Monday, August 16, 2010

2 Months Old and First Time in the Pool!

Yesterday (August 15), little Kerrigan turned 2 months old! WOW--these past 2 months have flooooooooown by!! I can't believe it. Before we know it, she'll be 16 with a driver's license and an attitude. :)

We decided to let Kerrigan test out the pool at my parents' house. Even though it rained most of the day Friday and Saturday, the pool was still surprisingly warm... around 90 degrees. She got a little bathing suit at one of my baby showers, so we put it on her!











Now it was time to go down to the pool...

Getting in with Daddy


Laid back in the float


Family photo!


Kerrigan & Mommy


Kerrigan loves the pool!


She was very relaxed


We kept her in for about 30-45 minutes. I think she loved it! We didn't hear a peep from her! The float she was in was still a little big for her, so Aaron and I took turns supporting her bottom. We noticed a few times that she was kicking her legs! What a natural! There's a waterfall at the end of the pool and we took her over there a few times. She was in a stare fest with the water... it was funny! She looked so relaxed all laid back. What a life!

Later on that night, after a bath and a nice meal, it was time for Kerrigan's "2 Month Photo Shoot." We got her bear in her chair and sat her in nothing but a diaper. She was a little more slumped down and hard to photograph, but we got in a few good ones!

Here's a picture of Kerrigan from her 1 month pictures:


Look how much she has grown and changed! Getting chubbier cheeks, arms and legs!






Timberrrrrrrrr!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Lately...

Well, it's obviously been a while since I've updated. We've had a pretty busy couple of weeks. Aaron's been working later a few nights and I've been up at school trying to get things ready for the new school year. We also had Aaron's parents come down to visit. Oh yeah, we also have a 2 month old baby. Haha! :)

After my visit to my doctor because of my mastitis issues, I started weening down on pumping. I was pumping so many times a day and gradually started bringing it down a number every few days (i.e., pump 6 times a day, then 5, then 4, etc...you get the point). Now Kerrigan is on formula full-time. She seems to be doing pretty well with it. We've had a few occasional spit-ups, but it seems to be working out for her! She sure is growing like a little weed.

She is still waking up once (sometimes even twice) a night, so we're still working on her sleeping through the night. I don't go back to work until Labor Day, so hopefully by then, she will be sleeping through the night. It's not so bad right now since I'm not working. She's been staying up more during the day, so that's been helpful. She'll get there soon enough. She's had a few nights where she's slept 6-8 hours straight.

We try to give her tummy time every day. She has been doing a great job holding her head up! Her neck muscles are really getting strong! She is able to hold it up higher than she was when she first started holding it up. She's also been cooing a lot and making all sorts of little noises. I think she entertains herself and likes to hear her voice. :) She smiles a lot... she even smiles in her sleep! She has even let out a couple of laughs. She also sticks out her lip... a lot. I know this is going to be hard to handle as she gets older! She has been starting to grab and hold onto things more. She really likes my hair, Aaron's arm hair, necklaces and shirts. It is so fun to watch her grow and do new things.

One milestone that we are really proud of is that she is able to roll over from her tummy to her back! She did it the first time on July 29. She was lying on her changing pad, which is a countoured shape. She started moving around a lot and the edges were blocking her from turning over. So we decided that we would put her on a flat surface to see if she would be able to do it, so we put her on her tummy mat. After a minute or so, she had gotten onto her side, let out a sneeze! and that pushed her onto her back! :) She's done it some more on the couch and the floor. Sometimes we put her down to practice and she just gets so frustrated. We've tried to get her to practice rolling from her back to tummy. She got help from Daddy one night and was able to do it. But since then, she's just been getting too frustrated. :)

We went for her 6-8 week checkup back on August 5 (7 weeks, 2 days old). Kerrigan weighed 9 pounds, 11 ounces (she was 7 pounds, 5 ounces at 2 weeks). She was 22 inches long (she was 20 1/4 inches at 2 weeks). Her head circumference was 14 1/2 inches (it was 13 3/4 inches at 2 weeks). Dr. Brian was pleased with her growth and the looks of her. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and head circumference. She is in the 75th percentile for height. At this visit, she had to get her first round of shots. :( She had 2 shots in each leg and one oral vaccination. I had Aaron go with me for moral support, but Kerrigan did really good. She got her first shot, there was a slight delay, and then she started crying. But the shots were given so quickly, she probably only cried for 20-30 seconds. Luckily, her mommy didn't lose it!

Aaron's parents came down from Cincinnati to visit for a week at the end of July. Needless to say, Aaron and I didn't get much "holding of the baby" time. :) Of course, we got to keep up our role in changing her diapers! All kidding aside, we were glad they got to meet their granddaughter. Aaron and I were able to get out one night for Game Night at Laurie and Jeremy's place. Memaw and Grandpa were happy to babysit. It was nice to be able to get out for a few hours and spend time with some of our friends! While the Jordan's were here, we spent a couple of days at my parents' pool. We went to McWane Center one afternoon. But mainly, we just hung around the house and watched Baby Kerrigan.

Everything has been going well. We are definitely blessed and lucky to have such a sweet little girl. We were talking last night and discussing how this time last year, I wasn't even pregnant yet. What a difference a year makes!

