3 Months

Miss Priss turned three months old on Monday.

I didn't do an official three month photo shoot.  I've been busy with Christmas decorating and Christmas shopping and speech therapy and school stuff and church stuff and family stuff.  But I do have a few out takes from our Christmas card shoot!

I don't think I ever posted after her weight check at 2 1/2 months.  Remember, she only weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces at her two month well visit, so our pediatrician wanted to see her again in two weeks to check her weight.  Well, after the nurse weighed her, the doctor came in and asked if she had been eating turkey over Thanksgiving.  She was up to 10 pounds, 5 ounces!  By the way, my brother weight 10 pounds, 4 ounces AT BIRTH!  And my mother delivered him vaginally.  Ouch!

So, the three month visit was pretty routine.  She now weighs 11 pounds, 4 ounces.  She's 24 1/8 inches long.  That's the 75th percentile for length, 25th for weight.

She seems to be getting over her reflux issues.  I forgot to give her the zantac one day, and she seemed fine, so I stopped it.  I still have some in case things go south, but for now, she seems okay without it.  She does spit up a lot.  I'm really not sure how she's gaining weight at all.  It seems she spits up more than she drinks, and usually all over me.  Lovely!

She is sleeping through the night.  Of course, that is when she's sleeping on my chest or snuggled up to her daddy.  I'll be honest.  I'm so exhausted by the time she falls asleep at night (usually around 10:00 or 11:00) that I just fall asleep with her.  I'm afraid if I put her down, she'll wake up, and all I want is sleep, so I hold her all night.  She usually wakes up around 7:00 ready for breakfast.  Last night, I did put her in her crib, and she slept for about four hours before waking.  At that point, I put her in bed with me and nursed her, and she went right back to sleep, so maybe we're making progress.

She's smiling and laughing and cooing, and she loves attention.  If no one is paying any attention to her, she'll start to fuss, but the second someone starts to talk to her, she lights up.

As her daddy said while snuggling her last night, "She's good stuff."

Chritmas Card

Any of you who are on my card list won't be surprised, but here is our card!

Mod Merry Ornaments Christmas

Personalize your Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I made at least 10 different cards before settling on this one.

Then I debated about font color for a sweet forever.  Is it my fault Shutterfly offers 14 (no exageration) different shades of green?

My husband called me obsessed (the brat), then took one look and said, "Is that green?  I thought it was yellow."

He also thinks the periwinkle ornament is white.  He is officially out of the Christmas card decision making discussion group.

The Uninvited Christmas Guest

We were enjoying a rather peaceful night at home.  We had pizza for dinner.  Our sometimes fussy, refluxy baby girl was happily gazing at the tree.

I decided to attempt some artsy pictures of our ornaments....

....when an uninvited guest showed up!

My very brave, lizard capturing husband saved the day. 

Then he called me a ninny. 

The brat!

Two Months

It's hard to believe my baby is two months old already.  It's also hard to remember life without her or exactly why I thought our family of five was perfectly complete.  Six is so much better!  Tiring, frustrating, loud, but better!

Baby Girl her well visit yesterday.  She is now 23 inches long and weighs a whopping 8 pounds, 13 ounces.  She's in the 75th percentile for her length and the 12th percentile for her weight. 

The doctor is a little concerned about her slow weight gain and wants to see us back in two weeks for a weight check.  I wasn't concerned at all until I got home and checked to see what my other kids weighed at two months and saw that the Princess was the same length and weighed 10 pounds, 8 ounces!  We had already decided to supplement with at least one bottle of formula a day, just to give me a break.  Hopefully that will do the trick.

Other than being itty bitty, she's absolutely perfect.  See?

RAW(e) - ONE(5)

This weeks' RAW(e) photo assignment? 

Post the 5th picture in the 1st folder of your photos.

Flamingos at the zoo!

