The Plague of 2011

 Well, this week has been a nightmare of sorts.  Jeremy got the stomach virus from one of his coworkers, then Morgan got sick, then I got sick, then my mom (Morgan’s backup Caretaker when we are MIA) got sick and then I got mastitis…for the 5^th time.  I won’t go into details but I can honestly say I have never remembered being SO ill.  Ok, now that my complaining is out of my system…onto better things.

This down time of illness has made me reflect on how much Morgan has grown in the past 9.5 months.  She is now crawling, pulling up, cruising, bending down to grasp things and yesterday she gave me a kiss for the first time.  It made this whole week SO worth it.   She’s  so funny when she kisses.  She doesn’t have the smooch down but it is definitely a deliberate kiss.  I am really enjoying this phase.  I have enjoyed the baby phase but it is nice that she understands me.   

Morgan is doing great with solids and I’d like to get her to the point soon where we no longer do baby food.  We haven’t done an official food trial with milk and soy yet but I am loosening my diet up finally and it seems that it hasn’t affected her.  I even had cheese and white bread the other day for the first time in 7 months!   Hopefully this trend continues.

Morgan has had more and more opportunities to be in the nursery lately.  Last Sunday, I went by to check on her and she was crawling around with the other babies and was stealing a toy from another little girl.  I cracked up because I expected her to be clinging to one of the nursery workers.  We have had fun seeing glimpses of her personality.  She is very head-strong and independent.   She is never hesitant to let you know what she is thinking and is always such a sweet girl….unless you are the other baby in the nursery.  J

Big Girl Food

I have started introducing Morgan to "real" food to see what she would do.  Below Morgan shows you her patented banana eating technique.  Since they are too slippery for her to hold onto, she squishes them between her fingers ands eat what comes out of the top of her fist.  She also ate a few little pieces of chicken too!  She likes eating food so much that she gave a big "Gig Em'!" at the end of her meal.  :)

7 Months

Now that Morgan is almost 8 months old, I suppose I should write her 7 month update…

Morgan Likes: Baby Food! (she ate 6 jars yesterday), her Jumperoo, her puppies, and playdates

Morgan Dislikes: Taking her reflux medicine, going to the doctor, the vacuum cleaner and having her mouth wiped

What’s New?  Morgan had her follow-up appointment with the GI doctor this.  He was very pleased that she is doing so well and eating so many solids.  She weighed in at 17 lbs. and 27 inches.  He said to keep her on the medicine and that we will see her in three months to start adding in some dairy/soy.

What Morgan Is Eating:  She has loved exploring the wonderful world of baby food and can really put it away.  Her favorite is sweet potatoes.   She has even started drinking water and some milk out of a sippy cup!!!  I have started making homemade baby food because we both gagged when we smelled a jar of chicken baby food. 

What Morgan Plays With:  She loves her jumperoo and gets very excited to the point it looks like she is doing River Dance when she is in it.  Morgan enjoys our reading time before naps and bedtime.  She loves bathtime and is no longer in her baby tub but has taken over Mommy’s bathtub.

What Morgan Says: “Ba, Ba, Ba, Ba, Ba…”  She now has four teeth and will sometimes grind them together which is pretty gross.

How Morgan Spends Her Time:  She wakes at around 8 a.m. and then takes a nap at around 10:30 and another at 3pm.  Her bedtime is at 8:30.  She is sleeping much better and is even in her crib now.  We have a pretty regular schedule where she eats solids three times a day.  I am trying to only nurse her after her solids so she gets filled up on those first.  She isn’t crawling just yet but she will roll from one side of the room to the other.  Yesterday I went out of the room for a second and walked in to find her pulling up on the tv cabinet.  Yikes…

Life is Good...

For the last couple months we took a refrain from most activities (including blogging) because Morgan was having lots of problems with reflux.  For about 4 weeks she was up about every hour at night.  Morgan has a milk and soy protein allergy which means that I avoid all dairy and soy products.  It turns out that it is common for babies with this allergy to also have reflux.  To make a long story short, we opted to see a GI Pediatrician because our general pediatrician wasn't super helpful in trying different medications that may help.  So, after seeing the GI Pediatrician in Round Rock, we found a dosage of medication that worked.  She started sleeping longer stretches but was still up quite a bit.  At that point, we had no other choice but to do some sleep training.  I have never been a proponent of letting her cry but fortunately it worked and wasn't nearly as dramatic as I thought.

