Two Week Highlights-Evie Jo

I know it is time for our month two recap but I am so far beind-I guess I have been busy ;).  I feel like I could sum up the first two weeks home as tons of appointments.  It was VERY busy between doctor appointments, Easter, Elsie's dance recitals and activities, and adjusting to be a family of four. It has been good, but very busy.

We were welcomed home on Friday April 3rd.  My parents and Elsie were there when we arrived home with our little Evie Jo.  We were also welcomed home by this sign. Bev had made this and hung it up before we arrived.  She did the same when we came home with Elsie.  When we walked in the door we were greeted with excitement from my mom, dad, and Elsie.  The rest of the day was low key, just trying to get to know my little girl.

On Saturday our second day home, we took Elsie to the Easter Egg Hunt put on by the local Jaycees chapter, took Evie on her first grocery shopping trip for Easter dinner supplies.

Sunday was Easter and we celebrated with my parents.  I wrote a specific post about Easter so I won't go into details.

You can't see it but this shirt says "My First Easter"

Elsie was so excited to have a baby sister and took some time out to read to her.  It was the sweetest thing ever for me.  

Evelyn's Sleeping Quarters-She is in a small pack and play next to my side of the bed.

Our first morning at home and Elsie slept until 7:48 which was wonderful!!!  Evie slept this late too except she was up a few times throughout the night ;)

Snuggling with Daddy

Oh the pump!  I became all too familiar with this machine much earlier than I had hoped.  Once again a low milk supply has become an issue.  

Because our hospital is so much in support of breastfeeding, they had a great staff of lactation consultants that are there to help to make breastfeeding a success.  On Monday April 6th, we had an appointment with a lactation consultant.  Evie hadn't lost any weight but she hadn't gained any either.  The plan was to just keep nursing and pumping.  I was dealing with some pain issues which led me to have to pump because there was no way I could let her nurse on my left side.  I was taking herbal supplements at this time too to help with supply.  On Wednesday I took Evie back for a weight check and an appointment with the lactation consultant.  Unfortunately, she lost .5 oz which isn't a lot but it was at a point where she should be gaining weight.  She observed Evelyn nursing and after 4 minutes of nursing she had to suck 6-8 times before she swallowed any milk. She should be doing 1-1 or 2-1 not 8-1. After consulting with a pediatrician at the hospital, they ended up recommending that I start supplementing with formula for medical reasons.  As the lactation consultant put it there are three levels.  Hydration, Maintaining, and then Thriving.  Evelyn was reaching the first two levels but sadly was not thriving and gaining weight.  This killed me, it was tough to hear because I so badly wanted things to go different this time, I wanted it to come easier.  I was prepared mentally that this would happen but it was still disappointing. The lactation consultant was wonderful though and super supportive.  We made another appointment for the following Monday for a weight check.  We started her on Similac Advance (the normal kind).  

On Friday April 10th, we ended up going in to see the pediatrician.  Evie lost her cord stump on Day 5 and it just was not healing at all so they wanted to see her to make sure it wasn't infected.  Good news came from that appointment-there was not infection and Evie had gained weight finally!  8 lbs 6 oz!  So 3 oz!  "they" say about an ounce a day is pretty average for growth at this stage in the game. One thing I want to also remember from this appointment was how the doctor made me feel. He wasn't our normal pediatrician as he was out of the office that day.    He asked how feeding was going and remarked on her weight gain.  I told him how we were supplementing and I got a little emotional.  He was so caring and reassuring that she was okay to have formula.  He asked "What is the difference between a baby who breastfeeds or a baby that drinks formula? Nothing, they are both loved so much by their parents" and reassured me that we are doing the best we can and that I am a good mama.    On Monday 4/13 we had her weight check at the hospital and good news-another weight gain.  8 lbs 10.5 oz.  She was finally thriving-even if it does mean she is getting formula.  

My first day home alone on maternity leave 4.

Me with my girls! :)  First solo bedtime with both of them. 4/7/15

On April 8th-When Evie was 8 days old we had her newborn photos taken.  This was one of my favorites.  See more here

Doing payroll-I am still working a bit while on "maternity leave"

4.11.15

Elsie was trying to take care of her sister.  She was so concerned because Evie was sleeping without a blanket and she was so concerned she was going to get cold.  We had to explain to her babies don't sleep with blankets and that she wears a sleepsack which keeps her warm and that when she was little that is what she used too.  Also super sweet because this is her "blankie".  Also here you can see how she is sleeping on her side-scares me to death how she rolls over onto her side like this already.  Something I plan to bring up at her two week checkup.  

