One Month Check-up

The Measurements! Weight: 8 pounds 6 ounces, Length: 20.5 inches, Head Circumference: 14 inches

She is growing right on track where she should be. Since she has been having lots of belly issues and throw-up the Doctor decided to start her on zantac for reflux. So we will see if this helps her out a bit. The Doctor says she will most likely grow out of the reflux as she grows and will only need this to get her through the next three months or so. We hope it helps her little belly. At least she is what I call a happy spitter, the vomit comes out and the next minute she is looking around and very calm and comfortable. Either way she is taking the pacifier well and seems much more comfortable over all. We have had to make lots of changes in our diets but so far it is sooo worth it! Off to bed so I can be ready for my 1 am milk call!

MAM Wins!

We were lucky enough to only open two differnt pacifiers. The first one had a curved shape and she was sucking it but could not keep it in her mouth. The second is just a large straight wide nipple and she absolutely took to it immediately. The funny part is the brand that works has all these really finny sayings or designs on there pacifiers. This one here says Baby-Licious! The other one in the package says Bold and Beautiful! I told you I have a little DIVA on my hands. The pacifier helped soothe her to sleep after feeding and we slept for four consecutive hours! Its amazing how much energy I have after four hours of sleep. Thank you MAM!

Pacifiers, Nuks, Binkys and such

When you are a nursing mom, the nurses at Rush strongly suggest that you do not introduce a pacifier to your infant until at least one month of age. When I say strongly suggest I mean they really do not let you use a pacifier with you newborn. They have a card in there bassinet that says "I am breastfed, no Pacifiers please." Why I actually listened to this rule I have no idea. Let me tell you this being a PICU nurse I think I can speak for most of the nurses out there in peds. I am a pacifier pusher. I would give a pacifier to just about any patient that would take it if they were fussy or crying or even when they were happy and content. I know just about every trick in the book to get a kid to take a pacifier and to keep it in there mouth. Its amazing what us nurses can think of in order to rig the pacifier to stay in a patient's mouth. I mean seriously folks PICU nurses love pacifiers. So why on earth did I listen to these nurses tell me that I couldnt use one. I must have been under some type of motherly spell, so enamored by my daughther that I did not want to do anything to screw up breastfeeding. I was mistaken. Franki now thinks that my boob is her pacifier. She falls asleep nursing, I put her down and she cries I pick her up she acts like she is hungry takes a couple of sucks and is immediately back to sleep. Unfortunately you can just take your boob out at the grocery store, at church or really anywhere besides the comfort of your own home. Therefore having a boob for a pacifier does not work out like the simple pacifier would. I had registered for pacifiers and this week have been trying to get Franki to take one when she is fussy or not hungry but still wants the soothing nutritive suck. Long behold she refuses to take the pacifier, spits it out, and makes an awful face when you try to give it to her. She is the type of patient that if I or any other nurse in the PICU had we would want to pull our hair out becuase she cant take a pacifier. I have personally created my own little Diva. AHHH. My current solution, I have already tried dipping it in breast milk, holding it in her mouth, placing it against my boob, etc. Desperate Times call for Desperate Measures (meaning I need to get some sleep at night therefore  pacifier instead of my boob would come in handy). I went to Babies R US today and spent about 45 dollars on every brand pacifier that I could find. I am determined to find a pacifier that she will take. I will open oone package at a time until we find ourselves the perfect fit. It may be an expenise habit, but I am a firm believer that the pacifier can be a life saver in many a situation and can save there momma just a little bit of time.  Wish us luck in our trial and error adventure!

On a side note: I love this little girl! She loves the outside just like her Momma. We went to Aunt Kathy's and Uncle Kurk's on saturday for a BBQ. She absolutely loved all the attention that she got and she was as happy and relaxed as a clam hanging out in the back yard. She loves he fresh air. She just has this peacefullness about her when she is outside. She got lots of lovin in. Her Aunt Kathy loves to hold her and Franki loved every minute she got to rock on the chair with her Aunt. She also got to get some loving from her Aunt Rita and she slept the day away just loving her attention. Her Moma and Papa(Maternal Grandparents) were also there and they are looking forward to there babysitting date with Franki next weekend! We had a great time sitting out in the sun, playing bags and just relaxing with family. We cant wait to have a yard of our own to have a BBQ. Hulk loved his time in the sun and enjoyed running around he went like a puppy all day long! Great weekend, starting week Five with baby, cant wait to see what new thing she discovers this week!

Sleep in the City

Tummy time makes Franki Sleepy!

Bath Time Fun!

Sweet Little Franki is fast asleep right now after her what I call a Milk-A-Thon! She just cant get enough and sometimes she falls asleep in the middle of eating you put her down and she wakes up twenty minutes later an realizes she never fquite finished her meal. During the day she consistently eats every two and a half hours. At night we have finally gotten a stretch to agout 3 hours and on a good night we get one four hour stretch. For me this means about 2 hours of sleep at a time. Seeing it takes time to feed her and then I usually have to pump. All in all it ends up being at least a one hour deal for me and then its back to sleep to do it all over again in just a few short hours. We spend lots of hours during the day feeding. Even when I am tired though its hard not to smile at her sweet little face and that look of contentment while she is eating. The hardest part is that when she wakes up I am so out of sorts for the first few minutes that I get up and I cant remember the last time I fed her and how on earth did I get her into her crib and did i remember to pump last time. It all sort of blends together at night. Somehow we get by! Once Tyler gets up I usually put her in our bed to get another hour or so of shut eye before we begin our fun filled day. We take daily walks and I at usually get a five minute shower in. It is amazing as a mother how quickly you can learn to cut your personal routine and time spent on yourself in half. I can be in and out of the shower in about 3 minutes and yes I think I am still just as clean as when I spent 15 minutes in the shower. I can get my make-up on and dressed in about 7 minutes! It is amazing what you learn to do when you have someone else to look after. Man do I love this little thing. Since I have a little time I am off to get some food for myself and by then my little milk monster will be ready to chow!

Rounding One Month!

I can't believe our little girl is almost one month old! Time is flying already. She has changed so much in just four short weeks. It has been quite an adventure so far. She is proving to be just as sassy as we thought she would be in the womb. When she sleeps she pretty much refuses to sleep on her back, she literally will wine with her eyes closed until she can turn herself on her side. It is pretty funny to watch. She is also very particular about how her feet are when she is sleeping she sleeps with them crossed and slightly elevated in the air. The only problem with this is when she falls asleep her legs fall and it wakes her up. It makes me laugh just to watch her squirm into her perfect sleeping position. She is so alert! She loves to sit in the Boppy and look around at all of the new things, rattles, her play mat and of course her new furry brother Hulk. I could stare at her all day. She furrows her brows when you talk to her like she is really trying to understand what you are talking about. She loves walking. My mom and I took her out shopping in the city and the second you put her in the stroller she is passed out sleeping until you get back home. It really must have been all that walking I did when I was pregnant. Hulk and I enjoy our daily walks with her. She is starting to warm up to bath time. It started our with full out screaming the entire time and now she only screams periodically and actually enjoys when the water is poured all over her. I know they say that babies don't smile for a couple more weeks, but let a mother have her fun! I love it when she is eating and I'm looking at her and she has this huge (non-voluntary) grin on her face. It just looks like she is saying now this is the life! Besides she this huge left sided dimple on her cheek that makes me smile every time I can get her to make a face that will show it! She is quite the strong little thing. Tyler and I give her tummy time three times a day and her head is getting so strong. She lifts it up and looks around to see the world around her. Needless to say Tyler and I could look at her for hours and just admire everything that she does. She is sleeping for about 3 hours at a time, once in a great while she sleeps 4 hours. But her awake times have lengthened to about 2 hours at a time and this is my favorite time of day. She loves her milk she sighs while she is drinking it and it sounds so peaceful. I had to give up a few essentials in my diet in order to make her tummy a bit happier. Caffeine kept her up and crazy for a whole night. Anytime I had dairy she threw up even one piece of cheese. She also didn't like when I ate chocolate. Since I have eliminated this from my diet it has been just the normal baby spit ups here and there. I would do anything for this little baby and if it makes her belly happy it makes her momma happy too! I cant even describe how much I love her. If it is possible I love her more everyday. We mostly have just been sticking to home, seeing it is hard to plan an outing when you don't know when she will be ready to eat. In the next month or so we are looking forward to just enjoying the weather, attending some BBQ's and catching every little moment in Franki's life. I forgot to mention in my last post about her name. I have always loved the name Francesca and when I told Tyler it when I got pregnant he immediately loved it too. I really wanted her to have an Italian first name seeing that my maiden name was Italian. The nickname Franki we just both really liked and it has a strong unique ring to it that we both really love. I think she will go a lot by both names, seeing that I absolutely love both names and when she is a professional my guess is that she will want to go by Francesca! Her middle name Kaureen is a combination of my Mom's name Maureen and my Aunt's name Kathleen. They are the most important people in my life and will both play a huge role in Francesca's life. They have already had a huge part in her life while she was in the womb and outside of it. We couldnt think of a better way to honor them for all they have done for Tyler, Francesca and I. Our lives continue to change for the better and I am loving all this time off that I get to spend with my baby girl! More updates to come!

Francesca Kaureen Fevold!

She has finally arrived!  She arrived July 28th, 8:34 A.M., 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long! Unconditional Love. She is the most precious thing I have ever laid my eyes on! We have had a very busy two weeks since she has arrived. I will leave out the details of the labor and delivery. I feel lucky to have had a healthy beautiful baby and a very uneventful delivery. Tyler, my mom and aunt Kathy were very supportive and kept me company for the entire delivery well at least until the "Push" part! Tyler was a great coach and the look on his face when Franki was finally here was priceless. Having a baby makes you look at your husband in a whole new light. I think at the same time I realized how much love I had for Franki, I fell even more in love with my husband. Seeing his excitement and pride in being a father was a wonderful moment that I will never forget. We made it home, and had Franki on a bili blanket for 5 days. I was readmitted to the hospital with a very bad kidney and blood infection, but despite our minor set backs we are all very happy and healthy and getting used to our life as a family. As you may have noticied in my previous posts I was not too happy about breastfeeding although I knew I wanted to try. Now I absolutely love it, my main concern when I had to go back to the hospital was how was she going to get fed and I was so worried that she was not going to get breast milk. Luckily she was able to room in with me at the hospital and get all the benefits of breat milk! She loves it too! We are still working on introducing a bottle with expressed breast milk and she is slowly adapting to life on the bottle and the breast, although I think it is safe to say she would take the breast anyday! Sleep is another thing we have been missing out on or should I say I. My boys Tyler and Hulk are pretty good at tuning out the crying in the middle of the night, but as i get into a routine sleep is getting a little easier and again its just another thing we are learning to adapt to. It is 100% worth the lack of sleep. She is soooo precious. I cant get enough of her. Our life as a family is just beginning but I can already tell this is the start to something so amazing. I love every minute of being a mommy and I cant wait to see what the future brings! I look forward to sharing our families adventures as we begin our new life together!