Happy Momma Bear!!!

I had 6.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night!!! thanks to Jack taking the 10:30-11pm feeding. I went to bed at 9pm (missed my Desperate Housewives but it is worth it to feel human). I didn't wake up until 3:30am when Kailey was starting to stir. I fed her and we stayed up for 2 hours while she was WIDE AWAKE (her eyes are huge at the best of times). She was not fussing at all rather wanted to be entertained so I will take that instead of her wicked alternative. I didn't mind because on Discovery channel, the dog trainer Dr. Cohen was on and I always like watching him and he just happened to have a special on rescue dogs and their quirks. I was pumped because they pulled his program during regular watching hours. When she finally fell asleep she slept until 8am so I am feeling refreshed and ready to head to my Dr. appointment at 1:30. I had a shower, made some formula, folded clothes and cleaned up a tad. I feel like a million bucks. Jack slept through his alarm this morning so I will have to try to make a couple little timing adjustments so he is not feeding her at 11pm. He slipped her into her bassinet at around 11:50pm so he still got 6.5 uninterrupted hours of sleep too so maybe that is not enough? Maybe this is a one time thing? He was only 30 min late so that is not too bad. I think he will think it is worth it when he sees how much happier I am today. Maybe he would benefit from a nap when he gets home from work. Can you tell I feel guilty?? I guess it could be way worse for him - Chris from work, who sleeps in the same room as their newborn, got a total of 2 hours of sleep the other night. I'll see what he says when he gets home today. If her feed was more like 10pm that would be better but we are on Kailey's schedule and that feed ranges from 9:30pm - 11pm. I really think the power walking with her in the snugli really helped her gas because she didn't even spit up like she was doing with the late night bottles. She was tooting and belching like a trucker the whole time she was being carted around. I think the upright position mixed with the movement of all the stairs really helped her out. She was a happy baby last night opposed to the red faced ticked off Kailey Bear. We will have to get the Nascar hat out tonight and her jingling bug toy for those windshield collisions that she gets a kick out of. hahahaha :-)

She is starting to wake up so I better run.

Shari

p.s. She is 5 weeks old today so I may have to put her in a party dress and take some pictures - not like I don't have a ton already.

Too Funny!!!

The funniest thing just came out of Jack's mouth that I had to share. She loves the snugli on one condition...you must walk fast!!! Slow speeds early in the day will be acceptable I imagine. He is walking around the house with it on right now and the minute he stops or goes too slow she fusses.

Jack said talking for Kailey - "walk faster you fat bastard, I want to feel the wind through my peach fuzz". hahahahaha!!! He even put his nascar hat on for her...I am dying laughing.

Shari

Night Owl

So I had another wild night last night - Jack lucked out the previous night. She was only up for maybe 2 hours the entire day so I knew I may be in for it. Her fussing started at 8pm and didn't stop really(off and on complaining mixed with a scream that could peel paint) until 10:30 ish. She slept until 1:30 am and that is when the real 'fun' began. It was hell trying to get her to settle after her bottle. She cried until 3:30ish at which point I caved and let her sleep with me in bed. She started to fuss but I was there to rock her a bit in my arms and she dozed off and I slipped my arm out from under her and we slept until 6:30am!! Had she not been a fussy pants I would have had 5 hours of sleep instead of the three. I was just thankful she gave me that. She was awesome after that time like always. She is a very good/easy baby during the day. I can deal with fussy crying so much better in daylight. I am terrible at 2am and that seems to be when she likes to test my strength. We have been making a point of keeping her up off and on all day to maybe coax her into sleeping more tonight, I won't hold my breath.

Today's Events:

- I took Zoe pants to the club and threw a ball for her for about 30 min. She was so happy to be out with me again and it was totally therapeutic for me too.

- I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a snugli (she really likes it) and hopefully with my hands free and her being upright we can have a win win situation.

- I went to the mall and ran into Jackie so we had lunch and just chatted it up which was totally great and also very therapeutic. I was supposed to be picking up groceries but what fun is that?

- I ended up going to Sobeys and ran into a girl from my prenatal and she told me her story and it is freakishly like mine. C-section, thought water broke and it actually didn't, hard to breast feed...she is successfully breast feeding but is totally wore out as she wants to eat every 1.5 - 2 hours all day and night. Jackie was talking to another girl from my prenatal class and she was a C-section as well. What is with all the c-sections??? She too had a hell of a time breast feeding but is doing ok with it now. She is feeling overwhelmed too and is up feeding her baby every few hours too. We exchanged numbers so at least we can provide support to one another. :-) It feels good to know that there are others feeling and going through the same sort of thing. I was thrilled to hear how they were doing but was a tad depressed that despite their C-Sections they were able to feed their babies. Oh well.

