Poor Little Leah

Yesterday I had one of those tough moments as a mom, where I had to sit and listen to my baby scream and cry-- knowing that it's the best thing for her & going to make her feel better, yet still very hard to remain the strong one when there's nothing I can do to comfort her. Leah somehow got an infection on her bottom (probably a staph infection from poop that got into an open cut) that turned into a full-blown absess. It was red and hard to the touch, and for a day or two she kept saying "my boo boo hurts..." It had gotten to the point where she didn't even want to sit down or have me hold her. She screamed every time she had to get her diaper changed. Finally I called the dr. and got her in yesterday afternoon. They had to use a knife and cut it open to let all the blood & puss drain out (I know, gross!). It had apparently gotten really deep so he had to really get in there & cut it. The whole procedure took maybe 5 minutes but I had to hold her on my lap the whole time as she screamed and cried.

Brett asked me later how I was able to do that, and I just answered that it was something that had to be done. I didn't think about it, I just did it, because I knew it would help her feel better. Now I have to give her a warm bath twice a day (or when she poops) and keep the area covered in a waterproof dressing. She is also taking an antibiotic (which, though she doesn't mind the flavor, she has to take a lot at one time, so it's hard for her to get it all down). She had a pretty high fever last night but was so exhausted she slept in till almost 8 today. She definitely was not herself all evening, but today she seems to be back to normal, although she still says, "my boo boo hurts." Hopefully the procedure took the infection away and we will not have to go through something like that again!

I must add, I was really impressed with her dr.'s office. Not only were they able to get me in within 2 hrs. of me calling, but they handled everything so calmly and treated Leah very well. They even got the nurses to hold Andrew while Leah was screaming, since he started to cry as well. And Leah got a little stuffed animal when she was all done.

I know my children will have to go through difficult and painful things, but I wish I could protect them from days like yesterday. I wish I could take the hurt away from them so they wouldn't have to suffer. Yet I also know that God uses days like those to grow us and make us all the more excited about eternity in a place where we won't have to deal with pain and suffering.

Andrew @ 2 months

Andrew @ 2 months old:

* He weighs a whopping 13 lbs., 7 oz., which is the 90th %! He is 23 1/4 inches long, the 70th %.

* He wears 3-6 month size pants, although he can still wear some 0-3 months, and is already in size 2 diapers! I can't believe how fast he's growing. I think little fat rolls are really cute on babies!

* He still pretty much wants to eat every 2 to 3 hrs, but it only takes 10 minutes or less every time, so I really don't feel like I'm feeding him all day long. He can go longer if we're out and about (he usually sleeps in his car seat anyway). I'd like to start doing more bottles, but it seems like when he has them he gets fussier than usual, or it's not enough for him-- just like a snack to hold him over until the real thing. I still love not having to pump though!

* He still grunts and squirms a lot, but not quite as much as he used to. We moved him out of the bassinet and into the bouncer seat in the living room to sleep several weeks ago, because I couldn't handle the noises. He does really well at night now, and most nights will sleep from about 9:30 until 2 or 2:30am, and then go right back to sleep until 4:30 or 5 and then again till at least 7. He sleeps very sporadically during the day, and usually not more than 30 minutes at a time. I have a feeling a very active & noisy 2-year-old sister running around doesn't help much.

Here is an example of his grunting (turn it up loud).

* Last night was his first night in his own crib upstairs. I was a little more hesitant to put him up there-- I don't remember having this much anxiety about moving Leah up. I think I just dreaded going up & down the stairs 2 or 3 times every night, and then I was afraid that he'd wake Leah up if he cried, and I was also afraid I wouldn't hear him on the monitor. But he actually did well. He still got up at his usual 1:30 & 5. I heard him just fine on the monitor, but it wasn't really loud. I was concerned about him sleeping flat on his back, too, since he's been in that bouncer so long, but he did just fine and I was glad to have my living room back at night!

