Six Months

Annabel is now over 6 months old! I have to say it was a long 6 months, but we made it though in one piece. At the end of October Greg, Annabel, and I flew back to Ohio to visit with family and friends for 10 days. Annabel did pretty good on the plane rides. We timed it so she would eat then fall asleep during takeoff. I was actually able to get a little sleep on the plane.

We started out in Cincinnati visiting with friends and Greg’s family. Annabel got to meet many new (to her) family members including her Great grandma Kramer:

After we left Cinci, we drove up to Cedarville to stay with my dad and stepmom. We visited more with family and hung out for a few days. They have a dog, Ralph, that Annabel enjoyed playing with, but he was pretty jealous of her. I guess he’s use to being the baby of the house.

After a few days in Cedarville, we drove to Michigan to visit with my grandma. I love going to her house because it’s so peaceful and quiet. My grandma was thrilled to meet her second great granddaughter, and Annabel didn’t mind either.

The final leg of our trip was at my mom’s house. Again, we had family over to visit with us and Annabel. Since it was close to Halloween, we decided to get a little festive and put our little pumpkin into a pumpkin!

It was really great to see/visit with everyone. Annabel did really well considering how much we were traveling. I think she got overwhelmed at times with all of the new people and new places, but at least she had mom and dad to latch onto when she had enough of everything. PICS

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End of Summer

Last year when I found out we were going to have a baby at the beginning of summer I thought it would be great to have a summer baby. In reality, we really didn’t do nearly as much as we use to do this summer. We did go for a few bike rides, kayaking, and a lot of walks with Annabel but I really missed all the hiking we normally do when the weather is nice. Greg called this our ‘lost summer’ since we weren’t as active since we had Annabel. We did go to Mt. Rainier a few weeks ago baby free. We went to Sunrise and hiked to Mt. Freemont. We have hiked it a few times before and it’s on of my favorite places at Rainer. The views are just awesome!

Two weeks ago Greg had to go to California for a conference for a few days, so my mom decided to come out again and visit while Greg was out of town. We did a lot of shopping and a lot of cooking. It was really nice to have her out again. Annabel had some quality grandma time!

I’m now realizing how fast Annabel is growing up. She’s rolling, grabbing everything, and is close to sitting on her own. Last night she wasn’t sleeping well so I spent most of the morning laying in bed holding her while she slept. I know someday she won’t want to be so cuddly with her mommy.   Link for pics

Little Baby Annabel is 4 Months Old!

Well a lot has happened in the past two month with Annabel. We discovered that she has MSPI-milk/soy protein intolerance. She started to not gain any weight and had mucus in her stool (sorry if TMI). What that means is her body is unable to break down the proteins in milk and probably soy so her gut/intestines were becoming very irritated. We switched her from breast milk to a hypoallergenic formula where all of the proteins are broken down. Within 5 days of the switch she seemed like a new baby! She started eating more, fussing less, and smiling like crazy. It really sucks that we had to put her on formula; I’m just glad she is doing so much better, but damn is her formula expensive! We also took her off of her reflux medicine since she seemed to barf it up most of the time and she is actually doing much better off her medicine. Yea!  We did go to Seattle Children’s to have a sleeping wedge made for her so she can sleep upright at night. It’s pretty big but great to have:

She is really good at holding her head up on her own. She also holds her back straight when we sit her up. We bought a bumbo seat for her, but she looks like the leaning tower of pisa in it sometimes.

The best part of all is that she sleeps about 8 hours a night! It helps that Greg ‘dream feeds’ her at 11pm every night. If you don’t know what that means it’s when you feed a baby a bottle while they are sleeping. You just put it in their mouth and they instinctually suck it down while they sleep. Let me tell you it’s awesome!

We recently had my sister and niece out for a few days. Greg’s cousins their kids were out for a week before that. It’s so nice to have family come visit. It kind of breaks up the monotony of boring baby time. Don’t get me wrong- I love Annabel more than anything in the world, but little babies aren’t all that exciting.

