds her (pretty much constantly) until we go to bed. He's such an amazing father...I couldn't have hoped for a better dad for my little girl. I love my family and am so blessed that God saw fit to put Brian and Maddie in my life.
We've also been working on our neck strength...(she's learning to hold her head up by herself). She's getting so big, so quick. When we went to the Dr last week, Maddie weighed in at 8 lbs and 4 oz. Big girl!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Stre-e-e-etch...
Maddie does the BEST stretching when she wakes up. Here's some video to let you in on the enjoyment...
Friday, August 20, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Happy Birthday, Maddie...
...wow, what a day! How blessed we are to have this beautiful, healthy baby. We were also blessed with an extremely easy labor.
We arrived at the hospital (for the scheduled inducement) at 5:30AM. We were shown to our room around 6:15 and saw Dr. Cowan close to 7:00. He came in, broke my water and told us he'd be back to check later. (One of the neat things about where we are, is Dr. Cowan's office is one floor down from us). Brian and I were both expecting the labor pains to start slowly and increase in both intensity and frequency.
Oh Boy were we wrong!
After my water broke the contractions came immediately and they were awful. I waited for about 30 minutes before requesting the epidural (and received it about an hour later). I wasn't a fan of the needle in my back (it didn't hurt, but was VERY uncomfortable); however, I WAS a fan of the results...epidurals rock!
At around noon, the nurse, Carrie, checked and said I was dilated to a 5 1/2. She had told us earlier that her other patient was a woman who was having her 3rd baby and would probably deliver before I did so we may have some one else with us during delivery. Brian, his mom, my mom and I were all excited about how far I had progressed. Both moms left to get lunch and Brian and I had a few minutes alone. We were both too over-stimulated to realize they were our last :o) About this time, I started to have a lot of pain in my left side with each contraction and the pain started to move around to my pelvis. The anaesthesiologist was called back and he dosed me with an epidural so strong I couldn't move my legs. Carrie gave me a pillow to put under my knees to make me more comfortable, but the pain mostly subsided.
At 1:00, Carrie came in to change the linens and noticed the pillow was soaked with blood. She said it was referred to as "bloody show" and wanted to re-check my cervix. An hour earlier I had been at 5 1/2, but she pronounced me at a 10 and ready to push.
Brian flipped out!!!
So, Carrie got us ready and we started. We had some Christian music playing softly in the background, and in between pushes, we were all talking and laughing, telling stories. It was very relaxed and easy. Brian and I kept looking at each other asking, "isn't it supposed to be harder than this?" After about 35-40 minutes Dr. Cowan was called in and after 3 more pushes, at 2:09 PM, Maddie came into the world! It took about 50 minutes of pushing total. (AND we beat the mother of 3 down the hall...not that it was a competition or anything) :o) She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long with lots of black hair and beautiful dark blue eyes.
We arrived at the hospital (for the scheduled inducement) at 5:30AM. We were shown to our room around 6:15 and saw Dr. Cowan close to 7:00. He came in, broke my water and told us he'd be back to check later. (One of the neat things about where we are, is Dr. Cowan's office is one floor down from us). Brian and I were both expecting the labor pains to start slowly and increase in both intensity and frequency.
Oh Boy were we wrong!
After my water broke the contractions came immediately and they were awful. I waited for about 30 minutes before requesting the epidural (and received it about an hour later). I wasn't a fan of the needle in my back (it didn't hurt, but was VERY uncomfortable); however, I WAS a fan of the results...epidurals rock!
At around noon, the nurse, Carrie, checked and said I was dilated to a 5 1/2. She had told us earlier that her other patient was a woman who was having her 3rd baby and would probably deliver before I did so we may have some one else with us during delivery. Brian, his mom, my mom and I were all excited about how far I had progressed. Both moms left to get lunch and Brian and I had a few minutes alone. We were both too over-stimulated to realize they were our last :o) About this time, I started to have a lot of pain in my left side with each contraction and the pain started to move around to my pelvis. The anaesthesiologist was called back and he dosed me with an epidural so strong I couldn't move my legs. Carrie gave me a pillow to put under my knees to make me more comfortable, but the pain mostly subsided.
At 1:00, Carrie came in to change the linens and noticed the pillow was soaked with blood. She said it was referred to as "bloody show" and wanted to re-check my cervix. An hour earlier I had been at 5 1/2, but she pronounced me at a 10 and ready to push.
Brian flipped out!!!
So, Carrie got us ready and we started. We had some Christian music playing softly in the background, and in between pushes, we were all talking and laughing, telling stories. It was very relaxed and easy. Brian and I kept looking at each other asking, "isn't it supposed to be harder than this?" After about 35-40 minutes Dr. Cowan was called in and after 3 more pushes, at 2:09 PM, Maddie came into the world! It took about 50 minutes of pushing total. (AND we beat the mother of 3 down the hall...not that it was a competition or anything) :o) She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long with lots of black hair and beautiful dark blue eyes.
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