3 weeks old

Week 3

It's funny.....every week I think to myself "I did it. I made it another week." One tough day leads to another tough day, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel! It seems like the Prevacid is helping her. She is starting to seem more happy FINALLY. She is still not going number 2 on her own. I have to give her a suppository daily to help her go. I've been researching different options but am scared to introduce her to juice and more medication. I am going to try mixing her formula with Gerber Soothe. It has probiotics in it and has helped other babies with the issue she is having. She still isn't doing a whole lot yet. Her belly button fell off last week, and I'm trying to get her on a schedule. I have used Baby Wise for my other kids so I'm going to try that with her as well. It's a great system in which you put them on a 2.5-3 hour feeding schedule. I haven't been able to do any schedule because she was so fussy until now. We have determined that she LOVES to be swaddled and won't sleep soundly without it. One step closer to a happy baby! She also loves a pacifier, but she gets frustrated because she can't keep it in her mouth so it becomes annoying because she fusses when it falls out. I try to put her to bed awake so she can make herself go to sleep, but she won't without her pacifier. Then it falls out and she wakes herself up again.

February 26, 2014
Madeline had her newborn pictures today at Sweet Pea Palace Photography. Although this was a long drive for us (2 hours) the photos are going to be wonderful. Here are just a few I snapped while she was working. The shoot took over 2 hours and while it looks like she slept the whole time--I could only wish. It was a lot of feeding and caressing to get her to close her eyes for each portion.

February 27, 2014

We have found that Madeline has a hilarious pouty lip whenever she isn't happy about something. I tried to capture it here. If she keeps that up she will get whatever she wants :)



March 3, 2014

This is the 1st outfit that Duane and I bought when we found out we were having a girl.

Week 2

We made it to our 2nd week!! We have had a lot of ups and downs. Madeline is very colicky and days are full of frustration and tireless hours of just trying to help my little girl. It's so hard to see her in pain. She is so innocent and beautiful and relies on me to make her better. After endless hours of research, I have asked her doctor to switch her from Zantac to Prevacid. I'm praying that this makes a difference for her reflux. She is constantly making sad faces and you can hear the bubbling in her throat. She arches her back a lot after eating and about 30 minutes after a bottle is when the fussing starts. You can just tell she is so uncomfortable. She doesn't sleep in her crib because she needs to be upright so we have a Rock N Play Sleeper from Fisher Price that has saved us. It's great because it vibrates and plays music too. I'm suffering from a bit of post partum depression. I had this after my boys too. It is the worst. You know you are crazy, and you can't control it.

Here I am-8 days old and Mommy finally got me to sleep. :) She definitely loves to be cuddled and soothed. She seems much happier when she is being held very close.

 

9 Days Old

 

My first trip to see my big brother Andrew play basketball. I slept through the whole game including all of the loud buzzers. I love to sleep in the car. It's the one place Mom can get a little break. We go on lots of car rides.

 

12 Days Old

 

I'm starting to like my bathtime a little more. Mommy has to drop warm water on my tummy the whole time, and then I'm happy. We have a towel warmer for my towels that I love getting snuggled up in my warm towels. I get a back at 7:00 before my big brother Hudson then we all read books together.

Here I am officially 2 weeks old! This is what my hair looks like once it's washed. For some reason it likes to stick straight up as soon as it dries.

and after it dries.

 

 

Week 1

Our first week home was rough. I'm not really sure how I got through it. I just remember being so tired and thinking I just need 10 minutes of sleep. There was actually a day where I drove to my aunt's house for her to hold Madeline so I could sleep. Madeline was very colicky and suffered from silent reflux. We tried so many different formulas, but nothing helped and everything made her constipated. I didn't want her on soy unless is was absolutely necessary so we tried Similac Sensitive, Enfamil, Gentleease, everything it seemed! Finally, I just called the doctor and begged for a prescription for Zantac. Zantac was great, when she would actually swallow it. I started putting it in her bottles which then made it less effective. And we were back to fussy. But still adorable!!!

 

5 Days Old

She smiles when she is sleeping. I wish she was smiling when she is awake.

 

Day 5 was very cold so I had to dress in my cutest fleece outfit! I'm thinking that this might just become a blog of all of my cute outfits.

 

I'm headed on my first visit to Dr. Bowser today! 

I'm healthy and gained back all of my weight I lost after birth. 

 

Day 7

 

This is the first time Hudson got to hold his sister. He is such a good big brother already! 

I love my Daddy. I even like my shirts to say so. 

Sponge Bath Time-which I'm not a fan of yet. 

 

And I tried out my bath tub! I don't like that either! 

 

 

 

 

Headed Home

We woke up on Day 3 to this bundle of joy. The nurses at the hospital were so excited about her hair they decided to wash it and style it for her.

We weren't in the hospital long on that day because I was so excited to get her home! I got her dressed up in her going home outfit (which was my favorite outfit by far). I think she looked so adorable!

Here are some photos of her room :) which mainly is just a home for all of her clothes. We are rarely ever in there. I think it's cute anyway! It's the first time I've gotten to actually do a baby room so I was really excited.

When we got home, I was so excited to try out all of her things that I have been just staring at for months. I put her in her swing, her bouncy chair, her bed, her rocker, everything. I still think her favorite is her swing :)

 



Day 2

Day 2 was just as amazing as Day 1 in the hospital. It was the day before Valentines Day, and I came prepared. I had went to Target the day before I went into labor and bought a Valentine outfit because I had a feeling Madeline would make her appearance before Valentine's Day.

We had to switch Madeline to soy because she had been throwing up on regular formula. Poor little thing! I knew we were in for a battle with her stomach. I spent most of the day holding her until her first photo shoot in the hospital. She did so great. She didn't cry once!

She is just beautiful! :)

And it begins.....her journey of life!

Our beautiful Madeline Isabella Wood was born on February 12, 2014 at 12:12 p.m.. This is my first time blogging so I'm not sure how great I will be, but I wanted to start this blog to chronicle her life so she will have something to look back on and realize how much she was loved. Life is short, and I want her to know each day she was adorable, loved, and full of adventure.

As soon as she arrived all everyone could talk about was how much hair she had and how highlighted it was. I said my highlights must have sunk through to her. :) She was perfect and healthy weighing in at 7 lbs 12 oz even though she was 2 weeks early. She is everything I could have ever hoped for and everything I have ever imagined my first little girl would be. She came out crying like crazy and didn't stop for about 3 hours. Duane and I were like "oh no". Our little girl was a fuss bucket. We knew we were in for a colicky battle.