4 months and more

Oh boy, we are so behind! Miss Emilie is almost 5 months old and we've had our first Christmas as a family of three!!

Here's how it's been going recently:

Jared finished up his two classes at Davenport, and will return in January for Spring semester. He passed both his classes with 100%! He is LOVING his computer classes and all the new, fun stuff he gets to learn about and try!

I am loving my job, and am SO GRATEFUL that it's only part time. I don't know how I'd function at full time with this crazy kid! I teach high schoolers, and we even started a classroom economy behavior plan that has gone over really well! My co-teacher isn't coming back next year so I'm hopeful that I'll be full time next school year!

Emilie is growing in so many ways! He stats at her 4 month doctor appointment were:
Height: 25.6"
Weight: 13.6lbs

So, that's 95 percentile for height, and 25 percentile for weight.

She eats a lot, chews EVERYTHING, still wakes in the night to eat, and drools constantly. So! We decided to start solids. We introduced Emilie to avocados and bananas over Christmas break. She absolutely fell in love with bananas, but was horrified that we gave her the green, avocado moosh, so we mix in bananas to trick her!

Emilie is currently getting over her first major illness: ear infection. She also has a nasty cough and is all around miserable. So, our Christmas was a little different this year! Both Emilie and I were no fun as we were sick and just wanted to sleep all weekend! We're on the mend though, praying that Jared doesn't get it!

Emilie is also rolling over, puts weight on her legs and "stands", teething(we thought), growing LOTS of hair, becoming more coordinated with her hands, found her toes, giggles, and smiles all.the.time.

Overall, Emilie is a very happy, smiley baby, but can quickly go from 0 to 10 in no time. She still screams when over-tired or just angry. We've attempted to fix this by following a strict nap schedule: every 2hrs, it's worked wonders so far!

3 months

Emilie has changed SO MUCH in a month! She is starting to fill out and look less newbornish. She is now:

• blowing spit bubbles
• attempting to use hand-eye coordination by playing on Daddy's phone
• talking and gurgling
• can grasp objects
• tracks people and objects with her eyes
• smiles when she sees someone or something she likes
• eating more and sleeping a little longer

With these big developmental milestones also comes fussiness, changed appetite and different sleep patterns. Emilie has been having little meltdowns every night before bed. She has to squirm and scream before she finally drifts off to sleep. Fortunately it doesn't take her too long to fall asleep, but the screaming is a little un-nerving.

Emilie will officially be 3 months on November 9th, but since we don't have a doctor's appointment until she's 4 months, I'm not sure what her weight/height is. I think her height is probably the same, but weight is maybe up a couple pounds from last month. 

Emilie is finally able to wear all the cute 3 month clothes that have been hanging in the closet! She swims in them, but they fit her long body! She's also drooling a lot, and I was asked why I don't put bibs on her all the time; because I LOVE changing her outfits several times a day! :) She puts up with the outfit changes too!

We didn't really do anything for Halloween this year. Jared was at school, and with the fussy 12 week-ness we didn't have the time to hand out candy. Sadly, I didn't see any kids out in our neighborhood anyways. I think a lot of people must do indoor trick or treating at the mall. 

I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with a little one this year! Jared and I have decided that since our budget is tight, our "gifts" to each other will be to go shopping together and get Emilie all sorts of little goodies. I can't wait to see where Emilie will be developmentally in just another month! 

Milestones

• Emilie is 2 months old. She weighed in at a whopping 10 lbs 11oz, ha! 23 3/4 inches, so might as well be 24 inches, with a giant head. Really. Height and head circumference are in the 97th percentile. Weight is in the 42nd percentile. All arms, legs, and HAIR oh my! Emilie with headbands -------------------->

• We're sleeping longer stretches at night! Emilie sleeps anywhere from 4-7 hr stretches. I sleep about 2-4 hr stretches. I wake up constantly if Emilie sleeps for a long time. It's getting better. She has fully transitioned into her crib, although when daddy gets Em up at 5am, he feeds her and puts her back in bed with me so we can snuggle for a few hours. She's quite the little snuggly baby. 

• A lot of firsts are coming up for us! On Monday I start my first day of my first year of teaching! I am so excited. It's part time and will be a pretty slow paced job; I'll only have three students to teach, and it's more one on one than whole class. I already have a few ideas for what to change and how to make this school year better than the last. 

• As for Miss Emilie Monday will be her first full day with Amy, and away from me. I know I'll think about her the entire time I'm at work, but at least it's just a couple hours before I get to see her again. I think the first week will be rough, but she's with a wonderful, trustworthy person, so I know she will adapt. 

A Little Bit of Everything and Nothing All At Once

Emilie is nearly 2 months old already! Time certainly is flying by. Just a couple more weeks until I return to work and Emilie goes to the babysitter, how sad! It will be nice to get out of the house and actually put some makeup on though!

Emilie is smiling a lot more and I was even able to capture it on camera! See!----------------------------------->

Last weekend was rough as we had a sick girl, we all were kind of under the weather actually. Em was throwing up her food, was fussy and crying and just a hot mess. Poor girl. The doctor either thought it was a protein sensitivity or a stomach bug. After Em threw up the special formula we knew it wasn't a protein sensitivity, thank goodness, because I'm not sure what I would eat if I eliminated protein from my diet. After a couple days Em is a completely different baby. She is getting much better about sleeping and can fall asleep on her own now, which makes for a less cranky baby in the evening. She still only sleeps in her own bed for a couple hours, but that's better than none at all! She has been very content and back to eating well.

It's amazing how much more alert Emilie is now that she's able to see and be aware of her surroundings. She loves sitting in her swing in the sunroom and looking around. She also likes to cuddle and stare at mommy and daddy. Daddy is pretty funny to watch and listen to, but sometimes he's over-stimulating and Em becomes Madame Fussypants.

Emilie also likes to give herself hickeys. Weird. She sucks on her arm and has given herself two hickeys, which looked like bruises. She has also recently become more interested in her fingers and arms than a pacifier. She doesn't quite have control over her little fingers, so when she sticks them in her mouth she tends to gag herself and then look wide-eyed at me like I did it.

Emilie got to meet her great Grandparents (Duquettes) this past weekend as well. What a lucky girl to have so many people that love her and are in her life. It was a little overwhelming for Miss Priss to meet so many people though. She had a little meltdown and mommy had to take her into a spare room and rock her to sleep. Once Em was asleep she was able to be passed around and fawned over again!

Next week is Emilie's big 2 month well baby visit with her doctor. I know she has finally reached the 10lb mark, but not sure about the length. She is still in newborn clothes, and wears some 0-3 month clothes, however the pants hang off her little waist. Dutch genes for this little one?

And to finish, here is a cute little video of Emilie refusing the paci from mommy, and she thinks it's pretty funny.

All Is Forgiven

After our epic weekend with our little hellion, all was forgiven this morning when Emilie looked at me, cooed, and gave me a HUGE gummy smile! I tried to provoke her into giving me another, so I could take a picture for Daddy, but no dice.

Speaking of our weekend, little missy has a rough time with a different routine, much like her BFF Max.

Friday night (aka Jared's shift with Emilie so I can "sleep") went as follows:

Screaming baby...baby has gas/constipation? Rub baby's tummy and bicycle her legs. Lots of poops and gas felt....happy baby.

Jared gives baby a warm bath, but mommy made the water too cold, so baby is screaming again...baby poops all over bath tub, daddy drains it....baby sits in warm water this time AND...poops! Drain bath tub while holding soapy, tiny baby in cold air..baby SCREAMS. Traumatic bath experience turns into...

More poop and pee and spit up all over the changing table, clean baby, and the towel. Baby is cleaned up...gobs of lotion come out of baby lotion container, so baby is covered in lotion...still screaming. Now baby is hungry.

And to continue our weekend saga...baby doesn't like to sleep. BUT, when she does finally drift off and is a limp, snoring, mouth gaping baby, go ahead put her in her own bed....OPEN EYES staring at you, then SCREAM.

Lessons learned:

1. Don't switch up Emilie's routine.
2. Emilie doesn't like when mommy gets sleep.
3. Scream at daddy when he doesn't get something fast enough (like a bottle).
4. You can sleep when you're dead.
5. 2:30am is Emilie's sleep with mommy and daddy time or else you will hear about it all.night.long AND all.day.long....she doesn't forget.
6. Cherish the "firsts".

Emilie is 1 month old!

Emilie is already 1 month old! September is here and our little August baby is growing!

We have really gotten to know our little Emilie over the course of a month. But, we're still getting to know her and figure her out, as she explores her new environment.

Emilie is very opinionated. She does NOT appreciate being in a dirty diaper, even for a second. She SCREAMS when she's hungry. She will gladly gulp down a bottle or two, even if that means it comes back up 5 minutes later. She does not like sleeping alone, or sleeping in general and surprisingly dislikes the swing.

Emilie LOVES baths, watching her daddy, snuggling, eating, and going for walks and car rides. In fact, going for a walk, being outside, and car rides are sure fire ways of getting little Emilie to snooze. She also would much rather sleep snuggled next to mommy than sleep anywhere else.

One of Emilie's favorite things to do is to go to the bathroom DURING a diaper change. She must think it's funny to pee all over the changing pad and have projectile poop get all over mommy and daddy's hands!


