Kylie's Many Faces

Picture time is over!

Happy Birthday to Me!

I was able to wake up on my birthday feeling great! That is because I managed to get 5 hours sleep last night and a shower this morning, yippee!!!! Now let me introduce you to my new best friend:

The rice cereal seems to be helping with the reflux alot and is also helping her sleep a little better. We cut back on the amount of formula Kylie has been eating at each feeding, but are adding a teaspoon of rice cereal into her bottle which is helping weight the formula down which keeps her full and at the same time reduces the amount of reflux. Hopefully this will continue tonight as well, if not we have to go back to the doctor tomorrow to try something else.

In other birthday news, Lindsey came to visit us today! Kylie and I were so excited. It was great to participate in some adult conversation and Lindsey gave me some much needed encouragement :) She also brought these little delights: Cupcakes from Edgar's!

I also received some special deliveries today. A beautiful bouquet of flowers from Lee and a gorgeous plant from Honey and PawPaw! My parents are coming to cookout tomorrow so I will get to enjoy my birthday for an extra day!

The Diagnosis

Well as I mentioned yesterday we went back to the pediatrician today. Poor baby Kylie has not only been diagnosed as colic but she also has acid reflux. I know it is miserable when Lee and I get acid reflux so I can only imagine that it feels 1000 times worse for a newborn. Poor thing! Dr. Hammad told us that there are several courses of action we can take, but before implementing a plan that would involve daily medications he is having us put 1 teaspoon of rice cereal in her milk. The weight of the rice cereal should help with the reflux and he also gave us some prescription drops to try for the colic symptoms. If we do not see an improvement by Wednesday, we will go back to the doctor and see about either changing formulas again or starting some stronger medications. Dr. Hammad was so sweet and assured me this is not caused by anything we have done. In fact, he said she is perfectly healthy! He was super pleased that she is now weighing a solid 9lbs 3oz! Especially since she had such a rough 1st week! Below are some pictures of sweet girl napping away after her doctor's visit!

Is Our Baby Colic???

This is the question of the day/past week and a half. Kylie has been extremely fussy and hard to console. We switched formulas last Thursday and put her on a formula with less lactose. She seems to be doing a little better, but her stomach is still not digesting properly. When Honey and Paw-Paw kept her over the weekend they experienced all the crying as well as the sleep deprivation that has been occuring in our household. It was nice to have an experienced mother tell me that I am not crazy, that this behavior is not normal :).

Kylie was doing great when we got home from the hospital and then last weekend (her 2week birthday) the colic symptoms began. I am taking her to Dr. Hammad, our pediatrician, tomorrow and am hoping he can help. We may have to make the switch to Nutramigen (a VERY expensive) formula. Lee and I are both gladly willing to do ANYTHING to make Kylie feel better at this point. It is so hard when there is nothing you can do to make her feel better. Hopefully we will know more tomorrow after yet another Dr.'s visit! :) In the meantime, I did some internet research and found what the symptoms are for colic.

What are the symptoms of colic?

Each baby will show different symptoms of having colic. Some may show a number of symptoms while some will only show one. Below are some of the most common symptoms associated with colic.

Loud and continuous crying that can last from one to three hours at a time, with these crying episodes occurring about three or four days a week

Although the crying can happen at any time, most colicky babies cry more in the late afternoon or evening

Baby’s face gets red

Legs are pulled up to the stomach and then may be fully stretched

Feet may be cold

Hands may be clenched

Some babies refuse to eat or become fussy soon after eating

Difficulty falling and staying asleep

Baby may lift their head or legs and pass gas

Baby may seem generally uncomfortable and appear to be in pain

Wedding Weekend!

This weekend Honey and Paw-Paw (Lee's parents) were so sweet and offered to come babysit Kylie so that Lee and I could attend Julie and Chris' wedding festivities in Birmingham. Julie and I lived together in Auburn and then in Birmingham after we graduated. It was a great wedding and Julie looked beautiful! We stayed with Lauren and Allen and had such a good time visiting with everyone. Below are some pics from the wedding: the rehearsal dinner was at the Bham Zoo lodge, the wedding at the Museum of Fine Art, and the reception was at Bottega. Everything was great! The newlyweds were heading to Belize for a week and then Julie will be moving to NYC with her new hubby!

Lovin the Play Gym!

These are a Few of Our Favorite Things!