She is up right now and would prefer to sleep but we are walking her around and she is letting a ton of little toots and mega burps out so this is a good thing. I am going to try to go to sleep super early tonight so I can maybe get through the night better than I have been. I feel like a lazy chick when I am dragging myself out of bed around 11am!! This didn't phase me at all when I was a teenager so i am not sure why now I feel guilty when I have a legitimate reason for sleeping. Who knows.

I will keep you posted on what tonight brings with the attempt to cut back her massive power napping she does during the day.

Shari

Very good night!!

Link to pictures:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p220/sjrugg/11-25-2006/

Jack decided that I needed a full night sleep so he took the night feedings and she did amazing for him. She is back to where she was a few nights ago (I say this in a whisper in case I jinx it again). She went four hours and fed and quickly and quietly went back to sleep and then she was up again in 3 hours without much fussing at all. There were 2 changes I made that could be helping the situation. 1/ I cut back her oz. to 4 rather than 5 at each feeding. The Doctor said that sounded like too much for her & it could have been contributing to her tummy aches. 2/ I put her back on the newborn flow nipples. I was introducing the #2 nipples but maybe she was getting the milk too fast and sucking in too much air. Who knows. Maybe she needed to adjust herself to the new formula sans breast milk. I will take it even if this is a gift. She is totally content today and we had friends stop by to drop off a gift and they said that there is no way she is colicky as one of their kids was and she is way too content. Apparently their child wouldn't settle all day and it was hell at night. I am keeping my fingers crossed that these little changes are helping her. We had a wonderful bonding moment today. It was 8am and only 2 hours since her last feed so i really wanted her to wait another hour at least. She was a little fussy and I rocked her in my arms and she fell asleep and instead of putting her in the bassinet I lay in bed with her tucked in the crook of my arm all cuddled and we napped for one and a half hours where she woke up so sweetly and grinned and stared at me. It was wonderful. I know there is so much controversy with having them even take a nap in the bed but I honestly don't know how any Mom can smother their child as I swear i heard every breath and woke to every grunt. This was awesome and I can see taking the odd nap like this together.

I took a bunch of up to date photos today of her and I uploaded them all to the photobucket site but these are my two favorites. Her jeans are a tad too big for her but aren't they sweet? There aer some really funny shots of her little mouth in an 'o' shape. Everytime you change her pants she makes this face and it is too funny.

Shari, who is in a much better place with a full nights sleep...thanks Jack :-).

I spoke too soon / 6 week check up

While I was typing the last post ref. how lucky I am that she is giving me some sleep I was thinking to myself...jeez I sure hope I am not jinxing things. Sure enough, that night along with the nights thus far she has been a monster!!! She is up unsettled every two hours and it takes a good hour at least (one night three hours) to settle her back down. I have been getting 4 -6 very broken hours of sleep and it is taking its toll on me for sure. She is full time on formula now as the pumping thing was taking way too much out of me and my last ditch effort to put her back on the breast was a total 'bust' so to speak. I assumed with my Mommy guilt that taking away the breast bottles were having an ill effect on her. I was thinking it is my fault that she is so fussy now because she needs my milk. I went off the milk enhancing drugs and pretty well that was the only thing keeping my supply where it was. Within 2 days it became impossible to pump more than 2 oz. then...hardly a thing. I am totally dried up now...just goes to show that I never really had a supply at all since it only took no pumping for 24 hours to finish the 'boob chapter'. So all in all I have been a crying, sobbing mess the last couple of days...totally sleep deprived. The little monkey has been asleep for 4 hours so far. I fed her at 9:30am and then we took her to her appointment for 11:30, went to the Woof Inn, went to Zellers and she is still sleeping and it is 1:50. She is due up anytime. What a missed nap opportunity. :-( I looked like a total liar when I was complaining that she never sleeps and cries constantly. I assumed that there was something wrong with her but apparently this is normal. Lovely phase this is. God give me the strength to get through this next little while. I don't do well on no sleep, never have so this will be my greatest challenge. I have to say that this is way harder than I ever expected. Give me a room full of fighter pilots...no problem at all compared to this stress.

Now on to the appointment.

Weight: 10 lbs 3 oz.

Height: 21.7 "

All the spit up I was worried about apparently didn't have an effect on her weight gain. She is heavier than I though for sure. Double digits already...boo hoo. He was happy with her progress. He said to be safe to keep her on the Isomil due to less symptoms. So I guess she is a vegetarian. lol He told me the amount of spit up does not depend on the formula she is on. I call BS on that one because she spit up way way way more on the regular Similac. Persistent vomiting and Diarrhea is a formula issue and he doesn't really think that I gave it long enough to rule out formulas. He did say that since there is a history of milk intolerance in the family to keep her on this stuff. The only down side I guess is getting her onto regular milk one day may be a bit of a challenge since she will have acquired a taste for soy instead.

