Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Ellowyn is 3 months old today
Today Ellowyn turns 3 months old. She's doing great!
Sleeping: At night, Ellowyn sleeps in her own room, in an inclined bassinet (for her reflux, see below). Overnight, she'll sleep for a 9-10 hour stretch, then be awake for 30 minutes to an hour, then sleep again for another 2-3 hours. I never knew babies could sleep so well at night. Naps are a little trickier for her; she naps wherever she can: the car seat, the moby wrap, in my bed, in my arms... but she only rarely naps longer than an hour. Some days she boycotts naps altogether. This could be a factor of her age or it could be because we don't really have a set nap routine for her yet. But as long as she continues to sleep so well at night, I can forgive the short naps during the day.
Eating: Ellowyn is a great nurser! It's her favorite thing to do. We are still exclusively breastfeeding and plan to continue for a good long time. She has completely rejected bottles now, and we've given up on trying to convince her to take one, so feeding Ellowyn is all me all the time. It's a pain to be chained to her that way, because it means I can't be separated from her for more than an hour during the day and that there are certain times of day that I must be there with her, but I got used to that when Mira and I were in the same situation so this time it's not such a big deal to me. I know this is just a brief blip in my parenting career, so I'm inclined to enjoy the positives about our breastfeeding relationship rather than fixate on the negatives.
Reflux: Most babies have some level of reflux; that's what causes spit ups. But in Ellowyn's case, she has fairly severe reflux which causes her esophageal pain. So we've chosen to put her on a mild antacid temporarily until she grows out of her reflux (most babies do outgrow it at around 4-6 months old). The medicine treats her reflux very well: she's clearly happier on it and miserable off of it. She recently had a few days where the reflux symptoms came back despite the medication (refusing to nurse long even when hungry, back arching during feedings, extreme distress before and after burping/spitting), so we had to up her dose: as she gets bigger, her gain in body mass means that she'll need more of the medicine to treat her effectively. But now that she's on the higher dose, she's back to her happy self again.
Communicating: Ellowyn has discovered her vocal chords and is spending every waking minute doing verbal play. Most of it is just her yelling happily at the top of her lungs. And she is quite social. She loves being talked to. It seems like every time someone engages with her, she is smiling like crazy.
Playing: Ellowyn is at that stage where everything she gets her hands on goes immediately to her mouth. The lips are a very sensitive part of the body with lots of nerve endings sending loads of sensory information to the brain, and she's definitely making the most of that fact. She also really likes to kick anything that's dangling over her feet.
And last, on Friday Ellowyn hit a milestone: she is now rolling from tummy to back. She'll do it repeatedly at each tummy-time session, so it's definitely a skill that she has a firm grasp on (rather than being something she did once on accident).
Sleeping: At night, Ellowyn sleeps in her own room, in an inclined bassinet (for her reflux, see below). Overnight, she'll sleep for a 9-10 hour stretch, then be awake for 30 minutes to an hour, then sleep again for another 2-3 hours. I never knew babies could sleep so well at night. Naps are a little trickier for her; she naps wherever she can: the car seat, the moby wrap, in my bed, in my arms... but she only rarely naps longer than an hour. Some days she boycotts naps altogether. This could be a factor of her age or it could be because we don't really have a set nap routine for her yet. But as long as she continues to sleep so well at night, I can forgive the short naps during the day.
Eating: Ellowyn is a great nurser! It's her favorite thing to do. We are still exclusively breastfeeding and plan to continue for a good long time. She has completely rejected bottles now, and we've given up on trying to convince her to take one, so feeding Ellowyn is all me all the time. It's a pain to be chained to her that way, because it means I can't be separated from her for more than an hour during the day and that there are certain times of day that I must be there with her, but I got used to that when Mira and I were in the same situation so this time it's not such a big deal to me. I know this is just a brief blip in my parenting career, so I'm inclined to enjoy the positives about our breastfeeding relationship rather than fixate on the negatives.
