Dexter and Rachel...

had another playdate! This time we enjoyed some lunch followed by a stroll in the park. Afterwards, we went back to Dexter's house and they "played."

Pointing out the fine details on her cardigan...

This time instead of trying to sneak a kiss, Rachel went for a hand-hold. :)

To All Soon-to-be First Time Moms...

Planning. Seems like the second you find out you are pregnant, you start planning. Is it a girl? Is it a boy? What colors for the nursery? What kind of crib? Will you breast feed or use formula? You even set out to make a "birth plan." You know, just how will you have that baby. In water? Drugs? No drugs? Music in the background while you meditate? You like to kid yourself that when the baby comes, you will stop this planning nonsense. Guess what, you will stop planning because you can't plan. NOTHING ever goes the way you would like it. In fact, don't even make a birth plan. It's ok to say you are going to try to go natural. It's ok to say that you want the epidural. But don't even think that it has to go that way because more than likely it will not. You may want to breast feed and find out you aren't cut out for it because the baby takes up every second of your time and you can't even sleep for more than two hours without having to feed him. You may think you are going to get an epidural but then your labor comes so quickly you find yourself in the car on the way to the hospital with no time to spare. Your baby may not like the swing you got. You may hate having the bassinet in your room. You may find yourself going "Why in the world do I have 3 bags of cotton balls? What was the purpose of these things again?" A baby doesn't care what your plans are. Go ahead and throw that script out the window.


Worry. While pregnant you will worry constantly about the baby inside you. You will fret over the foods you eat or don't eat. You will take prenatals religiously. You will freak out if you haven't felt the baby move in over an hour. This is normal. But it never goes away. In fact, I think worrying gets worse after the baby arrives because then you know what you could possibly lose. You are going look at that little face sleeping in your arms and tears are going to stream down your face at even the slightest sad thought. You think your hormones are bad now, crying during a commercial or song, wait until your baby is born. It's like every song is made just for them and every movie has some special meaning in it directed towards them. Driving becomes a hazard because a Celine Dion song comes on, you look in the review at the baby and the tears start. "You're my life's one miracle, everything I've done that's good. And you break my heart with tenderness and I confess it's true, I never knew a love like this till you." *Whaaaaaaah!* You will feel like a mess constantly from now until forever. It never stops but it's something you would never change.

Sleep. Everyone always likes to point out that "you should enjoy your sleep now because you'll never sleep once the baby comes!" Yeah, yeah. We all know that babies wake up a lot. That they don't sleep long periods of time. If you didn't know that, then why are you having a child. You should probably do some reading first on the subject. But I digress...I would like to point out that usually (and I say usually because, again, you can't plan anything) babies start to string sleep together longer by the third month. They start to realize that nighttime is for sleeping and daytime is for playing and smiling at mama and daddy. The first couple of months are horrible. I will not say that they are not, but do know there is light at the end of the tunnel and you will get sleep again. And try not to punch anyone in the face who decides to point out you won't be getting sleep.

Things. You may be all excited about registering for your baby gifts. You may be terrified at the thought of doing it. Going to Babies R Us is a nightmare for the new parent. THEY. HAVE. EVERYTHING. Going in to the bottle section is frightening. Where do you start? And what makes it worse is they give you a book with a list a mile long of "stuff you have to get. Stuff you won't live without." You need netting for your stroller to keep the bugs away from your baby. You need a wipe warmer so the little bundle of joy won't be scarred by the feeling of a cold one. Please. Half of the stuff on there you don't need. Or you don't need right now. Words of advice from me on this...go register then have a couple close friends who just had babies look at your list and tell you if you need that swing with all the bells and whistles or if you can save a few bucks on one that just swings. And read the reviews. Make sure what you're buying works for most people. You do not want to get your baby bath home, fill it up and have it leak all over (like ours does). Also, you really don't have to put clothes, blankets, bibs or hats on your registry. People love to buy that stuff and you really don't have to ask for it.

The baby. If you were anything like me, you may not be a "baby person." I wasn't even sure I wanted kids. But I kept hearing, "It's different when they are your own." I wanted to think that this was just something people say so the family line continues. But guess what, it's true. It's so very, very true. Just wait, because in X amount of months, weeks, days, your life is going to be 100 times better than it was and no lack of sleep, money or sanity will keep you from feeling it. :)

Rachel's Favorite Thing...

is to roll. She does it all the time now...


My favorite thing...is her. She is grabbing on to my ear in this picture. :)

A Beautiful Easter Day and The Pool!

