Night Night!

Sara loves her bedtime routine. She is really a great sleeper. Each night at 9:00ish, she gets her pajamas on, then she gets her teeth brushed (to us singing, "This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth," etc.). Then Zack and I both go into her room with her and hold her while we sing her favorite lullaby -- "Silent Night." :-) The best part is that she sings with us. Hopefully while we're in Amarillo this week, we can get a video of it. It's too cute!

Here she is in her pj's, ready for bed.

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Parenting isn't for Sissies

WARNING: Only mothers, doctors, nurses, and coroners should read this story. All others are likely to be offended and/or get sick. If you don't like knowing too much, then stop reading now! :-)

Oh my goodness, y'all are not going to believe what happened today. First of all, my poor baby (who is 9 months old today!) has been having so much trouble with constipation ever since she weaned herself about 3 weeks ago. So I've been helping her out. How, you ask? First of all by giving her prune juice every day. I figure it's gotta help! And then, when I see that she is straining to pass something (and it's very sad and pitiful, let me tell you), I immediately grab her up and rush her to the changing table where I strip her diaper off and proceed to push her legs toward her chest and spread her little rump cheeks apart to allow for easier passage.

Well... No more.

Today, I heard the whimper and looked down to see her crouched on all fours in her "poop position," so I quickly grabbed her and ran her to the table where I could "assist." Ok, now, here's where it gets graphic.

Lying on her back on the table, Sara is about chest height; so I was leaned over a little bit, pushing the underside of her thighs (which were facing me) towards her chest. Poor, poor baby -- she was grunting and pushing and screaming like a woman in labor, and I, just like any good coach, was soothing and encouraging her. "Come on, baby, you can do it! That's my girl, push it on out. Oooooh, I'm sooo sorry, baby girl! That's it!" My skills rivaled the best doula, I'm sure. [GRAPHIC WARNING] I continued to coo and sooth as she strained and pushed out little turds, when suddenly, I heard what I thought was our water pipes bursting, and tasted ... yes ... tasted a mouthful of poop!!! OOOH it was awful! You know how you always hear people say, "Those baby food green beans look just like baby poop." And then you try them and think, "Nasty -- they taste just like baby poop too!" Well, I'm here to tell you -- they taste like chocolate cream pie with whipped cream compared to the real thing.

And it wasn't just my mouth. ("just".... ha!) It was all in my hair, all over the door behind me, the wall next to her changing pad, the floor -- everywhere!!! It looked like we'd been having mud fights. I stood in utter shock and horror for a full minute, willing my brain to come up with a plan. I was covered in poop, the room smelled like a neglected animal shelter, and Sara was struggling to roll off her changing pad and spread the damage further.

But, like the truly converted Blake that I am, I decided, step #1 was pictures. So I put the changing pad (with Sara still on it) on the floor and ran and grabbed the camera. I knew that no one would believe me when I said how horrible it was if I didn't have proof. Then it was into the shower for both of us (I had a huge pile of baby doo to get out of my hair, not to mention my eyes... mouth... ears... ewwwww!), and off to bed with Sara so I could scrub and disinfect the entire war zone.

Well, there is one bright side to the whole episode. At least Sara isn't constipated any more.

9 Months Old

Here's a slideshow of Sara from the last month. LOTS of new things happened this month! Crawling, pulling up, two new teeth. She sleeps 12 hours every night now! She's such a sweet baby, and it really is a joy to be her mama. I look forward to getting to know her better in the years to come! :-)

Crawling!

Here is a little video of Sara crawling! She just started Saturday for the first time, actually picking up hands and feet. She's been scooting for a while, but I'm sure my days of peace are numbered. :-)

8 Months - Pictures

To view the picture album, click on the slideshow.

Eight Months Old!

I know I say this every month, but I just can't believe it! I remember when Sara was born and hearing moms say, "Oh, my baby is eight months old," and thinking, What an old baby! And now, here we are. :-)

Sara sits perfectly, and is just days away from full-fledged crawling. She's been rocking for a couple of weeks now, and she drags her knees, but she hasn't figure out the hand-and-knee moving simultaneously yet. She pulls up on your fingers and stands, though no real steps or anything. One thing we've been working on this month is her neck, which she doesn't often hold up straight. My grandpa (a chiropractor) says that her top vertebra is out of place, so we've been going to him twice a week for adjustments. He said it's likely something that happened in childbirth and isn't a serious problem, but we do want to get it corrected before her muscles get too set. It seems to be gradually getting better, though when she's tired it's even more noticeable.

