B's Doctor's Appointment

So today was the day we went back to the doctor to check on Brooklynn's head growth. She is almost exactly two and a half months old today too! Woohoo she is getting so big.

Well first off, we weighed her and guess what!! Even though she is sleeping through the night she is still getting adequate nutrition because she is up to 13 pounds!! That is 1.4 ounces of growth a day (I think that is what the doctor calculated it out to be)! Guess my boob juice is doing it's job!

I also asked about Isabella's 2 year labs that I just had drawn last week (yep I am a slacker haha). Most of her labs came back excellent. Her 17 OH Progesterilone (or however you spell it - I am too lazy to look it up) which we had redrawn due to her whole lab issues when she was a new born, they came back a little low - but the reference level was 20-something and her level was 16 which is something we will just kind of keep an eye on I guess. For those who don't remember - when Izzy was little her newborn screen came back with abnormal levels of this hormone which could have meant congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Well long story short - the levels skyrocketed, came back down and almost leveled out and the endocrinologist said she was good to go after 6 months old with no worries. Well, me being a worry wart I had my doctor write for a script to have them drawn. Good thing I did cause now we can watch those levels (hopefully redraw them later on down the road).

Now to the reason why we even went to the doctor in the first place. Brooklynn's head...last month she was 16 3/4" (ya I know she has a big head). Well, today it was 17 1/2" - which makes her growth curve even higher. So now we are going in to have a head ultrasound done to check and make sure she does not have hydrocephalus. My doctor is a little worried that she might since her rate of growth is so fast. We shall see. I am just hoping it is familial and not medical. I am just grateful this easy little test will let us know if things are wrong or if she will just have to wear hats to help hide her noggin for a while :).

I just want to end this post by saying - I love my girls and my life is so great with them!! God has blessed us with many blessings and even though there are bumps along the way...I am realizing just how strong of a mother I am becoming!!

Motherhood

Mother's day is coming up and I just had to write a tribute to my amazing mother!! She has taught me so much about motherhood and hopefully I can follow in her footsteps and my kids will think about me the way I think about her when they become mothers.

1. Always put others first. Yes we have to take time for ourselves, but we need to have others on our hearts and minds. She never fails at being there for anybody in our family and she has always put us first above her needs! While I feel like she deserves better than that and to take more time out for herself - I have received many benefits myself from it so I can't really complain.

2. Love unconditionally, even when it hurts! My kids are my life, and I could not imagine ever loving them any more. Thinking about how I treated my mother when I was a teenager though I know I caused a lot of pain here and there - and she still loved me...even when I know it hurt her to do it! I know I am going to get it back to me when my girls are teenagers, and I am going to have to learn to grin and bear it when they are not necessarily the nicest to me...just like my mom always did.

3. Take lots of pictures!! I am slacking in this department lately, but I definitely learned from the best on this! You think you will remember but than you don't. I am already looking back on times with Isabella and see how little she used to be and how much I enjoyed watching her grow. We might have complained while those pictures were taken by my mom but we love to look at them! Thanks mom!

There are many more things I learned from my mother, but the most important one is how to love my kids - and for that I want to say thank you!! My life is so much better with my kids and if I can give them half of the love my mom gave us I will have done a great job.

And I really know the meaning of the phrase "you will understand when you are a mother someday"... Yes mom - I understand completely and fully now!! Thanks for all you have done for my kids and for Sam and I! You truly are amazing!! Love you!!

Brooklynn's "2 month" appointment

Today I went in for Brooklynn's 2 month appointment (even though she is only 6 weeks old). I did it ALL by myself (got her, Isabella, and myself ready) without assistance from my mom. Her weight is now 10 pounds 6 ounces, which makes her go from 75% to 55%. Her length is 22.5 inches, which is still 75% ile. Her head went up a whole inch to 16 3/4 inches, which places her even higher on the growth curve at well above 95%ile.

