Snapshots

The Doggies Steal the Show!

Click HERE or the picture below to see the video!

Sleeping Beauty. Seriously. It's beautiful when she sleeps.

Smiling at Daddy...The doggies wanted to pose for a picture!

For some reason, I really like this picture. It really gives a snapshot into our lives. House a little cluttered, dogs around, oohing and ahhing over Adelyn, and lots of joy.

This picture cracks me up.

Sophie decided to try out the playmat.

New bouncer for Adelyn from Nana!

We had to modify it a bit. :)

Nana's Been Here

This morning I got to go for a run. (Back up to 30 minutes...wahoo!)

I went to the grocery store.

I got some work done at the office.

The house is tidy and cleaned.

And THIS is now in my house.

All of this could only mean one thing...

Nana's been in town!

Thanks mom for giving me a much needed break this morning!

The Phantom Cry

This is something the books don't tell you about.

The Phantom Cry.

Soon after bringing Adelyn home I began to hear her little cries... even when they weren't her. Austin and I will be peacefully watching TV with Adelyn napping in the next room and all of the sudden I hear the faintest resemblance of a cry that will stop me in my tracks. Was that her? Nope, it was the squeak from a fan. Five minutes later... another noise. Is she waking up? Nope. Just someone talking as they walk down the street. I thought I was alone and a bit paranoid until Austin asked me, "Do you feel like you hear her crying all the time when she isn't?" Yes! We've labeled these deceiving little noises as "Phantom Cries." The Phantom Cries happen even more frequently at night. Particularly in those moments where we are almost asleep. I'll hear a noise somewhat resembling an awake child, my eyes will spring open and my ears will strain to hear more to decipher the source of the noise I just heard. Five minutes later, I'll be almost asleep and Austin will break the silence with, "Did you hear that?" The Phantom Cries are the culprit of costing me minutes of precious sleep.

What's weird is that it will even happen when you're in the same room as Adelyn. She be peacefully sleeping and I'll mistakenly think I heard a cry from the other room. It's quite humorous. I guess you just grow so accustomed to keeping an ear out for your baby's cry that you hear it all the time!

Here are some common culprits of the Phantom Cry:

Dogs

Fans

Cars

People walking by

Birds

Music

I'm sure I'm not the only mom this happens to but I find it funny that I've never heard other moms talk about it. I'm sure I'll get over it as I grow more and more accustomed to her normal sounds and squeaks but until then, I daily fall victim to those deceiving Phantom Cries.

 

 

Figures...

This is very typical of me.

Buying a mass quantity of detergent before testing it out to make sure Adelyns tush didn't get a rash from it. Well, all of my cloth diaper loving followers are coming out of the woodwork to inform me that Charlie's Soap detergent is known to cause rashes on baby bottoms.

NOW you tell me.

Anyone want to buy 950+ loads worth of detergent? It works great assuming you aren't wearing cloth diapers.

Adelyn Update

I've had lots of people ask how Adelyn has been doing so I thought I'd do a mass update rather than leave you hanging.

We thought Adelyn's thrush was the cause of her crying through eating. We were put on a medicine but it didn't seem to be improving the situation at all. After 4-5 days of no improvement, I called my pediatrician in tears. I think between my shaky voice and Adelyn crying in the background, they were able to get us an appointment within the hour... Whew! Adelyn got a thorough examination, and we answered lots of questions about the past week. We even fed Adelyn there in the office to show how she cries and refuses to eat very much. Of course at that feeding, the little rascal did an ok job and made us look like overreacting first time parents. She looked at the thrush and said it was a very mild case and was likely not causing her any discomfort. Our doctor (who I really do like and respect) didn't really have a clear answer. She mentioned the possibility of her having a type or reflux that doesn't cause her to spit up but gives her a sore throat. We were told to see how the next few days go and consider the possibility that this is a funky stage she is going through. So we left without a solid answer. Which is almost worse than leaving with a diagnosis!

The next two days didn't get any better. Cry cry cry. The more I poked around on the Internet, the more I ran into a condition called "Silent Reflux." Here is an explination of it: (I'm pretty sure this is what my doc was talking about)

Silent reflux in infants is exactly the same as infant reflux minus the spitting up. When an infant refluxes silently the stomach contents travel up the throat but the infant is able to swallow it back down again before it actually comes out. This means the stomach acid burns on the trip up the throat and on the trip back down. Silent reflux in infants is not as obvious because there is no actual spitting up, which makes it much harder to detect.

Symptoms:

Your baby may exhibit only some of these symptoms:

• poor weight gain or rapid weight gain (Adelyn is 50th percentile so not a problem for us)
  


• gulping with a painful look on the face (Yep)
  


• sour breath, wet sounding burps (Sometimes)


• Horseness in voice (Yep. People often comment on her raspy voice)


• persistent or chronic cough (No coughing)
  


• frequent hiccups (Yep)
  


• sudden burst of painful crying (Oh yeah)
  


• painful wakeups from sleep or poor sleeping habits (Yep. Never been a good napper. Recently sleeping worse at night too)
  


• poor feeding habits, possible feeding aversions (Umm, yes.)
  