Funny story:  When my very blond niece, who is now a high school senior with a very high GPA and a college scholarship, was little, she had a collection of Beanie Babies.  Her collection included a pink flamingo.  She showed it to me and said it was a duck.  I corrected her and said it was a flamingo. 

She said, "Yep, Mingo the Pink Duck".

Now every time I see a flamingo, Mingo the Pink Duck pops into my head!

Check out other RAW(e) photos over at Sailor & Company!

RAW(e) - Little

When I saw this week's RAW(e) theme, I immediately thought of this picture.

Then I saw that Sami used a picture of baby feet, so I thought I would try to get a picture of something else little.  I mean I've already posted an edited version of this photo anyway.

Then my camera battery died.

And I do love little baby feet....until they get big and stinky!

Of Silver Bells and Butterflies

I haven't posted this story yet because I was waiting to get a picture of the bell and the butterfly.  Sadly, I think the gold butterfly charm was thrown away.  It had been wrapped in a paper towel, sitting on the kitchen window sill, but it has vanished. 

When you get to the end of the story, you'll understand why I'm not devastated that the gold butterfly charm is gone!

Yes, the title of my post conjures up images of fairies and unicorns and a lovely meadow filled with butterflies and sweet smelling flowers.  Read on, my friends.

It was the day after I (finally) brought the baby home from the hospital.  My mom was here to help out, and I left Baby Girl downstairs with her and the big sisters so I could go up and use my new breast pump in an attempt to build up my milk supply.  I've had issues in the past and was trying to avoid that this time around.

Little Man followed me upstairs, and was playing in my room as I pumped and talked on the phone with my older sister.  He found a little "silver" bell on my dresser and started to play with it.  I watched him as he picked up something else from my dresser.  He put the something inside the bell, held the bell over his head, looked up, opened his mouth, and the something fell straight down his throat.

He turned to me with a look of horror and pain, and I FREAKED.  I yelled something (no clue what) to my sister and told her I'd call her back.  I grabbed him up, flipped him upside down and stuck my finger down his throat.  No, sticking my finger down his throat was not the best plan of action.  I could feel the something with the very tip of my finger, then he coughed and gagged, and I couldn't feel it anymore.

I screamed for someone to help me, and my mother came flying up the stairs followed by the 13 year old.  I didn't know what to do, and my mom said to call 911, so that's what I did.

There was a policeman at our door within about three minutes.  By this time, Little Man was still upset, and was crying a little.  Every few seconds he would make a sort of wheezing sound.

Within a few more minutes, there was an ambulance and a firetruck in my yard!  And seven large men in uniform standing in my rather small living room.  And there I sat in my nursing pj's, trying to hold the front together so nothing would fall out, and trying not to cry. 

Little Man wanted nothing to do with me.  He was still a little angry at me for being away from him for five days, so he was sitting with his 13 year old sister, who he prefers to me most days anyway.  The nine year old was holding Baby Girl and trying not to be in the way.  I honestly don't know what my mom was doing.  She's notorious for completely freaking out in any slightly stressful situation, (When I was ten, my daddy had to hit her to calm her down before taking me to the ER.  He knocked her into the bathtub, where she kept shouting something about having lockjaw.  I remember thinking, while dripping blood, that if she really had lockjaw, she would just shut up already!), but I think she held it together pretty well this time.

After listening to his lungs and looking in his throat, the EMT told me they could take him on to the hospital in the ambulance, but in his opinion, that wasn't necessary.  He suggested that I call our pediatricians' office and take it from there.

The seven men left, the older girls took Little Man out in the yard to look at the firetruck, and I called the pediatricians' office.  The nurse told me to just keep an eye on him and that we would need to check his poop until the something presented itself.  At that moment, I realized that it was the little gold butterfly charm.  I remembered cleaning my room the day before my scheduled induction, and when I took the hose off the vacuum, that charm fell out.  It was a gift to the nine year old princess from her daddy, and obviously a treasured keepsake considering it was in the vacuum!

