Food, FINALLY!!!!

We've had a busy month here at our house!!! Two weeks ago, Kyra's upper right canine came through and this week the upper left one FINALLY popped so hopefully we'll have a teething break while we're in Wisconsin before her 2 year molars start. Paige started eating solids for the first time last Sunday. (Yes, that was a few days early but she was definitely ready and that way Dad, Grandma and Grandpa all were able to see her get her first dinner (peas) and celebrate her 6 month birthday with her.) She's LOVING eating solids. So far her favorite seems to be squash and her least favorite is jarred bananas because they are SOUR from the citric acid they put in to keep them from browning. From now on we'll be mashing our own bananas. She grabs the spoon and pulls as it's heading for her mouth because I don't get it in fast enough. She ate the whole jar (2.5 ounces) of peas at her first try and now is up to two meals of 2-4 ounces a day of fruits and veggies. She's getting to be very wiggly and can sit up on her own in the bouncer. She rolls both directions now but still does better front to back. She sits unsupported and has for a month or so (don't know if I mentioned that before) and is definitely teething but no teeth yet. Phil thinks she'll be crawling before November but I think it will be a little longer than that. Her 6 month wellcheck was this past Thursday and she did beautifully! She only fussed about the shots and charmed everyone at the office. She weighed in at 19 lbs 11 oz (officially less than 2 lbs lighter than Kyra) and was 26 1/2 inches long. The doctor commented repeatedly on how wonderful her muscle tone was and how strong she was, predicting that she might be an early walker. When the two ladies came in to give her the shots (she got three of them poor thing) Kyra hid behind the chair when she saw the needles. As soon as they'd poked Paige and she started crying Kyra came flying out jabbering and yelling something that the only understandable part of was "BABY PAIGE BABY!!!" She was scolding them for having hurt her little sister. :)

Two Babies Leave Little Time for Blogging!!!

So, as you've probably noticed, I'm WAY behind on keeping up again... whoops! It just seems like we're having such a busy summer between softball, doctor's visits and just all the normal stuff that comes with keeping up with an 18 month old and a 3 month old!! The big news is that on the 14th, Paige got her loaner BAHA aid! She's doing great with it already. If you want to know more about that, as soon as I get the chance I'll put up a post on her blog about it all.

On the 19th, we worked out at Oral Hull again. (Well, Phil worked. The girls and I did a little weeding and shrub trimming for a couple hours because there is a limit to what you can do while wearing both babies. :) It was a lot of fun and Kyra LOVED the watermelon!
Paige had her 4 month check on friday (even though she technically wasn't four months until wednesday.) She did very well and the doctor said everything looks good. She barely fussed for her shots and didn't fuss at all when she got her oral rotovirus vaccine. She weighed 15lbs 2oz and was 25 inches long which puts her in the 90th percentile for both height and weight so she's balancing out and slowing down a little on the growing. (She was 98th for weight and 95th for height two months ago.)
Last Sunday Phil surprised me with a late birthday trip to the Rennaissance Fair. It was so fun! Kyra loved it too. :) She really liked the police horse that she got to pet that was parking cars. She also liked the dressage and jousting demonstration... until she noticed that there was a dog next to us to play with. He he. Her favorite part though was the blacksmith oddly enough! I can't wait to take her to another one... we'll have to try to find or make some itty-bitty garb before then.
Paige rolled over for the first time that I'd really count this last tuesday. (It was the first time on a totally flat surface so she did it all on her own and she's done it a few times since then too.) She rolls just tummy to back so far which is great so far since Kyra at first only rolled the other way and would get ticked off when she got stuck on her tummy. Of course, Paige's first true roll was when Amy was trying to get her picture on her tummy. :D Amy was very brave and tried some of the girls together too that turned out cute, if not perfectly posed. It's just not possible to take a well posed picture of an 18 month old and a 3 month old without having at least one grown up person in the picture. *lol*



We've been trying and trying to get Kyra to say "Love You". On Wednesday, she finally said it... but not to me or Phil! I was changing Paige on the couch and Kyra was entertaining her for me and I asked Kyra if she loved her sister and she looked right at Paige and said "Love you!" several times. :) She also is finally saying her own name as of yesterday. She also now says very clearly Elmo, Grover, Ernie, Big Bird, and Bert. I should try to get a video of her doing those, it's cute when she goes through her book and names them. She can't quite get Zoe yet, that's a hard one.