Reflux: Most babies have some level of reflux; that's what causes spit ups. But in Ellowyn's case, she has fairly severe reflux which causes her esophageal pain. So we've chosen to put her on a mild antacid temporarily until she grows out of her reflux (most babies do outgrow it at around 4-6 months old). The medicine treats her reflux very well: she's clearly happier on it and miserable off of it. She recently had a few days where the reflux symptoms came back despite the medication (refusing to nurse long even when hungry, back arching during feedings, extreme distress before and after burping/spitting), so we had to up her dose: as she gets bigger, her gain in body mass means that she'll need more of the medicine to treat her effectively. But now that she's on the higher dose, she's back to her happy self again.
Communicating: Ellowyn has discovered her vocal chords and is spending every waking minute doing verbal play. Most of it is just her yelling happily at the top of her lungs. And she is quite social. She loves being talked to. It seems like every time someone engages with her, she is smiling like crazy.
Playing: Ellowyn is at that stage where everything she gets her hands on goes immediately to her mouth. The lips are a very sensitive part of the body with lots of nerve endings sending loads of sensory information to the brain, and she's definitely making the most of that fact. She also really likes to kick anything that's dangling over her feet.
And last, on Friday Ellowyn hit a milestone: she is now rolling from tummy to back. She'll do it repeatedly at each tummy-time session, so it's definitely a skill that she has a firm grasp on (rather than being something she did once on accident).
Monday, April 11, 2011
And the days go by...
Note: this blog post is probably not terribly interesting for anyone but me, but it's something that I wanted to write down for my own memories. I will be following this one up with several that are more appealing to the masses. I haven't been keeping up with the blogging very well, but I've been taking videos and pictures, so I've got lots of material to share. So watch for that in the next few days.
I feel like I'm really getting the hang of this whole two kids situation. Most days, things go quite smoothly and we're all happy and healthy. Here's what a typical day looks like for us:
At night, Mira sleeps from about 8pm to about 8am. Ellowyn sleeps from about 8pm to about 5:30am (yes, a 9 to 10 hour stretch, I know exactly how lucky I am), is up for 30min to one hour nursing on and off, then goes back to sleep from about 6:30am to 9am (usually). So in the mornings, I'm up from 5:30am to 6:30am with Ellowyn in her room, nursing and rocking until she goes back to sleep (she sleeps in an inclined bassinet in her own room- the incline helps with her reflux as opposed to lying flat in a crib). Then from about 6:30am to 7:30am I can get a few more winks of sleep. Then I get up to get my shower before the girls are awake. By the time I'm dressed, Mira is usually stirring and I'll go in to get her.
Since Ellowyn is usually still asleep, I can spend some time alone with Mira over breakfast. After we eat breakfast we can play a bit together and I'll pack up the diaper bag so that it's ready for the day. Ellowyn wakes up around 9am and I'll nurse her and then is our time to be out of the house. We spend most weekday mornings at a playdate: either at the park or a friend's house or at one of the many cool kiddie places around Austin, spending time with some other wonderful stay-at-home-mommies and their children. (I'm so thankful for my mom's clubs; it's such a supportive network and it's so nice to have friends to spend the weekdays with.) Some mornings we'll run an errand too, but that depends on Ellowyn's mood.
Then it's lunch time. If Ellowyn has slept at the playdate (usually in my moby wrap while I chase Mira), then we can sometimes go get Daddy from work and take him to lunch. As long as Ellowyn has had a morning nap and I nurse her right before the meal, the girls are both very well behaved when we go out to eat lunch. If we eat lunch at home, I get lunch for Mira and once she's seated eating, I'll nurse Ellowyn down for her nap. Then Mira finishes lunch and I'm free to read books with her and then put her down for her nap. Somewhere in all that I grab a few bites of something for myself.
I'll usually have a few minutes to myself in the afternoon while the girls are napping. I can get some dishes done, catch up from the busy morning, eat lunch if I didn't get time to while the girls were eating, and take a break. Ellowyn usually wakes up before Mira and then I can have some quiet time with just Ellowyn: nursing, doing tummy time, cooing at each other, etc. Around 3 or 4pm, Mira wakes up from her nap. We can sometimes squeeze a quick errand in before rush hour, but usually we just spend the afternoon playing at home. We play in the backyard with the swings, slides, sandbox, chalk, or if it's warm enough I'll turn on the water hose for Mira. Or if the weather is not good, we play inside with crayons, play-doh, puzzles, baby dolls, or Mira will cook something for me or Ellowyn in her play kitchen.
