Janie Beth {1 Month}

 Happy 1 month Janie Beth! It has been a fast one month but an exciting one at that. You have been a very easy baby and we thank you for that! I love that you are starting to develop a sweet personality but sad that you are growing (I want you to be little forever). 

One Month Highlights:

• You weigh 8.15 (50%) 21 1/2 inches long (50%)! You are one average chick in the weight and length and your head also measured in the 50%! :) Proud parent moment!
• You are still wearing newborn diapers but your newborn clothes are starting to get a little snug(that makes me sad)!
• You are eating 2.5-4 ounces at each feeding which is from every 2-3 hours.
• You sleep through the night!!! You normally fall asleep somewhere in between 9 and 9:30 and you will wake up somewhere from 4-5 to eat and then you snooze back to sleep until around 8:00!!!!
• You don't mind riding in the car unless you have been fed and changed and ready to nap. If not you scream the whole time!
• You can roll to your side when we lay you down flat and it looks like you are terrified you are falling and send your arms in the air and get a scared look on your face and then you loose it and start crying.
• You love to lay on our chest and bob your head around and leave it up  5-10 seconds at a time. 
• You love your MAM pacifier and I am not ashamed that most of the pictures I take of you have it in your mouth :) 
• You have visited both of your grandparent's house and great grandmother's house, and Walmart!
• Tummy time last for 60-90 seconds until you pass out and take a long snooze because you really like sleeping on your belly.
• You have flashed a few smiles when we make crazy noises and it is the cutest smile ever!
• You also can roll to your side when you lay on your back, but I am not sure if it is on purpose or not!
• Your favorite things are: sitting up, paci, taking walks, laying on your tummy, laying on mommy and daddy, eating, bath time, and sleeping.
• Some of your not so favorites: Laying on your back, getting lotion put on, and powder formula!
• Janie Beth, you are such a good baby and you make being a mom fun and easy (MOST of the time)! I am so glad you are ours and you will call me mommy!

One Week Old

Two Weeks Old

Three Weeks Old

One of your first smiles! 

Newborn Essentials

We are not by any means professional parents and won't claim to know it all. But, since having Janie Beth home for three weeks we are quickly learning what works and what doesn't work for us and for her! Below I have listed our top 10 newborn essentials that we could not live without!

1. Newborn Onesies- I have all these cute adorable clothes but let's be realistic; we don't go anywhere and I quickly learned that unsnapping three buttons is a lot easier than removing bloomers and pants every single diaper change (which is a lot).  Of course I have to dress her in cute onesies and not plain white ones.

2. Rockeroo- This little spaceship has been a lifesaver. Janie Beth absolutely loves sitting in it and rocking. It can be expensive but totally worth the money.

3. JJ Cole Diaper Caddy- My best friend, Kaylee, who had a little boy back in November ran across this amazing product. It holds diapers, wipes, and in the little drawer I keep finger nail clippers, diaper cream, extra pacis, and a hair brush.  We carry this from room to room with us so we don't have to constantly go to her diaper changing station in her nursery.

4. Summer Infant SwaddleMe Blankets- We all know the nurses in the hospital can swaddle a baby like a burrito and they make it look so easy. Ben and I would watch every time but we never seemed to master it so luckily we had these at home! Janie Beth LOVES being swaddle these blankets make it easier for us and tight for her!

5. Boppy- The boppy has come in handy in a lot of ways. She mainly loves laying in it and looking around but it also helps us when feeding her and holding her.

6. Aden and Anais Swaddle Blankets- Actually I am not sure why they are called swaddle blankets because swaddling with them is a complete fail on our end. But, they are great light blankets to cover her up with during the day when she is chilling in the rockeroo or the boppy.

7. Dr. Brown Bottles- After giving her every bottle we had this is the bottle she likes best.

8. Grass Drying Rack- It speaks for itself.

9. MAM Pacifiers- Funny story; One night JB was crying and we could not figure out why and she wasn't wanting anything to do with the NUK paci she had been sucking on. Ben decided to do the paci search. He offered her 3 different pacis until he gave her the MAM and that was the one she liked. Ever since then that is the only one she'll take!

10. Newborn Rock and Play Sleeper- This is by far our favorite item! Mainly because she only sleeps in this at night beside our bed and she sleeps 6-7 hours straight in it!!! I am not sure why our little girl sleeps through the night, but we are going to keep up our routine- bath, book, eat, swaddle, and sleep!

Janie Beth's NICU Stay

I never dreamed my baby would end up in the NICU after such an easy pregnancy and an even easier delivery. But here is what happened.

The day after she was born she had a choking spell. She was trying to cough up mucus and it was too thick and she could not get it up. She turned blue and could not breathe. Some how mommy instinct chimed in and I got the bulb and started sucking it out while Ben and my parents called  yelled for nurses. They whisked Janie Beth away and did some test and brought her back to us and assured us it happens all the time and she was fine. After a lot of loving and kissing on her we felt better. Then the day we were supposed to go home she had another choking spell around 10:30am. I did the same thing with the bulb and Ben wasn't in there so I was yelling for help and trying to get my baby breathing again. The nurses flew in and whisked her away again, and once again they brought her back and told me she was fine. But, our gut instinct was she wasn't fine. Then, we had Janie Beth in her car seat about to leave and she had ANOTHER one. We then insisted that something else was wrong and we did not feel comfortable taking her home. We called our pediatrician and she ordered Janie Beth not be discharged and for her to stay another night and she was going to come see her first thing in the morning. Well, during our conversation with her Janie Beth had another choking spell and they sent her straight to the NICU. BROKE MY HEART but I knew she was in better hands and was going to be watched 24/7. Also, thank you to our wonderful day nurse she was able to get us a room right beside the NICU that night so I didn't have to leave the hospital!

She was admitted into the NICU on Friday July 24th and had to stay there for 5 days as long as she didn't have another choking spell. It was so hard having to wash my hands up to my elbows for three minutes and put on a gown just to see and hold Janie Beth. It was even harder leaving her there every night. Lets just say a lot of tears was shed!

Every day she had several test done. And every day she had a new bandage from where they had to draw blood. It was so sad to see her go through all that and I wasn't there for her (mommy guilt was on full force). We spent as much time with her as possible and I am sure the NICU nurses got tired of seeing Ben and me and our families.  We had awesome nurses and we grew very close with them during our stay there. They made it a LITTLE easier leaving her each night.

So far all of her test kept coming back normal and she hasn't had any more choking spells. Which was great news but we still wanted answers as to why she had the choking spells to begin with. Well, we were told the whole time that she would be discharged on Thursday, July 30th and we would room in with her Wednesday night. So Wednesday I decided to come home for the first time since I went into labor (we stayed in a hotel room close to the hospital the whole time she was in the NICU) to get the house ready and wash some clothes. Right before we were about leave the house and head back to the hospital we got a call from the NICU doctor. She told us that the EEG they did had some high level of activity on it and that she needs to stay one more night. There were the tears again. We went back to see Janie Beth and feed her and stayed in the hotel another night. 

     





Finally, Thursday rolled around and she was still doing great in the NICU and we were getting the all clear that she can come home the next day. Thursday night we stayed in the hospital with her and that was a long night of loud noises and the room only had one twin size bed for both Ben and me! 

FINALLY on Friday morning, July 31st, the NICU doctor came in and said she can come home and had started the discharge papers... cue tears again! Around noon is when we were discharged and we couldn't get out the hostial/parking lot quickly but safely. 

Don't get me wrong, we are very grateful for every doctor and nurse that helped us and Janie Beth but it was time to bring our girl home!