Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Dont want to miss a thing

Sara Beth has begun to realze that there is a world around her.  Her eyes either dart this way and that taking in all the sights, or start fixedly at one particular object for minutes at a time.  Her stares have something behind them and are no longer the blank looks she first gave.  

I have begun to carry her around the block after dinner.  No matter how fussy she acted inside, as soon as I start walking out doors, she will quiet down and take in all the sights.

The down side of this is that she no longer likes naps in her crib.  She will happily fall asleep in her bouncy seat out in the kitchen, but if she is placed in her crib, then she feels that she is missing th party, and gets upset.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say that she is mad.


Monday, August 25, 2008

The 4 diaper changing

The stories of the very young are dominated by the adventures bowel movements.  At least all my stories seem to be that way, and this is no exception.  Fortunatly, for the squemish, there are no pictures this time. Sara Beth has diaper rash, so we try our best to get in, clean up, and get out as fast as we can.  In this case, SaraB's fussing has the "I'm uncomfortable" tone to it, so I crack open the diaper and find it's dirty.  Since I am the 4 week old seasoned diaper changer, I dive right in.  I prep the new diaper, wipe her back side, and do the swap for the new diaper.  Not 2 seconds after the new diaper is under her, Sara Beth decides that she wants to dirty up this diaper too.  Not to be discouraged, I prep the new diaper, wipe her back side, and do the swap.  Then she decides that she needs to wet this one.  So I prep the new diaper, wipe her backside, then re-wipe, then wipe a third time, THEN do the swap.  Sara Beth and her diaper rash were not ammused by my antics and she wasn't impressed with my excuses about it being her fault either.  

Friday, August 22, 2008

Bath time fun

I come home and Heather happily says that Sara Beth was fussy today.  In order to soothe her, Heather had to cuddle and snuggle her all afternoon.  She was sad that SaraB wasn't feeling well, but she didn't mind helping SaraB feel better at all.

This evening, I prepare the water for the bath that Sara Beth takes every other night.  As the experienced parent may know, babys cant take as warm of a bath as an adult normally would. Of course, I'm still getting used to that fact.  So we get SaraB out of her diaper, and Heather starts to put her in her little mini-tub when she realized that the water is too hot.  She puts Sara Beth back in her lap and I drain some of the water and begin to refil her tub with cooler water.  With all the rushing watter noises, Sara Beth decides she needs to go to the bathroom.  All over Heather's dress.  We bathed her, then I put Sara Beth into her night-time clothes and settled her down for the night while Heather took a bath of her own to wash off.

Also, the photographer that came by to take pictures of Sara Beth has put some of them up online at her website which is at  http://rachellophoto.typepad.com/the_photoblog/2008/08/little-bundle-of-joy.html  We thought they turned out nicely.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Starting and Sleeping

Today, while Heather was getting ready for the day, SaraB's grandmother entertained her.  She did this by placing a soft fuzzy sheep toy infront of her.  Sara Beth staired and staired at the toy for a full 10 minutes.  When she got bored of that, my Mom rotated the sheep 90 degrees, and suddenly Sara Beth became interested in it again and examined the completly new outline for 10 more minutes.  Nowdays, when Sara Beth is awake, she is looking around at the world around her and soaking it in like a sponge.  The sheep incident reveals that she still has some things to learn.

The only activity that Sara Beth likes more than staring is sleeping.  She has become proficient at this skill.  Heather got  her out on the boppy to do a little "tummy time" with less than desired results:


She generally will struggle to hold her head up and look around while doing tummy time, but not today.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Our Little Prodigy

Every day Sara Beth grows and develops just a little more.  Butterflys dangle from a bar over SaraB's bouncer, and Sara Beth reached up to grab one yesterday.  Butterfly grabbing were an olympic sport, she would have scored high marks in both object recoignition and in hand eye coordination.  Maybe in 4 more years, it will be added as a new event.

Next, Heather took Sara Beth over to Courtney's house, and there Giovanna and Sara Beth became good friends.  Giovanna calls her new friend "Itty Bitty Sara Beth".  To compliment that, Sara Beth looked at Giovanna and smiled! 