• neck or back arching during or after feeding (Not too bad but happening more lately)
  


• excessive fussiness, crying or colic (not outside of eating time)
  


• demands to be carried constantly (no, not too much)
  


• red or salmon colored throat (haven't looked)
  


• blood in the stool or spit up (that would scare me to death)

So you can see why my ears perked up when I heard about this.

We actually ran into my pediatrician at church this morning and ran our thoughts past her. She didn't hesitate to call us in a prescription of Zantac which Adelyn is now on. We just started it this afternoon and was told it would take a few days to kick in. So we're hoping this will help our little lady out. Until then, we simply have to soldier through feeding times, comfort her as best we can, and get her to eat as much as she can. We've also angled her bed a little more upright and are giving her lots of naps in the swing where she is angled upright as well.

So that's where we stand. It's not been a fun week. I got pretty worn down emotionally and physically since she isn't sleeping well at night lately. Some days have been better than others but I'm glad we are in the process of getting things figured out.  I really really really hope this is the issue. It's a quick fix that they grow out of after a few months. Time will tell I guess. Until then, we are taking one day at a time, one feeding at a time.

On a happier note, Adelyn really is a fun baby (when she's not eating that is :) She smiling so much at us, very content to just hang out wherever we prop her up. She is cooing and making adorable baby noises all the time. I absolutely LOVE to snuggle her and to just hold her. Her little eyes are amazingly expressive and I feel like we see more and more personality every day. We love our little lady! Hoping to get eating back on track as soon as we can!

Fuzzi Bunz Dropout

I'm so bummed.

We have a huge stock of Fuzzi Bunz that we can't use. I've attempted them three different times and Adelyn has come down with major diaper rash almost immediately! It makes me cringe knowing how much money went into the diapers (mainly shower gifts from people but still...). And being a thrifty gal, I lose a little sleep at night knowing how much money we are going to have to put into disposable diapers. Ugh.

I do plan to try them again at least once a month to see if Adelyn's skin isn't as sensitive to whatever is causing the rash but until then, disposable it is.

I've been poking around on the internet to find the cheapest route to buying disposable diapers. I'm finding that you can get them pretty cheap on Amazon and fairly cheap at SAMs Club. We're headed there today so we'll find out.

Did I mention I'm bummed?!

Venting

Can I just vent a little?

Before I unleash, I want to preface this with I've actually had a good couple of days. I'm enjoying being a mom more and more and it is getting so much more fun as Adelyn is becoming more responsive and exploring her world more every day. My family has been super great in helping out and I feel like Adelyn is even napping  a little better! So overall, things are going well for us. BUT it's just been one of those days where I am worn down at the end of the night and just want to whine a little to someone... anyone!

Adelyn still won't eat without crying through it. I don't get it.  This has been going on for almost a whole week now. At first we were so frustrated with her thinking she was being a little butt and just not wanting to take the bottle after she had been for 8 weeks. We then find out she had thrush (an infection in her mouth) that made it uncomfortable for her to suck. (Here's my previous post about this). So we're on a medicine that seems to be doing NO good. Nothing has changed. I am beginning to dread feeding times. And it seems like she does too. It's heartbreaking, frustrating, exhausting, and draining to know that she is hungry but to see her get so flustered and upset when she starts to eat. Why isn't the medicine working?? Is thrush even the problem or is there something else wrong? I was told it would be a quick fix. There is nothing quick about multiple days of your child crying through eating 5+ times a day. I don't feel like I'm getting much help from my pediatrician either. Well, her nurse anyway. I've talked to her twice already about it she's not concerned since Adelyn seems to be getting enough to eat. Yes, she is getting enough but this nurse isn't seeing the 45 minute process it takes to get your crying baby girl to gulp down 2 ounces when she used to easily guzzle 4 ounces and end with a smile. I feel unheard and helpless and not sure what to do except to hope it clears up soon. I don't want to be that annoying mom who keeps calling the doctor back but I don't know what else to do. No one seems to have answers.

I mean, has anyone out there had this problem or heard of someone who has? I'm feeling pretty lonely in this right now when the only feedback I get from people is, "Ya, that's weird. My kids never did that..."

Anyway... like I said, these are the ramblings coming from a tired mommy at the end of the day. It just helps to complain sometimes, ya know?

And now for some random pictures for you... More from my sister's wedding photographer Nicole Welch

Thrush... Who Knew!?

I used to get stressed about Adelyn not wanting to nap very much.

That was until she started to refuse to eat.

I think one of the most stressful things for a mother is hearing your child cry from hunger and seeing her refuse to eat. It's horrible and so frustrating! You want to reason with your child but then you remember she is only 9 weeks old. I think we are starting to get things worked out but time will tell.

About two weeks ago, Adelyn started refusing to breast feed and would only take bottles. We have had to do so many bottles because of my breast feeding issues that she just got used to the faster, easier flow of the bottles and preferred to eat only out of those. So since then I've been pumping and feeding her breast milk from the bottle.

