Six Month Pictures

Busy (and sleepless) week

Mia started the crawler sleeping schedule at daycare on Monday, which means only two naps during the day. Her sleeping habits were so messed up that Monday and Tuesday nights she was up at least once every hour. It's leveled off again, but I'm afraid tonight will be another rough one. Last night she kept pulling her swaddle blanket up around her neck, so I've had to abandon it. She's just in her sleep sack right now and I'm hoping she won't be up all night again. Her stuffy/runny nose is back. I don't think that has helped her sleeping any either. 

The positives are that Mia's been standing more this week, and a couple times she stood unassisted for a few seconds. She's been laughing so much, despite being sleepy. They've said she's been fussy at daycare, but when we've had her she's been her giggly, bouncy self. I like to think it's because she's with us! I discovered Mia hates applesauce as much as she hates pears, so I'm thinking it's a texture thing. I'm going to buy some little teething biscuits or something to get her used to different textures.

The miscarriage had some after-effects that I didn't anticipate. It's actually brought on a lot of anxiety over losing other people I love, particularly Mia. It was good to be with my girlfriends over the weekend because a few of them have had miscarriages also, and I was able to grieve my lost baby and feel understood. But this anxiety thing was not expected, and I've been struggling with how to deal with all that. I don't want to focus on it too much, because my history tells me I can "what-if" myself to pieces. So I just try to push those thoughts out of my mind.

I haven't talked much about the store here, because I try to make it mostly about Mia, but I have to report that it's doing great! Mike was in HerScene last week, they were both in the Voice on Thursday, Mike will be in Velocity next week, plus they have numerous parties and sponsorships planned. It's really starting to take off and we're so excited! I'm so proud of him for having the courage to go for his dream and I'm happy it's going so well.

Busy weekend ahead. We have an out-of-town wedding tomorrow night and then tailgating on Sunday for the UK/UL game (Go Cats!). We're going to set up a table with MODA info. They've decided to close the store on Sundays, since all the other boutiques in the development are closed that day. So the four of us will all get the chance to hang out together. That will be nice. Mia will stay with her Wilson grandparents tomorrow and her Robbins grandparents on Sunday. Then Monday will be our day with our girl. We may take her to the park and do something fun for Daddy's birthday.

6 month check-up

Mia visited the doctor today for her 6 month check-up. She weighed in at 16 pounds 13 ounces and was 26 and 1/4 inches long. She's now in the 70th percentile in each category, not so far out of the normal range. She received two shots and one oral vaccine, and was not too happy about those shots. She has not reacted too badly to them afterward though, with very little fussing so far today. The doctor said there's another tooth about to break through, her ears finally look normal and she's reaching all her developmental milestones just as she should.

Mia has some new tricks. The first is standing while holding onto furniture. We stand her up next to something (the ottoman is just perfect) and put her hands on top of it. She'll hold herself up there for a good minute or two before getting tired. She also keeps making noises that sound like "hi", so we're trying to teach her to wave. That combo will really impress all her baby friends! ;-) She's making so many different noises these days, and since they're new, I'm not used to them. She does this thing where she audibly sucks in her breath then grunts it out. The first time I heard it we were in the car and I thought she was suffocating. I nearly pulled the car over! Of course when I looked in the rearview mirror she just smiled her dimply little smile at me and I knew she was fine.

I've discovered that when Mia is around, I have a hard time looking at anything or anyone else. I'm completely captivated by her. I love watching the world through her eyes and seeing her face light up as she takes it all in. Sometimes I think she's the one teaching me, reminding me to laugh more, smile more and recognize the wonder in everything around me. She's such an incredible blessing and I love her with all my heart.

Love for my babies

The doctor's office confirmed the miscarriage today. It actually hit me a lot harder than I'd anticipated and I've been very sad. It's amazing how much you can love a child you never even knew. I think a part of me believed we'd have another miracle baby, that they'd be wrong again. So I left work as soon as I could and went to get Mia. Just seeing her smile made it so much easier to bear. I put her in bed with me and we snuggled and napped together. Mike came home early and we played with her. She fills our hearts with so much love and joy that I'm sure we'll heal much more quickly than we would otherwise. I'm leaving tomorrow for my girls lake weekend. I know that will be good for me, but I'm anxious about leaving Mia. I find that the loss of the other baby has made me very scared of losing Mia. I know I have to deal with that and get over it, but that was an unexpected after-effect also.