Tomorrow we are going to clear out most of the newborn clothes.  They have all been so cute on her, but she continues to grow.  Each day we dress her in a new outfit, and then, on some days, we dress her in another outfit when she spits up on the first.  Some of the accessories stay on her better than others:

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Playing with Sara Beth

Sara Beth actually intetacted with me yesterday.  I love it just when we sit and look at each other, or, rather, I look at her, and she sits and works on a diaper.  But yeasterday, she grapped my finger and dragged it around her face.  She brought it to her mouth, sucked it, and then repeated the process.  It was the first time that did more than looked at me, or pooped at me, or anything "at" me.  She was playing with me. I know that in my future will be some real interactions, but that just means that things are going to be better than this.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

The road to a restful night

Up till now, SaraB gets us up every 3 or 4 hours through the night for feedings and every 2 hours during the day.  We have been happy to have a kid that knows the difference between night and day AND knows which one is the right one to sleep in.  Last night, she made another promising step last night.  We put her down at 9:30 and she didn't wake up for her next feeding till 3am; she dropped her midnight feeding.  Were not sure if this was a fluke or if she will continue to sleep for 6 hours at a time to start off the night.  In either case, we were happy. 


Thursday, August 14, 2008

Scientific Proof

I know that I have been harping on how much Sara Beth has grown in the past two weeks, but now the doctors can vouch for me too.  Heather took her for her two week checkup.  To recap, by the time she left the hospital on Saturday, SaraB weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces.  Today, she tipped the scales at 9 pounds 1 ounce.  So she increased her body weight by 20% in less than 2 weeks!  When the nurse pricked SaraB's foot so the she could get blood, that was less fun, but SaraB calmed down quickly.  The doctor said that SaraB's had all the symptoms of acid reflux, so if her current medicine doesn't work for her, then we can switch over to a medicine that directly targets acid reflux. 

I never take medicine for myself.  I figure if my body hurts, then I should feel the pain so I remember to take it easy, forgoing pain medicine.  Before Sara Beth was born, I just figured that my opinion on medication for her would be the  same, but when SaraB starts hurting, I want to give her whatever she needs to feel better.  I think part of being a parent is reconciling these sorts of differences in myself.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Snacking

It does look like the stomach muscle relaxers did the trick.  Up to this point her digestive system has been so tight that we couldn't burp her.  Now we call her our little baby truck driver as she gives some rather hearty burps after feedings.   She's also gaining weight very quickly.  The rolls under her chin have developed into a full second chin.

 She is now fully into size 1 diapers, and so we have some packages of newborn diapers that we will have to return to the store.  We also have a slowly but constantly growing pile of newborn clothes that she no longer fits into.  SaraB will turn 2 weeks old tomorrow; Heather is taking her to the doctor for her checkup, sw we'll find out how much she now weighs.

She has developed a tase for snacks.  During the day time, she will start acting hungry only an hour after her last meal, but then once Heather starts trying to feed her, SaraB will just start playing around.  We are, or I should say, Heather is, still working on this new development.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Fussiness

As some have noticed, I have become slower at updating the blog.  Sara Beth has been very fussy lately, and so there is not all that much to post about.  "She's crying again" does not make for very riveting reading.  We tried all the suggestions that everyone has given, to no avail.  SaraB would still cry and pull herself into a ball as if her stomach was hurting.  So yesterday, Heather calls the pediatrician and he prescribed some muscle relaxers for her stomach.  

Heather wanted to get the medicine as soon as possible.  Since I am working from home, I was on baby duty while she went out to get the medicine from the pharmacy at Albertsons.  Of course, she was the nervous mom leaving her child.  And, so, it was almost inevitable that the pharmacy did not have the medicine. 

I have to give the Albertson's pharmacy credit though. By the time that Heather had arrived, they had allready called around to the other pharmacies in the area to find one that did have the medicine in supply.  Heather then had to go to a Wallgreens, and it was apparently the slowest Wallgreens in the area.  Heather called twice in the 40 minutes she was gone to make sure that SaraB was ok.  

