Bramell, Party of Five: July 2007

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go...

10 weeks already? Dang!! That's right, today is my last day of sitting on the couch with nothing to do except eat ice cream and do my nails. Oh wait, that's not me.

So, tomorrow it's back to work (at my office, I mean). My first job. I am not looking forward to it, I must say. Not that I want to be a stay-home mom or anything, but I could just use another few weeks to get it together. Oh well. So I explained to Becca and Fergie today that it would be my last day home with them. Fergie is the only one who acted sad.

Becca will start at the daycare next Monday. She will be with her dad and grandma the rest of this week.

Wish me luck...

Friday, July 27, 2007

Counting Our Blessings







1. Becca is still feeling much better and we are having fun!

2. Wednesday night, Becca slept ALL night long...6 hours straight!

3. Thursday night, Becca slept ALL night long...5 1/2 hours straight!

4. Fergie has not thrown up in well over a week, even after we've run out of her medication. Our guess is that changing her food is what helped, not the meds anyway.

5. We got to eat a nice dinner at a restaurant without having to hurry or having to eat with one hand, while feeding Becca with the other. We took Javier, Erika and Francena to eat at the Venesian Inn on Wednesday night. We happened to get there at 8:30, only a half hour before closing time. Becca was sleeping when we arrived and ordered. But, sure enough, as were were being served our dinner, she decided it was time for her to eat too! As I was mixing a bottle, the sweet waitress offered to feed her so I could eat mine!! I swear, I'm not kidding! We were the only ones in the restaurant so she wasn't busy. She scooped Becca up and took her over where the other waitresses were sitting. They totally oohed and ahhed her and loved it. It was funny and we all enjoyed dinner. Guess that's the good thing about going right before closing, and it's a small place in a small town where people are nice :)

6. The Diva has been officially girlied up. See photo above--on our way to Venesian Inn. Becca's "Aunt Lisa" has properly outfitted her with enough hair bows to last her through college, but she doesn't have enough hair to wear them yet. So, thanks to Becca's friend Lily Grace and her mom MiKael (Lee's co-worker), Becca has a few infant hair bows. Very hesitantly, I put this one on her....now I'm hooked! She is the most adorable thing I've ever seen! And, she's obviously happy too.

7. We enjoyed spending the week with Javi and Erika. Right before they left, he finally decided to hold Becca for the first time. She kindly rewarded him by filling her diaper. Poor Javi.







Tuesday, July 24, 2007

New Pictures



The Wedge---its OK to laugh.

Today was a Big Day.

Becca went for her 2-month check up today. (Yes, this was a scheduled appointment--not emergency, for once!). It was funny, when we drove up to the clinic, Lee parked at the "emergency" entrance, not the normal entrance--habit?

She was so good during the exam! Never made so much as a wimper until the mean 'ol nurse stuck her with the needles. She got 3 shots and an oral vaccination. Everything is going great; she is right on target with her age, weight, height, development, etc. She is up to 1o.5 lbs now!! She is smiling a lot and making noises like she wants to talk....it's so cute!!

Also, our friends Javier and Erika are here visiting from Spain. We got to spend this afternoon with them, and they will be here until the end of the week. We will post some photos later b/c of course, I can't remember how to do it (again!). Lee will post some later when he gets time.

More later...

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Hallelujah!

Oh my gosh! Who is this baby and where is our Becca?? No, really.

We are happy to report that this last trip to the doctor on Thursday last week seems to have helped! We were getting ready to leave town for the weekend and I just couldn't take her off while she was still so obviously miserable. After she put on a show at the clinic, Dr. Silvey understood where we were coming from. He doubled Becca's dosage of the Prevacid, gave her an additional medicine AND suggested that we put rice cereal in with the formula. He doesn't usually make so many changes at once, but I think he realized that we were desperate, and that we'd just keep coming back to him if we didn't do something quick!! We don't really know which one of these things is helping, so we're going to keep it all up.

