6 weeks old and RSV update

This morning at 1:15am, Adeline turned 6 weeks old. Fortunately, all was quiet in the house, as everyone was sleeping. She actually slept pretty well last night, which can't be said for many of the nights over the past 2 weeks. During the night she definitely seems to be worse, and I think it is because all those secretions just pool up while she is lying down. She seems like the congestion is getting a little bit better, but she developed a nasty cough a couple of days ago. The way her cough sounds makes me think she has a sore throat. The same time she started coughing, breastfeeding her became very difficult. I guess it was just too hard to do with a sore throat. I was pumping and feeding it to her in a bottle one to two times a day. Thankfully, breastfeeding today is going much better. I just feel bad for her, that half of her life she has been sick. By weighing her on our scale, she is now over 12lbs. Even through being so sick, she is not having a problem putting on weight. I must have some high calorie milk since both of my kiddo's are chunky monkeys while breastfeeding. : ) Her belly button has finally stopped draining so she is going to get her first tub bath either today or tomorrow. I will be sure to take pictures and post them later. She is getting some new hair growing slowly on the top of her head. The bald man ring of hair is still around the bottom. She is now wearing 3-6 month clothes, and is just about to move up to size 2 diapers. I am still waiting on her to feel better before I take her out for her newborn pictures. We have found her new love....the Baby Bjorn. She loves riding around in that thing, and it makes it easier for us to get stuff done around the house. She is starting to smile more and more everyday. Of course, every time she decides to do it, I never have the camera nearby.

Owen is finally feeling better. He is only coughing once or twice a day, and I no longer am having to suction out his nose. He is very thankful for that! I can't believe he will be 20 months old in a couple days. His speech has really taken off, and he is starting to repeat alot of the words we are saying. He still says some words that I can't understand, but it is getting much better. We have started putting him in time out when he acts up. He has to stay in there for one minute, and believe me, sometimes that is the longest one minute of my life. Every time he gets out before the minute is up, we but him right back, and the time starts all over. When we first starting using time out, sometimes we had to put him back 10 times before he would stay there for the full one minute. He tries to be really cute, and smile, slide out of the time out area on his belly, or do somersaults to get out. It is really hard to keep disciplining him when he being so cute, but we stick to our guns. When he gets up in the morning, the first thing he does is search all around the house looking for "baby" and "daddy". Once he finds Adeline, he wants to kiss her, which has been hard since I have been trying to keep the two away from each other while they are sick. I have been having him blow her a kiss instead, or he will kiss her back. Once he is done with Adeline, he then looks around for daddy, and when he can't find him, he goes to the the long window beside the front door and looks out saying, "daddy?" It is too cute! We are going to have to get a chain for all the outside doors since Owen is now unlocking the handle and the dead bolt, and going outside. We have tried the child safety feature for the doorknobs, and he gets them off in about 30 seconds. He is also fascinated right now with taking all his clothes off. I will get him up in the morning, and he will have taken off his pajama's. At least he keeps his diaper on; that could get really messy. He also loves to take clothes out of the dirty clothes hamper in my bedroom and put them on. Most of the time he doesn't put it on correctly. He will have his head in one of my shirt sleeves so that his whole face is covered. Then he walks around the house with the shirt covering his eyes, and just laughs and laughs when he runs into something. What a silly boy!

I have my six week follow up appointment with my midwife on Monday. I still have one undissolved stitch that I called about a couple week ago. The nurse said that I need to sit in a warm bath five times a day for about 10 minutes. I thought, "Yea right, does she realize I have a newborn and a wild 19 month old? When will I find five 10 minutes slots of time during the day to soak in the tub?!" Needless to say I still have not been in the bathtub. I am just thankful for the 5 minute shower I get when George gets home in the afternoon. I am sure things will be better now that the kids are starting to get healthy. I just keep thinking, "this too shall pass."

Picture from around the house..

I think this outfit is getting a little too small.

She is already checking out my lia sophia jewelry!

My little chunky monkey.

Owen was obsessed with wearing this hat around the house for a couple of days. Since we have been couped up in the house for over 2 weeks, I guess this was his way of saying, "I want out!" His head would get so sweaty, but he would scream if I took it off his head.



"I'm getting very sleepy!"





Owen trying to do acrobats with one of the bar stools. He eventually
got stuck and started crying for someone to come help him get out.

Pretty in Pink

Night, Night

More pictures

Adeline wearing her first dress.

George loves this bib.

Owen opening presents from Santa. He got a big kitchen and

lots of play food. This was his favorite present.

