Savannah-4 Months

Weight: 14.6 (75%)
Height: 25 1/2 (95%)

Now that Miss Savannah is 4 months, she has acquired a lot of nicknames. Just to name a few: Sis, Sister, Savannah Banana, Fanina, Sabana, High Maintenance, and Daddy calls her Petunia Jane or PJ for short. Her personality is really coming through and we are getting on more of a predictable routine. We started out the month on the same flow as 3 months, then last week she hit the 4 month sleep regression or as I like to call it, a growth spurt! She had been sleeping through the night to waking up again. Just when I was beginning to get more sleep! This lasted a few days and now she has pushed her bed time back to 7 and is sleeping until around 6:30. Amazing! She is taking her morning nap around 8-8:15 so this one is not in her car seat believe it or not! We are in day 3 of this new schedule so I hope it keeps up.

She is still eating and growing really well! She loves to nurse and it is still going good. At her 4 month check up we discussed holding off on starting solids until closer to 6 months because she is satisfied with milk. Her feeding times are becoming shorter so it's easy to feed her. She is not a fan of the nursing cover but this is a must since we are on the go a lot and I hardly ever have a bottle. She also got her shots and some prescription cream for her eczema.

She is staying awake longer so she is starting to play with her baby toys and we even brought out the excersaucer. I can't believe she is old enough for it already! Her favorite activity is still her piano mat. She loves putting her fingers in her mouth so maybe we are entering the teething stage, yikes!

Savannah had her first trip to Auburn this month. We had some friends from Arkansas down for the AU vs. Ark game. The Friday before the game, the girls met up with Keith and Rader at AU club after they played golf. They had baby tiger cubs and the AU cheerleaders there. It was such a fun day! Too bad Auburn played awful but we had a great time nonetheless.

Savannah- 3 Months

Weight: 13.11 lbs
Diaper: Size 2
Clothes: 3-6 month

My baby is no longer a newborn and is now an infant. Time needs to slow down! She is awake more now and exploring the world around her which a lot of the time is big bro in her face! She loves being outside and I'm so looking forward to fall so we can be outside more. Her favorite activity during her wake time is her play mat that has a piano for her feet to play and toys that hang down. She will bat the toys and even grip them sometimes. She hates tummy time!! She lasts maybe 3 minutes at a time. I know it's important for her to do it so she can learn to roll over but I can't stand to hear her cry. She is holding her head up now and likes to stand up in our lap when we hold her. She is eating every 2.5-3 hours during the day and has her "witching hour" between 5-6. She will take a cat nap around 6 so this is when I try and get dinner started. It's hard for us to eat out at this age because of her fussy period. I think it's because her late afternoon isn't quite long enough so she is overly tired. She has made 8:00 her bedtime and will wake up around 4-5, eat, and wake up between 7:30-8. A few nights she has made it to 6-7 but nothing consistent yet. She is breaking out of her swaddle at night so this is a big reason for her waking up. I'm not sure how much longer we are going to swaddle because of this but I was hoping to hold out until she can sleep on her tummy. Poor thing is having skin issues so I'm hoping that by cutting out dairy in my diet, we will see some changes. Her belly laughs will just melt your heart! We are so in love with our baby girl!!

Savannah- 2 Months

Weight: 11.2 lbs (75%)
Height: 23 1/4 in (90%)

Savannah is 2 months old already! It's hard to remember what life was like before our little girl. She is coming more and more alert everyday. I was looking forward to the sweet baby coos and she started doing them around 6 weeks. She is a strong little thing! When I'm burping her she pushes off my legs and tries to stand up! She also has good head control to be so small. We did hit a bump in the road with nursing when I started showing signs of thrush. I was having some pain in my breast and some other symptoms and I knew something was up. She didn't have any signs of it but we went ahead and treated her with an oral medicine to prevent us from passing it back and forth. I had to take a prescription pill for 2 weeks and use a topical treatment after every feeding plus give her meds after. This got old really fast since she eats 8-10 times a day! We are all better now and I pray it will never come back. I'm taking a probiotic now and that seems to be helping. I thought by eating a lot of greek yogurt that it would help but it has sugar in it and that can make it worse. She is eating great and gaining really well so this Mama is pleased. I sometimes have to pump in the morning since I am full from going longer stretches at night so she will get one bottle a day or I freeze it. She isn't a big fan of the bottle and I have yet to find a paci that she will take. It's so crazy that I'm trying to take Sawyer's paci away and trying everything to get her to take one when she gets fussy from being tired!
I haven't tried to put her on any type of schedule yet so just seeing how she does on her own with eat, play, sleep cycle. We do have a good bedtime routine going and it seems to be working out well. She will cluster feed from 5-8 and throw in a little cat nap in there then it's bath time, nurse, then swaddle. She fights the swaddle sometimes but if we don't she will wake herself up with the startle reflex. She is sleeping in the bassinet in our room too. She goes down around 8 and will wake up between 2-3 to eat, back down until 6-7, eat, then wake up around 9. After her 6 or 7 feeding she will snuggle beside me and go back to sleep. This is my favorite time of day. I just stare at her and take in every moment. That is until big bro wakes up and I have to leave her there while I feed him breakfast and we watch cartoons. I love our mornings! She is such a sweet girl and we love her more and more everyday!

Savannah- 1 Month

Here is a recap of Savannah's first month.

After being cleared of the jaundice and heart murmur I felt like we could actually begin to settle in as a family of four. I think I had prepared myself for the worst since Sawyer is 2 and I knew how time is not your own with a newborn. Now this is crazy for me to say but I was also anxious because Sawyer was a really good baby that didn't have colic and started sleeping through the night around 6 weeks. I thought that there was no way we could have two babies like that! Well I was proved wrong. She is such a good baby. She would eat every three hours which was actually better than Sawyer who ate every two in the beginning. I'm already comparing, I need to stop but you just can't help it! She took to nursing really well and was doing great because she was gaining well and was satisfied. I must say too that things have been different the second time around with me as far as bf goes. With Sawyer I would religiously watch the clock so he ate 20 minutes on each side and i would keep a log of how many wet an dirty diapers. That vicious cycle done every two hours sent me over the edge and honestly took away some of the enjoyment of just feeding a sweet baby. With Savannah, I haven't written down the first thing or looked at a clock. I feed her on demand and let her finish one side and offer the other until she's full. I feed her lying down at night which makes it easier for me to relax and when she's done I gently place her back in the bassinet. She is a loud sleeper when she first falls asleep so the sound machine helps to drown the noise. She was back to her birth weight by two weeks and then gained another 17 oz in two weeks which impressed the lactation nurse since the average is 12. Praise God nursing is going better the second time! About once a day she has to cry really hard to wear herself out but after that she will sleep a good stretch. It seems like the longest 3 minutes of your life! Nothing soothes her when she gets this worked up so we had to learn to just let her fuss for a few minutes.
At her two week check up we had to get her treated for a clogged tear duct. Her eye looked terrible and she could barely open her eye. Some prescription eye drops cleared it up in a few days.

My recovery had its ups and downs. The pain and soreness was bearable because I stayed on top of it with Motrin. The Percocets they gave me made me so nauseous so I quit taking them once I got home from the hospital. Scary that they send a baby home from the hospital with a mom taking narcotics! I guess they assume you have help. I was able to handle the feedings and diaper changes by myself at night. It never failed that I would go downstairs and forget something upstairs. After a few days home I really wasn't in any pain. This may seem like a good thing but I was acting like I didn't have major abdominal surgery the week before. At my two week check up I told the doctor that I was still passing large clots. This concerned her so she did an US of my uterus and she saw several large clots. She told me that I had to be better at getting off my feet and taking care of myself. My Mom and Keith were very concerned and stepped it up even more with helping out. When you have two small kids its hard to take care of yourself!

We took Savannah to the lake for the first time at almost three weeks which happened to be July 4th. Mama needed a change of scenery!! It was a nightmare packing for two kids and myself. It took us four hours to leave the house! My Mom was the biggest help and I couldn't have done it without her since Keith was out of town for work. The Scott's have a crib and a bed in the same room so it was nice for us to stay there. That week Sawyer started swimming so good, in a life jacket of course!! Honey taught him to blow bubbles with his mouth and kick his feet. He would swim to the steps all by himself!

Keith and I got to celebrate his 31st Birthday with just the two of us. Honey and Papa D babysat both kids while we had a delicious dinner at Five. It was a much needed date night! I was sad to dump the 5 ounces I pumped but I thoroughly enjoyed some rose champagne!

