Lilly: 5 months

Our sweet little Lilly turned 5 months old on Sunday, June 29th.  She is such an easy, laid back baby-- I guess she has to be with two older sisters running around! No Dr. visit this month, but I know she is growing steadily. I can't wait to hear her stats next month!

Lilly at 5 months:

- Laughs when her sisters make her swing go really high or when we tickle her
- Smiles the second she sees you bending over her crib each morning or after nap. THIS is my favorite part of every day.
- Rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time on June 21st (big sis, Kinsley's 2nd birthday)
- Enjoys her activity seat
- reaches for everything
- watches our every move when we eat or drink
- was a flower girl in Aunt Amanda's wedding when she was just over 4 months
- traveled to Georgia, Alabama and Florida
- sleeps from 7/7:30pm - 6:30-7am.... occasionally she will wake to eat at 5am, but it is rare.
- Is on a 3-4 hour schedule. Sometimes she could go 4 hours, but I will have to feed her sooner for our family's schedule, and other times she is ready to eat at the 3 hour mark.
- exclusively breast fed
- will take a bottle of breast milk easily, but we rarely offer one.
- uses a paci, thumb or her fingers to soothe herself
- naps 1-2 hours in the morning and again in the afternoon with an occasional cat-nap in the early evening
- refuses to fall asleep in her swing
- paying more attention to Bailey
- has been to the church nursery a few times and does really well
- her hair still sticks up most of the time, but is gradually falling.
- "talks" all of the time
- loves to be held facing outward- she may be a social little girl!
- gets tired of being held and wants to be on the floor playing
- she gets super excited when her sisters give her attention
- only cries if she is hungry or tired
- just moved into 6 month clothing at 5 months
- wears size 3 diapers

Lilly Ann- you are fun, happy and content. We are so blessed to be your parents! We love you!!

Lilly: 4 months

4 months old on May 29, 2014

This is such a fun age.... Lilly is so much more social these days and her smile brightens a room. Her 4 month well check up went really well.  The doctor didn't have to ask me many developmental questions about Lilly because she was demonstrating them for the Dr. through out the visit..... she is quite the social butterfly. She had a very delayed reaction to the shots she received and when she finally did cry it lasted a total of 10 seconds. Of course, her big sisters were singing "Jesus Loves Me" to her and I'm sure that helped soothe her!! :)

4 Month Stats:
Weight: 13lbs 15 oz (50%)
Height: 24.5 in (50%)
Head Circ.: 16 in. (52%)

Lilly at 4 months is....

- still has "rock star" hair

- takes 2 long naps and 1 short cat nap during the day
- sleeping through the night with the occasional wake up around 4:30-5 am for a feeding. That is rare, though!
- makes little spit bubbles with her mouth
- watches her big sisters all of the time
- watches our every move when we eat or drink something
- grasps toys
- sucks her thumb, but also loves a paci
- bears weight on  her legs - with help, of course
- Is almost on a 4 hour schedule
- nurses 4-5 times a day
- wears 3 month clothes and finishing up the last of the size 2 diapers.

Lilly: 3 months

I have always thought that the 3 month mark is such a fun time.... babies begin to interact with you and do more than just sleep. Lilly is definitely interacting with us all and the way her face lights up when she really sees you is the best feeling in the world.

Lilly Ann at 3 months:

-sucks her thumb (I try to give her a paci, but when it falls out the thumb goes in!)

- smiles in response to us
- "talks" all  the time
- loves her play mat
- is beginning to look around in the tub and actually notice it's a different environment for her.
- watches her big sisters all of the time.
- is starting to bear some weight on her legs when we hold her up
- still rolls from her tummy to her back
- sleeps in a sleep sack since a week after she turned 2 months
- watches her hands
- met her Aunt Amanda when she was 2.5 months old

- still has crazy, spikey hair--- it's oh so cute!
- Lilly is not consistently sleeping through the night yet. She will go 11-12 hours some nights and other nights she will wake up at 12:30, 2:30, or 4.... I never know what the night will be like when I go to bed.
- Still exclusively breastfed and eats 6 times a day.
- Mommy left all three girls with Daddy and Grandmommy for 4 days when Lilly was 10 weeks old. Lilly did great with the bottle and probably didn't even realize mommy was gone.
-Tried out the bumbo a few days before her 3 month birthday and didn't hate it.