We gave Sara Beth the medicine and she settled right on down.  We had our happy, non-fussy baby again.  We celebrated by going for a walk that evening. 


Since that time she has been much happier.  


Sunday, August 10, 2008

Ants 1 : Peter 1000000

We are finally ant free in the house.  And none of the ant traps did a bit of good (I can call them ant traps instead of "ant food" now since no ants are looking over my shoulder to tip off all their friends to my plans).  I noticed their nest in the front flower bed and sprinkled some industrial strength ant poison on it.  Within a couple hours, the whole ant colony had gone to a better place ... or at least gone from my house.  I am sorry to hear that from the comments that the ant have moved on to other homes, but if you want to swing by my house, Ill give you all the useless ant traps that you could want.

Her big day

Heather's Aunt and cousins from Florida came in town this weekend to see our family and for a dual baby shower/sip and see for Heather and her cousin Sadie.  Sadie's son is due on the day before Thanksgiving.  Heather's Aunt has been an immense help around the house.  She has been cooking breakfast, preparing dinners, and comforting Sara Beth when both Heather and I are exausted.  


We got Sara Beth all dressed up for her big appearance at the sip-n-see yesterday.


Instead of going to the baby shower, I went and saw the Iron Man movie with a friend.  The only guy that went to the event was Saide's husband, who had cammera duty.  As a side note, I didn't think Iron Man was as good as the reviews made it out to be.  To me, it was all about explosions, guys surviving hunred foot falls because they were in an iron suit, and futuristic computers.  You could tell the computers were futuristic because they all beeped and whirred every time someone pressed a button or coppied a file.  I think the sound effect guy was paid by the noise so they crammed as many in as they could. 

  Anyways, back to SaraB.  According to Heather, she did so well at the event, but by the time it was winding down, she was ready to come home.  She slept on the car ride home, and I rocked her to sleep in our dark and quiet closet once she got out of her car seat.  She needed some time to decompress from all the stimulation of the party.  

Friday, August 8, 2008

Our growing baby girl

It is amazing how quickly baby's grow.  I have heard the phrase "they grow up so fast" uttered by so many parents, but I hadn't prepared myself for how true it is.  Sara Beth is noticeably bigger now then when we brought her home from the hospital.  She has even started to develop some rolls under her chin. 


We have a footed sleeper that we put her in at night to keep warm, but it is getting harder to fit her in it.  Newborn diapers are beginning to fit a little too snug, so we may be upgrading to the size 1 diapers shortly.  

She also has learned a new trick.  Twice today we have placed her on her back to go to sleep, and then, a couple hours later, when we come in to wake her up, we find her on her side.  

Thank you to all who have offered tips for curing the hiccups and gas issues.  We found a setting so her bassinet now has her torso raised on a slant, and we give her Milicon drops before every feeding in the afternoon and this has appeared to solve the problem.  For now at least.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Her Modeling Career

While I was in the office catching up on the work I missed, Sara Beth got her picture taken.  Apparently, there is a contest for profesional photographers.  The winner's pictures will be displayed in doctor's offices across the metroplex.  One of our neighbor's friends entered this contest and our little girl was one of her subjects.  Since Sara Beth is the cutest baby out there, she will win, guaranted.  And as parents, we get a free 11x8 of SaraB for volunteering, so everyone wins.  

  SaraB might just have a career in the modeling industry.  Even though (or maybe it was because), she slept through most of the process, the photographer said that Sara Beth was "the easiest baby she's worked with."  

