2 Months Old

Next week it will be time to post her 3 month pictures so to say I am behind is an understatement.  Oh well.  At least I am posting.

So on October 28th, Piper turned 2 months old.  We went to the doctor the next day for your 2 month check up and shots.  She weighed 11 pounds and 2 ounces and was 22 inches long.  Both fell into the 50% category.  The doctor was very pleased and said that everything looked good.  She had to get her first set of shots and immunizations.   Let's just say that Piper does not like shots.  At. All.  Bless her heart.  She screamed so loud that I am almost sure that everyone within a 2 mile radius could hear her.  It just broke my heart.  Jonathan didn't like it either.  After the shots, we had to go next door to get her blood drawn.  The doctor wanted to check and make sure that her kidneys and liver were functioning good since we have had so many tummy troubles.  By the time we got there, she was so worn out from screaming from the first shots, that she never even woke up for the blood draw.  Thank goodness.  I don't think that I could have handled much more of that. 

At this point, Piper is sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night.  She is very easy to go back down after her middle of the night feeding.  She is usually only waking up 1-2 times a night to eat.  She is starting to discover her hands a little bit.  She still can't really control them, but she knows they are there.  Piper has also started sitting in the Bumbo chair.  We don't let her for too long because I don't want her little neck to get too tired.  She seems to like it okay.  She is holding her head up really well at this point.  Her favorite thing is playing on her play mat.  It has little bugs dangling above her and around her.  She will swat and hit them and they rattle and make noises.  She will entertain herself on this mat for a good amount of time.  We try to do tummy time here and there but aren't consistent as we probably should be just because she doesn't seem to like it very much. 

I never get tired of rocking this sweet baby girl.  My favorite part of the day is whenever she wakes up.  When she stretches, she makes a funny face that I call her duck face.  She pokes her lips out and cocks her head to the side.  It is the cutest thing ever! 

And I just have to add this.  Anyone that knows me well, knows that while I was pregnant, I was so worried that I would have an ugly baby but that I would think she was the prettiest baby ever.  Everyone laughed and told me that no matter what, I would think that she was pretty.  I would respond by saying that I knew that and that was why I was worried!  lol  Well......I do think she is just the prettiest little thing, but so does everyone else.  I know it doesn't matter, but no Momma wants an ugly kid.  Everywhere we go, people stop and tell me how beautiful she is and it just makes my heart get warm fuzzies. 

Piper's First Halloween

Halloween was two days after Piper got her 2 month shots.  So between that and her tummy troubles, she was a pretty cranky little girl.  We had already decided not to dress up too much just because she is so little.   Aunt Rhonda got her a cute little witch hat and we had gotten her a little Halloween outfit.  We thought that would be enough this year.  We handed out candy and she slept a lot of the time.  I can't wait until she is older and we can really enjoy and make some god Halloween memories. 

 Halloween morning in her other Halloween shirt Aunt Rhonda gave us.

 Halloween afternoon when cranky baby showed up!

Week's 7-9 - Tummy Trouble

At the end of week 7, Piper starting having MAJOR tummy troubles.  We would give her a bottle and she would get about a ounce down then start screaming bloody murder.  Then poop.  Almost every time.  I tried straight boob, expressed breast milk, and formula.  Nothing worked.  It got worse and worse so I called the doctor and he had us come in.  We went in on October 22 and she weighed 10 pounds 13 ounces.  The Doctor was concerned but not too much because of her awesome weight gain.  He couldn't find anything physically wrong but agreed that something wasn't right.  He said it was extremely rare but that he thought she had developed an allergy to my breast milk.  WHAT?  Surely not?  (insert sarcastic tone)  Piper had all the allergy side effects and it is common for mothers with allergy's to pass them down to their children.  Great.  Not what I wanted to pass down to her.  In fact, the main reason I was breast feeding was to prevent her from getting allergies.  Lovely.  So the doctor put her on soy formula.  We did that for 5 days.  She was somewhat better but still not normal.  I did my research and decided to go buy some hypo-allergenic (VERY EXPENSIVE) formula to see if that would be better.  It took a few days but we began to see a major improvement.  We went for her 2 month follow up a few days after that and the doctor agreed that I did the right thing.  Weeks 7-9 were VERY hard and trying weeks and we are oh so glad that they are behind us!!!

1 month

So I'm behind. Go figure. On September 28, Piper turned 1 month old! Time is flying by already. :( She weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. She is a very good baby when her belly isn't hurting. She is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches and is such a happy girl. She is still eating about every 2 hours. Piper's favorite thing right now is the ceiling fan. She will stare at it in amazement! She is holding her head up very well and getting stronger everyday. Everyone always told me that being a mother was great and that there was nothing like it. I knew that they were right but I had no idea the extent. I can't believe that we created this perfect little person. I can't believe how much I love her.

Visting Wynne

Last Thursday we went to Wynne for the day to see the grandmas and great grandmas.  We also got to see Melanie and her mom and Mary Fran stopped by to meet Piper too.

HA!  Piper looks like she is hitting Melanie!!

