What a day...scratch that. What a week!

Yesterday we went to Kemah to meet Harper's Nana and our friend Diane for Harper's pictures.  Everything was going well for the first 15 minutes and then all hell broke loose.  Harper had a wall-eyed hissy fit and wouldn't calm down unless she was being held.  Needless to say, she took some mommy & me pictures.  She showed me one on her camera and I cried.  I can't wait to see more of them.  I'm always behind the camera with the exception of two pictures - one in the hospital and one the day we came home, neither of them flattering.  Those were taken at my heaviest, a whopping 200 lbs.  I still can't believe it myself.  I was very sick and had plenty of postpartum complications which forced more medications and fluids into my daily medication regimen.  I've lost almost 50 pounds but yesterday, I would have been more than willing to have my picture taken at 200 or even 300 pounds.  Yesterday was such a special moment.  I'm beginning to cry just thinking about it. 

Today we hung out with Aunt Tracy.  I'm sure Avery will not be happy when she finds out that Harper was at her house while she was at school.  This is a picture of Avery and Harper's first meeting.  Avery was too cute and so gentle!

While downloading pictures onto my computer, I came across this picture of Papaw with Harper.  I took so many pictures with other people's cameras, I forgot that I took a picture with mine!  This reminds me that I need to call him.  It's too late now but I'll put it on my long list of things to do tomorrow.

Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.  I have a CPR class tomorrow in Katy and then I have to rush back home to Harper.  I hope I can make it a few hours without her.  :)  I have to get some documentation together for my Monday CPR meeting with Mary.  Friday morning we have a play-date with some moms on a board I belong to, Bay Area Mommas or BAM for short.  Every time John refers to the site, he always ends up saying "Bam" as if he is Emeril Lagasse.  :)

Hooray!

I took Harper to the doctor the other day and he changed her medicine from Zantac to Prevacid because he thinks her fussiness is caused by a pretty hard-core case of acid reflux and gas. She had been on Zantac for 12 days and it didn't seem like it was helping and he agreed. We're on day 4 of the Prevacid and she's done a complete 180. She's back to our sweet, happy baby.

She had such a severe case of reflux, her gums were swollen and blanched! On top of that, we think she's teething-at two months old. The other day, I broke down and gave her some Orajel while she was screaming in the store and within 10 minutes, she was out like a light. I found out later that you aren't supposed to give Orajel to infants under 4 months old. Woops!

We've got a big week ahead of us. Harper's grandma is meeting us in Kemah to get Harper's pictures taken by a very talented photographer. I can't wait to see watch she does with Harper as far as posing. She's getting so big. She already weighs 10.5 lbs!

My parents were going to come down this weekend but it didn't work out. They had to stay and help out with Landon because he wasn't feeling well. They're planning on coming down next weekend.  Mom doesn't know it yet but she's going with me to my CPR Party.  She'll find out soon enough!  :)

Fussiness

This past weekend we went to visit my family and Harper finally got to meet almost everyone. Some of my relatives were sick and others were out of town but hopefully we will be able to go back in a few weeks. I'm very close to my family and it's become even more important to me that Harper see them just as often as John's family who live across town.

Over the past week, Harper has been unusually fussy. I've noticed a pattern: after she eats, she will draw her legs up, cry and become inconsolable. I've called her doctor and am waiting on a return phone call. A friend of mine mentioned that I may try to cut out all dairy from my diet. I think I'll give this a try but I don't like milk so I'll have to cut the only other source of dairy in my diet which is cheese. This is unfortunate because I absolutely L-O-V-E cheese! Her symptoms seem to fit all of the protein intolerance symptoms-colicky, reflux, unable to settle and/or sleep, excessive gas, stomach pain, and green stools. She even has a small rash around her neck which I thought was caused by heat. I want to get her checked out to make sure that she doesn't have something more serious. Hopefully when John gets home I can jump in the shower, do some laundry, submit a bid for a large CPR contract and look forward to another night full of crying (for both Harper and I)!