She weighs almost 17 pounds these days and is definitely getting more personality. Her favorite noises to make right now are grunts & squeals and simple sounds like "da-da-da-da" and gurgles. I love her Bumbo seat!! (You can see a picture below) It has been a life-saver for me. I bring it everywhere, and it even serves as her high chair for now, now that she's getting some solids.

She's SOOOO much fun these days. I just can't believe how much I love her!

4th of July

Sara in her Bumbo seat

Tooth!

I'm working over at Zack's grandma's house, and I just noticed that Sara has her first tooth peeking through!

7 Months pictures

If you are reading this in an email and would like to see the slideshow, please view the blog.

7 Months Later

Sara is SEVEN months old! BOY what a different life we have now from just a few months ago. Unbelievable difference really. She is now 16 pounds (that's a weight gain of 11 pounds so far -- and what an accomplishment too), and probably about 26 inches. She's a little chunker and SO much fun. She's just truly the joy of my life now, and though some days are hard, I wouldn't trade this for anything!

She's sitting up great now, for as long as she wants without falling over. She rolls over and over across the room (or off the bed... oops...!). She laughs some and smiles all the time. She is sleeping through the night most nights, which means 11:00 pm to 7:00 am most days. Which means I get sleep! In general, she's a much more pleasant baby now than she was a few months ago. No crawling yet, but she does push up on all fours sometimes. And no teeth! I was sure she was getting some based on her crankiness a few weeks ago, but nothing showed.

It really is phenomenal to see the difference in Sara in just 7 months. I'm so grateful that the hardest days (in some ways, I know!!) are over.

First Bowl of Cereal

Zack's mom got Sara a box of cereal, so we tried it out this morning. She didn't lunge at it like she did bananas the other day, but she did eat the whole bowl! ...and made quite a mess too :-)

First Taste

Sara has REALLY been going after any food I eat lately, so today I let
her taste a pickle (got that idea from Susan). And she LOVED it!!! She
kept reaching out and putting it back in her mouth to suck on it
whenever I'd take it away. Pretty soon she was drooling green. :-) She
was going after it so much I was afraid she'd break a piece off, so I
had to take it away, but it sure was cute!

Comforts

Sara loves to snuggle into our down comforter. She's definitely Annie's grandbaby. :-) Too bad for her it's getting warm and the comforter is going in the closet...

Easter

Easter this year was so cold! It was in the 20s when we left the house Easter morning, so naturally, Sara couldn't wear her original Easter dress. Instead she wore this one that is just as cute, even if it was a little bit big. :-) And her cute "trumpett" socks look like little shoes. Those were a present from her Aunt Willow. Who needs Easter bunnies when you have cute babies!

Rolling Over

I caught it on camera today. Here's Sara rolling over (or should I say, falling over!) :-) It's hard to keep her on her tummy these days! She rolls over pretty much every time I put her on her belly.

Reactions

We discovered today that Sara is allergic to goat milk.  She's been getting about 6-8 oz. per day consistently for about 2 weeks now.  I had noticed first of all that she seemed extra "gassy" and fussy with it.  Also, she's had a very persistent diaper rash that hasn't healed even though I've been slathering the creams on it!  I didn't make the connection, but Mom saw it today and said that it was the kind of rash babies get when they've eaten something they're allergic to.  And since the only other thing she eats is breastmilk (which she's had from day one!), it must be the goat milk.  And just in the last day since cutting the goat milk, her rash is already getting much better.  So, I guess the supplementing will have to go back to formula.

One day, Two milestones

Last night, Sara slept in her crib all night for the first time (she usually sleeps in her bassinet, or even with us).  She did wake up a couple of times, but I was able to pat her back and she fell right back asleep.  And I actually think that wasn't because of the crib, but because of her stuffy nose.

And just now, she laughed for the first time!  I was chewing on her cheek like I do sometimes, and she started laughing!  So I kept doing it, and she kept laughing.  Babies sure are fun.  :-)

Sniffles

Poor Sara has her first real cold.  I got one earlier this week, so she probably got it from me.  She's coughing and has a runny nose, and she was up every hour last night, and I think it was probably a sore throat waking her up (since that came with my cold too).  I guess there is a first time for everything.

More today...

