Baby's Got the Sniffles

Poor Laurel. She started getting really congested and sneezing Thursday night. She didn't sleep much that night and it was getting worse, so I took her to the pediatrician Friday. He confirmed that she did have a cold, but tha there's really nothing that can be done for babies her age. It is so hard to listen to her sniff and cough and wrestle with all the congestion. We were fortunate to have my mom and dad help us Friday night so that Tim and I could get some sleep. She's still feeling pretty rough, but hopefully it will get out of her system soon.

She's now one month old and at the doctor's office she weighed about 8.5 pounds. Fortunately my mastitis has cleared up and I am feeling 100 percent better.

It's been a pretty rough week at the Bailey household. I'm praying for a much healthier March.

Not Feeling Too Well

Me, not Laurel. Fortunately, she's doing great. I, however, have mastitis, a very painful infection in the breasts. It feels like the flu because I'm achy all over and have a pretty high fever. I'm on antibiotics and trying to get as much rest as I can. The doctor said I should start feeling better in a couple of days. I really hope so, this is miserable.

Me and My Baby

My mom kept Laurel today while I went to Kiwanis, and then when I got back home, she complained that she didn't have any pictures of me and Laurel together. Since I was actually dressed up (not wearing pajamas), we thought now would be a great time to get some pictures. Luckily Laurel was wide awake and ready for the camera. I love this picture!

Mom & Laurel

Laurel Meets Aidyn

We went to church yesterday and Laurel got to meet our friends Ben and Whitney's little boy, Aidyn, for the first time. Aidyn was born 3 days before Laurel. They were both so good and quiet during the service, and by the time it was over they were both asleep. Whitney had her camera with her and shared this adorable picture with me.

Laurel & Aidyn

Getting Bigger

Laurel had her two week appointment today. She is now measuring 19.5 inches and 7 lbs. 2 oz., so she's grown a quarter of an inch and is an ounce bigger than her birth rate. That's a huge increase over her low weight of 6 pounds last Monday. Dr. Bischoff (her pediatrician) said that gaining 18 ounces in 10 days is incredible! That's about 1.5 ounces per day. Her head circumference, weight and height are all in the 25th percentile for newborns, so she's still a fairly small baby, but growing daily!

I started trying to nurse her again on Sunday (I had to pump and bottle feed her). It was rough at first, but she's definitely gotten the hang of it. I find it much more convenient because there's no bottles or equipment to wash or prepare. Anything that requires less dishwashing sounds good to me.

Until last night, Laurel had done so well at sleeping in her crib in her room. However, she now will be sound asleep and the second you lie her down, she wakes up and starts fussing and crying until we get her. I guess we'll try to work on that this week... Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Here's my new favorite picture of her. She was just hanging out in her swing.

In her swing

Laurel Meets the Family

Here are some pictures of me getting to meet lots of my family. I'm so lucky to have so many people love me so much!

Here I am with my great-grandfather.
Me and Nana.

Me and Papaw.
Me and Nanny.
Me and Aunt Tracy.
Me and Uncle Daniel and soon-to-be Aunt Amy.
Me and Uncle Aaron.

Feeling So Much Better

After a very long 20 hours at the medical center, we are back home with Laurel and she's doing fantastic. We took her in to see the pediatrician this morning and he said she looked good but wouldn't know anything for sure until he saw her bilirubin levels. Another good sign was that her weight had rebounded from 6 pounds to 6 pounds 6 ounces in just a day and a half! When we left the hospital the bilirubin level was at 10.8 and they warned us that it would probably go back up since she had been removed from the bili-lights. Dr. Pearson also told us to expect the results to be up, so we tried to be realistic about what we were expecting to hear.

When he finally called at 2:30 this afternoon, we found out that her level had actually dropped to 9.9! That means she won't have to go back to the doctor until next Thursday for her two week checkup. She is eating great now and slept through the night last night. When we woke her every three hours to feed her she ate well and then pretty much just went right back to sleep. Tim has been great to feed her while I pump, which makes the night-time feedings so much quicker. I also think he enjoys the bonding time he gets to share with his baby girl. He is already so in love with her! He carries her all over the house and talks to her and she just looks at him and studies him so intently. Here's a picture of him explaining the snowstorm to her and telling her how excited he is to take her out to play in the snow when she gets older.


