Sadie's 4th Month

Steve was back!  When I expected him to be gone a month, I was really prepping for damage control.  It's one thing having the girls by myself all day long, but at least I would get a break to breathe or go for a run when Steve came home.  Flying solo 24/7 taught me A LOT about my girls and myself.  In truth, I have a whole new respect for my girlfriends who did this for 4-6 months while our husbands were deployed.  But, as I said earlier, both girls really did surprise me with how well they did with just Mom around.

Steve was coming home after Stella's nap time, but if he didn't hurry he was going to miss something special from Sadie.  Our little lady who had been trying to roll over had just about got it down!  She was all about watching Stella play with her toys in the morning, and she really was straining to see what Stells was doing.  Literally, just a few hours before Steve came home, Sadie was about to roll over... then Stella stopped her!  It was hilarious!  Stella seriously turned Sadie back onto her back to stop her from rolling over.  Yep, Stella was looking out for her Dad!

I told Stella that after she took her nap, she would wake up, and Daddy would be home!  She threw her blanket over her head and closed her eyes tightly- this girl missed her Daddy!  Steve came home to a house full of girls (Gwen included) who were thrilled to see him.  We had functioned pretty well as a team, but our favorite guy adds something special to our house when he is around.

In addition to Dad being home, we still had another guy in our house.  My dad had been staying with us for a few days since his surgery, and would be through July.  Our guest room is really separate from the rest of the house, so he had a lot of time to recover and sleep without being interrupted by the girls.  It was nice to have him around because we all lived together for the first chunk of Stella's life, so he was used to seeing all the "firsts" and fun things that babies do.  Lucky for him, the same night that Steve came home, Sadie decided to give us all a treat and roll over!  Steve didn't get to see Stella do this live because he was living in Albuquerque, so he was thrilled that he didn't miss Sadie's first milestone while at his training.  Needless to say, Stella was asleep, and therefore was not there to thwart Sadie's attempt :).
 





Right after this first, Sadie was prompted to give Steve another one.  Steve was talking and Sadie, and the next thing I knew, she was laughing at him!  I can't say that he was saying anything particularly funny, but as with most babies, the way he said it was just in the tone that made Sadie cackle.  I was so happy that Steve was the cause of her laughter.  For him to only hear about Stella's firsts and watch them on iPhone videos was hard, and this time with Sadie, he has been able to experience everything in person.  It really is so nice that we have been able to share this experience in the same house this time!

A week after Steve came home, it was time for the 4th of July!  With my parents now both living with us, and Dad still recovering, we decided that it would be nice to have a little party to give them a little fun.  In addition to it being the holiday, we had something else to celebrate.  When we moved into our house, we had inherited the bar that my grandpa built.  It needed a bit of work, so it took us about almost a year to get everything finished.  We invited over all the people who had helped with the bar, including my Grammy.  It was pretty amazing to sit around my grandpa's old bar, and to celebrate him, and one of his favorite holidays as a family.

The company was great, but someone was especially good for the holiday- Sadie!  The last time that we had company over and it was hot weather, Sadie screamed for the entire event, and I'm not exaggerating.  I was worried that the heat, extra bodies, and loud noises would make for a rough day for Sadie, but she surprised me.  She had one of her best days since she was born!  My aunt and uncle were commenting on what a good baby she was, and I just sat in awe of our youngest daughter.  For me, this was the day that I really realized that Sadie had in fact turned a corner and was going to stay a happy baby.

Speaking of family, we also had many wonderful weekly visits from a rather important family member- Auntie Ashley.  My cousin Ashley is Sadie's godmother, and she has to be the biggest fan of our girls.  She always comes to see them, checks up on them, and spoils them both to death.  As Stella is getting older, she is really beginning to love her auntie, and in her short list of names she knows, Ashley is one of her people.  She knows that A is for Ashley, and she associates all purses with Ashley- we even had to explain to her that purses are not called "Ashley."  As time goes on, I am sure that Sadie will love her just as much if not more than her sister does.  

With the summer winding down and Steve coming home early, this meant that we had a few weeks until he had to put in his summer hours with the Guard.  I immediately started to look at the calendar and find events to fill our days that we would be together.  I wanted to get in a few activities that neither girl had yet to do, so we started with a small first for Stella- a train ride.

 


Now, I am not talking an actual train, but we have a kiddie train that runs through a park here in Reno.  When I was a kid, it was an actual kiddie amusement park, but now only the train remains.  Stella currently has three loves when it comes to television: ESPN, anything with a tractor, and Thomas the Tank Engine.  They happened to have a tractor on Thomas one day, and ever since, she has liked to watch the theme song. With her knowledge and appreciation of trains, I thought taking her to see and ride an actual train could be pretty fun.  She had one of the best days of her little life when she got to see and sit in a tractor, so I hoped that the train could be equally as special.

We drove down to Idlewild Park early in the afternoon, and we were the first people there to ride the train.  This meant that Stella got her own private ride; only Stella, Mom, and Nonna were on the train!  She pointed out the train, said, "Woo, woo," and that's about as far as her interest went.  We even offered her a second ride, but she said, "No, no, no."  I think that maybe this milestone was more fun for me than Stella, but it is pretty cool to think that we both had our first train rides on the same train.  

Our next place to take the girls was to the zoo!  We decided not to hop in the car and try to see a legitimate zoo in say Sacramento or San Fransisco, but we knew that there was a zoo here in Reno that would do.  The zoo is called Sierra Safari, and I had only seen signs for it when we were headed towards Graeagle.  Having never been there myself, I wasn't too sure what to expect.  When we went to pay to get in, they offered feed for the animals for one dollar, so I prepared myself to show Stella around a petting zoo.  Surprisingly, for a little zoo in the middle of nowhere, they had a pretty good variety of animals!  Yes, there was a petting zoo with animals like deer to feed, but there were some notable animals to see.  Steve was impressed to see a Liger, and I was surprised to see animals you would see on an actual safari.  For Stella, she named a few of the animals and told us the sounds they made, but her favorite animal there was the cat.  No, not any of the big cats like the lion or tiger; the regular house cat that was wandering around the zoo made her day.  As for Sadie, she slept through her first zoo experience.  

 The following weekend, we decided that it was time for Sadie's 1st trip to Lake Tahoe!  For me, Tahoe is my favorite thing about living in Reno, so I hope that our girls will grow to love the lake as much as I do.  We took Stella for her first time when she was a little over six months, so Sadie was going to be a little younger for her first trip. We went to our favorite restaurant, Jason's, to get lunch as a family, and then we walked over to King's Beach to play for a bit.  The drive was beautiful, the weather was wonderful, and the girls were perfection!  It was definitely a day of peace at the lake for everyone.

The end of this month had me come to a realization.  One day while I was trying to take pictures of Sadie, Stella hopped up into the chair with her and began to read her a book.  Three or four books (and many pictures) later, it suddenly dawned on me that I was looking at sisters.  For months I had dreamed about and thought about having sisters in my house, but once Sadie was born, I was too wrapped up in her to remember this detail.









For the first time, I realized that I had given Stella her first friend.  Having spent almost an hour reading to her and talking to her in the rocking chair, Stella even looked to see a change in the thing that had been brought into her house; she almost seemed to realize that Sadie could be more than just a thing that took attention away from her.  It was by far the sweetest moment that I have had with my girls, and it reminded me why Steve and I decided to have two kids in the first place.  We no longer had the big girl and the baby in house- we had two little girls; two sisters.





Sadie's 4th month has ended, and it seems to me that so much has changed.  Where we were once struggling and trying to bond with our new baby, this month has really has ushered in a new time with Sadie.  They say that around three to four months, babies tend to outgrow colic, and whatever issue was causing their discomfort or sadness seemingly disappears.  This is exactly how it happened with Sadie.  I can't say that she never cries, but she no longer has periods of screaming that no one can bring her back from.  It is like a light when on in Sadie, and she now wants to be happy, smiling, and part of everything that we do as a family.  I cannot begin to explain what this means to me, and how far I feel that we have come.  I will be headed back to work here in a few short weeks, so I am grateful that I was able to see this time pass, and be here for the happiness and joy that Sadie has become.  Here is our little Sadie Lady... and her cheeks:

July 23, 2013

Sadie's 3rd Month

To start this month, we had to get through Sadie's two month check-up.  I was definitely interested to hear what our pediatrician had to say about Sadie's progress.  After hearing her cry and seeing her so upset so often, I was hoping that he could offer some explanation.  To start, I wanted to hear that she was growing and thriving as she should.  It was wonderful to hear that she was 10 lbs., 8 oz.; she was in the seventy-fifth percentile for height and head, and fiftieth percentile for weight.  For a baby that was struggling to eat successfully in between screaming, I was so happy to hear that she was doing well.

I told Sadie's doctor that she was perfection until the day after her last visit to see him, so I wanted to know what he did to her during her last visit.  He laughed, checked her out, and said that health-wise she really was still perfection.  However, he did notice that she may have a mild case of thrush, so he thought that might be to blame for the unhappy eating.  He said that she would outgrow the colic, but maybe taking care of the thrush would help things.  I hoped and prayed that he was right!  If this mild condition was the root of the problem, I was happy to nip it in the bud.  Sadly, Sadie also had to have shots during this visit.  Truth be told, she took them like a pro!  For a little baby who cries a lot, she didn't have much to say after getting her shots... thank God! 

Sadie left the doctor doing very well and having no fever after shots.  But, it was time to start the procedure to get rid of the thrush.  In a nutshell, thrush is yeast growing in the mouth because the immune system is not killing the bacteria from milk.  We had to give her drops three times a day and brush her tongue.  Try doing this on an infant- it was not fun!  To top this off, she really had started to turn a corner with her colic, and now we had given her a new reason to cry.  At one point, I even called the doctor because it wasn't worth it to be to kill a mild condition when the process of killing it made her cry for hours.  He talked me down, and we continued to brush the thrush away.

While Sadie was doing through her bout with thrush, we were finishing up on a HUGE landscaping project.  It had taken us a year to finish the front, back, and sides of our house, but we finally had our biggest project on our house complete!  It's crazy to think that we have lived here for a year already.  I think Stella enjoyed the project the most because there was always a tractor parked at our house, and she is currently obsessed with tractors!  In addition to the end of our project, we were given a happy surprise from my aunt.  My aunt had bought a pool for Mother's Day, but she never ended up using it.  She thought that our two little ladies would enjoy having a pool around, so my cousin brought over our new pool! What an extraordinary gift!  In truth, I don't know who enjoyed it more; Stella or Mommy.  It is pretty awesome having a little pool in our backyard;  I tend to slip out there during the daily nap time :).

Even though we had been very careful with Sadie, Steve and I decided that it was time for her to be a big girl.  Stella had slept in her crib from the age of about a month and a half, so we thought that Sadie was overdue.  She had after all been sleeping through the night in her pack and play for about a week now.  So, I made the sad entrance into Sadie's room for her 1st night sleeping in her crib.  In truth, it's always harder for Mom, so I had to prep myself to start having my bedroom baby-free again.  Sadie was a champ!  She slept through the night, and she didn't even seem to notice the difference.  I did pretty well too- I only slept one night on the floor this time!

Now that we had this big milestone out of the way, we had to prepare for something that I had been dreading.  After years of being a military spouse, it has been nice being a spouse to a Guard member.  They rarely work, work reasonable hours, and never leave- well, they never leave all that often.  Case in point- Steve had to leave for training in Arkansas.  He had been working with this new air frame for a year now, so we thought it was silly to send him for training now.  Regardless, he had a month away from Reno on the books.

The idea of having Steve gone for a month made me incredibly stressed.  I had handled the girls alone for the day while he was at work or school, but never entire days, and entire days back-to-back.  My dad also informed us that he had to have back surgery during this time, so I really would be flying solo.  To say the least, I was not too happy when it was time for Steve to go.  I hoped the time would pass quickly, that I could tackle the girls, and that we wouldn't kill each other while Steve was gone. Just days after Steve left it was Father's Day, so I was sad for him that he didn't get to spend his holiday with us.  However, we do have a few friends stationed down in Arkansas, so Steve was not left to celebrate alone.




With their father gone, the girls and I started to get into our groove.  I was hoping that Sadie would play along while I was on my own, but she was still very much into crying and screaming.  We had gone through the thrush treatment, but it didn't seem to be the root of what was bothering her.  All that trouble for nothing!  Stella became my right-hand woman!  She learned very quickly that Mom wasn't going to be able to do much when Sadie was having a moment, and in turn, she became quite the little helper!  She would look through her books, play quietly, and even roll my stability ball over to me when Sadie started in.  There were times would she would come over and kiss my back while I was bouncing or rocking Sadie.  The time that broke my heart was when I was trying to put Stella to bed one night, and Sadie would not stop screaming.  Stella took her book from me, blew me a kiss, said "bye, bye," and started reading her book to herself.  I was blown away by how self-sufficient and intuitive Stella had become. 

Speaking of Stella, she also had a huge milestone this month when we enrolled her in her first swimming lessons!  We had been in the pool with her a lot last summer, but she had never had any formal lessons.  I figured that more than anything it would be good for her to be around other kids.  She had her first lesson this month, and she did pretty well.  Let's just say that going underwater is not her favorite thing, but she does appreciate all the toys around the edges of the pool to give her a break.

 My dad had his back surgery as scheduled, and it went very well.  With my mom working and Steve out of town, my parents decided to call in reinforcements to help with the patient.  My sister came to be at my dad's beck and call for his first few days out of surgery.  It was great news for us because Stella LOVES her Auntie Mantha, and Sam would get a chance to meet Sadie.  Sam and Stella had a great time visiting while she was here, and I see FaceTime in Sam's future because Stella still thinks that she lives downstairs and looks for her around the house. 

Steve had been gone almost two weeks, but in this time both girls had grown so much!  Stella had matured more than I expected, and she made my life a breeze.  I've said it a lot lately, but if I were a rich woman, I would buy her a pony!  I couldn't have survived this time as a single parent if Stella had not been such a sweet and helpful little girl.  Sadie herself had changed and grown.  She had grown literally, and I swore that Steve would not believe how big she was!  One day this month, I finally got her to fit 0-3 clothes- then just like that, those were looking a little short.  More importantly, her screaming fits had lessened.  They say that babies outgrow colic, and Sadie was starting to do just that - thank God!  I think part of it was because she was becoming more active.  Tummy time and mat time became much more the norm!  



Sadie's month ended with good news- Steve was coming home early!  The instructors decided that the full course scheduled was a bit much, so now he would only be gone two weeks!  We were just says from Daddy being home when Sadie turned three months old, and I couldn't be happier to have him back so he could see how much the girls had changed in just a few short weeks.  Sadie ended the month full of smiles, chatting away every chance she got, and trying to roll over.

Sadie's 2nd Month

As we began Sadie's second month, we were quickly becoming experts in all things colic.  There are 101 different things to try to soothe your baby; but as they say, every baby is different.  To start, we began by always keeping Sadie at an angle.  She was always spitting up and continuing to have breathing scares, so we thought that the best option to help these problems were to always have her at an angle when she was on her back.  This definitely helped with potential problems and scares, but soothing her was another issue all together.

 

I decided to consult my personal doctors- Google and girlfriends. One of my girlfriends (a mother of a colicky baby herself) provided many ideas to try with Sadie.  She mentioned an angled mattress pad, baths while being held at night, and most importantly, a magic little remedy called Colic Calm.  This homeopathic remedy is essentially a charcoal-based drop that works even better than Mylicon!  This became our final option- the secret weapon when nothing would work.  If you have a colicky baby, keep these in your cabinet!  Even though they were homeopathic and harmless, we tried to only use them as a last resort.

Dr. Google gave me my other greatest salvation that I will be forever grateful for- the stability ball!!!  For anyone planning to get pregnant or if you have a friend who is pregnant- BUY THEM A BALL!  I didn't have one around when I was pregnant with Stella, but it was my favorite thing for this pregnancy.  When you just can't get comfortable or stretch in a way you normally would- this silly ball will become your best friend.  Once I had Sadie, I figured that I would probably retire the ball because I wouldn't need it anymore.  Little did I know that it would save my sanity.

 I found in a thread through Google that colicky babies can often be soothed by being bounced on a stability ball.  Take them somewhere dark and quiet, hold them tightly, and bounce.  This movement simulates the feeling of being in the womb because it's padded and secure.  After one particularly difficult evening, I figured I'd give this ridiculous remedy a try.  I kid you not- Sadie stopped crying instantly!  I don't know what about bouncing on this ball does for her, but it is her saving grace.  From this point on, I spent probably about 75% of my day bouncing on that ball!  The minute Sadie would start to go off; I would get on that ball and bounce.  No joke- I even starting eating my meals bouncing on that ball!  So, before this becomes an ode to my stability ball, I will close by saying that every pregnant woman needs one in their house.

Between that stability ball, the angled resting positions, and the Colic Calm, we tried our best to manage Sadie's outbursts.  Also at the start of the month, I had my appointment to be cleared to run by my OB/GYN.  I was thrilled to hear that I could get back to my normal routine.  Having one very active child and another who screams a lot can make a person really look forward to getting away for a bit.  For me, my runs are truly my solace where I can drop everything and just go.  It's the best way to clear my head, especially when Sadie is having a bad day.  So, even through getting away doesn't mean a vacation, I'll happily take my daily trips out for a good run! 

 

Although I can't say that we had all the answers, Steve and I felt that we finally started to get a handle on Sadie.  We started to joke that Stella was a "starter baby" because she had been so easy.  I think that having her first really gave us a chance to work out the initial parenting kinks that all new parents must overcome, and thankfully we didn't have that stiff learning curve with a baby like Sadie.  She may have been giving us a run for our money when she was awake, but at least she was giving us around five hours of sleep.  We are VERY lucky because colicky babies can tend to be light sleepers.  Can you imagine being screamed at all day, and then not getting any sleep because the screaming continues all night?  I think I would have gone insane if Sadie did this! 

Towards the end of Sadie's 2nd month, it was time to celebrate Mother's Day.  I can't say that I'm one for a big celebration on this day; I love to have time with my family to remember how lucky I am to be a mother.  If it weren't for my husband being crazy enough to say yes to having kids, I wouldn't be a mother in the first place.  He is a constant support and an amazing partner when it comes to our girls.  Then, I have my two beautiful girls.  Stella- what can I say about her?  She my gorgeous little firecracker who is smart as a whip.  I am so much in love with her little personality, and she makes every day so much fun!  Seriously, I am loving watching her grow up and knowing that I'll have her as a friend some day.  Sadie- my little mouse who found her voice.  I was worried that Sadie would overshadowed by Stella's big personality, but Sadie quickly found herself when she came home.  She is so sweet and observant, and her own little personality is starting to develop.  I cannot wait until she comes into her own and I get to see who she is starting to become. 



The biggest gift that came right after Mother's Day was from Sadie.  Sadie started smiling!  When you have a baby who always seems to be in pain or uncomfortable, it is such a blessing to see a smile come across their face.  Sadie (who had been listening to our voices and following them) started to smile when she heard us talk and saw our faces.  After worrying that she was so unhappy, it was everything to see that sweet smile on her face.  To top that- her little mouse squeaks returned!  Sadie was no longer all about screaming and crying, and we were so looking forward to turning the corner and having a happy baby.  Here is Sadie Lady smiling at two months:

Sadie's 1st Month

Let's just say that Sadie's first month was almost like two different months.  To begin, let me explain that because of an incident in the first few moments of Sadie's life, we handled her with A LOT of care!  Right after Sadie was born, we had the family come in a briefly meet her, and then it was time to try and feed her.  She was doing an awesome job (especially after all the trouble I had breastfeeding Stells) and then she just stopped nursing.  She looked up at me, and then I noticed that she had stopped breathing.  She was quickly turning purple, and I frantically tried to get her to breathe.  I screamed at Steve to go get help, and I continued to try and get Sadie to come back.  Steve first saw my OB, and she told him that she didn't take care of babies.  Seriously, the baby you just delivered isn't breathing, and you won't help?  I'm still in disbelief that she said this.  Steve then found the nearest nurse, and she came running in and took Sadie from me.  She was dangling Sadie and hitting her on the back, and it was clear that she wasn't having any luck either.  She panicked and called for the NICU team to come in, and I was beyond freaked out at this point.  Two of them came and took Sadie to suction out her mouth and throat.  They finally cleared everything out and got her to breathe and cry.  They then turned to me and asked, "What did you do?"  Really?  My baby just almost died and you're asking me what I did?  I explained what had happened, and they then told me to keep an eye on her breathing.  To say the least, I was scared to death, but happy that this sweet baby had not died right after coming into this world.