According to the Dr. he figures timing wise and time of day wise she is colic. :0( There is nothing to curb that except wait it out. She was a bit better last night but was still up very often. The difference was that I could actually calm her down quickly so she was back to sleep. He couldn't believe how much weight I have lost already so that made me feel good. He looked at the 'thing' coming out of my incision and said that it is a stitch from inside and it will eventually dissolve but the specialist may pull and snip it...ouch! I see him on Monday.

That is all for now.

Shari

What a Good Girl :-)

I am the luckiest Mom on the planet I think. Kailey has developed a way better schedule. Days and nights are now the way they should be. She went to bed around 11pm and didn't wake up until just after 4am!! She quickly ate and went back to bed by 5 and didn't wake up until 9. I feel like a million bucks. She has been really good today too. She hasn't spit up once today and not once throughout the night. Have I mentioned how much I hate spit up? Several costume changes throughout the day (for me too) was wearing really thin. The only thing I changed today/last night was zero breast milk. I now have a fridge full of my milk but I wanted to see if it was something in my stuff or the formula. This doesn't really tell me anything though because maybe her little body was getting use to the new formula. So far so good though so I am keeping everything crossed that we found a winner. I will eliminate all cows milk from my diet and try that out. She goes to the Dr. Friday and I am hoping she saved the mega poo for when we get home because WOW...WOW is all I can say about that and timing wise we should be in the office when the explosion happens. The entire time I am changing her she is grinning from ear to ear. I think she likes my reaction to the bomb she leaves for me to clean. ;-)

Here are some pictures taken today. I tried to get myself in the one picture so you get an idea of how big she is now. She still is wearing her newborn stuff but she certainly is filling them out better. My guess is she is almost 9 lbs. now and grew an inch but we shall see. Yes, the 'Binky' looks ridiculous but with a 'sucker' like she has she loves it. Actually the soother matches her outfit and I didn't even realize that was the one I picked...hahaha.

Shari

Dog Club Baby Shower...

What a fun day Kailey and I had yesterday. Sheri from the club had a baby shower for Kailey and basically brought everything from punch to paper plates and napkins. The big surprise was that Linda & Bill drove from Edmonton to be here for it. They did a day trip to come and see us...I was so shocked when I looked out the window and saw their vehicle. I ran out in my slippers and gave them both big hugs. I haven't seen them since they moved back in summer so this was awesome. Linda did a fabulous job keeping this a secret as we were emailing back and forth the night before. Dianne, Gayle, Chris, Sheri and Linda were the guests and they all spoiled Kailey with great outfits, books and toys. Thanks Again!!! Miss Kailey wore her first dress sans stockings as they were too big. I loved seeing her all dressed up and she was very content and happy so they all think I am lying when I say she has lungs on her...hahaha. While we were eating she was hanging out in her swing just looking around.

So Kailey power snoozed for 6 hours straight last night and woke up ravenous and I woke up and had a fit when I saw the clock. I had to watch Desperate Housewives otherwise I would have had the full 6 hours in a row...WOW. Maybe a fluke but I will take it. She ate at 9pm and DH was over at 11pm so the last thing I remember was making myself stay awake as typically she would have been up in 30 min and I dont do well with little cat naps. I obviously dozed off and woke up to her crying at 3am. My heart dropped and wondered if I slept through her cries but there really is no sleeping through her cries with her head just inches from mine. ;-)

Also...

My EI went through and I will be getting exactly what I was hoping for so I am pleased. This is Maternity Leave and I was approved for 26 weeks of payment then I guess it switches to Parental Leave...not sure how it works but I am supposed to be on EI for a year. I will have to ask Heather how it worked for her. She is a very valuable source of information - really her Mom is too since she is a Nurse. ;-) I cannot thank her enough for being so patient with all my questions/woes.

On another note....formula...oh what fun finding a formula that totally agrees with Kailey is turning out to be. It is looking like she most definitely has a milk protein allergy not just Lactose intolerance. She is more than half on Breast Milk so I am assuming that it takes longer for the symptoms to manifest but this last set of symptoms were massive amount of vomit (not spit up) and diarrhea so she is now on Isomil (soy product) and so far so good but I will not hold my breath. In the Hospital when they found out about the family milk allergy they put her on this immediatey so I guess I should have stuck with that one. She goes for her check up Friday so I will ask her Dr. what I should do. I bought ready made formula for now...is it ever handy. Pop the can and pour into bottles that is all. Very expensive way to go though. If she was totally on formula it would cosy $8/day!! So this is a short term thing for sure or for emergencies or weekend trips to Edmonton. If only the monkey would take the breast. It is so unbelievable how loud she can get when she even sees them...I am beginning to take this personally..lol.

