Moving

I have kept two separate blogs for each of my kiddos for several months.  However, now that Bristol has arrived, their worlds are going to be completely intertwined so it only makes sense to have one blog.  Please follow Bristol (and her brother) over on Goodbye Beer Belly, Hello Baby Belly!  

Second Month

Bristol is just chugging right along!

Bristol was able to meet most of her family members.  This was one of the really cool things about being in North Carolina, especially all of the grandparent love. 

We got this super sweet video baby monitor.  If you need to get a gift for someone, this is it!  It is amazing!  It was supposed to be used for Bristol, but we actually hooked it up in Joey's room.  (We will be buying another one for Bristol's room!).  It's like our own little reality tv show.  The monitor is very addicting and you can't stop watching it.  We got along just fine without this little video camera for two years...now we can't live without it.  

I healed up just fine after my surgery.  No problems with my incision or allergic reactions this time around!  Wahoo!  I also enjoyed my first glass of alcohol in over 10 months.  I chose a nice glass of Riesling wine.  So nice.  

Bristol still wasn't sleeping as much as I thought she should be.  I actually began to wonder if that could be part of her colic problems.  Her being overtired did not help her colic situation at all.  Now, I make myself take her to a quiet room with little stimulation and noise to help her get to sleep.  I have just assumed that she could fall asleep anywhere with anything going on.  I have recently realized that my little lady is a little sensitive to things right now, so her trying to get any sleep in the main room with an active two year old brother is a little stupid on my part.  Going into a separate room during nap times has really really helped a lot.  She is definitely sleeping a lot more these days.  That only took me two months to figure out.  Ugh.   

My Mom was able to get Bristol to take a bottle!  Woo hoo!  Now, I can get some extra sleep, leave the house alone, have a few drinks, or just give my poor boobies a break.  Thank you, MeeMee!   

 Bristol took her first airplane ride.  Not only did she ride on a plane, but she rode on a plane across the entire country!  We headed back to California from North Carolina to start getting ready for Michael's return!  

She did pretty well on the flight, but it was still super super stressful.  All I have to say is "I hate flying with my  children!".  If any of you want to see the kids and me, you're going to have to get your butts on a plane and fly to California!    

 Bristol has started to smile and coo a lot.  She is so beautiful and she has the prettiest little coo ever.  It's really great to see that smile, especially when I haven't had sleep in days.  It makes those low times go away.  

 B has great head control.  The doc was shocked at how well she can hold up her head.  Ye-ah!!!

 Unfortunately, she still has colic...hopefully, one more month to go.  

She has only gained one ounce in weight and 1 inch in length this month.  She is still in the top percentile for her age, but the doc is a little concerned that she didn't gain much over the month.  However, since we are at a new doc with different scales, we are going to go back in a month and do a weight check just to make sure everything is okay.  (12 pounds, 1 ounce and 23 inches long for the 2 month checkup).

She has little red bumps all over her neck and cheeks.  I thought this could be baby acne or heat rash or another food sensitivity.  Ahhh!!  Luckily, it is just a heat rash.  Whew!

We have made a huge step with our sleeping situation too.  Michael has requested that baby girl does not sleep with us when he gets home.  I completely understand and agree with this request.  So, I just started to lay Bristol down in her bassinet at nap time one day.  Do you know what?  She slept...for 30 minutes!  Then, two hours, I laid her down again and she slept.  This continued throughout the day AND night!  What a giant leap for us!  I was so happy.  My friend let me borrow the book "The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" and for some reason this baby whisperer gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get baby girl out of my bed.  I now swaddle Bristol for all sleepy times.  I still nurse her to sleep, but I'm okay with that.  I also think that taking her to her room with little stimulation and quietness has helped TREMENDOUSLY!  Too bad we're done having kids, I'm finally figuring stuff out!   

And, yes, you just read that last sentence correctly...we are done.  D. O. N. E!  This little face is absolutely precious, but then I experience her crying screaming face hours every night and it reminds me how I will not do this again.  I even recorded one of her crying spells to remind myself and show Michael what hell is like. 

During B's appointment, the doc laid her on her belly.  Miss Thang actually pushed up onto her knees and started scooting!  The doc was shocked.  I think we may have an early crawler on our hands.  *Sigh*  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  

Here are some more photos of Bristol from the past month...

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Bristol!

First Month

Miss Bristol's first month was a great one!

 She had her first bath!  Of course, big bro had to help out with that!

 She really liked the water.  

 Even when Joey dumped it over her head!

Bristol weighed 12 lbs at her one month checkup!  That is 3 lbs, 8 oz. in one month!  This put her over the 95th percentile in weight! Get it girl!   

She measured 22 inches long, which is the 90th percentile for length.   

She still has a clogged tear duct.  

The doctor also confirmed that B has colic.  Nothing that really can be done besides waiting it out.  :(  The doc did prescribe some drops to help alleviate B's pain.  We tried these drops and did not see much of a difference.  I decided to stop giving her these drops because of the side effects that can occur in infants!  Scary stuff.   

Joey loves his sister so much.  Joey wants to hold B everyday and kiss and hug her when she's sad.   

Bristol loves the heat!  When all of us were at our threshold for heat, she seemed to soak it up!  She slept great outside.  I joked that I was going to set up a hammock outside and sleep out there with her at night.   

Bristol had tons of visitors her first month!  My mom took photos of B and everyone that visited her.  That means that I have 1 million pics of her with friends and family.  This also means that I will not be posting all of those pics on this blog.  If you want to see your picture with B, let me know and I'll email it to you.  

