3 Months!

Little Lexi is 3 months old!  

I know I think/say this every month, but I can't believe she's 3 months old already!  We've had some ups and downs this past month mainly dealing with reflux.  Poor little girl has bad reflux.  She was spitting up so much that when we went to the doctor for her 2 month check up she had lost weight since her 1 month.  We were shocked (and of course I cried-mommy emotions)!  As first time parents you don't really know what's "normal" and we just figured all babies spit up.  But we realized it was extreme when you have about 12 burp cloths and you're still having to do laundry every day to every other day to get clean burp cloths.  So, needless to say Lexi was put on Zantac right away to help her hopefully gain weight and make it hurt less when she spit up.  Oh, Zantac. Ugh.  She HATED taking the Zantac and who can blame her when it smells like mint and tastes awful (Marshall said it tasted like mouthwash).  It was a battle 2 times a day to get her to take it and for the first several times she was gagging and throwing up.  I would end up crying a lot because I felt so bad.  I got some advice from people and one suggestion (thanks Alison!) was to get CVS to put some flavoring in the medicine to make it taste better.  The only thing approved for Zantac was grape which was really strong!  However, unfortunately, it did not change the taste.  Nothing could cover up that awful Zantac.  BUT it did make it smell better and more appealing.  We also got some other advice to hold Lexi's nose so she would open her mouth and taste the medicine less and then blow in her mouth once we had dropped the liquid in to get her to swallow it.  You can see how this was a major process to get her to take it!  Whew!  I'm tired just typing it!  The other thing the doctor wanted me to do was to start feeding her every hour and a half.  Wait, are you kidding me.  Did I hear you right? You mean every hour and a half!?  Yes.  And after feeding her, hold her upright for 30 minutes so she can digest the milk easier.  

We had another appointment scheduled to come back 2 weeks later to do another weight check and see how the medicine was working.  When we came back we had another weight check.  Even more weight loss.  And still no change in spitting up and fussiness.  So, her doctor seeing this wanted to check to make sure all her anatomy internally was fine.  So we were sent straight from her doctor's appt to the hospital for a barium swallow to check how her milk went from her stomach to small intestine (I believe). The doctor let us know that sometimes the passageway could be too small and the milk could be coming back up because it couldn't pass enough through and that would require surgery to fix (again, que mommy tears).  So after a grueling time watching her try to take the barium swallow 1.5 hours past her time to eat and first time taking anything resembling a bottle we were finished.  The doctor was watching the X-ray and let us know on the spot that he thought all her anatomy looked good.  SOOOO thankful for this, and him letting us know and not making us wait.  He said he would look more closely at the slides but from his initial review it looked good.  Now, to figure out how to get this girl to pack on the pounds!  

So the next day (April 12) we go back to the doctor to meet with her and the Lactation Consultant and try to get a game plan going of what to do next.  They inform me that they have discussed this at length and think I should continue the 1.5 hour feedings, holding her upright for 30 min, and now start waking her up at night to eat again.  Lexi had been sleeping all the way through the night for the past 5 days and we were so excited.  Again, did I hear you right?! You want me to wake her up?! Yes.  So we started waking her up around 3 a.m. to eat at night also. At that appt they also switched her medicine to Prevacid ($$$cha-ching!) and see if that helps her not to spit up as much and be more comfortable.  So, that's where we are now.  That was a Friday and they told me to call in with a weight check (thanks to Ginger we now have an at home baby scale!) on Wednesday.  We weighed Lexi on Wednesday and she was up 4 oz.!  So we will continue this week to call in again on Wednesday with another weight check and go from there.  So far so good with this new regimen and it seems like she's spitting up a little less and gaining some weight (and rolls!).  She is taking the Prevacid better- it tastes much better.  Although it's a lot more to take so it's still a process getting it down.  With all that said, she's still a good eater!  Still no problems breastfeeding and it doesn't seem to stop Lexi from wanting to eat- so thats a blessing!  

With this 1.5 hour thing it threw naps off a little bit but now we are starting to have a routine after her 2nd morning feeding to take a nap and then about 2 afternoon naps and 1 evening nap.  Still not hating her baths and starting to splash some!  She's in 3 month clothes and they are still a little big.  

