Cereal

Karis's nutritional goal was to have nothing but breast milk until 6 months.  Before she was even 2 months, many people suggested that we try feeding her rice cereal at night to help her sleep longer.  Karis's doctor did not agree with the theory.  He was confident that she'd be sleeping better soon.  Plus, since her weight was right on track, there was no reason for an alternative form of nourishment.

At her 4 month appointment, Karis's pediatrician was surprised that Karis was not sleeping at least 8 hours at night.  He said we could go ahead and try rice cereal if we wanted to.  I definitely wanted to try it if it meant we could get some uninterrupted sleep.

We tried feeding her rice cereal from a spoon.  She happily sucked on the spoon, but did not swallow any of the cereal.  Then, we put the cereal in a bottle.  She did great with that.  The main reason we wanted to start rice cereal was to help Karis sleep through the night.  It worked for two nights, then she was back to her old routine.  I felt like the cereal was useless, plus it was creating extra work for me, having to pump every day to add liquid to Karis's cereal.  Back to plan A: solids at 6 months.  It was clear that Karis was not ready for solid foods, and when she is ready, I want her to eat from a spoon, not a bottle.

A message from Karis: (she literally did this while sitting in her Bumbo as I was proofreading)

/. .......a./

 lll.////n //.////
 n

4 Months Old

I can't believe my little cutie is already four months old.  Woah!  Slow down.  Back up.  I'm still on month one of the book, "What to Expect the First Year."  Oh well.  I guess I'll continue to figure it out as we go.

We had our four month check up today.  Karis's head circumference is in the 25th percentile, while the rest of her measurements are in the 75th percentile.  "Peanut Head" takes after her mommy.  The doctor said there is no reason to worry about this.  Karis also got to shots, and she was a champ!

Karis is still getting over her first cold and not sleeping well at night.  She rolled over for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  Karis still struggles to roll over, but she will improve.  Doc says we can start giving her rice cereal.  I think I'll try it next week.

So far, month four is the best yet!  Karis's schedule is pretty consistent, and she is becoming really wiggly and chatty.  I love hanging out with her every day!

SFA Homecoming

The first thing I said on Saturday morning was, “How much money will we lose if we cancel our hotel?”  We were already an hour late out of bed, and I really didn’t want to make the trip out of town for the weekend.  “We will lose ALL of it.”  I groaned, rolled out of bed, and began loading everything Karis owns into the Accord.  With Michael’s help, we finally made it on the road to Nacogdoches for SFA’s homecoming.  The hardest part, getting out of the house, was over, and I was excited to see my friends. 

We stopped once to feed Karis, no problems.  Then, we went straight to Stacy’s Deli in Nacogdoches to meet my college buddies for lunch.  It was so nice to see Justin, Amber, and their little girl Brynn, Brooke and her sweet boy Titus, Keri, Jacob, Shawn, Callie, Cory, Denise, Sam, and Lerin.  I was happy for Mary and Josh, because they got to go on a cruise, but I was so SAD that I didn’t get to see them at homecoming. L

It was getting close to Karis’s next meal time, but I really wanted to stop at the bookstore to buy her an SFA onesie before the game.  Poor girl.  I pushed the limit, and by the time I got to feed her she was screaming her head off.  Michael drove around, Karis took a little nap, and then I was able to feed her.

Next, we met the gang at the stadium for the football game.  Karis did great in the Moby wrap.  It was very convenient too!  We just ran into a couple of problems: First, Karis spit up all over the front of herself and on my shirt.  Then, I turned her around, thinking if she spits up, it will go on the ground.  How dare I forget about her backside!  Sure enough, Karis had an explosion, and my shirt that was covered in spit-up also got poop on it.  Gross!  I did not want to deal with this!  Praise the Lord for Karis’s daddy!  The two of us found a secluded spot to get Karis all cleaned up.  I didn’t have an extra shirt, so I just had to wipe my shirt with a baby wipe and cover the stain with my sweater.  Ugh, so embarrassing.  After all that commotion, we sat and enjoyed the game a little.  Then, it was time to eat again.  I have never hated nursing more than when I had to do it in a football stadium, surrounded on every side, plus up and down. 

Break time!  At that point, I had enough.  Michael took Karis to sit with the group while I just sat by myself for a few minutes and ate a snack.  SFA even scored a touchdown, but I didn’t care, because I was in my own little world.  SFA did end up winning the game; I can’t even tell you what the score was.

Everyone met for dinner at my old fav: La Carretta.  Karis did wonderful at the restaurant!  We spent the night at La Quinta, and I was up replacing Karis’s pacifier once per hour.  Even though I got plenty of sleep, it was interrupted a lot, and I was quite exhausted in the morning.  We didn’t have plans till 11:30, so we enjoyed hanging out in the hotel room just playing with Karis. 

For lunch, we met up with Mary’s parents, Rita and JB.  They treated us at Cotton Patch.  So nice!  It was wonderful to catch up with them.  As usual, they showed us lots of love and encouragement.  Lots of people stopped at our table to ask if Karis was their granddaughter. J

The drive home went well.  Karis slept most of the way.  She was glad to get out of her carseat when we got home!

What time is it? Joy time!

