Lyla 6 month update (plus 4 month update)

How Old:  6 Months/ 26 Weeks

Weight/Height/: Weight is 13.65 lbs (8%) 
                           Height is  24.5 inches (8%)
                           Head is 16.69 inches (45%)
She has a big head!

Sleep: She is still a very good sleeper. She normally goes down at 8-8:30 and wakes maybe once a night then is awake for the day at 7. Really I think Sprout wakes her up when coming in to our bed. Otherwise I think she would stay asleep till 8-9

New Foods: We are trying all kinds of new food! She is really loving what I call her Green Goddess inspired food. It has Apples, White Peaches, Kiwi. and Spinach. Since you really can't taste spinach it is a perfect add in to any baby food to get some dark greens in to baby! 

Health Issues: Ugh we are back to having health issues. Lyla is constipated and has trouble having BM's. The Pedi has said how she is built down there this is going to be a life long battle. I am going back today and will be asking to see if we need to go see the GI Dr. 

As of right now she is on a diet to help with the constipation. She has to have each of these every day. 

1.) 2 oz. peach, pear, or prune Puree
2.) 1-2 oz. Prune juice 
3.) Add one tsp. of Miralax to juice if she doesn't start pooping everyday. (This is the last step I still have to add but I really don't want her to become dependent on it) 

It is a good thing for us that she actually likes prunes!

We also are working with Lyla on gaining MORE weight! She isn't gaining enough as her Percentiles keep dropping. I am starting to wonder if I just make children who are small/ gain weight slowly.

Right now Lyla is getting around 24 oz. of milk every day. That is the minimum that is recommended. We have been to see a Lactation consultant and we are working on trying to get my supply just a tiny bit more. Which is completely ironic since I had an over supply in the beginning. I am now pumping 3-4 times a day trying to get my breasts to understand it needs to make more milk. Not the easiest thing to do to when you have 2 girls who required a LOT of attention.

Best Moment This Month: I loved seeing her enjoying the grass for the first time! She kept rubbing her legs and feet back and forth like you would if you were making a snow angle.

Milestones: The saying that the second child does things quicker is very, very true! Lyla has been crawling since 5.5 months old and now at 6 months is starting to pull herself up to standing! She also will let go of my hands and stand there for about a tenth of a second. I am in shock over this. The fact that she is letting go of my finger on purpose is amazing to me!

Upcoming Appointments/Events: Her next well check is not till 9 months but we are taking her in today to see if her ear infection is back. She has been playing/ hitting her left ear a lot lately and is not doing it to the other ear

What I look forward to: I am not sure if I am really looking forward to too much at the moment. I really just want her to slow down and stay my baby. She is doing things so quickly! I want to savor and relish in every part of her babyhood because I can't believe it is already half over!

Monthly Wisdom: We have made it through half a year! It has been the FASTEST 6 months of my life! I have a feeling it will only be going buy faster and faster.

 

How Old:  4 Months/ 16 Weeks

Weight/Height/: Lyla is 12 lbs 7 oz (22%) and 24 inches tall (36%)

Sleep: Lyla sleeps very well at night! Thank the lord! She will sleep 5-6 hours normally for the first stretch and then every 2-3 hours after that before wanting to be fed again. Naps are a different story. She can either have AMAZING naps or not sleep at ALL unless I am holding her.

This is literally what I said in the 2 month update and it is still 100% true!

New Foods: I have started with some foods. When Lyla decided to snatch my oatmeal spoon out of my hand and shoved it in her mouth I decided I would start slowly adding foods for her. She doesn't REALLY need food as she is going weight well with just breast milk.

Since she had my brown sugar oatmeal she does not really like her plain oatmeal. She does really

Health Issues: I want to say 99% of all of Lyla's health issues have been resolved! I had an oversupply that was causing most of the issues. Lyla still has silent reflux but it is now mild enough that we no longer have to give her medicine for it. She no longer has green bm's, the colic is gone (Thank the Lord!) She still has her nights of not wanting to go to sleep or taking longer to fall asleep.

Best Moment This Month: I love that she has been giggling so much this month! I am also so grateful that she can now roll over both ways!

Milestones: Lyla is rolling Front to Back and Back and she has been laughing a lot. She is very ticklish just like her daddy and big sister.

Upcoming Appointments/Events: No appointments till 6 months

What I look forward to: I am looking forward to start feeding her foods. She has been hawk-eyeing me as I am eating for a little while now.

Monthly Wisdom: Personalities are going to start shining through now! Lyla's personality is so amazing and I love her more and more every day!  

 

Sprout's 3 Year Interview

3 year interview 2016

I will be doing an interview every year on Sprouts birthday! I love her answers this year! I can not wait to see what the years to come are like. A little snapshot in time if you will. 

Nicknames: Baby Girl Genevieve ( her answer) We call her Sprout and Munchkaroon

Favorite color: Yellow

Favorite food: Strawberries

How old are you? 3

 

What is your favorite animal: Dog

What is your favorite TV show: Daniel Tigers neighborhood

What is your favorite movie: Bay max (Big hero six)

What is your favorite song: ABC's

What is your favorite snack: Apples

What is your favorite breakfast food: Cheesy eggs

What is your favorite drink: Lemonade

Favorite game: Babies

Favorite toy: Baby toys

Best friend: Raerae (Raelyn)

 

Favorite thing to do: Shopping at Target

Favorite thing to do outside: Gymnastic

Favorite holiday: Christmas

What do you take to bed with you: (Elmo, blanket) 

Favorite place to go? Outside

Favorite restaurant: Applebee's

What do you want to be when you grow up: Doctor

Lyla's Hospital Trip

So I am realizing with two kids it is so much more difficult to actually make time to sit down and blog. So I am a bit behind with this one.