We had our first giggle on April 8!  Since then we've had some more giggles and they are PRECIOUS!  Still lots of smiles and seeing her little personality coming out.  Lots of talking and cooing and I've got several videos that I tried to upload and for some reason they wouldn't upload.  I'll work it in all my free time ;)  She loves her "Ellie" which I brilliantly named her elephant lovey.  She is really into grabbing things and holds onto whatever's close- Ellie, a blanket, a shirt, her paci, her mobile over her changing table etc.  She also has found her hands and has them in her mouth all.the.time.

Prayers would be appreciated through this process and our little girl is a trooper.  Some have even called her "Scrappy". We just love her.  Lexi brings so much joy to our lives and we smile and laugh at her faces and shenanigans every day. 

Here are some pictures of Lexi this month:

Easter Sunday:

Lexi being burped after eating.  I just think the face she makes when this happens is SOOO cute.  

Eating her hands.

While Papa and Nana were visiting we took a walk at Swan Lake.  It was such a beautiful day! 

First time Aunt Jessica met Lexi.  They got some good snuggle time and Lexi doesn't mind passing out on anyone who will take her :)

Some adorable sunglasses given to her by Grandma.  Stylin'

Some classic pictures I took while I was trying to get Lexi's 3 month picture.  Her eyes right now are a really dark blue.  

Making friends!

We have had lots of visitors since Lexi was born.  I have been a slacker and not posted about them and decided to do them all in 1 post.  

Our very first visitors (besides my mom who stayed with us the week of Lexi's birth) were Papa and Nana- Marshall's dad and step-mom.  They got a lot of snuggle time and Lexi slept on them quite a bit. She was enjoying all the attention she was getting! 

In February we had Marshall's sister Katie come to visit and I took pictures on her camera so I don't have pictures on my computer.  We also had the Ferrells and precious Grayson come to meet Lexi.  The kept commenting on how small she was compared to G who is 2 months older than she is.  He was born in November.  

Our next visitors were my mom, George, my aunt Bobetta, and grandpa.  They came down for the day and Lexi had some sweet snuggle time with my aunt (and gave her a reason to wash her shirt when she got home! haha)

Here's my mom with sleeping Lexi

My grandpa also brought down a blanket that a sweet lady made for us that had all of Lexi's stats monogrammed from the day she was born, weight, and time.  

This picture just makes me laugh because of Papa's face!  

4 generations:

Then we headed to Durham for a "Sip and See" shower where people from that area could come and meet Lexi.  She was sleeping for a lot of the time but when she did wake up for a little while I took her out of the carseat and people could really see her!  What a fun time!

Here is our group.  We sure have changed a lot in the last year!  Hopefully we will add one more soon for the Moores and continue growing! :)

2 Months!

We go to the doctor next week, so I will update with all of her 2 month stats then.  

She's still eating really good.  She still eats about 20 minutes on 1 side then around 8 on the other.  I'm so thankful it's been relatively easy and I haven't had to deal with any mastitis or blocked ducts (fingers crossed!).  However, she is starting to use her little gums and "biting" down while she's eating...which is REALLY fun for me :) haha.  She's still eating around every 3 hours.  I think she went through a little growth spurt this week where she was a little more hungry.  

Still pooping around the clock.  She really likes to pee or poop right when her diaper is off on the changing table!  She has actually hit Daddy twice with squirts of poop! It's always an entertaining time for us.  There was one time we were both in there with her and we were on the third diaper because she'd messed up two already and we were both laughing with our hands on our faces because that's all you can do sometimes!  Ahh parenthood! She has moved on to size 1 diapers and has been in them for about 2 weeks now.  She's still in either 0-3 size clothes or 3 month.  

She's still a really good sleeper at night.  She is now only waking up once around 4:30 or 5 to eat and then goes back to sleep until about 8:30.  We usually do her last feeding around 9:45 or 10 and then put her straight to bed and she goes down really well.  We really haven't had any problems with her not going to bed at night!  Thankful for that! We are still swaddling her because she still flails her arms a ton and wakes herself up.  We starting using the sleep sheep with the ocean sound turned up loud for her at night so she will be able to sleep with noise.  I think several things signal "bedtime" for her so she knows this is her long period of time to sleep.  

