OUCH!!!! That Hurts Us All!!!

Today was Addison's 8 week/2 month check up with the pediatrician. It was a little early since I have to go back to work on Wednesday. This first picture is of her sleeping in our bed with her daddy while I got up to get ready for the appointment. This is a luxury for her because she doesn't get to spend much time sleeping in our bed even though she sleeps very well there. I'm afraid Wayne will roll over her and never know it! He's a very sound sleeper and often never hears her screaming in the middle of the night when it's time to eat.

Addison's checkup went very well. She is up to 8 pounds and 11 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long. She has gained about 4 pounds and grown 3 inches in the seven weeks since her arrival. However, she continues to be a "runt". She is in the 10th percentile for her height, weight, and head circumference. At least she's consistent. This means that 90 percent of the babies her age are bigger than her. Who ever thought Wayne and I would have a petite child. There's nothing petite about either of us! The pediatrician was satisfied with her growth. Addison continues to have a clogged tear duct that has gotten infected. So, we are using some eye drops to try to clear that up. The pediatrician also thinks she may have a hernia just above her belly button. He is just going to watch it for now and she what happens as she grows. Please pray that it goes away so she won't have to have surgery!!!

This is the face of our happy girl after her belly was filled (notice the milk tongue) and before her doctor's appointment. She was full of funny faces and smiles this morning. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed playing with her and making faces which she would smile at.

This is our fussy girl after her 4 shots--2 in each thigh. You can see her Tweety Bird band-aids on her thigh if you look close. Watching her get the shots was terrible!!! I think all of us cried! I was glad Daddy was there with us. Our otherwise quiet, happy child turned bright red and screamed at the top of her lungs. I've never heard her cry like that. The only time she fusses at all is when she's hungry. She has slept most of the day and has been fussy when she woke up to eat. She also hasn't eatten much. She is awake now and is still a little tempermental, but seems to be feeling better. I'm hoping she will eat one more time and then drift off to sleep. But it may be a long night for us. Wayne and I are a good team during the rough nights, but hopefully we will all get a good night's sleep.

Wayne and I both return to work on Wednesday. I'm dreading leaving her and have already shed my share of tears. I'm sure more will come. Thankfully it is a little easier to leave her knowing she will be in the good hands of my mom. She may be a little more spoiled at the end of the day, but I know she will be well taken care of. Please keep us in your prayers as we all adjust to this new way of life!

Rebecca

Happy Fall

Here are some recent pictures of Addison I took with the pumpkins Granna and PawPaw brought her from their visit to the pumpkin patch with Stephen and Christian. Addison is doing well and getting very spoiled with Daddy home. She will only catnap in her bed during the day, but will sleep for hours in bed with dad or with someone holding her. She has spent the last 2 afternoons with my aunt and my mom while I took Wayne to doctor's appointments. Yesterday was his 6 month cancer checkup. Still waiting on lab and x-ray results, but everything looks good. Today he returned to his surgeon. He was released to go back to work next Wednesday which is the same day I will return to work. Addison goes back to the doctor on Monday. I'm excited to see how much she weighs now. I know she is over 8 pounds and may be close to 9 pounds by then. She is sleeping better at night--waking after about 5 hours and again about 3 hours later. Much better than waking 3 times a night which she was doing after spending the night away from hom. She is still loving her bath. Her latest trick is peeing on mommy after I get her out of the bath and have her sitting in my lap wrapped in a towel to dry her off. Addison is starting to grab things near her hands including her bib, my shirt while feeding, and my hair. She's holding her head up pretty well and loves to look around. She is such a sweet baby and we are enjoying her so much!!!

All Dressed Up

Little House on the Prairie--here I come! :-) This picture's for you Nana.
This was Addison's dress for the wedding. We got lots of comments about Addison's "shoe" socks. She has them in 6 different colors. Thanks Cori!
All dressed up and ready for our first trip to church.

Last weekend was a busy one for us. On Saturday afternoon, we went to the wedding of Wayne's cousin. Addison was so cute all dressed up. She was definitely the hit of the party. And on Sunday, we took Addison to church for the first time. Addison was wonderful and probably didn't even know she went because she slept from the time we got in the car headed to church until the time our lunch came after church. She has perfect timing to wake up when it's time for mommy to eat!

Daddy's Best Medicine

Napping buddies! This has been a very common sight this week as daddy recovered from surgery.

Wayne had outpatient surgery on Tuesday. We were at the hospital from 6:30am to about 4:00pm. That is the longest I have ever been away from my sweet baby. Wayne's dad was at the hospital with me and his mother stayed with Addison at our house. Thank goodness for family. By the time I got Wayne's medicine and got him settled, it was 5:30 before I got my hands on Addison. All I wanted to do was hold her. But due to a complication we ended up in the ER Tuesday night for a couple of hours. My dad met us at the hospital and took Addison to their house since they live close to the hospital. By the time we left the hospital I was a mess from lack of sleep and not seeing and holding my sweet baby much all day. But since we didn't know what the rest of the night would hold and because I was absolutely exhausted, I agreed to allow Addison to spend her first night away from us. I cried the whole way home and continued to cry until I finally fell asleep holding her blanket. Thankfully we got a pretty good night sleep and mom brought Addison back to our house by 8:30 Wednesday morning. Needless to say--all I did all day was take care of my two babies. This picture has been a common sight--Wayne sleeping with his little girl. Wayne is doing better, but still in a good bit of pain when he moves around much. He is very thankful for his pain medicine. I'm very thankful for all the help from my mom, my in-laws, and my sister-in-law. They have been wonderful to feed us and come help out when needed. I don't know what I would have done without them.

