I'm a big girl now!

Miss Evie had her 2 month check-up today.

Weight: 9lbs, 6 oz
Height: 22 1/4 inches

All of us are thrilled to hear that she is back on her growth chart and over 9 pounds! Now we need her to eat on her own instead of using the NG tube as a crutch. We will hit the bottle hard this weekend (ha ha) and keep praying clipping her frenulum on Monday will make a difference.

Evie got two shots today. I love that one side effect is fussiness. She was definitely more fussy than normal, if that's even possible.

We have moved to size 1 diapers and she's finally out of newborn clothes. She has great head control, smiles, maybe laughs a little too. She is alert and is starting to hit the animals hanging over her bouncer. It appears she is on track with behavioral milestones.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can report a colic free baby at the 3 month mark!

Between Tour Stops

Evie's Summer Hospital Tour 2011

Some people like to visit multiple amusement parks in a summer. Or maybe state parks. Evie wants to visit as many hospitals as she can.

By 9 weeks, we have been to 3 different hospitals for overnight visits. Our most recent vacation destination was St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore. We have 3 blankets (all the same colors) from Howard County, Shore Memorial, and now St. Agnes. We were hoping for a transfer to Hopkins, but no such luck.

Evie doesn't want to eat as much as she should, resulting in hardly any weight gain in 1 month. She was admitted on Friday night. She was put on a NG feeding tube upon her arrival.

I'll skip all the details. Here's what we know:

- When my milk is put into her tummy, she can gain weight.
- She probably has reflux or something that is making her fussy while eating
- She has a good latch and will breastfeed. Just not taking in enough

After montioring and lots of doctors working together, scratching their heads, she was discharged on Monday night. It's a little bit of trial and error now.

We are back home, NG tube still in. I at least have an out if she will not breastfeed, bottle feed, etc. We can put it directly into her tummy. Obviously this is not a long term solution, but has allowed her to gain weight and learn how much fun it is to have a full belly! Hopefully she will start associate eating with feeling good again.

I went against doctor's orders and let her eat on demand overnight (they want every 3). Evie happily slept for 5.5 hours. I woke her up at this point to eat. She fed well, took some extra milk by NG tube, and was back down for another 3. Mom and G did not complain with 8 hours of sleep!

Evie's fussiness is getting better and she is eating more from me. G even got her to take 1 oz from a bottle (something that hasn't happened in weeks). I'm hopeful we are on the road to a happier baby. If not, everyone keeps telling me colic babies turn around at 12 weeks. 3 weeks to go.

Through everything Evie continues to be an absolutely adorable baby. The nurses and doctors LOVED her at St. Agnes. And she snuggled with all of them. She is smiling a lot more now. She keeps giving us something positive during a very difficult time.

I'll try to keep updating on the blog. Thank you for the emails, texts, prayers, and phone calls. I obviously need to tend to Evie first and am doing my best to keep everyone updated. I'll post some pictures soon. We have her 2 month appointment tomorrow.

Once an email went out to the faculty at school, I had more offers for help than I can manage. I am so thankful to have help for the next few weeks until we get back on track. It's nice being a teacher because all my co-workers are still off and eager to help.

Keep Evie in your thoughts that she will continue to eat well and gain weight.

St. Agnes

End of an Era

We decided that since I was not working this school year, we would downsize to one car. It also goes along with my eco-friendly ways.

So Jason sold his beloved 2005 Subaru Legacy today.



I didn't have an emotional attachment to the Legacy since I never drove it myself. Jason said he would teach me how to drive stick shift once the clutch was ready to go. I said I never wanted to drive his car with that attitude. We both won, I guess.

While Evie will not remember her few days in the Sub, Parker left his mark



That would be the remains of many head out the window, tongue flapping, cruisin' days.

Am I kidding about selling the Sub? No

Are we really not getting a 2nd car? Not until Friday

What are we getting? Maybe a minivan? I'll leave you in suspense :)

One Passionate Morning

Put on your teenager glasses and look again. Yes, that's a hickey on my upper arm.

Odd place for Jason to be sucking, right? :)

Evie decided to get my attention when I was chatting with Ana on the phone that she was hungry by leaving a nice mark. I didn't realize how hard she was sucking until I took her off. Cracks me up!

Guess I won't be wearing tank tops for a few days!

Bath Time

We had our second successful bath! I don't mean this was only the 2nd time we bathed Evie, I mean this was the 2nd time she seemed to enjoy it.








I think we made a pretty cute baby. My parents claim she looks like me when I was a baby. My sister thought she looked like Jason one morning at the beach. Either way, I think she's a combo of both of us.

The Jersey Shore

I've never seen the reality show The Jersey Shore, but I think I get the gist. I'm really disappointed that Americans now associate Jersey beaches with Snookie and The Situation and their antics.