During lunch, I decided to try and be helpful and change Sara Beth's diaper.  Sara Beth decided to do her projectile pooping trick again.  My cat like reflexes allowed me to move quick enough so that my clothes remaind unsoiled, but she managed to hit every blanket in the basinet again.  I think I am going to put down one single covering blanket to minimize the colateral damage before opening up her diaper from here on out.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Savoring the moments

It is amazing that this is the last day of my vacation; I start working again tomorrow.  I must say that this has been the fastest week of my life.  So many things happen daily that I want to remember for the rest of my life.  I love my job, and am very thankful for one where I look forward to going to work every morning, but it will be hard after this week when I can spend all morning doing this:


After such a relaxing morning, Heather and I ate lunch and then got ready to feed Sara Beth.  I decided to change her diaper in the basinet instead of on our bed.  When I opened up her diaper, I find that it is just wet.  "What?  Thats all you got?" I said out loud.  Sara Beth must know English already, because she then showed me what else she got as soon as I was getting ready to seal up the new diaper.  Keep in mind this was made while her back side was about a foot away from the side of the basinet.  

I'll be more careful with what I say to her, and never think about changing her diaper in our bed again.

Gastrointestinal Pyrotechnics

Last night around 7 Sara Beth started to get a little fussy.  Generally at this time, she would be soundly asleep, but instead she squirmed.  By 8 the squirming baby had budded and bloomed into a fully upset baby.  She was crying.  So we decided to take her for a car ride.  Baby's like car rides, and maybe if the problem was gas, then the vibrations might make things feel better.  So we go to Lowes for more "ant food".  (Melissa, thanks for the tip on the Borax + sugar combo, but since my first attempt at feeding the ants was sugar based too, I was going to try a protein based food).  Of course, as we pull up to Lowes, I realize that instead of my wallet, I have Heather's cell phone in my pocket.  So we turn around and head back home.  Through this process, Sara Beth is not a happy camper.  I run in and get my wallet at the house, but when I get back to the car, Heather and I decide that it probably would be better if Heather was not stuck in the Lowes parking lot with a crying baby while I shop inside.  We get Sara Beth out, and I go back to Lowes.  I get my gourmet ant food, and come back home to find things are worse.  Instead of crying, Sara Beth is now screaming and turning red from the effort.  It's the first time she's done that, so we start to think that something is seriously wrong.  By now it is 9 o'clock and we are racking our brains trying to come up with solutions, when, suddenly from Sara Beth comes a noise that would make any teenage boy proud.  She passed gas in a very un-lady like manner and must have filled her diaper in 1 second flat.  She then went straight to sleep.  We cleaned her diaper and put her in her bassinet with the knowledge that SaraB's digestive process still has some kinks that need to be worked out.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Ants 1 : Peter 0

I don't think the ants like the bait.  After researching this online, I have found that they are indeed pharaoh ants.  I have put all the opened food bags into large trash bags and sealed them up.  I smushed the whole ant trail that went to the pantry, leaving their bodies as a warning to their friends not to come that way.   It didn't work, but it was rather therapeutic.  I'm probably going to go back to the store to get some more varieties of "ant food" in case the ants have discriminating palettes

As for our little girl, she gets the hicups alot, and she can't go to sleep when she has them.  Heather was up for a several hours last night, working with SaraB through some gas and hicups.  Since then, she has been sleeping soundly for the full 3 hours between her next two feedings.

Our growing baby girl

We went to the doctor, and I am proud to say that Sara Beth is a growing baby girl.  When she was born, she was 7 pounds 15 ounces.  By the time we left the hospital, she was down to 7 pounds 6 ounces.  Between Saturday and Monday, she gained 6 ounces back!  


I wanted to take a picture of her on the scale as well, but Sara Beth had other plans.  We put her on the scale, the nurse asked to have her diaper taken off so that we would just be weighing her.  Of course, we open up her diaper and find that she left a little suprise in there for us.  So we wipe down our naked baby who is lying on scale in the hallway of the doctors office.  Then she spits up.  My first thought when she did that was "darn, that means that she is not going to weigh as much." Heather and I worked to clean her up her upper half, and then she got weighed.  So I was so busy wiping and removing smelly stuff that taking a picture slipped my mind until we had her all clothed again and back into the car seat.  But through this entire process she was calm.  She allowed herself to be stripped down without complaint, and even the nurse commented on how well she was taking it.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Die ants, die

For those of you who don't speak the langage, that is German for "The ants, the".  So we have ants in the walls.  Nesting instincts for mothers generally happens before the baby comes.  For fathers, it apparently comes after you come home from the Hospital.  Heather keeps the house spotless; you can safely eat off the floors and perform surgery on the counters, but now I am seeing dirt everywhere and am on my hands and knees scrubbing all the nooks, crannies, baseboards, shelves, appliances, and whatever else I can get my hands on.  I've dust busted the floor because the normal vacuum will miss all the stuff.  And then, to top it all off, we have at least 2 separate colonies of ants in the walls.  I've circled the house several times and don't see any getting in from outside, so they are already nesting in the walls.  

