Sprout 2 Months!

As much as I'd like to admit that it doesn't feel like Sprout's been around for 2 months, it doesn't feel that way at all.  It feels much loooonger. Haha.

Sprout is a much different baby than Bean was.  She's making me realize I have no idea what I'm doing and I feel like a first time mom all over again.  I've had to call friends and ask for a ton of advice on her eating habits and she's only 2 months old! I have a feeling this girl is going to give me a run for my money.

She's pretty high maintenance - won't take bottles, refuses pacifiers, and only wants me all the time. She eats every 1-3 hours.  She'll tend to cluster in the mornings, take a long nap in the afternoon, cluster feed again through the evening, and then sleep for up to 5 hours at night.  Some days it is very draining (add Bean's energy and constant desire to learn) and I find myself literally in survival mode.  I have to just live in the moment and pray Sprout will finally nap in her swing and I can either give Bean some attention or take care of items around the house.

(This carrier has gotten quite the workout.  She gets worn A LOT! It's my key to success from grocery shopping to cooking dinner to any other household chore.)

In the past month, she's started to develop a little bit of a personality. I think she's going to be a little bit more serious than Bean, but will sometimes break out in smiles and sweet coos.  She is pretty loud when she cries and has earned the nickname of "Squawks".  She can go from completely quiet to meltdown mode rather quickly.  Maybe it is just her way of being heard over big sister??

(Laughing over gas in her tummy)

Bean is still enthralled with Sprout.  She showed just a few signs of behavioral issues in the first few weeks, but now has accepted Sprout's place in our home.  We've had minimal discipline issues and she's proving to be quite the helper.  She'll happily get wipes and diapers for us when we need them and is constantly asking to give Sprout kisses. She still plays a little rough with her and we can't fully trust her alone with Sprout.  But she isn't rough out of jealousy or anger; I joke that if something happens to Sprout at Bean's doing, it's because she was "loved too much".

("I hug her" - Bean)

(I look forward to watching these two grow up together.  Pretty sure they'll be complete opposites in personality, but hopefully best friends!)

("(Sprout) needs glasses" - Bean.  Poor Sprout has to deal with all sorts of big sister's antics from stickers on her face to random glasses.)

Sprout is gaining weight like a champ (revert back to her eating All.The.Time.) and weighed in at 11 pounds 11 ounces & 23" long at her 2 month check last week.  She had to get 3 shots and was pretty upset by them.  I couldn't get her to calm down and had to just strap her in her car seat sobbing.  She wore herself out and took a long nap while we went grocery shopping.

Her 2 month check marked the first time I was "that mom" at an appointment.  I came in with a written list of questions to ask the doctor.  Sprout has been having lots of digestive issues -- poops only once a week (which can be normal for breastfed babies; however, she gets irritable and grunts a lot around day 5), is super gassy (like tootin' all the time) and it is super smelly (which typically breastfed babies' poop doesn't smell).  The consensus is that we need to get her digestive tract moving more to see if it eliminates all the issues.  If it does, then I'll look into possible diet changes for myself.  So the current regimen is a little bit of mirilax daily.  Since she doesn't do bottles, I always try a bottle at first, but end up feeding it to her in a syringe.  I just started giving it to her and don't have any conclusive data.

(Sprout doesn't typically spit-up; but when she does, it;s quite the production.  She has a sensitive gag reflex - which may be why she wont take bottles/pacifiers.  She also tends to puke when she needs to poop-around day 5 after her last poop.)

(This is what happens when you only poop once a week.  It is out of control!)

(She loves baths! She loves to kick her feet in the water. When Bean was a baby, she got nightly baths, or maybe every other night if we were busy. Sprout is lucky to get 2-3 baths a week, haha.)

When it comes to sleeping, there's good nights and bad nights.  If I'm lucky, she'll go to sleep by 10, wakes between 2-3am, then again around 5-6am, and up around 8am.  However, last night she wouldn't go to sleep until 11pm, then ate at 12am, 3am, 6am, 7am, and up at 8am.  You win some you lose some.  Thankfully, Bean has been a rock star with sleeping going from 9pm to 7:30/8:30am.  When the stars align and both girls are sleeping during nap time, I try to sleep a little myself.

Sprout keeps us on our toes and is very unpredictable, but one look at her smile or listening to her sweet coos makes it all worth while!

Sprout's Sickness Pt 1

July was a crazy month for us.  Steve's has been very busy with work, putting long hours in during the day and working from home at night.  We knew it would be a stressful month with his work and a newborn, but we just had to push through.

On one Sunday, we came home from church and did our usual rush home from church.  We get Bean fed and to bed quickly while I make lunch for us.  Only this time, I had to get Steve & Bean fed quickly because Steve had to head in to work.  With everyone fed, and Steve out the door, it should've been a quiet afternoon.  However, Bean decided to not nap and Sprout was being extra fussy.  I shrugged her fussiness on an upset tummy (this is one gassy child!) and drug her and a tired Bean to meet friends at the pool.

We met Steve back at home in time for dinner and bedtime shenanigans.  Sprout was still fussy by nighttime, but I still didn't think anything of it.  When I went to feed her in the middle of the night, I realized she was really hot - like abnormally hot.  I went and found a thermometer and realized she had a fever of 100.4 - not a good sign for a newborn! I tried to not panic and went through the normal nighttime feeding routine. She laid back down without a fight and I went back to bed.  I checked on her a few hours later and her status was the same.

(Sprout typically likes to have her hands up by her face, but she usually doesn't look so pathetic while doing it. I took this photo before bedtime.  I still just thought she was having normal tummy issues.)

I called the doctor as soon as their office opened and got an early appointment for her.  She still had a fever and was pretty grouchy.  Doctor noted that one of her ears looked iffy, but really didn't like the way she would ball up when she was touched - especially on her abdomen.  The doctor also noted that her tummy was very rigid and a cause for concern.  She wanted some tests done and sent orders to the local hospital for an x-ray, blood work, and urine collection.  I remained calm, but was freaking out a little on the inside.

I left the office and immediate called my friend Sara (thankfully it was a Monday & her day off!) and arranged for Bean to go hang out at her house until I figured out what was going on with Sprout.  With Bean taken care of, I headed to the hospital to get Sprout checked out.  First up was the x-ray.  I got to go back in he room with her and even helped hold her on the table, all while sporting a cool lead apron for safety.  We weren't allowed to leave the hospital until our doctor received the info and knew the next step. Once the x-ray was done, I took her to get the lab work done.  When we got called back, there was some confusion by the nurse - she didn't realize Sprout was the patient! She didn't feel equipped to handle a baby and got some back-up.

I lost it a little bit while the nurses were going back and forth about how to get her blood and do the urine collection.  Sprout wasn't a fan of being moved around so much and it was finally hitting me what was going on (and I began feeling very alone).  One of the nurses even asked if I was okay, to which I started crying and said, "no", but that was pretty much the end of the conversation, haha.  They ended up taping a urine bag around Sprout and then got the blood that they needed.  We were then sent back to a waiting room to await results.  I fed her while we waited.  The tech who took the x-ray came back and said that things looked clear on her end, but we would be getting a call from the doctor to review everything.  My phone rang right as she was giving me the heads up.  The x-ray just showed constipation/gas.  We were to go home, do a bottle with some mirilax in it, and see if that changed anything.  I changed Sprout's diaper, collected the needed urine, dropped it off at the lab and left the hospital.

I picked Bean back up and headed home with the girls.  It was nap time for the big one and food time for the little one.  She took her bottle like a champ and pooped a few hours later; however, it didn't alleviate her grouchiness.  I called the doctor back to give a status update.  She said she'd call in an antibiotic since her ear looked questionable.  I was working VBS that night and had to call Steve home early to take care of Sprout while Bean and I went to church.  I picked up the antibiotic on our way home and got a couple doses in her over the night.

The next morning, she still had a fever (I was told to give her Tylenol if it went over 101, which it did in the night) so I called the doctor again and secured ourselves an afternoon appointment.  I made arrangements with another friend to take Bean for the afternoon.  Jenna met me at the doctor's office and took Bean to her house with the plan for me to get her back at VBS that evening.  With Bean gone, I could focus all my energy on Sprout.

(With Sprout being so high maintenance

 and cranky over the past few days, I made sure to spend some intentional time with Bean in the morning.  She decided she wanted new Jamberries on.  She picked out the colors and told me how to put them on.)

(Again, Sprout likes to have her hands up, but usually it's a more snuggly pose.  She kept her arm stiff away from her body, which usually it's snuggled up next to her.)

(Another thing I noticed was that she was keeping her legs straight.  She wouldn't relax them or bring them up close to her like she normally lays.)

(At times when she was especially fussy, she would stiffen up her whole body.  Even if I was holding her upright against me - as seen in the photo- she wouldn't relax.  Instead, she held her torso/legs at a 90 degree angle.) 

The doctor said her tummy was softer, but still firm on her right side.  Her ear looked fine (was probably questionable the day before because of her crying) and she still had the fever.  It was obvious Sprout was in pain.  She didn't want to be held or touched, and was happiest if she was just laying flat on the table.  The doctor was concerned about possible appendicitis and wanted us to go to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus (2 hours away).  She didn't trust the local hospital to find anything wrong with Sprout and knew they wouldn't be equipped to handle her if they did.  I was yet again emotional as I left the office.  Some of the girls in there no me and one asked if I was okay.  I broke down and filled her in.  She offered up her help with Bean for the evening and told me to let her know what else she could do.

(This photo breaks my heart now.  At the time, I was still in denial of her being sick and was frustrated and tired with how needy she was being.  Now I realize how sick and miserable she was feeling.)  

I called Steve and filled him in.  He immediately wrapped things up at work and met me at home.  I next called my mom to fill her in.  She decided that she was going to drive in and pick Bean up from VBS and stay at our house with her.  I started packing bags, not really knowing what lay ahead or what we would need.  Once I thought through it all and got the car packed, we headed towards Columbus awaiting the next phase of our journey.

1 Month

(Let's just pretend there is a "1 Month" sticker on Sprout.  I was so impressed with myself that I actually took the photo on time, until I realized the sticker never made it on her shirt.  There's always next month??)

It is hard to believe that a month has gone by since Sprout made her debut (okay, she's really 6 weeks, but what do you expect with my track record & this blog??).  It's been quite the flurry of activity.  With Bean, we had a slower paced first month and didn't get out much.  This time around (and due to Bean), we get out a lot more.  Sprout is a trooper and just goes along for the ride.

I like going back and look at Bean's stats to compare the babies.  So far, I feel like the two babies are completely different.  Bean was more quiet and I would have to encourage her to eat in the beginning.  Sprout, however, loves her food and would eat every hour if I'd let her.  Luckily, once she is fed, she's happy to just hang out in her swing until she's hungry again.  I also was more hands on with Bean - constantly holding her, mapping out our day based on her eating and sleeping, etc.  Not Sprout -- she's along for the ride.  Scheduling still is based all on Bean (sorry Sprout, get used to it).

I thought going from zero to one kids was going to be harder than going from 1 to 2.  I figured since we've done it all before, it should be easy.  Right?  Wrong! It's waaaaayy harder to add in that second kid because of the first kid! Newborn up all night?  Suck it up -- you have a toddler to take care of!

So back to Sprout -- here are her 1 month stats:

- 8 pounds, 4 ozs (week 5)

- Eats every 2 - 4 hours (sadly she does the longer stretches during the day, and shorter at night)

- Tolerates Bean and her constant loving (Bean likes to hold her, kiss her, lay on her, etc)

- Shrieking cry & very vocal.  When she's sleeping, we often forget we have a second kid; but when she's awake, she doesn't let us forget!

- Spends most of her day in the swing.

- Loves to be swaddled to fall asleep.
- Super chill in her baby bathtub.  With Bean, she got a bath almost every day.  Sprout is lucky to hit the week mark.  Sorry little girl. However, when she does get a bath, big sister Bean loves helping out!

- For the first 3 weeks, she slept in a bassinet in our room.  I'd feed her and change her all in our room, too.  On week 3, I would take her to her room to feed and change her, but would still put her to sleep in our room. Finally at week 4, she made the move to sleeping in her room full time at night (okay, in the morning around 6, she ends up back in our room until I get up with Bean around 8 -- if I'm lucky!

("I kiss him" -- something I hear multiple times a day.  Bean LOVES to be involved with baby sister.  She's always catching on to pronouns; however, she always uses the wrong one.  Daddy is a her and Bean is a him, ha!)

(Sprout and her crazy faces.  So far, I don't think she looks much like Bean.  I do think she has a lot of Steve in her.  Stay tuned for a "Who does Sprout look like" post.)

(Sprout is not in love with her paci, but will suck on one a little bit to fall asleep.  Bean used "gumdrop" pacifiers, but Sprout seems to be liking the soothies/wubbanubs!

 (Sprout loves having in her hands up by her face.  She's also starting to show some interest in her thumb, if only she can figure out how to get it in her mouth!)

(Matching sisters!)

Heins 57, or life as 4

A month has flown by since Sprout has joined our family.  I recognize I'm way far behind on the blog (although, I looked back and with Bean I did a 2 week post, and a 1 month post.  So going by that history, I'm just 1 post behind!).  The easiest way to catch up is to do a hodge podge post.  So here's random photos and commentary on the past month:

We took Bean home on Thursday, and thankfully, my mom stuck around for a couple extra days to help us adjust.  She was a big help in keeping Bean busy and letting Steve & I catch up on sleep!  Our first full day at home marked my birthday, but really it was just another day. Steve & Bean surprised me with roses! We didn't do any big celebration on Friday; but my dad, sister Sara, sister Amber + fam all came on Saturday to meet Bean.

(Sara approved of Sprout's name and loved cuddling her even more.)

(Sprout getting passed down the line.  Big Sister Bean got first dibs!)

(With family visiting, it got chaotic inside.  Luckily, the weather was just right for some sprinkler fun with cousins outside!)

(Sprinkler fun was followed by chalk bodies.  You can't tell in the photo, but Bean all those chalk bodies were hers and they were named "again" & "again-again" & "again-again-again".  Haha)

(Ahm & Abo and all their granddaughters who were in present.)

Everyone left except my parents on Saturday night.  They stayed so that they could go to church with us to have Sprout dedicated on Father's day! Yes, we were those crazy parents who took their 5 day old to church.  

(We'll blame the sleep deprivation on Steve's closed eyes.  Look how tiny Sprout is!  Even though having it done on Father's day didn't matter to Steve, I pushed to have her dedicated on that day so that she'd be with same group of babies that were all born around the same time.)

(Sprout on her dedication day -- No, she didn't wear the ears at church, but I did think about it!)

My mom went back home with my dad, leaving Steve & I alone with the kids for the next week.  Things went fairly well.  Steve had a long list of projects he wanted to accomplish.  He quickly learned that wasn't going to happen and pretty much buddied up to Bean for the week.)

(Cuddles in bed! Bean loved us all laying together.  Even now, she'll get on our bed and tell Steve and I to lay down with her. If we are lucky, we can catch a few extra minutes of closed eyes while Bean thinks we are playing.)

My mom came back on the following Sunday and brought back reinforcements -- Gabbie! I don't remember why the weekend was rough, but I do remember my mom walking in and my breaking down crying. Haha, oh those crazy hormones.  Bean wasn't getting enough attention from us, and Gabbie was just what she needed.)

(Bean wanted to be with Gabbie constantly.)

(Frick & Frack wearing their "matching jammies".)

(My mom & I took the three girls to the zoo one day while they were here -- okay, really, I needed to go and get my wedding ring checked for its warranty.  It just so happens that the jewelry store and the zoo are 5 min apart.  Win-win!)

(Pony Ride! Bean loved it!)

(Question - Can you push a stroller with a 7 year old and a 2.5 year old?  Answer - No.)

(Riding the carousel! That girl on the outside had me nervous. She was riding alone and had issues like: couldn't get on the horse & when she did, her shoes fell off.  Sheesh.)

(Feeding the giraffe some lettuce -- Bean loved it this time!  Maybe it was the fact that we were at eye level with the giraffe and it's long tongue couldn't get through the fence.)

(Brushing the goats!  Bean wasn't traumatized by the poop this time, either.  She's growing up!)

(All 3 napped on the way home!)

I feared a huge fall out when Ahm & Gabbie had to leave.  But Bean was actually okay with their departure.  She talks about Gabbie constantly and just says, "play Gabbie in a few weeks".  I guess that means I have to do some cousin planning for Bean! Steve went back to work while my mom was still here.  His work is pretty crazy this month and he had to work a Saturday - leaving me at home for the first time with 2 kids for an extended amount of time.  It was a success! 

(Sprout got a little too comfortable in daddy's arms -- if you know what I mean!)

(I'm learning that bribery is great motivation.  A sucker and new play-doh toy eased the pain of Gabbie's departure.)

(We went to our friends' house for 4th of July.  We let Bean do her first sparkler, and she got a minor burn from trying to touch it after it burnt. She still had fun, though!)

(A shockingly good photo!)

This past weekend, Steve's family was able to come visit and meet Sprout!  I sucked at taking photos and came out with only 2 from the whole weekend.  His parents arrived on Friday and stayed until Monday night - giving me some extra help while Steve was at work! Scott, Ashley, & Tyson came up for Friday night & Saturday and gave Bean some extra attention and a new toy -- a sprinkler!

Our weekend was filled with lots of yummy food on the grill thanks to Doug & getting to sleep in thanks to Trisha! She would wake up with Bean and allow us to catch some extra sleep in the morning.  It may not seem like much, but it was a huge help for us!  They also helped Steve get some maintenance items checked off his list -- washing/waxing our car and scraping/painting some trim on the back of the house.

(While the others worked, I played with Bean outside with her new "Frozen" sprinkler from Scott & Ashley! She is timid to do it on her own, but loved being held as I ran around it, getting us both wet.)

(Bean wanted to be outside and paint, too.  So I gave her a cup of water & a brush.  She loved it.)

Homestretch - LAST pregnancy update!

Last few weeks of my pregnancy were long, uncomfortable, and stressful (at times!).  I discovered that my doctor had a planned vacation the week before my due date.  I was pretty stressed over going into labor while he was gone, and of course I had a lot more time able contractions and a few nights of fearing a hospital run in the night.  We had a plan of what to do with Bean if something did happen in the night, but it still made me stressed at times.  I'm a planner and operate best when I know what to expect.  So once doctor offered me an induction date, I took it!  We knew by the end of June 14th, we'd be holding Sprout!

Actually having a date made it more nerve wrecking (so much to get done!) and less stressful (I can actually make plans and be prepared).  But then there's the whole, I still could go at any minute.  I focused on the date on the calendar and tried to soak up as much time with Steve and Bean as our last week as a family of 3.  Bean could tell change was around the corner and definitely craved (and appreciated) the extra attention.

My last two weeks of pregnancy stats:

*Baby dropped, meaning my pelvis hurts more and I have a nice waddle.  Sleeping is a bigger issue due to the pelvis pain since I can only sleep on my sides. But with baby dropping, I don't get up to pee as much. So you win some, you lose some.

*Lots of tightenings/contractions happening. They usually occur at night, but have woken up with some in the morning a couple days.  

*Bending over is extremely difficult. Unfortunately, Bean requires me to bend over a lot. . . 

*Progress kind of stalled around 2.5 - 3cm

*Pretty emotional about another kid - more so about the adjustment Bean will be going through

*Eating LOTS of chocolate

*Pretty set on a 1st name, waffling on the middle name

*I finished up final projects for baby and random things that have been piling up around the house.

(This was the week that contractions/tightenings became pretty consistent AND the week that doctor was on vacation -- eeks!)

I tried to soak up lots of time with Bean -- story time at the library, intentional play time with her (which was mostly with a Mickey/Minnie doll and I got tired of acting out the same scenario all the time), lots of cuddles and snuggles in her bed and on the couch, and special treats (i.e. ice cream, suckers, and of course - chocolate!).

(We went on a donut date after storytime at the library.  Even though it was lunch time by the time we got out of the library and to the donut shop, but the sugar high was totally worth it.)

(My grandma has been working on making up some receiving blankets for Sprout and made a couple special blankets for Bean.  She's been using them to practice holding and playing baby with them.  And by playing baby, I mean she lays on my lap, puts the blanket over her, cries for milk, and makes me feed milk to her in her sippy cup like you would a baby with a bottle.)

(LAST pregnancy photo just a few days before induction day! Boy am I thankful it isn't a "41" on that board like I had with Bean!)

A Special Visit (with an unplanned dilemma)!

Bean had some special visitors come during Memorial Weekend -- Mommom & Poppop! She got some extra attention and got to bond deeper with her grandparents.  She's ready for them to come back after baby sister comes!

While Steve's parents were here, we packed a lot in -- 2 trips to our favorite ice cream spot (which makes the preggo happy!), lawn work, grilled out each day, a trip to a new nature park, Trisha headed up all meal preps giving me a break, and even Scott and Ashley came up to spend some time with us! 

(I think someone has her Poppop wrapped around her little finger.  Who can resist Bean's sweet little, "play with me??" request?!)

(Even though Mommom was the official story/bedtime manager, Bean was able to get Poppop to read her one story before nap.)

(No trip would be complete without some art time with Mommom!)

(I have no idea where this game came from, but Bean found my sewing measuring tape.  She would have 2 people hold it across the room.  We were then told to make the tape bounce while she jumped next to it saying, "Jump on the ceiling, doo doo doo!"  She was entertained this way for HOURS. Seriously HOURS. She still sings her little chant and jumps around the house, but the tape measure is no longer needed.)

(Sporting her glasses and of course a stick on our little nature walk at the new park!)

We had a great weekend and are thankful that Steve's parents are willing and able to make the trek out our way to spend time with us.  We also appreciated their flexibility when our fridge went totally caput! We've had lots of issues with it, but usually a simple defrost and resetting the fridge fixes it.  Not this time.  We could get the freezer compartment back up and running, but the fridge portion temp would never fall below "danger zone".  So while they were here, they watched Bean and let us run to a store and fridge shop.  The new fridge is ordered, but won't get here until AFTER sprout arrives - yikes! In a cool twist of fate, friends of my parents were visiting them in IN and were able/willing to detour on their trip back home to drop off my college fridge! So now we are using a tiny fridge, but making it work!

(Never a good sign. I am super thankful that we have a big freezer in our basement! It became a lifesaver!)

(The fridge was definitely the most stressful part of the weekend for me.  After working in a dining court in college, I have food safety drilled into me.  Seeing the thermometer in the danger zone everytime I opened the fridge sent me into a panic.  We did purge a bunch of food and have had to limit what's in our small fridge now.)

(My college fridge, haha.  It definitely makes me feel like we live in Europe -- tiny fridge to only store essentials and multiple trips to the store for the week.  It sounds worse than it is.  It's kind of nice to have a reason to get out of the house a few times a week and is helping to pass time before Sprout comes.  But boy will I be happy when that new fridge comes!)