Girlfriends

Tonight I dedicate my blog to all my close girlfriends who are not close to me geographically but are always in my heart. Steph and Matt are on their way from Ottawa and are somewhere in Virginia; and Christin is probably frantically packing for the airport tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see them and catch up on all the things that have happened to us this past year. I wish Erin and Suzanne could come too. I miss having my girlfriends close and would love for Ella to grow up knowing her Aunties and to be there as all our kids grow up. Life just isn't that carefree day in the burbs anymore, walking down the street barefoot to your friend's, or sleeping over, not because it was too far to drive home but because you're just as comfortable in their home as you are in your own. Oh! the stories we can reminisce on that make us giggle and laugh hysterically like school girls. My girlfriends are my support group, my cheerleaders, my therapists, my life coaches and my best advocates. Whenever I need support, love, advice, a shoulder to cry on or an ear to hear me, who else to turn to but a friend. Steph and Christin, this week is going to be fabulous! Erin and Suzanne, see you in September (or Hawaii:) )

Got Milk?

This is from the beginning of June, we were out for brunch at the Blue Willow Inn for Uncle Joey's birthday. Ella was a perfect lady, except for chewing on her dress and flashing her underoos. :)
This is going to be a short one. We've finished the first day on milk-formula, and am not sure if it is helping her reflux, but I know that without the medicine she is back to her old self. She was a happy baby again and after a few moments of uncertainty, she drank her new formula with no problem.
Ron's been out riding his new motorcycle and I've been relaxing at the house. It's much to hot to be outside and the smog alert is code red...it looks so gorgeous outside, until you step into the heat and the air is suffocating. I can't wait until we are on an island again surrounded by water and an ocean breeze. Hawaii will be such a treat after four years in Korea and then 3 here in Atlanta.

Medicine or No Medicine?

Ella's been three days on her medicine and she isn't herself. Ella is such a calm, easy-going baby but she seems so agitated. The medicine lists possible side effects like headaches, dizziness, etc. but for an infant, how would you ever know she was suffering from any of them. It's not like she can say "Hey mom, I've got a headache." So I'm going with my gut and won't be giving her any more of the meds. Instead, I went out and bought some milk-based formula (we've only had soy formula so far) and I'm praying this helps her. I am breast-feeding mostly but have to supplement with formula as I'm not producing enough milk for Ella. I'm really hoping that milk-based formula is going to mesh better with breast milk; it's all milk right? Wish Ella luck. This is the worst feeling in the world to know your baby is sick and you can't figure out how to fix it. If she isn't back to herself in a few days, it'll be back to the doctor.
It's been a rough day. Apparently Ella and Nolan seem to be in synch with each other's moods. I hope both of them have a better day tomorrow. Again, there are no pictures today, but this is one of my favorites. She is a week old in this picture and only 6 1/2 pounds! Time really does fly.

Happy First Day of Summer

No pictures from today but these are of Ella at 8 weeks...though today she was in the same outfit, minus the shoes. I love her overalls and the sneakers are too adorable but too small now. She loves her change table and gets crazy excited on it as you can see in this pic. I am so blessed to have a happy baby.

Today was great! Ella and I went into Buckhead to visit some old friends at my former job. Chris, Kathryn and George were my favorite clients and they really made the place an easy and enjoyable place to work. I miss seeing them, but I definitely don't miss the job, the hours, the COMMUTE! Ella, of course, was on her best behavior and was flirting with George and Chris. Kathryn took us for lunch at a great little place...I forget the name but know where it is so will take the Canadians there when they are here next week. Only 3 more days!!!!! Thank you Kathryn for a great lunch, it was so nice to catch up. We'll see you again soon! We came home and took a nap until Daddy got home from work...it must be this heat we're having! I'm exhausted.