We are going to the doctor today to check SaraB's weight, and on the way home I am going to get some "ant food" that is safe to use indoors with pets and babies.

Sara Beth has been awake all morning just wanting to be held.  We tried putting her in the swing, but she didn't like it all that much.  She appears to be healthy and is making dirty diapers left and right.  


We got her into a new outfit for her trip to the doctors office and she took a little rest to regain her strength.


The generosity of friends

Yesterday, friends helped us out all day long.  Our neighbor mowed our yard, and did a better jobs than I ever have done.  We got a delicious dinner brought to our house,  others brought a special delivery of extra blankets and baby wipes.  And still others brought cards and gifts for Heather and I.  There were so many people wanting to come by and help out that we had to even turn some away.  So thank you to all who helped out.  It is wonderful to just be able to sit back and not even need to leave the house.  We have dinners though Friday , so we dont even need to leave the house, which is good since it is about 105 degrees outside.  Thank you to all who have helped/are helping/will be helping out.

Oh, and Heather's aunt mentioned that Sara Beth looks just like Heather did.  Take a look at this picture of Heather at 2 days old and see if you can see a resemblance.  Also, take note that Heather and Sara Beth weighed the exact same when they were born.


Significant milestones.

Who would have thought that a baby would take so much time?  I'm still trying to catch up this blog with the events that have happened.  Not last night, but the previous night, Heather's milk came in.  Sara Beth was so suprised when she started nursing that she almost choked.  Since then, Sara Beth likes eating just a little and then falling straight to sleep after 5 minutes.  Every time, we have to wake her up by rubbing, poking, prodding, or stripping her until she wakes up enough to continue.  

  Sara Beth got all cross-eyed for the first time.  I don't know if it was gas or she was looking at her nose but it was real cute (probably gas).  I probably need to start carying the camera every where I go so I can capture all these little events.  She also picked up her head on her own.  Heather was burping her, and she was able to lift her head off of Heather's hand and hold it upright on her own for a couple seconds.  Heather also wants to point out that she has already found her hands.  I'm not as familiar with that one, but Heather says that SaraB found her hands much more quickly than the average baby.

  And as a personal milestone, I can actually change a diaper without fear and tepidation.  Even the time where she continued to try dirtying her diaper after I began to take it off was handled with style and finess... Well maybe not finess, but I didn't get her clothes dirty in the process.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Settling in

Heather and SaraB are both exhausted but happy.  I'm still hyped up on adrenaline.  Heather and SaraB settle down for some feeding and cuddling time.  SaraB didn't like wearing the pink dress as much as we liked looking at her in it, so we changed her into some normal infant onesies. I unpack the car, go to the grocery store to get the essentials and make sure every one has what they need.  Heather keeps trying to help, but I make her go back to taking care of our child or to sleep.  

While Heather was napping, SaraB started to get a little fussy.  I figured it was just gas so I took her out to the living room to let Heather keep sleeping.  Apparently I fell asleep, as Heather took this picture an hour later.


I of course had to get a picture of her too.

We put her down for the night.

There are apparently ants in our house, and so I am going to go hunting for where they came from tomorrow and give them a little "ant food" to make them go away (its actually poison but I don't tell the ants that).

Comming home

Every one woke up in a much better mood.  Sara Beth was on a feeding schedule that was working for both her and Heather.  Heather and I were feeling like real parents.  Similar to how a relationship grows stronger after an argument, our feelings of parenting grew from the turmoil of the previous day.  