I had been able to contain myself until I called my older sister back, and then I couldn't get through the story without crying.  When my husband got home from work, I really lost it.  Of course, I was a hot mess of hormonal fluctuations at that point anyway!

The next day, I had the glorious job of searching through the poop, with no results.  Then the day after that, Little Man went to spend the day with my mother in law and sister in law.  I got a text from my sister in law asking if the poop still needed to be checked.  I told her just to bag it up for me to do later.  No way was I asking anyone else to do that for me.  She texted back and said Nana offered to do it.  A few minutes later, I got another text saying Nana found the butterfly. 

When I told the girls that the something had been found and what it was, the Princess said, "Oh no!  I loved that thing!"  Really?  Then why did I find it IN THE VACUUM?  She wanted to keep it, and Nana had assured me it was clean.  She made a concoction of three different cleaning supplies and soaked it all day.  I think maybe it was divine intervention that the butterfly is lost.  I really don't think my germaphobe Princess would have ever gone near it again!

So, there you go.  Not so much a fairy/unicorn/meadow/sweet smelling flowers sort of story.  More like a why we love Nana, and why my son has caused more drama in his two and a half years than his big sisters ever have sort of story! 

One Month

So.  I know I still need to post about the bell and the butterfly.  And yes, Baby Girl's one month birthday was last week.  Mothering a two year old and an infant?  Kicking my butt!

Anywho, this is what my precious looked like on her one month birthday:

Her well visit at the doctor went....well, well.

She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and was 22.5 inches long.  That means she gained over a pound and grew two inches in two weeks.  Makes me feel quite proud of my abilities in my current job of dairy cow for my baby!

And here she is this week:

I know these look like spring pictures, but such is fall in Florida!

The Rest of the Story

I started a post about the remainder of my hospital stay, but it got reeeeaaaallllyyy long, so I'm taking a different approach.  Frankly, I was boring myself with all the wordiness.

Monday:  Baby Girl was born and everyone was happy.

Tuesday:  Baby Girl's bilirubin level was rising quickly, so her pediatrician ordered that she stay in the nursery under the lights.  She was there all day and all of Tuesday night.

I got a flu shot.

Wednesday:  The pediatrician came in and told me that Baby Girl's bilirubin level seemed to have leveled out.  It was never really all that high, it just shot up really quickly.  He wasn't comfortable releasing her to come home, but didn't think she needed to be under the lights anymore.  He wanted to keep her in the hospital in the room with me just to be sure the bilirubin wasn't going to shoot back up once she was off the lights.  We were also told she had failed the hearing test in her left ear.

I talked my doctor into letting me stay another day.  Later in the afternoon, I had a fever of 103.9!  My doctor ordered a CBC, blood cultures and urine cultures.  I was started on iv antibiotics.  My iv never felt right.   It was painful, and I could feel intense stinging each time a nurse flushed it out.  I could also feel the antibiotic going in.

Thursday:  Baby Girl's bilirubin level was holding steady, and her doctor was ready to discharge her as soon as I was given the green light to go home.  She still had not passed her hearing test in her left ear.

My doctor came by and told me that he wanted me to be fever free for 24 hours before he discharged me.  All my blood work and cultures came back clean.  By lunch, my fever was back up to 101.9.  I was still on the (painful) iv, getting the antibiotic every 6 hours.  That afternoon, I noticed a red streak going up my arm, starting at the (painful) iv.  I pointed it out to my nurse, who said it was okay.  After shift change, my new nurse took one look at my iv, said, "That's red," and said the iv was bad.  She started a new iv, my third in 4 days.  I don't love needles.

Friday:  Baby Girl passed her hearing test.