Ah, yes, the medicine. I went and had them flavor the zantac with banana to at least try to lessen the blow to Ella's taste buds. It didn't really do too much but will have to try to mix it with a bit of formula so it'll be a milk/banana/peppermint concoction....this poor kid is never going to eat a candy cane in her life! We're on our last can of soy formula (one of Ron's friends gave us 9 cans!)so I think we're going to try the milk formula to see if that helps.

Did I mention 3 more days!!! I can't wait to see Steph, Christin and Matt!!!

Out With the Night Light

I knew I spoke too soon about Ella's wonderful sleeping habits. After the two nights of peaceful sleep, she was back to up once in the middle of the night and then up again at 5. I had a night light in her room so I could see her to change her in the middle of the night without actually turning on a light and waking her up fully. I decided the night light had to go and moved it to the hallway yesterday. It seems to have worked and she slept soundly through the night. I left the breast pump in her room so I woke her up (she was actually barely conscious) to change and feed her at 4 am ... she didn't even open her eyes, just ate and continued sleeping until 7 am. I'm trying to put her down now, she's ready for sleep but keeps waking up as it's too bright in her room. The sun doesn't set until after 9pm and the blinds don't make it dark enough.
The medicine seems to help, she's not been spitting up as much and it's just a little. Hopefully we have pinpointed the problem and can get her cured. The medicine however is awful! The Zantac is a strong peppermint and it tastes horrible! It must be like turpentine to her, poor baby. I have to give her that twice daily and I'm not sure she gets it as most of it comes back out as drool it's so strong for her. I chase it with the other medicine that tastes like orange and hope that she is at least getting some.

She has also acquired some new friends. These small stuffed animals are perfect snuggle buddies and she likes to chew on them. What a cute outfit from Auntie Stephanie - "cupcake" indeed, I could just eat her up!

Poor Baby

I took Ella to the doctor today. I've been doing a lot of thinking about her spitting up issue and decided it sounded a lot like GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and the doctor thinks it is too. She basically has acid reflux and it's causing her to spit up a lot of her feeding. We're going to try to see if medicine works, she's taking two different medicines, one smells like peppermint (for a baby? Yuck!) and the other orange popsicle (yummy). Hopefully this will control the acid in her stomach and stop her volcanic spit ups. I guess it's not all that uncommon, and usually goes away by age 1 and is very rare in children over 2. Poor thing has probably had this the whole time and doesn't know any different. She doesn't fuss or seem bothered by it and actually smiles and laughs after so who knows. If GERD is left untreated it can affect the respiratory system, and that's not a risk I'm willing to take, especially with our family history. So, as much as it sucks, medicine it is for now. Good news from the doctors visit...Ella is now 11 pounds, 4 ounces which means that all the spit up isn't affecting her growth (a major concern with GERD babies often meaning surgery). The doctor gave me a strict feeding regimen: feed her sitting up when possible, in a quiet room while listening to classical music, then lean back and lay her over my shoulder for 30 minutes but don't pat her back....I'm so used to multitasking, we'll have to see how I do with this new routine. I've already fallen asleep twice today! Maybe I need the rest. 5 more days until the Canadians are in the house! I can't wait!

Happy Father's Day!

What a great day today. Ella woke up and came to bed with us about 7:30 and we gave Ron his Father's Day presents. Ella was such a happy baby all day, especially for her Daddy. Ron's family came over for a BBQ and we celebrated Ron's first Father's Day with Grandma Beasley, Uncle Joey and Grandma and Grandpa. It was also Grandpa's first Father's day as a grandpa. We got him a mouse pad with Ella's picture on it, and gave my Dad the same one. I know both grandpa's will love to look at their baby granddaughter while they spend time on their computers. Ron got a mousepad as well and a mug to take to work. He loves to show off his baby girl!
BBQ was great! Ron has really mastered the art of grilling and we grill out quite a bit now that summer has arrived. I need to get Ella some swimmers (swim diapers) so we can take her to the pool...she really loves the water. Here is a picture of Ella with her Grandpa...they were talking up a storm this afternoon!