That is all for now as my hands are not used to typing anymore. :-)

Shari

Smiles for the Junk in the Trunk song!!

So I made up a song that I sing to her when I am changing her called Junk in the Trunk (Jack hates it - lol). It is a simple stupid little song that gets her smiling like mad. I open her diaper and sing..."looking for junk in the trunk..junk in the trunk..junk in the trunk...do you have junk in your trunk??" Stupid I know, but you should see the reaction I get everytime. I actually cannot believe I am writting this.

She is having a really good day and is totally content so I am hoping her yucky diaper and fussiness last night was something I may have ate that she didn't like. I know she is super sensitive to onions or if I have too much diary so I will have to be more careful as to what goes in me. If she is still having 'issues' I guess I will have to try a different formula (supplementing). Nestle Good Start has really peaked my interest but if her problem is a milk sensitivity than I am best to use something like Isomil. There are so many choices out there it is hard to research everything and find it impossible to find two people that say the same thing for or against a formula brand. I have her on Similca LF (lactose free) but I read that this is only to be used for 2-4 weeks...yikes. I know for a fact that the regular Similac is not good for her. It took a while (probably due to the fact that she is getting breast milk as well) for symptoms to occur but when they did surface it was in the form of very red inflamed diaper rash and a ton of spit up. It only took 24 hours off the stuff to get her little bum back to normal and the spit up to lessen. Tonight will tell the story.

She had a bath today and we are so lucky she is soooo good getting srubbed up. She loves her hair being washed and it is so cute with her little sudsy hair do. She was a good girl and didn't mess her towel up either. She smells so nice after a bath. She is really dry right now but so am I so it must be the yucky weather.

I cannot wait for this excersise on base to be over so I actually see Jack. He is on nights and it leaves me feeling like a single Mom. I totally feel for those single Moms out there that is for sure. I guess I wasn't aware of how much he actually did to help me out. Tomorrow is the last day and he is back on a normal shift. I wish I would have taken a picture of the two of them chillin' together. He had bare feet on the ottoman and had her sitting in front of him with her little bare feet dangling and she had her arms out to the sides with a content look...it was hilarious looking. She loves her toes exposed that is for sure. She also likes foot massages - what gal doesn't though.

I promise to include some pictures for the nest post.

Shari

Kailey visits work

The experts from San Diego are here this week so I really wanted Kailey to meet Keith (our program manager) and Genny (software goddess). Keith knows all about girls as he is surrounded by them at home. Hats off to his daughter who had twins (my God I cannot imagine two Kaileys). So, she had another outing and this time we had to adjust the car seat straps so it is a given she is getting bigger. She was great and slept the entire time. We had to stop off at Wal-Mart and she slept through that trip as well. The minute we brought her in the door that was it...feed me now she said (in her little anger cries). Tonight Genny is bringing over supper so the dogs will be thrilled beyond words/barks. It was really nice to see them, over the last 10ish years of working for Cubic I have become attached to some of the engineers from the plant and was feeling kind of left out this time so I got my work 'fix' and I got to show off my daughter.

First Day Home Alone/3 weeks old!!!

After 3 weeks of vacation Jack had to go back to work today so that left me and Miss Kailey home alone :-). We had a really good day despite the lack of sleep due to a one man party she decided to have until 2am. She did really well for naps today though so I managed to do a little catch up. I felt a little strange without somebody else here but it was kind of nice just us chicks ;-). Jackie came by at 11am for coffee and some cuddle time with Kailey. It was really nice to see her as I am so used to seeing her at least a couple times a week and I have been...well...otherwise preoccupied. Speaking of three weeks...three weeks ago this time I was in the hospital waiting patiently for some contractions to start and listening to the thump thump thump of her little heart beating and silently willing/begging her to come out. I was making little promises to her to try to coax her to enter this world. My little girl is three weeks old today (tonight at 8:08pm to be exact). I cannot believe that she is three weeks old already. I asked Jackie if she has changed much and she said not really at all. She was expecting a big change because some of her pictures make her look so old but she is still a tiny little bundle. She is getting chubbier cheeks and longer legs and fingers. Fingers must be breaking records for sure. Anyway here are some pictures of her three week B-day. She is bundled up in the blanket that Heather's Mom knit for her and she is wearing one of the new outfits that Jacks parents got her.