Photos

We have so many pictures and it is impossible to put all or even a good many of them up on my blog. So I've decided to give dropshots a try - mostly for the sake of our out of town family who do not get to see the girls very often. http://www.dropshots.com/jenviolin

Password: bailey

If you have used a nursing bra that you really love (or one you hate!), please post!! I thought I was making an investment when I bought some after Lydia was born. Unfortunately, I'm not the same size this time! (Has anyone else experienced this?) My size is not available in stores so I am left to search/order/return online. This also means paying big bucks. Fun.

My Girls

Today it has just been "us girls" here at home. Since Lauren's birth there have been various people here helping with the girls. Ben's mom came for a visit and just left on Saturday. She was a great help- especially with entertaining and caring for Lydia these past couple of weeks. I know it was a luxury not to have to get Lydia up and fed in the mornings and to be able to catch an extra hour or so of sleep. Besides playing with Lydia and taking her to the playground or the pool, Kathy also taught Lydia plenty of "useless" (her words!) words and phrases.
Uh-oh Spaghetti-O's (this began at Christmas)
silly nilly patilly
zippydee doo da
rats!
crikey!
Let's go, Joe
oopsie doodles
exactly! (ezaklee)

Oh yes, and instead of calling Ben's mom Grandma or even Grandma Kathy, Lydia very quickly abandoned the "Gwamma" and just called her "Kaffee." In the afternoons when Lydia felt she'd "served enough time" in her bedroom, she would get down on the floor with her mouth pressed to the crack at the bottom of the door and begin calling, "Kaffee! I'm all done. Come get me! I want out!" (Naps are pretty much a thing of the past -although she happens to be taking one right now - but at least she can still spend time alone and plays up there for a couple of hours each day.)
For those who asked, Lauren's tests have all come back negative, so to my understanding all "serious" potential problems have been ruled out. She continues on the gall bladder medicine for at least another week and then will have an ultrasound to see if the medicine has been effective to clear out that "sludge."
I'm sort of afraid to say it for fear that it isn't true, but we think Lauren may be feeling somewhat better. She doesn't scream and cry as much as she did in those first few weeks. She also seems to be nursing much more contentedly - which was definitely a problem before (and sometimes still is). Another blessing is the couple of nights of good sleep we've had recently! She managed to go about 5-6 hours, wake up to nurse, and then immediately down for 3-4 hours more. These nights (3 so far and not consecutive) are wonderful and I feel SO much more rested in the morning. A more typical night would be 3 or maybe 4 hours between feedings. I sincerely hope she will learn to sleep longer at night sooner than her big sister who was closer to 8 months old before she was sleeping all night without waking. (Yes it was horrible and I hope we never repeat that again!)

And now for the pictures...

One week old

Pink cheeks and homegrown tomatoes from Auntie Liz's house

with Aunt Becky and Kate

Uncle Elias loves babies

Matching outfits

Lydia calls this dress her "ice-cream dress" as there are little ice cream cones on it. She has worn it a few times, but was thrilled to find out that "baby Wah-yen" has one to match!! Knowing my penchant for clothes, it is probably the first of many little matching outfits!

Update #2

We are very thankful to report that the pediatrician has received results from most of the blood tests, and, so far, they have all come back normal. We are still waiting to hear back on 2 of the tests that have not returned. The pediatrician called me on Tuesday about the tests and I have not heard back (and forgot to call before the office closed on Friday) about the other tests. I'm trying to think positively and take this as a good sign! The tests that came back were the more serious ones, so the ones we're still waiting on are "less serious."
For now, the plan remains to treat and monitor the gall-bladder issue. They'll perform another ultrasound next week to check on progress.
Lauren is still one very fussy baby. Fussy may not even be the right term. I am fairly certain she cries because she is hurting...not for other reasons. I am also starting to wonder if she is allergic to something I am eating. I may begin a food diary for a few days and write down her reactions. Then, perhaps, I will eliminate some things from my diet to see how it goes. The pediatrician said I don't need to do this at this point...but I feel like we're getting a bit desperate here!!! I'm willing to give most anything a try!

We thank God for his mercy, and you for your prayers.

Update on Lauren

A lot has been going on in our little household for the past week. Since quite a few of you live far away (and don't attend our church!) I thought I'd post a brief update on what we're going through with Lauren.
This Tuesday I took her back to the pediatrician because I just felt things were not all "okay." Lauren has had a lot of gas problems and is a pretty fussy baby -- but I know that is not abnormal for a newborn. She also has two largish light red marks on her tummy on either side of her belly button. There is a chance they are nothing more than birthmarks, but the doctor was concerned enough given the combination of things I mentioned, that she ordered first an x-ray and then an ultrasound after that.
Here is the church-wide email Ben sent out this week:

First, I'd like to thank everyone for your prayers, e-mails, and calls. We appreciate it very much and have confidence that God hears and answers the prayers of his people.

We spoke to the doctor this evening after she had reviewed the results of the ultrasound with the radiologist, and with a GI specialist from Scottish Rite. To make a long story short, it appears her gall-bladder has a build-up of "sludge". They're not sure if they're gallstones, or other matter, but that appears to be the main cause for concern based on the imaging procedures. Apparently, this is not terribly unusual in infants, but they would like to take some more blood tests in order to rule out liver problems or other GI issues. Also, they'll give her some medicine to try to clear out the buildup. In two weeks, they'll do another ultrasound to determine if any progress has been made. Assuming the blood tests come out okay, that'll probably be the extent of it. Otherwise, we may be referred to either a pediatric GI specialist, or to a pediatric surgeon (possibly for the removal of the gallbladder) - but that is mainly speculation at this time.
We are very grateful that it doesn't appear to be anything more acute at this time, but would still desire your prayers on her behalf that the blood tests would reveal nothing else wrong, and that the treatment would be effective.

Thursday I took her and she had blood drawn. I hope to know the results by the middle of next week. She also got a prescription for the medicine to help clear out her gallbladder. Apparently it can take at least a week to notice any kind of difference.
I know all our church family has been praying for us and we appreciate that so much. We know God has Lauren in His hands and we are trusting in Him.
I'll update when we know something new...

Pictures from the last week...

The two midwives, Jill and Stephanie, who helped deliver Lauren. When Stephanie broke my water at 11am none of us thought Lauren would arrive before their shift ended - at 6pm!

Apparently Lydia "chose" this gift for her little sis. Aunt Liz gave her a few options and this is what she picked. As she handed me the little gift bag she kept saying, " I want it...I want it!" Needless to say "little Pup" spends more time with Lydia than Lauren!

Heading home...couldn't come soon enough for Dad who was going stir-crazy!

Look how strong! She pushes up on me and tries to look at my face. Her little legs are also quite strong - but I knew that already from her late night gymnastics in the womb!

Lydia seems to be doing as well as we could hope in her new role as big sister. She loves to talk to Lauren whenever she notices that her eyes are open. She gives lots of kisses to Lauren and wants to hold her frequently. In those first couple of days, Lydia became distressed whenever Lauren was crying. Now when Lauren cries, Lydia will say "Baby Wah-yen's okay Mommy," since we had to remind her of that so many times!