We are co-sleeping right now.  Like I said, Bristol does not like to be put down.  Ever.  I need to get sleep. This means that we sleep together, with my boob in her mouth all night long.  *Sigh*  Not what I want at all, but when you're kid has been crying for 3 hours, you'll do anything to make her happy and allow both of you to get some sleep.  

It has been quite different changing a little girl's diaper versus a boys.  When I first changed her diaper, I was shocked at how swollen everything looked down there.  I even asked my friend if it was supposed to look like that down there!  Ha ha!  I'm also not used to the pee going down versus shooting straight up in the air.  Serious learning curve!

 I must admit it is nice to play dress up.  Pink bows and frilly things are a nice change of pace.  Don't worry, Bristol, I'll get this out of my system before you start kindergarten. 

 Tummy time=pissed off time.  

 This is B's "O" face, aka. I'm pooping!  It's hilarious!

 One more time!  Better out than in, especially when you have severe gas/stomach problems!

Happy one month birthday, little Bristol!  

The C Word

When you become a parent, you learn about this little five-letter word that every parent dreads to hear.  This word alone can make any parent shiver with fear.   

 Colic.  According to the Mayo Clinic website, "Colic is often defined as crying more than three hours a day, three days a week for more than three weeks in an otherwise well-fed, healthy baby. What is most important for the diagnosis is sustained crying in an otherwise healthy baby for a regular period of the day lasting for several weeks."

Bristol was fine the first week or so of life.  Then, the screaming for hours began.  It is horrible!  I'm a researcher.  There has to be a reason for things.  A child just can't cry because of nothing.  Since I'm nursing Bristol, I eliminated dairy from my diet.  That seemed to help a little bit, but did not completely eradicate the crying.  I made sure to feed B from the same boob throughout the day, just in case I was producing too much foremilk (which causes baby not to get the fatty and much needed hindmilk).  This did not eliminate the crying, either.  

After a week or so of her colic spells, I lost it.  My child has colic.  There's nothing I can do to help my little lady, but just be there for her.  We have 3 months to deal with this.  WTH.  Not only is this hard on me and everyone around, but it's so hard on Bristol.  You can tell her belly hurts her so much.  Her stomach is hard, she's super gassy, and just not comfortable.  Nothing consoles her.  Her longest crying spell has lasted from 9 PM until 330 AM!  It was horrible for all of us.  I can tell you that one of the most frustrating things to go through as a parent is not being able to alleviate your child's pain, especially when they don't understand what is going on.  Heartbreaking.  

We have tried so many things to help ease the pain.  Gripe water, warm bottle warmer, laying her on her tummy, bicycle exercises, car rides, swaddling, shhhhing, slight shaking, bouncing, swinging, singing, everything!  Some things work, some don't.  The thing that works one night, does not work the next night.    I can't tell you how many times I cry right along with Bristol.  I cry for her and from my own exhaustion and frustrations.  I really hate to wish my child's life away, but I cannot wait until the 3-month mark, October 12th, gets here.  :(

First Few Days

Bristol should know how loved she is.  She had TONS of visitors and calls and messages and gifts, all to welcome her into the world and send their love!  

It is pretty cool to see some pink in our midst, versus blue! 

First car ride!  Kind of weird having a baby in God forsaken heat instead of a chilly Alaskan summer.  I didn't know how to dress the poor child.  I hope I have not totally screwed up her internal body temp regulators!  Ha! 

Joey was completely in love with Bristol from the beginning.  He knew that she was who (or what) was in my belly.  It was crazy to see how easily he put the whole situation together.  He loves to kiss and hug on Bristol and he always wants to hold her.   

However, he did ask me if he could kick her in the head when he first saw me nursing B!!  However, once he realized that my boob made Bristol stop crying, he constantly requested for me to "give Bristol mommy's boobie!".  Haha!  

 Bristol did fail her hearing test in her left ear (just like Joey had).  We had to retake the test a week after going home.  She passed the test with flying colors!

  

Bristol does not sleep as much as I thought newborns slept.  This girl is afraid she's going to miss something.  Some of my friends with young children have also commented on how awake little miss seemed to be.  

Being in North Carolina has meant that we got to see lots and lots of family and friends.  It was super cool to have so many visitors greet our new little lady. 

 

It was also nice for me to have all of the family so I could sneak away for some Joey Mommy time or just to get a shower!

Bristol does like to be held.  All.  Of.  The.  Time.  This chick wakes as soon as she realizes that she is not next to a warm breathing body!  It's sweet and so frustrating.  I try to remind myself that these days are short and limited, so I should just enjoy the bonding time while I can.  It's just hard to do that when you really want to go to sleep, or shower, or poop!  

I am exclusively breastfeeding little lady.  I didn't have nearly the troubles breastfeeding this time around as I did with Joey.  I also did not play around when things weren't going too smoothly...I consulted with a lactation consultant to get things straightened out this time.  No bloody nipples for this mama!! 

Joey got to spend some time with Michael's grandparents for about a week right after Bristol arrived.  That was nice because B and I got to bond and work on our nursing and sleeping schedules.  Instead of sleeping when she slept, I caught up on a lot of movies!  Ugh!  Stupid mommy!  I must say that after having a toddler, I now realize that a newborn is a vacation!  Haha!  While Joey was gone, I was able to relax and just "chill". I didn't get much sleep, but some of that was my own fault.