4.12.15

Look at that sweet face

Waking up from an afternoon nap-all three of us!  4.13.15

I took this picture of Evelyn while at a Dr. appointment for me.  In the first two weeks of life Evie got dragged to 8 appointments and a trip to the emergency room.  Five of those appointments were for her-three appointments with the lactation consultant, one for her umbilical cord, and one for her two week check up, two chiropractor appointments for me, one dr. appointment for me, and the emergency room appointment was for me.  Shortly after arriving home from the hospital I started having really bad pain in my right calf.  It hurt to walk sometimes.  It felt almost like I had pulled a muscle which was really weird.  I thought maybe something happened during my epidural and I didn't feel it when I injured it.  on Monday April 13th, my right ankle swelled up, hurt, was hot to the touch, and was red.  I called first nurse and they told me I had to come in immediately because they were afraid of a blod clot-a complication that they are concerend about during and shortly after pregnancy.  Bev came and stayed with Elsie and John, Evie, and I headed in to the emergency room.  They performed an ultrasound on my leg and it came back clear thank goodness.  The ER doctor diagnosed it a skin infection, prescribed antibiotics, and sent me on my way.  They said to follow up with my primary care provider.  I really don't have one so I called the local clinic and made an appointment on the 15th because I wanted a second opinion.  I didn't think it was a skin infection and didn't want to take antibiotics if I didn't need to.  Well my suspicions were right, it was a skin infection it was "superficial phlebitis"  blood clots in my superficial veins vs deep veins which is what they checked for in the ER.  He said what I had could lead to DVT so I had to be careful, watch for changes, and limit exercise.  I asked if I could walk around the block with Elsie while she rode her bike and he said no :(  I was so bummed.  He increased my ibuprofen dosage to 4 tablets 3 times a day and told me to stop taking all the herbs I was taking for breastfeeding because there is no real FDA studies on them and the could be causing some of this stuff.  I am not sure I buy that but I was okay stopping them-after almost two weeks I didn't feel like they were really helping anyways. I had a follow up appointment the following week and it was getting better so I could stop taking the ibuprofen and start walking slowly and for short distances.  Eventually, my leg returned to normal.  

Elsie wanted to be swaddled just like her sister :)

She just adores her!  She always wants to "see her face"

Two Week Dr. Appointment

On April 16th, Evelyn had her two week check up.  I was very curious about her weight, although with supplementing I knew she was eating enough.  

Weight:  8 lbs 10.5 oz-she finally passed her birth weight which is a goal they have by two weeks

Length:  21" Long

Being this is my second child I didn't have near as many questions. I was curious how this would be different than Elsie's because we are seeing a new/different doctor.  He covered a lot of my questions just in our discussion.  One of the concerns I have is bugs/sun since she is younger than 6 months during the summer-with Elsie I didn't have to worry because she was 6 months by the time summer rolled around.  He said with the sun we just have to keep her covered and in the shade.  With bugs he recommended bug netting as much as possible. If that isn't an option he said we could put a little spray on our hands and touch her clothing in a couple of spots.  He has always recommended DEET because he says that anything else doesn't work.  We aren't huge fans of DEET so this is something we don't agree on :).  

I also asked about sleeping and having to wake her up in the middle of the night to eat.  Up until now we were told we had to wake her every three hours to eat and to be honest, I didn't follow this. I just thgouht there was something wrong to set my alarm to wake her in the middle of the night.  I figured she wakes me up enough on her own ;).  He said we didn't have to wake her but she needed to eat at least 8 times a day.  

I asked about the red spot on her eye-like I suspected it was just some broken blood vessels from delivery and would go away on its own.  

I asked about how she rolls on her side during sleep.  He told me we needed to use the sleepsack like we had been using and to keep her arms out of the swaddle.  We had been doing that too because I had read up on that.  

I had also notice that she likes to turn her head to one side-to her left side.  Was there any neck/head issues with this?  He said this was normal, that babies tend to prefer one side over the other and just to ocassionally turn her head to the right to stretch out the muscles and mix things up so that it doesn't become an issue.  