She is still napping with a morning and 2 afternoon naps and occasionally a late evening short nap.  She really has set her own schedule/routine which is pretty predictable each day which is nice for me.  I am still working on putting her down for naps instead of keeping her in my arms or beside me.  

There was one day that Marshall asked me when babies are supposed to roll over.  I told him not until about 3 months and usually they roll from belly to back first because they can push themselves up.  This was when Marshall was home for lunch.  He said he was going to see what she would do if he put her on her belly on her play mat.  Since he was watching her I took a break to go to the bathroom and I heard Marshall yell that she had rolled over from her belly to her back!  I was so mad!  I'm with her all day long and she chooses the time that Marshall was home for lunch to roll over and I missed it!  Little stinker.

She is starting to like bath time more and doesn't cry and just sort of sits and looks around. She's starting to like the swing more and more and sits for longer periods of time to just look around and take everything in.  She really likes music too.  If she is being fussy or is tired music puts her to sleep... but not the type of music you would think.  Anything with a fast beat- we have used everything from rap to chris tomlin to 90's playlists to put her to sleep and it works! Still loves to wiggle and kick her feet!   She is smiling more and more and I love putting her in my lap facing me and talking to her and making her smile!  She is definitely "talking" and cooing a lot!  I took a video of it this past week (it's probably boring to most of you- haha).  

I might try to add some of my instagram pictures to the blog later but these are the most recent March pictures I have taken.   

These were taken for Lexi's first Sunday at church (3-17-13).  Someone was not happy to be taking pictures... haha

Most days she loves being on her changing table.  Please don't judge me but her cover was washing and the pads are so slippery so I had just put down a towel.  Thanks to Charlotte, she now has something fun to look at while her diaper is being changed.  She sure does love her butterfly!

Some classic shots when I was trying to take her 2 month picture.  

Daddy was trying to make her smile.  She obviously thinks he's funny just like her mommy! 

I did a side by side comparison of her 1 and 2 months.  I definitely think she's filled out! Starting to see some rolls...

More of her cute faces.  I can't get enough! 

One Month!!

I can't believe our little girl is 1 month old!!!

 This will be another detailed post, so if you don't want to read, we understand :)

UPDATE:
At Lexi's 1 month appt (a week late Jan 26) she weighed 9 lbs 6 oz, she was 20 3/4 inches long and her head was 14.5 inches around 

When Lexi was born (Jan 21), she weighed 6 lbs 12 oz.  Then, at her first doctor's appointment on January 25, she weighed 6 lbs 2 oz. We found that it was completely normal for her to have dropped weight since her birth but we were very intent on making sure she was back up in weight and we had another quick doctor's appointment on Monday, Jan 28 for a weight check.  She had gained 7 oz over the weekend (2 days!) and had gone up to 6 lbs 9 oz.  The doctor told me that she wanted to see us again on Feb 4 to make sure she was back up to her birth weight.  On her weight check on the 4th she was up to 7 lbs 4 oz.  Overachiever.  :)  With that being said, the girl is a good eater.  In my last post I commented on how she latched right away in the hospital and has eaten like a champ ever since.  She does like to be a little sleepy so I have to try to keep her awake sometimes, but most of the time there is no problem getting her to eat good.  It's very comforting for me to know she's gaining weight since I've heard that can be a worry for breast feeding moms.  She eats about every 3 hours, although if it is anytime between 2-4 hours and she is looking hungry I feed her...no really strict schedule.  

Homegirl did have a lotttt of gas in her first few weeks.  We were a little concerned about it at first but she's really seemed to get used to her bodily functions and had her digestive system mature so it hasn't been nearly as bad recently- whew! She still has gas and we will enjoy us telling stories in her future ;) but it doesn't seem to bother her to where she cries as much now.  Yay!  

She is still in newborn diapers and we have had to start buying them now since she is small and has gone through more than we (and our gifters) had thought.  I don't see her moving to size 1 for a couple more weeks.  She is starting to outgrow her newborn outfits (length wise) and we have started moving to some of her 0-3 month clothes.  The 3 month is still a bit big- she's kind of in an inbetween size right now.