Last month Lyla was admitted to the hospital overnight (it really seemed like it was two days and really I think it was but we went in so early). A few days before Sprout's 3rd birthday Sprout started showing cold symptoms. No much I could do but  I made sure to keep her away from Lyla as much as I could and made sure I fed Lyla as often as possible to give her the antibodies to help keep her healthy in hopes she would not get sick. Well to my utter dismay by Wednesday Lyla was congested and not happy.

I called the on call nurse on Thursday to get some advice on other ways to relieve her congestion because she was so pitiful. While talking to the phone nurse she heard Lyla cough in the background and said "Oh I want her seen tonight. That cough sounds like an RSV cough." So the earliest appointment they had was at 5:30 pm that night. We go in and by this time Lyla has not been eating very often and did not have many wet diapers. She had lost a few oz. as well. The dr basically said she wasn't going to send in to the hospital yet but she wanted me to keep a SUPER close eye on her over night and if there was any kind of change for us to go strait to the er. We were also to go to the hospital if she refused to eat for more than 5 hours. They did test her for RSV but said it would take 12 hours to get it back.

So we get home an I get the girls to bed. Well Lyla was having such a hard night and refused to eat for 5 hours that once Cody got home I packed Lyla and myself up to go to Kalamazoo to the ER ready to be admitted for a few days. Cody and I decided that he and Sprout would come up to the hospital and see us in the morning since I took Lyla to the hospital at 1 AM.

We get to the hospital and we are sent back very fast. I talk to about 4 different people and all tell the same story that she was fine not even two days ago and this came on SO fast! They suctioned her out so many times but not even seconds after they were done you could hear more mucus in her nose. So after 4 hours and her refusing to eat more than 3-5 minutes they gave me the choice of going home or staying. At this point I just wanted her to be comfortable and I was really worried about her getting dehydrated that I decided she needed to stay just even for my own peace of mind.

After getting up to her room I was kind of able to get some sleep not much since they were coming in to check on her so often and to suction her nose out with the power sucker. They had me keep all of her diapers and keep track of her feeding. They were weighing all of her diapers and would weigh her at each shift change. The next day my Pediatric Dr. called us and told us Lyla tested Positive for RSV.

She did lose a bit more weight while there. We were discharged Sunday morning because while she lost a tiny bit of weight she was overall doing OK at maintaining her weight and the insurance company would not cover her stay after that. Were told to make a Dr. appointment for the next day. I was also told that we would be getting seen every day until it was much better.

The next day the Dr. was not surprised we ended up in the er and admitted to the hospital and she warned us that this was going to be a long road till she was all the way better. We made another appointment for the next few days and finally by that Friday she was over the worse of it.

This was SO stressful for myself and Cody. We were so happy when she started to sound better and acting more herself than just a blob. I will say the one thing that was a positive about her getting RSV was Lyla's green bowl movements went back to mustard yellow. We had been battling green BM's for almost 2 months at this point. She was gaining weight and happy and did not seem to be in pain so I never though I would have an over supply. Especially since I could not produce enough to breast feed Sprout. I even did block feeding (doing multiple feeding on one breast then switching to the other for multiple feedings) for 3 days and it did not change anything. It took her not eating for almost a full week for my supply to no longer be an over supply!

3 Year letter to Sprout

My darling sweet girl,

How are you 3 years old already! I know I have been saying this in every letter to you but it seems just like yesterday we brought you home! Your Daddy and I are so proud of the smart, curious, determined little girl you are turning in to!

This past year has been a year of tremendous change for you. Not only did we find out we were pregnant with your first younger sibling only to loose he/she just before your 2nd birthday but we found out about 2 month later we were pregnant with your sister Lyla! That time between our angle baby being gone and finding out about Lyla I held you tighter, longer, and more often. You got me through one of the hardest points in my life. You reminded me that life does go on and you needed me. You needed my attention, my love, my time, just me! You helped me heal.

You were so forgiving when I was so sick that I couldn't do anything but lay on the couch from morning sickness. You gave me tiny kisses. You asked if I was okay every time I rushed to the bath room. You patted my back and said "You ok??" " Love you Mama"

You pushed EVERY SINGLE button I had MULTIPULE TIMES! You drove me crazy! You made me question what right we had to have a second child. And then it was like a switch was flipped. You would climb up on the couch and cuddle up to me and snuggle in deep while we watched a movie.

We had lots of fun in the summer with lots of water park fun! We went to lots of parks. We played outside a lot when I wasn't sick 24/7. We had fun with LOTS of friends.

You have learned SO much! You amaze me every day with how much you have learned. You can count to 20. Sing your ABC's, know all your colors and shapes, and recognize most numbers and letters by sight. You can draw a few shapes and we are working on writing letter and your name!

At the end of your year as a 2 year old your life was changed forever! Your sister was born! During the whole pregnancy you were addiment that we were having a girl and you were getting a sister! Well kiddo you were right! Lyla came kicking and screaming into our family December 9th!

Oh how you LOVE your sister! You are always asking to hold her or hug her or say hi to her. You want her to sleep with you at night. You are an amazing helper (sometimes too much of a helper ;) ) We are now helping you learn how to change a diaper! You are having so much fun learning! 

You have grown so much (well not physically) this past year! I know you will continue to grow and learn and be a blessing to our family. You made us parents and you are the only person to be able to say that!

We love you very much.

Mom and Dad 2016