A Month Already???

Addison's first real bath-she didn't cry at all!
Addison liked being down in the water for her bath.
Addison's favorite activity--staring at the toys hanging above her activity mat
Staring up at the toys on her activity mat. She is starting to swat at the toys.

It's very hard to believe Addison has been in our lives for a month already. She continues to be a wonderful baby although keeping up with her feeding demands can be a challenge. She has been a bottomless pit for the last few days. I'm hoping it is just a growth spurt and will slow down soon. About the only time she cries now is when she is hungry and I don't respond quickly enough. She was weighed last Thursday and was up to 6 lbs, 7 oz. Hooray!!!

Addison loves her bath now that she can get all the way in the tub. She is becoming much more alert and is smiling and responding more when we talk to her. She is very attracted to visual stimuli and loves to spend time on her activity mat looking at the toys suspended above her.

I haven't had too much time to post, but I will try to catch up on some of the things we have done in the past month soon.

Two Weeks Already

Addison likes to spend time snuggled in her Boppy watching everything around her.
Our beautiful little girl!
About the only time Addison cries is when you take her clothes off and give her a bath.
Spending quality time cuddling with daddy when he arrives home in the afternoon.

It's hard to believe Addison has been in our lives for 2 weeks now. What an amazing 2 weeks it has been. Like the commercial says --"Having a baby changes everything." And we are enjoying those changes so much.

Wayne went back to work on Monday after spending the first week at home with us. We missed him terribly during the day, but he has come home for lunch every day to see us. Addison and I had our first outting on Tuesday--a trip to mom's for the day so we could get out of the house. Mom and I took her to Brookwood to have her weight checked and she has broken the 5 pound mark! :-) She was 5 lbs, 3 oz. Babies are supposed to get back to their birth weight by 10 days of age and she was above her birth weight at 11 days. Mommy was very excited about that. Feeding has been our biggest challenge so far, but it seems that has worked itself out too.

Addison is a wonderful baby. This week she has started staying awake a little more during the day. She eats about every 3 hours, but sometimes wants to eat every 2 hours in the afternoon. She rarely cries except when we take her clothes off for her bath. She makes lots of sweet noises and funny faces that keep our attention on her all the time. She is only waking up one time per night around 2:30 to eat. She goes to sleep around 10 and wakes between 6 and 7. She does not like sleeping on her back so she usually sleeps in her bouncy seat inside her Pack N Play at night. I'm trying to get her to nap on her back so she will sleep in her Pack N Play at night, but she is not up for that now. She is smiling at random times and is rolling from her back to both sides already. She is truly a blessing and Wayne and I are enjoying her so much.

We appreciate all the phone calls, cards, and visitors we have had since arriving home. There is definitely one thing Addison will not lack--people who love her!

Rebecca

Surprise!!!

Addison at 48 hours old dressed and ready to leave the hospital on Sunday.
Our new family!
Addison after her first bath at home. She screamed most of the time but quieted quickly afterwards.
These are the pants from her going home outfit which was a newborn size. They stretched from her shoulders to her feet. Thankfully my mom searched until she found a perfect going home outfit in a preemie size. Even some of her preemie clothes are too big right now. But she will grow into them quickly I'm sure.

At this time one week ago, I was on the phone with my OB talking about what I thought might be signs that Addison was on the way. I was thinking to myself it was just a false alarm and there was no need to go to the hospital. After talking to the doctor and Wayne and my mom, I decided to take my time but get ready to go to the hospital just to check things out. Since I hadn't planned to pack until Saturday, I had to get my things together. We left home around 10:30 and got to Brookwood Hospital around 11:00. Once there I was checked and told that indeed my water was leaking and I had dilated to 1 centimeter. There was no turning back. The doctor on call admitted me and said we would just see how things progressed during the night. I had contractions throughout the night, but they weren't too consistent or strong. Around 7:30 Friday morning, my OB came by and checked me again. I had progressed to 2 cm. She suggested starting Pitocin to induce labor and that was fine with me. It there was no turning back, I was ready to meet Addison as quickly as possible. My labor progressed steadily, but was managable until around 10:00. At that point I was pretty miserable. Thankfully I had progressed to 4 cm and could get my epidural. Whoever came up with epidurals should be highly rewarded. I went from agony to sleep in a matter of about 20 minutes. Unfortunately the epidural slowed down my progress and I stayed at 4 cm for about 2 hours. Then the nurse who was with me started seeing signs of stress with Addison--her heart rate was decelerating after each contraction. They laid me on my left side and started me on oxygen. I told the nurse something felt different all the sudden and she checked me again. I had gone from 4 cm to 9 1/2 cm in about an hour. It was time to get ready to push. After about 30 minutes of pushing, Addison was born at 3:07 pm on Friday, September 12, 2008. She was 4 lbs and 14 oz and 18 1/4 inches long. Although the doctors had prepared us for immature lungs, difficulties regulating her body temperature, and blood sugar issues, Addison came out screaming and pink and had no issues after birth. She is an amazingly healthy, but small little girl.

Wayne and I have enjoyed getting to know our little girl this week. We are truly blessed to have her and are in awe of her. We just sit and stare at her beautiful face and thank God for this miracle he has given us. God is so faithful!

Thank you for your prayers throughout our fertility struggle, this pregnancy, and as little Addison was born. I will continue to post updates about her as she grows. But now I need to go feed my little one! What a blessing!

Love,

Rebecca