Mia wore bell-bottoms and tasted a popsicle for the first time today. Here are some pics. 

Mia Month Six

First tooth

Mia is getting her first tooth! It's poking up on her bottom right side. Missy called last night to tell me Cara is getting some teeth, that she could feel them but not see them yet. It prompted me to stick my finger in Mia's mouth and sure enough, there it was! I can't wait to share the joys of pizza with her.

My little baby

I found my paperwork from when they told me I miscarried Mia (Yes, I kept it. It reminds me that miracles do happen.). On that paperwork it indicates the following:

• A non-pregnant woman has hcg levels at <.5 - 2.7
• A gestational age of .2 - 1 week will have hcg levels of 5 - 50
• A gestational age of 4 weeks (where I should be) will have hcg levels of 1000 - 50,000

My hcg level was 6. It takes an hcg level of around 25 to even register on a pregnancy test, so mine was that high at some point. I'm definitely having a miscarriage and it really sucks. I got pretty upset last night. I'd been telling myself that I probably wouldn't get that upset. The pregnancy wasn't planned, we didn't know we were pregnant for all that long, and we have Mia and the joy and love I have for her can make up for the loss of that baby. But it doesn't really work like that. I'd been talking to the baby the last few days, telling her to hang on, that she can do it just like her big sister did. I pictured her in there, growing strong and getting bigger each day. I asked all of you to pray for her. I thought prayer, positive images and my love for that baby could work, like I believe it did for Mia. But it didn't, and it makes me sad. I'll be okay and we'll try again when the time is right. But I'll miss that little baby.

Baby update

Well, my first round of blood work is back and it doesn't look good. To register on a pregnancy test your hormone levels have to be up to around 25. Mine are back down to a 6, so I'm almost certainly miscarrying. They will test again tomorrow just to confirm (probably because of what happened last time), but from what I recall, my levels were several thousand when they tested them in Destin at this same point in pregnancy with Mia. So we're bummed, but we'll try again, maybe after the first of the year. Thank you for your prayers.

Prayers

I'm having some bleeding with this pregnancy, like I did last time. Please keep our little baby in your prayers. I believe that's why everything turned out wonderfully with Mia.

Settling down

Okay, so the shock is still here, but we're also getting excited about having a new baby. That is evidenced in the fact that we've been telling everyone, and we've already started discussing names! Mike went to First Res yesterday and spread the news, and he also already did a pencil test, which said we're having a girl! If you'll recall, both our pencil tests said girl last time, even though we were convinced it was a boy. So it's got me thinking girl. I truly don't care either way this time. Last time I really wanted a girl after I found out that's what Missy was having, because I wanted them to grow up together like we did. But this time I will truly be happy either way. Mike said if it's a girl we'll just have to have a third to try for a boy! 

In Mia news, she's very fascinated with her hands these days. She stares at them, turning them around, spreading her fingers and touching them with her other hand. She likes to watch them as she picks up objects. She loves playing in her pack and play. Now that she's sitting, I put all her toys in there and she will play for an hour or so while I clean or make dinner. It's great! She'll stay in her jumperoo even longer than that if we let her. She loves that thing!

I also play on the floor with her a lot. I lay on my back and put her on my chest. She loves to hold onto my face and squeal. I then squeal back, so we go back and forth like that for awhile. Then I start rolling from side to side, kissing all over her neck. She just laughs and squeals and I can't help but laugh and squeal myself! Watching and listening to her laugh is one of the greatest pleasures I've ever known. She is such a joy.

Wow...

I realized on Tuesday that it has been awhile since I've had my period. Since Mike and I only had unprotected sex one day last month, and we counted and timed and tracked my periods trying to get pregnant with Mia and it still took 9 months, I figured the odds were pretty slim. Nonetheless I stopped by the store on my way home from work yesterday and bought a pregnancy test kit. When I got home I went straight to the bathroom and peed on the stick. As soon as I did a numbness washed over me. My lips started tingling and I just sat there staring at the stick. I knew what it was going to say. I sat there watching the little hourglass in the window until it confirmed what I suddenly knew was true - I'm pregnant. I had the same blindness I had when I saw it with Mia, and I made my way to the kitchen and downed three glasses of water. I went back and took the other test, which again displayed Pregnant. I was in shock.