Happy Father's Day Dad! Happy Father's Day Dad! ...Love Ron and Tracey
Happy Father's Day Daddy...Love Ella

Congratulations Tara!

What a beautiful Saturday! Not stifling hot but nice and warm and sunny for a BBQ. This evening we went down to our neighbors for a BBQ and to celebrate with Victor and Tara. Tara received her Masters degree and we are so proud of her! This is such a beautiful picture of Ella and Miss Tara, I love it! Victor cooks a mean BBQ and the food was delicious. We always love going down there to visit because of the good food and great company. We are so lucky to have such wonderful neighbors.
Victor has been afraid to hold Ella, at first she seemed too fragile as a newborn but now her spitting up has scared him away. Ella got Tara's pants 5 minutes after we arrived and then left her mark on their driveway as I was holding her over my shoulder. Victor nearly lost it when she spit up on her bib while we were watching TV. Big strong man like Mr. Victor, in pieces over a 10 pound baby girl and her spit up! One day, Victor, you're little girl will be pooping and spitting up all over and you'll hardly notice for all the love you'll give her! Mark my words. To doctor a quote I once read: Baby girls are "shaped like leaves and men fall"...You just wait Victor.

Grandma to the Rescue

After the day we had yesterday, I decided to expose Ella to time without Mommy...or at least an afternoon. My mother-in-law came over to babysit at noon while I showered and got ready to go to the salon. I had my hair cut shorter than the last time and highlighted...I really like it. It was a treat to get out and have some "me" time, though it was the longest time I'd been out without Ella and the first time Grandma got to babysit. Ron got home before me so I'm not sure how Ella behaved all afternoon. She was fine when I left after a bit of fussing. She better get used to Grandma as she'll be spending lots of time with her grandparents over the next few months. I've decided she needs to get used to other people because I can't hold her 24/7. This has only been happening the last couple of weeks...before this she was fine, as long as someone was cuddling with her she was okay. I think she's finally differentiating between Mommy, Daddy and the rest of the big scary world.
We are still working on the pictures...these are some more "portraits" we took at home. We need to work on our focusing and posing but I say, not bad for an amateur.

Cry for the Camera

Today, Ella is three months old. I can't believe how time flies by. It seems like yesterday she was the squiggly newborn we brought home from the hospital. We went to Walmart to get some portraits taken and she was such happy baby. She was giggling at some little girls who were in the waiting room. They were tickling her feet and holding her hand and Ella was laughing and interacting with them. I love little girls! These 3 were dressed up in cute frilly dresses, I can't wait!The day was starting out great! My little baby girl was happy and making new friends. Nothing can brighten your day like a giggling baby...

...And nothing can plummet your day like a screaming one. As soon as Ella got a look at the photographer it was all over. She screamed so much she went purple. Nothing we could do would calm her down and even after I fed her and got her under control, the sight of the photographer would set her off. I'm thinking she's beginning to have some separation anxiety...this young? Really? So needless to say, no "professional" photos today. As we were already out on errands, we had a quick visit with Leah and Eli. I was able to feed Ella and have a chat with Leah but Ella was determined to scare Eli away with her screams. She wasn't having any of Leah either! So home it was. I did fool around with the digital camera and got some nice pictures of Ella...

We took a bath tonight as she's been spitting up all day and a nice play in the tub was needed. She loves to bathe with me and float in the tub and it's much easier than breaking your back leaning over to hold her. This way I have a much better grasp on her and she gets to play and splash all she wants. And with the amount of spit up I collect while burping her, I needed a bath as much as she did.
Alas, today is not our day. What would have been a relaxing bath went awry when Ella pooped in the tub...I know, I know, lovely. So it was drain the tub, walk soaking wet to the change table, clean the baby, then back to the bathroom to rinse and wash the baby, clean the tub, shower for Mommy and finally pj's for us both. She's out for the night and sleeping peacefully, I am ready to follow.