Gotcha Day

It's crazy to think that this time one year ago I was just hoping and praying that one or both of my tiny embryos had implanted.

On Friday, September 6, 2013, we celebrated Elliana's "Gotcha Day."  She has given Brandon and I so much joy.  She keeps us on our toes and is high maintenance (just like me), but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  The past few months have been incredibly trying for me as a new mother, but I knew parenthood wasn't going to be easy.  There are many days where I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, but I just try to laugh and smile at the blessing that God gave us.

The IVF experience was one of the most difficult things I've ever endured both physically and mentally.  On the difficult days filled with fussiness I will always remember what we went through to get pregnant with Elliana.  She's our own little miracle and gift from God.

Updates from a Bad Blogger

Ellie is 3 months old and I'm still getting the hang of this whole Mommy job!  I've been working on organizing and de-cluttering the house, so much of my free time has been taken.  Who's kidding, I have NO free time these days but I'm not complaining!

We bought a minivan!  It's scary how much I love my new vehicle....it has so much room!  Now Ellie will never be allowed to play soccer because I canNOT be called a soccermom!

Ellie has begun napping during the day unswaddled.  I'm too afraid to not bind her up at night.  Lately she's not been sleeping well at night, but I'm not too worried about it.  She's still in the bedroom with us, but she sleeps in her bouncy seat.  She moves around too much in the bassinet and keeps me awake.  I tried putting her in the pack-and-play, but she spins around.

We're still breastfeeding!  Ellie has been interested in food for a long time, and we've started giving her single grain oatmeal with a spoon once a day.  She LOVES it and has surprised me with how well she eats.  I look forward to making baby food in the coming months!

As far as PPD is concerned...  I have good days and bad days.  I'm still on the lowest dosage of Prozac and have considered talking to the doctor about upping that.  With football season approaching, I'm already anxious about leaving Ellie so Brandon and I can attend some games together.  I desperately need a little bit of time away from her, but I'm too nervous.  I can only hope that this will ease as Ellie gets older.  I plan on writing more about Postpartum Depression in the future, promise.  Because I'm still trying to win the battle, it's difficult to write about it.  But I will start compiling my thoughts on the subject and try to share my journey with it.

My mind is in about 10 different places right now, so I will just end with some pictures of Ellie.

I wish I had the exact same outfit in my size

Ellie LOVED swimming in the lake with Daddy.  Ok, she was only in the water for 5 minutes but she seemed to like it!

Ready to go to church

With Granny (her great-grandmother)

Super Ellie

Sleeping just now unswaddled

Messing Up the Schedule

Rookie Mistake!  We are still trying to fix the schedule!  I have definitely learned my lesson and will not be adding any extra activities to our routine on Sundays.

My poor baby is napping now and woke up crying.  I went in and checked on her and she would NOT take her pacifier.  If I pick her up she immediately stops crying and takes the passy, but wakes by the time I'm down the hall after putting her back down.  It's so hard for me to listen to her cry, but I know it's best for both of us.  I desperately want her to self soothe.  I could just kick myself in the booty for going shopping on Sunday. :-(

Here's to hoping that we can get the schedule back in sync!

Tummy Time!

My Super Baby

Ellie has some funny expressions

Tummy Time wore her out!

Sleep Scheduling Continued

Our new schedule has been amazing.  I've been able to clean up around the house, shower, do laundry, and even eat!  Woohoo!  Going to church yesterday morning and enjoying some shopping did throw off the routine and I paid for it last night with Ellie not getting a solid sleep, but we'll get back on schedule today.

I don't have much else to say right now.  There's far too much I need to be doing around the house at the moment so I will update later!

Sleep Training

How is it August already?  This summer is moving by so quickly and football season is only a few weekends away.  Where has the time gone?  My little girl will be all grown before I know it!!!!!

Up until now Ellie has not been on a defined schedule.  That is ALL changing!  Ellie had been crying a lot and wasn't taking good naps.  She would wake easily and her tummy was bothering her a lot.  I made another pediatrician appointment for yesterday and saw a different doctor.  This doctor told me that Ellie needed a schedule with specific sleep times and she also needed to learn how to self soothe.  Whew!  Hearing this was so hard.  I had waited for this little angel for so long and I just wanted to spoil her as much as possible.  I've mentioned previously that we've co-slept with Ellie since birth.  She wouldn't sleep any other way.

After we got home from our appointment yesterday afternoon I began the transition into scheduling sleep.

E.A.S.Y.

Eat

Activity

Sleep

Yourself

The acronym is pretty self explanatory.  Ellie eats.  I then burp her and change her diaper if I haven't already.  I sit her in the bouncy seat and we play with our toys and I read to her sometimes as well.  (I actually read a Charlaine Harris book to her aloud this morning- haha.)  When I see her getting a little sleepy, I get her up and swaddle her and rock her for a few minutes before returning her to the bassinet.  If she wakes I check on her after about 15 minutes or so, hold her hand for a minute or two and then leave again.

Surprisingly enough this is a great system.  Until now Ellie had been eating every 2 hours!  It left little to no time for me to do anything.  I was a little concerned at the frequency of her feedings as was the pediatrician. Since yesterday, I've been able to stretch out her feedings as well as have her sleep in her bassinet by my side of the bed.  Brandon slept in the guest room last night since he had to leave early to drive to Mississippi for the day.  Ellie did so much better than I expected and was able to be calmed down by holding my hand during the night.  I did miss my snuggles with my little princess, but I felt great knowing that she was safely swaddled next to me in her own sleep space.

It will definitely take us some time to completely adjust to this schedule and new sleeping arrangements, but we can do it.

Watching Mommy dry her hair and put on make up.  She's mesmerized by the hairdryer!

"It's a wonderful day to be nude!"
At the pediatrician's office waiting for the doctor to come in.

This may be one of my favorite pictures of her.
I'm so in love with my little girl.

Ellie 2 Month Check Up

13 lbs 1 oz

23 inches

Our little princess is a growing girl! 

Ellie had to get her shots and she was less than thrilled. I held her in my arms and had the passy in her mouth. She screamed so loud as her face turned bright red when the nurse gave her the two injections. It didn't take too long to calm her down and she was asleep in my arms. 

We did have to up the dosage on Ellie's acid reflux medication. She's still having issues and is battling what they call silent reflux at night. I'm hoping that this adjustment will help us all get sounder sleep at night! 

Each day this is all getting easier. I'm thankful for such a supportive and loving husband. This would all be impossible without him. Ellie is playing more, smiling more, and even laughing each day. I am forever blessed with my little family.

Video of Ellie and Sneakers!

Since I've been syncing my iPhone I have many videos of Miss Ellie!

Please excuse us sounding so silly.  The things you do to make the baby happy! :)

An Update in Pictures

So I synced my iPhone up to the computer and removed about 1500 pictures!  Let's just say that I'm a bit obsessed with my little princess.  She's growing up so fast and we celebrated her turning 2 months old on Sunday.  Where is the time going?!?

We have her pediatrician appointment on Thursday morning for her 2 month shots!  I'm not really looking forward to this appointment because of the shots, but I'm very interested to see how much she weighs.  I'm guessing around 13 lbs by now.  She's my healthy little eater!

Breastfeeding is still going GREAT!  We were supplementing with some non-dairy formula but stopped that over a week ago.  Ellie is a boob girl and would rather have Mommy's Milk any day!  She gets 2 bottles at her bedtime feedings and we add some rice cereal to help with her reflux.  Other than that I breastfeed all day unless we're out and about and it's easier to use the bottle.  I've learned that if I drink a Gatorade I end up with a crazy amount of milk, so I definitely recommend my other breastfeeding moms try it if they need some extra milk.

We still have some spit up every couple of days but it's nothing terrible.  I can tell when her reflux is bothering her, but it's nothing like it was before.  

Ellie still has a gassy tummy, but I've come to realize that she's just a gassy girl.  I'm watching everything that I eat and she still has an upset tummy.  =(  

Ellie is still a high needs baby and is very particular.  (She's so my child!)  Mommy is very high maintenance and I guess it makes sense that my baby is like me as well.  HeeHee!  She is still super happy in the mornings and lets me eat breakfast and then we play.  We follow a routine each day, but no times are set in stone yet.  Well, we try to bath time at 6:30 each evening.  I thrive on structure, but we're still learning each other.  I'm in no rush, and I let Ellie lead each day.

Each day brings it's own struggles, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I am so in love with Elliana.  She has given me so much Joy and I love waking up to her each morning.  She's my precious angel from Heaven and I swear that I love her so much it hurts!

And the pictures..........
I promise to start updating with pictures more often!

(Follow me on Instagram for more Ellie updates:  ellies__mom)

Sunday July 21

Sunday July 21 at Zia's (Aunt Feenie)

Sunday July 21 with Grandaddy/PaPa Joe in celebration of his 84th birthday

Saturday July 20 at Vick Birthday Party

Saturday July 20 at Vick Birthday Party with my bestie Tiff

She adores her Daddy

Saturday July 20 getting ready to visit Granny

Isn't she just adorable?

Smiling at Pops (my Daddy)

HD Supply Baby

It was a long day at the office!

Friday July 19 in her Bumbo seat.  She holds her head up great these days!

Worn out!  She does like getting in some sleep on her tummy.

I'm so in love with her.

I couldn't help myself.  Cuteness overload!

Saturday July 20 with Granny, her great-grandmother.
Ellie is lucky to have 3 great-grandmothers and 3 great-grandfathers all living and in good health!!

With Daddy at the Vick Birthday party.
(It was Ellie's first birthday party to attend!)

I miss blogging

The title says it all. To be honest I'm still struggling with being a new mother. I seriously have no idea what I'm doing most days. 

Since I last wrote we have continued to have a fussy baby. The new medicine is helping Ellie's acid reflux, but she has such a gassy belly. We are sick of the mylicon drops! They do NOT help Ellie. A neighbor had suggested gripe water and we've seen little to no difference from them either. We purchased the Windi and it did not help as much as we expected either. :( 

I've cut out all forms of dairy from my diet.  I have maybe one 8 oz Sprite daily just for something different to drink. I've drastically changed the amount of carbonated drinks that I consume to help with Ellie. I second guess each meal before I eat thinking about how it will affect miss priss. 

We've been supplementing my breast milk with Enfamil Nutramigin that has NO cow milk. Ellie will only drink the formula if  it's mixed with my milk. It does make me happy that she prefers Mommy's Milk! We've also been adding a little rice cereal to her bottles to help with the reflux. I was worried about over feeding her, but I read where lots of other moms were adding the cereal to their reflux babies bottles as well. 

There's no denying that I'm an attachment style parent. I read about it before Ellie was born and knew that was going to be me. I knew that we would co-sleep in the same room but that wasn't enough for our Ellie. People don't often share this but I'm going to........ We bedshare. There- I said it. That is the ONLY way that our daughter will sleep. We've swaddled her, and she cries when she's put down away from us. I'm sure I will get some nasty comments about letting Ellie sleep in the bed with us but were just trying to survive. I wake up so often to make sure Ellie is comfortable and I no longer need my pillow to sleep. I so hope that one day Ellie will sleep on her own, but I do like having her close to me. 

Colic....... There's no denying that Ellie is a colicky baby. She starts crying each afternoon anywhere from 1:30 pm onward until bedtime. Thank goodness she is comforted by the sound of the vacuum cleaner! I have an app on my phone that mimics the sound and it is great at helping soothe our sweet girl. The world's just too big for her. 

Let me say that PPD and colicky babies don't go we'll together. But I am proud that I opened up to my husband and family and got the help I needed. I've been on the lowest dose of Prozac for about 5 weeks now and I know that it's the only reason I have not pulled my hair out so far. I prayed and prayed for a child, but was not prepared at all for her to cry for no reason for hours on end. I am just getting a handle on it, and she is beginning to find comfort in just hearing my voice. It's been a rough 7 weeks here at the Boyington house but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am in love with Ellie and can't imagine life without her. God is good.

(Please excuse any typos because I'm writing from my phone while Miss Ellie is asleep in my arms.) 

Catch Up

Being a Mommy is a tough job.  Well, being a Mommy to a little girl with acid reflux and gas problems is tough.  I'm exhausted!

I took Ellie back to the pediatrician last Thursday.  At her appointment she weighed 10 lbs 10 oz!  She's my chunky monkey.

Ellie had been crying all day long for a few days and she just seemed miserable.   I took her back to the doctor because her acid reflux medicine just wasn't working.  The Zantac three times a day wasn't enough, so they have switched us to Omeprazole twice a day.  They did a rectal exam and took a urine sample from a catheter.  My poor baby was poked and prodded so much.  They took her temperature and she was running a low grade fever.  It was awful. On top of everything, Brandon was out of town traveling so it was just Ellie and me at the appointment.

So far we've seen a little bit of improvement.  BUT lately Ellie has been having tummy problems.  She has so much gas, and she cries because of it.  The pediatrician told me to eliminate dairy from my diet, but I already consumed so little because of my own lactose intolerance.

My 6 week PP appointment with Dr. McKenzie is tomorrow.  I'd write more but Ellie is about to wake up from her nap.  I promise to start writing again as Ellie starts feeling better.