I know several people that read this blog are expecting their first child so I figured I would do a post of a few things Kylie (or I) cannot live without! When I created my baby registry I had to enlist the help of friends that have babies to tell me what we would really need and use. Their advice really helped and everything they recommended has definitely been a necessity. Here are a few of our favorite things that I would definitely recommend to others:
1. Bottles: Dr. Brown's
These bottles are great! They have a special vent that really helps and almost eliminates any possibility of having a colicky baby. When I was researching bottles, I heard that some people steered clear of Dr. Brown's because there were extra parts to clean...BUT if you get the Dr. Brown's dishwasher basket cleaning is a cinch! It separates all of the parts for you and all you have to do is place the basket in the dishwasher!
2. Gerber Wrap Shirts
I purchased these from Babies R' Us and the only complaint I have is that they only come 2 to a pack! These are wonderful for newborns to sleep in and they make diaper changes in the middle of the night so EASY. I have the long sleeve and short sleeve ones. They also come in cute prints other than plain white.

3. Gerber Old-Fashion Cloth Diapers
I bought these based on advice from Honey. She told me if nothing else I could use them to dust with! haha. But we have these things all over the house. They are so handy for burp cloths and cleaning up Kylie's spit up. They are very absorbent and super easy to wash!

4. Fisher-Price Rainforest Auto Mirror
Sweet Kelly sent this to Kylie and it has been great! This mirror works in the car, the crib, or on the floor. It plays the cutest music and you can set it to play for 20 min, 40 min, or even 60 min. We propped this in her bassinet and she will just look at herself and fall to sleep to the music. I also used it in the car for the first time last week and I was able to see Kylie very easily in her car seat! So cute!
5. Johnson's Bedtime Bath
I love this stuff. It smells great! After we give Kylie her nightly bird bath with the bedtime body wash, we rub on the bedtime lotion. She screams during bath time but immediately calms down with the lotion!

6. Blankets
I searched long and hard for blankets that would work. Having a baby in July, you need the right warmth so that the baby does not get too hot! Our favorites are Swaddle Designs blankets and 3 Martha's receiving blankets. They are really big! We found with some of the blankets they were too small to swaddle and these are great! They get softer and softer with each wash. They are a very light flannel and make great gifts!


7. The First Years Day/Night Bottle Warmer
We pre-make our bottles to make feedings quicker and really to skip unnecessary screaming due to the fact that the bottle is not ready. With this warmer, all we have to do is grab the bottle out of the fridge and place in the warmer and press a button. Within 60 seconds the bottle is ready to go at room temperature. This warmer also has a cooler so you could store bottles in it versus the fridge.
8. Diapers: Huggies Supreme
I had no clue which brand of diapers to go with. There are too many to choose from, but a friend of mine said she used Huggies so I figured I would go with those and not Pampers. The Huggies Supreme diapers are great! They are very absorbent! They also fit newborns really well and the little umbilical cord cut-out makes for cleaning the umbi area very easy!

1st Outing!

Yesterday we had our first outing (I am not counting the hospital and Dr.'s office as outings :)). The house was scheduled to be cleaned, so Kylie and I packed up and headed to Demopolis for the day. We had a great time! Kylie got to stay at Wen-Wen's and got to meet her Great Aunt Sandy. She also made her first trip to the farm in Hale County to see Big K (my dad) and to meet her Great Uncle Kevin for the 1st time. We even made a trip to The Mustard Seed to order her birth announcements. I can't wait to see how they turn out. We got back to Selma just before Lee got off work.

Follow Up Doctor's Appointment

It was back to the pediatrician this morning for Miss Kylie. She got a great report! She is now back up to her birth weight (7lbs 15oz)and all signs of the jaundice appear to be gone. She does not have to go back to the doctor until her 1 month birthday! I am very excited about that given that she is still bruised from all of the pricking and IV's from the weekend! Hopefully she will heal quickly.

We are now on a pretty decent schedule which has me getting up to feed her only once in the middle of the night! yay! Lee has been a big help, he takes the early morning feed so I can sleep a little bit. That is huge!

Tomorrow we will take our first road trip (sort of). The house is schedule to be cleaned tomorrow so Kylie and I are loading up and heading to Demop for the day. I will get to see Dolly (she has been staying with my parents). I can't wait to see what Dolly's reaction will be to Kylie! :)

Hanging with my Mom today!

1 Week Old!

Kylie is one week old today! I know everyone says time flies with a baby, but this honestly feels like the longest week in history given everything that has happened. Kylie is doing much better. She slept alot today, her sleeping is a little off given all the testing and things that she had to go through round the clock at the hospital, she is just exhausted! So she will probably be up a little tonight. Hopefully we can get the schedule set straight soon, right now it is just more important that she is getting better which means lots of rest for her and lots of feedings. Thanks to Honey for staying with us today, you were a huge help! Kylie will be ready for you to come back soon!!!