I then began a series of phone calls to Mike, trying to figure out when he would be home from work. They were filming a reality TV show at the store so he didn't answer. I called over and over and finally gave up. I called Margo instead. My emotions were all over the place. Although we definitely wanted another baby, who plans to go through this again just five months after doing it the first time? She calmed me down and reminded me of the joy of the situation. 

Mike finally got home a couple hours later. He was playing with Mia and I told him I had something to show him. I brought out a bag of things I'd purchased at the hospital gift shop for Mia. First I pulled out a UK bib, then some UK lacy baby socks, then a UK burp cloth that says "I spit blue". As he was saying how cute those things were I reached in and pulled out the pregnancy test stick. I held it up in front of him, and he just looked at it. He paused, staring at it and asked what it was. I told him to read it - it clearly says "Pregnant." His eyes got wide and he asked, "You're pregnant?" and I said yes. We just kind of sat there for a minute. I could see the shock on his face, and it fueled the shock still in me. We started to talk about it, the shock of it all, the fear, the uncertainty. We both shed a couple tears, overwhelmed with the responsibility of having two infants so close in age and all that comes along with that.

After we regrouped, we decided to go tell our parents. When we arrived at each house, we wrote notes on little pieces of paper and put them in Mia's hand. Each one said, "I'm going to be a big sister. Love, Mia". Our parents were all extremely surprised, but also very happy. It helped ease some of our anxiety. 

By the time we got home Mike and I were talking about feeling some excitement at having another baby. Unfortunately, today the anxiety has crept in again. It makes us sad, because we know without a doubt that we want another child, and we know we will love this baby with all our heart and soul. We are just afraid of the timing, what it will mean for us financially, how we will be able to give each baby the proper love and attention they need, if the baby will be okay since it has only been a little while since my body did this the last time, and if I will be okay since my body hasn't had much time to heal. I know we will deal with all that and we will be incredibly happy. But these first 27 hours have been quite a shock.

Updates

• Mia seems to be feeling better. She's back to her happy, bubbly self. We haven't put any fruits or vegetables back into her diet yet, but we may do that tomorrow. 
• Forgot to mention that when we took her to the doctor she had lost some weight, obviously from the vomiting. She's at 16 pounds, 2 ounces. She's more on the average side in terms of weight, but she's still rapidly growing in length. I've had to pull out the 9 month sleepers, because she's getting too long for the 6 month size. 
• She's sitting very well now, not falling over much at all. She's having so much fun playing with things from a different vantage point. Her playmat seems like a brand new toy when she sits up on it. Everything is at perfect mouth height!
  
• On August 1, daycare started the new school year. Many of the other babies in her room got moved up to crawler but Mia didn't, due to lack of space (they like to keep the ratios pretty low, especially for babies). Mia is now the oldest baby in her room. They have gone ahead and started her on the crawler schedule though. Once a baby moves from crawler she'll be heading on up!
• Mia loves the dogs! She's very interested in what they're doing, especially Grace. That's probably because Grace is always right in our faces, but Mia loves to touch her. It's very sweet. Reese has been good with her lately also. I've been trying to sit close to her when I hold Mia and I pet Reese to know she's important also. Hopefully they'll bond, so Reese won't freak out when Mia starts pulling and hitting her as she gets older!

Poor baby

There is nothing serious wrong with Mia. Just a stomach bug, the doctor says. We'll give her nothing but Pedi@lyte for the next 24 hours and let her stomach rest. Then we'll start back with the formula. She's very needy this evening, crying and restless. Hopefully our girl will be feeling better soon.

Oh, what a night!