That is about it for the appointment.  We left being reassured that we have a beautiful, healthy girl.  

To see how this compares with Elsie's Two Week highlights click here.

Elsie's 15 Month Dr. Appointment

Yesterday we took Elsie for her 15 Month appointment.  I didn't even know they did 15 month appointments but when I had her in there in February for her ear infection he told me to make an appointment.  One of the things I enjoy about her appointments is they give you a handout of what to expect and some resources that are relevant for her age.  This time was about setting limits, limiting your rules and what you say no to, tantrums, and discipline...all things we can tell we are going to be dealing with VERY SOON haha.  She is already starting to throw little tantrums here and there.  They also ask you to fill out a sheet with what milestones they met, questions you have that are common for this age, etc.  This time around we were able to check off all on the list :)

Elsie was all happy until we were called back and went into the exam room.  Then all hell broke loose haha.  She cried and cried, clung to John or me, and didn't want to let go.  Which who can blame her...everytime she goes in there she gets stripped down to her diaper, poked, and proded and its cold in those rooms.  The nurse (not his normal nurse) was really rude and not helpful with Elsie at all.  She was short with her and told us the doctor is "very busy and waiting on us to calm her down so she can be weighed".  and this as said in not a nice voice.  When the doctor came in he explained it is very normal for a 15 month old to behave the way she was...that they start remembering what happens around 9 months and some unpleasant things happen to them while they are there (i.e. shots).  Our doctor was really understanding and did a great job and making Elsie smile and distracting her.  She was pretty happy until he had to lay her down and look into her ears.  Here are some highlights from the visit.

1.  Stats- she is growing right along and there is nothing to be concerned about with her.
Weight:  20.2 lbs (35%) (this might be off slightly as we struggled weighing her)
Height:  31 inches (65%)
Head:  46 cm (58%)

2.  We talked a little about her vaccinations schedule.  At her 12 month appointment we decided to delay one of her vaccines-there were like 5 on the docket and I felt like that was a lot at one time so we delayed the MMR.  We had the option to do the shot yesterday but I wanted to avoid shots because of Elsie's reaction being there.  So I asked what was on the agenda for the 18 month and there were two.  Hep A (which I thought she got at 12 months but didn't) and her last dTap one.  He said he would recommend getting the MMR and dTap at her 18 month and either delaying the Hep A or forgoing it all together.  This is one of the first times that I have heard a Dr. say to skip a vaccination and to be honest...I find it a bit refreshing.

3.  He looked at her eyes and said he doesn't notice that much of a difference anymore between her pupil size and John and I would have to agree.  There is still a difference but not as much as there was 3 months ago.

4.  He checked her ears...still has fluid but isn't concerned at this point since it isn't "infected".  No fever, no other symptoms and he said she must be hearing well since she her word count is on par with an 18 month old.  He will check it again at her next appointment in 3 months and if there is still fluid he will refer her to a ENT.

5.  My only real questions was about when she can eat raw veggies... this might seem like a silly question but raw veggies are hard and I don't want her to choke.  He said anytime...she has all the teeth she needs and more.I think we will wait for raw carrots but she loves sweet peppers.

6.  He mentioned again going to a dentist..we will have to look into this.  I mentioned before but our dentist says not until 3.  He also said we can start brushing her 12 teeth with non-flouride toothpaste (he called it the Elmo toothpaste ;).

Lets hope we don't have to go back again until her 18 month appointment in June.

Odds and Ends

I feel like I have been trying to catch up with all my Christmas/December posts that I am lacking on our January day to day stuff that I want to remember and be able to look back on so here is what has been happening with us lately

1.  Elsie had her appointment with the eye doctor to check her eyes due to the difference in pupil size yesterday.  All went well.  He didn't see any problems and said that 15-20% of people have different size pupils.  That it is much like how some people have two different sized hands or feet.  It just happens and that it is unlikely that she will ever grow out of it.  I am happy with that :)  I am sure if I would have googled the condition it would have brought in some scary diseases.  Glad I refrained from doing that this time around.

2.  Elsie is such a good eater.  She is all into feeding herself, even with the spoon.  This was from yesterday at breakfast.  She was having a great time playing with her oatmeal.