We are now having some fun time with Becca--she is smiling and cooing. She is napping during the day, sitting in her swing for an hour at a time and even laying on her tummy! The screaming fits are still there, just only once a day or so. Much more manageable for mom and dad.

Want to know something funny? Fergie and Becca are on the same medication! We took Fergie to the vet last Monday because she is still throwing up a few times a week. We figured it was stress-related due to the baby, but the doctor said that's not it. We also changed Fergie's food back to the same formula she was having as a puppy. Glad to say that she has not thrown up in 2 days now (knock on wood). If we can get both our girls well and feeling better, we'll all be happier.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Girls Gone Wild









Becca took her first road trip this weekend, alone with mom. We thought we would give dad some much needed alone time to catch up on his sleep. As you can see, Becca was thrilled about going on the trip to East Arkansas, where we visited our family.

We spent time with Becca's Grammy, Nanny and her Great Aunts Pam and Nanette. She also got some time with her Pop, and on Sunday we detoured to Aunt TP's house. Whew! We were glad to get back home after all that! Becca especially loved getting dressed up in her lady bug outfit and admiring Pop's hairdo. :o
Thankfully, Becca traveled well and took it easy on me. I did learn that taking a baby on a weekend trip is much like moving and requires you to take nearly everything you own. Now I know why people with small kids invite others to come visit them at their own house!! Consider this an open invitation to anyone who is interested...






Monday, July 9, 2007

This is a major milestone day for us!! Woo Hoo!

Becca had some tummy time this morning for about 20 minutes and she never cried! Every time we've tried before, she hated it. So this is some great improvement! I put her on her tummy in the Boppy and it worked.

Now, she is in her swing (which she usually hates!). She is happy and smiling away at the bear mobile over her head. She's been in there about a half hour....I think 10 minutes was the max before today. YAY for us!!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Want more pictures??



DISCLAIMER: No actual babies were bitten during this photo shoot. Daddy was just playing along with her fit.

One man's trash...




This weekend we had our first yard sale. It was definitely a lot of hard work, but it paid off. We cleaned out closets months ago to make room for Becca and all her stuff, so we had a lot to get rid of. We had Becca outside in the garage while we were setting up and she did really well. We think she likes being outside. Then Grandma Francena came over to sit with Becca while we worked the sale, which was a big help.

Becca Update: We think that the new formula is helping Becca, but we're still not sure about the Prevacid. We are going to give it some more time to see. She is still having some major crying spells during the day, but doing well at night. Saturday night she slept for SIX HOURS straight!!! I've just found out about a book called "The Happiest Baby on the Block," that is supposed to hold all the secrets to calming a crying baby. I've read about it online, but a lady at my doctor's office told me about it last week. So I finally went to the library to get it. We'll see if it works for us.

Becca is growing so fast, she is out of her newborn size clothes now. We have started putting her in the size 0-3 mos. so she's got a whole new wardrobe now. Here is a cute outfit that my cousin Valerie gave her.








Monday, July 2, 2007

Same Song, Second Verse...

I think we are keeping the pediatrician in business by ourselves. We took Becca back again this morning because the medicine from last week does not seem to be helping much, if at all. Our instructions were to come back today if we didn't see improvement. The thing is, we did see some improvement, just not consistently. She would do better for a while, then the reflux would hit hard again--about every 12 hours or so. We are having to hold her to keep her upright for 30 mins. after eating, and she is sleeping in the Boppy to stay elevated. Poor baby was miserable Sunday night; you could just hear the gurgling in her belly and throat. After she cried for an hour solid, we decided to go back in today.

The doc is changing her formula yet again to see if this will help. We are going to keep her on the Prevacid for now. If it doesn't get better this week, then he is going to change her medication next. We are hoping for some instant relief, because there are 3 worn out Bramells in this house and I'm not sure who is gonna crack first :0

That's all for now; keep your fingers crossed for Becca to have some relief.
 
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