I was missing my other kids like crazy and couldn't wait to go home.  Someone from my doctors' office had been there each morning by 8:00am.  Of course, on this day. no one showed up until 4:30pm!  I was finally discharged, and my hubby and other three kids came to get us.  I was so excited to see The Boy.  He had been with his Nana, and I hadn't seen him since Monday.  Now, normally, if I'm away from him for even a few minutes, he is beyond excited to see me.  That is what I pictured all day.  I imagined him running to me and giving me a huge hug.  His 13 year old sister carried him in.  She pointed to me and said, "Who is that?"  He said my younger sister's name.  Considering how I looked that day, she should be highly offended.  He looked again and said, "Mommy."  He didn't want me to hold him.  And I lost it!  All the stress and drama of the week hit me, and I burst into tears.  I finally won Little Man over by letting him ride out in the wheelchair with me and his new sister.

And he was pleased as punch to have us home!

Saturday:  We gave Baby Girl her first bath at home, which I mention only because I love this picture taken by the 13 year old.

And later, we had an adventure involving a silver bell, a gold butterfly and seven men in uniform. 

But that's a story for another day!

19 Days

The last 19 days have been a bit of a blur. Sleep deprivation tends to do that to a person. My days (and nights) have been filled with what feels like nonstop, constant nursing. My back and neck and shoulders ache from sitting in the same position holding and feeding my baby girl. And just gazing at her sweet little face.

Yes, 19 days ago, we welcomed one of the most beautiful babies on the planet into our lives. Six pounds, eleven ounces, 20.5 inches of perfection.

I had a scheduled induction on September 13th. We went in that morning at 7:00, my midwife came in and broke my water and we got pitocin started. At around 11:00, I asked for an epidural. This is my third time getting an epidural, and the first two were a piece of cake compared to what I went through this time. The anesthesiologist had to try three different times to get things working right. He told me I might feel an "electrical shock" down one of my legs. The pain in my left leg was excruciating to the point I almost told him to just forget it. But he finally got things working right. Once the epidural was up and running, I looked at my husband who was flexing the hand I had been gripping. He said I cut off his circulation. Seriously, dude, it's the least you could do!

Proud siblings!

  

This does not bode well!

Each time my nurse would check me, she would say something about the baby being really high. I could tell she was concerned, which concerned me. I have heard stories about women being induced when the baby was still too high, and I started to worry that we had rushed things a little too much. The nurse sat me up straight so gravity could work in our favor, then she would let the bed down and move me from one side to the other. When the midwife came back in to check me, the baby had dropped, and I was ready to push.

My husband, my younger sister, and my niece were in the room with me. My sister was keeping my other sister, my brother and my bff up to date via text messaging. She sent them a text that I was starting to push, and within minutes, she was able to send them pictures of our baby. According to the nurse's records, I started pushing at 2:13pm, and baby girl was born at 2:37pm. I pushed through 1 1/2 contractions (about 5 pushes). I was told later that she had the cord wrapped around her body, and then up over her shoulder. The nurse said it was like a beauty pageant sash, the midwife said it was like a purse. Either way, sounds like we have a little diva on our hands.

 Enough with the pictures already!

The rest of our hospital stay, all FIVE days of it, was a little dramatic. But right now, the 2 1/2 year old is too quiet for my liking, and the 2 1/2 week old will be demanding her lunch any minute, so that will have to wait for another day!

Not Me Monday

I do NOT look like I swallowed a beach ball while on vacation last week!

Escape Artist

My sister in law invited the kids and me to stay at a beach condo with her and her two boys this weekend.  It sounded like a nice relaxing weekend for me.  A chance to escape real life for a couple of days, let the girls spend some time with their cousins, get a little sun, and spend some time in the pool with the Little Man.  He loves water.

We got there late Friday night, and after breakfast Saturday morning, Little Man was dying to get to the "wa-wa".  I put him in his swim diaper and sunscreen, got the girls started on their sunscreen, and went into the bathroom to get changed and get Little Man's bathing suit.  I suddenly realized I hadn't seen my boy in a few minutes, and noticed it was eerily quiet.