He could hardly wait to get the package open.

His favorite piece is a pretend jar of icing.

He is now climbing in the toy box to get those toys deep down.

4 week check up and RSV

1/13/09

Adeline had her 4 week check up yesterday, and since she is still congested it was great timing, so she could be seen for both at one time. Owen was also still running a low grade fever, coughing, and having lots of drainage from his nose, so I had him seen at the same time as well. After hearing Owen's symptoms, and taking a look at him, the doctor wanted to test him for RSV. She said it is going around like crazy, and if he was positive we should try to keep him away from Adeline. Well, of course, his test came back POSITIVE. This is the first real illness he has had since birth. I am almost positive we got the RSV while we were in Terre Haute for Christmas. I started getting sick the day we got back, Adeline got sick a couple days after me, and Owen about a week later. Then George started feeling bad not long after. George and I were not tested for RSV, but I am sure that is what we have as well. It is just not going away like the common cold, but instead lingering on and on. The doctor said that Owen could be sick for a total of three weeks, but she thinks that he may be over the worst part. She said his lungs sounded okay, and he didn't need any breathing treatments. She was mostly concerned about Adeline getting RSV at such a young age. Many newborns have to be hospitalized if they get RSV, and some end up on ventilators. She tested Adeline for RSV, and her test was negative. She said that since Adeline started with the congestion not long after I did, maybe she had only a very mild case due to me breastfeeding her so often, and that the virus was already out of her system causing her to test negative. Another scenario is that she has not had RSV yet, in which case we should be worried. I sure hope it is the first scenario. I have been sucking her nose out frequently with the bulb, running the cool mist humidifier, elevating the head of her bassinet, breastfeeding, breastfeeding, and breastfeeding some more. The doctor said if Adeline is able to stay out of their office and hospital after being exposed to so many people with RSV at only 3-4 weeks old, that my breast milk must have some super power! I am doing my best to keep Owen away from her, but it is hard during the day when it is just me and the two kids. At night it is easier when George takes one and I take the other. I am using alcohol gel and Lysol wipes like crazy, eating tons of vitamin C, and drinking lots of water in hopes that it will all help. I guess we will see....

As far as Adeline's 1 month check up, everything looked pretty good. She weighed in at 11pounds 3.2ounces, which is the 90th percentile. I know, she is a chunky monkey, but at least she is now on the chart. She is 22.25 inches long, which is the 75th percentile, and her head is 14.75 inches, which isthe 50th percentile. Her heart sounded great, and her lungs had some course crackles, but no wheezes. She is meeting all her milestones. I asked the doctor about her sleeping so much, and she assured me that she is completely normal. Owen, that stinker, really altered my vision of normal. She does have a mild case of thrush, so the doctor put her on some Nystatin liquid three times a day. The doctor put a little more silver nitrate on her belly button since it was still draining slightly. Hopefully this will be the end of the umbilical cord drama. I called my midwife, and she wanted me to take a dose of Diflucan to treat me for yeast as well so that Adeline and I would not be passing it back and forth. Owen got weighed at the appointment, and he was 28 pounds. My little boy is getting so big!

4 weeks old

I can't believe Adeline is already 4 weeks old. Before I know it, she is going to be sitting up, and rolling over. I enjoy each and every stage, and can't wait until she reaches the next milestone, but am then a little sad when each phase is over as well. She has her 1 month check up on Tuesday so I will let you know all her measurements after the appointment. I am guessing she is going to be 11 pounds already. She is sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night, and is eating about every 3 hours during the day. I am starting to hear her little voice more and more every day. She got a new play mat for Christmas, and now that she is feeling better, I am going to get it out for her to play on today. She is still a wonderful sleeper. I joked to one of my friends that she sleeps more in one day than Owen slept in an entire week, and that is probably not too far off. She didn't have much hair when she was born, and she is now loosing everything she had on the top of her head. She still has the old man ring of hair around the bottom. Owen did the same thing, and now he has thick hair that grows like crazy. I am ready for her to get some more hair so she can wear some cute hair bows. : )