 3.  Elsie is really into doing what we are doing and likes to help out.  She has been helping put clothes in the washer and take them out of the dryer, she likes to help pick this up and put them where they belong but what she really likes to do is feed Cinder at night.  She will go with Daddy to fill up the bowl and then carry the bowl all the way through the dining room, kitchen, and into the living room where Cinder is laying and set the bowl down right in front of her.  She is so proud of herself when she does it too.

4.  So at home we typically give Elsie her food and drinks when she is in her high chair.  I want her to associate eating with sitting down and now running all over the place.  Well, when she was sick I had water in a sippy cup and let her drink it when she wasn't in her chair so that she could have it anytime and stay hydrated.  Well, when she would go to get a drink she would go and sit on one of the rugs-either the one in front of the front door or the one in front of the sink.  And then it clicked that is what she does at JoJo's.  She has to sit with her friends on the rug while they are waiting to get milk/water and then can have their drink sitting down on the rug (I think she does this to keep them all contained in one area and keep order.  I was just amazed that she continued this at our house even though I never told her to.  This pic was from yesterday.  Now I have to remind her to sit on the rug :).  Yesterday she thought it was a game though.  Every time I would turn my back away from her she would stand up and try to sneak off the rug and when I would turn back around she would quick go back and sit down.  She is too smart for her own good haha

5.  Oh I forgot to mention that her and I were sick last week with some sort of stomach bug.  She was sick Tues-Friday and I was sick on Thursday.  Thankfully John stayed healthy and did a great job of taking care of us both.  We stayed in most of the weekend to avoid spreading our icky sick germs to anyone else which meant I have to cancel game night that I was hosting at our house and a afternoon of freezer meal cooking with some friends.  Lets just say by Monday I think we were all ready to get out of the house :)

6.  I love morning workouts.  I never used to but by the end of the day I am exhausted and really do not feel like going on the treadmill.  I put it off and make tons of excuses.  Morning workouts I don't have time to make an excuse I just get up and go.  This morning I didn't get out of bed until 6:00 and still made it out the door by 7:15 for work.  Now I don't have to think about when I am going to exercise the rest of the day!

7.  I am semi-enjoying my first smoothie made at home.  I have never been a big smoothie maker.  I felt like our blender was crap and didn't want to take the time in the morning to throw all the ingredients together.  Well I made one this morning after my workout.  I found the recipe on pinterest and I think I would really like it except it has oatmeal in it and I am struggling to get past the taste of that.  I have a new recipe I am going to try tomorrow with spinach from my friend Amy.

8.  I am really looking forward to Saturday.  I am driving up to MN for the day to celebrate the upcoming arrival of my friend Erin's little baby!  She is due at the end of February and I can't wait to see her and her baby bump!  I haven't seen her since November and I am sure she has changed!  I am so excited for her and her hubby and to meet this little baby!  I am also excited to see the other girls and catch up a little bit!  It seems like it has been forever!

Well that just about all that is going on in our lives these days...I am getting a bit of cabin fever and am ready for spring-which stinks because that is a ways away still.  I have already begun to think about where I want to take the camper this year.  Luckily we have some fun things coming up over the next few months to keep us busy :)

Elsie's One Year Doctor Appointment

This morning we had Elsie's one year doctor appointment.  For the most point it was pretty uneventful and was the quickest of them all I think.  We didn't get her pecentile so I did the best I could based on the charts to figure it out her stats for weight and height.  The went down just a little which I though they would but he said for the most part she is still staying on track with her growth curve.  Here is where she was at.

Weight:  19 lbs 4.5 oz (45%) I would have guessed she would have been over 20 lbs.
Height:  29.5 inches (70%)
Head:  45.4cm

So going into this appointment I thought she would be for sure over 30 inches tall and over 20 pounds.  In fact I told John we probably need to find a new back up car seat since her infant one only goes to 22 lbs and she had to be close to that.  Well she isn't.  I do know she hasn't grown much in the belly region because we are still on the same setting for waist for her diapers as she was back at 6 months.  On our little form we will out at the beginning of the appointment she met all the "milestones" for her age which is good of course.

On the agenda for shots today was the chicken pox vaccine, MMR, last dose of Hib, last dose of Pc, Hep A.  I declined the MMR for now.  I will probably get it for her later but I just felt uncomfortable with the number of vaccines in this round.  I actually should have waiting on the chicken pox and Hep A too but I didn't think much about it.  So maybe at her next appointment we will go with MMR but for now I wanted to wait.  She also had a finger prick done to get blood drawn to check for lead and for iron deficiencies (these were standard tests).