Sara Beth took her hearing test and passed it (of course) and the nurse commented on how good she was.  Apparently most babies are not happy with the experience, but Sara Beth was calm through the whole process.

We got the discharge papers for both Heather and Sara Beth.  Both were healthy and ready to go.  Heather got out of the hospital gown and into some regular clothes.  We put SaraB into her going home out fit, and she just looks adorable.  I know I have to say that because I'm her father, but I don't think my bias plays any part in it.   She is just that good looking.



Another father told me that the drive home from the hospital is a very stressful thing.   Sara Beth slept though the whole car ride, but I was convinced that every car on the road would run into us.  I went home driving more cautiously then I have since I got my drivers license.   Of course we made it home just fine.

Day 2: The evening

In the evening, our whole family was exausted.  Heather and I decided to keep Sara Beth in the room with us.  We had the plan from the lactation nurse on how we were going to feed Sara Beth:  since she had not been actually getting any milk, she was very hungry, so we did have to supliment Heather's supply with some formula.  In addition, we let mommy and baby cuddle up and sleep together all night long.  It was soothing for both of them.

Its funny. Going into this whole baby thing, Heather and I had plans that we were not going to give any formula and make SaraB always sleep in her own bed.  Funny how reality seems to change your carefully layed out plans.

Day 2

For those of you keeping track, I made all kinds of posts about the first day, and none about the next two days.  There was so much going on, and so much to write about, but not enough time to do it.  And that last sentance makes me sound like a real parent.

Yesterday, I felt like we had captured the elusive non-crying baby, but apparently, she was just too tired. We put Sara Beth in the nursery last night and the nurse brought her in to feed and then took her back.  We got some sleep, but the nurses kept her in the nursery for longer then we wanted.  I went and picked up Sara Beth from the nursery at around 8:00 am after she had been away from us for over 4 and a half hours.   

When Heather started trying to feed her, her mommy sense was going off.  She knew that there was something not right about how SaraB was nursing.  Every nurse she asked said that it all looked ok.  Heather was not disuaded by them and insisted on seeing a lactation nurse.  As the day wore on, SaraB was getting more and more upset, and Heather was getting more and more concerned and frustrated with the nurses lack of nursing skills.  I was getting all worked up.  It was quite a problem, and getting worse.  Finally, in the afternoon, the answer to prayer came.  A nurse who knew what she was actually doing came in, calmed everyone down, and started giving Heather the help she had been asking for.  After that she went out, got the lactation nurse, and brought her to the room for even more help.  By the end of the day, we had a plan and were in a much better place emotionally. And Heather was right.  SaraB was latching on correctly, but not actualy doing the right kind of sucking to get anything, so she was just getting more and more hungry.  I felt bad for some of our family and friends that came by during this time and were turned away at the door, but it was a long day.  

I'm sure all the parents reading this can relate.  The first day, the baby is a calm sweet thing that just sits there and looks cute, and in day 2 they just grow a second head.  The nurses told us it was normal, only it generally happens after the family gets home.  I'm just glan Sara Beth is advanced for her age and got to the point while we were still at the hospital.  Looking back, I'm sure the episode will be really funny, but it still a little too fresh.


Friday, August 1, 2008

The Poop Story

Well, I changed my first diaper last night and boy was it exciting.  After watching the nurse do it, I figured I saw enough to do it on my own. Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. 

 Anyways, so I checked her diaper at about 10 last night and it looked like someone had spilled a bowl full of brownie batter into the diaper.  I get to work, unlatching the diaper and beginning to wipe, when Sara Beth decides its time to spit up .. and then start to choke on the spit up.  So I am standing there between a rock and a smelly place with no idea how to proceed.

I'm not sure how, but I think I ended up wiping most of her, wrapping her in a blanket, holding her to my shoulder, clearing the spit up, setting her back down, discarding the blanket, and applying a 2nd clean diaper as the first got lost in the crossfire.

In summary, changing diapers is hard.  Oh, and for the people requesting a picture of Sara Beth that shows off her beautiful brown hair, check out this pic: