10 weeks

This week we have seen a lot more smiles and laughing, although Annabelle is still having some problems with gas so we have had our fair share of cries too.  She is starting to smile more and more everyday so I've been able to catch a few pictures of her beautiful smile. 

This past week flew by since we got out of the house a little more.  Monday we went to our first baby & parent yoga class.  We both had a great time, we met a lot of new people, Annabelle fell asleep by the end, and I realized that yoga is more challenging while holding a 10 pound baby!  This was very apparent on Tuesday when I woke up and both my arms and legs were hurting.  We also got out on Wednesday to a "mommy meet-up" here in Webster.  It was great to meet some other mommies in the area and get to visit. 

We are looking forward to Spring, we have plans to go look at a jogging stroller this afternoon.  This way when it does warm up Annabelle & I can go jogging during the day and go for walks with Brian, Apollo & Clyde at night.  I've almost lost all the pregnancy weight, I have about 10 more pounds to loose so the jogging should hopefully help that come off.

A new thing that fascinates Annabelle is the ceiling fan in the dining room.  I included a picture of her watching it, I don't understand how her neck doesn't get sore.  Some of the other pictures are after bath time and lots of smiles!

2 month update

The past week has been a big one for us.  Monday was Annabelle's first Valentines Day and of course had to take a bunch of pictures of her in her heart outfits.  On Tuesday while we were doing our tummy time she rolled over from her tummy to her back on her own for the first time!  It was a very exciting moment for us since she was just shy of 2 months, which is early to roll over and also because the results from the MRI, not knowing how well her motor skills would develop.  It was almost like she was telling us that everything is going to be ok.

She had her 2 month checkup on Thursday.  Everything was good although she hadn't gained much weight since the last appointment, so we are going back in two weeks for a weight check (she's just 9lbs 8oz).  Brian bought us a scale so we can start monitoring her weight at home as well.  She also had her first round of shots which she was very good for, she barely cried while the nurse was giving them and afterward just went back to sucking the binky.  Yesterday we went in for genetics testing for Annabelle ordered by her neurologist.  They did a physical exam, detailed family history, and took about 8 vials of blood from her little arm.  She just cried from the tourniquet then settled down and sucked her binky while they took the blood.    Last night she slept from 10:30pm - 7:00am, I imagine she was worn out for such a busy day and from them taking so much blood.

I started pumping more this week so Brian can feed Annabelle in the evenings after work.  This way they get to spend quality time together and also give mommy a break, usually to cook dinner.  She is doing really well with the bottle, she usually takes 4-5 ounces and barely fusses at all unless she has gas.  I just started her on gas drops recommended by the pediatrician this morning and we are getting some probiotic drops on Monday (had to be ordered), hopefully the gas pains will be a thing of the past.  That's really the only time she cries and when it's a lot of gas boy can she scream and cry!  It makes me feel so bad, I just want to make her better.

I included a few pictures of her watching her hand.  She seems to be more and more interested in her hands and figuring out what they are.  We also bought her a couple wrist and sock rattles to explore her hands and feet more.  She hasn't caught on yet but we only got them yesterday so I'm sure it will just take a little time. 

I want to thank everyone for their kind words, thoughts & prayers.  We are taking one day at a time and appreciating the fact that we have her with us to love!

8 Week update

I've thought a lot over the past few days on how I was going to write this blog post, or if I even wanted to write about what we have been going through the past couple weeks.  But then I realized that this is what we are dealing with, and it's all part of Annabelle's life, which I want to keep documenting and also want to share with everyone. 

Almost three weeks ago I noticed Annabelle had a strange vertical eye movement that would last 3-5 minutes.  It was when my parents were visiting, and my mom suggested I call the pediatrician, which I did.  They suggested I try to catch it on video tape.  The following day around the same time she did it again, and this time I was able to get a couple minutes of video.  We went in to see the doctor and she seemed concerned and said it wasn't something she had seen.  She suggested that we go to see an ophthalmologist along with scheduling an EEG with a neurologist.  The following day we got into the eye doctor who said everything with her eyes are fine, but he was equally concerned after watching the video, and also wanted her to have a MRI done.  Meanwhile, it happened a few more times, never more than once a day and usually about the same length of time.

Fast forward to this week.  Wednesday she had the MRI and the EEG which she was so good for.  She had to be sedated for the MRI so she would stay still which was a very scary experience.  We made an appointment for Friday to go over the results.  Friday we found out that Annabelle's brain isn't like other people's brains.  First, she has something called Polymicrogyria, which is a brain development abnormality from before birth.  Unfortunately, there is no cure for it, and we won't know what extent it's going to affect her until she reaches certain milestones to see if she's developing at the same rate as other children.  There is a very good chance that she will need extra help and love when learning how to do things that so many children accomplish easily.  Things such as walking, talking, and learning new things.  The thing we are grateful for is that it's isolated and not throughout her brain, so we are hopeful that it's a mild case.  Another thing this conditions can include are recurrent seizures (epilepsy).  This is where they are worried about her strange eye movement, that they may be a seizure, although the EEG came back with normal brain activity.  The second thing that they found is that her Corpus Callosum, which is a nerve bundle that connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain, is thinner than average.  Because of all this we are going to schedule genetic testing to make sure she doesn't have any other conditions.  We are praying that the genetic testing comes back that everything else is OK. 

In the mean time, we just have to wait this out and keep working with her and giving her all the love we can.  We are going to meet with some people from early intervention to start working with her to develop her motor skills with occupational and physical therapy.  It's good we caught this so early, some kids don't get diagnosed until they are in their teens and are having problems with learning.

On top of everything yesterday while I was changing Annabelle I scratched her little cheek with my wedding ring.  I included a picture of her little scratch.  When I was taking the picture I got what seemed to be my first smile from her which I caught a picture off and included it.  There are also a couple pictures of her getting ready to go to the hospital, her and daddy after he came home from work, waking up with Clyde & Apollo watching, and her holding her little doll while we were playing.

In light of all this information, please keep Annabelle in your thoughts and prayers.

Brian & Mandy

Weekly update

Things have been going well here in Rochester.  The weather has kept Annabelle and I home a majority of the time although Brian and I took her on a short shopping trip to BJ's Saturday.  She did very well, she was good riding on the cart as long as we didn't stop it.  It's also nice to go there because they have "parent with infant parking" right in front of the store so I know we won't have to walk far in this cold! 

We luckily missed the big storm that was supposed to hit today, even though we didn't get the snow Brian ended up still having another snow day!  All the schools were canceled in anticipation of the storm. 

Annabelle is growing so fast I can't believe it!  She's now into the 0-3 month clothes, hopefully for awhile because we have a ton of them.  I think this little girl will be in a different outfit everyday until she grows into 3-6month clothes!  She is also becoming more aware of everything, looking around and observing.  She spent a long time the other day staring at her hand and trying to figure out what that is.  I love having her in the bounce chair in the dining room while I get dinner ready so I can just watch her. 

Our sleeping has been amazing, for the most part she eats at 9pm then sleeps until 4-5am.  I know that I'm truly blessed that she is such a good sleeper at night!  I'm actually feeling very well rested most days.  I do try to get in a short nap in the afternoon just in case the next night isn't so great. 

Brian took a couple cute pictures of us before bedtime in our PJ's and then I took a few pictures of Annabelle in an adorable outfit that she just fit into yesterday.  Hope everyone is staying warm!