 

 Maw Maw and Piper

 Meme and Piper

 Maw Maw, Aunt Squeaky and Piper

 Nanny and Piper

Chunky Monkey!!

Piper's First Trip

I wanted to make sure and get newborn pictures of Piper.  So who else would I get to take her pictures than Kim Ginn at Sweet Portrayal?!  She has done Rhonda's kids and family pictures for the past 3 years and is amazing.  So amazing that we were willing to drive 4 1/2 hours to Rogers, Arkansas with a two week old to get them done.  I have only seen one picture as of right now but I can say now that it was for sure worth the drive!  I am on pins and needles waiting to see the rest of them.  Piper did good and stayed asleep most of the time.  Here is the one picture that we have seen.  I can already tell that I am going to have a hard time picking our favorites!!

This just melts my heart!  

We stayed with the Bramell's while we were in NWA.  It was Carley, Evan, and Lee's first time to meet Piper.  The twins were so excited!  While we were there, Cassie, Maye, Kara, Heidi, and Harlow came to spend a few hours with us and meet Piper.  Kara's girls were so excited to hold baby Piper, especially Harlow!  I think she would have stayed on that couch and held her all day if she could have!  It was really sweet to see their excitement.

 Carley and Becca getting some Piper love!

 Silly girls!

 

 

 Heidi and Jonathan playing on the seesaw!  LOL

 Heidi and Maye

 Sweet Harlow!  She gave Piper some good love! 

Cassie finally talked Harlow into giving Piper up!

Heidi's turn!

 All the kids!

I LOVE this picture!!!!

 Evan gave her back about this time!  ;)

And I stole this picture from Kara! Sweet girls!!!

2 Week Follow Up

I don't have any pictures on this post but I wanted to document how Piper's 2 week appointment went!  Baby girl likes her groceries!! She went from 6 lbs 10 oz at her 1 week appointment to 7 lbs 7 oz at her 2 week!  LOL   She gained almost a pound in one week.  She was up to 19 3/4 inches long and her head had grown some too.  The doctor looked at her tongue and made her an appointment the following day with the ENT doctor to have it checked out. 

So we went to the ENT and he looked at her tongue.  He said that he could see that she was tongue tied but that she had already torn a little bit of it.  He said that could have happened in a screaming fit.  I thought that was a little comical.  Screaming?  Not my baby!  (insert sarcasm)  The doctor said that since she is gaining weight that she is obviously not having issues eating with her tongue like it is so he wants to wait and look at her again when she is a year old.  We were fine with that.  I really didn't want to see him have to clip it right now anyway. 

First Trip To The Doctor

On September 3rd, Piper had her first doctor's appointment.  This was also her first time to leave the house since she came home.  I was excited to see what the doctor said about her and how much she weighed.  She weighed 6 lbs 13.4 oz when she was born.  When we left the hospital, she weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz.  At her appointment, she weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz.  So she had gained some of her weight back in less than a week.  The doctor seemed pleased and so were we.  He also told us at her appointment that she was tongue tied.  I had noticed that her tongue didn't stick out very far but hadn't thought much of it.  He acted like it wasn't a big deal.  Otherwise everything checked out great!

 She looks so tiny in her infant carrier!

 

Here is another random picture that I took the first week that she was home.

Sleeping Beauty!  I just love this one!!

Piper's First Few Days Home

We stayed in the hospital until Friday.  We got home Friday afternoon and then Rhonda and Becca got to our house Friday night to meet Piper and help us out.  And oh my are we glad that they came.  The first few days home were tough.  Me and Jonathan were both sleep deprived and  I was still trying to recover from my c section.  Piper was trying to get adjusted to life on the outside.  I absolutely LOVED Becca's face when she first met Piper.  She had the biggest grin on her face.  She was just so excited.  It was very sweet.

The Saturday after we got home, we had a houseful.  Everybody was so excited to meet Piper.  Aunt Nanette, Uncle Dale, Nanny, mom (Grammy), and Aunt Pam all came to visit for the day.  I didn't get a lot of pictures from that day because I was just exhausted.  I am sure that they all got some pictures that I can post later.  Dad came on Sunday to see Piper again and visit with Rhonda and Becca before they left.  

So Sunday afternoon everyone left and we were on our own.  Sunday night was VERY hard!  We were up almost all night.  So Monday afternoon, we called in the backup......Grammy!  My mom got here Monday night and stayed until Thursday and she was a lifesaver!!!!  She took third shift so that I could sleep.  Because I was breastfeeding, I still had to get up to feed but mom would let me go right back to bed while she stayed up with Piper so I could sleep.  I was/am SO thankful.  I was about to lose my mind because I just hadn't slept at all.  

The other thing that I really want to remember about this time was how much Jonathan helped me.  I didn't change my first diaper until Piper was 4 days old.  He waited on me hand and foot. He  helped me go to the bathroom and get around.  He was amazing and I am so thankful for him.  I can't imagine women who don't have a good husband or boyfriend and have to go through all this by themselves.  This whole experience had made me fall in love with my husband all over again......which is crazy because I didn't think I could love him any more.  I am such a lucky girl!