I left the bathroom, and asked where he was.  No one knew.  I started looking in closets, and my sister in law went to look in the bedrooms on the other side of the condo.  As she passed the front door, I heard her gasp and say, "Oh, NO!"  I ran to where she was.  She said the door was cracked open!

Cue complete and total panic!

We both flew out the door.  We were in the very last condo on the third floor, and the stairs were right outside our door.  She went down the stairs while I headed to the elevator.  We were both calling his name, and we could hear him crying and saying, "Mama", but we couldn't really tell where his voice was coming from.

As I got closer to the elevator, I thought he sounded closer to the stairs.  When I started down the stairs, I met my sister in law on her way back up.  She thought he sounded closer to where I was.  UGH!

I told her to go all the way down, and I would head back to the elevator.  As I started back up to our floor, I heard a lady's voice saying, "Where is your mommy?  Is she in there?"  I could tell her voice was coming from above me, so I kept going up to the fourth floor.

Little Man was at the door of the unit directly above our condo.  He had been crying, his tears left trails in the sunscreen on his face, and he was terrified.  He had been knocking on that door and calling for me.  The lady in the condo next door to where he was knocking had come out with her two little girls.  They thought he had just walked out of that door, and they were ringing the door bell.

As soon as he saw me, he ran to me, and I dropped to the floor to hug him.  That is the best hug I have ever had!  The Good Samaritan lady kept asking me if I was okay.  I guess my giant pregnant belly, and the terror on my face weren't really a good combination.  I assured I was fine, and thanked her over and over for trying to help my little guy.

From the time I knew he was missing until the time he was in my arms was less than two minutes, yet it seemed like an eternity.

Once we were back in our condo, we had a "team meeting" and discussed the necessity of locking the dead bolt on the door anytime anyone went in or out. 

Little Man didn't want to leave my side for quite some time.  He even sat in my lap while I went to the bathroom.  When he did venture away from me, I was asking where he was every three seconds or so. 

I didn't sleep well that night.  He was in the bed with me.  Normally, when he sleeps with me, I spend a lot of time pushing him away so I can have some space.  That night, I kept thinking of all the things that could have happened in those few (but very long) minutes I couldn't find him.  He could have made it down the elevator and to the pool.  He could have fallen down the stairs.  He could have made it to the parking lot and been hit by a car.  He could have been kidnapped.  I spent most of the night making sure a part of him was touching me, just to make sure he was really there. 

And thanking God for watching over him when I wasn't.

Not Me Monday - Preggo Brain Edition

I did not promise weekly summer vacation posts a month ago.  I do not have any issues with getting my creative juices flowing these days.

I did not take my newly nine year old daughter to the doctor across town for her well visit, only to be told I was a full month early.

I did not drive my two year old son to speech therapy this morning, only to realize that hey! it's Monday.  His appointment is Tuesday.

I have not misplaced check books, keys, cell phones, sunglasses, insurance cards, memory card readers, cameras, etc. over the last few weeks. 

I did not feel a little better when my mother-in-law lost her cell phone and found it the shoe rack in her closet or when, ten minutes after finding her cell phone, she locked her keys in her car.  

I am not at all stressed out that my daughter will be born in two months, and still has no name. 

I do not have any other potential life changes lurking in my future.  Uncertainty does not stress me out at all.

I do not think I need a new brain.  Or a nap. 

Now, head over to MckMama to read what other people did not do this week.

                                       

Our Summer Vacation-Week 1

My friend, Carrie, is using her blog to document each day of her summer vacation with her kids.  While I think that is a fine idea, I know without a doubt I won't be able to blog daily.  So, I'm going to attempt to write a post each week.  It won't be the same day each week.  It may not even happen each and every week. 

I am that organized and dedicated.

Our summer vacation officially began last Wednesday when my girls got out of school.

