Category Archives: Birth-6 months

An Early Spring

It has been an incredibly mild winter here in Chicagoland. Here it is, the middle of March, and it’s been in the 70s and 80s. Paul has enjoyed playing outside this week.

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Three-week old Caroline has been outside with us too, of course. I’m a bit concerned about her being out in the sun, so we’ve been going out in the later afternoon. She usually stays under wraps in her carrier in the shade.

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She is wearing a boyish outfit from Paul’s infancy. Most of Caroline’s newborn clothes are pink outfits, long sleeved and footed. I thought it would be cold this time of year! Silly me. So when it’s warm, out come the short-sleeved blue outfits. Again, who’d have thought that it would be so warm already?! Not that I’m complaining.

Ryan and Paul were sick with colds this week. Paul was still in good spirits for the most part, although he did have a day or two of temper tantrums and unpleasantness. Ryan was out with a flu-like cold for two days of not feeling well. So I tried to keep everyone else away from Caroline, which resulted in me be exhausted. I felt like I was in a daze all week.

And then, of course, I got sick too. So now I feel pretty icky. Caroline and I stayed home from church this morning and took naps.

Better this week than next, however! This week, Grandma Peggy and Papa Paul are coming. Next Sunday, Caroline will receive a name and a blessing during our Sacrament meeting! What a special day it will be.

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I think it looks like she is smiling in the second picture here. It is said that babies don’t smile with meaning until six weeks or older. But, as happened when Paul was newborn, I am certain she has smiled at me because I am me. She sees me and smiles. It feels great to be recognized. She is so beautiful!

All pictures on this post taken March 14, 2012.

Two-Week Checkup

Caroline had her two-week check up yesterday. (Already!) Since her five-day appointment, she gained a full half a pound! So her stats yesterday were as follows:

Weight: 7 lbs 8.5 oz (She was 7 lbs 0.5 oz last Monday, eight days previous)

Head circumference: 35 cm

Height: 20.25 inches (she grew a quarter inch)

In other, less statistical, updates, she’s given me at least one night of very good sleep: she woke every three hours to eat and otherwise slept soundly! That was just one night, however. Other nights she’s remained awake after feeding, or awaken every hour, or pretty much just wanted to be held. The doctor reminds me that a newborn cannot be spoiled: it’s only after a month or so that a baby has the ability to self-comfort. She needs interaction at this point.

Paul seems a bit bored by Caroline, as well as a little jealous at the amount of time I spend holding her. “She has eyes!” he says when they are actually open. And “you need to put her back in her crib now” has also been said at least once. He suddenly finds himself bored with playing by himself. I think he was expecting Caroline to be a bit more interactive, or at least smile at him. Soon enough, dear. Too soon, from my perspective.

All this is a wonderful reminder to keep cuddling her some more! I’m off to do that before she gets too big too soon!

 

Caroline’s First Week

My Brother and Me

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Daddy and Daughter!

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First Bath

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Pretty as a Princess

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Caroline has proven to be a very eager eater and a voracious pooper. Way to go, new baby!

She still has to learn that night time is for sleeping four hours at a time, while day time should be when we wake up every hour or two. But, she’s only a week and a half old, so I suppose I should give her a little longer to figure that out. *Yawn*

Caroline’s First Days

Caroline didn’t cry when she was born. She went from swimming in amniotic fluid to completely born in twenty minutes, apparently gulping lots of fluid in the process.

They gave her to me immediately. My only thought was that she was pink and looked well. But she didn’t cry. Paul didn’t cry either, but this was a bit different. Something seemed odd.

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After just a few moments, the nurses took her back from me. They wanted her to cry, so they gave her a shot she needed, gave her a bath, and proceeded to give her a vigorous rubdown. She had her eyes wide open, but she did not make a sound. I was stuck on the delivery table getting stitched up and I couldn’t see her, but Ryan stood by her. I remember starting to get a bit concerned after about ten minutes or so of this.

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Shortly, Ryan and the nurses left with her “for a little while” to take her to the special care nursery where she could get further attention.

I can’t recall thinking much other than “a little while” isn’t very long.

I was still running on adrenaline. When I was discharged from Labor and Delivery we went straight to the special care nursery. Because she was born so quickly, Caroline had developed TTN (Transient Tachynea of the Newborn) which meant that she had liquid in her lungs and as a result was breathing quick shallow breaths.

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Because I’d been up more than 24 hours at this point (well, except for the brief, contraction-filled two hours I’d had at home), I was incredibly the first day. The three days Caroline spent in the Special Care Nursery were rather draining on me; I like to know what is happening and I felt pretty out of control for my little girl’s sake. Anyway, let’s not dwell on those days. You’ll notice I didn’t take many pictures. The nurses were great and Caroline is fine: there are no long-term issues from TTN.

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Caroline came home on her third morning.

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Paul came with Grandma and Grandpa (where he stayed Friday night to Saturday) and he was so excited to finally meet her. He’d seen her through the nursery window. “That’s my sister!” he said with pride. When she and he were finally together, he was so excited to read her a story.

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Paul is a great big brother. He’s feeling the stress of new rules and less attention, but overall, he seems quite pleased to be a big brother now!

Six Months Old

Paul is six months old today. I can’t believe it’s already been six months! I can’t believe it’s only been six months! I can’t remember life without him and yet it’s all flying by. The last two months, since our USA visit, have passed quicker than any other two months in my life, I think. I just want to cuddle my baby before he gets too big!