18 Month Check

Kyra had her 18 month appt. with Dr. Byrne yesterday. Paige stayed home with Phil while we went and Kyra was VERY concerned when we got in the car without the baby. In fact, she cried more about leaving Paige behind than she did about getting TWO shots! She was a very good girl at the doctor's office except for fussing when the doctor wanted to feel her tummy. She even stood on the big girl scale and at the ruler to have her height measured. She is officially 22.6 lbs on their scale and 30 inches tall!! Ok, so the weight was at least in part due to the fact that she was fully clothed and last time was only wearing a dry diaper, but we'll take it since it means she doesn't have to go back for 6 months!!! Yay!
Also, Paige laughed out loud tuesday for the first time! Phil was talking to her and being silly and she broke out in a great big grin and then laughed several little chuckles. So cute!!!!
We took the girls to the Sandy Mountain Festival Parade tonight and they were both very good and had a blast! Paige stared as everything went by and Kyra switched off sitting with John and Amy and didn't even try to run into the parade once. I think her favorite parts were when she realized there was a dog sitting next to her and stealing all of John's waterbottles from him. She did seem to like watching the parade too. :)

Behind Yet Again!!!!

So we have been VERY busy at our house over the last few week, or at least it seems that way! That's probably part of the reason I've gotten to be SO far behind yet again! So I'm going to try to get caught up all in one big post!
A week ago Monday Paige had both her first appointment with her ENT and it went well. We didn't find out much new, but we really liked him! Then that afternoon (I know, long day for a little girl) she had her 2 month check-up with Dr. Byrne. She weighed 13 lbs 6 oz and was 23 inches long! She sure is growing! That put her in the 95th percentile for weight and the 75th for height. For comparison, at Kyra's 2 month check she was 11 lbs 2 oz and 23 1/2 inches long. :) The results from her hip/kidney ultrasound came back clear (Praise God!!!!) so she won't have to wear an icky sling to help keep her hips inline. When Joy, the medical assistant, came back in after the doctor had done her check to do vaccines with one of the other assistants Kyra started crying. Apparently she's figured out that when TWO ladies come in with gloves and needles there are going to be shots! She calmed down pretty quickly once she figured out the shots weren't for her. Paige was sleeping when they came to do them and cried just a little bit, then went back to sleep. She spiked a fever and was sort of fussy that evening and a little cranky the next day but by day two she was feeling pretty much better. I've decided to start a second blog to keep track of Paige's medical stuff regarding her little ear so it's easy for me to keep track of and doesn't take over here when she has a bunch of appointments near each other. I'll put the link in the sidebar here for anyone who's interested. :)
She's cooing and babling now and is just so alert! It's hard to believe how fast she's growing and changing. A couple we're friends with at church had their baby last week and she is a tiny peanut (5lbs, 14oz when she was born) and compared to her, Paige looks toddler size! Paige got a new papasan stlye bouncer (well, new to us, Yay for Craigslist!) that can sit in the bassinet part of her pack-n-play to try sleeping in at night to see if she'll go down any earlier. She's been wanting to go to sleep for the night around 2 a.m. and then sleep in, which would be fine if Kyra didn't get up between 7 and 8! The bouncer seems to be helping some. Last night I got her down to sleep for the night before midnight and she slept in her chair for over 7 hours! Definitely worth the $8. :)
Kyra has been a busy little bee the last few weeks too. She's adding new words/signs every day. We've started singing songs that have hand motions with her now and she LOVES it! Especially "I Just Wanna Be a Sheep" (a song I sang at camp when I was little, there are videos on youtube) because she can sing along on the "baa baa baa baa" part really well. She still dotes on her little sister and loves to kiss and hug on her, tickle her and help Mama burp her. She's eating like crazy, but still sitting right around 21 lbs weightwise, she's just so busy she burns it all off! Sunday is probalby her favorite day of the week. After church we come home for a quick nap and then head off to softball. She is a great sport and claps whenever anyone else claps, regardless of which team they're cheering for. She's catching on to the fact that her dad is doing something out there and looks for him now when I point out that he's on the field. She loves seeing the other little girls and visiting with the other spectators.
Yesterday she had two "big" moments. She used the potty for the very first time.... sort of. (I noticed she was needing to go and grabbed her and took her in there to sit on it and she went.) We have a nifty toilet seat where there's a child-sized seat that folds down out of the lid of the regular seat for people with little bottoms and this was our first time trying it out. I know this isn't a huge step towards potty-training or anything (we don't plan on potty-training until November) but one less icky diaper to change is one less and that's always exciting! The second "first" of the day was that she remembered how to climb down off the couch by herself without help! We've really been working on this one because she has a tendency to get up there and then forget how to get down and sit there and yell until someone comes to help her turn over and scoot down. Of course, after doing it right once, she forgot the next time and needed to be reminded. :)