-Celebrated her first Easter

- The day she turned 3 months old she went on her first road trip- a two day drive from IL to GA (blog post about that at another time)


 - wears 3 month clothing and size 2 diapers

My prayer

Over the past couple of months I have been convicted about how I am mothering our children. Am I being the mom that God has called me to be? Am I showing them His love? Am I disciplining them in a loving and gentle manner? Sadly, my answer is no. This leaves me broken-hearted and angry with myself. On the other hand, I have found myself desperately clinging to the word of God more than I ever have before.

I was driving to the airport to pick up my sister about a month ago when I heard a song on the radio that has become my prayer for me and my kids. It's called "Let Them See You" by JJ Weeks Band. The chorus is as follows:

"Let them see You in me

Let them hear You when I speak

Let them feel You when I sing

Let them see You

Let them see You in me"

I love my girls more than words can express and I want to demonstrate God's love and compassion daily. I don't want them to remember me losing my cool or not reacting with the kindness Jesus requires of me. I pray they see The Lord in me daily. 

Lilly: 2 months

Lilly is such an easy baby. We don't have a great schedule going, but I can figure out her "routine" for the most part. She sleeps through the night on occasion, but I still don't know what the night will be like when I finally crawl into bed. It's hard to believe we have had two months with her!

Stats:
Weight: 11lbs 6 oz (49%)
Height: 22.25 in (36%)
Head circ.: 15in (42%)

Lilly at two months:
- has discovered her hands
- is beginning to "coo"
- has socially smiled once or twice.
- still breastfeeds exclusively... about 7 times a day
- seems to really like tummy time (the only one who hasn't hated it!)

- still fusses when I lay her down for naps in her crib
- has several "wake times" throughout the day
- is still holding on to her hair - for now!
- I can't keep her on her tummy for long before she rolls herself over.
- sleeps 4-5 stretches at night and other nights she will go as long as 7-8 hours!
- busts out of her swaddle daily so we now leave her arms out when we swaddle... she is sooo young for that already!!

- size 1 diapers
- wears 0-3 month clothes. 3 month shirts fit her well, but the 3 month pants are huge!
- met her Great Grandmother (Judy Archer) two days before she turned two months!!

FOUR GENERATIONS!

FOUR GENERATIONS!

LOVE YOU, LILLY ANN!!!!

Lilly: 1 month

We have been a family of 5 for a month already and are adjusting really well. Avery and Kinsley are such great big sisters and they love on Lilly any chance they get. Right now, she sleeps ALL of the time... so the adjustment hasn't been as terrifying as I was anticipating. Yes, I am sleep deprived, but I have been for over three years! I was most nervous about having to feed Lilly while occupying the older girls. Well, really just Kinsley. Avery is at the age where she can entertain herself really well and has a bit of independence to her. Kinsley, on the other hand, is quite needy and wants to be right on top of you all of the time. SO- how was I going to feed a newborn and entertain Kinsley and keep her fearless self safe!?! To my surprise, we have all managed this fairly well. Lilly is a super effecient eater and is done after 5 minutes. Kinsley and Avery have been playing well together, and even independently of each other. And.... let's face it: I turn on Mickey Mouse a lot. This is real life, people.... and sometimes the TV is an added help!

Lilly is growing like a weed, despite her short feeding sessions. Here are her 1 month stats:

Weight: 9 lbs 8.5oz (53%)
Height: 21.5 in (62%)
Head:

- Lilly has had her first cold. (already) Poor thing was only 3 weeks old when she caught a cold after both her sisters were sick. It was miserable and we felt so bad for her. She was extremely congested and had a terrible cough.... for. a. week. 

- She rolled from her tummy to her back on February 25th... twice!

- She has good head/neck control and can lift her head pretty high while on tummy time, but she can also slam her head forward into your collar bone on occassion. 

- she is no longer in newborn diapers.

- she is squeezing into NB clothes, but fits 0-3month shirts easily. The 0-3 month pants are still huge on her.

- She is a sleepy baby and it's difficult to keep her awake even for a full feeding.

- Sleeps well at night- usually gets up once or twice during the night to eat.

What a wonderful addition you are to our family, Lilly!!! 

Lilly's Birth Story

Lilly Ann Ireland was born on January 29th at 1:16pm. She weighed in at 8lbs 2oz (which is quite amazing considering the worry our doctors had about her weight gain throughout the last half of my pregnancy) and was 20.5 inches long. She is such a wonderful addition to our family and we couldn't be happier that our family has grown by another sweet little girl!

