No more denial for Mom

I took Raya to the doctor for her reflux.  It was time to come to terms with it...I was really hoping she didn't have it so I think I kept convincing myself she was okay.  But after seeing her pain I snapped out of that real quick and into reality.  Tears my heart apart seeing her in so much pain.  Have you ever heard a 6 week old scream (like reallllllly scream like 'I just saw a mouse scream')?  It's awful and heartbreaking.  The doctor confirmed that she definitely has reflux.  She has different symptoms than what Easton had - which is partially why I wasn't sure.  We saw our primary pediatrician this time (first time Raya has seen her as she's been gone) and I'm so glad we did.  She told me that the reflux is why she has been choking and congested and possibly why she wants to eat so much (soothing herself). I wish the other doctor we saw would have known that so we could have gotten this under control sooner.

So we've been on the meds for just about 5 days now.  It's awful giving them to her...she absolutely hates it - which I don't blame her because I guess this stuff (prilosec) tastes awful. It's impossible to get her to swallow it - but we're getting most of it in her usually...I think.  She was doing great for a few days but had a flair up again last night and today.  I'm really hoping it starts kicking in full-time ASAP.  I hate that she's in so much pain.  Plus, Easton is home with us now so it's really difficult to hold her all day long and give him the attention he wants and needs.  We'll make it through though.

Raya got to meet her great grandma Marie this past weekend at cousin Kristen's baby shower!  She slept in her arms the entire party - she was very content with great grandma :)  I'm so glad we got to see her...it had been too long.

We are seeing many more smiles and hearing lots of coos out of Raya lately.  It's absolutley adorable!  She weighed in at 10 lbs 15 ounces at the doctor last week - about the 75th percentile.

Just say no...

...  to dairy!  And drugs... always say no to drugs. :)   It's official, I cannot have dairy as it gives Raya horrible reflux.  I have been avoiding it but last night Jake and Easton picked up dairy queen and I thought I would give it a try because I didn't know for sure if it made a difference not having any dairy [and because, let's face it, it's pretty hard to turn down dairy queen].  Well, I got my answer.  Poor little Miss Raya was in so much pain last night :(  So hard to see her hurting like that -- especially when it's my fault.  So sad :(

This is my last week of just 'Raya time' as Easton will be joining us next week.  He'll still go to daycare 1 day/week so he can see his friends and teachers.  So, I'm hoping to try and start somewhat of a schedule with her this week so we can at least have "controlled" chaos when Easton joins us.  I'd also LOVE to coordinate their nap times so they are both sleeping at the same time - that would be the dream :)

I have to give a big shout out to my parents for making our yard look great!  It's always been a challenge to get our yard under control every summer.  My Dad came up and got all of our flower beds cleaned out for us this year!  It was a wonderful birthday present for me as it never would have gotten done this year.  I'm sure our neighbors thank you too :)

Sun bathing (not really... more like hanging out in the shade while mom sits in the sun)

1 month

Cant believe she's already a month old!  I forgot how fast the days go by.  Makes me so sad - it's so hard to soak up every moment when life just zooms by.  I think she was already out of the "newborn stage" after a week.  She just got so big... so fast!  Her 3 month clothes fit her perfectly... what?  She's only a month old!  I guess that's what happens when she's such a great eater!

Sleeping has been going pretty good.  Despite the growth spurt at 4 weeks she typically wakes up around 2am to eat and is up for about an hour.  She is now sleeping in the cradle/rock and play thing we got for her to originally sleep in.  She does better in that than in the bassinet of the pack-n-play because it's at a slant and she doesn't have any choking episodes.  The choking seems to be few and far between (not sure if it's because it's not happening at night anymore because of the new sleeping arrangements or if it's getting better).  She no longer sleeps in our bed either - I just got too paranoid with that even though we were very careful. Hopefully we'll have her sleeping in her crib in the next couple of weeks.  She still seems to get congested and agitated very easily at night.  The other night we had all of the kids in our bed.  Thank goodness we upgraded to a king size bed.  I was up feeding Raya in our bed for over an hour and Easton ended up in our bed all night due to thunder.  Talk about getting absolutely no sleep that night!

Raya isn't too fond of using a nuk but we found one that she will occasionally take.  She loves to be held and cuddled and would often eat to get herself to fall asleep and/or find comfort so I wanted to use a nuk for those times she just needed some comfort and didn't really need to eat.

We have a big change coming our way.  I am going to be working part-time next year.  Because of the ridiculously high daycare costs this just ended up making the most sense.  Either way daycare breaks the bank.  Plus, it'll only be for a year and it'll be great to be able to spend this time with my kids - we never get these moments back and they go by so fast - so it's a great opportunity for me!   Raya won't have to be in daycare for a year either which is great for 2 reasons 1. she hopefully can avoid some nasty sickness that she'd probably get from daycare and 2. once she starts daycare she'll be in the toddler room which means lower costs.  I will be working 2.5 days and we'll be having the grandparents come up and babysit during those times.  Very thankful that they are able to do this!  Easton will still go to school 1 day/week (maybe 2) so that he can still be outgoing with other preschoolers and see his friends.  I do feel bad pulling him out because he loves his friends but I know he loves to be home too.  Hopefully it all works out for everyone.

Don't worry I was in the room putting clothes away the whole time she slept [for those worried about the blanket]

So happy! 

Scrub-a-dub-dub

We gave Raya her first real bath the other night (we had to wait for her cord to fall of before we could do this).  She absolutely LOVED it.  I anticipated screaming the whole time because she is not a fan of changing her clothes or diaper.  Boy did she prove me wrong.  She didn't make a peep.  She was the most relaxed I've ever seen her.  She just kicked back, stuck that belly out and loved every minute of it.  Easton loved giving her a bath too!

Raya has been doing great and still eating like a champ!  She weighed a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz last week at the doctor.  They were amazed and said she's doing great.  We've had a few more episodes of what seems like acid reflux... so I'm really, really, really hoping we can steer clear of that with her because it was so awful and painful for Easton.  Breaks my heart when I see her like that - she seems to be very sensitive to whatever I eat so I need to be extra careful about that!  The doctor also wasn't concerned about her choking episodes.  She said as long as she's recovering from them and not turning blue.... yikes!  She said it's likely a form of acid reflux or not spitting up all the way and it getting stuck in her throat.  Once a night though, Jake darts out of bed to pick her up while she's choking!  Scares the crap out of us!

My days are pretty much spent feeding her and changing millions of poopy diapers!  Some days she literally eats on the hour - every hour.  I feel quite unproductive but I have to remember that's what these first weeks are all about.  Except today, we ran some errands this morning and she has slept most of it (I even got a nap in) because we were awake most of the night with reflux :(  boo!

Easton LOVES to show off Raya at school when I pick him up and his friends love to come and see her.  So, that is pretty cute.  He has still asked a couple of times, "Is she still Raya?"  and last week when he was mad/tired - he told me he wanted her to go back in my tummy.  I'm certain he didn't mean in though as he constantly wants to hug and kiss her :)

LOVING the bath 

content with tummy time - she eventually fell asleep like this :)