The latest with Emily...first, I can't believe she is over a month old already (She's almost 7 weeks). Knowing she is my last baby, I am sad at how fast the time is going. I wish I could pause time for a while and just savor it.
At about a week old (literally a day or two after her check up), she started having issues where she'd cry A LOT, particularly after eating. I felt so bad because I knew it wasn't her. That first week she was such a happy, content, sweet little baby. So to see her switch from that to crying all the time I knew something was up. Ashley had gone through something similar, but hers only lasted a week or two from what I remember. With poor Emily it was ongoing for almost a month.
Since Ashley had gone through it, I remembered all the things to do to help with gas. Nothing seemed to help. Poor Emily would stiffen right up after eating, jerk her body around, and sometimes cry for a couple hours after because she was so uncomfortable. I gave a call into the doctors and got some tips from the nurse (all of them that I was already doing/had tried). After another week of it, I had enough of seeing her so upset. On Christmas day eve, she cried for like 3 hours straight. So that next day I told them I wanted an appointment to have her looked at. (Also, her belly button still hadn't fallen off, and she was almost a month old).
When I went in and spoke with the doctor, I explained what was going on and her symptoms. It turns out she has reflux. Basically, he said she's experiencing that same burning, acid feeling that we get when we've thrown up. So he prescribed her meds for it. It helped at first, then didn't seem to help much anymore. Luckily we had a follow up appointment soon after. We upped the meds, and Emily is doing MUCH better. She still has moments here and there, but she's like 90% better. My baby is back! It's so great to see her happy and feeling good!
Speaking of doctors, at her one month check up Emily was weighing 9 lbs, 7 ozs, putting her at the 50.3%, and her length was 21.5 inches, putting her at the 58.56%.
In the past week and a half, not only is she sweet and content again, but she has started smiling (real smiles, not gas), and cooing a lot. I absolutely love it, it melts my heart every time!!! I think it makes me extra happy to see her happy since she had been so miserable for a while.
So yes, as of now she smiles, coos, she has started figuring out that her hands work and grabs at her ears, face, toys, etc. She also likes to kick...she'll kick me and I'll say "are you kicking your mommy" and she just smiles and cracks right up.
She is also very alert when she's awake (she was alert from day one though), and very strong. She has also been able to lift and move her head from day one as well. I also call her my wiggle worm, she already has surprised me and been in different spots in her crib when I go in there.
Emily also keeps us on our toes when we change her diaper. She's like a boy in the sense that she'll pee all over when we are changing her diaper. We have to put one right under her, or she'll give us a little surprise. Haha.
We aren't on a routine, but on average Emily typically goes to sleep around 11ish, is up around 3:30, then again at 7. That has been awesome...although it does still change sometimes (like last night when she was up a few times).
She is just the cutest, sweetest baby! (Well she is tied with Ashley, we were blessed with two amazing kids).
Ashley I am happy to say is back to her old self again. She had had a little bit of a hard time adjusting for the first week or two, but she is back to her happy-go-lucky self, and she absolutely LOVES "baby" as she calls her most of the time. She loves to give her kisses and hugs, bring her things, hold her hand; she asks to hold her a lot. She's always saying "hi baby" to her. It's so sweet. I already see such a love between them, and I know it'll just continue as time goes on which is cool.
Ashley has been doing so much too! She is great with color and shape recognition. She can do all of her puzzles. She's saying a lot of 2-3 or 4 word sentences now. She can count. When you ask her how old she is she'll say "two" (she says it sooo cute).
She is also showing signs of readiness to start potty training (she has for some time actually). I think she is more ready than me...I'm not quite ready to tackle that with a newborn who needs to eat so frequently. We'll wait a couple more months. Although we did get her her own potty to keep around to get used to, and so she can "practice" with her diaper on. She'll come in the bathroom with me sometimes and sit on her potty while I use the bathroom, then she'll even get toilet paper to wipe. It's too cute.
She is also at a point where she FINALLY will lay or sit and snuggle with us during a movie. Sometimes she'll even get the blanket we leave on the couch and put it on herself and snuggle right up. Speaking of movies, she has been going through a phase where she absolutely LOVES watching movies, particularly The Polar Express and Finding Nemo. She asks to watch one or both of them every day. Thankfully I like both movies otherwise I'd probably be tortured by now. Haha.
We have had some typical "2 year old" behaviors emerge. There is the defiance, not listening when you tell her something. Or the occasional lay on the floor kicking and screaming meltdown. And the whining/repeating the same thing over and over in attempt to make you cave.. We have had to start time -outs, but thankfully it's all pretty rare. Most of the time she behaves as a very good girl. I am quite proud of the little girl she's become.
I am also happy to report that the panic mode I went through was very brief and temporary thankfully. We have definitely gotten into the swing of things and are doing great. After Matt returned to work, we had a sitter named Breanne help out for 2 weeks.....the first week she came every morning-lunch time, the second week we tapered down to 2 or 3 days, one being shorter hours. Then I had about a week by myself, then company here for a week for Christmas visit. Now I'm totally comfortable and have figured out how to juggle two.
There was a time not too long ago when I was a little apprehensive about having another baby so soon. Ideally I wanted kids 3 years apart, a little bit for my sake so that Ashley would be older and more independent, and also for their sake because I didn't want either of them to get gipped out of their own "babyhood". A few people have said "it's nice because you can get it all out of the way, the whole diaper thing and baby thing"...but I am the opposite, I LOVE the whole baby thing and don't want to "get it out of the way"...I wanted time to sit and enjoy it all individually with each child.
But I have to say, I am so glad I went with God's timing instead of mine. When my endometreosis issues started getting worse, the doctor said if we wanted any more children we may want to start thinking of trying sooner than later. Matt and I both knew without a doubt that we wanted another child and we wouldn't want to miss out on having another. I prayed about it a lot. I decided that this may be the one window of opportunity that God was giving me, and if I waited for my timing I could take the chance of missing out all together. So I had said to God, "thy will be done". And I am SO glad I went with God's timing, because he has blessed me with another incredible baby girl that I/we love so much. I can't imagine life without her, or even ending up with another child instead of her. I remember my friend Christi saying that if she had conceived on any other day, even the next day, she would have ended up with a totally different child; and that she couldn't imagine that because she loved her child so much. I totally agree with that. I am so grateful to have both Ashley and Emily, and couldn't imagine it any other way. And yes, things can get a little chaotic at times, but it's still so wonderful. Now if I could just figure out a way to pause time for a while, I'd be set ;)
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