Playdates and LFTS and thanking one blogger at a time

Brynn gives each blogger who wished her well on her LFTs and who said such sweet things to me about my FSH level one thumbs up! She would have done two but she's just learning the ropes still. Seriously, isn't it weird how babies can sleep in such awkward positions for prolonged periods of time? This was Brynn sleeping on my husband the other day and she stayed with her thumb up for over and hour...insane. She has recently this month discovered her hands and can't seem to keep them out of her mouth, very cool! Also she sucks her ring finger so much it has a little blister on it, but I'm geeked that she uses at night time for some self soothing to put herself back to sleep. More sleep for Brynn means a happy baby and happy parents.

Brynn had her LFTs drawn the other day (liver function tests) and although they were still elevated which worries me to no end...they were lower than last month. This means that we're in limbo land...we don't have to see anyone right now about them. However, we're not out of the woods yet.

The other day Brynn had a playdate with the son of one of the CRNAs I work with. Basically it wasn't a playdate of course since they're so little (he's 10 months), but it did involve us getting out of the house and having some Applebees! I absolutely love the car side to go that Applebees has right now in the Michigan winter. I was able to pick up lunch and not have to drag Brynn out of the car...very cool. My friend C and I had to giggle because our two little ones farted a few times we were at her house and the two of us said we certainly had some future "gas passers" on our hands, LOL! My husband still claims that Brynn is going to be an electrical engineer like him some day so we'll have to wait and see, huh?

Today I'm off to my mom's to drop Brynn off for an hour or two. I have to run into work to have my lock on my locker changed. I for the life of me can't seem to remember it and the combination that they have on record doesn't work. So around 1:00PM I have a date with security to saw off my lock. I can only imagine what's in my locker that I haven't been in since last May when I stopped working. Thank heavens I didn't keep food in there! Only 5 more days until my first day back at work. Monday morning I think I'm in the open heart room...nothing like jumping in and baptism by fire, eh? I luckily am going to be with one of the other CRNAs for the first few weeks as I get my feet wet. I'm not as worried about the actual case as I am doing some of the technical stuff like starting arterial lines again and putting in central lines for the bigger cases. It's just going to take some time I'm sure....but deep down inside I'm geeked to be back.

Right now I'm watching Lost on DVR and trying to catch up on The Bachelor as well. I missed a couple of weeks so I'm playing catch up. Thanks again for your help with the breastmilk situation and other questions. I swear...it is so therapeutic to have answers at your fingertips from girls such as yourselves whom I trust! Hope everyone is having a great day and I'll let you know what I find in my locker...any guesses?

Something I want to do..and as silly as it sounds is thank each of you whom have been with us along our journey from the start or just near the end so far. So each entry I want to thank one blogger who has helped us out in one way or another. Just my want of saying thanks....and Brynn's too!

First girl up is Farah for sure at Fertilized because without her I would never have even discovered blogger. She is the one who mentioned me on her blog from the start for others to pop over and say hello. I remember seeing her on MySpace when I actually still used my account and all of the support she gave me on our trying to conceive journey. One thing I love about her is her raw honesty, her support from literally my first post to my last so far, and the humor she uses to always make me smile. She also gives such detail in each of her posts that I find myself reading back through older ones months back just for advice and mommy stuff to make me feel like I'm not alone in this journey. She tells it how it is...and always has a kind word for others along the way as well. Basically she is a gem....we are so lucky to have you. So thank you for getting me started...giving me the courage to bare it all...and for always being so open and honest. Brynn and I say thanks!

Cleaning house

Often people will ask us..who do you think the baby looks like...you or your husband? Well, Neela has been spending so much time with her, I think I might have to respond, "Neither, she takes after the dog, LOL!" I wonder what kind of looks I'll get for that one? (Better post coming later in the day...I have to clean our house quickly before our cleaning lady comes this morning. Yes, I realize that makes no sense at all. Also, I've been meaning to tell her that we don't need her to come clean anymore since I'm not pregnant and on bedrest anymore. But can you believe I've avoided it up until now because I feel too bad about letting her go I can't bring myself to do it? What the heck is wrong with me! I really like her and I know business has been tough lately for her because of the economy so I just can't bring myself to break the news to her yet. But truthfully I can't justify keeping her, you know? Gosh I'm a pathetic wimp who doesn't want to hurt her feelings. I need to grow a pair I know :-) PS...Brynn slept through the night again last night!