It's odd for me not to be at school right now. I went up a few days to get my classroom ready. I also was able to meet most of my kids at Meet the Teacher Day. But it's just weird knowing that school has already started and I'm not teaching. I've been trying to stay in the loop though! Haha! I'm lucky, too, because I have a wonderful sub and it should be a pretty easy transition once I start back September 7. It will definitely be hard leaving Kerrigan. But she's staying with a good family friend (Angie--who kept Carson and Parker for 2 years), so I will know she's in good hands! Plus she'll be close to school at my friend Jenni's house (she teaches with me at HES). Jenni has twin girls, so Kerrigan will have some friends! :)

Hopefully these next 3 weeks won't go back TOO fast. I just have to enjoy every second! I'll try to update this blog more often. But I'm not making any promises!

Updated pictures are below:

Kerrigan posing in her cute watermelon outfit


Lying on the couch


Memaw holding Kerrigan


Trying out the Bumbo chair again


Daddy holding Kerrigan high in the sky!


Bright-eyed baby


Reaching out for Memaw


Posing with Parker


Carson trying to see if Kerrigan is awake


Checking out Grandpa


Kerrigan likes to suck on her fingers


Such a happy little girl!


A BIG coo!


Marley is always in the mix


Holding that head up...






Kerrigan loves her Baby Einstein musical toy!


Until next time...

lj

Monday, July 19, 2010

Attack of Mastitis...Twice More!

Our baby girl turned 1 month old last Thursday, July 15. It's hard to believe she is already that old! Everyone always said that it goes by way too fast, and I'm starting to see that is a true statement! I've seen some ideas from people and I'm kind of stealing one from my friend Heather (hopefully she won't mind). :) But I decided that each month, I would sit her in her rocking chair with a pink stuffed bear to show how much she has grown. Here's the first month's pictures:







She was starting to fall over a bit...


I was glad that she was so bright-eyed! It was a pretty late photo session. :)

We've been hanging in there for the past five weeks. :) Kerrigan has been sleeping longer periods of time during the night, so we are definitely making some progress. It is so much fun watching all of the different things she has started doing... even though they are small. She focuses on objects a lot more and she makes so many different facial expressions. She grabs onto things and has such a tight grip! All in all, we have to admit that she has been a wonderful baby. We have definitely been blessed with a sweet little girl. We are very lucky. :) It is so exciting to experience this and I can't wait for what's to come in the upcoming days, weeks, months and years. I just hope they don't go by TOO fast!

As far as me, I have been battling mastitis AGAIN. My first bout was back on June 29th. My second one occurred last Wednesday, July 14. I missed my doctor by a day (I had a 4 week postpartum checkup the 13th). I felt like I had tackled this one earlier than the first one because it did not end up as painful. It was in my left breast this time and I felt like I knew it was beginning. I started out fine with no fever or body aches. However, as the day went on, I started feeling worse. I had a 100.8 fever, so Aaron called my doctor's office that afternoon and I was called in another antibiotic. I started taking it as soon as Aaron got home and I started feeling better the next day. A few days passed and my RIGHT breast started to feel sore (my right breast was sore the very first time). I couldn't believe it! It was so strange because I was already taking antibiotics for the left breast. So Saturday I woke up because I couldn't sleep because it was hurting so much. I didn't have fever so I was just trying to take it easy. But as the day went on, I was feeling worse and worse and worse. I laid on the couch, took a nap, pumped, drank fluids... tried everything I could because I figured I was already on antibiotics. I was also taking ibuprofen to help with the pain. By the evening, I took my temperature again and it was 102.4. So I knew this was trouble. I was almost on the verge of having Aaron take me to the ER. But he called my doctor's emergency line and Dr. Straughn was on call. She works in Dr. Tamucci's practice so I was comfortable with whatever she said. She was very close to telling Aaron to bring me in, but she decided to call me in a different antibiotic and some pain medication. She told Aaron that if I wasn't any better by Sunday that I did need to go to the Emergency Room. She also told him that I needed to see Dr. Tamucci on Monday. So yesterday (Sunday, 7/18), I was fever free by 9 a.m. My breast still hurt, but I felt much better. So I didn't have to go to the ER! :)

Today, I went to the doctor to have my breast checked out. I had blood work done and my white blood cell count was fine, which meant the antibiotics were working and the infection was localized. My doctor was puzzled why I had had 3 bouts of mastitis since I was only pumping and not breastfeeding--no mouth to the breast--therefore less chance for bacteria to enter. Anyway, the final verdict was to try and avoid more infections. I've been lucky to be able to pump for 5 weeks so far, so at least Kerrigan has gotten some breast milk. But unfortunately I've been having far too many issues, so I'm going to start weening off breast pumping. We have already been supplementing with formula anyway because I haven't been able to produce enough, so the conversion will be easy. I hate I won't be able to supply her with breast milk for longer, but I have to make sure and look out for myself too. Hopefully everything will transition smoothly.

Here's a few more pictures:

Parker insisted on me taking a picture of him holding his baby cousin KJ


Napping with Daddy... Daddy knows what Mommy feels like on Fridays now!


Fahj was marking his sister


Kerrigan and Mommy


Snuggled Up!


Some pictures from Bebe and Pop's last Sunday afternoon:




















I can't believe summer is winding down already. But I'm not going back to work until Labor Day so I still have a little more time left with Kerrigan at home. But when I have to go back to work, I don't know what I'm going to do!!!

Before I finish, I want to ask for everyone to please pray for one of my former students, Reilly Montgomery. She was recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Wilms. She had her kidney removed last week and this week, she will have her port put in. Additionally, she will begin chemo this week as well. She will have 28 weeks of chemo. Her mother, Amy, also cuts my hair. This is a very special child and family. For more information about her condition, please visit her CaringBridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/reillymontgomery Thanks for praying!

Until next time...

lj