Our First Un-Expected Doctor's Trip

I think most of you know that Emma has struggled with constipation issues since she was about 2 months old. We thought we had found the answer by giving her 2 ounces of pear juice every other day. About 3 weeks ago that stopped working. We upped the amount of juice, and when that didn't work we moved on to prune juice. Even with getting prune juice 3 days in a row, no poop. In fact she has only pooped 3 times in the last 3 weeks and all 3 we had to give her either an enema or a suppository for her to go. After all 3 of us were in tears last night, we thought it was time to call the doctor.
I placed a call to the doctor at 8am this morning. I had done some reading about constipation the night before, so I wasn't to worried about the situation. I expected the doctor's to call back and suggest switching formulas, adding water, or even adding a softener. I wasn't expecting them to tell me that they wanted to see her today. This was the point in my day that I wished I didn't have my medical background. The first thing that popped in my mind was "should I pack a bag? " (in case they made us go to the hospital) I even asked the scheduler on the phone if I needed to bring anything or do anything differently! I know, I know. I was being ridiculous. Of course they wanted to see her. There is nothing normal about a baby only being able to poop with the help of enemas. And I knew it shouldn't be anything serious because her poops weren't bloody, she hadn't been throwing up, her belly didn't hurt to touch, she wasn't bloated, and was eating just fine. I had just heard to many stories from my families at the hospital that they "thought it was just a cold". I kept repeating the symptoms she didn't have all the way to the doctors. I need to turn this part of my thinking off, or it is going to be a long 18 (longer) years!
So of course everything is just fine. The doctor said that some babies/people just have a hard time with this. Their bodies absorb every last drop of water which is why they get constipated. So the solution we try now is giving her miralax everyday. We have to play around with how much to give her, but once we figured that out, it should do the trick. They even told us how to do a "clean out" using the miralax in case she gets constipated again because they really don't want us to use the enemas or suppositories but once in a blue moon.
If it works, this is something we will probably have to carry on through out her childhood. But hey if it works, it works! Once she starts eating, I am going to also make sure she eats a lot of food high in fiber, bran, and fruits. Then maybe she won't need the miralax any more. I'll keep you posted on how things are going!

Finally!

So Emma finally has just enough hair on top to put on a bow in it. (you might have to click on the picture to see the very few little strands sticking up!

Doesn't she look so squishy in this picture?!!

And so long in this one!!

A little bit of sitting, reading, and drooling!

Weekend Update

We have had a busy couple of days! It all started on Thursday with a doctor's appointment for me, and Friday we met Amanda and her little guy, Aidan, at Scottsdale Fashion Square. I am so upset that I didn't take any pictures of Emma or Aidan. It was so good to finally be able to catch up with Amanda. And Aidan who is now 10 months has gotten so big and such a little man! It was funny to see him sitting in a high chair at lunch and eating baby food. I thought here pretty soon that will be Emma. We won't be able to just have her hang out any more in her car seat or stroller!

Unfortunately, being out of the house for the majority of the day 2 days in a row has gotten Emma off her routine. She isn't really taking her good naps any more and waking up multiple times at night, so we have had an overly tired baby. This led to not such a fun day for Robert when he had her while I was at Jenni's shower. Hopefully it will just take a couple of days and she will be back on track!

While Robert was taking care of an un-happy baby, I was having a good time at Jenni's shower. It was at Postinos, which is a really cute wine bar. We had yummy bruschetta, different cheeses and bread, chicken salad, olives, fruit, and of course wine and/or beer. Almost all of us had children under 2, so we were talking about getting them all together at a park or somewhere when the weather gets a little cooler.
Here are some pictures from the shower!

I didn't realize that olives came in so many colors!

The cute sparkling wine favors that Jessica got.

The cute area we had.

Our waiter showed his approval for this gift!

This was the best sundae. It was called a sweet and salty sundae. It had chocolate covered corn nuts in it! Which, I know, probably doesn't sound the best, but it was really good! It also came with a shot glass of caramel syrup. Of course it all got us thinking that is how we could serve dessert at the next event. Cups of ice cream with shot glasses full of chocolate, strawberry, and caramel.

And I know this blog has become more about Emma, so I couldn't leave with out a couple pictures of her!

Trying to get warm after her bath. We have added a bath to her bed time routine and it seems to be working!

Sleeping in our bed while I was getting ready for the doctor's.

Ready for the mall!

What We Have Been Working On...

Things have been moving pretty steadily along. We had our first night in a long time that Emma decided she didn't want to sleep. She laid in her bed for 2 hours talking to herself before she fell asleep, up 30 minutes later, then cried from 3am-5am, (no, not straight. I went in after 10, 20, and 30 minutes) slept for an hour, up again, and then finally slept for 3 hours. I don't know what her deal was, but luckily we haven't had a repeat!

Emma seems to be working on something new every day.

We have finally had laughing. Up to this point, we would just get one little giggle, now she laughs. It is the cutest thing. So far, I have been the only one to hear it. Robert can't wait until he can hear it also.

Her other new found skill is blowing raspberries ALL THE TIME! Her raspberries are full of spit, so all three of us have been showered! I now keep a rag by her at all times!

She constantly either has her fingers/thumb or one of her toys in her mouth.

She studies the dogs. If they are running around or playing, we can not compete with them!

She is working very hard on sitting up. She will stay in this position for about 10 seconds. I think she is going to sit early.

I'm not sure if she is also starting to give up her late afternoon nap. She gets cranky, so I put her down, but she stays in there contently talking to herself and blowing her raspberries. I think she is just wanting some alone time!

Robert and I are doing well also. Robert is still very busy at work. On the one hand, he is ready for it to slow down, but on the other, he wants it to stay busy a little while longer to help us make it through the winter.

