Record

When I took Layla to the doctor a couple of weeks ago he said that we can let her go a bit longer than 3 hours between feedings during the night since we're now closer to her due date--the important thing is that she gets 7 to 8 feedings per day. Well, since then she's only had one night where she went a bit longer than 3 hours--until last night! I gave her a bath before feeding her (which I tried a couple nights ago too, but it didn't work then), fed her at 10:30 and she didn't wake up until I turned her light on at 3! She then woke up the next time just before 6am, but even to get one feeding per night where she goes 4 1/2 hours would be great. I know I shouldn't plan on her doing that again, but I'll keep bathing her right before bed in an attempt to get that again!!

She also went to work for the first time yesterday...okay, so she didn't actually work, she just went to my work. Maybe her busy day helped her to sleep good too!

Relaxing prior to bath time...


Enjoying her bath...


Wanting food after bath time...


Happy again:-)

Happy Birthday Gavin!

My nephew, Gavin, turned 1 on Friday!! Last night was his birthday party where he had fun eating cake and opening gifts.

Looking stylin' in his specs...


Cake time...


Layla even got a gift for his birthday--they both got Build-A-Bears from Grandpa and Grandma B.



Joe was the videographer for the evening:-)


Layla enjoyed lots of attention


Gavin enjoyed riding in his new wagons...


Here's a pic from Friday of Layla's vaccination bandaids...


Darrell and Lindsey came over Saturday night for an exciting evening of dinner and games (oh, how life changes with kids!). Although Jonathan is only 4 weeks older than Layla he's a bit bigger--over 17 lbs versus almost 6 lbs! We joke about them getting married some day, so hopefully they're closer to the same size by then:-).

Poor Baby

Layla had another doctor's appointment today where she had 4 vaccinations--3 of which were shots. They looked so painful--I probably would have cried:-)--but she did great! She screamed for a couple of seconds when they were in her leg and that was it! Now she has cute little bandages on her little thighs. After the doctor was done checking her today and before she got her shots, I put her in her car seat, grabbed the diaper bag, and was about to follow him out the door to go home when he kindly reminded me that she hadn't gotten her shots yet. I think it must have been the lack of sleep:-).

It's hard to believe that she was 6 weeks already on Wednesday! Today she weighed 5 lbs 13 oz and was 19.25" tall. That means she's gained over 2 lbs since birth! I could gain that in a day, but for her that is really good weight gain--an oz per day. The nurses commented on how her weight is going straight to her cheeks--they are quite squeezable:-).

I've been avoiding dairy which earlier this week seemed to be making her feel better, but then we were told to start adding the milk fortifier to my milk again and she seemed to be fussy again. We are now going to stop the milk fortifier and the doctor will hopefully find another way for her to get the added nutrients she needs for being a preemie. I guess about 30% of babies that are allergic to cow's protein are also allergic to soy milk, so hopefully that's not what's making her fussy too (I started drinking soy milk this week). I'm going to stop drinking soy for a bit and take her off the milk fortifier packs and hopefully she starts feeling better!!

I Hate Bugs!

Life has seemed so busy with Layla even though I haven't done a whole lot...aside from tending to her! Babies are more work than I thought! They don't always nap when they're supposed to and be awake when they're supposed to. I try to keep her on a strict feeding schedule per doctor's orders and a strict "awake time/sleep time" schedule per Babywise, but easier said than done! She has tummy issues so she's very fussy, but hopefully the no-dairy-for-me diet helps with that (it hasn't helped so far with fussiness:-(, but I haven't given up hope!).

We went for our first walk as a family last night. It was going good until we walked in this wooded area where there must have been a dead animal or something because it smelled awful and we were suddenly SURROUNDED by deer flies!! It felt like we were in a plague:-). We quickly turned around to head back home, but they still kept swarming us for aways down the road! We must have looked ridiculous to passing cars and anyone looking out their house windows swatting like mad at all the flies! It hurts when they bite! Poor Elv even had them on him so I was trying to swat them away from him as well. At one point there was one on the back of my head (or so Joe said!), so Joe wacked the back of my head, the stroller then ran into my leg and I therefore tripped out of my flip flop. Hopefully nobody saw that:-). At least Layla was safely covered by the "roof" of her stroller so she was bug free. About by the time we were back to our house was when they stopped following us. I think we'll take a different route for our next walk!

No Ice Cream For Me!

The doctor thinks that Layla might be allergic to cow's milk. That means that I have to not eat ANY dairy. I love dairy!! I just started cutting out dairy from my diet last night and it's already been difficult! I almost added cheese to my sandwich tonight but caught myself before I started eating it. It's unlike any other diet--I want to cheat, but for the sake of my child I know I can't. Hopefully this will help with her fussy attitude. Please pray that the reason for her upset stomach is due to the dairy--that way we'll be able to fix her problem. Also, if she really is allergic to cow's milk, that doesn't mean that she's lactose intolerant--she would be allergic to the protein in cow's milk, not to the sugar lactose. Baby's also often outgrow allergies, so hopefully she'd outgrow it in a bit! We have a doctor's appointment scheduled for next week, so hopefully her sypmtoms improve before then or we might have to go see the doctor sooner:-(.

One Month Old!

It is hard to believe that Layla is a month old already! We had her first appointment with her ped yesterday and she is now 18" tall and 4 lbs 12 oz--that is a pound more than her birth weight! Things are going good at home. I'm tired, but that's to be expected! Right now she has to eat every 3 hours. I asked the doctor when we can try to have her go longer between feedings during the night and he said he wasn't sure. Even to go 4 hours between a night time feeding would be great! I had mentioned before how we weren't sure if we'd hear her or the alarm every 3 hours, but so far we've been okay. I think only once did Joe turn the alarm off without knowing it, but thanks to my pumping schedule I woke up naturally:-).

For those concerned with how Elvis is doing, he is adjusting okay. I think he feels a bit left out and isn't quite sure what to think of her, but he's getting more used to her. The only time he really pays attention to her is right when we get home because he's extra excited. Today he nearly tipped her car seat backwards, but thankfully she was still strapped in!



Her Precious Moment doll has been teaching her how to pray:-)



She loves her "Layla" blanket lambie that she got as a gift:-)



Elv is not quite sure what to think of her...



Elvis does enjoy her toys though...thankfully he's been really good about not taking/biting them!



Layla is showing her patriotic side today!



Layla enjoyed her baby shower today (even though it doesn't look like she was enjoying it in this pic)!



Her cousin (or 2nd or 3rd or whatever), Lawrence, is only 8 months older, so someday I'm sure they'll be closer to the same size:-)

Little Model

Layla is 4 weeks old today! I can't believe how fast the past 4 weeks have gone! Go to the link below (her birthday is June 4) to see her hospital pics. She's quite the poser. At least it wasn't a hard decision which one to choose (just to clarify--it's option 1:-) ).
http://www.spectrumbaby.org/