The evening is the most demanding time of the day. Brian usually gets home from work at around 6:30pm, but in order to get the girls down for bed, we need to eat right as he walks in the door. So that leaves me juggling dinner, a toddler, and an infant. It's challenging, but as long as I plan ahead, it's usually ok. So that's another thing I'll usually do while the girls nap: figure out what's for dinner and do as much prep work as I can so that when it's time to make dinner, I just start up the stove/oven/grill and everything's ready to go. Brian gets home and we all have dinner together, with Ellowyn sitting in her bouncy chair at the table with us. (I think it's very important for the family to sit down to dinner together on a regular basis, so it's a juggling act for me to accomplish, but it means a lot to me so I make it work.)
Right after dinner, I take Ellowyn up for her bath, giving Mira a chance to play with her daddy for a bit. I give Ellowyn her bath and then nurse her down for the night (it's an epic feeding, easily lasting half an hour or more). While I'm nursing Ellowyn, Brian will bathe Mira, then read stories with her. Usually when I finish nursing Ellowyn, Brian and Mira are finishing up their bedtime stories and Brian and I can both tuck Mira in together. It's usually about 8pm when the girls are in bed, so then Brian and I can spend a couple hours together before going to bed ourselves.
It's all hard work, but it at least goes smoothly most of the time. Some days are harder, like when Mira is being needier than normal or when Ellowyn refuses to nap. On those days, I have a few tricks that I can pull out of my hat. A big one is nursing on the ground: me lying on my side on the floor, Ellowyn pulled in to my chest to nurse and Mira sitting up by my head so we can play with some toy together (or read a book or work a puzzle or color or whatever Mira wants to do with me). Another trick is baby-wearing. This works especially well on the days that Ellowyn is fussy/not napping. Technology is another great trick: I have apps on my phone for both girls: white noise for Ellowyn, games for Mira. And there's the old TV trick, though I use this as a last resort because I don't like Mira to get more than about 2-3 hours per week, Mira will always sit quietly through an hour of Sesame Street, which is nice when I just have to get some task done.
So, yeah, I'm feeling really good about my abilities as a mother and my coping mechanisms and the things my children are being exposed to and how much time I'm able to spend with each of them, separately and together. Now if only I could figure out how to do all that and also keep up with the chores... I'm starting to think maybe it's not possible.
I feel like I'm really getting the hang of this whole two kids situation. Most days, things go quite smoothly and we're all happy and healthy. Here's what a typical day looks like for us:
At night, Mira sleeps from about 8pm to about 8am. Ellowyn sleeps from about 8pm to about 5:30am (yes, a 9 to 10 hour stretch, I know exactly how lucky I am), is up for 30min to one hour nursing on and off, then goes back to sleep from about 6:30am to 9am (usually). So in the mornings, I'm up from 5:30am to 6:30am with Ellowyn in her room, nursing and rocking until she goes back to sleep (she sleeps in an inclined bassinet in her own room- the incline helps with her reflux as opposed to lying flat in a crib). Then from about 6:30am to 7:30am I can get a few more winks of sleep. Then I get up to get my shower before the girls are awake. By the time I'm dressed, Mira is usually stirring and I'll go in to get her.
Since Ellowyn is usually still asleep, I can spend some time alone with Mira over breakfast. After we eat breakfast we can play a bit together and I'll pack up the diaper bag so that it's ready for the day. Ellowyn wakes up around 9am and I'll nurse her and then is our time to be out of the house. We spend most weekday mornings at a playdate: either at the park or a friend's house or at one of the many cool kiddie places around Austin, spending time with some other wonderful stay-at-home-mommies and their children. (I'm so thankful for my mom's clubs; it's such a supportive network and it's so nice to have friends to spend the weekdays with.) Some mornings we'll run an errand too, but that depends on Ellowyn's mood.