I can honestly say that I would not have been able to get through the first month without our "village". Keith was the biggest help with Sawyer because I couldn't pick him up and I was feeding Sissy most of the time. I could put my Mom on payroll since she has done so much for us. She cooked so many delicious meals and cleaned our house from top to bottom. Sometimes just knowing she was there gave me such comfort. There is nothing like your Mama! Cindy was also a tremendous help. She would take Sawyer to do special things and they even took him to the lake the weekend we came home so we could transition with Savannah. We had meals brought to us by friends and family as well. We were so grateful for a good meal those first few hectic weeks!

So, at one month:

~ Savannah weighed 9 lbs 7 oz
~ Wears a size 1 diaper and 0/3 month
clothes.
~ Eats every 3 hours during the day and 4-5 hr stretches at night.
~ Started to social smile
~ Is swaddled while she sleeps to help with the startle reflex.
~ Enjoys bath time.
~ Will turn her head if she hears my voice.
~ Loves to cuddle after a feeding. This is my favorite too!

Hospital Stay and First Few Days Home

We had an overall great experience at St. Vincent's for Savannah's birth. The surgery and recovery went smooth and even better than Sawyer's which I didn't think was possible. They had me up on my feet and walking to the bathroom just 4 hours after having her! I think getting up sooner combined with it being the second time around made the recovery easier. Also, I didn't have the morphine pump so I wasn't drugged up. The Percocet had the opposite effect on me and made me feel wired. On the second night, I was so exhausted from having a day full of visitors so I knew I had to rest while I could but I was wide awake. So, the nurse gave me a small dose of ambien to help me get to sleep. However, that meant taking Savannah to the nursery which I didn't want to do at first but I decided that I should take advantage of the help and my milk wasn't in yet so I knew it was safe to take it. I was definitely being more practical the second time around! I felt great the next morning. I was having some issues getting her to latch on my left side and I was feeling engorged so I used my hand held pump to get some relief and it turns out my milk came in on Thursday! I thought it was colostrum but the lactation nurse said, "That's milk honey!". Turns out Miss Savannah was an efficient eater. Keith even gave her her first bottle. Down side to this was hand washing that stupid pump at least 10 times over the next 2 days. We had great nurses and I even wanted to take Mrs. Gina home with us. She became like family.
On Friday morning, I was discharged by my Doctor and we were waiting on the pediatrician to make his rounds before he would discharge her. That's when everything started to come unraveled. The nurse came in to do Savannah's stats and noticed she was breathing heavy and she was going to make a note to tell the doctor. Well, not even a minute later Dr. Simpson came in for his exam. He must have listened to her heart for over a minute and I noticed him looking at his watch. He then told us that he wasn't concerned about her breathing but he did hear a slight murmur and wanted us to have it checked by a Cardiologist before we left the hospital. He was very honest and told us three possibilities it could be so we knew what to expect. Well, in my broken hormonal state, I heard the first thing he said which was the worst and I shut down from there. As soon as he left the room I lost it. It was day 3 so my hormones were so out of whack but thank goodness Keith was listening well so he could console me. Deep down I knew he was upset too but he had to be strong for me. Initially, we were going to have to put her in an isolate that they use in the NICU to transport her there to do the test. That alone upset me, it's so sad to see babies in those. There they would do an US of her heart and send the results to the Pediatric Cardiologist at UAB. Keith works in hospitals so he knew this would be a lengthy process so we got comfortable and expected to be there for a while. We prayed and prayed and God was so faithful and he answered so many prayers that day. The nurse came in at 12 to take us to do the test which we ended up getting to do in the nursery on our floor. Keith and I got to be there with her throughout the whole process. We got the results about an hour and a half later. The murmur was small and is expected to be self corrective in a few months. Praise God! We don't have to see a Specialist for a follow up, it is just going to be monitored by her Pediatrician. Well, we still weren't in the clear yet because her blood work showed that she was jaundice and we would have to go to the Doctor's office the next day to do another heel prick. It was 13.5 when we left the hospital. The next day it was up to 14.5 and since it had gone up, we would have to come back on Sunday to get it checked again. Luckily, it went down to 13.7 so we didn't have to go back for more blood work and we didnt need to have any special treatments to make it go away. Despite being jaundice, she was still eating and gaining weight. She lost down from her birth weight of 8.5 to 7.9 on Thursday. On Friday at discharge, she was at 7.10, 7.12 on Saturday, 7.14 on Sunday, and up to 8lbs on 6/19 (1 week old). At her two week check up she weighed 8.6 so the Doctor was very pleased that she was back to her birth weight. This also meant that I could start letting her wake me up to eat at night. She had her first 4 hour stretch at night that Thursday and has continued to do so since then. She is such a sweet and cuddly baby and we are so blessed and grateful for a healthy baby. It was a very humbling experience to say the least and it made us realize how fortunate we are that she got good results from bad news to start with. God was with us through every step and we praise him for that.
Where was Sawyer during all of the excitement? Getting spoiled by his Grandparents and having special time at Chuck E Cheese with Keith. It was very hard knowing I couldn't take care of him and do all of our normal stuff but it was a good feeling knowing he was taken care of. When he came to visit us in the Hospital he pretty much ignored her and didn't really understand she was coming come with us :). He kept us laughing when we got home. He was fascinated by breast feeding and pumping. Every time she eats he says she's eating lunch! He also tried to put the breast shield of the pump up his shirt. He though that the microwave steam bags that you use to sterilize the pump parts was popcorn. So funny!

