Swings

It was almost bed time and Marsi decided to skip her before bed nap.  So, to keep her awake, I decided that we needed to go to the park and give her the experience of a swing.  She held on for dear life, waiting, anticipating, and LOVING the swings.  She giggled so much.  It tired her out just enough.  People at the park were smiling at Marsi because of course she is just so cute.  I think we will do this every once in a while for her.  I absolutely love this picture!

Happy Half Birthday (not so baby) Baby Girl!!!

It amazes me that Marsi is 6 months old today!  She has brought so much good into our life.  We have gone through so many things that have made us better people.  She has learned so many things and is the most precious thing ever.  She eats everything the can get into her mouth.  She loves cords and we need to find out something to get rid of all our cords we have...REALLY need to do that.  She has managed to pull down the PlayStation already.

Not such a baby anymore

Marsi is getting so big.  She has started to try and feed herself if I don't get food into her mouth fast enough.

She is getting ready for summer with some awesome shades and a swimsuit.  Her reusable swim diapers are coming in the mail this week!  By the way, we still love cloth diapering!

She is sitting up like a complete champ.  She thought she was awesome sitting on the beautiful lawn of Temple Square and even staying up while leaning.  Such a sweetie.

She is also getting SO tall.  27 inches at last check.  She goes into the pediatrician next week.

She is also starting to stand like a champ with minimal support...but dang!  Look at those thighs!!!  She is a hefty baby.  Almost 19 lbs.

Of course she is a big cheese.  She melts our hearts completely and even said her first word!!!  MAMA!

Here is a somewhat recent picture of her scar.  She is healing up so well.  She did have some fluids on her heart and we gave her the last dose of prednisone tonight.  She goes into the cardiologist for her last (hopefully) appointment for a few years. She will have another x-ray and echocardiogram to see about the fluids and if her heart is getting smaller.  At last x-ray, it was getting smaller.

All in all, things are great with us.  She is wonderful. I have a full time job.  Endrit applies for jobs almost every day.  All is well with us.

Mr. Mom

Well, today Endrit gets to really be Mr. Mom.  He has been stay at home dad for a few months now.  This is different.  This is the first time that he even said that he feels like a mom.  I am at work and he is at the cardiologist with Marsi.  It is the first time that he has gone to a doctor's appointment with Marsi without me there.  It is pretty easy for her.  There is no blood work today.  No immunizations, just looking at her incision, x-rays, an electrocardiogram and a small echocardiogram.  I think that Daddy will do just fine with it.  I am still debating going to her regular 6 month pediatrician appointment because it will have immunizations and Endrit does not do well with needles at all and I want her to have some support when he usually leaves the room for things like this.

fast forward an hour...

The cardiology appointment went well. Marsi does have a little bit of fluid around her heart.  It is a very small amount, but it needs to go away.  This should be done by medication.  She goes back to the cardiologist for another echocardiogram and x-ray in a week.  Other than that, the electrocardiogram is showing that her heart is working more normally.  It is showing that there is a lot less stress on her heart which is great news.  When we have her 9 month pediatric appointment they will want us to get another x-ray to ensure that her heart is in fact getting smaller over time.

I also set up her 6 month pediatric appointment for May 3 at 3:45 pm.  The school is allowing me to leave the building 15 minutes before the final bell so that I can have enough time to pick her up and get to the appointment in time.  I am lucky to work at this school that would help me out.

So, that is what it is.

Happy Easter

First off, I know that Jesus Christ lives.  It is through Him that I will be resurrected in glory and forgiven of the sins that I have made and will make.  Endrit and I watched "The 10 Commandments" last night depicting the life of Moses.  It was a great reminder of not only Christ, but the prophets of old that foretold of His coming. I look forward to the second coming of Christ that the Prophets of today tell us will happen.

Marsi got a new outfit for Easter.  I love it.  We got her cute little silver shoes from DI.  What a find!

Mommy, are we done yet?

Spring

We love spring.  That means that there are walks in the park.  Marsi really loves being worn.  I tried out having her face out for a little while, but by the end of the walk, she wanted to be facing me to take a nap.

Marsi was also able to experience what this thing called "grass" is for the first time this morning.  Even though it was a little chilly, she loved feeling the grass.  She started by sitting in it, but really wanted to just be in the grass.  Oh the things she will discover through her childhood!

Supply TMI and Milk Donation Plans

First off, I know that I will never know the hurt, stress, heartache, and perceived failure of someone who wants desperately to breastfeed but her body doesn't cooperate.  I do not judge anyone for formula, bottles or breastfeeding a child.  There are options for a reason.
I always liked to say that I could feed twins.  Up until Marsi's hospitalization, that was the truth.  I asked the lactation consultant while I was there how to go about donating milk.  I am sick of dumping milk down the drain and I have tons already frozen and don't need more.  Then the stress hit.  My supply plummeted to the point I was going into those stores of milk in my freezer just to make sure Marsi had enough milk.  After doing so well for 5.5 months I am bound and determined to get it back!  I started taking fenugreek again.  I smell like maple syrup.  I drink loads of water a day and doubled my pumping times.  It took 4 days of fenugreek to get my supply back to about 2/3 of what it was before.  I know I am in for another week or so before I am able to really start donating. I am excited to donate.  I am completely off of all medication that I needed for post partum depression.  I am only taking B6 and my prenatals.  I never thought I would be able to do that because I had to be on medications before getting pregnant.  Since I am off of those, I can donate and I am very happy about that.  It means that preemies at Primary Children's hospital will be able to get breastmilk.  Those moms that want their baby to have breastmilk but for a variety of reasons can't supply it themselves will be able to get some.  It is one thing that I can do to help.