* He still seems to be very serious & doesn't really smile a lot, although it is becoming more frequent. He is awake a lot more now, although he doesn't do much when he is awake. He loves to lay on his play mat and stare up at the star-- the same one Leah loved at his age. He also always smiles when I prop him up on my legs where he can see my face.

* He also seems to be starting to enjoy watching Leah run around, and doesn't seem to mind when she puts her books on him or lays on him to kiss him or tries to shove his paci in his mouth.

* He definately loves his bath-- no matter how fussy he's been, as soon as I lay him down & undress him, he gets perfectly calm and quiet, and stays quiet through the entire bath, taking it all in!

* He's generally pretty easygoing, with only 1 or 2 fussy periods a day that can usually be cured by letting him lay out and work out his gas, or else just holding him and giving him a little attention. He's really perfectly content just going with the flow. What a blessing to have this again!

* He has a mild case of eczema & dry skin on his face and neck-- I have to apply this expensive lotion on him regularly and can't even use regular baby soap on him. What a sensitive boy.

I am making it a point to take tons of photos of Andrew so that he will not have the "second child" syndrome and lack pictures. Plus, he's really cute and I can't ever decide which photos I like best because I like them all.

Andrew @ 1 month

Now that I'm finished with Leah's monthly updates, Andrew gets his! Can't believe he's already a month!

Some highlights:

* He weighs in at a whopping 11 pounds! That is in the 80th % for babies his age. There is no doubt that nursing is working for him! (I just looked back & Leah weighed 8 lbs. at her 1 month check-up. I am not used to a baby with this much chunk!)

* He is 21.5 inches long, 1 inch taller than he was at birth.

* He is flying through his clothes & diapers-- he was in newborn size for about two weeks-- we've been in size 1 diapers for 2 weeks & we're almost already to size 2!

* He sleeps very sporadically. He grunts and squirms so much it seems like he's not getting much restful sleep during the day, but I suppose he does... He will go for 2 2 1/2 hour stretches at night typically without the grunting and noises and then maybe another in the early morning, but most of the rest of the day he's doing his noises, even in his sleep. It's so distracting when I'm trying to sleep that he usually ends up sleeping out in the living room in his bouncer seat after his 2nd nighttime feeding! He slept well in that bouncer the first week or so with all the activity going on around him, but now he actually seems to sleep better in a dark, quiet room (maybe it's just because I can't hear him grunting while I'm not in there!).

* He sleeps well in his car seat when we're out & about, although he hates getting buckled into it!


* He likes his paci to help him get to sleep-- a habit I didn't want to start, but we'll try to wean him before he's one or so! He doesn't seem to have a preference to be bundled, like Leah did-- actually he seems to like to have his arms free when he sleeps.

*The past week or so he's been wanting to eat every 2 to 2 1/2 hours, except at night when he can usually go 3 hours. He is much, much better at nursing, and can usually latch on within a minute or so. He still nurses only about 5-10 minutes each feeding, usually on only one side. Occasionally I can change his diaper & burp him and then get him to eat on the other side, but usually he seems content after only 5 minutes or so, which is a huge blessing! I haven't had to do any pumping the past 2 weeks at all. I would love to get his feedings farther apart, but usually the only thing I can do to console him when his grunting gets past just noises & moves to the crying phase is feed him. So right now I'm doing on-demand, but as he gets older, we will move to a more "me"-led schedule.



* He is usually awake for about 30 minutes or so after he eats. He likes to stay awake even at 3am. He seems to like tummy time okay, and he likes to lay on his back on the playmat, just like Leah did.

* He likes to be held, but you can't really lay down with him on your tummy. He prefers to be held sitting upright with your hand pushing his belly. He seems to have really good head control already.


* He is still holding on to his umbilical stump! The dr. said this is okay, some babies have theirs until 3 or 4 months! But it just means no tub baths for him, and it's easy for me to neglect giving him a sponge bath because it seems somewhat pointless.