I'm happy to say that she is sleeping from 9pm to 9am and get up only once at night to eat.  She is also eating solids 3 times a day (2-3 jars) and has her fourth tooth coming through.  She is even out of the bouncer at night and is in her very own crib.  Most importantly, her overall mood is better.  She is a very happy little girl during the day....unless I am making her take her reflux medicine.

My Strong-Willed Child

We had another rough night last night.  So, I took Morgan to a new pediatrician today to hopefully get some answers as to why she is getting up every couple hours at night.  Also, whenever she strains she seems to be in pain but she isn't constipated.  We went to see a doctor who is in the same practice as our previous pediatrician. 

I told her all about Morgan's background with food allergies.  Morgan also has a cold so she checked her ears and eyes.  Fortunately, she said they looked fine.  However, our little angel wasn't quite in the mood to be examined by the nice doctor lady.  She started screaming and flailing her hands in the air.  Before I know it she was in a full-blown tantrum all because it was not her prerogative to have her ears checked.  When the doctor was done, I scooped her up only to have her spit up all over me.  The pediatrician was so nice about it and said "Wow, she really lets you know what she is thinking, doesn't she?"

Basically, Dr. Tomlin told us that Morgan has reflux.  That would explain the pain when straining, the night wakings and why she can't sleep on her back flat. So, she gave us some Zantac and we are supposed to see if things improve.  I'm also supposed to stop nursing her to sleep (easier said than done) and put her on a sleep wedge instead of in her carrier.  Apparently  the carrier can cause her to slump making reflux worse.  So, hopefully these changes will help her to feel better and get this tired Mama some sleep.

She definitely wasn't phased too much by the "spit-up incident".  She was smiling and joining in on the conversation in a matter of minutes.  Dr. Tomlin even commented on how vocal she is for her age.  Then, on the way out my little strong-willed extrovert had to smile at all the nurses as we passed by.

Morgan is feeling better this evening.  This picture was taken right after she managed to somehow poop on the carpet.  She seems to think its pretty funny.

5 Months

Morgan Likes:

Giggling at Daddy and Mommy, watching her puppies, going on walks and sitting up!

Morgan Dislikes:

Laying down, Bottles, pacifiers, boredom, and the Roomba.

What’s New:  Morgan just started sitting up.  She is not much for rolling over still although she can do it.  She enjoys sitting up so much that when you lay her on her back, she tries to curl up in a crunch position until you aquiesce and sit her up.  Her hair is growing quite a bit and it is long enough to be able to mess up.  She has graduated from headbands with bows to bows with clips.  Her eyes are STILL blue to my amazement.  If they stay blue then I think that trait is from Jeremy's mom and my dad since Jeremy and I both have hazel eyes.   We went to Sunday School for the first time on Sunday and I just went and fed her in between class and the service since she is more hungry in the mornings.   Morgan has developed a liking for prune juice since we had some constipation issues when we started solids.  Now we are taking a break from solids and hoping to get back on the right track.  I miss the days where she slept 7 hours straight.  Last night she got up twice (12:30 and 4:30) and that is considered a good night.  She is teethign so I'm sure that is not helping.

What Morgan Plays With:

She enjoys her little stuffed monkey that wiggles.  She also likes to play with Mommy's hair and Daddy's glasses.  She still enjoys the jumparoo and is getting better at actually bouncing.  Morgan laughs and grins every time one of the the dogs approaches her.  She also likes to laugh when someone else starts laughing.  She and I could giggle back and forth for hours.  She is really something else!

What Morgan Eats:

Milk, milk and more milk since we are taking a break from the solids.  She took my milk from a spoon for the first time last week!  (She is definitely stubborn but she gets it honest.)

What Morgan Says:

Morgan likes to "sing along" and is starting to imitate noises I make.  

How Morgan Spends Her Time:

Every morning Morgan usually wakes up at about 7:00.  She likes to be fed first thing and then is in a good mood afterwards.  Then we spend some time talking and singing songs.   We take a walk around the neighborhood before it gets too hot.  She also does a weekly playdate with her BFF Adalyn and we have our SS class playdate on Fridays.  Last time, we got to feed ducks at a pond.    She will usually take a short nap at about 3:00.  When Daddy comes home she sits at the table and watches us eat.  I do our bedtime routine starting at 7:40.  Apparently, 8:40 is the magic time for her to be able to go to sleep for the night.  We had her sleeping in the crib on a sleepwedge but since she was getting up so much, I went back to the carrier in the crib.  I almost wonder if she has had some reflux since she does so much better sleeping at a pretty steep angle.  For now, I am getting her out of the habit of nursing her to sleep and then we will work on sleeping on the wedge again.  I am learning to prioritize and take one thing at a time.  

It is hard to believe that our sweet girl is already 5 months old! Sunday is Baby Dedication and we'll have lots of pictures to post.

A cool front came in a couple weeks ago and Pop Pop got some good pics.

"Laying down is for babies!"

Morgan's First Easter

It is hard to believe that our little Easter bunny is almost 5 months old.  We went to church and Morgan had another good day in the nursery.  When we went to pick her up she had been sleeping in a lady's arms for almost 30 minutes.  We were pretty amazed since she was really fussy before we left.  We think she has more teeth coming in.

Apparently it was a very eventful day in the nursery that morning.

After church we went over to Grammy and Pop Pop's for dinner.  Mommy made roast and apple pies and Grammy took care of the rest.   As always, Morgan was the center of attention

The next day we went over to Adalyn's house to take some very professional- looking Easter pictures.  Miss Robin did a great job when Morgan was not in the best of moods!  This is our back-up Easter dress since we had a mishap with the first one.

Teething? Really???....

Well, it seems like once we get somewhat used to our routine, a new challenge comes our way.  A few days ago, Morgan started getting very fussy and did not want to be put down, even to get her diaper changed.  I looked in her mouth with a flashlight and sure enough...I could see one of her bottom incisors right below the surface.  I called our pediatrician's office since it seemed like nothing was working.  I don't think she believed me that Morgan was teething already but she recommended teething tablets.  These little pills are amazing and the other thing that seems to calm her down.  It is an all-natural homeopathic remedy which sounds pretty "granolay" but whatever works, right?
                                     
 Morgan is learning to do lots of things with her new little tooth including biting her Pop Pop's fingers and eating applesauce mixed with rice cereal.  She is quite the trooper when it comes to eating and is opening her mouth better for each bite.

The teething tablets not only calm her down but seem to help her sleep as well.  Here she enjoys dozing on Daddy after he comes in from work.  No matter what mood she is in, she always greets Jeremy with a big smile when he gets home.

Four Month Update

Height: 26 inches! (95th %)

Weight: 14 lbs. 2 oz. (80th %)

Morgan Likes:

Trying to stand while we balance her, the “Little White Duck” song, laughing at her flower toy, baths and she is just starting to like rice cereal!

Morgan Dislikes:

Bottles, pacifiers, going to bed early, Infant Tylenol, boredom, and getting her diaper changed in the morning when she is hungry!

What’s New:  Morgan just started to roll over both ways. She used to dislike tummy time but now she seems to enjoy it.  Her hair is growing quite a bit and several people have said that it looks auburn.  Her eyes are still blue and she is full of smiles and giggles.  She is a little shy when we get out but is a real ham at home with her Mommy and Daddy.  Morgan looked like Jeremy a lot more the first couple months but several have said she is looking a little more like me – which I don’t mind.  J  She is getting to the point where she is starting to really “play” since she has better control of her hands.  We think that her food allergy is probably to milk and soy so at least we have narrowed it down quite a bit.  Also, we think she might have her first tooth coming in.  When you look closely, you can see it through her gums. 

What Morgan Plays With:

She enjoys jumping in her Jumparoo.  She is not technically tall enough so we put a book under her feet so she can put weight on her legs.  She also likes her flower toy Petal which she thinks is hilarious.  Her play yard is fun and Mom likes it to when she needs a break for a quick shower.  Morgan has also had a sudden interest in Katy, my parents’ dog.  She likes to laugh at her as she runs around the room.  We also read books every day.

What Morgan Eats:

Morgan is starting to really like rice cereal.  Since she won’t take milk from a bottle we are looking forward to her being able to eat in different ways.

What Morgan Says:

The cutest noises you can imagine!  She talks up a storm in the morning and also during diaper changes.  She likes to “sing” along with her two favorite songs – “Little White Duck” and “You are My Sunshine.”  She and her Pop Pop have very in-depth conversations. 

How Morgan Spends Her Time:

Every morning Morgan usually wakes up at about 7:00 or 8:00.  She likes to be fed first thing and then is in a good mood afterwards.  Then we spend some time talking and singing songs.  Morgan usually takes a little nap at about 10:00.  Then we run whatever errands and play.  Yesterday we went to her first birthday party for her friend Clara and she really enjoyed taking it all in and watching the “big kids”.  Her buddies Adalyn and Emma were there who we have playdates with.  She will usually take an hour-long nap at about 3:00.  When Daddy comes home she sits at the table and watches us eat.  Then we feed her rice cereal, give her a much-needed bath and put on pjs.  We do our bedtime routine but she usually doesn’t go to bed until 10:15 at the earliest.  She is officially out of the swing at night and is sleeping in the carrier which is in her crib so we can watch her on the monitor.  We think she likes to be in a tight space.  She could probably sleep in the crib but it is kind of nice that we can rock the carrier to get her to sleep.

We love our sweet girl SO much and don’t know what we ever did without her!

Big Girl Food

The last few days we have been experimenting with rice cereal.  We had low expectations since she has had no interest in a bottle.  However, she actually likes it and is even learning to open her mouth like a baby bird when she wants a bite. As you can see, she probably gets more on her than in her but she is making progress. Jeremy and I can’t believe how fast she is growing up!

Four Month Appointment

This week Morgan had her four-month check-up.  It seems like it was just the other day that we brought her in for her first appointment and now our baby is four months old.   It is so refreshing to look back at how far we have come.  In the beginning, I was so nervous about how I was going to be able to care for the little baby I was just getting to know.  Now, I know her cries, her expressions, her favorite songs and even her best tickle spots.  I’m not sure who has grown more in the past four months – her or me?

Speaking of growth, I was happy to see that she is still in the 80^th percentile for weight and 95^th percentile for height.  Fortunately her dairy allergy hasn’t affected her appetite.  Dr. Henderson suggested we start to experiment with rice cereal some with a goal to get more in her than on her.  J He asked how she was sleeping I was happy to report to him that she has been sleeping seven or eight hours straight at night.  (This will all change of course now that I am posting it on our blog.)

The shots seem to take a lot out of her so we had a nice quiet day at home.

Grandad and Micki Visit

Grandad and Micki came today to see Miss Morgan.  She enjoyed their visit as always and we even went out to eat at Cenare, Jeremy's favorite restaurant. She was pretty good most of the time.  However, at one point I tried to put a bib on her and she let out a very loud wail.  Suddenly we were "those people" who can't seem to get their baby under control in a nice restaurant.  Fortunately, she calmed down in a matter of minutes and needless to say, I just let her slobber all over herself with no bib.

Afterwards we went back to the house and I enjoyed the luxury of a much-needed nap while Grandad and Micki spent time with Morgan.

First Trip to Katy

We recently took Morgan to meet my grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins in Katy, Tx.  She managed to stay in a good mood for the entire trip.  Everyone got a kick out of her little expressions and also were amused with how goofy Pop Pop acts around her.  She is one loved little girl.

It was a beautiful day and my mom, Aunt Lisa and I talked on the deck.  Morgan enjoyed the attention as always.

Morgan's Birth Story

Disclaimer: This may be TMI for some.  :)

         
After nine long months of carrying Morgan, I was so ready to finally deliver…or was I?  My pregnancy was somewhat eventful.  I had your typical morning/evening sickness in the first trimester but in my second trimester I had to finish work early due to a rapid heart rate.  Then, in the third trimester, I had very painful muscle spasms in my hips and back that made it difficult to walk.  As ready as I was to no longer be “with child”, I have always had a tremendous fear of childbirth due mainly to my tendency to be extremely squeamish.

Although I was nervous, Morgan was very ready to make her grand entrance!  At week 36, I was already 3 centimeters and 75% effaced.  Dr. Jansky set an induction date for November 29^th instead of my original due date of Dec. 3^rd.  With my rapid heart rate, she wanted to have a “nice planned delivery.”  So, that evening before, I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight.  Of course I laid in bed nervous and hungry awaiting the big day.  I got a couple hours sleep and was surprisingly in a good mood and ready to see my little girl.  We got to the hospital and met my nurse Pam.  She was great.  I changed into my gown and she got the iv in.  Then my nerves started to kick in.  I started to immediately get nauseous and was getting sick.  I didn’t feel like I was nervous but maybe my body was uneasy about this miraculous event ahead.  It was that or the fact that the nurse informed me that the doctor would be in soon to break my water.  It turns out that I was already 4 centimeters and 90% effaced.  I remember thinking to myself “things usually don’t progress this fast in Baby Story.”  I was allowed some medication in my IV for nausea and it didn’t really seem to help any.   

Dr. Jansky came in and broke my water.  The action had begun!  The pitocin started and so did the contractions.  They started coming hard and fast.  They weren’t so bad at first but after a while I told the Pam I was ready for the epidural.  I knew I was going to get one so I wasn’t concerned about waiting long.  The anesthesiologist took about an hour to get to the room.  Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but I was already at six centimeters and more than a little uncomfortable.  As the anesthesiologist was prepping for the epidural I made the mistake of asking her if it would make me tired.  She came around the bed and gave me a 15 minute explanation.   I wanted to tell her to get back to work on the epidural but I didn’t want to tick off someone that was about to stick a needle through my spine.

The epidural is an amazing invention.  Not only does it take away all the pain but apparently the drugs have a very nice calming effect which was just what I needed.  The next several hours consisted of family coming in to say hello, nurses checking on me and the opportunity to bask in the state of painless contractions.  At about 1pm, Pam checked me and informed me that I was already at nine centimeters.  At about this time, I told myself that maybe I should stop watching Seinfeld and mentally prepare myself to become a mommy.

Pam came back in a little over an hour and I was at 10 centimeters.  The plan was for her to coach me in pushing for a while until Dr. Jansky came.  So, the time had finally arrived.  My mom and of course Jeremy were in the room.  With Pam’s instructions, I started to push with all my might although I couldn’t feel a thing.  Things were going well or so I thought until Pam suddenly told me to stop pushing.  She walked over to the phone and called Dr. Jansky.  Dr. Jansky was there in less than a minute.  There was lots of whispering towards the other end of the bed and I kept asking if Morgan was alright.  Apparently Morgan’s head was stuck in my right hip and wasn’t budging. This was the cause of the spasms in my hips in my pregnancy.  The pushing only forced her further into my hip and had just caused tearing.  Unfortunately, every time I pushed her heart rate would drop.  At that point, Dr. Jansky knew she needed to work fast and continued to instruct me in pushing.  She did an episiotomy and got out the vacuum.  Jeremy said he couldn’t believe how hard she was pulling.  With one last push, Dr. Jansky was holding up Morgan for me to see.  Her cry was music to my ears.  It was amazing to see the very face that all those ultrasound pictures could never adequately convey.  They started cleaning her up and everyone kept saying how big she was.  Dr. Jansky and Pam guessed her weight and they both thought she was over 9 pounds. My engineer husband said she was “dense.” My mom helped the nurses hold her while they cleaned her up and Jeremy took pictures. I will never forget the tears in Jeremy’s eyes when he came over to show me a picture of my baby girl.  The doctor took about 45 minutes to sew me up so it seemed like an eternity before I finally got to hold her.  I asked the nurse if she was ok and she assured me Morgan was fine.

Our Morgan was so perfect in every way.  I felt exceedingly blessed and I knew I would be starring in her little eyes for the rest of my life.  Morgan Kathryn Peters was born at 2:40p.m. on November 29, 2010 and was 8 lbs and 1.1 oz and 20.5 inches long.  She had a head of brown hair and pretty blue eyes.  After getting to nurse her for the first time, our families got to meet her.  I am continually amazed at how God has blessed us with Morgan. It is still very surreal as I can’t believe she is ours.   I am honored to be the mother of such a special little baby and I have never been happier.

2 Months

Well, I am actually posting on our blog.  I had told myself that I would make updates all the time as soon as Morgan was born.  However, reality set in with its sleep deprivation, feedings around the clock and diaper changes and it didn't happen.  So, hopefully I will start to get in the habit soon.

Morgan went to her 2 month appointment last week.  She is in the whopping 95th percentile for length and 80th percentile for weight.  Jeremy and I can't really figure out where the height comes from since not many people in our family are very tall.  It will be interesting to see if the trend continues.  As far as the weight goes, let's just say that Morgan has never turned down a meal.  The appointment went really well except for when she had to get her shots towards the end. 

Morgan started smiling at about 5 weeks and it has been SO much fun.  My favorite part of the day is when she wakes up in the morning.  I say "Good Morning Sunshine" and she immediately responds with a huge grin!  She has also started to babble in response to us talking to her.  She is quite the go-getter as she does not want to be in one place for long.  She is such a wiggler and much prefers sitting or standing with our help - and she certainly does not want to be held like a baby!  She is a really good snuggler for nap time though.  Morgan sleeps long stretches at night now - usually 6 or 7 hours.  This has been so nice as I feel like a new person now that I'm getting a lot of sleep.  Unfortunately, she will only sleep in her swing.  We think it has to do with her colic because it seems like she just has to have the movement to sleep.  She is pretty fussy in the evenings still but fortunately her colicy time has shifted from 6pm to 1am instead of 12am to 5am.  Also, it is not nearly as intense.  All in all, Morgan is such an incredible blessing in our lives.  I don't know what I ever did without my sweet baby girl.