Saturday, December 7, 2013

Life Updates

Things are started to settle down here on the home front. I thought I'd do an update on things I want to remember about this time in our lives.

Today my mom went home. I still have Phil around to help, but we are now one adult short in making sure things are running smoothly. Even if she was here for two months, it wouldn't feel like enough time. I miss her very much, but I know she has her own life to live. Plus, today is my daddy's birthday, so I'm glad they get to be reunited today :)
{We love you Jemma!}
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We had a good-sized earthquake this morning! It was only a 4.5, but it was one of the bigger ones we've ever felt. Our dishes were rattling, but nothing fell down. Phil was a bit uncomfortable, and my heart rate went up a little. However, I still would take an Oklahoma-sized earthquake over an Oklahoma-sized tornado ANY day! Like I said on Twitter, I think it was just the earth shivering from our 4 inches of snow.
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Oh yeah, it snowed 4 inches over the course of 36 hours here. David is only 6 days old and has already lived through so much! HAHA My mom's flight was not cancelled on Friday, but she didn't feel comfortable making Phil drive in the heavy snow and ended up staying an extra day. As I said earlier, she left this morning just fine, and Phil said the main roads and highways are looking pretty good overall. I think it helps that we only got snow up by our house instead of sleet/ice first.
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I was hoping to exclusively breastfeed for a little while with David, but it looks like that won't be happening. He has a small mouth, which causes some latching trouble on top on my own personal issues that I won't get into here. He also didn't wet a diaper the entire first day of his life, so we had to start supplementing with formula before we even left the hospital. I had lots of consults with the lactation consultant throughout my hospital stay, but so far none of the tips and tricks really worked for us. Now that I'm home, it's even harder since Jillian needs our attention too. She is also scared when I use the pump, so I have to find ways to use it without her noticing or hearing. Now that we're doing a combination like I did with Jillian, he is consistently wetting diapers and doing much better. The doctor said we would have had to do an ultrasound on his kidneys if he was still not wetting many diapers. I'm so relieved that his plumbing works ;)
{After his first bath at home}
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Speaking of David improving, he was borderline jaundice in the beginning. In fact, Dr. V ordered a blood test on Wednesday morning to check his levels. That way, if he needed phototherapy, they could deliver it and get us set up before the snow storm hit. Luckily, the levels were lower than Dr. V expected them to be, and he told us to keep an eye on his color. Every day David is a little less yellow so we think he's in the clear :)
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Oh, and Dr. V earned even more brownie points with me when we went for David's 3 day check up. Jillian was with my mom and I in the room, and he talked to Jillian about David. He showed her things David could do, talked to her about being a big sister, and even gave her a sticker before we left. I really love having a doctor that I trust and respect!
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Speaking of Jillian, she has adjusted much better than I thought she would! She got a little jealous when I was still in the hospital, but she's been so good since we've been home. It may change a little once it's just me with the two of them, but I may be pleasantly surprised! She gets concerned when he cries, but she mostly wants to know he's ok. She gives him gentle hugs, pets his feet, and tells him "hello" several times throughout the day. We tell her often what a good big sister she is.

Also, her language has just exploded the last week! She is saying all these new phrases, and can even recite most of the words to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with some help. I'm not sure what finally clicked with her, but I'm so glad that it has!

She is also cracking me up lately. Not only is she repeating lots of things, which is cute, she is also obsessed with marshmallows, {or mah-mohs}. At her class on Thursday, she saw the Pillsbury Doughboy and I thought she called it "mama." While trying to hide my hurt feelings from my honest toddler, my mom pointed out that it sounded closer to her version of marshmallow. Dodged a bullet there! ;)
{This is how she was watching Yo Gabba Gabba today}
{Silly Jilly!}
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Overall, I'm still feeling good physically. I am sore, and I swell just a little bit every morning. It has been hard not being allowed to pick up Jillian, but the times I tried pushing myself, (because I felt fine), I usually regretted it later. As long as I keep up with my Motrin dosage, I'm usually good for the day.
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We had to run an errand at Target tonight, but apparently everyone in the world decided to get out of their house at the same time. I usually am not like this, but I started to feel claustrophobic in the store. People were everywhere, crowding me in the aisle... it was just too much. Then we get in the car, and the parking lot suddenly turned crazy! People were getting stuck, there were lines because so many people were turning in and out of the parking lot. It was a mad house! I just started bawling because I was scared and worried. Luckily, the panic attack didn't last long and we obviously made it home same and sound. Thanks a lot post-natal hormones!
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Just for fun, I made a special edition for our weekly calendar for the week of Thanksgiving. I had "David?" written at the top of every day that week. I decided to change the last day to reflect the events of that day! Why? Because I'm nerdy like that ;)
{Like the turkey drawing too?}

Hope y'all are staying warm!

1 comment:

  1. Glad your mom was able to be there when David was born! I know that was huge. We had Mackenzie and no family lived by us and I told Erin I would not have another child unless we lived by family. He got is back to IN and he got another child. :)
    Glad everyone is doing good. Mackenzie had a bad case of jaundice in the NICU and was under lights for a few days - from what's I've noticed jaundice is so common. Glad you didn't have to have the lights of your own.

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