And it begins...

So the past week or so has been stressful with many appointments (Harper and myself), taking on my new role within the CPR company and most exciting of all, getting ready to take Harper to Marshall to meet my family. Harper's 6 week checkup went well but you wouldn't know it from the picture. She was fussy all afternoon but even then, was only fussy when she would wake up to eat. She actually slept a lot that day which is a blessing.

Now a few days ago, I woke up to an unfamiliar noise. It was Harper and she had found her fingers. She was sound asleep but sucking on that finger! I'm at a loss because she is getting accustomed to sleeping on her tummy on my chest. If she's placed on a pillow, she's out. If she's on her back in her pack 'n play she will only sleep for about 30 minutes and then she wakes up. I feel like the world's worst mom when she falls asleep on her tummy but she likes it and sleeps really well. So tonight I'm going to try to put her in her carseat and see how that goes.

One thing I'm working on is a schedule for Harper in the hopes that will help her sleep at night. I'm going to try to bathe her every other night before bed which is an increase from once each week. The main reason behind the weekly baths is that Harper was blessed with my super sensitive, pastey white skin. Poor baby! It's also been unseasonably cold the past week or so with temps in the low 20's. John told me one morning that it was 19 degrees F when he left to go to work. I may need to inform some that we live in Houston-HOUSTON! That is waaaaaay too cold! I didn't sign up for this weather.


Since I'm in a picture happy mood, I leave you now with a picture of Harper praying. Thanks Anne!

So much to do / So little time

Here's the deal:
I've made a promise to myself to blog even on days when I don't really feel like it. So as I was sitting here watching Mike Rowe eat lamb's testicles on Dirty Jobs, I suddenly began to feel overwhelmed. Between Harper's room, crafts & projects, studying for my nurse exit exam, both mine & Harper's doctor's appointments and the usual eating & sleeping, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. Obviously my craft projects aren't a huge priority but I'm starting to grow tired of looking at them on our dining room table. As for Harper's room, I know it can wait since she has been (and will be) sleeping in our room a little while longer. The studying, however, must be dealt with head-on and I better get on it since the exam is the first week in March. Since I haven't been in school for four months I need to totally submerge myself in my books.

During my pregnancy, I was put on bed rest once I hit 20 weeks due to health reasons. I was allowed to 'walk' (roll in a wheelchair) with my graduating class even though I had one more exam to take-that silly exit exam. I would have completed it but was told to avoid any and all stressful situations. Once I complete this I will officially be a graduate nurse and will have to take the state boards (a.k.a. NCLEX) to become a Registered Nurse. I absolutely cannot wait! In the mean time, I will begin to teach CPR and First Aid through the American Heart Association again (something I truly love and miss). I pick up my CPR mannequins tomorrow and have a meeting with my AHA mentor. I have approx. 10 people who need to renew their certification so it promises to be a busy couple of weeks. Yay!

As I type this, I'm looking across my den at my Christmas tree and a few other decorations that need to come down. I guess I'll add that to the list and try to do that tomorrow...

Happy New Year!

Well 2009 was a crazy year! I finished nursing school (more on that later) and we welcomed a new addition-our little girl, Harper. She was born on 11/24/09 at 1:56pm, 5 lbs 10 oz, 18" long. We knew that children were definitely in our future. We just didn't realize they were in our immediate future! 2010 promises to be a year full of good times, friends & family. I'm sure there will be some trying times but with John by my side and a few other people in my corner, I'm sure I'll make it through.

About my blog:
Since Harper was born, I like to email a picture of Harper to family and close friends and the title is always, "Your Daily Dose...". Unfortunately, between a new baby, sleep and breastfeeding, that email goes out every other day if I'm lucky. My hopes for this blog are simple: update with a picture and add a little more text than I usually do via my iPhone.

Here's to all of my 2009 resolutions, keeping them and everything 2010 has to offer!