June 30, 2013

We're still all here and alive and kicking.  I took Aubrey by the pediatrician's office last week just to see how much she weighed--I tell ya, it just about took an act of congress to get it done too.  They thought that because I wanted to weigh her that she had lost weight, therefore she needed to see the doctor.  Um, nope, just want to know how much she weighs on the scale that she's been weighed on since she came home from the hospital.  Well, we finally got it done and she weighed 12lbs. 8oz.  Not too bad for a 4.5 month old. 

She LOVES playing in her bouncer.  It's helping with her leg strength, too.

Aubrey with her great-grandparents

Making sure mama doesn't go very far away from her while she naps in her car seat.

Turns out that the diaper bag is a super fun toy.  Who knew?

-Keli

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Aubrey had her first trip to the beach this weekend.  She wasn't very impressed with having to stay in the car seat for 3.5 hours to get there--she screamed/cried for about an hour until she finally took her pacifier and went to sleep.  She was such a good baby the whole time we were there though.  And now I shall let the pictures tell the rest of the story.


She cried for a long time on the way there in protest of how tired she was.  She finally just went to sleep.

We covered her as much as possible so she wouldn't get in the sun.

She was the coolest baby there.  By far.

Out to eat after the beach.

It rained.  A lot.  Both times we went to the beach.  The second day was a washout, but the boy cousins played anyway.

Aubrey put her toes in the sand--she wasn't sure about it.

And then it rained some more.  We hid under our tent.  Aubrey couldn't have cared less.  She took a nap.

We got to go out for another minute to splash.

She played hard with her cousins who adore her.

She played so hard that she slept most of the way home.

-Keli

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Today is Aubrey's 8 month birthday.  Happy 8 months, sweet pea!  More importantly, I think, today marks the day that Aubrey has been at home as long as she was in the hospital.  I can't believe we've had her home for 122 days!  As Adam would say, "it crawled by so fast!"

-Keli

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Aubrey had physical/occupational therapy today.  The therapists still think she's doing well, but they gave us some assignments: we need to help her learn to bear more weight on her hands and her feet.  We have to hold her and get her to stand (not by herself, obviously) for longer than a couple of seconds and help her learn to push up onto her hands while on her belly.  She's getting her feet under her and scooting when she's on her tummy, but she isn't pushing up on her hands and knees yet.  The therapist said that there's no way she expects her to be standing at this age--she just wants her to put weight on her feet when we put them on the ground and not draw them up or bend her knees.  She's already doing some weight-bearing on her feet, but they want her to be able to do it for longer periods of time.

We also have to brush her legs and feet with a soft bristled brush several times a day; it's more like massage with a brush and doesn't tickle.  The occupational therapist said that this stimulates the proprioceptive system, or the system that provides us with an awareness of body positioning.  It will help Aubrey realize that those feet that I'm brushing are attached to her and will help her coordinate their movement.  We also have to do joint compressions on her leg joints (hips, knees, ankles).  They're moving the appointments to three weeks apart instead of two, so that's good.

She hasn't been eating so great the last few days, and I have to wonder if she might be starting to teethe.  She's chewing on her fingers, or my fingers if she can get them and she's drooling more than normal.  I'm hoping that accounts for the decrease in appetite.  She's still eating, just not as much as normal for her.  She's still pretty smiley and happy for the most part.

-Keli

Monday, June 17, 2013

Happy father's day to my honey, my sexy man, my baby's daddy, the apple of Aubrey's eye, Adam.  Yes, I know it's the day after father's day, but as a police family we never celebrate anything on the correct day anyway.  If it's a holiday, chances are Adam's working.  He and Aubrey got to hang out for a few minutes last night before one or the other of them went to sleep, so that was good.

Oh no, you can't tell they're related at ALL. ;)

Last night was the first night since Aubrey was born that she didn't stay hooked up to a heart rate/apnea monitor.  We'd been leaving her on the one we brought home from the hospital just at night, but she's so wiggly and flippy in her sleep now that she was getting tangled up in the cord.  Plus, really, she hasn't had an apnea episode since the beginning of February.  I think the monitor was more of a crutch for us as parents than an actual need. 

Reading a book already, like her mama.

A dear friend of ours came to me not too long after Aubrey was born and said that she'd seen the baby monitor we'd put on our registry and asked if she could get us a different one--an Angel Care monitor.  Her daughter's baby had many surgeries after he was born, so they worried a lot about him too, and this monitor gave them some peace of mind.  It has sensor pads under the crib mattress that detect movement--breathing, basically, when the baby is sleeping.  The unit the parent keeps has a little ticker on it that swings back and forth when there is movement, and an alarm goes off if the movement stops for 20 seconds.  I didn't even know these existed, but thankfully our friend gave us one with 2 sensor pads.  We turned it on for the first time last night, and I only checked on Aubrey 3 times (I think that's pretty good--at least it wasn't 5 or 6 and I did actually get some sleep).  Waking up and hearing the ticking is pretty comforting, so I think we can get rid of the medical-grade monitor without too much trouble.