So, this pregnancy was unlike the other two we have experienced. We moved to the Chicago area half way through my pregnancy and I quickly found a Doctor. During my second visit (October 31, 2013) with my new OB, I had an ultrasound. This u/s was in part, due to the fact that at my 20 week scan in FL there was a cyst seen on Lilly's brain. This was of LITTLE concern for two reasons: 1.) Avery had the same thing and by the next u/s with her, it was completely gone. and 2.) this is a fairly common (so I'm told) thing and usually resolves on its own. My Dr. in FL was not concerned because this cyst was not accompanied by certain criteria that makes it something to worry about.  SO- since we had already been through this with Avery's pregnancy, I wasn't super concerned. The new Dr. in Illinois wanted to do another u/s to check the status of this cyst and PRAISE THE LORD... it was gone! (Just like my FL doctor said it would be!) I guess since it was my first ultrasound at this practice, they decided to do a full anatomy scan just so they would have all the information they needed. This quickly turned into a day I will never forget. The Doctor came into the room after reviewing the information from the ultrasound and told me that she was worried that Lilly wasn't growing the way she should be. She was above the 10th%, but certain parts of her body were small. Her femurs were measuring in the 2nd% and her head was also measuring small. The doctor referred me to a high risk doctor and I had to then wait 5 days for that appointment and it was TORTURE!!! We finally made it to the high risk doctor and after an hour long ultrasound, we were told there was nothing to worry about. She was measuring small, but her bone structure looked great. The doctor explained to us that her measurements would be a cause of concern for dwarfism or down syndrome earlier in the pregnancy, but by the time I saw the high risk doctor I was in my 3rd trimester and babies begin to develop at different rates and she was just measuring smaller.... which was no surprise to the Dr. after seeing that Chris and I are both rather small individuals. He said that he would be concerned if we were 6 feet tall, but clearly, we're not! He was guessing she would be a 7 pound baby- but probably no more than 7lb4oz!  It was a relief, to say the least, to hear that the high risk doctor did not want to see me again. He did recommend that I have another standard ultrasound around 36 weeks and I did. The doctor was concerned, again, about her size because she was measuring at least 2 weeks smaller than she should be. SO.... from that point on, every Monday, I would have an ultrasound and would be hooked up to the monitor to check on her each week. Every week she was perfect and the doctors kept guessing that she was just going to be a small baby. They estimated that she would be around 6lbs 10oz. (ha!!)

Fast forward to delivery day!!!!

Our last picture as a family of 4!!! This was taken just before we left for the hospital! 

8:00 am: arrival

8:40: Pitocin started and antibiotic given through IV
9:00: Palms and Head started to itch = allergic reaction to the Vancomycin (antibiotic)
         ~ This reaction lead to the Dr's decision to stop my antibiotic. I received only 50 out of the 200+ ml that I was supposed to get. As a result, their was now a concern for Lilly's health and there would be a possibility she would need to go directly to the NICU. My OB spoke with the neonatologist who said that sending Lilly to the NICU was not necessary, but she would be under close observation for 48 hours after delivery and would need extra blood work done during our hospital stay.
10:30: The Dr. broke my water
11:30: Epidural
12:05 pm: 9 cm
12:58: 10 cm
1:10: Started Pushing
1:16: Lilly arrived!!!!  This was the scariest minute of our lives. The cord was wrapped around Lilly's neck one time and she came out blue/purple and completely unresponsive. Things quickly changed to a more stressful situation and the Dr. was now rushing to get Lilly out and to the table. She cut the cord and passed Lilly off to the neonatal nurses. They had her crying and pinked up within a minute of delivery, but it was still the scariest minute of our lives. Chris was able to cut more of her umbilical cord at the table and she was weighed and cleaned up before I was finally able to hold her.

Did I mention that we were a little nervous about having a Chicago baby in the middle of winter for fear of a blizzard... yet it was a beautiful day and that same day GA and FL were shut down due to snow and ice. Who would have ever guessed it was going to be better to have her here rather than in FL where we wouldn't have been able to cross the bridge to get to the hospital because it was closed due to ice!?!?

God certainly had His hand in this pregnancy.

We are so thankful to God for protecting her and keeping her safe throughout the pregnancy and delivery. He taught us a lot during these 9 months leading up to her birth and we have really learned to rely on Him more.