Both Ends of the Chart

The girls both had appointments with Dr. Byrne (their PCP) today. Kyra's was a 15 month well-check to check on how her weight/growth rate was doing and she had a couple vaccines due since she's on a little more spread out than normal vaccine schedule. She weighed 20lbs 4oz, is now 30 inches tall and has an 18 inch head which puts her between the 5th and 10th percentile for weight (back up in the "normal" range) and between 25th and 50th for the other two. Paige weighs 11lbs 7oz (exactly two lbs more than at birth but she did have a SLIGHTLY wet diaper so we'll see what they say about weight at her appt. tomorrow), is 22 inches long and has a 15 inch head which puts her at about the 95th percentile for weight, between 50th and 75th for length and right smack dab at 50 for her headsize. I just find it funny that one of our girls is just barely hanging on at the bottom of the normal range on the weight chart and the other is almost falling off the top! They did both have very nice, healthy looking growth curves today though. :) Dr. Byrne is still feeling a small click in Paige's hip so she'll be having an ultrasound for that and at the same time they'll check her renal system as renal problems are sometimes associated with aural microtia (the official diagnosis on her ear.) She is also now officially referred to go see a geneticist regarding possible causes/complications related to the microtia and to see the ENT that the pediatric audiologist suggested who will also want to schedule her for a CT scan on her ear. Once you add in to that the early childhood intervention appointment we're waiting on a call about and her regular well-baby/vaccine appointments, that poor girl is going to be booked up for months to come!

Paige Meets Dr. Byrne!!

bPaige had her 2 week well check yesterday. She weighed 9lbs 13oz and although it took the Dr. a few minutes to figure out where to put her on the growth chart (she's apparently just about off the top end) her weight gain is at a nice, healthy looking rate. Dr. Byrne did think she was feeling a small click in Paige's hips and wants to see her back in 2 weeks to keep an eye on it between now and her 2 month check. The PKU test was NOT fun (when is getting poked in the heel ever fun) but it was so much better than it was with Kyra since Joy, the new medical assistant since we started going there with Kyra, is just wonderful! It still took a lot of poking and squeezing to get all the little circles completely filled in with blood but since her bedside manner is so sweet it definitely could have been a lot worse (like it was with Bean...)
Now for the NON-medical side of the visist... So far, there hasn't really been anything noticable about having two so close together that has stuck out as being harder than just the normal things of adding a second child. At Paige's appointment though I realized just exactly why it can be such a challenge at times being a "Baby Buncher". (Baby Bunching is raising kids less than 2 years apart.) Well this was my first time out with both girls. Kyra started out really well when we got there and I was feeling pretty good about being out with the two of them! Then things started to go downhill. My little girl who lsitens so extremely well in public for a 14 month old decided she wanted to do everything exactly the opposite of what I said for the last half hour of the visit. She kept getting right under the doctor and medical assistants' feet, pulled the magazines off the table in the exam room several times and while Paige was having her PKU test done where I needed to be holding her, Kyra got into one of the cabinets and pulled out the extra pillow and ran around the room with it. This will definitely be the LAST time that we do a doctor's appointment where they both go along unless Phil can come!!!