Last month I went back to work part-time. I hadn’t planned on going back, but the lab was short staffed and I thought it would be good for me to get out of the house for a few days a week. So far it’s going well; Greg’s parents watch her in the morning and I go pick her up in the afternoon. I think she really likes gram and gramps time and they defiantly love having her over. Annabel playing the xylophone with grandpa:

Yesterday we took her to her 4 month check up and she is now over 10 pounds. We told the doctor that Annabel hadn’t rolled over yet, but that she was good at getting up on her side. Our doc said it would probably be another month or so until she should be able to roll over. After the doc was done examining her, she left her on her tummy on the exam table. A few seconds later Annabel rolled over onto her back. Greg put her back on her tummy and she rolled over again! So much for us having to wait another month for her to roll! Ha! LINK for pics.  Annabel at 4 months:

Two Months

So Annabel is now two months old. She now weighs almost 8 pounds and is getting longer by the day. It makes me happy that she is growing out of some the the newborn clothes we have for her. We are getting settled into a daily routine, but sometimes I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m trying the ‘babywise’ method of eat, play, and then sleep but it doesn’t always work that way. I’m really looking forward to her sleeping though the night. I’m amazed how functional I can be on 3-4 hours of sleep. Annabel has reflux and vomits several times a day which was really upsetting for me at first. Now I know she is fine, but it makes feeding time take longer since I have to start over once she barfs up all her milk. I say to myself everyday that I can’t wait until Annabel is older and able to do more than lay and stare at me. She is now smiling at us and is able to hold her head up for a little while. Here is a link for pictures.

We have had some family stay with us recently. My mom was out about a month ago, and my dad and stepmom were here two weeks ago. It was really nice to have the company and support. Greg and I are fortunate that his parents live so close by and they love to watch her. We have been able to do some things on the weekends like kayaking and going for a bike ride. They also watch her sometimes during the week so I can get a little sleep and run some errands.

As for me, I am officially back to my prepreg size. I have to say some days are better than others when it comes to my mental health. I think there is a direct correlation between lack of sleep and insanity. Everyone that has kids tells me the same thing- just wait, it will get better.

Going home

Annabel stayed in the NICU for two weeks and we were able to take her home last Friday (the 6th). She progressed really well and is still doing good at home. She is able to eat a full bottle every time we give it to her. She is also able to breastfeed about half of her feedings. Hopefully she will be only breastfeeding within a few weeks. Right now I am bottle feeding, breastfeeding, and pumping it seems like all day long. We have to wake her up every 3 hours to feed, so needless to say there isn’t much sleep going on in the Kramer house right now (except for Annabel). It amazes me how ridiculously tired I am in the middle of the night when I get up to feed her, but when I have her in my arms I could care less that I’m so tired. Greg has been doing really well with her too. He loves to hold her and read her the news when he is on the computer. He also gave her her first bath last week, which he got peed on while he bather her. Here is a link of some pictures we have taken of her so far.

As for me, I have recovered well from the c-section. I’m not sore at all, and I feel like I’m back to normal (just really tired). I’m actually able to get my pre-pregnant jeans on! They are just a little tight, but I’m looking forward to getting back to the gym in a few weeks to remedy that problem. In the past few weeks I have added some more hats to my collection. Unfortunately now, my spare time is spent trying to get some sleep or getting things done around the house so there won’t be much more hat making for a while.

A Little Early

On Thursday night (April 21st) I woke up and found I was bleeding a lot. I was bleeding so much that I told Greg to call 911 so a medic could take us to the hospital. The medics got to our place within 5 minutes of Greg calling, but it was a little more trouble for them to get me down our 2 sets of stairs in our townhouse. When they would sit me up my blood pressure would drop, so they had to try to keep me somewhat horizontal going down the stairs. Once we got to the hospital it wasn’t long until they had me in the OR for an emergency c-section. At 3:31 am little Annabel Josephine Kramer was born. I was 34 weeks and 3 days pregnant when she was born. She weighed 4lbs 15ounces and I heard her cry as soon as they took her out which was the greatest sound ever. Greg was able to hold her and take her over to me so I could see her before they took her to the NICU.

She has now been in the NICU for 5 days and is doing really well. The hospital she is at has private rooms for every NICU baby, which is really nice. Our room has a bed, a couch, and a private bathroom with a shower. Right now she is in an isolet almost all day. We are able to hold her twice a day while they feed her though an ng tube. Today Greg fed her with a bottle which she ate all of right away for the first time since she was 1 day old. While he was feeding her she opened her eyes and looked at us for quite a while for the first time. We don’t know how long she will be in the NICU, but at least 2 more weeks for sure. She needs to be able to maintain her own body temperature and eat and digest on her own before we can take her home.

As for me, I’m doing really well. I’ve been off of the pain meds since Saturday night and am able to walk and go up and down our stairs without too much pain. I do get out of breath quickly when I’m up and about because my blood count is so low right now. I sleep when I can, but I have to wake up every 2-3 hours to pump. Hopefully I will be back to the gym next week, just kidding!

Prego Update #2

So the doctors did let me go home after 2 days of observation. Unfortunately, I woke up bleeding 3 days after going home. That of course meant that I was admitted to the hospital again. After the first day in the hospital the bleeding stopped, but they kept me for 3 more days just for observation. I have to say the worst part of being in the hospital was the IV the triage nurse put in. It was on the side of my wrist and it hurt like a … Here is a pic of my wrist after they took it out:

While I was in the hospital I decided to learn how to crochet baby hats by watching tutorial videos on you tube. I already knew how to crochet a strait line for making scarfs. Here is a picture of the first 3 hats I made while in the hospital:

I liked the bear hat so much, I’ve started making other animal hats. I have now made 3 bears, a monkey, a cat, a dog, and a unicorn (from Despicable Me). I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with all of them since I’m just having one baby and I don’t think she needs a dozen+ hats. I do enjoy making them, and it’s something to keep my busy during the day so I don’t go crazy. Here is a picture of all of the hats I have made so far:

I’ve also been rewatching Lost on Netflix while I crochet. I’m hoping that if I watch the series again maybe I can find the deep meaning I know has to be there. I have some baby books I’ve been wanting to read, but I have been putting off reading them to make some of the hats that I want to make. I mean what will the books tell me anyway? Babies just poop, sleep, and eat right?

Pregnancy update

Yesterday I had an ultrasound for my 31 week check up to see if my placenta had moved. It in fact hasn’t moved (which means I will for sure have a c-section by 39 weeks). Not only has the placenta not moved, but there is some blood that is hanging out around it causing the doctors to worry that I might have a placental abruption. After having a total of 4 ultrasounds yesterday, they decided to admit me to the hospital for observation. I had some minor contractions during the night, none of which I could feel. I am feeling fine and the baby is doing good. She is moving all over the place, and the multiple ultrasounds yesterday showed she is growing well. She is now 3 pounds 11 ounces. I’m really hoping they will let me go home tomorrow night, and then it’s most likely bed rest for 2 months. Here is a pic of Greg looking at the TOCO printout while we were in triage. I had to tell him he is not that kind of doctor.

Other than that minor issue (joke) I have been doing really well with the pregnancy. So far I have gained 17 pounds (for those of you nosey people!). I feel great, no pains or pregnancy problems. There are times I forget I’m pregnant. Here is a pick of my baby bump at 30 weeks:

A couple of weeks ago, my friend/coworker had a baby shower for me at her house. I’m never trilled about being the center of attention, but I had a really good time. I even managed to find a dress that didn’t make me look like a huge flower (what’s with all the floral prints for maternity?). Here I am with the diaper cake the hostess made me:

And finally here are a few of my observations/pet peeves:

• Most people feel it necessary to comment on my size.  For the most part I don’t mind, but I have my days.
• All maternity sections at department stores are next to the plus size department. Are they afraid of scaring the skinny people?
• People like to ask how is she doing. I don’t know I can’t ask her, but yep she is still in there.
• People assume since I’m pregnant I have cravings. I don’t crave anything more than before I was pregnant. I also don’t go wild when I eat, just a little more than before I was pregnant-the exception being Indian buffet. Last weekend we went and I ate 3 full plates of food. I wouldn’t be surprised if this kid came out part Indian.

Happy Anniversary

Friday was me and Greg’s 2 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated by doing what we did last year by going to the Seastar for dinner. Dinner was great as always, but the best part was that I got to eat two desserts. We ordered a chocolate lava cake and dolce de leche ice cream. Greg didn’t like the ice cream so much and the cake was rich for him so I got to eat both, score!

V Day

This is a late post, but oh well I’ve been busy! Every year for Valentines Day I never think Greg is going to get me anything because we both think the ‘holiday’ is stupid. With that being said Greg has gotten me something every year and I really do appreciate it. This year I was surprised with an edible arrangement sent to my work. It was a good one that had a lot of chocolate stuff on it.

I hadn’t gotten him anything so I bought some brownies that were being sold at the cafeteria for VDay and made him one of his favorite dinners-homemade White Castle hamburgers with tater tots. I’m sure that doesn’t sound very romantic, but one thing I know about my husband is that he loves to eat!