How cute are these two? Annie and Iris had their first "playdate" today. Well, Annie woke up just in time before Iris left, so they hung out long enough for us to take a picture. Amazing to see the difference in size - Lucy is 5 months and Iris is 1 month. She is also wearing a cute sleeper that both Lucy and Annabelle wore. (it's been great 'cleansing' out all the baby clothes - and the maternity clothes!) Time goes by way too fast!Friday, January 27, 2012
Annie and Iris
How cute are these two? Annie and Iris had their first "playdate" today. Well, Annie woke up just in time before Iris left, so they hung out long enough for us to take a picture. Amazing to see the difference in size - Lucy is 5 months and Iris is 1 month. She is also wearing a cute sleeper that both Lucy and Annabelle wore. (it's been great 'cleansing' out all the baby clothes - and the maternity clothes!) Time goes by way too fast!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Priceless
Mom took this of Lucy while she was sleeping after her long day in Disney World meeting the princesses. There's nothing more precious that sleeping children!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
"One" of my best decisions.....
Adding a second child to our family wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. So after about 2 months (and this is when Annabelle's 'fussy time' started) a friend of mine suggested a postpartum doula. Now when I thought of a doula, I thought of a woman who was super crunchy, all about natural "at home" childbirth, and breastfeeding all the way. I was wrong!
After much encouragement, I finally googled "doulas" and found that Cincinnati has an organization of doulas. Not only do they help out during the delivery of your baby, but they can also help you postpartum when you come home. So, I emailed one in particular because it seemed like her profile matched my personality the most.
Best....Decision....Ever!
Our doula was so sweet - when she came I was a bit scared that she would judge me for the bottles and formula that I had sitting on my countertop. Total opposite. She had formula fed her children and was very supportive. When I interviewed her via email, she shared that her job was to help me adjust to the new life that was brought into our family. She would help with the baby, help with light meal prep, and even do laundry. I could use the time while she was here to nap, shower, or spend time with Lucy - but she specifically told me that her job was me and the baby - she wasn't a babysitter. Which was great - I wanted some free time to spend with Lucy! One day Annie took a nap while she was here, and she folded two baskets of laundry for me. Other times when she was here she would just hold/feed/play with Annabelle so I could get something done for me or spend alone time with Lucy. She came about 2x a week for about 2-3 hours and honestly, it wasn't that bad as far a money goes, and for a mom's sanity, totally worth it!
I am so thankful that I had some friends that kept on me to try this out. It was a huge blessing. I had a hard time accepting help at first because, you know, a mom is just supposed to "have it all together." We are adjusting well over here, so we have decided to say goodbye to our doula. Amazing woman who helped this little family adjust from a family of 3 to a family of 4!
After much encouragement, I finally googled "doulas" and found that Cincinnati has an organization of doulas. Not only do they help out during the delivery of your baby, but they can also help you postpartum when you come home. So, I emailed one in particular because it seemed like her profile matched my personality the most.
Best....Decision....Ever!
Our doula was so sweet - when she came I was a bit scared that she would judge me for the bottles and formula that I had sitting on my countertop. Total opposite. She had formula fed her children and was very supportive. When I interviewed her via email, she shared that her job was to help me adjust to the new life that was brought into our family. She would help with the baby, help with light meal prep, and even do laundry. I could use the time while she was here to nap, shower, or spend time with Lucy - but she specifically told me that her job was me and the baby - she wasn't a babysitter. Which was great - I wanted some free time to spend with Lucy! One day Annie took a nap while she was here, and she folded two baskets of laundry for me. Other times when she was here she would just hold/feed/play with Annabelle so I could get something done for me or spend alone time with Lucy. She came about 2x a week for about 2-3 hours and honestly, it wasn't that bad as far a money goes, and for a mom's sanity, totally worth it!
I am so thankful that I had some friends that kept on me to try this out. It was a huge blessing. I had a hard time accepting help at first because, you know, a mom is just supposed to "have it all together." We are adjusting well over here, so we have decided to say goodbye to our doula. Amazing woman who helped this little family adjust from a family of 3 to a family of 4!
Friday, January 6, 2012
The last few weeks have been pretty amazing here at the house. Right after we returned from Disney, Annie just became a different baby. The fussiness began to go away and she became this smiling, cooing baby. We figured she was hit by a little bit of the Disney magic, some pixie dust, or maybe even the magical kiss she received from Belle in the castle?
Probably not.....
At her 4 month appointment, I shared how she had started to decline in her eating (actually she's never been a big eater). There were times it was so hard to get 2 oz in her. Our ped asked us how the zantac was going to which I told her that we had stopped because when we came in once for a weight check "Dr. X" told us to stop using it because she "didn't have reflux if she was sleeping at night in her flat crib." Upon hearing this, my ped rolled her eyes and said, "This is probably why she isn't eating well." She checked the dosing and since Annie had gained so much weight, the dose we had been giving her weeks earlier was so small it was doing nothing for her. So she upped her dose - and we started giving her the zantac again the day before we left for Disney.
By the time we came home - one week - she was seriously a different baby. We just never really thought of reflux because most of the time when babies have reflux they are vomiting or spitting up. So, most likely, she has what is called silent reflux. Babies bring up the stomach acids, but swallow them back down - so really, it's been called worse than just reflux because it burns on the way up and on the way down.
We can't give her the zantac just by itself. It takes awful, and she vomits it (and the rest of her stomach contents) up every time we try. So we have to put it in her bottle - and lately have been making smaller bottles so that she takes all the meds.
All this makes sense. We had an extremely fussy, crying baby for the first 4 months of her life. She has this cough we hear esp. when she is sleeping at night, she arches her back when feeding, fusses during feedings, has 'wet burps', gets hiccups almost after every feed, and her breath can smell awful. (the latter has gotten much better once on the meds). Also I've heard that babies with silent reflux also have low muscle tone/control in their upper bodies, which we've noticed with her as well.
I'm definitely in the camp that believes that reflux is HIGHLY overdiagnosed. Lucy was on reflux meds, and I definitely do not believe that she had reflux. So when our ped first suggested the zantac for Annie, I was very skeptical - and that's also why we didn't really give it to her as often as we should have. We changed her formula like 3 times, thinking that she was allergic to milk protein. Poor thing was just in pain the whole time.
Annabelle is still having some trouble with it for sure. We're going to keep an eye on her and make sure that the medication is working well for her. But if you remember, please pray that she hasn't had any damage to her esophogus the past few months and that it resolves itself soon. (most babies get better after they can sit up - around 6ish months).
For the first time - last night she slept from 7pm - 6:50 am!
Probably not.....
At her 4 month appointment, I shared how she had started to decline in her eating (actually she's never been a big eater). There were times it was so hard to get 2 oz in her. Our ped asked us how the zantac was going to which I told her that we had stopped because when we came in once for a weight check "Dr. X" told us to stop using it because she "didn't have reflux if she was sleeping at night in her flat crib." Upon hearing this, my ped rolled her eyes and said, "This is probably why she isn't eating well." She checked the dosing and since Annie had gained so much weight, the dose we had been giving her weeks earlier was so small it was doing nothing for her. So she upped her dose - and we started giving her the zantac again the day before we left for Disney.
By the time we came home - one week - she was seriously a different baby. We just never really thought of reflux because most of the time when babies have reflux they are vomiting or spitting up. So, most likely, she has what is called silent reflux. Babies bring up the stomach acids, but swallow them back down - so really, it's been called worse than just reflux because it burns on the way up and on the way down.
We can't give her the zantac just by itself. It takes awful, and she vomits it (and the rest of her stomach contents) up every time we try. So we have to put it in her bottle - and lately have been making smaller bottles so that she takes all the meds.
All this makes sense. We had an extremely fussy, crying baby for the first 4 months of her life. She has this cough we hear esp. when she is sleeping at night, she arches her back when feeding, fusses during feedings, has 'wet burps', gets hiccups almost after every feed, and her breath can smell awful. (the latter has gotten much better once on the meds). Also I've heard that babies with silent reflux also have low muscle tone/control in their upper bodies, which we've noticed with her as well.
I'm definitely in the camp that believes that reflux is HIGHLY overdiagnosed. Lucy was on reflux meds, and I definitely do not believe that she had reflux. So when our ped first suggested the zantac for Annie, I was very skeptical - and that's also why we didn't really give it to her as often as we should have. We changed her formula like 3 times, thinking that she was allergic to milk protein. Poor thing was just in pain the whole time.
Annabelle is still having some trouble with it for sure. We're going to keep an eye on her and make sure that the medication is working well for her. But if you remember, please pray that she hasn't had any damage to her esophogus the past few months and that it resolves itself soon. (most babies get better after they can sit up - around 6ish months).
For the first time - last night she slept from 7pm - 6:50 am!
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