We Welcome With Love

Savannah Marie Scott
She was born on Tuesday, June 12th at 8:22 am weighing 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20.5 in.

I was admitted the night before after having what I thought was back labor. Long story short, we had just dropped off Sawyer with Keith's parents and were headed to a movie. All of a sudden my car starts doing crazy things. All of the gauges go off, the wipers quit working, and when we got to a stop light the car just shuts off!!! This kind family helped us wheel it into a church parking lot. The man asked if I could steer it while they pushed not knowing I was as big as a whale and giving birth the next day. So I did, then I panicked when we started heading down hill, no power steering mind you, and in to on coming traffic. Did I mention it looked like Armageddon outside?? We called the roadside assistance number and they sent a tow truck but it was going to be 45 minutes. About ten minutes into waiting, I started having some indescribable back pain and my stomach was hard as a rock. I tried not to worry but then I couldn't hold back the tears it hurt so bad. In a panic, we call Dick who came to wait on the tow truck so we could grab our bags at home and head to the hospital. Like the lightning that was coming down all around us, they grabbed both car seats and threw them in Dick's car. I felt terrible that he had to wait there in the pouring rain in a car that wouldn't start!
We made it to the hospital around 8 and by 9 I was being monitored. Turns out I was contracting but not enough to put me in active labor. The nurse thought the back pain was from her hitting a nerve and combined with the adrenaline it made sense. They ended up letting us stay the night since we had to be there at 5:15 for the scheduled c-section. They gave me an ambien to take so I could relax and get some rest. That was my first time taking it and it was awesome! I have such a difficult time falling asleep and I knew I wouldn't be able to with the anticipation of the birth the next day.
Keith and I both got some rest so we had our game faces on when it was time for our early wake up call to prep for the surgery. Our families got there around 6:30 to pray for us and see us off before we headed back to surgery. We were supposed to be #2 in line but they had an emergency so we were pushed back to be the #3 case that morning. All in all, everything went smooth during the csec. I got really nauseous there at the beginning but the CRNA gave me a quick dose of Zofran and it did wonders. It took them a little longer to get through the scar tissue from Sawyer's csec so that was uncomfortable. All I wanted to hear was a screaming baby and that is what happened at 8:22 when she was born. She had a head full of dark hair and had the biggest cheeks I had ever seen!! Her apgar scores were 8 & 9 and after she passed her other tests, they handed her to Keith. It was love at first sight. I got to hold her after they were done putting Humpty Dumpty together again :). We were greeted by family when we got back to our room who couldn't believe her dark hair. After they left, my good friend, Lindsey Culver, who happens to be a very talented photographer captured some intimate pictures of the three of us as we bonded and I nursed her for the first time. Words can't describe these moments so I'm glad she got them in pictures to have forever. I wasn't "out of it" from all the drugs since I was just on Tordol and still very numb from the waist down from the spinal block.
I hope to update more soon of our hospital stay and first two weeks at home.

Wordless Wednesday