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Six Months Checkup

Although Paul isn’t six months old for a few more days, today was Paul’s six-month checkup. Here are his stats:

  • Weight: 7530 grams (35th percentile)
  • Length: 66 cm (35th percentile)
  • Head circumference: 43 cm (25th percentile)

Paul has had a cold and cough for almost four weeks. We went to the doctor (again) on Monday when it had been about three weeks and she prescribed an antibiotic for the cough. The antibiotic has adverse side effects, which makes me not want to give it to him. He also had developed a rash on his neck, so we got ointment for that. The rash is gone and his cough is mostly gone as well.

I look forward to Paul being 100% better next week, just in time for his next immunization!

What is Paul doing between coughs and baths? First, Paul likes to have me read him books. He also likes to eat them.

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He also loves to smile and laugh, especially first thing in the morning, before he gets cranky.

Here are some more pictures, where he appears a little less babyish than he did in the Easter pictures and a little more little-boyish.

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My First Easter by Paul

I didn’t wake up for my breakfast until 5 a.m. I didn’t know what time it was, of course, but Mommy seemed so happy when she came up. She kept saying, “I just slept for six hours straight!” with amazement. I ate eagerly and then decided to go back to sleep.

Before I knew it, Mommy was waking me up and putting my white shirt on me. Then Mommy immediately put me in my car seat. There wasn’t time to spit up on anyone at all! Daddy carried me out to the car and put me in the back. I sat in the car seat for more than an hour as Daddy drove us around. Mommy came and sat by me for a while and so did this other guy we picked up. I was sleepy so I didn’t feel like talking much. I just stared at the side of the car seat.

Finally, we got to church. I wasn’t sleepy anymore. Mommy took me out of my car seat and held me on her lap. There were so many people to look at. People kept coming by and telling me I am cute. Do such obvious things even need to be said? I just giggled and ate my tie.

I sat on Mommy’s lap as she sang songs. I was pretty happy to be awake. The whole meeting was about Jesus. As Daddy passed the sacrament, Mommy told me about how Jesus was resurrected. I was happy.

I went with Daddy to the Gospel Essentials Sunday school class and took a little nap. Most of the lesson was in Chinese anyway, so I didn’t feel too bad sleeping through it. I’m having a hard enough time with English these days!

When I woke up, I was in Relief Society with Mommy. A lady at the front of the room was talking, and I wanted to show everyone how I can talk too, so I started speaking up! Did you know I can make really loud noises with this voice of mine? Really loud noises! One lady sitting in front of me kept telling me I was cute, but Mommy was trying to shush me. She walked around the back of the room, but I was so excited about my noises that I wanted to see how loud I could get. Besides, I was tired of being held. I wanted to kick.

Finally, Mommy stopped shushing me. And then everyone else was moving around and talking, so no one could hear my noises. How disappointing!

Before I knew it, Mommy was putting me back in my car seat. At least Mommy sat by me again. So did one of the other guys we had picked up, Shawn. He kept making faces at me, trying to get me to smile, but I didn’t feel like humoring him. I decided to make loud noises again. I was getting tired, though, so I wasn’t very energetic.

I think I feel asleep because the next thing I remember, I was in my crib at home. I didn’t want to be all by myself, so I called for Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy played with me for a little while and tickled me. I love my Daddy! He rubbed something dark brown on my bottom lip, and Mommy was quite concerned. She kept saying, “Don’t give him chocolate!”

Grandma Peggy called to wish me a happy Easter. I was so amazed by the voice coming out of the telephone that I didn’t say anything to her.

Mommy and Daddy found me some toys and put me in my playpen. I ate my cloth book and hit myself in the head with my rattle while Mommy ironed a tablecloth and Daddy made pear sorbet.

After a little while, Daddy was putting me back in to my car seat. “Where to now?” I thought. We headed all the way back to Shawn’s house and then back to the church. I did not want to be in my car seat any longer, and I tried to tell Daddy, who kept driving. But Shawn and Mommy just told me I was cute. Shawn told me that it was his first Easter too.

After another long while, we were back at church. Mommy read to me from the Book of Mormon Stories book. I sat with Mommy and Daddy as we listened to pretty music. After listening to some talks in Chinese, we went and watched Shawn baptize William. Mommy told me that I’ll be baptized in 7 years, 6 months, and 15 days. I’m so excited!

After we watched the baptism, we drove home again. Shawn came with us, and so did a sister in the ward and her kids. I lay on my back in my playpen looking up, and there were so many smiling faces—two girl faces and a little boy face and Shawn’s face. I didn’t know who to smile at first! The two girls were very excited to smile at me and giggle and tickle me. I was happy to humor them. The oldest girl picked me up and carried me around the room.

The youngest kid, the boy, wasn’t quite sure how to hold me, but he sat down and he did just fine. Then he and Shawn played football in the living room with a stuffed bunny. I can’t wait until I’m a little older and I can run around like that!

I was so excited with all the people around that I didn’t realize how tired I was getting. When they all put me down in my playpen and sat at the table and started eating, I was very annoyed.

“I’m still here!” I tried to say. But, of course, all they heard was my noises. “Isn’t he cute?” they said to each other.

Finally, Mommy remembered me. She picked me up and took me upstairs. She changed my clothes and sang me a song and cuddled me. I was too tired to go to sleep calmly, but she helped me go to sleep anyway.

It was a good first Easter.