Then it's lunch time. If Ellowyn has slept at the playdate (usually in my moby wrap while I chase Mira), then we can sometimes go get Daddy from work and take him to lunch. As long as Ellowyn has had a morning nap and I nurse her right before the meal, the girls are both very well behaved when we go out to eat lunch. If we eat lunch at home, I get lunch for Mira and once she's seated eating, I'll nurse Ellowyn down for her nap. Then Mira finishes lunch and I'm free to read books with her and then put her down for her nap. Somewhere in all that I grab a few bites of something for myself.
I'll usually have a few minutes to myself in the afternoon while the girls are napping. I can get some dishes done, catch up from the busy morning, eat lunch if I didn't get time to while the girls were eating, and take a break. Ellowyn usually wakes up before Mira and then I can have some quiet time with just Ellowyn: nursing, doing tummy time, cooing at each other, etc. Around 3 or 4pm, Mira wakes up from her nap. We can sometimes squeeze a quick errand in before rush hour, but usually we just spend the afternoon playing at home. We play in the backyard with the swings, slides, sandbox, chalk, or if it's warm enough I'll turn on the water hose for Mira. Or if the weather is not good, we play inside with crayons, play-doh, puzzles, baby dolls, or Mira will cook something for me or Ellowyn in her play kitchen.
The evening is the most demanding time of the day. Brian usually gets home from work at around 6:30pm, but in order to get the girls down for bed, we need to eat right as he walks in the door. So that leaves me juggling dinner, a toddler, and an infant. It's challenging, but as long as I plan ahead, it's usually ok. So that's another thing I'll usually do while the girls nap: figure out what's for dinner and do as much prep work as I can so that when it's time to make dinner, I just start up the stove/oven/grill and everything's ready to go. Brian gets home and we all have dinner together, with Ellowyn sitting in her bouncy chair at the table with us. (I think it's very important for the family to sit down to dinner together on a regular basis, so it's a juggling act for me to accomplish, but it means a lot to me so I make it work.)
Right after dinner, I take Ellowyn up for her bath, giving Mira a chance to play with her daddy for a bit. I give Ellowyn her bath and then nurse her down for the night (it's an epic feeding, easily lasting half an hour or more). While I'm nursing Ellowyn, Brian will bathe Mira, then read stories with her. Usually when I finish nursing Ellowyn, Brian and Mira are finishing up their bedtime stories and Brian and I can both tuck Mira in together. It's usually about 8pm when the girls are in bed, so then Brian and I can spend a couple hours together before going to bed ourselves.
It's all hard work, but it at least goes smoothly most of the time. Some days are harder, like when Mira is being needier than normal or when Ellowyn refuses to nap. On those days, I have a few tricks that I can pull out of my hat. A big one is nursing on the ground: me lying on my side on the floor, Ellowyn pulled in to my chest to nurse and Mira sitting up by my head so we can play with some toy together (or read a book or work a puzzle or color or whatever Mira wants to do with me). Another trick is baby-wearing. This works especially well on the days that Ellowyn is fussy/not napping. Technology is another great trick: I have apps on my phone for both girls: white noise for Ellowyn, games for Mira. And there's the old TV trick, though I use this as a last resort because I don't like Mira to get more than about 2-3 hours per week, Mira will always sit quietly through an hour of Sesame Street, which is nice when I just have to get some task done.
So, yeah, I'm feeling really good about my abilities as a mother and my coping mechanisms and the things my children are being exposed to and how much time I'm able to spend with each of them, separately and together. Now if only I could figure out how to do all that and also keep up with the chores... I'm starting to think maybe it's not possible.
Edit: I forgot to mention another of my tricks: dual diapering. Whenever Mira needs a diaper, I change Ellowyn's at the same time, laying the two girls down side-by-side, and changing one, then the other while they lay next to each other, keeping each other entertained with faces, talking, smiling, etc. Just before Ellowyn was born, Mira was in a toddlery stage of resisting diaper changes, but dual diapering solved that problem completely.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Ellowyn's 2-month checkup
Ellowyn's doing great! Turns out she's a slow grower, like Mira. She's not gaining weight fast enough to keep up with the trend, so she's slipping down the weight charts. The same thing happened to Mira (Mira started at 60th percentile when she was born and now that she's 2 years old she's down to 7th percentile). But since Ellowyn started out on the bigger side and she's still gaining weight, we're not worried about it. Ellowyn was at I think 80th percentile for weight when she was born and now she's down to 50th.
But she continues to get taller, so she's still up at 85th percentile for length. She's a tall girl!
And her head seems to be growing faster than the rest of her body because it's up from 90th percentile to 95th percentile for head circumference. She has an even bigger noggin than Mira did (Mira's was only ever as big as 80th percentile)!
Ellowyn got her first round of vaccines at this checkup. She took them really well. She cried at the time, but calmed right down when I nursed her afterward. And then the rest of the day, she just seemed a little sleepier than normal. I remember some of those early vaccinations really making Mira temperamental, but not so much for Ellowyn. She's such a happy easy baby.
Ellowyn is still on Zantac, and her reflux is well controlled by it. When I told the pediatrician how well Ellowyn was doing on the Zantac, he said that we could consider raising her dose, since she's getting bigger, but as long as the lower dose keeps working, we'll just keep her at her same dose. But if at any time I feel like it's losing its effectiveness, he told me how much I could up her to.
Other than that, nothing really to report. She's doing great, growing slowly but well, a healthy happy girl.
She's still sleeping really well, although she does sometimes have difficulty getting down to sleep... hopefully that will work itself out as she gets older; I really dislike doing sleep training, I just find it so frustrating.
An interesting observation that I've made... Ellowyn's eyes are still blue. Looking back at Mira's baby pictures, I've realized that Mira's eyes had already turned brown by this age. So maybe Ellowyn's eyes will be blue or green or hazel... or maybe they're just taking their time about turning brown. I guess we'll see in time.
Like her big sister, Ellowyn has now completely rejected bottles. Probably it's something we're doing as parents. Or maybe it's just that my boobs are THAT GREAT. But either way, we seem to have no luck in the bottle department. She just cries the entire time and won't latch on. We've tried different nipples, different bottles, different people, different locations, different times of day... no love. So we're giving up on it. We could probably come to an understanding if we pushed the issue, but it's just not worth it for us. That does mean that I'll be tied to my baby again like I was with Mira, unable to be apart from her for any substantial length of time, but honestly I got pretty used to that with Mira, so it's a bit of a drag for me, but not terrible. Someday I'll look back and realize that Ellowyn has grown up too fast and then I'll wish that I was still forced to cradle her in my arms and hold her to my breast for 20 solid minutes a dozen times a day. There are certainly moments when I feel that way about Mira.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Mira's Balance Bike
I decided a while back that I wanted Mira to have a balance bike (also called a pre-bike or a running bike) rather than one of the more traditional options of 1) a tricycle or 2) a bike with training wheels. A balance bike seems to me like a smarter option for so many reasons. It is much easier for little ones to control and more intuitive to use. It also facilitates learning to balance much more than a trike or training wheels.
We gave Mira her balance bike for her second birthday, which is a little on the young end, but still she took to it so quickly. I was so pleased. Here's a video of her first bike ride ever. She had a little trouble figuring out how to mount it, but once she was positioned on it, she knew instinctively what to do.
These next videos were taken a little over a month later. You can see, she's really getting the hang of it: the position of her hands on the handlebars is more natural, her steering is much better, and she's willing to sit on the seat, which shows that she's starting to trust the bike.
Since she has a more cautious nature, this bike is perfect for her because she can really feel completely in control the entire time. She's small, but the bike is so lightweight that even she can maneuver it on her own. Also, the seat and handlebars are very adjustable, able to accommodate kids as small as Mira all the way up to 5-year-olds. Anyway, Mira really likes her bike. Soon I'm sure she'll discover that she can pick up her feet on the downhill and then she'll really take off.
We gave Mira her balance bike for her second birthday, which is a little on the young end, but still she took to it so quickly. I was so pleased. Here's a video of her first bike ride ever. She had a little trouble figuring out how to mount it, but once she was positioned on it, she knew instinctively what to do.