Two Months Old

Leah at two months:

* Measurements- She's up to 9 lbs. 10 oz. She can finally wear most 0-3 month sized clothing, though she still wears a lot of newborn stuff.

* Eating- We are now thinking it is because she is incredibly social that her eating/ sleeping patterns have gone awry. The past week she is only sleeping 2 or 3 hour stretches, if that, and is up 3 times a night. When she eats, she only takes about 1- 1.5 oz. before she either a) is ready to play; or b) falls asleep and is no longer interested. Then in another hour or so, she's ready to eat again. She acts ravenously hungry but will only eat another ounce before getting bored again. Up to this point I have been "demand-feeding," i.e., feeding whenever she is hungry, but I am thinking now I might start trying to get her on a schedule. The dr. even mentioned it is worth a shot. It may take some tears on her part, but I think if I only feed her every 3-4 hours, she will eventually learn to eat more at each feeding. I'm also going to try keeping all her feedings quiet, as the TV might be too distracting for her.

* Personality- She is incredibly social. Even the doctor said she seems to be much more engaged than most babies her age. I have started taking a mom & baby exercise class at the hospital. The past two classes she lays on the mat and just smiles and "laughs" the entire hour. (I like to believe the cooing and huge open-mouthed smile she has is laughing; Brett, however, is skeptical.) I make faces at her and she gets a huge grin that fills her entire face. She can do this up to 3 hours a day! She especially seems to like looking at her daddy-- maybe its the facial hair, or maybe she gets bored with me.

- She seems to enjoy being naked, as long as she is not cold. Is this bad for her future?

- She did great with her two-month shots today. She cried while she was getting them, of course, but once she had a bottle in her mouth, she was fine and went back to her usual happy self. She's sleeping peacefully now, two hours after the fact. We will see how she feels tomorrow.

- I am beginning to fall more & more in love with her every day. The smiles and "giggles" make all the sleepless nights worthwhile, and I am learning to see each day with her as a blessing, because she is growing so quickly and I only have her a short while.

She is actually about 2 inches longer than @ 1 month!

2 weeks old

• At her 2 week check-up, Leah is up to 7 lbs.-- an entire pound in one week. Her face is really rounding out.



• She is a very "nosy" little baby (this was what the dr. called her), because she's already trying to hold her head up & look around. She's usually awake 15-20 minutes after she eats, just staring at whatever she sees. And she makes funny faces too. I wonder what she is thinking.

• I'm pretty sure she's going to have curly hair. Once it was wet & then brushed, it became really frizzy, like mine would if I was to brush it.

• My baby is multi-talented: she can sleep, eat & poop all at the same time! (I don't know why, but this baby's pooping is a source of much laughter for Brett & me.) Also, according to my calculations, Brett & I must have already changed at least 120 diapers at this point.


• I am wearing non-maternity clothes today. So they are a bit tight, but hey, at least they fit a little. And I am feeling almost completely healed. I've been out walking quite a few times now, determined to get rid of these extra 15 lbs. I'm still carrying. I know it's only been 2 weeks. I'm patient.

She will probably hate me for this one when she's older.















She really isn't amused easily.

Week 25

I had my glucose test for gestational diabetes yesterday. From what I had heard, it was supposedly really awful. However, I had a good experience. I was not supposed to eat anything after midnight (thankfully, I could still have water) and then I had to drink a fruit punch flavored drink (which tasted like very sweet Koolaid) at 8am. I went in for my appointment at 9. After waiting about 15 minutes, they did bloodwork. Actually, that was the worst part. I have given blood many times in my life, but this needle was worse-- I don't know what it was about it, but it was quite painful. Then I waited another 10 min. before they did the usual weight, blood pressure, etc. (I can hardly believe I'm up to 150 lbs.-- a total of 16 lb. weight gain, which the dr. said is pretty good as long as I only gain a total of about 10 lbs. more.)