Paige's Birth Story

Warning you ahead of time that this is VERY long and a little graphic. :) Well after lots of waiting, walking and cod liver oil (that didn't do anything) I woke up Monday morning 38 weeks and 2 days pregnant having actual strong contractions, although I wasn't sure that's what they were! With Kyra, I only had backlabor until after we'd had the epidural and she finally turned the rest of the way so I'd never felt hard contractions in the front! I called the L&D unit and decided to go in and get checked and we called Amy and Angi. I was pretty sure that either they'd send us home or we'd go fast enough that the dogs would be alright until after she arrived so we just left them home. We got Kyra woken up and dressed for the zoo (where Angi was going to be Monday) and dropped off over there and got to the hospital around nine. Amy got there just after us as we were still getting admittance stuff finished up and getting settled in. When they first checked me, my cervix was at 7 centimeters but still very posterior so things were moving along and we definitely weren't going back home! It took a while to get a good strip on the baby since she kept wiggling around but once that was done she checked my cervix again It was about 8 centimeters still, about the same as the last time it had been checked but anterior now instead of posterior, YAY! I sat in the jacuzzi tub for a while, but not very long as things were moving pretty quickly. On the way there I was thinking I was going to end up getting an epidrual because her little head was sitting right on my bladder and that made the contractions REALLY hurt (worse than back labor) but she finally shifted down some while I was in the tub and that helped a lot, until all of a sudden I was wanting to push and thinking I was going to need the epidural to keep from pushing! I got out so the nurse could check me and was around nine centimeters with an anterior lip left. Since my doctor wasn't available that day we were going to have the on call doctor which was fine since I'd seen her before when I was in having my appendix out this fall. The nurse called down to her and gave her a heads up that we were getting close. The water hadn't broken yet so it was bulging and causing a lot of pressure! After another few contractions she decided to see if she could hold the lip back while I pushed and have it slip back behind the baby's head. It did but it took a couple times to get it to stay there. Then after another couple contractions she called the doctor to come down RIGHT AWAY and said I should blow through the next contraction instead of pushing. Phil says I looked like I was going to hit her but actually I was just wincing and trying to figure out how in the world I was going to do that at that point! The doctor broke my water right away once she was there and then they did let me push again and it was actually not too bad. Since I hadn't had the epidural I had a lot more feeling than I did with Kyra and was able to judge more when I wanted to push and when I needed a breath and my body sort of took over in between pushes too. The first half of getting her head out I wasn't even pushing, she just came on her own. Once her head was out, the doctor had to slip the cord over her head since it was around her neck once. All told, we only pushed for 15 or 20 minutes and she was out and on my tummy at 11:44 a.m. so we had less than 5 hours of labor! She was VERY purple when she first came out between all the facial bruising she had from coming so fast and being purple from having the cord around her neck and having swallowed a little bit of fluid. She did get to lay on my tummy for a little bit though and I got to see her right away. I was so much more alert and with it then I was right after Kyra was born, it was great! I was able to talk to everyone in the room and was really aware. Her first Apgar was only a 4 so they did pull her over to the incubator and suction her out with the bulb syringe to try to get her to wake up a little more but her second and third apgars were 9, which is great! She weighed in at 9lbs, 7oz (6.8 oz to be exact) and 20 inches long with a 14 1/4 inch head so she's about an inch shorter than Kyra was, has a quarter inch smaller head and weighs 12 ounces more!! I didn't stop bleeding the way I should have after delivering the placenta, even with the pitocin. The doctor ended up manually removing some retained fragments of membrane and placenta which is just what it sounds like and not very pleasant. They did give me some pretty intense pain meds for that part after the first two sweeps because it hurt so much and I was ok with ME getting the meds. For a while right after getting the meds I was VERY out of it (I felt like I was in a kaleidescope because I saw four of everything and they spun) but once my head started clearing I was feeling pretty good. It did take over an hour to get me fixed up to where the doctor was happy between the bleeding and a small tear that needed repairing and they said that they'd have taken me to the OR to do that if they'd known it was going to be so drawn out so I'm glad they didn't know! Paige never had to leave the room and she latched on to nurse for the first time while I was still coming out of the med fog (I had to have the nurse help her latch because I was having trouble matching up which baby should go with which nipple since I was still seeing double) and did great nursing. Amy did Paige's newborn pictures within hours of her birth so she's really BRAND new in them. Phil chose Paige's name with a little input and it's super special! She's Paige Daelyn so her initals are the same as Phil's (he didn't care for Philomena Darien ;) ) and her middle name is after my dad whose middle name is Dale. Paige means "young helper" and Daelyn means "day waterfall" which Phil thought was very appropriate considering that she was born in the middle of the day when we were all expecting a middle of the night labor and that she tried to bring her water out with her! She has quite a bit of hair although not as much or as long as Kyra's was. Her eyes are dark grey right now. It'll be interesting to see if they lighten the way that Kyra's did or stay dark. There is a problem with one of her little ears where it just didn't grow right so she'll have to go in to the audiologist pretty soon to see if there's any function on that side to preserve or if it will be just a cosmetic fix only where she wouldn't be able to hear on that side, but no biggie. She had a few visitors her first day, including Kyra! Kyra was a little jealous at first but she adjusted pretty quick to the idea and just wanted to touch Paige a lot (she still wants to touch her every time she sees her and all on her own decided that the right thing to do with a baby sister is wiggle her fingers and say "tickle tickle tickle"). All in all everything went wonderfully. It was a GREAT birth experience and we're just in love with our new little girl. :)