These next videos were taken a little over a month later. You can see, she's really getting the hang of it: the position of her hands on the handlebars is more natural, her steering is much better, and she's willing to sit on the seat, which shows that she's starting to trust the bike.
Since she has a more cautious nature, this bike is perfect for her because she can really feel completely in control the entire time. She's small, but the bike is so lightweight that even she can maneuver it on her own. Also, the seat and handlebars are very adjustable, able to accommodate kids as small as Mira all the way up to 5-year-olds. Anyway, Mira really likes her bike. Soon I'm sure she'll discover that she can pick up her feet on the downhill and then she'll really take off.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Mira's IRC Fan-club
14:48 <@x^NamShub> Laura Drake
14:48 <@x^NamShub> While driving in the car today, Mira said, "Run people over, Mommy." I swear. You can't make this stuff up.
14:48 <@x^NamShub> Teehee!!!
14:49 < aramith> lolz
14:49 < aramith> mira is going to be such a smartass and/or sociopath
14:51 <@x^NamShub> These are both good options.
14:53 < aramith> YES THEY ARE
15:08 < Drakewolf> OMG I LOVE MY DAUGHTER
15:08 < aramith> Drakewolf: i was quite entertained by her when i visited
15:12 < aramith> especially since the first word i heard her say was "SHIT"*
15:15 < Drakewolf> aramith: Today at lunch, the hostess informed my wife that she was pointing staff members
toward our table to go see the "Cutest little girl" (re Mira)
15:15 <@clarkk> Mira FTW!
15:16 < aramith> heh
15:16 < aramith> she's cute, until she KILLS YOU
15:16 < aramith> AND THEN EATS YOUR SOUL (while feeding parts of it to anyone around)
15:16 < Drakewolf> aramith: with the epic eyelashes... of doom
* A disclaimer to clarify my parenting acumen: she was saying "SIT" imperiously and was mis-heard by the visitor who didn't understand sub-2year-toddler-speak.
14:48 <@x^NamShub> While driving in the car today, Mira said, "Run people over, Mommy." I swear. You can't make this stuff up.
14:48 <@x^NamShub> Teehee!!!
14:49 < aramith> lolz
14:49 < aramith> mira is going to be such a smartass and/or sociopath
14:51 <@x^NamShub> These are both good options.
14:53 < aramith> YES THEY ARE
15:08 < Drakewolf> OMG I LOVE MY DAUGHTER
15:08 < aramith> Drakewolf: i was quite entertained by her when i visited
15:12 < aramith> especially since the first word i heard her say was "SHIT"*
15:15 < Drakewolf> aramith: Today at lunch, the hostess informed my wife that she was pointing staff members
toward our table to go see the "Cutest little girl" (re Mira)
15:15 <@clarkk> Mira FTW!
15:16 < aramith> heh
15:16 < aramith> she's cute, until she KILLS YOU
15:16 < aramith> AND THEN EATS YOUR SOUL (while feeding parts of it to anyone around)
15:16 < Drakewolf> aramith: with the epic eyelashes... of doom
* A disclaimer to clarify my parenting acumen: she was saying "SIT" imperiously and was mis-heard by the visitor who didn't understand sub-2year-toddler-speak.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Ellowyn's first smiles
In the past week or two, Ellowyn has really started smiling a lot. And it's clearly in response to an external stimulus. She likes it when we talk to her, tickle her, make faces at her.
She also finds whistling to be pretty funny. I was whistling at her while I took these pictures.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
My uterus has had enough.
That said, I realize that I am lucky that I have a support system capable of carrying me through that. It would have been much more difficult if I hadn't had the help of family and friends keeping us stocked with prepared meals. My parents were especially generous, coming to stay with me every week day to help with the kids while Brian was at work.
The first two weeks or so of my bed rest went well and I felt like things were getting better down there. But then I got sick and spent the last two weeks of my bed rest with a bad cough. I was downing cough syrup and cough drops constantly to try to control the cough, but still the cough had a really negative effect on my prolapse, basically undoing almost all of the improvement that I had previously seen.