We actaully didn't have too many questions (or at least that we could remember these past few days).  Here are some of our questions/concerns

Q.  Elsie's pupils are still uneven.  Her left pupil is a little bigger than her right.
A.  Just like he had said when we brought it up at her 6M and 9M appointment at 12M they are referred to a opthamologist.  He doesn't see anything wrong with her eyes but they just want to check to make sure her retinas are okay.  We are scheduled to see the specialist in January.

Q.  So Elsie is waking up between 4:00 AM - 6:00 AM at night for a few ounces of milk in a bottle.  What should we be doing?  Do we not give it to her or is she actually hungry? She only does it for a couple weeks and then goes back to sleeping through the night.
A.  She probably doesn't need it right now.  At 9 months he said it was okay but now she really doesn't need it.  He said that we could do 15-30 minutes of protesting and if she doesn't calm down then give in.  He also said we could alternate good nights with bad but she should be able to go the whole night now without milk.  (I will elaborate on this when I do her 12 Month update).

Q.  When Elsie walks sometimes her left foot points outward.  Is this something to be concerned about?
A.  No.  Her legs and feet look fine, not bowlegged or anything.  He said she is just trying to get it figured out.

Q.  When do you give ibuprofren and when do you give tylenol?  What is the difference? We got our first dosage information for ibuprofren.
A.  Ibuprofren is much stronger than tylenol and has with that comes more side effects.  Tylenol is for a fussy, uncomfortable baby with a low fever.  This should be used first.  Ibuprofren is for fevers over 102 degrees and is much stronger.  If tylenol is not making them comfortable you can move on the this.

Q.  How much milk should Elsie be drinking a day?
A.  16-18 ounces total.  No more than 24 ounces a day and most of it should come before bed.

Q.  Sometimes Elsie gets really red and dry around her mouth from her runny nose and drool.  We have been alternating Aquaphor and CJs BUTTer on it.  Is there anything else we should be using?
A.  He said we can use a little bit of less than 1% hydrocortison when it gets really red and chapped and that will really help it.

Other little bits of information that he gave us:

• Should be mainly drinking from a cup-bedtime bottle is still okay but eventually should work on getting rid of it.  
• All foods are okay for her to eat just keep in mind about choking hazards
• Keep reading to her.  Very important for language development. 
• We should make a first visit to the dentist around this age. (So my dentist said not really until three do they need to be seen so a bit conflicting there).  
• Since her "Angel Kisses" are still visible at this point they will be for awhile.  Not forever but for a little bit longer than normal.  

He said  she is a beautiful healthy little girl!  Hopefully we won't have to see him again until her 18 Month checkup! 

Elsie's 6 Month Dr. Visit

Today Elsie went for her 6 Month visit to the doctor.  All in all Elsie is still a very happy, healthy little girl.

Here are her stats:
Length:  26.5inches (79%)
Weight:  15 lbs 6 oz (39%)
Head:  43 cm (68%)

Her head percentile did not change at all, her length went down 1% and her weight down 7% but he was in no way concerned about her weight change.  She of course had her standard 6 month shots-rotovirus in the mouth and then one in each leg.  She cried right away but was smiling at the receptionist as we made her next appointment just a few minutes later.

Here were someone my questions for the doctor this month:

Q:  Should we be having Elsie drink water now?
A:  Yes, up to six ounces a day (3 x day, 2 oz each) in a cup/sippy cup.

Q.  Elsie's pupils in her eyes are different sizes.  Her left is bigger than her right most of the time.  Is this something to be concerned about?
A.  No, after checking her eyes everything looks good.  They both respond to light.  This is normal but if it continues up past a year it would be a good idea to see a pediatric opthamologist.