This weekend I am going to Postinos, a wine bar, to celebrate Jenni's upcoming wedding. I am excited to get dressed up, have a glass of wine, and see my friends for a little bit. Robert will be home with Emma and I think he is excited to get to spend some good quality time with her.

Doctor Update

Emma had her 4 month doctor's appointment today, and like we expected everything looks great. Dr. Yin was very impressed to hear all the things she has been doing, but was mostly impressed that she is sleeping through the night with out needing a late night/early morning feed. I just wish Emma would show her cute smiles and personality around people she doesn't know or get to see very much. I mentioned this to Dr. Yin and she thought it was a sign of intelligence. She thought that Emma was needing to soak everything new in first before she shared her personality. Of course, I want her to be smart, but I want people to see the happy baby that we get to see also!
On to the exciting stuff! Emma has continued to prove that she is going to be a tall girl. She was almost off the growth chart for her height. She is just shy of 26 inches, which puts her in the 94/95 percentile. She weighed an even 15 pounds (80%), and her head circumference was still small putting her at 41%. Dr. Yin had said that she had expected it to be bigger based on where she is at for her height and weight, but Emma is following her growth curve, and her head continues to get bigger, so she isn't concerned. Even though her head only grew 1 inch over the last two months, we jumped from the 28 percentile to the 41st, so I was happier about that.
As far as solid food, Emma has reached all the markers that Dr. Yin looks for. She has doubled her birth weight, has great head control, and there are no food allergies in the family. Based on that, we can start solid food when ever we want to. But she said there was no rush. Emma is getting all the nutrition she needs from the formula alone. If we were to start now, she wants us to move along slowly through out the stages - if we wait until 6 months, she will have us move through the stages a little more quickly. Robert and I haven't really had the chance to talk about it yet, but I think we are going to wait until she is at least 5 months to introduce food. That way we aren't jumping the gun, but won't fill rushed to have her get the hang of eating so we can quickly move through the stages so she gets the nutrition she needs.
Emma also got the same 5 immunizations that she got last time. (4 injections and 1 oral.) She did great with the oral, but HATED the shots. She jumped immediately, screamed and turned bright red! We have spent the rest of the day laying on the couch. She is sleeping on and off and not really wanting to do anything.
So for now, we will continue doing what we are doing and go back to the doctor's at 6 months!

4 Months!!

I can't believe another month as come and gone, and Emma Grace is another month older. This past month has been filled with lots of new experiences. Robert and I have had fun looking back on this past week. It was a year ago September 3 that we found out I was pregnant, 4 months ago we were sitting in a hospital room waiting for me to get past 9 cm, and today we have a beautiful baby girl that keeps us on our toes...and she isn't even moving yet!

New things for Emma this past month include getting into a routine with naps in her crib, purposeful giggles, sitting in shopping carts, grabbing her toes while laying on her back, grabbing toys while on her tummy, turning in circles while laying on her back, and finding her screeching voice. One of the big accomplishments this past month was she started rolling over. She can easily roll from her tummy to her back, and is working on going from her back to her stomach. She is getting close. She uses her legs as weights, swings them to the side, and then gets stuck on her arm. She has also been trying to sit up while laying on her back. It is kind of funny to watch because she strains to lift her head and shoulders off the ground, then she lifts her legs and gets stuck. She gets frustrated because she can't move any further! A fun new thing for us is she has started to have "favorite" toys. Her favorite book by far is Guess How Much I Love You. It doesn't matter what kind of mood she is in. As soon as I start reading it, she starts cooing and hitting at the book. Her favorite toys include her keys, teething butterfly, tag blanket, elephant blanket, and a rattle.

As always, we can't wait to see what new things come this next month!

We go to the doctor tomorrow for her 4 month check-up. I am anxious to hear what they say about when to start solid foods. I will post the full report tomorrow!

Here are some other pictures from the photo shoot!

Bows, Bows, and more Bows!

Showing off her cute belly!

I think it looks like she is curtsying in this picture!

Watching her feet

Saturday

Today was the day....the start of College football! Of course Emma had to support her Daddy's team, and wore her Notre Dame colors. I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered this onesie. For some reason I hit the 12 month size. Needless to say it fit her more like a dress then a onesie. She had it on just long enough to show Daddy and to take some pictures. Now we need to get her ASU colors! (Notre Dame won 35-0! Not sure if ASU is on TV or not)

The big part of the day was my mom and grandma came over. It was my mom's birthday yesterday, and to celebrate she wanted to see Emma and have Robert Bar-B-Que cheeseburgers. I don't know what I was thinking, but I didn't take one picture while they were here. It rained all morning and stopped just in time for us to be able to b-b-que. It is looking like we might get some more rain tonight. I am hoping! Since I didn't take any pictures while they here, I took some of Emma when she got up from her nap. She is so proud of herself when she stands!

I Had Heard Stories...

My friends would tell me stories about how they were sure their little ones did gymnastics while they slept. I, on the other hand, always found Emma in the same exact position as I had left her when I kissed her good night. I figured she was just a very peaceful sleeper that didn't move around a lot. (she did not get this from her dad. On multiple occasions I have woken because a hand flew across my head!) But she proved me wrong this morning. I was very surprised when I went in to get her. She some how managed to completely turn her self around in her bed!

This is how I always put her down...

This is how I found her!

Just a cute picture from this morning. She is waking up an hour earlier then normal which I think explains why she seems to be just hanging out both yesterday morning and this morning.

Lazy Wednesday Morning

Before I went to make a bowl of cereal, Emma was sitting up in her Boppy. When I got back, this is how I found her. It looks like she is totally just lounging! Thank goodness it is almost Friday!