Sunday, Rachel and I spent the day together like we do most weekends since Stephen works We got all decked out in our "Sunday" best and went to Church with a friend. Rachel looked around for about a half hour then slept through the whole service (yes!). Afterwards, it was home for a quick change and then we met another friend for a walk in the park. It was a hot day out but Rachel didn't mind.

Today, we set up a little blow-up pool. Rachel's first big time in the pool! She actually didn't hate it and I expect as time goes on she will love it. Watch it here!

Play Date with Mack and Wilson

Friday, Rachel had a play date with Mack and Wilson. Mack was in the NICU before and after Rachel and they even shared a room for a little while. His mom and I had many talks and even some tears during those days. It was wonderful to see them all together, outside of the NICU and I finally got to meet Wilson. Happy times were had by all...even some naps were taken!

Rachel relaxing in the shade...beware the rolls!

Mack checking out Rachel in her pretty dress.

Mr. Mack enjoying life outside of the NICU. :)

Mr. Wilson thinking a nap sounds good....

Correction...

I went back and read over Rachel's growth measurements from her 6 month appointment. I had her head measurement wrong. She is on the DS chart and while her head size is slightly below the average, it's not as tiny as I thought. Whoops!

6 Month Pediatricians Appointment

First things first, Rachel does not have a tooth. Or, if she had a tooth, it went back up in to her gums. Whatever that white, hard thing was is now gone. Oh well, it was exciting while it lasted. Here she is in an outfit her grandma C. bought her. Look at the chub on the arms! I swear she doesn't look that chubby in person!

Feelin' Sneezy!

We went to the pediatricians on Monday for her 6 month check up. Even though Rachel was born early, they still go by her birth age for shots and check-ups. She received three shots. She screamed like usual. But the doctor also needed blood to follow up on some other things that she had done while in the hospital. This meant a lancet to her heel. This is really one of those things you wish you never have to go through. They stick a needle in her heel and squeeze and squeeze to get blood out. She was SO upset. It took F O R E V E R for the nurse to get the blood too because one of the lancets didn't break her skin and Rachel was fighting so hard to keep her away! She is 23 inches and 12 pounds, 7 ounces. The doctor was really happy with how she has grown. Well, her body is growing...her poor little head isn't very big. I mean, it's growing, but it's not even on any kind of growth chart (DS or normal). The only thing I want for her is to have her head stay in proportion to her body. This may be a selfish wish but I don't care.

Her grandpa C. is here for a visit. So far she kind of eyes him with a little concern but I'm sure once she gets older, he will completely win her over. He also bought her some new toys today. She really likes this thing called an "Oball." She only wishes she could fit it in to her mouth!

6 Month Photos!

I took a trip to Durham last weekend to meet up with some friends and to have Rachel's six month photos taken. My friend, Lori, who is a wonderful photographer along with being a mom to two cute little girls (one with Ds like Rachel), was kind enough to take some photos for us. Here are a few favorites! If you like what you see, you can find Lori in and around Atlanta, Georgia.Check out her website!

All Things Rachel

Ever since Rachel came home, she has been battling reflux. She was put on one medication, then switched to Prevacid, then switched to Enfamil AR (added rice) formula, then her Prevacid was upped to the adult dose twice a day and now she has another medicine added to the mix. Her GI doctor said that if this medication didn't work, we would have to start doing some tests on Rachel. She has a follow-up with him in two weeks. She is just so miserable. She can't do any tummy time or else she just whines and cries the rest of the day. No fun for her, no fun for us! I just want her to be able to play on the ground like a "normal" child so whatever tests are needed to get to that point, we'll grin and bear them.

She has also been extra crabby because of what looks like a tooth coming in. Now, I have no idea what a tooth looks like when it is coming in but I have had two people who have had babies take a look at the "tooth" and they seem to think it is. We will know for sure on Monday when we visit her Pediatrician for her 6 month check up. Want to place your bet? Vote in the poll to the left!

She is now 23 inches and 12 pounds, 5 ounces! Yay! She is a big girl and I think she gets that all from her daddy. That is a good thing! It's funny because the Nurse at the GI doc put her weight on the normal baby chart at her birth age of 6 months. She was right at the 5% mark. That is awesome considering she should only be 4 months, was preemie and has DS! If you go by the fact that she should be 4 months, she falls in between the 10-20% for weight and 5-10% for length. I just find that amazing. Grow Rachel, grow!

Rachel LOVES to be outside or riding in the car. Her little face just lights up when I put her carseat in the backseat. She could be happy forever being pushed around in her stroller at the park. I know she is going to love running around in our backyard in the future!