Q.  We had quite a few questions about Elsie's sleeping issues.  She hasn't been taking very good naps in the past couple weeks and she will sleep in our arms and when we lay her down she will wake up and cry.  Also the past few nights she has also begun to fall asleep at night and then wake up an hour or so later and cry. What should we do or be doing differently.  (There will be a whole post of this to come)
A.  Let her figure out her naps on her own.  She will sleep when she is tired. Also, try to tire her out, going to daycare will help this.  He believes that her change in night time habits is just a phase.  She is most likely teething and once her teeth cut she will go back to sleeping through again.  Since she is still getting about 10 hours of continuous sleep it isn't concerning yet.  She will put herself into a nap routine.  He also said that if we want to while she is teething we can give her benedryl once a day.  (I don't think we will be doing that :) He said that is she wakes up and cries to let her fuss for 5-10 minutes on her own to help with self-soothing.

All in all a wonderful appointment!

Q.

Elsie's First Sickness

Elsie made her first trip to the emergency room.  For the past week or so Elsie has had a cold, no fever just a cold. Saturday evening she started to get a bit fussy and Saturday night she did not sleep very good.  I figured it was because of her cold.  Well Sunday she had her first real fever at 102.5.  So I called First Nurse and they had me count her respiration.  Up to 50 a minute is safe but Elsie's was about 55/min so they had us come in.  They said that it normally gets worse as the day goes on so we might as well go in and getting it checked instead of waiting around all day and then having to go in the evening.  So we headed over to Ames.  In the meantime they had us give her some tylenol.  Well by the time we got there her fever was down to 99 degrees and her respiration were down too.  When we finally were seen the physicians assistant told us her ears were red so her fever must because of an ear infection.  They gave us a prescription for an amoxicillan and sent us on our way.  Her 102.5 fever was the last fever she had.

 

This picture was from Saturday night. I finally got her to fall asleep 

after trying for quite a while.  

Waiting so patiently :)

John decided it would be a good time for a nap since we sat

  in the room for almost 3 hours. 

So Sunday we went home and I could tell Elsie did not feel well.  She was up almost every hour crying and wanting comforting.  It was a long couple of nights since none of us are used to this.  She would cry and cry and cry and we would have to hold her so tight to us to get her to calm down.  It was a good thing we didn't have daycare on Monday because she wouldn't have been able to go.  Monday during the day Elsie was back to her old self again.  Happy as can be except she hated taking the antibiotics.    We were supposed to go visit some friends at camp but decided we better not do to much with her being sick.  Monday night however was the same as Sunday night.  We were up again quite a few times during the night.    No fever since Sunday but I could tell things just weren't right.  I thought maybe her ears were hurting when she laid down because she would fall right back to sleep the minute she was in our arms. 

 We decided to take her to daycare since she was on anitbiotics, no fever for over 24 hours and she was happy on Monday during the day.  Well when I got her dressed that morning I noticed a rash on her belly.  Uhhh I thought for sure it must be a rash for the anitbiotics.  So I took her to Jo Jo's and had her take a look at it.  She thought the same thing.  After talking about it we decided to leave her at daycare and I would call the pediatrician to see if we needed to switch antibiotics.  

Well they wanted to see her and could get her in right away so back to Jo Jo's I went and took her in.  It did not take the doctor long to tell us the initial diagnosis was wrong and she did not have an ear infection.  What she did have was Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.  The doctor found a small sore on the roof of her mouth and one small dot by her wrist.  I have heard some nasty things about this virus but it appeared Elsie had just a mild case of it.  She said that this strain going around also leaves a rash on their body too.  So no more antibiotics and we just needed to manage the symptoms since there is no medication for it.  She said she would no longer be contagious once she was fever free for a couple of days.  She said by Thursday she should be safe to go back to daycare since she hadn't had a fever since Sunday.  We have no idea where she picked this up from since we know no one who has this.  

Since she was unable to go back to daycare she came with me to work.  We made up a nice little bed for her so she could take a nap while I got some work done.  Wednesday I was off from work so we stayed home but Thursday she was back at daycare.  Wednesday night she was sleeping so good and then around 1:30 am we had a tornado warning so I had to get her out of bed and of course she woke up and slept terrible the rest of the night.  Thursday night she was back to her old self sleeping through the night.  Her cold is still bothering her a bit but hopefully that will clear itself up soon.  

During this whole ordeal it just broke my heart knowing she felt so terrible and there wasn't much I could do for her :(.  I guess that is just part of being a mom.  

Elsie's 4 Month Dr. Visit

Last Friday April 13th,  Elsie had her 4 month well baby check up.  Here are her stats:

Weight:  13 lbs 5 oz (46%)
Length:  25 inches (80%)
Head:  41.4 cm

For weight she is continuing to be right around that 50% mark and wasn't concerned at all and of course she grew in length quite a bit from the last time (she was in the 44 percentile at her 2 month).