Emilie's hair is also about an inch and a half already and she just keeps looking more and more like daddy! Even her personality traits are so similar to Jared's that I wonder if she got ANY of my genes!

Little Miss Emilie is still in newborn clothes and diapers, but has grown 4 inches since she was born, and possibly more since her doctor's visit. She has long fingers and toes, so maybe she'll take after the Dutch side!

Our Hospital Scare

No one prepared us for how difficult the first couple days home are with a new baby. I was already sleep deprived, as we kept Emilie in the hospital room with us, but was expecting to never sleep again. It was the fact that my milk hadn't come in and I had one very hungry baby. Not only is baby trying to get accustomed to her new surroundings, and is coping with being outside of the womb, she now experiences hunger pains for the first time, and the little bit of colostrum that was so beneficial in the beginning isn't cutting it anymore. It can take as many as 5 days for milk to come in, and mine definitely took its time.

Because I was adament about breastfeeding, I was determined to make it work. I knew it could be difficult, requires a lot of patience, time, and work. However, by the second day at home I had a newborn that was screaming for hours. Not a sad cry, but a SCREAM, like FEED ME NOW! I was trying to breastfeed, but Emilie screamed at the breast and wouldn't latch on, like she had easily done in the hospital. I was so confused as to why she would be perfectly fine in the hospital, then at home she was inconsolable. Worried that my milk hadn't come in I tried taking hot showers, drinking beer and trying to hand express to get things moving. Nothing. 

Jared and I finally caved and gave Emilie a bottle of formula, which broke my heart, but I knew I had to feed my baby. To all first time moms, even if you want to breastfeed, having a little formula handy was a lifesaver in the beginning. However, we still had a baby that wasn't making dirty diapers, and was so lethargic we couldn't even wake her to eat even though it had been 6 hours since she last ate. Worried that our little girl wasn't acting herself we made a trip to the ped's office. 

Emilie was running a slight fever, and was still sleeping through changing her diaper, and being examined at the doctor's office. The pediatrician suggested we go to the Children's Hospital ER to run some tests since Emilie had a fever. Terrified, we brought our little 5 day old into the ER. Doctors and nurses quickly filled our room and began running tests for possible infections. Since newborns aren't able to fight anything off, this was a serious situation. 

It was agonizing watching our baby being poked and hearing her scream. Because she was so dehydrated her blood was thick and not easy to collect. An IV was eventually put in a vein in Emilie's head, so she had this IV coming out of her head with a big plastic cover to protect it. In addition to being poked in every possible place the nurses could get blood, Emilie also received a spinal tap to check for meningitis. This was definitely the hardest part and we couldn't be there to comfort our baby, we just had to watch as she screamed and the doctor poked her. Blood and urine were tested, but the results aren't available until 48 hrs, so Emilie was admitted to the Children's Hospital to receive antibiotics in the event that she did have an infection.

We were back yet again in the hospital, this time with the fear that Emilie could have an infection that may threaten her life. Fortunately, Jared and I could stay with Emilie, which meant never leaving her side. Her tiny body was hooked up to the IV's and monitors while she was placed in this giant crib with gates. She was so tiny and so innocent and we felt like stupid parents for being in that position. I felt terrible for dehydrating my baby because I was so stubborn about breastfeeding and was so naive about what to expect in the beginning. 

I don't think Jared or I have cried that much before, or been that worried and scared in our lives. Just sitting around in a hospital room waiting for test results was torture. Seeing Emilie in that crib, and having nurses run vitals every couple hours was exhausting. Jared obsessively watched the monitors for Emilie's heartbeat and O2 stats. Her heartbeat frequently dipped and the monitor would flash red and start beeping. Fortunately, her heartbeat would go back up, but it made it that much harder to rest and relax. 

I continued to try breastfeeding and met with several nurses and lactation consultants for help. I was still learning how to hold my baby, how to latch her on and how to position her, but was also met with the challenges of maneuvering her so that all the cords and IV's didn't pull or tangle. I had to set an alarm for when Emilie needed to eat as she wasn't waking up on her own and needed to eat every 2-3 hours. We also supplemented with formula, and I started pumping to tell my body, "Come on, I need to feed this baby!"

Jared and I are so blessed to have such wonderful, supportive parents and family. My Mom stayed and watched Emilie so Jared and I could take a break from the hospital room and get something to eat. Jared's Mom drove all the way from Florida to be with us. Our Dads and Grandparents came to visit, and we had people from all over the world praying for our little family. 