Snow Baby

I am so glad for everyone who prayed for us and called to check on her, we are very fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family!

Scary Trip to the PICU

This is a post that no mother wants to write, but luckily things are on the mend. Yesterday I took Laurel to her first pediatrician visit. She had been jaundiced in the hospital and they checked her again to see if her level had improved. Mom and I got home around 3, and her doctor called at 3:30 to tell me that her bilirubin level had increased and that she needed to be admitted immediately to the Johnson City Medical Center to be put under special bili-lights.

After a small breakdown, I got in touch with Tim to tell him what was going on. Mom helped me back and we brought her to the hospital, where she was put in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to be put under the lights and monitored. In addition to being under the lights, we worked with the lactation consultant at the pediatrician's office to develop a care plan for eating because she had lost more than 10 percent of her body weight after birth and hadn't been eating well. She is now eating expressed breast milk and formula if needed and doing much, much better. They checked her levels at 10 p.m. last night and they had falled from 21 to 18, so we knew she was on the right track. They checked her again this morning at 6:30 and thank God, her levels are down to 11! She did so well last night and is seeming to really enjoy just chilling under the lights.

While it is scary to have your baby in the hospital, it is reassuring to know that she is doing better and is being well monitored. Luckily Tim and I have been able to stay with her, but she is just in a corner of the PICU with nothing but curtains separating her from the rest of the area, so sleep was pretty much non-existent for Tim and myself. We're definitely ready to go back home. Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us and checked in on us.


Pictures

This is me in one of my favorite places, my daddy's arms.

Daddy and Laurel

Here I am with my very tired mommy.

Mommy and Laurel

My, what big eyes you have!

Big Eyes

And it begins. Mommy has started trying all of my clothes on me. Aren't I pretty in purple?

Purple Outfit

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Baby's Got the Sniffles

Poor Laurel. She started getting really congested and sneezing Thursday night. She didn't sleep much that night and it was getting worse, so I took her to the pediatrician Friday. He confirmed that she did have a cold, but tha there's really nothing that can be done for babies her age. It is so hard to listen to her sniff and cough and wrestle with all the congestion. We were fortunate to have my mom and dad help us Friday night so that Tim and I could get some sleep. She's still feeling pretty rough, but hopefully it will get out of her system soon.

She's now one month old and at the doctor's office she weighed about 8.5 pounds. Fortunately my mastitis has cleared up and I am feeling 100 percent better.

It's been a pretty rough week at the Bailey household. I'm praying for a much healthier March.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Not Feeling Too Well

Me, not Laurel. Fortunately, she's doing great. I, however, have mastitis, a very painful infection in the breasts. It feels like the flu because I'm achy all over and have a pretty high fever. I'm on antibiotics and trying to get as much rest as I can. The doctor said I should start feeling better in a couple of days. I really hope so, this is miserable.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Me and My Baby

My mom kept Laurel today while I went to Kiwanis, and then when I got back home, she complained that she didn't have any pictures of me and Laurel together. Since I was actually dressed up (not wearing pajamas), we thought now would be a great time to get some pictures. Luckily Laurel was wide awake and ready for the camera. I love this picture!

Mom & Laurel

Monday, February 16, 2009

Laurel Meets Aidyn

We went to church yesterday and Laurel got to meet our friends Ben and Whitney's little boy, Aidyn, for the first time. Aidyn was born 3 days before Laurel. They were both so good and quiet during the service, and by the time it was over they were both asleep. Whitney had her camera with her and shared this adorable picture with me.

Laurel & Aidyn

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Getting Bigger

Laurel had her two week appointment today. She is now measuring 19.5 inches and 7 lbs. 2 oz., so she's grown a quarter of an inch and is an ounce bigger than her birth rate. That's a huge increase over her low weight of 6 pounds last Monday. Dr. Bischoff (her pediatrician) said that gaining 18 ounces in 10 days is incredible! That's about 1.5 ounces per day. Her head circumference, weight and height are all in the 25th percentile for newborns, so she's still a fairly small baby, but growing daily!

