Five Months & Baptism, Finally

Sorry this is so late, but better late than never.  B is now 5 months old and baptized.  She is such a happy baby.  She does the raspberry, bubbles now and we get some good giggles.  Still waiting for the big belly laugh.  She also rolls from front to back if her arms are in just the right spot.  Sleeping through the night until we wake her up for daycare and then she is so smiley when she first sees us.  This is our favorite part of the day.  She weighed 12 lbs. 6 oz. when she saw her nicu doc at 5 months.  She is still on her apnea monitor at night and during naps at daycare.  It doesn't go off anymore, but it is still recording apnea spells up to 17 seconds when she sleeps.  We visited the nicu nurses that day too and they were excited to see her.  We had her baptism last weekend and celebrated with friends and family.  We feel so blessed everyday that she is in our lives, but on her baptism it felt so great to look up and see friends and family all around her.  I pray that she always has as much love and support as she did that day from her family, godparents, and friends.  Here are some pics of our growing girl.

Went for a day trip to see cousins in Sept.  Here is my aunt (one of my most faithful blog followers) and B's cousin, Jack.  

Just so you can see how she arches her back now.  She needs to be buckled into everything now.

Looking so cute at a wedding in Sept.  

First time in a bar!  She loved it and was a big hit as you can imagine

How she sleeps now.

Us with her godparents

Baptism gown.  Worn for 3 generations now.  

looking like a nun after the baptism!

Family at Baptism party.  

4 generations

One Year Anniversary and 100 Posts

This is my 100th blog post.  Seems like just yesterday that I was writing my first post and writing an email to my closest family and friends inviting them to read about our journey.  It's been quite the journey and I'm so glad I decided to document it here.  I hope you've enjoyed the story!  For my 100th post, I'm writing an anniversary letter to my little Bayden, 1 year together.

Dear Bayden,

One year ago today on Sept. 14th, I became a mom.  That's the day I started taking care of you.  One year ago, your dad and I were in a doctor's office holding hands and waiting for the doctor to bring you to us in a tiny catheter.  There I laid praying so hard that this time would work.

You have been such a fighter since before that day.  At this time a year ago, you had been growing in a dish for a five days.  You were the best embryo, the most cells, the fighter.  You were making it.  The doctor transferred you and a sibling to me that day.  You were strong, you found a comfy spot to attach and grow.  I had a scare a few weeks later with cramps and bleeding.  I cried on my way to the doctor's office for an ultrasound, but there you were on the screen with a strong heartbeat, a fighter.  We were so happy and relieved, but we knew then that our other baby didn't have a heartbeat.  For the next 30 or so weeks, I loved having you inside me.  I loved being pregnant and feeling you grow inside me.

Then, you'd had enough on the inside and were ready and you arrived quickly to the outside world.  Your first 43 days weren't easy and I hated being apart from you while you were in the nicu.  You were a fighter during that time too, a bit dramatic though.  Now you are home and doing great.  You have made me so happy this past year.  I love seeing you grow and do new things everyday.

One year ago, you were just a few cells inside me and today I heard the cutest giggle from you.  Can't wait for more giggles.

Love, Mommy

Back to School

Monday I started back at work and B started daycare.  I was not looking forward to this at all and kept hoping Gav would get a big raise or we would win the lottery or something.  I always thought I wouldn't want to be a stay at home mom, but I think I could have done it until she was 1.  Bayden came early to get me 6 extra weeks off from work, I didn't want her doing anything else drastic to give me more time though.

I had 4 days of teacher workshops and she went to daycare 4 days.  Today I am off and I kept her home with me.  My week was spent at meetings, training, back to school night with parents, and working in my classroom.  But really it was a lot of visiting with co-workers and showing cute pictures of her.  This is the least prepared I have ever been to go back to school, but it will fall into place and I think it will be a good year.

Daycare seems to be going well.  The first drop off wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  Gav came along the first day for drop off and pick up.  They say she is a good baby and they've known what to do when her alarm has gone off - only for low battery and loose wires so far.  She has been really tired out there and at home too.  According to the calendar, the theme this week was Dr. Seuss.  Ha!

Here is a pic of our first day!

4 Months

Four months old, on Sunday.  It's going so fast just like everyone tells me.  Bayden is doing great.  She weighed 11 pounds 7.5 ounces yesterday and is 21 1/2 inches long.

Eating:  She eats a little over 4 ounces if she has a bottle, but she finally got really good at nursing a few weeks ago.  I love that I don't have to wash as many bottles and pumping equipment and the bonding time of course too.  She was eating 7 times a day but lately is back up to 8 because of her sleeping schedule.

Sleeping:  Bayden has slept through the night (8-9 hours) for 4 nights in a row now!  I'm hoping this schedule keeps up as I start back at work next week.  She takes short naps during the day.  She eats, plays, and then sleeps for about 30 - 45 minutes and then does it all over again.

Playing:  Her favorite toy is this little light up kitty., always makes her smile.  She has also figured out how to move her toys on her bouncy seat by kicking her legs.  She doesn't really hold on to toys yet, but loves to hold on to her clothes, blankets, or burp rags.  She also really likes the tv....

Clothes:  I had to buy a tote to start putting clothes that are too small for her in.  This is so sad for me.  All her newborn clothes are in there and a few of the 0-3 months too.  She wears mostly 3 months clothes, but a few 3-6 months fit.  There a few of my favorites that I will squeeze her into a few more times.