Emilie really started to turn around after being on fluids. She was making plenty of dirty diapers, was so much more alert, and was breastfeeding. She even had her first bath, which our awesome nurse helped us with. After 48 hrs, all the tests came back negative, praise the Lord, and we were cleared to go home. Jared bought Emilie a little welcome home outfit and hat. The cords and IV's were removed, Emilie was dressed and we were sent off with a huge bag of baby necessities like diapers, wipes, thermometers, etc. 

It felt so good to be home, again, with our little Emilie. We are so blessed to have a healthy, happy baby. Although we're still learning, and making first time parent mistakes, we have our alert, precious baby home safe. We don't ever want to see the Children's Hospital again. My heart goes out to parents who have to experience having their child(ren) in a hospital, for any length of time. 

We didn't take any pictures of Emilie in the Children's Hospital, until the day we left. We didn't want to look back and remember the feeling of seeing our little girl in pain. 

Emilie's Birth Story

Since I know not everyone knows Emilie's birth story, I wanted to write it out before I forget the details. I don't know about other people, but I LOVE reading birth stories. Emilie's was pretty uneventful, in the beginning...

Since this is a birth story, there may be parts that are little tmi, but bear with it.

Since 38 weeks I had started walking several times a day, bouncing on the yoga ball, eating labor cupcakes (just lemon cupcakes, but a good excuse to make cupcakes and eat all of them), and yes even doing the deed to get things rolling.

On Sunday, August 5th, I had my bloody show. I was excited because that usually indicates that labor will start sometime soon. I had a doctors appointment on the following Tuesday. My doctor only checks a patient's cervix twice, at 36 weeks and at 40 weeks. Since 36 weeks I was already 3 cm and 50 % effaced. I felt fine at my 39 week appointment and was measuring right on track. The doctor didn't seem worried about my light bleeding (bloody show). She did mention that she'd be on vacation in a couple weeks, so if Emilie didn't show then a different doctor would deliver her.

Wednesday, August 8th I had timeable Braxton Hicks contractions all day. I didn't worry as they weren't painful, but they were about 5-7 minutes apart. When Jared got home I told him what had been happening all day. He was sure something would happen soon and wanted me to call the doctor. I wanted to stay at home as long as possible instead of being stuck in a hospital room, laboring for hours, so I waited it out.

At 2:30 am August 9th, I woke up to a wet feeling. I used the bathroom, and discovered my water most likely broke as I was leaking fluid. There was no big gush like the movies, and I didn't have any cramping...yet. Because infection can eventually set in once the bag of waters has torn or broken, it's advised to go right to the hospital. Fortunately, because I knew I was already 3 cm, I could be admitted, since that is the hospital's criteria.

Jared and I got to the hospital, where it was really quiet. I had half expected to walk in to a bunch of screaming women when we got to the labor and delivery ward. I was checked and sure enough my bag of waters had torn and I was slowly leaking. I was 4 cm, so the Braxton Hicks the day before had done a little something. I felt lucky that my doctor was on call that morning, so she came to check me and see where we stood. Baby was down and the bag of waters was in front of her head, so the doctor would eventually have to totally break my water so Emilie could keep moving down.

I labored in triage for 4 hours and went from 4cm to 7cm. I had hoped to wait as long as possible before receiving the epidural. I mostly wanted to experience labor pains and see how far I could push my body. I had naively expected labor pains to be like bad menstrual pains. Instead I felt like my hips were being compressed and a knife was being driven into my abdomen, dramatic I know. My contractions were pretty sporadic though, coming anywhere from 2 minutes to 5 minutes apart.

Finally, at 7:30 am we were given a birthing room. I had wanted to take advantage of the whirlpool tub in our room and labor in there, but by the time I got my room I was so ready for an epidural. What a miracle modern medicine is! My body was able to relax and continue laboring, and I didn't feel the contractions.

By 1:30pm I started pushing. Because of the epidural, I had to be instructed when to push. Pushing was definitely the hardest part. It was exhausting and I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. Toward the end the epidural had worn off in my right side and I could feel everything. Because Emilie had swallowed meconium (first stool) the NICU team was called in, in the case that she would be born not breathing. I was in such a daze of just trying to get through the contractions, pushing and feeling the burning sensation of Emilie's head coming down that I didn't realize my entire room was filled with doctors and nurses, just standing around, waiting.

After 2 hours of pushing, and a total of 12 hours of labor, not bad for a first time mom, Emilie Elizabeth was born at 3:51pm screaming. She was immediately placed on my chest while Jared cut the cord. She was so alert, with big brown/grey eyes. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz, and was 19 inches long.

I had the best coach in the world. Jared was the one who helped count while I pushed and was just a great presence in the delivery room. He let me squeeze his hand when I had contractions, and he soothed Emilie while the nurses cleaned her up. I was surprised how intrigued he was by the whole birthing process.

After 2 days in the hospital, we were so excited to take our new little addition home!