Thursday, July 29, 2010

Back home

Monday we got home from Minnesota. All in all the trip was great, although exhausting. We hung out with Chuck's parents and brother, went to a wedding in Wisconsin, went to the Mall of America and went to an impromptu class reunion for Chuck's high school class.

Here are some photos to document Jade's first major trip :)



























Jade did not actually attend a Twins game (although Chuck and I went to 2- yay). BUT she got to come on a tour of Target Field, which I must say was very interesting. I uh... hate baseball (yes, Chuck knows this and has reconciled with at as long as I play along) but the Twin's new stadium (is that what you call a baseball field??) is pretty awesome.




























This is the 3 of us at the wedding. Aren't her shoes adorable?? My Aunt Debra bought her outfit and I just loved it. This was her first time wearing shoes.













This is Jade smiling at me at the hotel. She smiles pretty consistently now... but never for the camera. It's the most frustrating thing ever. Oh well :)


















And my little girl is now 3 whole months old!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Family in town

Sorry for the lack of posts, but my brother and his wife and 2 kids have been in town so we've been a bit busy!

Jade took her first trip to Busch Gardens on Monday and did great... slept almost the whole time, haha. And they actually have a little place you can go for diaper changes and to nurse. Generally I have no problem nursing in public, but since she's been so finicky lately I really can't. So it was very nice to have an air conditioned place with a recliner to nurse her in. Much better than a bathroom stall!

Our AC went out Tuesday night. NOT fun. It got up to 89 in our house before we got it fixed. Praise God that it was just one part and we didn't have to replace the whole unit. $242 is not that bad. But that was the worst night sleep I've had in a while... which is saying something. Poor Jade was not happy. But she made up for it last night by sleeping from 10 until 3:30. I actually feel almost rested :)

Tomorrow, Chuck and I leave to go to Minnesota and Wisconsin. His friend Bo is getting married in Wisconsin, so we're taking this time to visit his family as well. We didn't do a baby shower for the Minnesota crowd before Jade was born, so we're going to do a "meet Jade" party now. It should be fun. I'm a bit nervous about the travel part... but I think we'll be fine. There's no way to know without trying!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Yay for chiropractors

I don't have much time, but wanted to update. Jade's appointment was at 10:45 this morning and since then she has had 3 good feedings... including 1 on the right side with the cradle hold. Hallelujah!

He didn't actually find anything way off, but something he did must have helped. We're going back on Tuesday to ensure that things stay good. She's been like a different baby this afternoon and I'm not gonna take that for granted!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Asking for prayer

Warning- this post contains lots of info about breastfeeding...

The past few days with baby Jade have been incredibly frustrating. Monday night she started doing this weird thing where she would act hungry and I would try to feed her and she would scream. I figured it was no big deal and went on with my life. She ate fine at all of her night feedings Monday night. Tuesday morning she ate fine.

Then she went on a hunger strike. She was acting hungry... sucking on her hand, etc. She would fall asleep and wake up screaming and I can only assume that was because of hunger. Yet every time I put her to my breast, she would scream. Sometimes she would suck a few times and then scream and sometimes she would scream at the mere sight of my boob. She did not eat for 6.5 hours. Needless to say, this was not a good day. When I finally got her to eat, she would only eat on the left side. It didn't matter what position I tried on the right side, she didn't want any of it.

Overnight it got a little better... she did eat on the right side in the sidelying position. This morning she did fine in our normal cradle hold on the left side.

All day yesterday I was talking to the triage nurse and the lactation consultant at the pediatrician's office. They couldn't figure it out either, but suspected an ear infection. So early this morning the LC called and made me an appointment to see the doctor. Well, we saw the doctor and she couldn't find anything wrong. Jade nursed GREAT when the lactation consultant was sitting right there... even on the right side (though still not in our normal cradle hold). So I left feeling ok... she hadn't gained much weight since last Monday, and that concerned them, but as long as she continued eating ok we were golden.

Well... it's now been 5 hours since her last good feeding and we're going through it all again. She.will.not.eat.

I have her an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow and am PRAYING that he has the magic touch and she starts nursing well again. If that fails to occur, I'll be back at the pediatrician either tomorrow or Friday.

