We survived!

You'd think that we went on a dangerous adventure or were involved in a severe accident if you heard me say "We Survived!" But it was Josie's first cold, and boy was it a doozie!

Nick and I both had this same cold over Christmas. Ours both included fever, congestion, and a cough. Nick had it the worst, luckily my fever lasted half a day, but his lasted three. And sleeping was not really in the cards with this cold because of the cough. One night I suggested that Nick go sleep on the couch so he wouldn't wake the baby (nice huh?). I nursed Josie like crazy so that she would get all the antibodies from me but the cold must have morphed into baby form because it showed it's ugly little head on New Years Eve. But thank the Lord, she never had a fever!

The congestion was bad, and it is hard to explain to an infant that squirting saline up her nose and getting it sucked out will help her breathe (my little life saver), but the cough was almost unbearable for ALL parties involved. We spent many hours in the bathroom in the steam from the shower as well as in the cold outside on the porch swing, just trying to soothe her cough. The poor thing would cough so hard she would vomit. So we took turns. Nick took her for half the night and I took her for half the night. Most likely we would sleep with her on our chest or holding her out on the couch so the other one could sleep for a bit. I unfortunately, have been blessed (or cursed) with being an incredibly light sleeper. So even with the door closed I could still hear my baby coughing and crying and had a hard time sleeping.

So while we try to get back our routine and schedule, you can enjoy some cute pictures.

I think she likes memory foam

Josie sleeps best after I nurse her in bed, more specifically when I get out of bed and she has the whole thing to herself. I think we should get her a queen memory foam mattress of her own. It might also be the fact that it smells like me and she was just laying down to eat, but I think those are minor details when comparing her bassinet mattress to our mattress. Babies need back and neck support also...

Dolphin Pose

Please enjoy the video below and don't judge me for laughing at my child when she is just about to lose it. She actually started rolling over the day before I shot this and I was trying to get a video of it. But instead of showing off her rolling skills, she graced us with this amazing talent.

Santa Cruise with folks from Santa Cruz

We had a great time on the Santa Cruise this year. It was fun to go with kids. Josie was even on Santa's list this year, thank goodness, because if Santa doesn't bring her anything I don't think she will get one present (yes, I am being facetious). Since she won't remember and doesn't really react to much that not in her face we enjoyed the company and reactions of Jason's kids.

Family picture on the boat

Malachi was hammin' it up for Josie, it was adorable!

The Gooey! It was as good as it looks, yummmmm

Most were slowing down a bit by this point, but the kids were still going strong!

Nick's magic touch at getting Josie to go down for naps, he also always volunteers to hold her. I think he is smitten (see above and below).

Thank you Zantac

Anyone out there ever had acid reflux? Well you know how miserable it is, the burning, the coughing, the discomfort, downing a Costco bottle of Tums every week month...

If you remember I had a similar post while I was pregnant. If you want to relive my complaints you can click here. But this is about another little human being who was miserable and we didn't really know it. We had a concern about a noise Josie was making and it was continuing to get more frequent. It was the noise that all babies make, its called "strider." It is when they breathe in really quick and it makes kind of a gasping squeak. She was making it more frequent and sometimes it would take her a bit to regulate her breathing again. So the doc sent us to a swallow therapist (I had never heard of it either) and after an evaluation we found out Josie has been suffering from pretty bad acid reflux. Not the worst case since she has been gaining weight just fine but she was showing all the textbook signs. A lot of signs that I would not have known were connected.

lots of hard swallowing followed by watery eyes
dry cough
arching back (made tummy time difficult)
holding shoulders back
spit-up out her nose at least once a day usually more
hiccups (after every feeding still)
drooling (soak the whole onesie kind)
strider (all through out the day and during feedings)
really squirmy and noisy while nursing (the complaining kind)
wheezing
congestion

She was taking it all like a champ though. She definitely didn't complain as much as I did...

Nick and I are both a fan of trying to solve things the natural way before medication, so a lot of food went out the window but there was no change with my sweet girl. We learned that infants suffer from un treated acid reflux have a really high rate of asthma and allergies. It can also cause permanent damage to the esophagus causing the child to have problems the rest of their life. But most of the time the reflux goes away by 9 months or before. So why risk permanent damage when most likely the short term treatment is better than the long term risk of no treatment. So on to the meds! We were also told that it can take a while to figure out which meds will work and sometimes you will have to change after awhile or try two at a time (sounds like my problem while pregnant). Finally, after realizing my own belief of not medicating our baby was getting in the way of her comfort. Plus, I medicated myself for reflux and was much happier. So we are on our first set of trial meds and I must say, it was the best choice we could have made. She has been on them for three days now and from night one she slept 7 hours, night two 8 hours, and night three 8 hours. She doesn't wake up crying as often and will put herself to sleep without rocking. She doesn't act uncomfortable while laying down and rather than screaming during tummy time she actually rolled over. Needless to say I am so thankful for all the professionals out there who know a heck of a lot more than I do.

We are all now a bit more Joyful in the Parkert house!

Pictures of the week

Ready for winter!

The Thinker

What's that you say?

The Stink Eye

Almost 3 months

I cannot believe it has been 11 weeks (almost 3 months) since Josie Mae was born. It seems like it was just yesterday that I felt the first contraction. But I also can't remember what life was like before she came home. The below pictures were taken the day she was born and I remember when I saw them for the first time I burst into tears. Partly because I was still on heavy pain killers and I had a variety of new hormones running through my body, but mostly because I already loved her so much and I couldn't believe the Lord gave me this perfect little girl to love.





These were taken in the past couple weeks and when I look back she has grown so much already! She is growing like a weed and eating like a horse. She has chubby cheeks, a double chin, and twig like arms and legs. In the past 3 weeks she has become such a happy baby. She smiles all day long and is so much fun to play with. Although, she still has the "Farley" temper and I can already see some great tantrums in our future. Good luck us!