Wow, what a week we've had! Everything started out nice and normal on Monday until my mom called. This may not see out of the ordinary but it was actually my dad's number on caller id but my mom on the other end..."it's nothing major, but..." never the words you want to hear. My dad was in the emergency room in Henderson with chest pains. Of course I'm going to worry, he's my deddy and he doesn't get sick-ever. They evaluated him, ran an EKG, put him on a heart monitor and eventually transported him to Rex Hospital in Raleigh that evening for more observation. His doctor saw him Tuesday morning and ordered a catherization for Wednesday morning. So Emily and I hopped in the car and crossed the county lines for the first time to go visit him. We needed to see for ourselves that he was alright and cheer him up a little. Sitting in a hospital bed is NO fun, I've been there a time or two so i figured the distraction would be welcome. Just look at that grin on his face! Then they just chilled out together.
I can't believe i attempted such a big trip by myself for the first time but we made it and she did great. GiGi was glad to see her too! (how is it that she always looks at the camera when she's holding her?!?!)
We were a little late leaving b/c she had another episode of spitting up that had some mucousy blood in it that morning so we had to wait to hear what her doctor wanted to do since this was the second time it had happened. We ended up seeing the doctor yesterday and she ordered an upper GI test to be done today. Yes, on a newborn. They wanted to make sure there wasn't anything going on with her intestines, esophagus or stomach that was causing the spitting up.
But Poppa was our main concern so we went to see him again. He was taken to the cath lab just as we were getting there so we missed him but got to see him when he got back. Everything went fine and he only had to have 1 stint put into an artery that was 80% blocked. They had to go in through his leg instead of through his wrist but that's ok b/c now he's so much better. We're so thankful for all the prayers that were answered that it wasn't something bigger and he needed bypass surgery. Go God! He's home now but of course we're going to make sure he does what the doctor says and gets better quick. Emily is a great nurse!
So we went to get her GI test done this morning and she did much better than her nervous mom. This was right after she ate at 7am, so precious. She couldn't have anything for 3 hours before the test at 10am. She usually eats sooner than that and i knew that if she didn't sleep through those 3 hours it was not going to be pretty. So i loaded her in the car and we went for a drive to put her to sleep. It worked b/c we had to wake her up to have it done.
She had to drink barium (which looked disgusting) while they were taking the images and we were able to be with her the whole time. The radiologist didn't see anything abnormal so that was good news too! Go God! Not sure what the next step will be (acid blocker or just let her grow out of it) but we'll be ok.
In other big news, she's been sleeping in her crib at night! Blaine put her down Monday night after we wrapped her/swaddled her in the halo sleep sack (b/c we can't put a blanket on her this is sort of like a sleeping bag with arm holes). She didn't sleep quite as well as she did in the little bassinet that she was sleeping in but that's ok.
She did a little better the next night, and was back to her usual 5-5.5 hrs of sleeping last night (thankfully). Now when we go to Henderson this weekend and she sleeps in the bassinet she'll be all messed up but we'll get back on track :) We've gotten in a good routine of giving her a bath, then a bottle then rocking her to sleep. Seems to be working.
So we've had an exciting week. The most important thing to remember is that God is in charge. We are so blessed to have family, friends and churches that prayed for my dad during this week and He answered them. Prayer works friends. God is so good. He will continue to bless those that are faithful to Him and there aren't enough thank yous that can show my grattitude for what He's done in my life. I have a beautiful and healthy daughter, a handsome and loving husband, and family that means everything to me b/c of God's generous grace. I will never take that for granted, I thank Him everyday! Go God!!!
It's hard to believe that our baby girl is already 1 month old! These past 4 weeks have really flown by. Everyday we get to watch Emily grow and develop. She's making "aaahhh" noises now (which is a relief from the crying), she's more alert and we're on the verge of getting smiles and laughs from her. She especially likes when we kiss her tummy or neck (and when my hair gets in her face)! She can hold her head up better and even likes to sit on Blaine's lap...of course always focused on her friend fanny (the ceiling fan).
She still pretty much hates tummy time though. She will lay on her playmat fine for a good while and when I turn her over she does really good for about 1 minute then starts to fuss. I even tried propping her on the boppy but she was already mad at me and didn't like that either. She'll really pull her head up when she's laying on your chest.
She's has basically grown out of her newborn clothes. We tried to put a sleeper on her just last night and it was a little snug for our piglet! So we've moved to the 3 month section of her closet. Some of the things are still a little big but this adorable ballerina sleeper was just too cute.
Notice the little characters on the changing pad under her bottom? Well those were one of the best purchases that I didn't even know we needed. They're these waterproof pads that we put on top of the changing pad (although it's waterproof too underneath the cover) and it's a good thing b/c for some reason she likes to pee AFTER we've taken off her diaper. Usually it only gets on this little pad and not the whole cover so I don't have to wash it everyday but it does usually get on her clothes which we then have to change!
She is still a little fussy in the evenings...I'm convinced it's acid reflux b/c of the way she's acting and I feel so bad for her. We're trying gripe water and it's helping but not curing it. We keep burp cloths handy everywhere in the house.
She's also discovered the paci. They're so big in her mouth though that she looks like Maggie from the Simpson's! She isn't really able to keep a hold of it so we have to help her. Lately she's been pretty content with it though so that's good. Here's Blaine helping her keep it in (what a sweet picture).
Today we made it to Sunday School and worship service at church. I didn't get a picture of her cute outfit before Blaine changed it but this one I thought was equally as cute. Plus we had to change into our play clothes b/c we walked over to Kelli's (Blaine's sister's) house so that Emily could meet her dog, Baxter for the first time!
We had a really fun and busy weekend! Here are her 1 month pictures...notice how snug her 0-3 month onsies are, guess we'll store those away now too! Stay tuned for more as we watch our sweet baby girl grow big and strong!