Wednesday night was the Princess' end of year Girl Scout swim party.  She insisted that we take sausage dip a/k/a Mommy Crack even though no one ate it last year when I sent a double batch.  This year, I made a regular size batch, and every drop was gone.  The girls had a great time.  I was expecting a little bit of girl drama because a few days before the end of school, the Princess' "boyfriend" dumped her for a girl in her troop.  She actually told me she thought 3rd grade would be her year, but it wasn't because her "enemy" is dating her "boyfriend."  Oy.  What will teen years be like?

Thursday was supposed to be spent cleaning our house.  I am determined to get clean and organized this summer.  I sent the kids outside to get them out of my hair have them wash the wagon so we could put it in the car for Friday.  They ended up staying outside for almost two glorious hours.  They even filled the wheelbarrow with water and used it as a pool for the Little Man.  Can you say red neck children?

Friday was my great niece's 2nd birthday, so we went with them to the zoo, hence the need for a clean wagon.  We ended up using the wagon to hold our stuff.  The two two year olds walked most of the time.  It was fun, but HOT.  After the zoo, we all had lunch at McDonald's, then went to my sister-in-law's house for cookie cake and ice cream.  We were all exhausted by the end of the day.

Saturday, we headed to Nana's so we could go to the pool.  I'm not sure if I had a touch of a stomach bug or if it was a pregnancy related thing, but I felt icky.  I toughed it out and went to the pool anyway.  I figured I could stay home and feel bad, or sit in the pool and feel bad.  At least in the pool I could get a little sun.  Large amounts of tanned flesh look a little better than large amounts of pasty flesh.  Or at least that's my theory.

My girls were gone all day Sunday, and I still felt a little queasy, so the Little Man and I just chilled out at home all day.  By chilled out, I mean that I sat around feeling queasy while he made messes and lots and lots of noise.

Today was another stay home day, other than grocery shopping.  It is so hot and humid here right now that any venture outside pretty much does me in.

Tomorrow is the Princess' 9th birthday.  We have plans for dinner at Nana's, and we'll be enjoying a night of fine dining and entertainment at Chuck E. Cheese's later in the week. 

Our Pre-Summer Mini Vacation

This is Florida, and it's 97 degrees today, so I really can't call it pre-summer! But my girls don't officially start their summer vacation until school is out tomorrow.

I couldn't wait for a trip to the beach, so we took a little weekend mini vacation to our friend's condo this past weekend.

I had my camera with me, but didn't manage to take one single picture. I was too busy soaking up the sun and enjoying the sand between my toes.

Little Man is obsessed with water, and absolutely loved the pool. I never used swim wings on my girls. They were both swimming like fish when they were two, but they had a healthy respect for the water. Little Man is another story. He has no fear, and he doesn't really realize he can't swim. He'll just jump right in, and my heart really can't take it. So, I caved and bought swim wings for him. It's the best $1.50 I've ever spent. He had a ball in the pool and wore himself out!

He does have a fear of the ocean waves, which made sitting on the beach with him much more relaxing than sitting at the pool. He would run into the water, but the second he saw a wave coming his way, he'd come flying back to Mommy or Daddy.

Even though I didn't take pictures on this trip, here's a little collage from last summer!

His Guardian Angel Has A Tough Job

My son is always on the go.  It is very rare that he actually sits still, and if he ever gets quiet, I know it's time to worry.

I have called poison control twice in the last two weeks.  I'm expecting a visit from Children and Family Services any day now.

He got his very first black eye last weekend.  He was chasing his sister, Nana's dog was chasing him.  I didn't actually see what happened, but knowing what I know of my son, I have a pretty good idea.  He was looking back at the dog, Spike, and turned around just in time to hit the corner of the wall.

Now when we mention Spike, he grabs his cheek and says, "Wall, cheek, booboo."

The first picture was taken on day three, the second on day five.  His booboo hasn't slowed him down even a little.

Yep, his guardian angel has a tough job.  And so does his mom!

Better?

Ok, I added my kids' pictures to the header.  I did miss seeing their sweet faces up there!

Prepare yourselves.  You may see changes on a daily basis!