Well about 4-5 days ago, she randomly refused to eat from the bottle. After a 30 minute scream fest, we chalked it up as her being in a bad mood or having a tummy ache. Well this started to happen more and more. She would act hungry, suck a few times and then scream at us. She'd then suck a little more, and the scream fests would continue. I called the doctor asking about acid reflux and the symptoms didn't match. She gave me a few bottle feeding suggestions and told me to call back if it got worse.

So we tried lots of different things. Warming the milk up, keeping the milk cold, switching up bottles, switched to a faster flow nipple, feeding in a quiet room, feeding outside, swaddling her up while feeding, etc. We even tried a bottle of formula to see if she wasn't liking the taste of my breast milk. All of our efforts were refused by our little lady. She would eventually take at least 2-3 oz at each feeding so I wasn't too stressed until yesterday.

Yesterday was a rough day. EVERY SINGLE FEEDING was a crying battle. (For both Adelyn and myself towards the end of the day!). I just knew something wasn't right. A baby is not supposed to cry while eating! So last night we called the doctor on-call for my pediatrician. She asked a bunch of questions including one asking if Adelyn's tongue was white. A white tongue? I had noticed that before but thought it was milk residue. We looked again and there it was- a tongue that had a white looking film over it. The doctor told me she thought Adelyn had thrush which can make sucking painful. It made so much sense! We could tell there was immediate pain when she ate but couldn't figure out why! The bad news was that it was Saturday night so the doctor couldn't call in a prescription without seeing it. She kindly told us to "limp through the night" and go to an urgent care the next morning to confirm the diagnosis and get a prescription.

What's crazy is that Adelyn actually slept all the way through the night for the first time! We thought she'd be up every few hours but I guess her rough day wore her out too so she decided to skip out on her 3am feeding she likes to wake us up for. After eating at 5, she went right back down and slept until 7:15. Craziness.

Well we took her to the doctor this morning to confirm, yes, she has thrush in her mouth. We got a prescription that we have to squirt into her mouth 4 times a day. Feedings are still pretty rough right now since we just started the meds today. This last feeding she only took a little over 2 oz after working with her for 45 minutes. It's painful for the whole family. BUT it's a relief to know there is a reason for the fussiness. There is peace in knowing it will get better.

It's almost laughable about how many feeding issues I've had in these 9 weeks. I feel like I will be an expert to any future mommy who is having any sort of breast feeding problem AND NOW bottle feeding problem. Between my researching on the Internet and the zillions of phone calls I've made to other moms, I feel like I know so much about feeding troubleshooting.

But then I remind myself, "Polly, Adeyln is alive. She is healthy and growing great. She's a happy baby (most of the time) and is doing just fine. Something is going the right way, right?"Hang in there, little lady. This too shall pass.

Baby Food... for the Future

Austin often affectionately calls me his "Industrious Wife."  Yesterday was one of those days. After making a stack of homemade baby wipes, I got busy preparing fruit for the freezer. Allow me to explain...

When Adelyn starts to be able to eat solids, we are going to be in the dead of winter. That means no yummy fruits will be in season. So I'll have to spend a fortune to buy summer fruits that probably won't taste that good. Call me a hippy but I'd rather her first exposure to some fruits be organic and pesticide free.

So on Saturday, I made a visit to the Farmer's Market and STOCKED UP. I came home with almost 20 pounds of peaches, 4 quarts of blueberries, and a bag of blackberries.

The black berries and blueberries I spread out on a cookie sheet and froze. I did this so they wouldn't be all clumped together when I bagged them up. I did the same with the peaches after I cut them up.



So excited to have a deep freeze stocked with yummy, in-season fruits for my little gal in the winter!

Make Your Own Baby Wipes

Due to some stubborn diaper rash on Adelyn's bum, I started asking questions about things that could possibly help it go away a little faster. I got a few good suggestions from my expert mommy friends. One told me that her doctor told her to stop using wipes and switch to a wash cloth for a while. Apparently the chemicals in wet wipes can sometimes be a little harsh on the sensitive areas. I did a little poking around online and got some ideas on how to make your own wipes. So, I'm giving it a shot.

Lots of people suggested cutting up flannel receiving blankets and using those. Since I had a pack of 5 that I wasn't using, I figured they could be sacrificed to the cause of healing Adelyns red hiney. I cut them up in squares- probably 8x8 sizes but  I didn't bother measuring since they are simply butt wipes. I read that flannel blankets fray pretty bad so I did a simple zig-zag stitch around the outside of each wipe.

To use them, we just wet it down with a spray bottle, wipe the booty, and toss it in the hamper if we aren't using our cloth diapers. If we are using the Fuzzi Bunz, I just toss the rag in with the diaper and wash them all together. Since her poop isn't too gross yet, it really isn't a big deal nor is it very stinky.

Hopefully this will help out my little gal's tush!

Wedding Pictures

Here are a few of the professional photos from my sister's wedding.

You can view all of them at the photographers blog.

Here's a sneak peek!






 







 

Adelyn at 8 weeks