Another Update

Well, there's not a whole lot of new things to tell. :) I keep putting off updating here hoping that we'll be able to post an update that we're headed for the hospital in labor, but not yet! Monday we had a morning OB appt. Still 4 cm dilated, VERY soft but still very far back cervix-wise. They did a non-stress test and little sister is looking good. The doctor said she just couldn't believe I haven't delivered yet! Monday afternoon we did a maternity session with Amy. I'd been sort of wishy washy on decided to do one since I just didn't feel very photogenic but I'm glad we did since we have the pictures from when I was pregnant with Kyra and I know that the girls will LOVE seeing them some day, especially when they're all grown up and it's their turn! (Although, if Phil has his way they'll be adopting since they'll already be going through menopause when they get married...) As much as I hate pictures of myself I have yet to have Amy take pictures of us and not end up with ones I actually like, even of ME! It was an interesting photo shoot since Bean was NOT feeling cooperative and mostly just wanted to run around naked and distract Amy and get in front of the camera. At one point she did bring me a remote control car to sit on my tummy, a present for Little Sister maybe? Even though she's normally just fascinated with bellies in general and especially mine, she wasn't about to kiss the tummy or cuddle or anything cute. :)

Besides the two on here, I put a few of the pictures up in a web album that you can go see HERE but be warned, there are some bare belly shots and a few nearly naked baby shots. ;)

35 Week Appointment with Little Sister

I had my 35 week appt today and will be going to weekly appts now. Phil wasn't able to be there as he forgot and volunteered to work today (normally his day off) for a special project but it wasn't a big appt or anything so no big deal, although, this is the first time in a couple months that it took the OB more than a few seconds to get little sister's heartbeat on the doppler and of course it was the appt without Phil! She was just being stubborn though and popped up after a minute or two. My cervix is still pretty far back, but I'm dilated to 3 cm already! Baby is low and head down with her head right on my cervix. In fact, she had her hand up on her head and when the dr. was checking me she could feel her little fingers. My OB said she was shaking hands to say hello! Hopefully this means that we'll go into labor on our own before hitting the April 1st induction date (which she said was fine for a date, 38 1/2 weeks is enough with my cervix already ripening.) I'm praying though that we can make it to March 21st as that will be 37 weeks and I'll just feel better about baby coming then. It does look like we're going to skip the whole 1st stage of labor again though since it's 0-4 cm! She was looking at when to schedule another ultrasound to check little Sister's size and decided to schedule it for NEXT week since she thinks we may or may not be pregnant 2 weeks out!

BIG Little Sister...

Well there's not too much new to say about the Bean other than that she's finally almost entirely over her cold. Her fever broke last Saturday and the only remaining symptom is a little bit of a snotty nose still. She's still working on practicing walking and is getting very adept at walking along with one of us holding her hand, but is still unwilling to take more than a handful of steps on her own and that only rarely.
On the little sister front, we found out at the ultrasound two appointments ago that little sister isn't looking so little! At her last ultrasound (that was 31 weeks gestation and now we're at 33) she was already estimated to be almost 4 1/2 lbs and her estimated head circumference measurement was at 98%!! Our doctor said a that appointment said we'd wait and see how things looked as she continues to grow. I was pretty against the idea of being induced originally if there was any way we could avoid it, but as time is getting closer I'm a lot more ok with the idea. At this past Monday's appointment the OB said she would prefer not to see us go past 39 weeks since this baby is looking so big and since Kyra was a pretty big girl herself (she was 8lbs 11 oz and had a 14 1/2 inch head at what we think was just about 37 weeks). I'm ok with the idea now and just plan on doing everything possible to be as ready as possible when the time comes for an induction if we haven't gone naturally before then. As much as I don't like the idea of the pitocin

(I REALLY want to go without the epidural this time and I'm nervous that I won't be able to hack it with the stronger pitocin contractions) I do like the idea of having a cutoff date for having her on the outside where it's easier to know she's doing well!