Ocean City, NJ is the complete opposite of hot tubs, sex, and booze. OCNJ is a true family town. My grandparents met in OC in 1939 and have brought their family just about every year since. I first came to OC when I was 6 months old and I think have only missed 3 or 4 years in my 30 years of existance. My dad has been coming to OC for most of his 65 years! OC is a dry town, which is the complete opposite of Ocean City, MD where everyone is plastered and riding the bus. When you sit on the beach, you notice 2-3 generations of families together under umbrellas. Families play games at night, eat dinner together, and are just TOGETHER. Something that is seeming more and more rare in 2011. It is a special place for our family. My grandparents always rented a house for our family and now that they are unable to come, my parents have picked up the tradition.

When we drive over the 34th street bridge and smell the salty air, I instantly feel the gitters and excitment of another summer at the beach. My family sang "Ocean City here we come!" as we drove over the bridge growing up. I still hum it in my head.

There was no doubt that we would bring Evie to OC this summer even though she is 6 weeks old. Packing for the beach is a car full as is, but with a newborn, we were stuffing the CRV. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon for our 5 day stay.

After about 20 hours of being here, I sensed something was wrong with Evie. She wasn't eating and was fussier than normal. I called her pediatrican's office and they instructed me to take her to the ER.

Jason quickly showered off the sun tan lotion and other smelly remains for the beach and we were off to Shore Memorial Hospital. I sobbed the entire way there (all 5 minutes). THANK GOODNESS there was a hospital near Ocean City.

Upon arriving at the ER, Evie registered a temperature near 101. They quickly rushed us to the pediatric ER, which literally opened 2 hours before we arrived. It was beautiful, but all the nurses were running around trying to find supplies. Evie was crying hard, I was sobbing harder, and Jason tried his best to keep both of us in line. I won't relive the horrifying details of all the tests. I left the room for all of the bad stuff. They tested Evie's urine, blood, and spinal fluid. Yes, my delicate 6 week old daughter had a spinal tap. The word "menagitis" had me bending over my knees uncontrollable crying. WHY US??!

I finally got away to call my parents to join us. By this point Evie had her IV with fluids since she was dyhydrated. She still refused to eat from me, formula, anything. She screamed for 6 hours straight. I'm so glad my parents were there for us. I was losing my mind and nothing was comforting me at that point.

To make a long 3 days short- Evie was admitted to Shore Memorial Hospital for 48 hours. None of the cultures ever grew bacteria. I vacationed in the brand new pediatic floor for 2 nights on a hospital bed. My parents brought food, clothes, and loving arms every day. Jason escaped for an afternoon on the roof top deck back at the beach house. Evie started to feed, pee, and poop again. She even gained some weight.

The funny part- Jason forgot his toothbrush at home. As soon as we arrived in our hospital room, there was a toothbrush :) Also, the nurses "babysat" Evie for us on Thursday night, so we did go out for dinner after all. And you bet I had a glass of wine!

We got back to the beach house on Friday evening and enjoyed 36 hours of a somewhat normal beach vacation. My sister's family arrived late that night. I didn't get to the boardwalk, walk Evie in the salty Ocean City air, get a tan, or have Mack n Manko's pizza, but I have my Evie in safe in my arms again and that's all that matters.

Yet another memorable vacation at the Jersey Shore.

Ocean City 2011

May the Fourth Be with You

Happy Fourth of July from Evie!

Evie wanted to be wrapped up in her swaddle all day instead of showing off her 4th of July outfit from Grandmom. There were about 25 attempts- here are the best.

Attempt #1: in between cries



Attempt #2: showing off the elephant holding the firecracker



Attempt #3: right before bathtime. The calm before the storm!




Thanks, Aubrey, for the title. I told you I would steal it one of the fourths!

July 3rd: Sound familiar?

Six years ago today...



I can't believe it's been that long.

As I walked Parker this morning in the soupie, Maryland air, I thought how lucky we were to get married outside in MD on such a beautiful day.

Did I buy a card? No

Are we doing something special? No (unless Jason has something up his sleeve, but since he just asked me the date, I'll go with NO)

Does Evie consume my every thought and energy? Yes

While we might not do anything special to celebrate today, we do have a babysitter lined up for a day this week to go out to dinner.

As much as I want a family, I'm thankful we enjoyed 5 plus years of couplehood. Life is definitely not the same this anniversary. I'm excited to see where the next year takes us! Happy Anniversary Boo!

Blowout!

Today at 5 1/2 weeks, Evie had her first blowout. The damage seems minimal- a little poop on the bottom of her onesie and the swaddle. We'll see how well the Dreft spray works. I would be ok losing a onesie, but a swaddle would be a significant loss. That swaddle might turn into a "for our house use only" swaddle. I decided not to post pictures of this event.

We almost thought we had a second blowout before bed. Jason got up from holding Evie on the couch and noticed brown blobs all over the floor. Turns out it was a chocolate chip from the trail mix Jason was eating earlier that got on Jason's foot, which melted all over the carpet when he walked. Just what we wanted to clean up right before bed with a crying baby. Sigh. Jason took on the chocolate, I took on the crying baby.