She was visited by her EI therapist, Lisa, on Tuesday. She was still so very impressed with her social skills. No work needed there! (The pictures below are of her smiling at Stephen) She also said that Rachel was doing much better with her arms and reaching for things and even being seated she is starting to bear weight on her arms. That was nice to hear since Rachel hasn't been able to do much therapy due to her reflux. Her neck is starting to get tight on the one side again from lack of laying on the ground and we need to work on that. We don't want her cute little head to be tilted!

Happy 6 Months (Then and Now)

I can't believe it's been 6 months since we first met you. Looking back at these pictures, it's almost hard to believe our life with you started the way it did. You are perfect and we love you. Happy 6 months my baby girl!

Sitting Like a Big Girl and Other Cute Photos...

Rachel's head control has really improved over the last week...

and some other cute pics...

 

It's Like She Reads My Blog...

Of course, since I posted yesterday about Rachel not swatting at her toys, she decided that she was going to have to prove me wrong. I put her in her chair this afternoon in order to take a shower. I put it in the bathroom with me and we have a glass shower door so I can keep an eye on her while I shower. About 5 minutes in to my shower, I noticed her eyeing up the "bugs" that hang over her head and sure enough, she deliberately raises her left arm and hits the red bug. She is so thrilled with herself that she starts smiling. She does it again and again and keeps right on smiling. I extended my shower much longer than I needed to in order to just watch her enjoy herself as she played. What a girl! I was able to catch a pic of her eye balling her favorite toy - the red bug.

Let the PT Begin!

Tuesday, Lisa, the EI (Early Intervention) therapist came to the house to visit Rachel. It had been a month since she last saw her because of all of us getting sick. Now that Rachel is 3 months adjusted age, Lisa is really starting to look for Rachel to start moving and using her body certain ways. Rachel is still doing great lifting her head and her neck control while sitting up has improved greatly. She also isn't favoring turning her head to the right like she used to. She also let Lisa know when she was ready to stop the assessment! Her social skills are right on track. But, Lisa has noticed things that do need to be worked on and has suggested that it's time for a PT (Physical Therapist) to come to the house and work with Rachel on a regular basis. She wants Rachel to keep her momentum when it comes to her physical movements. Some of the things we need to work on with Rachel are reaching for toys, reaching her arms out while on her tummy which will help with crawling and continue working on her neck strength. She gave us some tips on how to help her with all these things.

Rachel is still young though and Lisa wasn't too worried. She expects Rachel to "notice" her hands and start reaching out for toys within the next couple weeks. Right now Rachel sees the toys and likes to study them but doesn't make that big of an attempt to reach for them or swat at them. She will hold them if we place them near her hands. She loves a cloth book that I bought her while we were in PA a couple weeks ago. It makes crinkly noises when she squeezes it and it has bright pictures of bugs. For some reason, she loves pictures of bugs. I think it has to do with the huge eyes they are given. Anyway, I am happy that we have this help for Rachel. I know it will benefit her greatly as she grows and starts to move. Can I tell you that I am ready for her to sit up on her own already. It will give her so much freedom!

A Ds Event and the Cystic Fibrosis test

Yesterday, Sunday, I attended my first Down syndrome family event. Is it ok to say I was really scared to go? Even though I have a daughter with Ds, I have never been around other children with it. I had no idea what to expect and I feel ashamed to admit that all those preconceived images danced in my head. The event was held at a gymnastics center. It was huge and there were a ton of parents and kids (with and without Ds). I got to see a couple moms that I met at a mom's night out some months ago and I got to meet their children. It was a wonderful event! Kids were running and jumping and laughing and parents were running and jumping trying to keep up with those kids. There was a little boy who isn't able to walk yet but he was scooting around on his butt like nobody's business! I cannot believe how fast he was moving. There was a little girl exploring and no matter how many times she tripped over a mat edge and fell, she got right back up and kept moving. There were no tears from that girl. She even made a point to stop and wave hello to another dad on the ground. Typical children played with children with Ds and there wasn't any staring or whispering. If only the rest of the world was like that one day in that gymnastics center. What a wonderful world it would be!

Today, we took Rachel back to Brenner Children's Hospital to be retested for Cystic Fibrosis. At the time of her birth, they tested her blood for it and it came back with a positive indication. Stephen and I didn't find out about this test until after we had already brought her home from the hospital and I was reading through her discharge papers. Needless to say, I was horrified and scared. I called the hospital right away and they reassured me that the test gives a lot more false positives than true positives. Rachel's blood was also really messed up after her birth because she lost most of it and received 2 blood transfusions. So, we were hopeful that she would be fine. To do the test, they have to collect sweat from her. They cleaned her legs then applied a medicine to help her sweat. Over that medicine, they put some wet gauze and then an electrode to stimulate the sweat glands. They kept that on her for 5 minutes. As far as we could tell, she didn't feel anything and in true Rachel form, she smiled through the whole thing. After that, they re-cleaned the area, put a piece of gauze on her leg to collect the sweat, covered it with plastic, taped that down, covered it with more gauze, then plastic wrap and then more gauze. Wow. They had to do the test on both legs. It took over an hour total to do the whole thing. Here she is being so good and waiting for the test to be over. You can see the gauze on both her legs...

