Tuesday, April 29, 2008

My poor baby girl

I have had a sinking suspicion for about 5 weeks now that there was a problem with Norah. Not a life threatening problem, but something sad even so. My girlie is a spitter, which is in no way a surprise, because Hannah was also a spitter. Not quite to the record amounts Norah has reached, but quite a bit.

At 3 weeks I was noticing how congested Norah is. I knew that at 3 weeks it was too long for it to be left from delivery, so we went up to the pedi. She said it was a cold and run a humidifier. So we did, and still do every night, though it has yet to help. Also she's gotten increasingly fussy, and at times refuses to eat entirely, arching her back and screaming at both the bottle, and me. I know that back arching in some kids is totally normal and not a sign at all of a problem, but the screaming and refusal to eat is an issue. I mention this to her pedi at her 1 month WCC (that's well child check) and she tells me it's normal and not to worry.

Um, hello, not at all normal. Babies are supposed to eat. It shouldn't make them cry, it's the one thing the truly come out of the womb knowing how to do instinctively. So I finally email the pedi and list up the things I find to be an issue. I had talked to several friends, and in their non medical opinion, they knew what the problem was.

Spitting excessively (check)
Congestion (check)
Back arching (check)
Crying while eating (check)
Weird cough (double check)

I'm certain that some of the mom's reading already know where this is headed. Acid Reflux. I have several friends whose children had it, and had already told me Norah was exhibiting classic symptoms. So in response to the email I sent her pedi, I get "well my son was the same way and he's 13 now and fine" Ok, so according to her I just need to wait. But as a mom that is unacceptable. Watching your child in pain is NEVER ok, but even less so when there is possibly something to be done about it. So we changed her pedi and she had an appointment yesterday morning.

Ready to be shocked? It's reflux. I know, I was surprised too. (insert eyeroll) So she's started taking Zantac 3 times a day. We're hoping to see some results in a few days, but certainly by the weekend I am hearing. I am sad to know I waited this long to trust my instincts, but it is heartening to know I'm not crazy.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

a few pictures




My three favorite new pictures. Especially Hannah sleeping. Apparently waking up at 5:45 is tough by 3pm.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The first night

Norah slept from 8pm until just after 6am! I really lucked out this time and got an awesome sleeper. After Hannah, I personally thought I deserved it, but I'm certain that there are loads of jealous people with new (and not so new babies) that aren't considerate enough to do the same for their parents. So I'm feeling very rested, and we're set for a gorgeous week this week, so Hannah will be spending lots of time playing outside I'm sure!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Adventures in Babywearing


My new toy, it's a gorgeous http://www.sakurabloom.com Ring sling. It's so comfy, I can see why some people only use ring slings. I love my hotsling still, but this is way easier to wear for a long period of time. I guess the only problem is that now I'm looking at all the other gorgeous slings on that site thinking "is it really too much to spend on a sling?" Good thing I signed up for a babywearing forum where they have For Sale or Trade listings.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Pictures of our week






We had a fun week being outside in the nice weather. Even Norah enjoys being outside as long as she's snuggled in her "pocket"

Friday, April 11, 2008

A new obsession

Mine that is, not Hannah's, though she has plenty.

Babywearing! I love having Norah in my hotsling and being able to do things. So much that I have another sling due in the mail anytime now, and I'm looking into getting a different kind of sling. A ring sling. I know there's a learning curve for them, and I'm not the best person on earth to be trying to figure that kind of thing out alone. I'm hoping to get up to Northampton and see if the store I got my hotsling at can show me how a ring sling works and make sure I can actually do it before I spend the money to get one.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

It's about time

I swear, Mommy just says it's cold out so she doesn't have to take me outside. But not this week. We went to the park two days already, and today we're going to visit my friends Mimi and Iza so we can play outside at their house. I had so much fun at the park, I really love that there are almost always other kids there to play with. Norah even seems to like the park too, but Mommy makes her stay in her pocket and covers her up with a blanket. It's not THAT cool, I don't understand, but she seems to like it.