A few things that were brought up today that we are going to have to watch/change in our routine. First off, I can't allow her to sleep the 6-7 hours a night she has been sleeping because of her loss in weight percentile. I can't let her go more than 4-5 hours at night so I am going to have to be a little more sleep deprived than I have been - oh well!! Her congestion that she is still having could be a strain of viruses, or could be caused by reflux. So am going to be starting her on her reflux medicine Prevacid tonight to see if that helps with the congestion and her irritability when she falls asleep. She has some white on her tongue - which I have to watch and see if it spreads to her cheeks because she might be getting thrush (GREAT :(!!!).

She received her 2 month immunizations today - poor thing cried like crazy. Isabella was so sweet and telling her "Brooklynn it's okay!". And after it was all over Izzy wanted to see her sister to make sure she was really okay!

Due to her head growing an inch and her percentile going up, we have to go back in 1month to get another head circumference done. If it continues to go up on the curve we might have to start being concerned about hydrocephalus. He said more than likely it is just big heads running in the family, but every once in a while he gets that case so we want to be careful.

She still has a murmur - very soft, he could only hear it with the cardiac stethoscope but he will continue to monitor it. He said I only really need to be concerned if she starts sweating during feedings or turning blue - which she has not done so hopefully it is completely benign!!

Well, other than those worries everything looks pretty good. I felt bad because I was hounding him question after question. I feel like I am asking so many more questions with Brooklynn than I ever did with Isabella - but I feel much more comfortable with this pediatrician than I did with Isabella's when she was younger! Well, that is it. Hopefully everything continues to go well and my girls continue to stay on the healthy track!

My first Blog Award - Thanks Christina!

I got a blog award!
http://bridgetownbabymomma.blogspot.com/ stopped by and liked what she saw!
Thank you Bridgetown Baby Momma!

The Rules of this award are...

1. Put the logo on your blog within your post.

2. Pass the award on to up to 12 bloggers.

3. Link the nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

The blogs I would like to give the award to are:

http://webethesmith3.blogspot.com/
http://ithoughtilovedyouthen.blogspot.com
http://mamafabulous.blogspot.com

The never ending wheel of questions...

So when you date someone for a while the question on everyone's mind is "When will you get married?"

Then the day comes and you decide to get married (for us 4 years after getting together)....the next question is "When are you going to start your family??"

With us it was 3 years after being married we started trying, and when we got pregnant and had our first little girl, the next question was "When is your next one so you can try for that boy??"

We waited 2 years this time and had another beautiful little girl! Now the question we get asked is "are you done having children??"

Well, this is the question of the century for Sam and I. Would I like to be done having kids?? No way!! I love everything about being a momma, and even with all the complications I love being pregnant. To think that I will not be pregnant ever again depresses me beyond belief. But...

I am not a woman whose pregnancies are easy or go as planned. I have complications in my pregnancies that effect my life emotionally, physically, mentally, and unfortunately financially. Have both my pregnancies ended well?? Yes they most certainly have. But am I tempting fate to say we should try again??

Sam and I both are in an agreement with this topic. We are not completely ruling out being pregnant again. We are, however, going to wait at least 2 years before we approach the topic in a serious manner. That is if God has that plan for us and doesn't give us a "Whoops" baby! Both of our little girls have been planned so I wouldn't be surprised if He plays a joke on us and gives us one that is unplanned. Would we survive?? Yes...Would our bank account?? Not so sure :).

Next time we decide to get pregnant, however, maybe I won't have to be off work for 15 weeks again?? Yes? No? Maybe?? Only time will tell.

That is my thoughts for the day :).

My thoughts for the day

So there are a few things I wanted to say now that I have a few minutes.

Having a 2 year old and a 1 month old are crazy hectic and has made me learn some things in life...