Sleeping is another story.  She does pretty good at sleeping and I was excited once the doctor said that we could not wake her up at night when she was back to her birth weight...however, she still wakes up if it's been about 4-5 hours and she hasn't eaten.  It's not bad waking up 2x per night feeding her usually around 2 or 3 a.m. and again at 6 or 7 a.m. and then she usually goes back to sleep until around 9:30.  She does like to fight sleep though.  She wants to stay awake not to miss anything and she gets a little whiny and then eventually forgets and falls asleep.  Right now we are swaddling her at night because she is a wiggler and flails her arms and wakes herself up.  Her arms are always up in the air.  I never thought I would be one of those rock your baby to sleep moms, but until she's a little older I don't want to let her cry it out yet.  I've also heard this young it doesn't benefit the child to do that anyway.  Right now, we are picking her up and holding her when she cries and that's ok with us.  She might get to one day she doesn't like for us to hold her so I'm cherishing her snuggly demeanor.  I told Marshall I was happy she was a cuddler and hopefully she'll be the little girl that wants to crawl into your lap and cuddle.  :) But for now she realllllyyyy likes to be held.  She is also able to sleep through noise which we wanted to start from the beginning not being quiet and letting her develop that skill.  We also love the faces she makes when she is sleeping.  She moves her mouth all around and smiles... I know, I know, it's a baby reflex at this age- but it's still cute.   

I felt like she has had strong neck muscles since the beginning to be such a little thing.  She bobbles a lot but she moves her head from side to side lifting it up.  We have also started this week putting noisy toys in front of her face and having her follow them.  I've read that babies this age still don't have good vision so we are getting really close to her when we talk so she can see us.  We also saw our first real smile this week!  She turned 1 month Thursday and we saw smiles on Friday.  

She is still not enjoying bath time very much and cries throughout and when we take her out, but we're hoping she will learn to love it once she understands what is going on.  We bathe her every 2-3 days right now.  We have had some adventures with bath time with her pooping in the water and peeing on mommy twice once she's out and in her towel... so back in the bath she went!  She's a little stinker that way!  

She is really liking sucking on things these days.  She loves her paci and it calms her down most of the time she's fussy- that is if she doesn't knock it out with her hands.  And she has recently liked putting her hands in her mouth- which really makes her hands stink. Haha.  She also loves to stretch.  She will arch her back and stretch out her arms and legs all day long.  It's like her favorite thing to do.  

We feel like her looks have pretty much stayed the same- just filled out a little.  Her hair looks like it has gotten a little lighter and her eyebrows are definitely blonde.  So we wonder if her hair will continue to get even lighter.  Although, I have blonde streaks in my hair and the front of my hair is light.  From the beginning I said she looked like Marshall and some pictures still do but I think she has started to look a little more like me recently.  

We had newborn pictures taken of her and she did not want to cooperate for most of the pictures but we did get some good ones.  I found out first hand how hard it is to take a good picture of a newborn baby who likes to wiggle... these are some out takes of her wiggling on Valentine's Day where I was trying to get a good shot.  P.S. I think she looks like me in the last one ;)

 These were some of my attempts for her 1 month shot... she's not too sure what I'm doing.  

 A shot I got of her sleeping this week.  Precious. 

This is when she decided she had had enough.  Not happy.

 I also managed to catch a yawn :)

She thinks she's a model.

A lot of the pictures that I took look like this. Tongue out. That is a popular thing for her these days.

Evidence of her not loving bath time.  This was before her stump fell off and we are now putting her in the bath without the newborn mesh.  Needless to say this was the only picture I took until she likes the bath :)

I'll leave you with another happy shot I got of her.  

Sidenote: The quilt underneath her was a quilt my aunt Nancy made for her.  I told her I loved chevron pattern and yellow and gray and this is what she made.  The other side is a pink and gray pattern.  I am so in love with this quilt I can't even tell you.  She did a fabulous job and I can't get over how beautiful it is.  Lexi seems to like it too :)