Both Owen and Adeline seem to be feeling better. Adeline recovered much quicker than Owen, and she was not near as sick. All that breastfeeding paid off! My milk supply has been all over the place during the past week. The two days before Adeline got sick, I was breastfeeding her very frequently to give her all those antibodies my body was making. That increased my milk supply dramatically, just in time for her to be congested and not eating as much. I had to pump a couple of times just to relieve some of the pain from being so full. Since she was not eating as much, my milk supply has decreased. Now the congestion is gone, and wanting her appetite is in full swing again, so she has been nursing frequently because she is not getting enough milk at each feeding. Hopefully everything will even out over then next couple of days. Owen had a fever for a couple days all the way up to 103.4 degrees, but has not had a fever during the last 24 hours. Thankfully, Adeline never developed a fever. Owen still has a nasty cough, and a hoarse voice, but he is definitely feeling better. We have been couped up in the house for the past week while we have been sick, so I am ready to get out, and go....well, just about anywhere! I was starting to think George was going skate through this without getting sick, but this morning he was sounding pretty rough, and I saw him popping a cough drop in his mouth.

I took this picture yesterday during lunch time. I was sitting on the couch feeding Adeline while he was eating. He ate for about 5 minutes, and then I looked over to check on him, and his poor head was nodding up and down. By the time I put Adeline down to go get him out of the high chair, he was sound asleep. This cold is wearing him out!

Pictures of my sweeties!

Can you say "Cheese"?

Worn out after Christmas activities!

She is really enjoying opening Christmas presents.

Owen opening presents at Grammy and Papaw's house.

Papaw holding Owen and cousin Mason.

Adeline loving her swing.

Owen opening up presents at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Look at those beautiful eyes.

My poor babies!

1/5/08

I am feeling so much better, but now both kids are sick. Adeline had a horrible night since she couldn't breathe well. When she woke up to eat, she was so congested she was not able to breastfed. I suctioned out he nose with the bulb and that helped just a little bit. She was then able to latch on, suck about three times, and then pop off to breathe. It took forever for her to eat. I was up for two hours for one feeding! I couldn't see anything in her nose, so I didn't want to keep putting the bulb in there, causing inflammation and irritation to make the problem worse. She was getting so frustrated, and would then start crying, making the congestion worse. She has not been much better all day. Thankfully she still has not developed a fever! George went out today and purchased a new filter for our cool mist humidifier, so well will try that tonight. On a positive note, her umbilical cord finally came off today!

This evening Owen's cheeks were looking flushed, so I felt his head and it was very hot. I took his temperature at it was 103.4!! I gave him a dose of Tylenol, and he took a luke warm bath, so hopefully it will go down. Just by looking at his eyes you can tell he doesn't feel well. All day he just wanted to sit on me and be lovey, and I was thinking he was just wanting attention since Adeline was getting most of it. George went back to work at the high school today so I was on mommy duty by myself. I am sure tomorrow should be interesting taking care of two sick ones. So far, George is the only one to remain healthy.

We are a family that is normally never sick, and now all of a sudden we all need to be quarantined. Me being sick is one thing, but I don't like my babies being sick. : (

This stinks!

1/2/08

Being sick while breastfeeding, and recovering from delivering a baby really stinks! I am usually only sick once a year, if even that, and it just had to happen when I have a newborn. Not the best timing, huh? I started feeling congested on Monday, and it just continues to get worse. I have had a slight fever and a cough for a couple of days now. Adeline is congested as well, and I am hoping she does not develop the fever part. I have felt so worn down and tired. Adeline slept for five straight hours last night which was really nice. I have been trying to breastfeed her very frequently over the past few days so that I pass her all those antibodies my body is making to fight this cold. Hopefully since my body doing a lot of the work, she will be less affected by the cold. More bad timing.....George had to go back to work today. So, I had both kids for the first time by myself today. Thank goodness Owen has been on best behavior all morning. George is going to come home for lunch, and then Owen will be go down for his nap. George gets off work at 2:00pm, so if I can make it till nap time, the rest of the day will be smooth sailing. Hopefully, I will get to take a good nap this afternoon and will start to feel better.

Adeline's cord is still hanging on, by just by a thread. I am pretty sure it will not be on there much longer. I was actually shocked to find that it was still attached this morning when I changed her. I have been changing her diaper more frequently than normal due to a bad diaper rash. I already use natural care wipes, but I have been rinsing them out before using them so that I am just wiping her with water. I left her diaper off for 30 minutes last night to let her poor little bottom get some air. She sprayed poop all over the blanket I had her on, and then peed as well. It was a nice mess to clean up. I am thinking maybe she is having a reaction to the diapers. We had been using Pampers, and she did not have a problem. When we switched over to Huggies the rash started. Since she is breastfed, she poops frequently so the area is constantly being wiped so I don't know if it is that or the diapers. I bought some more Pampers yesterday so I guess we will find out.