Then came the real wait. Apparently the dr. I was supposed to see got caught up in a hospital visit or something & wasn't able to make it. So another of the drs. was taking his appts. plus his own. So I waited in the exam room for 30 min. Now, I don't mind waiting in the waiting area, because at least there I can watch people, or watch TV, or read a magazine. But in the exam room, there is nothing to look at, except cotton balls and medical equipment. I considered curling up on the little table and going to sleep. The dr. was very apologetic when he got there and he was also very nice. This is the 4th out of 5 drs. in the practice that I have met, and so far I have really liked all of them.

So after that long wait, all he told me was that I am measuring just perfectly, the baby has a strong heartbeat, I have gained the right amount of weight, and everything looks to be just fine. (What do you know, my daughter is an overacheiver already!) And that was it. 5 minutes. So I got out of the appt. at 10:30. After clearing up a mix-up with the financial situation, which frustrated me a little (they are showing I have a $0 balance, and yet I still owe $196, go figure). Now I have to go again in 3 weeks. And then before long, I'll have to go every 2 weeks. Only 15 weeks left-- the end is near! Oh, the test results came back normal.

We have almost finished re-painting the baby's room (and by that I mean primarily Brett, isn't he sweet?), then I'll just have to finish cleaning out all the extra junk so we can move in a crib and whatever other furniture we decide to get. We might forgo the new dresser and use the old one we have, to save money, even though I really like the one we registered for. It's coming together slowly but surely. I would love to have it all finished in the next few weeks to be ready, but even if it's not, at least we have the baby's bassinet to hold us over for awhile.

2nd official doctor's appointment

Today was actually more like the 4th appointment but one was just the ultrasound to confirm the due date and last week was just a financial visit/ paperwork. (They asked like a million questions about mine & Brett's health history and our families'. And gave us an estimate of the costs of the birth, which was totally not as much as we'd expected, but does have to be paid by week 24.) I did have blood work done last week as well, and found out today everything looked fine (not sure which tests they really did but found out blood type, etc.).

After a quick physical & internal exam, we got to have another ultrasound today, which I totally wasn't expecting. The baby was a whole lot bigger and more "real" looking than last time. We saw some definitive features and once he/she even looked at the camera! In another shot, he/she was holding his hands together as if he was praying. We also got to hear the heartbeat, which was just the right speed. What amazing technology and what an incredible sound! At this stage of pregnancy, when I'm still not REALLY showing and I can't feel any movement, that sound and those photos are very reassuring. I feel confident that our little one is going to turn out 100% perfect!







He/she is praying in this one!

Here he/she is looking directly
at the camera. See, the eyes
are at the top, kinda sunken in.

My belly @ 3 months.

First Doctor Visit

Finally the day of the long-awaited first doctor visit is here. I have been really anxious-- to see the heartbeat, to know my baby is actually there, living inside me. I was nervous about all they were going to do, but turns out they really didn't do much of anything. I went in at 8am, they did a urine sample (the pregnancy test had a really dark line this time, by the way), took my weight (134) and blood pressure, and then Brett & I got to go back for the ultrasound. The u/s was really quick & painless. Turns out, though, I'm not as far along as I thought. The baby was soo small-- too small to find out its length to determine an actual due date. She figures I'm probably about 5 weeks, but I go back again in 2 weeks. Another 2 weeks of waiting! But we saw the heartbeat. A little tiny blinking dot. Life. I thought I would be more emotional but I still feel sort of detached. I definately feel more certain now; there's no doubt I'm pregnant (especially since morning sickness is finally kicking in), but still so far removed from the future and the thought of actually holding a living human being that was formed inside of me! I decided to tell everyone at work today & we'll probably start telling more people since the doctor said the chance of a miscarriage after seeing a heartbeat greatly decreases.





I shall call this one "blinky."