The lactation consultant today said that she's pretty sure Sara needs to see an occupational therapist to train her to suck right. She discussed Sara's "case" with the LC from Willow Creek, who agreed. She said it's definitely a tongue problem that is holding her back. She also sent me home with a baby scale so I can weigh Sara before and after every feeding for 24 hours or so, just so we can get a better idea of how much she really is getting. She said that seeing a baby with problems like this is not that unusual -- except that they usually figure it out within a week or two! It is unusual for a baby to still be having such issues at four months old (honestly, I think it's probably just that it's uncommon for mothers of babies with these issues to still be breastfeeding, so you don't see older babies with these problems). She is very supportive of course, but she did ask me how I would feel if breastfeeding doesn't work out, which makes me wonder if she's not more pessimistic than she seemed. So, for the next 24 hours, I'll be weighing Sara before and after feedings. After that, I'll send Susan (the LC) the information, and we'll go from there!

4 Months Old!

I'm astonished as I look at the title of this post and realize that it's my baby that is four months old! It certainly has been a trip...

One thing that I can say about Sara is that she sleeps great! She's on a pretty consistent routine (when we're home), where she likes to get a good nap in the morning (about 2-3 hours), and a couple more 1-1.5 hour naps throughout the day. She then goes to bed for the night around 6:30pm. I wake her up between 9:30 and 10:30 to give her one last feeding, and then she usually sleeps until 5:30 or 6:00am. She'll take another feeding then and then go back to bed until 9:30 or 10:00. It's amazing how consistent she is when there's nothing to disrupt the schedule. And the best part is that we've mastered naptime where I can just put her down and she'll go to sleep on her own. It was definitely a long road getting there, but well worth it. Originally, I had to walk or nurse her to sleep and then gingerly put her down. At first, she would wake up pretty quickly (after 30 minutes or so), but she eventually got used to being in bed by herself and would sleep for longer and longer stretches. Then I started putting her down just when she'd be going to sleep and lie down with her and hold her hands until she was asleep. And now, she loves her bed so much that (if she's not overtired!) she sometimes actually sighs with contentment when I put her down and goes right to sleep! I know the feeling. :-) In some ways it's backfired a little bit though, because she usually doesn't sleep more than 30-45 minutes when I hold her now, which makes it very difficult when we're out for long periods of time. And actually, when I say "her bed," I should really say our bed. For now, she's still with me and Zack. My goal right now is to get her taking naps in her crib (she's actually been doing that for the past 2 days)...

...and then phase her into her crib at night. I'm not really sure if I'm going to be okay with that or not (I think I'll miss her at night!), but she's starting to get so squirmy in her sleep that I end up on the edge of the bed every night. So I guess we'll see what happens.

Still no laughing yet! She often looks as though she might rip one, but just gurgling and cooing for now. :-) She smiles just about anytime you smile at her (provided she's not cranky), and she's starting to consciously reach out and grab things. Before, she was just swinging her arms aimlessly, occasionally hitting objects, but now you can see her focus on something and actually reach out for it, and then grab on. And then, when she accomplishes her goal, she starts kicking with excitement. She's also much more interested in her hands than ever before. She can spend fifteen minutes just examining them!

She sure is cute! It would seem that her first nickname is "Critter." Zack calls her this pretty consistently, and it's even led to other phrases like, "It's Critter time!" and "You've been Crittered!" With Zack as her daddy I'm sure she'll have many more (and hopefully more feminine!).

I get more attached to her every day. Zack is really great about watching her for an hour (or three) and letting me go do errands or have fun, but it's amazing to me that as much as I want and need to get away, I always end up missing her still! I guess that's the way God intended it. :-)

Another day, another appointment

Sara and I went to see another lactation consultant this morning.  As of right now, she gets about 6-8 oz. per day of goat milk, with the rest of her nutrition from breastfeeding.  We're still having some pretty major issues.  The LC we saw this morning was Susan McWilliams, an IBCLC at Family Medical Center in Fayetteville.  She was referred to me by Abby Creech, who worked as a translator for her for several years.  She is a super nice lady, and definitely wants to help and seemed very knowledgeable.  She confirmed what the ENT, Dr. Cashman, said, that Sara is most definitely not tongue-tied, but that she does have a short tongue and short palette (not really sure what that means), and that she also has a "disorganized suck."  Now that she's seen Sara, she wants to think about a game plan tonight and wants us to come back tomorrow.  At that time, she'll also be loaning me a baby scale so that I can weigh Sara before and after feedings to see how much she's getting.  I have lots of hope still that this can work.  Maybe this is finally the end of our loooong road!!