Adele spells it "Z-A-N-T-A-C."
At our doctor's appointment at CMH Monday, Adele was diagnosed with acid reflux. Apparently this is a pretty common condition in babies, both full-term and preterm. I'm not totally surprised at the diagnosis since I thought she exhibited many of the symptoms (high-volume spit-ups; back arching and crying mid-bottle; coughing/gagging and then spitting up stomach fluid hours after meals). So she's now on 1ml of Zantac twice a day. Hopefully it does the trick. The medicine is peppermint flavored so it gives her nice, minty-fresh breath! She always seems a little shocked by the flavor whenever we give her the medicine--her eyes get big and wide and stay that way for a while. It's awfully cute. Her CMH appointment went well otherwise, and the doctor there was pleased by her growth. We must be doing something right!
Weather here was nice today and we had a break in the really high temperatures. I strapped on the sling and secured the baby and we took the dog on a walk. It felt good to get out and get some fresh air and feel the breeze. Adele slept the whole time, of course, but she made her "mmmm" noises with each step I took which was highly amusing. The girl's a talker, that's for sure (and I have NO idea where she gets it).
Today's my last week at home with the baby before I start my new job. I'm looking forward to getting back to work, especially at a job in town. I really liked my old job and definitely loved the folks I worked with, but it will be so nice not to have to commute every day! All those great benefits don't hurt either. ;) G-ma Pontow is coming on Monday to look after Adele for two weeks, then Steve will take a week's vacation and then Grandma Van Horn (Steve's mom) is taking the last week in September. It's so nice to have family who are willing to come and help out.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Catching up
It's been a while since I've posted an update of any sort. We're all settling in nicely, and are starting to get a bit of a routine, or at least Steve and I are beginning to anticipate Adele's needs instead of just reacting to her cries. Can't say we're experts at this whole parenting thing yet but we're learning!
Adele's health and progress is great so far. She's had a few weight checks, today's being the most recent. She's just under the 10 pound mark at 9 pounds, 15 ounces (and 22 inches long). Dr. Murphy is pretty shocked (in a happy way) by how well Adele is growing. She's now hugging the 3% percentile for weight and height for "normal" 3 month olds which is awesome. She's quite a chunk, too, with her chubby arms and legs. But of course it just makes her all the more adorable! She's outgrown many of her newborn onesies and fits better into the 0-3 month sizes. She inherited Steve's long torso so everything fits perfectly lengthwise, even if it's a bit loose around the middle. She had an eye exam at CMH last week and everything checked out perfectly. She doesn't need to have another exam for 6 more months! And luckily for Mom, Adele behaved herself in the rides to and from KC and in the waiting room. As with most kiddos, she zonks out as soon as she gets in the car. Tomorrow we travel to CMH for a check-up in the Special Care clinic. I'm assuming it's a regular doc appt where they'll check the usual stuff--weight, length, how much she's eating, etc. We're hoping that we'll get some news on when we can finally be rid of her monitor!
Homelife is going well too. She's a pretty easy baby and we're learning that she much prefers to be held with her tummy up on your shoulder (as if you're burping her) and not so much in a cradle hold. She's okay in the bouncy chair for awhile, but if you let her sit too long and she gets too upset, she has a tendency to urp her last meal. Yuck. Our main issue right now is that she wakes us up about every half-hour between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 a.m. Ugh. She'll eat well at her 3:30 feeding and fall asleep just fine. Then, after about half an hour or so, she'll start grunting and creaking and squeaking and whimpering--just loud enough to wake us up--but when we go in to check on her she's sound asleep. So we head back to bed only to repeat the process in 20 or 30 minutes. Repeat for the next 2-3 hours. Yawn. The doctor's suggestion is to keep her awake in the late afternoons as much as possible and try to reset her internal clock. Any suggestions on how to keep a VERY tired newborn awake for more than 20 minutes when you can't really play with them?
We've enjoyed a few outings the past few weeks: We visited Topeka to see some my former coworkers; we visited CMP in Lawrence to see my soon-to-be coworkers; we've traveled downtown to see Dad at the Toy Store (and to bring him Happy Birthday cookies and milk on Saturday); we've made a few fast shopping trips downtown (so I could buy a sling--so handy for the baby who loves being held all the time!); and on Saturday evening we attended our first party at the Fitzno house. It was Adele's first friend outing, and we finally got to introduce her to all our friends. A good time was had by all and she was quite the star of the evening.