After the test was over, they took off the outer wrapping, carefully removed the gauze that was on her leg inside of the plastic and put it into a glass vile for testing.

The woman who preformed the test said that the pediatrician would call us if the news was good but if the news was bad, then she or the genetics counselor would call us. We were told the test may be completed today but we couldn't count on it. The trip from Benner's to our house is 45 minutes. We walked in the door and the phone rang. On the caller ID is "Wake Forest Uni" which is the hospital. I'm thinking, wow, this in not good. I answer the phone and Stephen is already starting to freak out. The woman who preformed the test informs me that Rachel's test results were in and that she is NEGATIVE for Cystic Fibrosis. She also informed me that she isn't supposed to call and tell us but she wanted to let us know. What a wonderful woman! We are so happy to have that test done and out of the way. On to other worries...and there are certainly enough of them to choose from!

New York, New York!

A little photo shoot with wardrobe provided by Uncle Mike and Aunt Mer.

Visit with Dr. Pranikoff

Today, Rachel had another follow up with her surgeon, Dr. Pranikoff. We got to travel back to Baptist Hospital. We hadn't been there in at least a month which was weird. We got taken back to the exam room quickly (wow) and then Rachel was weighed. Now, last week, last Tuesday at her pediatricians, she weighed 11 pounds, 4 ounces and that was right when she started to get sick. Rachel was really sick all last week until Friday night when her fever broke. She has ear infections and a horrible cough now but last week she was barely eating as well. I was so afraid to see her weight today. I thought for sure she was going to be down half a pound. Well, I worry for nothing I guess. Rachel only lost 2 ounces and I know with the way she is eating again, she will gain that back by tomorrow. Whew. When you are the mom of a NICU baby, and you lived and died by the weight they gained (or didn't gain) then it's really hard to let that part go. Here Rachel was having a hard time breathing and her poor little ears hurt and I couldn't get over the fact she wasn't eating enough. Sometimes you have to take a step back and see what an idiot you are being. Anyway, Dr. Pranikoff was happy with how she was looking and how nice her scar looked and because we didn't have any problems to report, he sent us on our merry way. We will see him again in June and probably once more in September but then no more after that unless we have problems. I really don't think there will be any.

We stopped by the NICU with Rachel to donate some blankets and to see if some nurses we know where there so we could say hello. Unfortunately, they were not. So, I just want to say hello to Digi, Jamie, Sherri and even lactation expert, Martha if any of you are reading this. Though I am happy we are done with the NICU, I still miss seeing you guys. You were the light of my days there sometimes. I can't wait until Rachel is bigger and I can introduce her to you and she can say "Thank you" for herself for all that you did.

***It's really hard to get any pictures of Rachel smiling. She hates the camera. As soon as she sees it, she stops talking or smiling and just stares at it or looks away. One of these days we'll have to sneak some pics of some smiles as one of us holds her and talks to her because that is all she does most of the day. Since she stared feeling better, she talks to us constantly!

I've Been Awarded!

They must be giving these things out like candy or something because two people actually "nominated" me for this!

Well, thank you Courtney and Maddie!

Now for the rules...
Thank the person who nominated you and link to their blog.
Copy the award and paste it to your blog.
Tell us 7 interesting facts about yourself.
Nominate 7 bloggers that you love and link to their blog.

7 Interesting Facts

1. I hate being in the rain and cold. You want to see me really upset? Make me run errands in that crap.

2. I have more plants than I do people and pets in my house. Let's hope the plants never come alive or else we are done for.

3. I'm addicted to the video baby monitor. It's Rachel TV and it's always on!

4. I like Jay Leno. I think I may be the only person left on this planet, besides my dad, who likes him.

5. My husband and I met on Match.com

6. I get motion sick really easily. Boats and I are not friends.

7. Except for poop on a cracker, I pretty much like and will try any kind of food at least once.

7 Great Blogs (I'm not including the ones who nominated me but they would be on this list.)

1. A little extra by Conny Wenk

2. Daniel Drinker

3. Our Unexpected Journey

4. Conceive This!

5. Three's a Charm

6. Baby on Board

7. A World of My Own