Doctors Appts

Recently, both little sister and the Bean have had doctor's appointments so I'm updating on those. :)

Kyra's one year appointment was on the 7th. I was amazed at how good she was!!!! The only time she fussed at all was when she got her shots (four of them poor thing!) She was 28 1/2 inches long and weighed 17lbs on the button. Her doctor (who is GREAT) is wanting to watch her weight closely over the next two appointments (at 15 months and 18 months) as Kyra's weight has dropped off the normal weight chart by just a tiny bit. She's not TOO concerned though because it seems like Kyra has Phil's metabolism and is just gaining slowly. The doctor feels that her birthweight was possibly a little higher than it should have been due to maternal environment and that things will even out this next year. She's definitely growing upwards and her head is growing, she's active and has hit all her developmental markers on schedule too. As long as Kyra gets on a normal growth curve next year, she doesn't care if she gets back up on the chart or not. The doctor has us working on incorporating more high calorie foods into her diet so that she can get the calories she needs to keep up with her metabolism without having to be eating ALL day. Right now we're doing Carnation Instant Breakfast/Boost daily and working on transitioning her over to whole milk from the formula.

Little Sister's appointment was on monday (the 19th) and everything looks pretty good. Her heartrate was right on and she held nice and still for the doctor to listen to it, something Kyra NEVER did! My tummy is measuring a little ahead so they're going to do another ultrasound at our next appointment in 3 week (oh darn, we get to see LS again!) and then they'll do one more towards the end of the pregnancy. We're not too concerned as I was measuring ahead with Kyra too at one point and she wasn't huge, just a little on the big side at birth. I had my second one hour glucose tolerance test too and am really hoping that either I pass and don't have to take the three hour test that I had to take with Kyra, or that I fail SO miserably that the dr. is willing to just go ahead and say I have gestational diabetes and need to do the GD diet and monitor my sugars. Honestly I wouldn't care which at this point, I just really don't want to have to take the three hour as last time it made me feel SO awful and drained for a couple days after.

Since I don't really have pictures relating to doctor's appointments, instead I'll put up pictures of Kyra having spaghetti for the first time on sunday night. :)

Busy Day!!!

We had a BUSY day today! I took Kyra to her doctor's appointment first. It was a good appointment! The doctor said she had the all clear to start solids and that her head measurement has caught up with the rest of her growth. She weighed in at 14lbs 3 oz and measured 25 1/2 inches. Her weight is still just under the 50th percentile for breastfed girls so she's a pretty average kiddo in that group, but on the smaller side for babies her age in general although she's still well on the charts. :) Everything else looked good too and we even got an assistant we like AND she brought shorter needles because Kyra has such little legs. How sweet is that? I just wish they'd been using those shorter needles before! Then we came back for Kyra to take a nap and to pick up Phil. We went to the insurance office to pick up the slip for the car insurance and then the bank. Kyra's WIC appointment was after that (it was a short one) and then we went to the D.M.V. to get the trip permit for the Oldsmobile (I don't know if I mentioned this here but Phil's very sweet Grandma is giving us her older car! It's a '96 Olds with only 37,000 miles on it and lots more backseat room for Kyra and 2 dogs than the Subaru has.) Then we went to Phil's mom's house for a short visit to drop off dog harnesses and pick up the car. Our LAST stop of the day was a quick walk over to Wal-Mart to grab some stuff. WHEW!!! Kyra was tired after all that (as you can see) and so were we!

Sniffles

Ugh.. another rough night. She was awake and fussy around 2 again for almost 2 hours. Not a lot of fun, but we did get to see most of the 2nd half of the special on Harry Truman we were watching last night. Poor Kyra has ANOTHER cold, so I took her over to the clinic today since she was coughing and I couldn't tell if it was all in her head or in her head and chest. She was so stuffy, I had to suck out her nose with the bulb syringe this morning before she could even eat! Amazingly, we not only got an appointment for 4pm with her doctor, but we got in right on time at a same-day appointment on a weekday afternoon! We didn't even have to see the assistant that we don't really care for! Hooray! Apparently, she was scrunching or something when they measured her last time because she measured 25 inches today and was only a little over 23 a couple weeks ago at her 4 month check. They double checked since obviously one of those was wrong! She weighed 13 lbs 6 oz so she's still growing. Her doctor said her lungs are clear so that's good and gave me the dosage so she can have some guaifensin that might help some with the coughing and we're just going to keep trying to keep her nose cleared out and let her sleep a little upright until she's feeling better. If she keeps having problems with a stuffy head, the doctor may test her for allergies after 6 months.