1. It is okay to leave the housework for later - the carpets will get vacuumed, the dishes will get cleaned, and the laundry will be washed eventually. However, if you obsess about these things you might miss a few things like...
The way Izzy gives her little sister kisses every time she sees her or
The way Brooklynn smiles in her sleep or
How Izzy has learned problem solving and watching her mind turn in circles trying to figure something out she did not know the previous day

2. It will take twice as long (sometimes three times as long) to get everybody ready and out the door at a descent time. I used to schedule doctors appointments for 10am...now I do it in the afternoon to make it on time!

3. Life is short, kids grow fast, and before you know it your 1 month old turns into a 2 year old who is ever so independent and constantly learning and always wanting to try something new.
But to take a second and enjoy it when your independent 2 year old comes up to you and gives you a big hug and say "MOMMY!!!!"

4. Don't read books and worry that your parenting skills aren't up to par all the time!
Yes I allow my 2 year old to sleep with us sometimes when she wakes up in the night - she won't be 2 long and who cares if it teaches her to come in bed with us!! Soon she will turn 16 and she won't want anything to do with her momma!
No I don't consistently keep my 1 month old on a schedule - WHO CARES!! She will get on one eventually and it will be one that works for our family.

5. My life would be a WHOLE LOT harder if it wasn't for my wonderful mother and supporting family!! My mom has helped me through the hardest times of my life - and my parents are ALWAYS there to watch my children grow! I never had a grandparent as a consistent fixture in my life - and I love that we are giving that to our girls!

6. Life will throw you lemons, so as the old saying goes - make lemonade! And enjoy the best things in life - such as your beautiful children!!

Well those are my thoughts for the day - hope you enjoyed it!

Pictures of Brooklynn's Hospital Stay

So as you all know from previous blogs, Brooklynn was in the hospital for 5 days with RSV. Looking back on it now it was a short amount of time, but it had felt like a lifetime going through it. I have so much more respect for the moms and dads who have children in the NICU where I work - it is the hardest thing to see your child sick and you not being able to help and make it better! Sitting back on my hands and letting someone else do the work was very hard for a nurse to do!! I am very grateful for my wonderful family support and the nurses who cared for my baby girl every day while she was there. Here is her story through pictures.
They had started an IV at the Urgent Care Center since she was having such trouble eating. Luckily they never needed to use it after the transport because she started picking up on eating pretty quickly.

The first time I saw my baby with oxygen on her face, my heart dropped! But I had to keep reminding myself it could have been worse and she could have required more support than that. Since Big Sister Izzy was also sick, she could not come to the hospital to visit. So instead, I tried to keep her active as I could by allowing her to participate by writing a letter to her baby sister and purchasing a gift from the gift shop.

This is a picture of her room - it was meant to be a double room but since she was RSV positive and there weren't very many patients she was able to have a room to herself so I got a "luxury suite".

This is a picture of her suctioning equipment and oxygen that they used while she was there.

I always told parents to not "watch the monitors", but it is very hard to do when it is your child. I kept watching her oxygen levels and would start getting nervous when her levels would drop below 88% (they want them greater than 92%). Her average the first few days was between 88-93%. For those who don't know - the green number is her heart rate (normal for a baby is 110-180 depending on awake or asleep), yellow number is how fast she is breathing (can get up to 60 without really worrying), and blue number is her oxygen level.

Sam was a big support through all this. He was not able to take off work, but hewould come straight from work and stay until nine or ten every night. I think he got less sleep than I did.

We were able to have Izzy come see us in the hospital, just could not have her in the room. So I would have lunch with her every day either in the hospital cafeteria or outside. The Child Life Specialist gave me a doll to Izzy that she could play with that had a hospital gown and other hospital supplies so she could get an idea of what was going on with sister.
The doll came with markers so she could draw on it which she loved to do.After 4 days we were finally able to take off the oxygen, and I was so excited!!

Here is Nana P holding Brooklynn, my mom got to hold her the day before and I am a slacker and did not get a picture of it (it was my mom's birthday too).

No oxygen and ready to go home!!

She knew today was the big day and could not help but smile in her sleep :).