So here's how my evening has gone so far:

• Picked up Mia from daycare and arrived home. Waved to our neighbors.
• Went in and let the dogs out. Played with Mia for 10 minutes or so. 
• Fed Mia some pears and sweet potatoes. She hated the pears! 
• Videotaped Mia eating the pears. Downloaded the video to the blog.
• Put Mia in her bouncy. Saw Kyle, the boy that lives behind us, walk up to my BACK door. 
• Opened the door, and he proceeded to tell me that my dogs are running around the neighborhood.
• Looked up and saw Grace running around the court behind us. Screamed her name.
• Grace came galloping over, right into the yard. I had Kyle shut the gate.
• Panic washed over me as I pictured Reese darting across Lagrange Road.
• I grabbed Mia and ran to the neighbors' house. Kyle said he would go look for Reese.
• Banged on the neighbors' door. When they answered I hurriedly told them my dog was out and asked if they could watch Mia while I looked for her. I had spoken to the man once before and had never met the woman, but they looked like nice people!
• I ran to get my car and the neighbor man, Brian, took off looking for Reese also. 
• I drove up and down Lagrange Road screaming for Reese, imagining how I would tell Mike our dog was dead.
• I didn't find her.
• I headed back to the neighborhood and - to my enormous relief - saw Brian carrying Reese toward the house. He found her close to Lagrange Road, but all out of breath. Thank god she's gotten fat! He put her down and she ran to the house, eager for water.
• I thanked Brian and got Mia from his wife. We finally made small talk!
• I came in and realized it was time for Mia's bottle. I fed her and she started to fall asleep while eating, something she rarely does.
• I burped her and she started arching her back, a sign of a tummy ache.
• I headed to the kitchen and opened a new bottle of gas drops.
• I gave her the drops and she started to gag.
• Projectile vomit went flying across the kitchen, all across the counters, onto me, my clothes, my shoes, my hair, out Mia's nose, and all over her. 
• Because it was coming out her nose, she was scared.  I instinctively pulled her to me to let her know she was alright, not really caring about the puke. Of course the aftermath was pretty gross!
• Once she stopped, I carried her to her room, stripped down both of us and headed to the bathroom. We took a nice warm bath, and I cuddled and comforted her.
• Mike came home and got her ready for bed while I showered. When I got out, Mia was in bed, the puke was cleaned up and it turns out he had stopped for one of my favorites - Panera - on the way home. He's now at the store getting a gift card for the neighbors for helping us. What a wonderful man!

You don't like pears?

Bouncy Baby

Stomach bug?

Mia got sick again Friday evening - all over herself, me, the chair, the ottoman and the carpet. I just climbed into the tub with her and we played for awhile. She didn't have much of an appetite that evening, but the doctor's office said that as long as we were getting wet diapers and she had no fever, she would be fine. They said if she got sick again to take her in Saturday morning, but she was okay the rest of the day. 

On Saturday we got new carpet. Mike, Mia and I were confined to our bedroom while it was installed, and we played with Mia for hours. She was in great spirits. We decided to go ahead with our planned "date night" and took Mia to Mamaw's for the night. Carol ended up calling us later saying that Mia had vomited again, but that she had no fever or anything. Luckily that was the final incident of the weekend. 

Yesterday Mike had to work so Mia and I went to Dad's to swim and hang out. We had a nice day. Last night my stomach began hurting and it continues even now. Makes me wonder if Mia had a bug and now it's been passed to me.

This $hit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Well, bananas weren't such a big hit. They were Mia's first fruit, and she loved the taste, but clearly the bananas didn't love her back. We went to Aunt Pat's last night and Mia started spitting up, mostly on Cheri. She probably spit up 4 or 5 times while we were there. She didn't take all her 10:00 bottle and I couldn't burp her, usually a sign that her stomach is upset. She went to bed and woke us up around 1:30. Mike went in to get her and she was covered in vomit. We had to remove everything from her bed and completely wash her down. That started a night of puking, removing whatever clothes she had on, whatever we had on, and any blankets, burp cloths, sheets, etc. that happened to be near her at the time of eruption. After a few times we could hear it coming and I'd run her to the sink, sit her on the edge and let her vomit between her legs. As soon as she was finished, she'd look into the mirror in front of her and smile. She had no fever and was fine in between bouts, so our primary concern was dehydration. As the day has progressed the vomiting has passed and I'm now dealing with her upset stomach in the form of pooping. But that's more manageable. I stayed home with her today to keep an eye on her and she seems to be feeling okay for the most part.