Shots Are Icky!!

Kyra had her four month check-up at the doctor this morning. Since it was Dad's day off, he came along. Lucky us, we didn't get the assistant we don't like except for when Kyra got her shots she came in to help because they always have two to do the vaccinations if there will be more than one injection. Kyra is still growing. She weighs 13 lbs 2 oz now and is 23 inches long. (That's right around the 50th percentile for both.) She's doing good otherwise. The only concern at all is that her head is consistently measuring a little below the "average" range for normal. Since it's still growing along the right curve though, her doctor isn't too worried, just wants to see her an extra time between six and ten months.
After her appointment we went out to grandmas to visit and to celebrate her 4 month birthday. Kya was NOT in a good mood after the first half hour or so. Her vaccines apparently made her A LOT crankier this time, even with the baby tylenol, possibly because they were done a little different this time. She got some as individual injections instead of a mixed one since she didn't need the Hep. B today. Poor baby went to sleep at 7:00 tonight instead of 10:30 like she has been!

No More Needles!!

This morning Kyra had her 2 month checkup. She now weighs 11lbs 2 1/2oz and is 23 1/2 inches long. She is right about in the middle on both weight and length. She's a little ahead of average on most of the developmental markers and the doctor thinks her umbilical hernia is going to heal up all on it's own. She was SUCH a good brave girl! First of all, it took a while waiting to get in for her appointment (they usually run late, but are so good and never rush you, I don't really mind). Then, after her exam, she had to have THREE SHOTS for her immunizations. One was a Polio, TTP, Hep B combo shot, one was her MMR and I can't even remember what the other one was! She only cried during the actual injections and for about a minute after. They did at least do the first two together with two ladies doing it to get it over with. She has been a little fussy on and off today though and she's got a big blue crayon band-aid on one thigh and a flag band-aid on the other.
After her appt., we met Auntie Amy and Hazel at the dog park with Echo and Radar and did the loop before we met Phil for lunch at the Subway. We did our grocery shopping today too since she mostly just wanted to hang out in the carrier anyway, and therefore I couldn't do a whole lot that didn't involve holding the baby. She did sit in her BebePod chair for a little while and played with her toy. We also experimented with some 3-6 months clothes today. The onesie fit great, except for being a little baggy around the middle, but the pants were a little too long and MUCH too baggy at the waist. Guess it's going to be mostly dresses for a while!

OUCH!!!

Today Kyra had her 2 week checkup. She's gained an ounce a day in the last week and is up 7 ounces from her weight last Friday, but not quite up to her birthweight yet. The dr. was happy with her coloring and didn't feel the need to recheck her bilirubin which was a good thing since she already ended up getting poked THREE TIMES in her poor little heel for the PKU test. Dad was just about ready to hit someone by the time they brought the lab tech in instead of the nurse with a better lancet. Also, why doesn't anyone warn you that they're going to do your baby's vaccines with a needle that's an inch and a half long? Poor baby was so upset she exhausted herself fussing at the appointment. She did get a big crayon shaped band-aid on her thigh, but is still too young to find this to be much consolation for having been poked.
So on the sleep front, we're making some progress... maybe. She did sleep in the playpen for the longest stretch yet last night all wrapped up in the beautiful flannel baby quilt that our neighbor made her and brought over! She then proceeded to stay awake (mostly eating and staring at Dad, only a little fussing) for about 2 hours. We did however give her the bink back a week early. We're going to try to keep it for only at nighttime. She's latching so well though for feeding that I'm not too worried about that, and if it starts to seem like a problem I guess we'll just have to take it away again.
Oh, and just to illustrate HOW well the pets are adjusting... just in case you can't tell, she's sitting ON Denali in the pics below. See how disturbed he looks? Finally found an alternative to constantly telling him he can't sit on her when she's in our laps. (He doesn't want to snuggle with her when she's not with us, only wants to share the lap!)