I started trying to nurse her again on Sunday (I had to pump and bottle feed her). It was rough at first, but she's definitely gotten the hang of it. I find it much more convenient because there's no bottles or equipment to wash or prepare. Anything that requires less dishwashing sounds good to me.

Until last night, Laurel had done so well at sleeping in her crib in her room. However, she now will be sound asleep and the second you lie her down, she wakes up and starts fussing and crying until we get her. I guess we'll try to work on that this week... Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Here's my new favorite picture of her. She was just hanging out in her swing.

In her swing

Monday, February 9, 2009

Laurel Meets the Family

Here are some pictures of me getting to meet lots of my family. I'm so lucky to have so many people love me so much!

Here I am with my great-grandfather.
Me and Nana.

Me and Papaw.
Me and Nanny.
Me and Aunt Tracy.
Me and Uncle Daniel and soon-to-be Aunt Amy.
Me and Uncle Aaron.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Feeling So Much Better

After a very long 20 hours at the medical center, we are back home with Laurel and she's doing fantastic. We took her in to see the pediatrician this morning and he said she looked good but wouldn't know anything for sure until he saw her bilirubin levels. Another good sign was that her weight had rebounded from 6 pounds to 6 pounds 6 ounces in just a day and a half! When we left the hospital the bilirubin level was at 10.8 and they warned us that it would probably go back up since she had been removed from the bili-lights. Dr. Pearson also told us to expect the results to be up, so we tried to be realistic about what we were expecting to hear.

When he finally called at 2:30 this afternoon, we found out that her level had actually dropped to 9.9! That means she won't have to go back to the doctor until next Thursday for her two week checkup. She is eating great now and slept through the night last night. When we woke her every three hours to feed her she ate well and then pretty much just went right back to sleep. Tim has been great to feed her while I pump, which makes the night-time feedings so much quicker. I also think he enjoys the bonding time he gets to share with his baby girl. He is already so in love with her! He carries her all over the house and talks to her and she just looks at him and studies him so intently. Here's a picture of him explaining the snowstorm to her and telling her how excited he is to take her out to play in the snow when she gets older.


Snow Baby

I am so glad for everyone who prayed for us and called to check on her, we are very fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Scary Trip to the PICU

This is a post that no mother wants to write, but luckily things are on the mend. Yesterday I took Laurel to her first pediatrician visit. She had been jaundiced in the hospital and they checked her again to see if her level had improved. Mom and I got home around 3, and her doctor called at 3:30 to tell me that her bilirubin level had increased and that she needed to be admitted immediately to the Johnson City Medical Center to be put under special bili-lights.

After a small breakdown, I got in touch with Tim to tell him what was going on. Mom helped me back and we brought her to the hospital, where she was put in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to be put under the lights and monitored. In addition to being under the lights, we worked with the lactation consultant at the pediatrician's office to develop a care plan for eating because she had lost more than 10 percent of her body weight after birth and hadn't been eating well. She is now eating expressed breast milk and formula if needed and doing much, much better. They checked her levels at 10 p.m. last night and they had falled from 21 to 18, so we knew she was on the right track. They checked her again this morning at 6:30 and thank God, her levels are down to 11! She did so well last night and is seeming to really enjoy just chilling under the lights.

While it is scary to have your baby in the hospital, it is reassuring to know that she is doing better and is being well monitored. Luckily Tim and I have been able to stay with her, but she is just in a corner of the PICU with nothing but curtains separating her from the rest of the area, so sleep was pretty much non-existent for Tim and myself. We're definitely ready to go back home. Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us and checked in on us.


Sunday, February 1, 2009

Pictures

This is me in one of my favorite places, my daddy's arms.

Daddy and Laurel

Here I am with my very tired mommy.

Mommy and Laurel

My, what big eyes you have!

Big Eyes

And it begins. Mommy has started trying all of my clothes on me. Aren't I pretty in purple?

Purple Outfit

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