Our little beach babe...

For my dad's 60th birthday we took a family vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. Sydney had her first encounter with the ocean. Panama City is on the Gulf Coast and so the sands are white and the water is really warm. It was a great trip and we had great weather the entire time.

Sydney enjoyed being outside, but didn't think too much of the sand. The salt water was okay and the pool was great, but not the sand!

She had a cute little swimsuit and sun hat and stayed under the umbrella while she was at the beach. Donnie took her to the water, and after they came back to the beach she began licking the salt water off of Donnie's arm.

Sydney spent most of the "day" time inside with her great grandmother. It was great that they had time to bond and Donnie and I had time to play!

Can you believe?

Well, today is May 28. For the last four weeks or so it has been HOT. The temperature has been in the 80s and 90s, but now all of the sudden it has dropped into the 40s and 50s. Can you believe that?! We had to unpack some of Sydney's cold clothes - we thought we wouldn't see them again until a little sister came along - so she could get warm. We took a few pictures because she looked so cute and we wanted to share them.

SHE"S 4 MONTHS OLD!

Although she still has hair, it is crazy! She has 5, count them 5, crowns so her hair will not lay flat or in any one direction. She likes to talk and has the cutest laugh now. It sounds kind of like she's gurgling sometimes!






Last week she started on rice cereal. She really seems to like it (although you can't tell from this picture). She manages to keep most of it in her mouth, but every now and then some seeps out onto her cheeks. Dr. Adams said that next week we should start her on orange veggies like carrots and squash.



She now weighs 14 pounds, 10 1/2 ounces (75th percentile) and is 26 3/4 inches long (above the 95th percentile). Her body is still growing pretty fast, which is hard for her trachea to keep up. She still has a slight case of tracheal malasia (underdeveloped trachea), but will hopefully outgrow it soon. Her oxygen levels are great and she eats and sleeps well so the doctor said there is no need to be concerned.

She is developing well and other than the fact that she slobbers excessively, she is doing great. Dr. Adams think she might start cutting teeth soon - I guess we will see.

Another day down...

It has been almost two months since our last post - SORRY! Sydney will have her 4 month checkup and shots appointment this week. We recently switched doctors and so hopefully it will be a good experience. Her original doctor was Dr. Nielson. He was nice, but very young. Not that being young is necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it was.

At her 2 week checkup, Dr. Nielson diagnosed Sydney with thrush ( a yeast infection on her tongue; it's pretty common among newborns). He prescribed nystatin and thought that should take care of it. After the 10 days, dosing her 3 times a day, her tongue looked the same. So he went with Diflucan next. We used it for 15 days , as directed, and still no change. We went back for her 2 month checkup and he recommend that we use gentian violet - a purple dye you paint on the tongue and in the mouth once a day. It colors everything!

She had rather random breathing and Dr. Nielson said it was nothing to worry about. Donnie's sister mentioned it to her doctor when she took her kids in for their next checkup and he sounded concerned. We decided to take Sydney to him to check out the breathing.

We went to Dr. Adams on May 3 and he asked if she had any problems. I told him she was born 2 1/2 weeks early and had jaundice, and she was also being treated for thrush. He said her jaundice was gone (duh, she was no longer yellow) and then proceeded to check out the thrush. Surprisingly enough, Sydney's tongue looked the exact same as it always had. Dr. Adams asked if she ever had any diaper rashes or complained about eating. I told him clearly she had no issues eating ( she had already gained 5 pounds since birth) and I've never seen any rashes. It turned out Sydney didn't have thrush. In fact, the white on her tongue was merely a fat deposit from breast milk. Dr. Adams said that thrush causes a white rash all in her mouth, not just on her tongue and she would have a rash down bottom too.

We had spent the last 3 months treating her for something she didn't have! Unbelievable! Her breathing sounded gaspy/airy because her trachea is underdeveloped and as she grows and her trachea grows, she should eventually grow out of it. Well, that is why we now have a new doctor.

She is growing so big and strong now. She likes to play "Where's baby?" and watch the toys that hang on her carseat. She loves to talk too! We recently started her on rice cereal and SHE LOVES IT! She laughs and giggles the whole time. It's really cute. She loves bath time now and likes to splash the water with her feet.

Everyday I look at her and it is still hard to believe she is my little girl. She's perfect - and cute as can be.

Two months and still going strong...

Sydney had her two month check up yesterday. The doctor said she is doing really well and he was surprised at how tall she has grown. She weighs 11 pounds 11 ounces (75 percentile) and is 25 1/2 inches long (above the 97 percentile).

She was pretty good at the doctor, until they pulled out the needles. She received 5 vaccinations yesterday ( only 4 shots because the polio vaccine is given orally). She started screaming as soon as the first needle went in, but stopped when the nurse left the room. She pretty much slept most of the rest of the day and we gave her infant tylenol every 4 hours or so.

I thought we would be lucky and she wouldn't have any reactions to the shots, but today she has been so cranky! Nothing seems to console her. At least we know what to expect when she goes in for her 4 month check up and shots!

She is finally out of the baby zombie stage and looks around and holds your gaze. She smiles a lot too, which makes all of those crying times a little easier to take. She is such a sweet baby! Bath time and diaper changes have also become good times - no more tears!

Six weeks old and still going strong...

She spends a lot of time with me and our favorite pasttime is watching TV. Hey, we live where it snows a lot and it is way too cold to go outside. Maybe in a few weeks it will warm up and we can play outside.

In the mornings after Donnie leaves for class Sydney sleeps in his spot. She likes to sleep curled up with her arms under her head.


She smiles a lot now and is a really happy baby. She loves her carseat and to smile!







When she is in a deep sleep she puts her hands up by her head, most of the time they make it all the way up into a "toucdown" position, but here she apparently is pretending to be a moose.






She still is not too big on bathtime, but she is adjusting well to her "big girl tub." It seems to be more enjoyable than the sink or a spongebath (who knew?).

Some more photos of Sydney

Here she is at 1 week old. She still has jaundice and so she looks a little yellow. She is a great sleeper and eater though so it should clear up soon.






This is right after a bath. She hates baths and cries the whole time - until we wash her hair and then she is very calm. Her hair is curly when it's wet and as it starts to dry it turns wavy and sticks out everywhere! It is so cute.





This is how you will find her most of the time - except for the few hours between 3 and 7 a.m.. She thinks that is playtime and is wide awake. In her first pictures she looked exactly like Donnie, but now you can see some of the Ralston in her too!

A view from the hospital...

Finally - I have the epidural going and I can relax. Only my sisters keep me on the phone for updates.

Although you probably can't tell from this angle, I really look like I am about to pop!




Who knew that the hardest part of it all would be the pushing? Pain was not a problem, but I thought if I had to keep pushing my head would explode!















She's finally here! Her lungs were nice and healthy too. Once they cleared her mouth and nose and clamped off her umbilical cord, they wiped her off, weighed her and measured her.















Finally she's clean and all bundled up. Then I was able to hold her. I was still a little groggy from the epidural, but I was very excited to hold my little angel!