Oh, and the breastmilk reintroduction was a total failure. Two big thumbs DOWN. So my pumping days are over. I'm relieved and sad all at the same time. But I have a nice stash frozen in case she outgrows this allergy problem. We're going to try again in a month, hopefully with better results.
So that's the news from here! I'll leave you with a few photos:
The fruits of my labors (notice how there's no room for food in the freezer):
Chubby baby:
Her enthusiasm for tummy time is contagious:
Adele's health and progress is great so far. She's had a few weight checks, today's being the most recent. She's just under the 10 pound mark at 9 pounds, 15 ounces (and 22 inches long). Dr. Murphy is pretty shocked (in a happy way) by how well Adele is growing. She's now hugging the 3% percentile for weight and height for "normal" 3 month olds which is awesome. She's quite a chunk, too, with her chubby arms and legs. But of course it just makes her all the more adorable! She's outgrown many of her newborn onesies and fits better into the 0-3 month sizes. She inherited Steve's long torso so everything fits perfectly lengthwise, even if it's a bit loose around the middle. She had an eye exam at CMH last week and everything checked out perfectly. She doesn't need to have another exam for 6 more months! And luckily for Mom, Adele behaved herself in the rides to and from KC and in the waiting room. As with most kiddos, she zonks out as soon as she gets in the car. Tomorrow we travel to CMH for a check-up in the Special Care clinic. I'm assuming it's a regular doc appt where they'll check the usual stuff--weight, length, how much she's eating, etc. We're hoping that we'll get some news on when we can finally be rid of her monitor!
Homelife is going well too. She's a pretty easy baby and we're learning that she much prefers to be held with her tummy up on your shoulder (as if you're burping her) and not so much in a cradle hold. She's okay in the bouncy chair for awhile, but if you let her sit too long and she gets too upset, she has a tendency to urp her last meal. Yuck. Our main issue right now is that she wakes us up about every half-hour between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 a.m. Ugh. She'll eat well at her 3:30 feeding and fall asleep just fine. Then, after about half an hour or so, she'll start grunting and creaking and squeaking and whimpering--just loud enough to wake us up--but when we go in to check on her she's sound asleep. So we head back to bed only to repeat the process in 20 or 30 minutes. Repeat for the next 2-3 hours. Yawn. The doctor's suggestion is to keep her awake in the late afternoons as much as possible and try to reset her internal clock. Any suggestions on how to keep a VERY tired newborn awake for more than 20 minutes when you can't really play with them?
We've enjoyed a few outings the past few weeks: We visited Topeka to see some my former coworkers; we visited CMP in Lawrence to see my soon-to-be coworkers; we've traveled downtown to see Dad at the Toy Store (and to bring him Happy Birthday cookies and milk on Saturday); we've made a few fast shopping trips downtown (so I could buy a sling--so handy for the baby who loves being held all the time!); and on Saturday evening we attended our first party at the Fitzno house. It was Adele's first friend outing, and we finally got to introduce her to all our friends. A good time was had by all and she was quite the star of the evening.
Oh, and the breastmilk reintroduction was a total failure. Two big thumbs DOWN. So my pumping days are over. I'm relieved and sad all at the same time. But I have a nice stash frozen in case she outgrows this allergy problem. We're going to try again in a month, hopefully with better results.
So that's the news from here! I'll leave you with a few photos:
The fruits of my labors (notice how there's no room for food in the freezer):
Chubby baby:
Her enthusiasm for tummy time is contagious:
Friday, August 24, 2007
Is this thing on?
Welcome to the new home of all things Adele! We decided to move the blog operation to a new location since we have a bit more functionality here. Caring Bridge was a great information hub while Adele was in the hospital, but it is a bit limited in options, and was rather cumbersome at times. We hope you enjoy the updates here, too. Can't say they'll be as frequent or as informative as they were on CB, but we'll keep you as updated as two busy parents can.
Now fix yourself a nice TV dinner and enjoy the show!
Now fix yourself a nice TV dinner and enjoy the show!
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