Question of the day...does anyone know how long you can keep breastmilk frozen in a side by side freezer? You know the one people commonly have in their kitchen with side by side doors one to the refrigerator and the other the freezer? I know a deep freeze freezer (stand alone) is 6 months and I've heard most others is 3 months...does that sound right?

The good life (picture added of course!)

When I was pregnant with our daughter Brynn I knew life would change once she got here and that things would never be the same again. I knew life would be good with our daughter. I just didn't know life would be this good.

Pray for some good LFTs

So blogger actually seems to be working, wwhhooo hooo! All is well in Brynn, Neela, and Sara land! Currently I'm getting caught up with this season of ER. My husband downloaded all of the episodes so we're getting caught up on an old favorite TV show series. Brynn is 3 and a half months old and approaching the 10 pound mark. This past week she started sleeping through the night other than for her few feedings. Like I said, I feel like a new woman. The clock strikes 6:30AM and I wonder where the time has gone. I feel like something is wrong...like I've fallen asleep and missed the important happening on my shift or something! Tomorrow I take her for her repeat LFTs (liver function tests) and am praying for some good results. If they are off, elevated as they have been then we have to see a specialist. I'm praying that they are boring and not elevated at all!

I'm sorry that blogger seems to have eaten my last few posts. Basically all that I've meant to write can be posted in a few sentences. I go back to work a week from now and am having some poor feelings regarding leaving Brynn. I'm hoping that it works out for my best friend to watch her come summer time. In the meantime my mom will watch her, but it would be nice to have my mom as the back up and my best friend as her main squeeze sitter, LOL! So that is where we stand from now. In the meantime, since Brynn feeds so many times through the night, my other best friend's little sis is one of our main sitters and is watching her overnight before I have to work. I would love for her to watch her also but she has gotten a job with a home health aid agency so it's just a temporary situation I believe. It's too bad because not only does Brynn love her, but Neela does as well!

So basically next Monday my friend's little sister is going to come the night before I have to work. Then my mom is going to come midday and relieve her until my husband comes home. I'm hoping to just feed Brynn and pump before I leave for work. Hopefully then I'll be able to pump on my morning break around 9Am or so after leaving my morning case. Then hopefully I'll be able to pump during my lunch break as well. During my 12 hour shift I'll hopefully be able to pump during my afternoon break and then when I get home. I'm going back 20 hours a week. So I'll work an 8 hour shift and a 12 hour shift for now. For the months leading up to summer time I'm hoping to work some afternoons and midnights up in labor and delivery, which is a postition that has opened up for me. Basically I'll be working with most of the staff who took care of me for the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy so it should be a great situation.

Mostly I'll be doing doing the epidurals up in labor and delivery and will be on call for the OR. Sounds like a good situation and I'm looking forward to it. Also, I wanted to touch on my post that got erased with my FSH. Basically I had my FSH redrawn this past week. It is sky high and is not all that promising. It is borderline for premature ovarian failure and it has me bummed out. I don't want to be a drama queen...but I realize what it means. I'm not sure what to do. I'm sorry my last post erased. And I'm sorry I used vulgar language in it. I was upset. I'm trying to be more reasonable with it now. But to say I'm bummed would be an understatement. Hmm....not sure what to make of it. But I have to keep my head up I know. To want to swear and be silly seems immature. So I'm not going to do that right now.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Again, I apologize for my lack of blogging and my lack of response. Hopefully my account is fixed and I'm looking forward to moving ahead!

Testing Post

Ick, it seems that I seem to be having a bit of trouble with blogger over this last week or so. It seems to have eaten my last few posts and deleted them. Plus it hasn't been allowing me to sign in on several occasions either. So hopefully this testing post will stick? Has anyone else been having problems with their accounts? I'm still here...just haven't been able to post or comment while signed in on several occasions! Brynn is doing great - 15 weeks today and I'm getting ready to head back to work next week. We're status quo and let's see if this post sticks before I write too much more :-)

14 weeks the good the bad and the ugly

Brynn turned 14 weeks this Saturday and all of the sudden started turning into this baby that I didn't even recognize! First of all Thursday she started spending time in her swing and she didn't even sound like she was being assaulted like she usually does! Such sweet relief. Hopefully this is the sign of times to come?
Did anyone else have their child not mind the swing after a few months after despising it the first few months? I'm hoping she continues to like it. Then the last few days she all of the sudden decided that she would enjoy sleeping at night! Although we have to feed her every few hours due to her malabsorption we actually are getting some sleep at night in between feedings. I truly feel like a new person who has her life back. Not that Brynn isn't worth it, but sleep is much better than staying awake at 3 AM, you know? Brynn is also taking more ounces at each feeding and up to 24 ounces per day of mostly breastmilk along with Similac Isomil fill as needed and it's working out great. I'm so proud of our little girl. I have to admit after we've added the formula instead of doing just breastmilk her poo is more liquidy and brown...but hey beggers can't be choosers, right? And the smell...yes. Formula poo smells more than breastmilk poo that's for sure, LOL! I'm still freezing about 4-8 oz a day of breastmilk for future use for when I can't keep up with her demand so I'm happy that for the months coming ahead I'll be able to give her quite a bit of breastmilk which will greatly help with her digestion. Her pediatrician and I decided that mostly breastmilk with one bottle of formula per day is better for a prolonged period than all breastmilk for so many months and then all breastmilk for the following months would be better. So substituting one feeding per day with formula is what we're doing right now.

As I've said the only reason I'm so gung ho on the breastmilk is due to her malabsorption and the fact that she's doing well on it. After all, my husband and I were formula kids and did great...so I'm definitely no a down looker on formula or anything :-) Thanks again for all of your help with the baby food topic as I've said also. I ordered the Beaba Babycook this weekend after much advice and input from friends. I'll let you know what I think after using it. She had the rest of her vaccines this past Friday and spiked a 103 degree temperature and was quite the cranky baby this weekend. But after some Tylenol and lots of hugs and cuddling this weekend did A- okay. We even did some house shopping this Saturday despite the additional couple inches of snow we got this weekend. We're not looking at moving far, just nearby for somewhere with a little more room. It'll be a long and slow process I'm sure. The Michigan housing market is a fickle one. The only thing that has me not so happy is the fact that as of Friday Brynn's liver function tests are still elevated (LFTs)...we are to wait until they are 5 months and see them from there. They're not super high...but they're still elevated and not where they should be. I'm a bit upset by that. But I'm just continuing to pray that with time they will come down.
Brynn still hates her tummy time, but I'm trying to sneak it in when possible. Did anyone else's kids hate tummy time? Any helpful tips? Or should I just keep plopping her down? Neela keeps her company at least, LOL! I'm sure she thinks her sister is just one strange looking puppy without fur :-)


I'm slowly but surely getting ready to be going back to work over the next couple of weeks. I'm sure that'll be a post for tomorrow. But geez...it's proving to be harder than I thought. I'm struggling with how much I want to work, and how much I want to be home with Brynn. Basically I'm blessed and if I want to work X amount of hours and earn X amount of money I'm able to. So basically however as much or as little as I want to work I'm able to. It sounds great....but at the same time I'm torn between work and family, you know? Also, I'm torn because both my mom and other people want to watch Brynn and I'm struggling to find something that works well. Lots of decisions. I just wish it were a little easier.
Brynn loves airplane these days as well. When she's fussing it certainly calms her down. I also went to the dreaded dentist this week. I recently switched to one of my good friend's husband to go. One of my best friends from college in an endodontist and does root canals for a living and her husband is a dentist. I do have to say I'm a bit less nervous going to a dentist that I've gotten tipsy with together off some Grey Goose martinis, LOL! I'm happy to say I didn't have any cavities despite my poor nutrition at the later part of my pregnancy which I was a bit concerned over.

Anyways...I'm off to rot my brain watching Desperate Housewives. Today I actually bundled up and went for a mile walk even though it was only 30 degrees but it felt great. I have a fierce case of cabin fever and can't wait for spring. How about you?

Brynn's Baptism and gas passing

Brynn receiving holy oil on her forehead.

The pouring of holy water over Brynn near the baptismal font.


