Sicky Sarah

Sarah is on the mend from her first time being sick. It was not a fun time for any of us! I'm sure many of you can relate!

She had GI symptoms that started in the middle of the night Wednesday. We took her to the pediatrician Friday, and she sent some stool for tests. Saturday, Sarah started throwing up her feedings. We called the nurse helpline, and they advised us to take her to the ER. She fed once and kept it down in the ER, and she wasn't showing many signs of dehydration, so they sent us home.

Saturday evening she threw up a few more times and was still having loose stools with some blood in it. Fortunately, we have the best pediatrician in the world! She had told us she would call on Saturday to check up on Sarah, and she followed through with that. She actually called 3 times Saturday, twice Sunday, and once this morning. Ah...that is a new parent's dream doctor!

To make a long weekend sound a little shorter - Sarah and I spent Sunday cuddling in bed. She fed tiny amounts every hour and was able to keep most of it down. Last night I started stretching her feedings out to every two hours, feeding her a little longer each time. She has been tolerating that. She still has loose stool, and she isn't urinating as often or as much as usual, but we'll give that a little more time. Tim and I are just grateful that the worst seems to be over!

We're not sure what caused this. Her labs haven't all come back yet, but her doctor and I were wondering if Sarah might have had a reaction to something I ate. I had made taco soup on Wednesday, and I ate it again Thursday for lunch. It had jalapenos in it and was pretty spicy. No more of that for me! Too bad I doubled the recipe and froze half! Tim's going to have a lot of soup to eat!

Inspiration from a baby

As I hold Sarah in my arms, admire her chubby cheeks, massage her soft skin, and coax out a cute little smile, I realize I am totally in love with that little girl. And I realize that when I was a little baby, my parents felt the same way about me. They love me in a way I never understood before.

One of my favorite books to read to Sarah is "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney. For those who do not know the story: Little Nutbrown Hare is getting ready for bed, and he is talking to Big Nutbrown Hare, trying to express to his daddy how much he loves him. He loves him as wide as he can stretch his arms, as high as he can reach, as high as he can hop. But Big Nutbrown Hare is a topper. He can stretch his arms wider, reach higher, and jump higher - and that is how much he loves Little Nutbrown Hare. The story ends with Little Nutbrown Hare telling his daddy he loves him all the way to the moon. Big Nutbrown Hare says "That is very, very far." Little Nutbrown Hare drifts off to sleep, and Big Nutbrown Hare whispers, "I love you right up to the moon - and back."

Ah...I love that story. It makes me think of a passage of Scripture that I love even more: "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully." (Ephesians 3:18-19a - NLT)

I praise the Lord for our little girl, and I pray that one day she will come to know His love for her - so much more love than even her father or I can ever provide.

A little update since the last post: After Sarah's shots on Tuesday, she seemed to be doing fine. She was more sleepy, which the doctor told us to expect, but otherwise she was great! Then 6 o'clock rolled around. She woke up from her nap and was cranky. Then she just started screaming inconsolably. To make a long story short, we gave her some Tylenol, and after that kicked in and she fed, she was a happy girl again. It was a full hour of listening to her scream and not being able to help her though. It was not a fun hour! I don't know how parents of colicky babies handle it! I was crying right along with her. :)

Well, she has figured out napping! Here's a picture of her in the middle of a 3-hour afternoon nap, which has become the norm.

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions on how to get her on a schedule! She has been putting herself to sleep for naps and for the night for a few days now. I just hope that continues! A few things we had to do for her naps though: She has a half-moon window in her room, and I created a covering for it out of cereal boxes. :) That keeps the light out during her naps. We also moved the humidifier into her room, and the background noise seems to help. I am looking forward to using her afternoon naptime today to do some scrapbooking! A friend bought me some "girly" pages, and I haven't had the opportunity to do any Sarah scrapbooking yet. Today's the day!

Doesn't this face just make you want to pick her up?