Anyways Mommy took lots of pictures of me playing at the park, so maybe I can get her to put some of them up here for you to see.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

I think she's close

After Hannah, I have been continually shocked by Norah and her sleeping habits. I don't even think that it's just the fact that we've done this before. Though I'm sure that helps some. Ever since we brought her home we make an effort to do the same things at night at the same time. Jammies, snuggle, bottle, bed. Usually starting at about 7:15 and the bottle happening between 7:45 and 8. She started sleeping later and later, and actually this morning when I fed her (4:10am) she wasn't even awake, but was noisy so I figured she was waking up and got her bottle ready for her. It's quarter past seven now and she's still sleeping. I really think that she's close to going all night sleeping. At least until she hits a growth spurt.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Sharing



Yesterday Grampy came to visit Me, and would you believe I was nice enough to share my sister with him? I know, it was hard for me to believe too. Mommy took a picture of them, and you know, they look pretty interested in each other. Good thing I was taking a bath during all this, or there may have been some jealousy going on.

The first sign of spring


Hannah's so desperate to go out to play, she got herself ready to go. Not caring at all apparently that her sweater was on upsidedown and her shoes the wrong season and on the wrong feet!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Mommy added me

Mommy finally let me come here and tell you what I think of how things go. I am so excited to finally tell you everything the way it REALLY happens. I'm sure Mommy means well and tells you most stuff, but there are some things only a little person can tell you.

Naps man, those things are so old. I'm definitely done with them. I don't even want to nap now that I'm not feeling well. Why does Mommy think I should go in my room and rest. I'm not tired, there is SO much to do. Norah naps, but she's a baby, so that's ok. I'm no baby, I'm the big helper. I help Mommy with EVERYTHING, even things she doesn't think I should help with. I don't know why she won't let me measure things out for cooking, It's like she thinks I should know how to read or something.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Things that make me smile

Hilarious conversations with a 3 year old, particularly mine
Baby smiles
Hearing a certain someone say "you the best Mommy"
Staying in bed later than everyone else, even if it's because I was up half the night with the kids
Naptime, even if there's only one napper here
Warmer weather
Having company, though it does mean I have to actually clean


I'm listing my things because I'm very frustrated and feel like smiling doesn't happen much these days.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Norah's 1 month appointment

Norah had her 1 month pedi appointment yesterday. She weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 12oz. That's nearly 2.5lbs onto her birth weight. She's getting so big, and can be so happy sometimes. The nighttime craziness still hasn't gotten better, but I'm hoping in the next few weeks it will peak and start to get better, because frankly I'm tired of Steven getting frustrated with her. He apparently has amnesia and swears Hannah never did this. Um whatever.

In other news, she also looked at Hannah RE: her coughing at night keeping her and everyone else awake. Hannah was given a nebulizer and TWO prescriptions for it. One to use twice daily and the other as needed for coughing. I'm hesitant to say it helps, but her coughing only woke her up once last night, and it was after 4am, which is MUCH later that she normally wakes coughing the first time. So it's a good news/bad news situation. The good news is we possibly found something that will help, the bad news would be if it helps, it means shes got asthma.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

So sick of winter and sickness

So I mentioned before that Hannah's sick again. Sad but true, and I had hoped it wouldn't come to what it did last time (waking up coughing endlessly for weeks before she took some amoxicillin and it abruptly stopped) but it apparently has. Last night it started just after 10, and at 11 when it had finally been long enough to give her more medicine it calmed down. Then she was awake again at 2 coughing and calling me. My poor girl, I just don't understand why this has to be so tough for her. She doesn't deserve this at all.

I'm concerned about Norah also, but she has her 1 month pedi checkup today, so I'll mention it then. Her stuffiness doesn't really seem to get better daily, it more comes and goes. I've also noticed that she's arching her back and crying when we feed her pretty often. Not all the time, but often enough that I've noticed it.

On a happy note, Spring is officially coming. According to Steven I have "fuzzy ends" on my Clematis, and I saw one of my crocuses blooming yesterday.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Happy 1 Month, Norah


My gorgeous girlie is one month old today, so she's celebrating with a picture, and her adorable new pants that Jenn (http://jamoriginals.blogspot.com/) made for her


Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Usefulness

Why is it that men's idea of being useful and our ideas are so totally different. Are either views wrong, or both partially right?

My idea of useful: Give your wife a break when you get home from work. Let her cook in peace if you can manage it, or at least take one kid off her hands. Possibly bathe older child so younger one doesnt have to lay on the floor in the bathroom while Wife does it. Help bathe younger child, or keep older child from climbing on the changing table while Wife does it.

His idea of useful: Build shed while wife cooks dinner. Feed baby for 5 minutes while wife eats dinner, then give baby back. Wash some of dinner dishes, unless they require more than a cursory swipe, then leave them in the sink to "soak". Go back out to play with shed while wife bathes children.