Medical:  We went to see her nicu doctor on Monday.  He took her off the caffeine medicine.  Hopefully this goes well and she can be off the monitor in another month.  He wants her growing faster so he still wants her to have 2-3 bottles of a high calorie formula a day.  I decided to have daycare give her these bottles beings they will provide formula.  Hopefully only another month of this too.  He was impressed with how active she is and she is meeting milestones for her corrected age (due date).  She has a flat spot on her head because she has a stiff neck so she will be starting occupational therapy this week to try and fix this.  Poor lil gal can't catch a break.

Lake time:  Last weekend we were at the lake with some friends.  This was her first trip to the lake.  She enjoyed the fresh air and the action of the bigger kids who just love her.  She got out the start of a giggle while we were there.  She also attended her first style show put on by our friends' daughters.  This gave Daddy a sneak peak at things little girls like to do!

Here are some pics!

Sharing lots of toys with B.  She was sticky from all his kisses last weekend!

enjoying the lake in the shade

training in a baby sitter

caught a smile!

Difference in a Year

Today I had a training at school.  I had the same training last year and as I was sitting there today, a memory from a year ago came to me.  A year ago, I had to step out of that meeting for a phone call to get meds ordered for our donor.  Today, a year later, I had to step out of that training twice.  But today I was pumping instead of making plans for our our IVF cycle.  Crazy how life can change in a year.

Today was also the longest I've had to be away from B (besides the nicu days).  I missed her and couldn't get home fast enough.  She stayed with grandpa today and was a good girl.  She slept a lot though so I'm nervous about what tonight might bring.  Last night she went 6 hours!

We Made It

Well, my sister and I survived the 3 hour trip (4 and a half for me) and days at my parents with the 3 babies.  It was a lot of fun and worth the extra work.  It's extra work to get there, but then my parents are so in love with the babies that it's less work when we're there.  When I got to my sister's house she was at the walk-in clinic with Maysen causing us to talk about her poopy diapers for the rest of the week.  She's doing much better now!  We shouldn't be surprised that the little princess is on a special formula.  My sister is expecting her to be on an expensive and special diet her entire life.  Things like this give her the nickname, Princess. The babies did great on the way there and went 3 hours without stopping.  Of course everyone was very hungry when we arrived.  The girls made a few peeps and Megan and I would look at each other and say, "well, if they do that 1 more time we'll stop."  They always went back to sleep.

Wednesday and Thursday included lots of laughs, diapers, bottles, shopping, and great grandparent visits.  On Friday, my brother's family arrived to the farm.  This was the first time all 5 kids were together at the farm. Now there were more laughs, diapers, bottles, and a trip to the zoo.

My sister and I headed for home on Saturday and that's when we ran into a little trouble.  We had to stop at a wal/mart parking lot to feed 2 babies.  Luckily my sister and I decide to just laugh at the craziness of this and we got through it - 3 babies, 1 bottle, 2 breasts, a dog, and of course we had to take turns going to the bathroom too.  There is another story, but it's just too embarrassing to put online.  Also, not everyone (our husbands) are ready to laugh about it yet.  I was thinking that the "incident" would have ruined our chances for mothers of the year, but the babies slept through it all so I don't think it counts against us.  Someday when we've had too much to drink and you need to hear a funny story, we'll tell you.

Enjoy some pics!

They really bonded during the car ride.

Great grandpa, my sister, & the twins

I kept saying we brought the circus to the zoo.  It was just silly.

Me & B at the zoo.  (notice her giraffe top and animal print shorts)

First Girls Road Trip

I am way behind on my blogging.  My excuse is that B is a little more portable now so we are going for lunch and coffee and shopping.  She also doesn't sleep as much as she used to.

A few weeks ago we went on our first road trip to visit my parents.  Gav was leaving town for a fastpitch tournament.  My aunt happened to be going the same way so we were able to ride with her.  Good thing because she was a lot of help and made the drive much smoother.  B did great in the car and we got to see a lot of people while we were back.  It was a busy trip with several firsts for Bayden.  First trip to the farm, first time seeing great grandma Chris and great grandpa Morgan, first time seeing several of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, first time to the mall, first time in a liquor store, first time at my hometown church, and first time away from daddy over night.

Here are a few pictures of our trip home.

2nd cousins

Napping with grandpa

cousin Howie

New cousin Caroline was born!

Visiting great grandpa

A few stories that we don't want to forget from the weekend:  My grandpa couldn't get over what a good baby she was and thought she looks a lot like me when we were visiting him!  I just enjoyed the compliment and it made me smile.   During the first song at church, B was still in her car seat and my dad whispers, "why is she turning red?"  I whisper, "she's pooping."  My mom whispers with a worried face, "I put her last diaper on."  I went to change her and it wouldn't have mattered if she had 3 diapers on.  She had pooped through the front and the back, through the bloomers and the dress.  My mom had to wash it twice later that day.  But she looked so cute for about 10 minutes.  She had another incident a few days later that had 4 adults helping with her diaper, clothes, and bath.

It was a great trip home and just what I always dreamed of bringing a baby back home.  Bayden loved the love and attention and I loved all the help and support.  We're going back again tomorrow this time with my sister and the twins!  It should be pretty wild and I'm sure I'll have a blog post or 2 about that trip.