This past Sunday we had Brynn baptized. I thought it was kind of neat that we had her baptized on her 3 month birthday because that is the same exact day my parents had me baptized when I was a baby as well. She also wore the same gown that my parent's had me baptized in. It was still in great shape and the bit of nostalgia for my parents was nice. The day began Sunday morning by meeting my family and favorite aunt and uncle along with my husband's parents and one set of his aunts and uncles at our church. Our closest friends M and her husband were going to be Brynn's godparents. I've mentioned it before but this day held extra special meaning for me to have these good friends be Brynn's godparents. When I first discovered I had a unicoruate uterus and had several failed IUIs, these same friends offered the most special gift of all. My friend M offered to carry our child for us if we were ever unable to ourselves. Talk about the most special gift a person can give to a friend. She offered to give us the gift of a child. My friend M was my best friend from college and she ended up marrying my husband's best friend as well. Sometimes in life you come across people who are closer to you than even your family, and we've been blessed to stumble upon these amazing people in such this way. Although we don't ever get to spend as much time with them as any of us would like due to everyone's crazy schedules....I consider her kids to be like our own as well. They're a great set of little ones and it's just a testimate to what great parent's M and her husband are. It's funny...you know how when you go away on vacation it's nice to get "home" or when you have a bad day you just want to go "home" since it's such a nice familiar and comforting feeling? Well whenever I would have a bad day while we were trying to conceive, or I would have a failed cycle of our clomid or IUIs over the three years it took us to have Brynn...I could always talk to my friend M. Talking to her always felt like "home" as strange as that sounds. Have any of you ever felt that way?

After we arrived at church and the ceremony was underway, we were last to go up to the baptismal font. There was also four other little ones being baptized that same day. When the priest poured the holy water over Brynn and my husband held her up afterwards, I suddenly heard a little "ppppttttttt." Yup my little daughter had passed gas in the silence of the church walls! Seems like my little girl wanted to be a gas passer just like her CRNA gas passing mommy, LOL! The priest kind of giggled. I've never been prouder of my little girl. What more could a gas passer want than for her little one to pass some of her own, hehe!

After the ceremony we went to a local Italian restaurant with everyone to eat. Then we chowed down on some cake from a local bakery and it was the perfect ending to a nice day. During that time I remembered my own godmother a few times who passed away when I was a teenager due to cancer. As I mentioned in the past, when she was in the later stages of her cancer she had writen me a letter and given it to my mom for me to open one day when I was pregnant with my own child. My godmother had writen in the note that she would always be looking down on us and couldn't wait to see the day when I had my own child. My godmother had been my mother's best friend. I was so happy to have my own great friend be the godmother to my own daughter. Sometimes things come full circle...and this was just one of those days.

Help with making baby food

I know that this post is a little premature...but do any of you out there make your own baby food? What food processors do you like? Do you use any certain recipe books? Do you use any special brand of trays to freeze it in. Please help and share in as much detail as possible because it's something I want to do in the months forthcoming and I'm trying to plan ahead. How do you do meats?

3 Months old

I can't believe Brynn turned three months old this past weekend! She has come so far from those first few days. I am so thankful that God has allowed us to call such an amazing little being our very own daughter. Often Brynn with just smile and coo at me and makes all of these little noises as if she's trying to have a conversation with me. Best news of all is that she's continuing to thrive and grow despite her early slow weight gain. Brynn is growing like a weed and is continuing on a steady growth path. Taking Zantac for her reflux seems to do the trick and she doesn't seem to have as much of a malabsorption problem anymore - it's still there, but so much better. As of today she's over 9 pounds and that is such good news for us to hear. I have no doubt that that number will continue to skyrocket as we're getting past several of her earlier issues. Happy endings do exist! Now if only her mom could get off of her lazy butt to write her birth story...maybe by next weekend?

These days Brynn continues to dislike her swing and bouncer - she sounds like she's being assaulted when you place her in them, but that's fine with me. I love to hold her anyhow! Her good friends are still her boppy and her tummy time mat. That gives me a few places to place the little one when I need a break. Night time sleeping is going better as well. Although she still gets up several times a night to feed, she quickly falls back asleep. Often she's asleep as I'm holding her up for the 45 minutes after her bottle. When I place her back in her bassinett she might fuss for a few minutes but will calm herself down now. That is a huge improvement from earlier weeks. I know as her weight gain continues and she continues to take more at each feeding, she'll eventually hopefully be able to drop one of those night time feedings and we'll all get more sleep. But hey, whatever it takes, right?

On the feeding front - thanks again for all of your imput with the BF and formula issue. I tried the milk based Similac formula for one of her bottles over the last few days and continued to pump and do the rest breastmilk. The first day or so went okay until Brynn broke out with a major yeast infection rash "down below." I did the exact same thing as a child my mom said and I was fine on a soy based formula. So, that's what we're going to try next. For a few days I think I'll just use all breastmilk as best I can, and then we'll try one bottle a day of Similac Soy. My supply has been a bit better the last few days for whatever reason so that shouldn't be a problem. Brynn didn't seem to mind the taste of formula at least, so I'm glad we don't have that issue. We'll find something that works - just a trial and error thing.