This of course is all complicated by the fact that she will not take a bottle so our other feeding option is syringe feeding. Thankfully we're not there yet. And she obviously isn't starving... and when she's awake and not screaming at me she's actually been very happy... cooing and smiling more than she ever has. But that doesn't change the fact she needs to eat. Most 2 month olds eat every 2-3 hours with one or two 4-5 hour stretches (one of those hopefully being overnight). And she is definitely NOT doing that right now... so she isn't getting the nutrition she needs, hence the stalled weight gain.

Ok, this got WAY longer than I expected but I am just so frustrated right now. All that to say: please pray that Jade eats.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Put a fork in me...

I'm done.

So 2 days after our bottle "triumph", we realized that we had not actually won the war. She still won't take it. Chuck's trick had been sliding the bottle into her mouth when she starting sucking on her fingers. Apparently she's a genius and figured this out and stopped sucking on her fingers.

When I mentioned our bottle woes at the pedi visit last week, she said to keep trying for a while and then she would offer a recommendation to an occupational therapist. I told her I didn't think this was a physical thing so I don't really see how an OT would help, but she said "ya never know". So that's our next step. It feels a bit nuts to me... an OT at 2 months to get my kid to take a bottle? Seriously? Maybe it'll work. I'm not trying again until we go though... it's miserable and stressful for all 3 of us.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Independence Day


We don't have any big plans for the 4th, but yesterday after church (yes, we go to church on Saturday...) we had a picnic and they had a clown for the kids and sno cones and cotton candy. Chuck and I both had a good time... and so did Jade :)

We put her in a super cute outfit, haha. Is it bad that one of the reasons I'm glad to have a girl is that I can put her in cute clothes?? Carmen (chuck's mom) actually bought this dress when she was born... and 3 pounds later it still fits. And I just couldn't NOT buy that hat. Every kid needs a red, white, and blue hat!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Not my proudest moment


But 2 nights ago, the night I posted my "first" post, we finally reached a breaking point. Chuck said "if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it" and I pumped exclusively and he offered her the bottle every time she got hungry. She went 13 hours without eating. 13 hours. Granted, she had about 3 ounces dripped into her mouth... but no latching and sucking. And at 4 am, when I was on my way downstairs to feed my baby because I just couldn't take it anymore, she drank. Then she had another bottle at 8. And another at 11. And then I fed her :)

Like I said, not my proudest moment... not feeding my kid for 13 hours. But I think it worked. And she doesn't seem to be emotionally or physically scarred.

And she took the bottle again today no problem. So now we will just continue to give her one every day. And never skip a day... ever, ever again.

A couple pictures... Jade at 1 month:



















And Jade at 2 months:



Thursday, July 1, 2010

A new home...

For those of you that followed my other blog, thanks for making the switch. I just didn't feel comfortable with my last name being out there for the whole world to see... and I really do want to keep updating, for myself as much as for anyone else.

Life since coming home from the hospital with Baby Jade has been a rollercoaster. It was good, and then it was overwhelming, then it was scary, then it was good again, etc. But I will not attempt to sum everything up now... 9 weeks later. I will just speak to our life at the moment.

Honestly, things are great. Except for this one tiny thing. She will. not. take. a. bottle. She has latched on and sucked 3 times. In 5 weeks. Yup, you read that right. Three times. And we've tried everything. Chuck offers the bottle every day. My mom tried daily last week when she was in town. We've tried about a billion different bottles and nipples. We've tried different positions. She has gone up to 8 hours without eating at all. And honestly, none of that is fooling her. She knows what she wants... and she wants me. Any suggestions are welcome.

I wouldn't really care if I wasn't going to be going to school and substitute teaching in the fall. But I am. And I would like to know that my kid isn't starving every time I leave the house. But I will admit that I have been thisclose to giving up so many times. It is just incredibly frustrating.

But other than that, things are good. Seriously. She is getting less fussy every day. I have had to give up dairy completely, but it's worth it because it really does improve her mood. I am amazed every day at how much I love her.

Birth stats-
7 pounds, 11 ounces. 19.5 inches.

2 months stats-
9 pounds, 11 ounces. 22 inches.

I was 9 pounds 9 ounces when I was born. Holy smokes, I was huge.

That's all for now. I'll put some photos in the next post.