A very busy day.

We had a very exciting day today. We spent the morning at the dog park and disc golf course. We were at the dog park by 8:45am. Very impressive I must say. We have to go early to avoid other dogs since Smudge doesn't do very well around them. This week we got a new video camera so Bryan was recording Smudge as he ran around the park. Smudge was particularly energetic. He ran around the park much more than usual. He must have been showing off for the camera. Juliette slept the entire time in her front carrier. I tried throwing a couple discs while wearing Juliette but it didn't go so well. I ended up holding Smudge's leash while Bryan played a couple holes.

In the afternoon we went to Crawfish Boil benefiting a friend's Relay for Life team. Again, Juliette slept the entire time, only this time in her stroller. Juliette sleeps the best during the day while we're on some sort of outing. I just wish she could take those types of naps at home so I could get some work done around the house or work on her scrapbook.

Pictures

Mother's Day 2009

Look at those big blue eyes!

All snug as a bug in a rug.

Bryan is very happy about this tax deduction.

Again with the big blue eyes.

Bryan is getting her hooked on games as soon as he can.

Isn't she cute?

She's growing!

Juliette's weight is doing much better. Last Monday she was 9lbs and yesterday she weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 15oz. The doctor has given me the ok to stop supplementing. I'm still having to pump as often as I can in the morning and afternoon when my supply is highest. My lactation consultant has encouraged me to take an herbal supplement,fenugreek, to increase my supply. One of the side effects of it is that sweat and urine will smell like maple syrup :) Juliette is getting close to smiling or so we like to think. Last night she sleep for over 4 hours straight. Very nice for me.

Sorry it took me so long

I apologize for the delay in postings. Juliette keeps me very busy. Juliette and I have been home now for almost 3 weeks while Bryan has been at work. My first week home with Juliette went pretty well. When Juliette was 3 weeks old I decided to take her in for a weight check to see how she was doing. She didn't gain as much weight as the doctor would have liked so he suggested we supplement with either some of my pumped milk or formula. Unfortunately, I didn't have that much of my milk stored yet to supplement with so we had to use some formula too. Supplementing with my milk and formula seemed to really help Juliette's diaper rash. It cleared up very quickly after we started. So that week I spent basically nursing Juliette, supplementing from a bottle and then pumping only to start the cycle again less than 2 hours later. After a week of supplementing I took Juliette back in for another weight check and she had gained almost 13 ounces in one week. The pain was worth it. This week I am trying to cut back the supplementing. This morning I nursed Juliette and she didn't even want the bottle afterwards. Yay! She was full from me and slept for an hour afterwards. Overall things are going well. Juliette only wakes twice in the night usually between 2 and 3am and then again between 4 and 6am to eat or a diaper change. I've gotten used to is.

This morning while I was pumping in my living room, I heard the outside faucet turn on. I thought this was odd. I look out my living room window and see one of the construction workers just outside my window. Of course I freak out, since I'm sitting on my couch with my breast pump attached to me. I bet he got a real shock if he had looked in the window. When I saw him he had his backed turned to me.

I'll try to post some pictures of Juliette soon. She is up to 9 lbs and almost 22 inches long. She's a growing girl.

Juliette's Butt

Poor Juliette. She has come down with a bad case of diaper rash. Bryan and I are doing everything we can for her, but she's still uncomfortable. We've been soaking her bottom, using one of my extra peri-water bottles I got from the hospital to clean her bottom after every bowel movement, and letting her air out while I'm feeding her or she is napping. Who knew such a cute looking baby could produce such gross noises or make such a mess. If she has a larger bowel movement without her diaper on you better watch out. She can shoot that stuff at least 6-12 inches. Bryan has yet to get used to it. To make things worse for Juliette, her bottom gets irritated from even the smallest mess in her diaper, which happens very often at this point.

On a sweeter note, today, while the oven was on, nothing was burning but the smoke alarms went off while I was changing Juliette. To fix the alarms Bryan got the shop vac and took it upstairs to clear out whatever was making the smoke alarms go off. As soon as the vac went on, Juliette's eyes closed and she was down for the count. She slept with the vac on for almost 20 minutes. We've also noticed she likes her changing table downstairs and will start to doze off in it sometimes - as long as she has a clean diaper, of course!