Mrs. B & Family: Eat, Sleep, Poop

I'm certainly not traveling the world to find myself as is the character in the book, "Eat, Love, Pray". My book right now if I were to write one could be titled, "Eat, Sleep, Poop". That seems to be the world of baby and that is all she does. I'm not complaining, but out lives do revolve around those 3 words. It occurred to me last Sunday when Andrew was at the Giants game with his Dad that our dialogue (even texting dialogue) has greatly changed. We had added Avery to formula after she was not gaining enough weight (I'll get to that story later) and she had not gone number 2 in a day (this involves the 'Poop' part of our self entitled book). Well, she ended up going and I was so excited that I texted Andrew, "Avery pooped!", he replied, "That makes me so happy, it totally made my day!". Ha, all I can do is laugh because this is what our conversations, emails and texts now revolve around. Who knew we would be so excited to talk about bowel movements? Speaking of (I'm sorry...just one more poop story) Avery had a MASSIVE blowout the other day. I won't go into detail because non-parents reading this just don't get it, but let me just say it was so mind blowing to me that this little body could produce such...how do I even describe it...explosive and abundant poop. I had to take a picture of her clothing to show Andrew because I was in complete and udder shock, and let's just leave it at that. :)
So, back to little Miss Avery's weight. I have been religiously feeding her every 2-3 hours (once in a great while 4) and I was so excited to go to our pediatrician appointment to see how much weight she had gained. Andrew and I thought she was filling out her newborn clothes and gaining weight...wrong. I put her on the scale at the doctor's office and I was dumbfounded when the scale read 5lbs 12 oz...say what?! That is what she weighed at her last appointment, how could this be? She's grown in length and her head had even grown, I just didn't understand. I insisted to the woman that was weighing her that we have to do it again, there is just no way that scaled is right. I return to the appointment room and wait for the Doctor to come in and I am just shaking my head, wondering what the heck is going on. The Doctor enters and she asks how we are, and I tell her I am concerned about her weight...and as I'm saying this I feel my lip quiver and a big knot in my throat develops and....you got it...I started bawling! Oh my goodness...hold it together Megan! Nope, I just kept crying and saying, "I don't get it", "I feel so bad", "How has she not gained any weight?". I finally calm down and the Doctor suggests we add formula to her diet since she is obviously not getting enough milk from me. Fast forward 5 days and we are back at the Dr. office and the Doctor walks in and looks at me and says, "How are you doing?" I thought...does she mean am I going to cry again this time? :) I am happy to report that she had gained 6 oz and we are back on track...whew! The only hurdle to get over at this appointment now was Avery's Hep B shot and I was so nervous. Thankfully I did not cry (probably because Andrew was there with us) and Avery was so brave! She cried for a minute and then that was it. I guess I was worried for nothing. Hopefully the rest of her shots go the same way!
Overall, I would have to say that we have had a good past few weeks. We have conquered the pacifier, and by this I mean she finally found one she likes. Andrew had bought every pacifier known to man and she hated them all...we finally found one she liked, and this makes for a happier family. :) We have also just recently conquered the bottle, which makes mama extra happy because this means that Andrew can feed her now too...and I can get some extra sleep!
I have found that finding time to write on this blog has proven itself challenging. When I have a free moment (a rare occasion), sleep usually trumps blogging. The fact that Avery is going to be 2 months next week and I haven't even written one thing about our adventures in the 1st month is...well...reality I guess. I know I am constantly saying I will be better about updating the blog so I am going to work on doing that.
Avery's first month has been both challenging and rewarding. We are head over heels in L-O-V-E with her and often find ourselves just staring at her while she sleeps and we still can't believe that she is ours, we feel so lucky! She is a very good baby, and now that we know that her fussiness earlier in the month was probably because she wanted more to eat (still shocking since she was attached to my boob hours on end) brings the near closing of the second month to a wonderful end. AHHHH! Sigh of relief!
Another sigh of relief is that my Dad is home from the hospital! Yeah! After 5 1/2 weeks of ups and downs he is finally in the comfort of his new home. I am so thankful for the thoughts and prayers from so many wonderful friends and family. Keep the prayers up as he still has a hill to climb but at least it's not the mountain he had to overcome in the past month!
Below are some pictures from Avery's first month...

Her first shampoo was a success....but her first bath was not such a happy occasion

Tummy time with Dad...has paid off!

Happy 1 Month Birthday to our little peanut!

Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa Brausa's...Avery's first outing! I thought this picture was hilarious, everyone huddled around Avery to see her for the first time :) She was a celebrity for a day!