Yesterday was also Brynn's baptism and it was a really nice day that we got to spend with some family and friends. I'll post tomorrow about that because I think the bambino needs her next feeding. How time flies these days! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Last weekend

I'm posting out of order but wanted to put in a few pictures from our friend's visit this past weekend. Our friend who was a fraternity brother of my husband's - go Sig Eps! was in from Texas and Thursday night his plane got in from Texas. He's from McAllen and since I was already up with Brynn at midnight, he and I stayed up late into the night chatting and catching up. Since our dog Neela was flown in from a breeder in San Antonio she took a special liking to our houseguest and spent each night snuggled up with him in our spare bedroom, LOL! Friday night we took him to a Coney Island - an old Detroit favorite for some chicken hani's and chili (no beans of course - coney style). It is a place in Royal Oak that we used to frequent at midnight or later after fraternity parties in college when we were a little tipsy and had the munchies. It was Brynn's first trip to our old stomping grounds and the sight of my husband and I first date.d

Saturday was spent shopping at Somerset Mall and picking up some sleepers for Brynn. Then it was off to Bupa de Beppos in Birmingham and Brynn did great. It was my first time there as well. The one shrimp dish was especially yummy!
Sunday morning we slept in and then had the superbowl get together with some old college friends as well. This is my good friend M and I with Brynn. She is my sanity saver that I've talked about in the past. This upcoming weekend is Brynn's baptism and she is her godmother.

Brynn enjoyed the three D half time show with her glasses and her godfather (M's husband and and my husband's best friend). We ordered Pizza Papalis, another Detroit favorite of deep dish pizza and had a great time. My friend Pauline was also there who is also moving soon out of state who I will miss with a fierce vengence.
Last night I watched Lost and thought it was pretty good. I'm looking forward to tonight's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice lap over too. We also had our first night last night with our night time nanny. My friend's younger sister (not too young she's 26) came over to spend the night with Brynn and help out on her frequent feeding schedule to catch us a little break. The 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep was absolute bliss. I got up once to pump, but that was all. A girl could get used to this! Pumping is still going well. Still able to keep up with her demands but I realize I might have to cave and give her one bottle of formula soon along with her 6 bottles of breastmilk. I'm still happy to be able to give her mostly breastmilk while I'm off of work - but we'll see how it goes after awhile. Brynn is also sleeping better in her bassinett I'm happy to report. After we feed her at night and hold her upright for 45 minutes she usually will resume sleeping by herself. This is something new and a huge improvement over the last 2 weeks! Tomorrow I'm taking her for her 3 month appointment and the finishing of her 2 month vaccine schedule.

I do have a question though. Do any of you have any experience with feeding both breastmilk and a bottle of formula or two for a prolonged time? What brand of formula did you start on and did you always feed your formula bottle at the same time of day? I'm hoping to continue pumping and just do a bottle or two of formula for the first year or so while I work, while mostly maintining breastmilk. Did anyone have any good experiences with this or any luck. Any wisdom is appreciated. I mostly pump now anyways now anyhow so I dont mind the lack of actual breastfeeding. I just want to be able to give her as much breastmilk as possible for as long as possible since she has done the best on this due to her malabsorption. If she didn't have the problem with weight gain and malabsorption I wouldn't be such a stickler for it.

I hope everyone is having a great week and I can't believe another week is coming to a close. I'm about half way on updating my blogroll if I can just get off my lazy butt I'll finish tonight! Thanks again for all of your sweet comments lately. You're the best!

Brynn is 12 weeks and all smiles

This weekend was a busy one for us. Our friend from college was in from Texas and stayed with us for a long weekend. We went out for dinner each night to catch up with other friends from college as well and took Brynn along with us. We finished out the weekend with having some of those same friends over for a Super Bowl Party so that our friend could catch up with everyone. Although I'm whipped out from having whirlwind weekend, Brynn was all smiles this morning. Maybe she is going to be a social butterfly in the making? I'll post some more photos later from the weekend, but the bambino is wanting some lunch. Hope everyone had a great weekend as well! Psssttt...Brynn actually got a little too big for a couple of her newborn sleepers! She's well on her way to her 0-3 month ones I believe. My little girl is 12 weeks and getting big!