So when I saw my Ob/Gyn on Monday, it was no surprise to me when he told me that there was not very much improvement. It was a little better, but not enough better. So we discussed treatment options, which consist of a pessary or surgery... or both, as may be the case for me. He said that he wouldn't want to recommend surgery until after my normal menses had returned because that return to normal, non-pregnant hormones helps to tighten things up in the abdomen. So until that has happened we won't know for sure how much my body will repair itself on its own. In the mean time, he ordered me a pessary, which I am to use during the day and take out at night. One nice thing about that is it will provide support during the day when I'm active, so I won't have to be on bed rest any more. And it's possible that the pessary and some more time may be all that I need to fully recover. We will re-evaluate after my regular cycle has returned and decide at that time whether surgery is necessary.
One big issue that keeps coming up is retaining my fertility and whether I want any more children. Surgical correction of prolapse is not recommended in women who intend to have more children. The big reason is that a lot of the time, surgical correction involves a hysterectomy. But also, even if a hysterectomy is avoided, pregnancy will usually ruin the surgical repairs. And the fact of the matter is that uncorrected prolapse only gets worse with subsequent pregnancies. So if I were to have more children, afterward I would experience worse prolapse than what I'm already dealing with... and that idea is highly disturbing to me.
So Brian and I have decided that we are done having children. Brian has even scheduled his vasectomy. I thought that might be a difficult decision for me to make, but really I'm quite at peace with it. We have two beautiful daughters who are healthy and happy, and I feel very fortunate to have them. Wouldn't you feel lucky if these were yours?
Monday, February 21, 2011
Mira's First Haircut
Mira got her first haircut! I took her to this really cute kids' salon called Pigtails and Crewcuts. They have barber chairs there that are shaped like automobiles. Mira chose to sit in the airplane to get her hair cut. She liked siting in the airplane, but then the stylist wanted to put the smock on her... That part was a little scary. Luckily Aunt KK (my sister) was there with us cuz she put the smock on herself and modeled it for Mira. After that, Mira decided the smock was ok. Then the stylist pointed out the TV on the wall playing Finding Nemo. It was all smooth sailing from there! And at the end, they told Mira she could pick out a lollipop and a sticker... but she was too excited about the lollipop to be bothered with picking a sticker. I was really pleased with the cut, too. I think it looks super cute and a little sassy. And now for the pics...
Before:
During:
After:
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Reflux. Also I Rock.
It's been too long since I've blogged... There's a lot going on.
Since Ellowyn was born, she's been really spitty. She spits up often and in great quantity. But at first it didn't seem to be bothering her. She was a "happy spitter", as our pediatrician put it. But over time, she seemed to be getting more and more irritated with it. It started with just being a 30 minute period every evening when she would be fussy. Then 30 minutes slowly turned into an hour... then longer... then it wasn't just fussing, but screaming... then it started happening in the morning too... finally it was so bad that she'd spend an hour in the morning being fussy and then THREE hours at night fussing or even screaming. But I had some clues about what was going on. The big one was that whenever she'd nurse, she'd latch and then shortly after I'd let down, she'd start crying and arching away. Also, she'd be fussy after eating and both before and after burping. I could also hear a lot of "wet burps" whenever she'd cry. All that indicated to me that her problems were related to her reflux. So we got in to see the pediatrician and he agreed with my assessment: her tummy was producing too much acid, causing her to have painful heartburn during and after eating. So he prescribed Zantac. Well... we got Ellowyn on the Zantac and it's like I have my baby back. For a few days there she was abducted by a screaming monster but now she's back and it's wonderful. I am so pleased with how well the reflux meds are working. I was actually gloating to Brian the other night: "I am such an awesome mommy. Ellowyn was having trouble with reflux and I figured it out and now problem solved. How cool am I?" And really, that's the best feeling a mom can have: something is wrong and mommy fixes it and then everyone is happier because of mommy.
Also, last weekend we gave Ellowyn her first bottle. (See pics below.) She took it really well. Her second bottle (the next day) she only drank half of and then wanted to nurse. So maybe it will take her some adjusting, but we wanted to wait to introduce a bottle in order to make sure that breastfeeding was really well established. And it is. So that's good.
And I can't believe how beautiful Mira is getting.... Isn't she gorgeous?
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