Last week Karis was crying a lot.  She screamed so loud, and often there was nothing I could do to fix it.  It was stressing me out.  One evening, she finally fell asleep around midnight and woke up at 4:30 and 6:30.  I was exhausted and feeling totally down.  I sat on my bed crying and praying, “Lord, I can’t do this.  I NEED you.  Please help me through this phase.”  I had also been praying for peace and acceptance of my decision to stay at home rather than going back to work.  At 7:04 that morning, I woke up feeling delirious and confused.  I stared at the clock, and all I could see was JOY (as if the 7 was upside down).  Joy?  What did it mean?  I felt the Lord’s comfort right then, telling me He’d give me joy.  Then I dug through the Bible for a verse that would give me comfort.  Again, God spoke, “I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace while you trust in him.  Then your hope will overflow by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13. The next night, I dreamt that my friend, Shannon and I were doing a word search.  The first word on the list was “joy.”  I pointed to the word and exclaimed, “There it is! Joy!  I found joy!”  When I woke up, I felt overwhelmed with peace and joy, and I knew that my friend Shannon had been praying for me.  Praise the Lord for taking care of me and meeting my needs in low moments like these. 

Enjoying every moment

Traveling with a Newborn

Our friends Nate and Kaela got married in Corpus Christi this past weekend.  We could have come home after the wedding, but I love any opportunity to get away… especially to the beach!  Getting out of the house took much longer than it did when it was just Michael and me.  Karis requires a lot of stuff!  We stayed in a hotel, so she needed her pack-n-play.  We were also planning to go to the aquarium, so she needed her stroller.  Those two items took up the whole trunk.  I don’t know how Michael did it, but he made everything fit.

The ceremony began at 4pm.  I planned Karis’s entire day out so that we could stop once on the way to eat.  Then, she’d sleep through the ceremony (so that I could enjoy it), and eat at 5pm.  Instead of sleeping through the ceremony, Karis screamed louder and longer than I’d ever heard before (or maybe it just seemed worse since we were in public).  I tried to rock her on the porch and watch the ceremony through the window.  No luck.  I was getting some looks.  With Karis strapped in her Moby wrap, I covered her head and ran through the wind and rain to the car.  After performing “the five S’s,” Karis fell asleep for about 30 minutes.  When she woke up, I fed her.  Bummer!  I missed the entire ceremony.  

Karis and Daddy's first dance

Asleep at the Party - too much to drink

Friends passed Karis around during the reception, and she did great.  Eventually, I strapped her back in the Moby and “danced” with her.  She peacefully fell asleep, and Michael and I enjoyed the rest of the wedding reception. 

April and Karis with Ellen and Charlotte

(April's messy hair - Remember the wind and rain?)

Michael with the Groom, Nate

We got to our hotel right at Karis’s bedtime.  As usual, she ate, and I put her in bed.  Then, she cried for about 15 minutes.  I was just waiting for the phone to ring, “We’ve received complaints from other guests, and we’d kindly like for you to find another hotel for the night.”  Thankfully that never happened.  I gave in and rocked Karis to sleep.  Finally, at about 11:30, she fell asleep.  Karis woke up once to eat, and then slept till 8am.  It felt stressful at the time, but when I look back, I see that Karis did a pretty good job!

The groom’s brother, Jon is Michael’s childhood friend.  We went to his house for breakfast at 9 am.  Jon and his wife Ellen have two small children, Theo and Charlotte.  Since we were enjoying each other’s company so much, we never made it to the aquarium.  Truthfully, I’m glad.  It would have been difficult to go to the aquarium with the kids.  My biggest concern was nursing in public.  I was much more comfortable taking care of Karis at Jon’s house.

Charlotte and Karis

Jon and Michael

Not that I’m ready to leave town this weekend, but all in all, our first family trip was a success.

Encouragement Everywhere

Karis and I were out for our morning stroll, and she was dressed in a onesie with pink flowers (so cute!).  A man asked, “Is that a little girl or little boy?”  I tried to hold back one of my condescending faces that revealed exactly what I was thinking.  Then, he said, “That right there is the best decision you’ll ever make.”  My response, “That’s more encouraging than you know.  Thank you.”

The decision to have a kid, quit a wonderful job, and stay home was the hardest decision I’ve ever made.  I made the decision 5 months ago, and I still wonder if I did the right thing.  I LOVE taking care of Karis, and teaching her just gets more and more exciting.  However, I still think about my old job almost every day.  My family and friends have listened to me complain a lot about this decision.  Every time, they offer encouraging words, advice, and prayers.  I am so lucky to have them!  If I were one of my friends, I’d say, “April, get over it already!  It’s time to accept your new role.  You are blessed!  Enjoy every minute, and make the most of it.”

Enough is Enough

For several years, I have taken 2 medications to keep my IC under control.  Elmiron and Elavil worked well for me.  Elavil is not approved for pregnant mothers; so, I got off of that immediately with no problem.  (Fortunately, I was blessed with a low stress job.  That helped keep pain down too.)  I continued to take the Elmiron throughout my pregnancy.  After Karis was born, I learned that there has been little research on the safety of Elmiron for breastfed babies.  Since no one has said that it's safe, I didn't want to take the chance with my precious baby.  For about 6 weeks I was pretty much symptom free.  Then, I had some mild pain that was manageable with Tylenol.  During week 10, I was experiencing more severe IC pain that was not relieved by Tylenol.  One morning I decided I'd had enough.  The pain was wearing me out, and I wasn't able to get to the bathroom as frequently as my body was telling me to.  So, I took the Elmiron.  I've been taking it for several days now, and this episode hasn't calmed down completely.  I will continue my morning dose of Elmiron.  :-/
I've heard that some women with IC have no symptoms after pregnancy.  I was excited, thinking I would be a part of that group, but I was teased during the first 6 weeks after Karis's birth.  Oh well.  It was nice while it lasted.