Friday, November 20, 2009

Update on our lives

Hello to everyone and sorry I've been a little out of touch. We've been very busy!
Gracie is now 6 1/2 weeks and she's doing well, despite a few "issues" we've run into over the last 6 weeks.
Feeding issues:
At first we had trouble with feeding. My milk had a hard time coming in and Gracie lost a bunch of weight and then wouldn't gain it back and so the doc put us on a strict feeding schedule for a few weeks and we had to go in every few days to watch her weight. Eventually that all came together and she started gaining weight, which was great because the constant feeding and supplementing and pumping was a bit overwhelming and tiresome. She's now gaining weight just fine, although now she's been spitting up more and more. I'm not sure if it's reflux, but I'll just watch it over the next few weeks to see if it continues to get worse.
Head Shape Issues:
One other issue is that her head has become mis-shaped. She always has her head to one side and that has flattened one side, caused a bulge to go out the other side, pushed her forehead forward and pushed one of her ears forward, out of alignment with the other ear. SO...we're supposed to work with her on stretching her neck to the other side. If she's not improving by her 2 month appointment, we'll need to work with a physical therapist. Then we may or may not need to put her in a helmet at some point. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Gracie and sleeping:
She's been sleeping great! That's the good news. For the last week or 2 she will sleep from about 10:30 until 5:00 or 6:00 and the other day she even slept until 7:00 - it was great! It's so nice to have a nice block of sleep time, let me tell you!
Henry and Ella:
The other kids are doing great. Henry is really into playing computer and wii games and loves to run around outside with the neighborhood kids during playgroup.
Ella is into everything and acting very much like a 2 year old. She's a little stinker, but she's also so much fun and full of life. The picture of the marker on the cupboard was her masterpiece from yesterday. Yep - it's permanent sharpe marker. It came off the counter and the oven, but won't come off the drawers, the fridge or the dishwasher. I've been told to try magic eraser and so we'll have to buy one and try it.
Henry and Ella are finding how much it is to play with each other (most of the time), which is great for giving them something to do while I'm nursing the baby half the day.
Anyways - that's about it. Hope you made it through this long blog post!

8 comments:

Jess and Jen said...

How lucky are you to have her sleep so well! Getting some sleep at night sure makes life a little easier! I'm glad she's eating well and hope that her neck muscles will improve! I love magic erasers! I would be surprised if it doesn't get the marker off the fridge and dishwasher! -Jen

Jenny said...

Hey--Definately try magic eraser. Also, on a whiteboard, you can rub a whiteboard marker over sharpie and they will both come off, so that might be worth a try before whipping out a can of paint.

Also, on the head shape thing, repositioning and head-propping really made a difference for Samuel when he had a prominent flat spot, but it sounds like hers might be more pronounced than his was.

So glad you've got the feeding thing figured out! She is beautiful and I'm so happy for you!

Brooke said...

I'm so glad that you posted an update on your life! I have been meaning to call you, but it seems like life has been a little crazy for you. Hooray for little Gracie sleeping though! That can make the most difference- and you're not pregnant anymore! It seems like Ella has grown so much since we last saw her two months ago, and Jack and she are working hard on getting into anything and everything possible. But she looks so cute, and we miss you guys!

Lokodi said...

Glad to hear you are hanging in there. Thanks for posting pictures too. I'm happy to hear you're getting some sleep. It sounds like you have enough going on as it is so sleep must be nice. Man, Grace sure has huge eyes. I wonder what color they'll end up being. Well, talk to you later. Miss you all.

Lindsey

joeandcarole said...

Ella, Ella, Ella...you are indeed going to be an artist extraordinaire! For Christmas I think you will be getting: 1)washable pens and 2)several reams of art paper!
Love you...
Gram

joeandcarole said...

Now to Gracie...what a precious, beautiful baby! I love and miss so much about her: her little worry frown..she's certainly pondering something!; her big gorgeous eyes..looking (actually peering intentely!) like she wants to be sure she takes everything in; and her sweet soft cuddling. Isn't amazing how absolutely amazing and miraculous these sweet little spirits are? Straight from Heavenly Father.
Love, love and love~ Mom

Zent Family said...

Amy- how overwhelming to deal with all that and have Gracie be kid #3. If anyone can handle it, it is you! She is beautiful... congrats... and your other two are adorable!!

Sandy said...

Gracie is absolutely beautiful!!

For some reason people's blog updates aren't posting on my blog list, so i missed all these posts! Bleh on that!

My brother's kids recently decorated their entire living room - walls, carpet, linoleum - seriously - COVERED in Sharpie. If you still haven't gotten the marker off, let me know and I'll ask them what they used :)