While we spent the rest of the day getting acquainted with Sadie and having her meet with Stella, I was keeping a quiet eye on Sadie.  I wasn't sure what had caused Sadie to stop breathing before, so I didn't know what if anything could make her do this again.  Was it because she came too early?  Was it because of some mystery health problem that we didn't know about yet?  My head was spinning, and I was hoping that maybe the whole incident was a fluke.  Later that night, the sweet nurse who had admitted us early came to visit and meet Sadie.  It was great to see her and be able to thank her, but little did I know that she had another gift for me.  Steve explained what had happened right after Sadie was born, and she said that she was pretty sure she could explain why Sadie stopped breathing.

After being in early labor for a few days, Sadie was a bit stressed prior to being born.  When it was finally time for her to arrive, she actually came VERY quickly.  Our nurse explained that such a fast delivery can actually cause problems.  Typically, babies have time in the laboring process to clear out anything that may be in their throat and lungs; anything that is in their mouths is cleaned with a bulb syringe.  Once my epidural stopped working on one side, I was fully dilated and had Sadie out in two contractions.  Unfortunately, this meant that Sadie was not given time to get everything cleared out of her lungs and throat.  She was choking on things coming up in her throat, and that is ultimately what caused her to stop breathing.  Our nurse told us to keep an eye on her because there was probably more still in her.  I was thankful that we had an idea of what caused Sadie to stop breathing, but I was worried that this could happen again.

Sadie and I were both given clean bills of health, so we only ended up staying one night in the hospital.  I was so thrilled to get home and start life as a foursome.  That first night home, Sadie decided to scare me yet again.  While I was in the bathroom, Sadie was behind me in her bassinet falling asleep.  Out of nowhere, I saw her little arms flailing in the air.  I yanked her out of the bassinet and tried to get her to breathe, but yet again, she was not having any luck.  I screamed for Steve, and he had the magic touch to get her to breathe again.  To say the least, I was wishing that we had stayed more one night in the hospital.

We were both so scared that Sadie would do this in her sleep, so the only solution that got us to sleep was to have Sadie sleep on our chests.  We figured that she was waking up every few hours anyway, so it was just like taking naps during the day.  We would trade off throughout the night, but Sadie was always with someone.  She continued to choke and have trouble swallowing, so we never let her be in a room without a bulb syringe handy.  This meant that Sadie got A LOT of attention!  Bless Stella's heart because she started to figure out that Mommy would be spending a little less time with her for a bit.  However, Stella really took to her role as big sister, and always was asking us to hold Sadie.

The first two weeks home were pretty amazing!  Besides our ever-present fear and constantly clearing out her mouth and nose, she was doing really well.  She was eating and sleeping like a champ, and she was making having a second baby seem incredibly easy.  We went to our two week appointment, and she was right on track at 7 pounds, 4 ounces.  We really were thrilled that our own worries were the only thing holding Sadie back- she was doing so well!

Out of nowhere, Sadie suddenly shifted right at two weeks.  She had her first photo shoot, and let's just say that a new baby showed up to the shoot.  Our quiet little mouse who only squeaked CRIED, and I mean cried hard!  We could barely get any pictures because she just kept crying.  We weren't sure if it was because we set her down too much, she was uncomfortable being naked, or she didn't like being bothered so much.  Regardless, she was a mess after the shoot.

From that day on, we suddenly had a very different baby on our hands.  Sadie would go into bouts of inconsolable crying throughout the day that no one could bring her back from.  She didn't want to nurse; she didn't need to be changed; she shouldn't be tired.  But, she would cry uncontrollably for hours.  After doing a bit of research, it appeared that we had a colicky baby.  Colic is a difficult issue because there are so many ways to define it, and there really is no way to stop it.  I could not understand how two weeks of perfection and calm could change so suddenly.   

 



After researching A LOT, I learned that most babies become colicky at two weeks.  They say that the best way to describe it is like a vacation.  For the first two weeks, you love being there!  It's all new with different smells, sounds, and tastes.  You're loving the experience because it is new and different.  But, after two weeks, you're ready to go home.  You miss the things that make you feel comfortable and safe.  This was my baby; she had enjoyed her brief visit out of her "home," but now she wanted back!






Sadie's first month ended with us trying to better comfort her.  We weren't sure exactly what we could do to make her happy and comfortable, but we were ready to find a solution.  She was so cute and sweet that we needed to find something to give her some relief.  Here is our sweet little girl at one month: