4 Months Old

Ok- I am really behind on blogging.  Evan is 4 months old!  He is the sweetest baby & I am enjoying every minute with him.  I try not to compare my experience with the girls, but it is hard not to.  I feel like such a better mother this time around.  Having one baby to care for is much easier than two obviously.  I can actually anticipate his needs, pick him up when he cries, & have time left to play with him!  With the girls I was juggling my time between two plus all the laundry & dirty bottles they generated.  Oh and that thing called full-time work...  I am enjoying being a stay-at-home mom & only working some afternoons & weekends.  Much less stress & much more time with my little boy.  We take the girls to preschool MWF from 9-1:00 & like to run errands & play around the house while they are "getting ready for kindergarten" as Lexa reminds me.  Here is their latest picture (it was picture day at school Monday)...

Lexa & Geneva are the BEST big sisters & truly help me so much with pacifier duty & keeping Evan happy.  They have the sweetest heart & are so maternal.  They have never been interested in baby dolls until now.  They mimic my every action.  If my baby needs a bottle, their baby does.  If my baby is sleeping, their baby sleeps (& always in the funniest places like Evan's swing or car seat).  I have to promise to feed their babies when they are asleep.

Evan is now on a pretty set schedule.  He generally still eats every 3 hours in the daytime--6:00, 9:00, noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00.  He goes to bed after his last bottle between 9-10:00 & sleeps all night until 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.!  (He then takes a bottle & usually naps in the swing until 8:00ish).  This started his first night in his crib!  We were shocked considering you literally cannot leave a room without him crying or squealing for attention.  But at night time, he goes right into his crib, no rocking required.  What a blessing!  He is eating 4 ounces at every feeding.  Still takes his Prevacid for acid reflux once a day.  He still has quite a bit of spit up, some days definitely worse than others, but he is definitely gaining weight & definitely happier than he started out.  He squeals, he laughs, he giggles, he babbles, he grasps toys, he stares intently at mommy & daddy.  He LOVES to be included in anything & everything.  When I empty the dishwasher or cook, he is right there with me in his bouncy just smiling. He loves to sit in his bouncer when we eat dinner just watching us & smacking his lips.  He'll be ready for the spoon very soon.

I just love him to pieces.  I still can't believe he's mine!

Two Months Old

Evan Patrick Smith is 2 months old!  I am behind on his statistics/doctor visits.  Here is what I remember for the record.

6/26/13 well visit: 6 lbs., 13 oz.; 20 inches long; 13 inches head circumference
7/8/13 well visit: 7 lbs, 12 oz.; 20 inches long; 14 inches head circumference.  Started Zantac 2x/day for reflux.
7/24/13 sick visit for severe spit-up/reflux & fussiness.  Dr. concerned about lack of weight gain since last visit along with other GI symptoms, ordered upper GI to rule out anatomical abnormality or obstruction.
7/25/13: Upper GI at hospital at 7:30 a.m.  Radiologist confirmed severe reflux (5/5 on severity scale).  Order called in for compounded Prevacid 1x/daily.
8/10/13 sick visit for chronic loose stools.  Stool sample normal.  Dr. not too concerned due to weight gain.
8/22/13 well child visit (2 months): 11 lbs., 7 oz. (40th percentile); 22 inches long (35th percentile); 15 inches head circumference (20th percentile).  Dr. very pleased with continued weight gain & overall exam.  Will continue current formula (Enfamil Gentlease) & medicine.  4 vaccines given (1 oral, 3 shots).  Slept all day with decreased appetite, slight fever started that night.

It's been a long 2 months!  Poor baby has had lots of stomach issues compounded by colicky symptoms which equals no sleep for anyone.  We tried at least 6 different formulas including a hypoallergenic one that cost more than $60 a can.  Oddly enough he did the worst on it & is now back to a milk-based formula that is partially broken down to ease his digestion.  We are thickening his bottle with 2 teaspoons of rice per 1 ounce of formula.  It's hard to know what variable has helped him the most, the formula, the med change, the rice, or just maturity but I think we MAY have found the perfect combination.  His days of screaming hours on end have ended (fingers crossed) & he is getting into a schedule.  He still eats every 3 hours during the day between 3-4 ounces.  He is asleep most of the morning & is awake most of the afternoon in the bouncer, play mat, & on/off in my lap.  He starts getting sleepy again around 7:00ish & naps on & off until his last night feeding (usually between 10-11:00 p.m.).  After that bottle, he lays down in his pack & play and usually sleeps a 4 hour stretch.  Another bottle, then he sleeps in the swing or back in the pack-n-play for 3 more hours.  Then we are up for the day!  My day consists of changing lots of diapers, lots of laundry due to some spit-up & diaper blow-outs, washing bottles, & still quite a bit of rocking & soothing.  He still has periods of crying which is eased by the rocking chair and/or placing him on his belly.  Of course taking care of him & the girls is a full-time job.  His sisters are such big helpers.  The only way I can take a bathroom break is to enlist their help for pacifier duty.  I have never been so tired in my life but never so in love.  We have spent so much time worrying about our little guy & pray he is through the worst days.  He is beginning to smile, coo, & laugh and gives the best snuggles in the world.  We look forward to his continued growth & I am proud to be his mommy!

One Month Old

This sums up Evan at 1 month...
unless he is being held, he is crying.
Note:  He is wearing a NB sleeper that Lexa wore in the NICU.  It says "Just Hatched".  The nurses told me to bring some sleepers to the NICU that had snaps, not zippers.  We didn't have any at home so I ran to Wal-Mart & they only had a few girl ones so I bought this one out of desperation.  Don't know how it got saved, but it is perfect for our boy.

3 Weeks Old

Mr. Evan is three weeks old (well actually tomorrow, but I have 5 minutes to spare so I thought I better write ahead).  The past 3 weeks have been a sleep-deprived but happy blur.  Taking care of Evan is SO different than taking care of the girls--don't know if it is a boy vs. girl thing; a one baby vs. two babies thing; the fact that he is a lot younger than the girls were when I started taking care of them; or that I am just 4 years older & not as far along in my post-pregnancy recovery period...but it is HARD.  I am sure having 2 other children to take care of as well adds to the complexity of the matter.  Baby keeps both me & Patrick moving constantly.  Evan is very different from the girls.  Some differences:  he is very cold natured; HATES getting wet in the bathtub or even with a wipe; LOVES to be held (the girls could take it or leave it, I think it had to do with being in the NICU for a month); likes to be swaddled or at least given a blanket, mittens, & socks; moves constantly, especially his hands; startles easily (which is not good with 2 older sisters that talk very loudly); and never sleeps, seriously aren't newborns supposed to sleep 22 hours a day?...well let me tell you this one sleeps maybe in 1-2 hour increments hardly ever.  He is the most alert baby.  He will get on his activity mat & kick & make little noises for hours.  He eats every 3 hours & has his pacifier in most of the day.  He changes clothes a lot between leaking diapers & spit-ups (okay that is one thing he has in common with Geneva & Lexa as babies).  We are still adjusting his formula & have added Zantac twice a day (poor kid has inherited the acid reflux gene from me & his sisters) so hopefully this will help him get more comfortable & ease his screaming fits which always come between the hours of midnight & 6:00 a.m.  Overall he is doing well & the doctor was pleased with his 1 pound weight gain from June 26 to July 8 (he is now 8 pounds).  We love him dearly.  These pictures are from his newborn photo shoot on July 2.  

The Best Surprise of My Life!

I am going to try this blogging thing again...  I LOVE going back & reading blog entries from Geneva & Lexa's first few months, well years now.  A mother's memory needs help every now & then.  So here we go.  I am going to make every effort to blog weekly so our precious time as a young family does not blur together.  

It all began last September...  I voiced a feeling I had to my trusted doctor, the doctor that had been with me in the trenches of infertility, the shots, the medicine, the procedures, & shared in the joy of the pregnancy & birth of our beautiful twins... I shared with her on my annual (2012) visit, I have an intuition that I am ovulating.  Could it be possible?  Could we get pregnant the way it is supposed to work?  Not likely she said, but we could do a quick blood test & find out.  Well as usual, it was negative.  No way my hormones were anywhere close, in fact off the chart in the negative direction, to produce or sustain a pregnancy.  Oh well.  No big deal.  We were grateful beyond words for our twin miracles.  Little did I know just three weeks later I would take a positive home pregnancy test, okay two just to be sure.  

I felt a little off in October.  A little sick to my stomach, a little crampy & it hit me about 10:00 p.m. one night...I feel pregnant.  A trip to Wal-Mart the next morning confirmed my intuition.  Two tests later & an e-mail surprise to Patrick with the attached picture.  A trip to the doctor the next morning for bloodwork confirmed what I had been told not only for years but just a few weeks prior was impossible.  The doctor, nurse, & lab tech (who all know me very well) couldn't believe it either!  We kept our secret until Thanksgiving.  I was terrified of a miscarriage because my hormones were off the chart low.  Thanks to our faith & continued prayers for protection, the baby continued to grow & thrive & my morning sickness (well night sickness) gladly reminded me of our baby. 

