Someone switched our baby

So for the last 3 nights our baby has spent each night sleeping in her bouncy chair. Granted, the chair has taken up residence in her Pack-n-Play since she won't even nap in that thing. But this is a BIG improvement and has allowed Beth and I to actually get some rest. Also, the liquid gold that the Dr. prescribed seems to actually work. Addie Sue still spits up but she doesn't cry from the burn like she used to. So, either a) we are becoming better parents or b) Addison is maturing and growing like she is supposed to or c) our child was stolen and replaced by a tiny well-behaved balding person. Anyway, here is a picture of our new "child". If anyone has any information as to our real daughter's whereabouts... never mind we'll keep this one.

GER

I haven't mentioned our most recent news from the doctor's visit we had last Wednesday. My mission was to tell the doctor about Addie's evening crying fits and see what suggestions she had. We really believe Addison has full blown colic now. While we were there, the doc flipped her over and Addison threw up. I guess I had decided not to mention her "spitting up" because I thought all babies did this. Plus, she seemed to have improved. The doctor asked how long it had been since I fed her and I said it had been at least an hour and 15 minutes. She seemed a bit surprised by this and suggested that Addision might have stomach acid-reflex or GER. She said a lot of babies have weak muscles in their esophagus and are not able to keep the food down and when they throw up it can burn (sort of like heartburn, I guess). Keep in mind that I'm not the most medically minded person and I could have translated this completely wrong. Anyway, the bottom line is that she said she'd give me a prescription to help her with heartburn. GREAT! I was happy to hear this.

I had the prescription filled on Thursday (but Walgreens was all out of stock) so I picked it up on Friday instead. You wouldn't believe how much it costs!!!!!!!!!!! $89 for a one month supply!!!! I was so stunned I couldn't really even talk. I just paid for it and left the store in a coma. It would have been nice if the doc would have warned me about how expensive it is. It was originally around $110, but my wonderful insurance helped out a whole whopping $24. We've decided to give it a try this month and see if things improve. We're a bit overwhelmed about paying such a pretty penny on medication that Addision might need because she might have GER.

On a positive note, she does seem to be less upset when she spits up. She doesn't cry as much after eating either.
Here are some photos of her from this morning. She and Kaylee are cuddling.




In this photo, Addison and I were cuddling. We both got a great nap in this afternoon.




We caught her praying for her parents to slip her some ice cream.




This is the face we got during the middle of our photo session. We're not sure what message she was trying to convey.

We're Making Progress!

Fortunately, we're getting better at soothing Addison when she starts having her baby "tantrums". I wouldn't say that Addie is colicky, but she's definitely higher maintenance than other babies I've seen. My friend, Deb, recommended that I get the book, "The Happiest Baby on the Block" and it has completely changed my expectations of what motherhood should be like. I feel like we're doing such a better job of soothing Addison.

It basically talks about how most babies need a fourth trimester which requires the parents to recreate the "womb" for them for the first three months. Yesterday, she stayed in her bouncy seat for 3 hours! That's a record! Right now, she's in her "new" swing...just about ready to doze off for a nap. YEAH! I'm really enjoying my new found freedom. Now, I can go to the bathroom, eat some food or sweep the floor without her attached to my hip. Of course, I'm learning to enjoy the times I get to hold her too because I know this time passes much too quickly.

I'm attaching some photos of her that I just took. She was all smiles...looking at herself in the mirror and tracking a black and white face I made out of a styrofoam plate and construction paper.


You're getting a good shot up Addison's nose in this picture. Those saline drops and aspirator sure did their job, huh?

One Month Old

Guess who's taking a bottle now?

This morning, I decided it was time for me to get back to the gym and go to my yoga class, so I pumped about 4 ounces and put it in a bottle for little Addie Sue. I woke up Micah and told him today was the day to introduce the bottle. At first, she screamed, but after about a minute she decided to chomp down and try it out. After that, it was smooth sailing. I left the house feeling so liberated. It's nice to know I can leave her with other people now for more than two hours and not have to worry about her getting frantic for some food.

We visited the Morgan's house on Friday night and tried out Sydney's swing. Addision seemed to like it much better. So now we're thinking that we might go buy it and use it instead of the one we have. It mimics the rocking motion that Micah does when he swings her car seat- which gets her calmed down fairly quickly. Plus, it has a mirror above her which she just loves to look into! If it doesn't work out, we can always take it back, but at this point, we're willing to try anything. She still refuses to lay down by herself. It's impossible to do anything around the house because she's constantly waking up in a tizzy once she discovers she not being held.



We've made it to her one month birthday...it's hard to believe that much time has already passed. It's also incredible to believe we've survived with such little sleep!!! We'll keep you posted....

Doctor's Visit

Micah and I took Addison to the doctor a week earlier than expected. Her belly button had puss coming out of it after losing her cord two weeks ago and we were a bit worried. The doctor checked it out and said that it looks fine and that it probably just got chafed from her clothing. So, now we're just cleaning it and putting neosporin on it until it heals up. That was a relief. While we were there, we got to see her weighed. I was wondering how her weight gain was since she seems to spit up everything she eats. It turns out she was 9 lbs 15 oz. We were a bit surprised since she isn't even a month old yet. Of course, she had her diaper on, so we figured she's probably more like 9 lbs. 13 oz.- almost the size I (beth) was when I was born. I don't know how my mother did it.

Speaking of my mother, here's an adorable picture of Addie Sue with her Grandma Sharon Sue. Mom probably won't appreciate that I put her picture on the web...but it's too good to pass up.



My sister, Joyce, and my nephew, Caleb, came to visit Addison this week. Caleb was a sweetie to both Addison and the dogs!




Cory and Beth visited us too...here is a picture of Rowan. She gave Addison lots of kisses, but she was mainly interested in the dogs. You can see why: they're much more fun!!!


Addie's a great sleeper, during the day. Here is a picture of her on my lap. She fell asleep while I was talking on the phone.


She also falls asleep during tummy time. We tried to wake her up so that she could get in her tummy time before eating (otherwise it all comes back up). She wasn't interesting in participating at all!


I had to put this last photo in just to prove that she has sat in the swing at least once. She wakes up very peeved when she discovers she's by herself. Lucas must have sensed this because he didn't want to leave her by herself. Isn't he a sweetie?

3 Weeks old and 9 lbs

We caught a rare moment when Addison wasn't sleeping or eating and snapped as many pictures as we could. Here are some of my favorites.





She seems to be concentrating on something.



Mischievous already!



"Who me? I wasn't doing anything."



What is going on with that pinky finger?

Addison's 2 week birthday!!!

Friday was Addison's 14th day in this world. It's hard to believe that she is already two weeks old! She had her first bath on Thursday ...we were waiting for the umbilical cord to fall off. She did really well. I think she likes the warm water on her hiney.


We've been having some difficulty with projectile vomiting at feeding times. Addison eats like she's having her last meal, then she spits up everything she just ate. Wait, she doesn't just spit it up, she hurls it up. I called the lactation consultant at the hospital to see if there is something I can do to help resolve the situation. I've started burping her more frequently during feeding time to see if that will help, but I'm still waiting to hear back from the "expert". In this picture, I just got done feeding her and I'm burping her on my lap, hoping that everything will stay down this time. She doesn't look too thrilled to wait, does she?


I thought this was funny to see. We were getting ready for dinner and both of the dogs were sitting in front of Addison with their toys at her swing. It's like they were waiting for her to jump up and start playing.


Like Father, like daughter.

Our First Doctor's Appointment

Monday was our first doctor's visit and the doc seemed pretty pleased with her progress. She is now up to 8 pounds...up from 7 lb 4 oz when we left the hospital. This is what Micah calls Addie's "milk drunk" face.


Just to prove that Addis Sue is awake sometimes. here is a picture of her with her grandpa. She is using her legs to push off of him. Micah said it's some reflex that all newborns have...but we thought it was pretty impressive.


Addie's pretty much keeping up her end of the deal. She eats, sleeps, and poops... a lot. Here's Micah taking a load of dirty diapers out to the garage.