Week 7 (Jan 16th - 22nd)

My baby girl at 7 weeks. She is doing better. 

The girls on Addie's first day of school.



All the above pictures are me messing with my hobby on a Sunday afternoon. I have a harder time getting Iz to smile at the camera. She is SO over it!

The sweetest toes you've ever seen.

Izzy hard at work with her stickers.

Well, Monday was my first day back and everyone did very well. It was a little easier the second time around dropping off my newborn. I guess because I knew Addie was in good hands and there was something about big sister being there. It was nice getting back to work and communicating with the outside world and seeing familiar patients. When I dropped off the girls, Izzy was a little upset that I was leaving Addie behind. She told me I needed to take her home and started crying. So sweet. Already watching out for her little sister. The ladies at daycare said Addie was an angel and did just wonderful. I was glad to hear that, not only for my pride, but because that meant my little Addelyn was starting to feel better.

We went to the doctor on Wednesday an she told us the blood and mucus c0uld last for months. Ugh! Not what I wanted to hear. We are going to try 3/4 formula for 3 more weeks and then try full strength. Can't wait until we can give full calories so my poor girl isn't so hungary all the time.

Izzy is doing great. Words keep coming out of her mouth that amaze me everyday. She told me I don't have to worry the other day. We are spraying safe spray at night and that seems to be helping. She has slept in her room all night this week.

Friday cousin Kya came to hang out and help us with the girls. Mark and I both had to work on Saturday morning. I was a little worried because Addie is so needy and Izzy wants you to play all the time. They are a lot of work for one person, but Kya did great. Thanks cuz, love ya.

Talk soon,
Ariann

Week 6 (Jan 9-15th)

Well, we've made it to six weeks, but it's been alot of this. Definitly good birth control!

Daddy and Izzy before school. They were both dressed in black and ready to face the world.

Me trying out my photography skills again. I just wish I could get my Photoshop skills down as well.

Big sister in action!

Addie hanging on the couch. Se was watching what Izzy was doing.

Rare occasion. I got a little smile for the camera. She hates when I take her picture.

Love ya!

Well, we are still working on Addie's tummy. We have only made it to 3/4 formula and symptoms do not seem to be getting any better. We go to the doctor on Thursday to see what is next. The Elecare formula we have her on is the most broken down. Where do we go next?

One bonus is that she is sleeping longer at night. Monday she actually slept through the whole night. Tues and Wed night she slept from 9:30p to 4 am. That being said I don't think I will be able to go back to sleep when work starts so I will be up from 4 am on. Ugh. Just have to tell myself this is a small time in my life and it actually goes very quickly.

On Thursday the doctor told us she thought Addie was heading in the right direction. She is sleeping through the night and fussiness had decreased. But I feel it still isn't right because she has runny and mucusy poops. That is not normal. How long do we put up this this before we decide we are tearing her intestines apart? Also she still had blood in her stool.

Mark's mom came up and helped me this weekend so I could get a few things done before I had to go back to work. It was nice to get out of the house.

And my dear Izzy. I just love her to pieces. I know there are days she just wants my open arms and I am with Addie. Izzy does well and tells me, "Mommy you need to feed the baby." God love her.

We will keep you updated next week.
Ariann

5 weeks (Jan 2-8)

Five weeks and counting.

Sleepy time.

My precious little girl.

Sisters!

Izzy drew these smily faces. I thought that was good for a two and a half year old.

Playing! She will never keep a clip in her hair.

Jungle gym time.

My fancy work. Needed a last minute picture for the Hastings Tribune.

I feel like this being a mom to a newborn is a lot of work. I don't remember Izzy being this hard to handle. I love my time with my baby, but I just thought I would be better at it the second time around. We took Addie to the doctor on Tuesday and smiled and said everything was better and that night it went down hill again. She was fussy and you couldn't put her down. She has a diaper rash that I've been treating for a week that won't go away and well, all hell has just broke loose again.

I took Addie back to the doctor again today (Thursday) because she was fussy and when she had a BM brown liquid came with it and I knew she had blood in her stool again. Sure enough the doctor confirmed it. She said that sometimes a baby will build up a sensitivity to the formula after a week to ten days and Addie was right on target. So now she is drinking only pedialyte for 24 hours and then we start mixing it with another new formula. It is called Elecare and runs a whopping $40/ 14 ozs. But, I guess if it makes her feel better that is all that matters. We can just cut in different places.

Day one of Pedialyte went great. Day 2 we mixed one part formula and it was awful. She was hungry every hour and a half and screamed bloody murder if she wasn't fed that second. Day 3 we did half and half, not much better. Day four 3/4 formula and we are finally starting to maybe get somewhere. She is eating about every two hours instead of every hour. But she still cannot just hang out. She has to be held constantly.

My parents came this weekend to help because I was going crazy.

I go back to work on the 16th of January and this needs to be figured out. Lord knows you don't want to send them to daycare with a diaper rash either. Hopefully her belly gets better and she won't have this diarrhea causing diaper rashes. If it isn't one thing it is another. I just have to keep telling myself it can only get better from here.

Izzy is having problems sleeping again. It is a chore to get her there and once there, she isn't sleeping through the night. I feel so horrible for her that her mommy time is limited. I went to the store the other day and wanted some me time so Mark took the girls. Izzy wanted to come but I told her that if she stayed with daddy I would get her a surprise from the store.  Mark has been amazing at helping me and giving Izzy attention that I can't give. When I got home from the store she asked me what her "purprise" was. Her little words melt my heart and always make me smile.  Love her lots, hope she doesn't remember this when she is older. We also had an interesting incident this weekend. She was playing in her room and came to me and  said the boy was talking to her. I was really confused because we have no boys in our house. She said there was a boy in her closet and he was scaring her. This started late Saturday afternoon. She loves to read books and play with toys in her closet and wouldn't even go near it. When I went to check on "the boy," Izzy made me turn off the light and shut the door. A few hours later I we were playing in her room and I wanted to see if she still remembered the boy. I asked her to go get a book and she started to and then stopped dead in her tracks and said she didn't want to because the boy scared her. At this point she is starting to freak her mom out too. So, PopPop went in her room and told the boy to go away and not to come back. Izzy didn't invite him and so he shouldn't be here. From then on she will go in her closet, but everytime she does she says, " I can get my books now the boy is gone. I'm not scared anymore." Now I freak out every time I go in her room. Hope it was just a REALLY active imagination.

Talk soon,
Ariann