My pregnancy was totally different throughout--different symptoms, different feelings, but it was hard to know comparing one versus two babies.  We decided to stick with the surprise theme & not find out the sex of the baby at our February ultrasound.  Statistically I had a 50/50 shot for a boy, but ever since I was young I always pictured myself with 3 girls, always.  My grandmother has 3 girls, a psychic once told me I would have twin girls with 1 to follow several years later, plus I just never pictured myself as the baseball/camping/Boy Scout mom.  Secretly I wanted a boy for several reasons.  First & foremost, I wanted Patrick to experience the father/son bond that biologically every man desires.  Second, I thought a boy would fit so nicely into our family structure.  I know if I was a third girl born into a family of twin girls I would feel like the odd one out.  I didn't want that for this baby.  With a boy, maybe those feelings would be somewhat bypassed.  Plus 3 teenage girls...need I say more!  We knew God had a plan for this baby & whatever it was, it would be welcomed with open arms.  So we picked out our names (Evan Patrick & Clara Elisabeth) & waited until June.  Due date was June 28th.  My hospital's policy was to induce labor on week 39 (June 21st) for a repeat C-section, however, my doctor would still be in Hawaii & she wanted to be there for baby's birth.  So we scheduled the delivery for Monday, June 24th.  Well baby had other plans.  Friday, June 21st about 6:00 p.m. my water broke (luckily in the bathroom).  I checked into the hospital & was told baby would be here in a couple of hours!  Things moved so fast.  Phone calls to grandparents, paperwork, IV, bloodwork, spinal, off to the OR, here we go.  It started a little after 9:00 p.m. & then at 9:19 p.m. we heard the long-awaited cry.  The doctor said, "dad do you want to tell mom what it is".  There is a long pause, I hear Patrick laughing & then baby starts going to the bathroom on the surgical curtain!  "It's a boy!"  I admit I cried like a baby, too.  It was such a surreal moment.  To be pregnant one minute & then have a healthy baby pulled out of you the next.  A brief picture & he was off to the nursery with Patrick.  I watched the clock until 10:00 p.m. & then off to recovery where we were reunited & started his first feeding.  

The hospital experience was totally different this time.  To be able to have the baby with me, not in the NICU, to be able to hold my baby immediately & not have to wait 2 days, to be able to leave the hospital with my baby 3 days later not 4 weeks later.  To be able to be joyous & welcome visitors to hold the baby instead of having a solemn overtone of uncertainty.  We have been in a sleepy fog ever since our return home Monday but totally in love with our heavenly gift.  I could literally stare at him all day.  He is beautiful if I do say so myself.  Overall a good baby.  He is cold-natured & hates to be changed, especially with cold wipes.  He loves to snuggle, loves to eat, is a good burper, fair sleeper (especially at night from 1:00-5:00), is starting to smile, is very alert at times, has excellent head control, & overall perfect in my opinion. 

Welcome to the world Evan Patrick Smith

June 21, 2013 (first day of summer)

9:19 p.m.

7 pounds, 1 ounce

20 1/2 inches  

First Ice Cream Cone

We love ice cream on hot days!

Florida 2012

We had a wonderful vacation again in Destin, FL this year.  We headed out on Father's Day, June 17th for a week of travels.  It was weird not having to pack high chairs & cribs & only minimal diapers (they still wear "night-night" diapers).  We packed super light this year because I vowed not to over pack for once, one suitcase max per person.  The condo has a washer/dryer so I did laundry every day & we decided to cook in all but one night to save money.  It turned out perfectly!  

Granny decided she couldn't get away so SuSu decided to take the empty seat in the van.  We drove about 8 hours Sunday.  The girls did so well!  Much better than last year in the car.  They watched movies until our lunch stop at the Big Banjo Pizza Buffet in Dumas, AR & then on to the Hilton Garden Inn in Jackson, MS for the first night.  Cracker Barrel mac & cheese was on the supper menu after a hotel swim of course.  We shared a nice suite & the girls slept in a sleeper sofa.   We woke up around 6:30 & headed to Destin.  We arrived at the Sea Oats Condos around 1:30 & were happy our room was available as we were an hour & a half before check-in.  We couldn't wait!  SuSu took the van to Publix to stock up on groceries while we changed into swim suits & headed to the beach.

The rest of the week was r-e-l-a-x-a-t-i-o-n.  The girls slept together on a sleeper sofa in the living room while SuSu was across the room in another sleeper sofa.  Mommy & daddy got the king suite.  We woke up around 8:00 every morning.  Ate breakfast in the condo, headed to the beach until lunchtime.  The girls napped after lunch & then we headed back to the beach and/or hotel swimming pool in the afternoon.  We cooked dinner every night except Thursday which was date night at Joe's Crab Shack for mommy & daddy.  Our dinner menus included: fish tacos, boiled shrimp with rice, hawaiian chicken with pineapple, & ultimate nachos.  

We left Florida on Saturday morning around 10:00 & made it again to our halfway point, this time staying at the Hampton Inn Jackson because our other hotel was booked.  We ended up liking this one a little better because of the free breakfast :)  We ate Saturday night at the Ruby Tuesday next door to the hotel after swimming once again in the hotel pool.  Sunday night we made it back home & were exhausted but glad to be home.  I made myself wash all of the sheets, towels, & clean every room in the house before we left so that we wouldn't come home to a dirty house, and I am so thankful!

All in all it was a great trip.  The girls love to travel & are so adaptable.  I could really see the girls' bond deepen on this trip.  And of course they loved spending time with SuSu.  

Patrick is already planning next year's vacation.  We are thinking a cruise is calling our name.  Maybe a Disney cruise.

Geneva loved running on the sand

She also liked being buried in the sand (pictured here with her beach boyfriend from Louisiana)

Look at those curls!  Her hair is getting lighter & lighter.

Lexa happy to be at the ocean

 

Cheesing it for the camera.  Notice the sand all over her skin & in her hair.

Sisterly love!

The way I will always remember my little girls.