 -Keli

Friday, June 13, 2013

Sometimes I look down at Aubrey's sweet face when she's sleeping on my chest and I wonder how I got so blessed to be chosen as her mama.  I just marvel at her.  Yes, she frustrates me to tears on days when she doesn't want to eat; that always makes the fear of going back to the hospital rise up in my throat like bile.  You might think it's a big jump in reasoning to equate her not eating so well one day to her going back in the hospital, but not eating equals losing weight equals not thriving equals back to the hospital...and that is not something I can even think about.  And no, it's not completely rational for me to think that way when she's growing and beautiful and has chubby baby thighs, but since when is a mama bear totally rational when it comes to the health of her baby?

I say all that just to let everyone know that Aubrey isn't a perfect baby.  She is, however, pretty dang amazing.  How can one who is still so young and has been through so much be so happy?  Adam and I decided that she smiles with her whole body; if she had a tail, it would wag, and if she were a dog she would be a silly Labrador that knocks things off the coffee table with its flailing, joyful tail.  I was holding her the other day at work, rocking her and trying to get her to fall asleep.  I had my head leaned back on the chair and my eyes closed (I needed a nap too) when I felt her relax.  I peeped open an eye to see if she had fallen asleep, and she was looking back up at me with a goofy grin on her face. What could I do but laugh with her?

I love this baby.  Can you tell?

-Keli

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Once again, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Someone fell asleep for a good hard nap with her head on her hand...no, she didn't bump her head on anything, I promise.  See, she's smiling!

She's trying her best to help me with the bottle these days.  It usually results in her flicking it out of her mouth and/or squishing her nose shut so she can't breathe.

-Keli

Saturday, June 8, 2013

9:30 a.m.

Aubrey woke up around 5:45am as usual this morning, so I drug myself out of bed to get her (Adam is off but still on nights, so I stayed up too late with him last night).  Since we weren't going to work this morning, we went back to sleep on the couch about 7.  Around 8:45 I hear noises right next to me and then something smacks my face.  I open my eyes to this:

Aubrey is awake and has therefore decided that mama needs to be awake too.  She had turned over, turned around, and scooted down the couch to find me.  Of course I had to wake up after that.

-Keli

Disclaimer--June 5

Hey all.  I added a picture to the main layout of the blog that will show up on every post.  It's a little jarring at first: the top picture is the first photo ever taken of Aubrey, mere minutes after she was born.  The bottom picture is more recent, and I may change the bottom one as she grows.  I just want to always be reminded of how far Aubrey has come.  The top picture is difficult to look at, I know--it still takes me directly back the labor and delivery room and gives me a little bit of a panicky feeling.  I think I need that sometimes though.  I don't want to take the now-Aubrey for granted, even when I'm frustrated at her for blurting all over everything for the second time in a day, or when I just want her to go to sleep because I'm exhausted.  I want to continue to be amazed at how far she has come.  My feisty baby girl.

-Keli

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

7p.m.

It's been a few days...but we're pretty boring, all in all, so I don't have much to report.  Aubrey had physical/occupational therapy today, and both therapists are pleased with how she's doing.  She didn't nap well this morning, so she was so tired by the time we got there this afternoon that she was...grumpy, to put it mildly.  She cried.  A lot.  The physical therapist wasn't there last time we went 3 weeks ago, so it took her by surprise when, a nanosecond after she put Aubrey down on her back, Aubrey flipped over.  They say she's grabbing toys well, and flipping over well (obviously), tracking objects well, and sitting pretty well when assisted.  They put her in the Bumbo seat on the big swing, and she loved that--she digs movement.  The occupational therapist sang to her while she was swinging, and she just cackled (a big improvement over the crying, but only for a few minutes).  They told me to sit her up and hold her tightly around her middle and let her get better head control (she's still a little bit of a bobble head).

We have to go back in 2 weeks, but after that they said they will begin to spread the appointments out more because she's doing so well.  They want her to keep coming to therapy, though; the whole adjusted-age thing doesn't equal out with full-term babies until preemies turn 2 years old, and they want to make sure she hits her developmental milestones all along.  They don't want her to get behind, and it's easier to catch a problem when they're smaller than when they get to 2 years old.

Thoroughly unhappy baby.

A much happier, swinging baby.

A very worn out, finally sleeping baby.

 -Keli