Elsie checked out great on everything else and he says she is a health little girl.  We should be starting on solids between 5 and 6 months he said so another month of bottles only which I am good with that.

Of course I had some questions for him.
Q.  Elsie kind of has a nasaly sound when she sleep sometimes.  Almost like she is snoring.  Is that normal?
A.  We should make sure to suck out her nose every night even if it doesn't look like there is anything in there.  We can elevate her head of her bed and keep the air humid.  He lungs were clear so he wasn't too concerned.

Q.  Does Elsie have cradle cap?
A.  Yes, but very mild.  Just put baby oil on her head for 30 minutes and wash off.

Q.  She has started to spit up about once a day and I think it is quite a bit.  Is something wrong?
A.  No, her weight is right on track.  If her weight wasn't good we would need to be concerned but she is fine.

Q.  With summer coming what is safe to use for sunscreen and bug spray?  I found some bug spray (CJ's Bug Banisher) online with all natural ingredients such as citronella, witchazel and tea tree oil, is that safe to use.
A.  Yes, citronella is very good.  Nothing with DEET in it.  And for sunscreen it has to be 30 SPF or less.

She also got her vaccinations which so far have not given her any problems.  She also can now get up to 101 degrees for a temperature before we need to call and bring her in.  Yay!

I think those are most of the questions I remember anyways.  She is doing so good! And she is so happy!  She is sleeping between 8-10 hours stretches at night which is awesome!  I will share more for her four month update.

Two Week Highlights-Elsie Marie

I can't believe already how big Elsie is getting.  Yesterday she was two weeks old and on Tuesday we had her two week appointment.  It is amazing how fast they change already.  Already I don't want her to grow up :)  I am loving her at this stage right now, she is just so precious and small and snuggly.  Here is a few updates of our life together so far:

Feeding/Breastfeeding
Our biggest challenge thus far has been the breastfeeding.  It started in the hospital and has continued still to this day.  I just don't make enough milk.  I don't feel like my milk really came in.  Since being discharged from the hospital we have had two visits to the lactation consultant and two phone calls from them to check in.  The day after we left the hospital we went back in for a weight check and she maintained which was awesome.  She hadn't lost anymore which was a concern.  Then the next Monday we went back again and she had gained 2 oz.  More good news.  We then changed our routine for feeding at that point.  This is what we have been doing:

• No more feeding tube!  yay!! Let me tell you that was a big pain and definitely needed John to help with it.  
• Pump every three hours with the hospital grade pump that they loaned out to me for two weeks, then feed Elsie that first.  I started getting 1/2 ounce each pumping, then moved up to 1 ounce and now the past few days I have been getting and ounce and a half (this morning I got 2.5 ounces-not typical). 
• Then we supplement with formula until she doesn't want to eat anymore. 
• Take herbal supplements to help produce more milk:  Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek
• Hope she gains more weight and I make more milk.  

Also, we were told that until she gets back to her birthweight we need to wake her every three hours to feed.  We decided to go straight to just pumping for now instead of continuing to nurse so that I could see how much milk I was producing and if it was increasing with hopes that she will be able to go back to nursing.

Two Week Check Up
Elsie had her two week check up on Dec. 27th.  It is hard to believe two weeks had gone by since she was born!!! I have a feeling I will be saying that a lot!!  The first thing they did was weigh her.  It was the moment we had been waiting for.  She really needed to gain weight and boy did she do that.  At her last weight check she was 6 lbs 11 oz and at her appointment she weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz.  So she gained 1 lb 3 oz in one week.  I was excited!  The rest of her check up went well.  Her length was 20-5/8" long.  We also found out she has a mild case of thrush so she will have to go one medication to get that cleared up.  The doctor also told us we no longer have to wake her up every three hours to eat.  We can go as long as five hours now.  He also recommended that I start to nurse her again first, then give her any breastmilk I have pumped previously and then formula.  He said that nursing will do a better job of helping with my production than just pumping alone.  He also recomended that she be given a Vitamin D supplement since we are doing 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula.  Apparently breastmilk doesn't supply them with the amount of Vitamin D that they need.  So all in all the appointment went great.  Elsie's