I tried some 3-6 month clothes on her earlier today, and she was very compliant. She makes a great doll! (Mom, this is the outfit I was trying to describe to you.)

Tim and I are very excited. We bought our tickets for Ohio! We will be arriving the morning of April 20th (Monday) and leaving the morning of April 27th (Monday). We are so excited to see everyone and share Sarah with them/you!

Tim's softball season starts up tonight and I have a ladies game night to attend. Otherwise our weekend is empty!

You may notice on the links to the right that I had to start a second picture of the day album for Sarah. They only allow 60 pictures per album. :)

2 Month Checkup

Sarah continues to grow and develop appropriately! She is currently 23.25 inches long (84th percentile) and weighs 11lb 13 oz (79th percentile). So - she has grown one inch and gained 1.5 pounds in the past month. Our girl is right on track! Her head circumference is 16.25 inches (96th percentile).

She is now up to date on her immunizations as well...well, sort of. She didn't seem to swallow any of the oral rotavirus vaccine. She was tricky and let that just slide right back out of her mouth. Let me say - the shots were not fun for anyone involved! Daddy wouldn't watch, Mommy almost cried, and Sarah didn't even know what hit her! One minute she was laying there looking at me and holding my hands. The next minute her face was bright red, her eyes were scrunched closed, and her little lips were quivering. Then the crying started. Oh, how pathetic. It broke my heart. I'm so glad we have 2 months to recover before we go do that again!

Same old, same old

We really don't have anything new to report here! I just wanted to share a few new pictures of Sarah. She has her 2-month checkup tomorrow, so I will let you know her stats after the appointment. 2 months means...shots. I am not looking forward to that. I clipped her thumb awhile ago when I was trying to cut her fingernails, and her little "I'm in pain" cry is so pathetic. I don't want to hear that again!

Her legs have grown enough that her tights from Mawmaw fit her:

Today she looks a little bit like a Smurf:

Tummy time!

Sarah is tolerating tummy time a little better these days. She was on her tummy for about 20 minutes today - a new record! Here's a little video of her being cute:

Naptime...help!

Sarah has decided that she is a big girl now. She doesn't need an afternoon nap anymore. Help! :0/

The past few days, she has gotten really fussy around "naptime" (1-2pm). She takes a 45 minute nap in the morning, and she had been sleeping for about 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Now she just fusses in the afternoon. She will sleep for about 15 minutes and then wake up for whatever reason and cry again.

Today she fell asleep on Tim's shoulder (after crying for awhile first), and then woke up when she had to be set down. I decided to try going through her bedtime routine - I changed her diaper, played her bedtime music, gave her a massage, and then fed her. She fell asleep feeding, only to wake up when set down! So I tried rocking and reading to her. She fell asleep in my arms, and stayed asleep in her crib for about 15 minutes. (Her eyes were glassy this entire time, so I know she is sleepy!) Well, again she woke up. Now she is asleep on my shoulder. I'm afraid to set her down!

Alright, I do notice the pattern here: She falls asleep in someone's arms, and she wakes up in the crib or as she's being set down. Let me justify myself: We have tried just setting her in her crib or bassinet at bedtime or for her nap. For bedtime, it usually works after about 30-45 minutes - but it's dark, and there's nothing to explore. For naptime, it just feels cruel to leave her in there all alone when she's awake. Mommy wants to pick her up and love on her!

So is 7 weeks to young to start letting her try to put herself to sleep for naps? Should I be going in to reassure her, but still let her put herself to sleep?

The past two nights, she has slept quite a bit better. She puts in a good 12 hours at night. I was impressed - she slept 8 hours straight last night before she woke up to feed! Yay, Girlfriend! I think it helps that I'm tucking a receiving blanket around her in the middle of the night - that swaddles her arms down by her side and she sleeps better.

Now we just need to figure out these naps!

This is what Sarah wore to church on Sunday. I love how she's holding her hands in this picture, as if to say, "I'm the princess. I don't get my hands dirty."