Thanks Wen-Wen!

My mom got us a welcome home gift last week when we came home from the hospital...a new arrangement for the dining room! I love it and just had to share!

Welcome Home Kylie...Take Two

We are HOME! Kylie is here and doing very well. Just sleeping away. We are so relieved to be back at home with her. She looks great. She has gained back 6 oz and is now weighing a very healthy 7lbs 6oz. She is cute as ever! Below are some pics from today!

Where to Begin?

*** Warning: Long Post
We had a very LONG weekend. On Friday, we took Kylie to the pediatrician and found out that she had what we thought was a mild case of jaundice. To be safe, Dr. Hermaud sent us to Vaughn Hospital (the local hospital in Selma) for further testing and to get a better count of Kylie's bili ruben (sp) level. We had a horrible experience at the hospital, the folks in Selma had absolutely no clue what they were doing and watching them try to stick Kylie was one of the worst things I have ever had to watch in my life. Anyway they finally got a count of her bili level and it came back at 25...WAY above normal. So they had to call in Angel Care One which is an ambulance that will come from Baptist South's NICU unit in Montgomery. They came on Friday and picked Kylie up to transport her to Montgomery to NICU asap. I am in tears and devastated beyond belief at this point. For those not familiar with jaundice and bili levels, basically this means that Kylie was not able to flush out cord blood from birth and the higher the levels increase the more the bili can spread which can result in a baby needing a blood transfusion.
Anyway, we finally get to Baptist South late Friday afternoon and there they begin to test her for all kinds of things and prep Lee and I that if the bili levels do not come down she may need a blood transfusion. SCARY! After Lee and I arrive at the hospital, we are sitting in the waiting room waiting on some information. A young guy from NICU comes to the waiting room and says "Ms. Calame, you need to come with me. They want you to come see your baby before she goes into eye surgery"...WHAT??? Lee and I start freaking out, I am balling and we make our way to see Kylie. Come to find out he had miss understood when the nurse told him to bring us to the iso room, which is the isolation room...NOT eye surgery room. The poor guy felt so bad but I was beyond devastated at that point. But VERY relieved my baby was NOT having eye surgery. We get to see Kylie first in the iso room, she was placed in isolation at first while they ran tests on her before she was placed in general population with the other NICU babies. Most of those babies were severely premature so they had not been exposed to anything outside the hospital yet, so they just had to test Kylie for any kind of infection or anything like that. All of her tests came back fine except for the really high bili count so in she went with the other little babies in the NICU nursery. They placed her under many lights and started pumping her body with fluids and formula to help her dispose of the bili ruben. I hope none of you ever have to see your baby get an iv...babies have the biggest veins in their scalp so they place IVs in their head. Talk about something you wish you never have to see your child go through. We left the hospital at about 2am on Friday and went to stay with a family friend in Montgomery. They told us Kylie could be there for a little while. Yesterday, her levels were way down and she was eating and drinking good. We got to go see her last night and she had been moved out of NICU to the extended care nursery. She looked cute as ever, her IV was gone and she was sleeping away in what looked like a mini tanning bed. She is doing much much better...and will get to come home today. We came to Selma last night, the nurses told us we need to go home and get a good night sleep and our baby will be home in our arms tomorrow. This morning I talked to the nurse and Kylie's bili level was down to 9 which is great! We are heading back to Montgomery this morning to see her and meet with the pediatrician at Baptist South. Please please pray that she will be home with us this afternoon. Our families are here with us and everyone is just ready for her to be HOME! Especially Lee and I, I couldn't even walk past her nursery last night without crying. I miss her so badly!
Oh yeah...one reason that caused the bili to be so high is the fact that I have been trying to breastfeed and my milk never came in. The lactation consultants told me to continue to breastfeed and my milk would come in. Well it didn't...causing Kylie to be dehydrated, which resulted in her body not being able to flush out the bili ruben. So after all of that, I am now making the move to formula. Point of this being...go with your gut and not everything that everybody tells you is going to be the right thing for you or your baby. I felt so much pressure to breastfeed from that stupid nursing class (which was a blog a while back). We are so DONE with that. Now if we can just get Kylie home today and hold her!
Below are some pics of Kylie in the extended care nursery. She is sleeping away and getting a good tan under the lights.

1st Night at Home

Well last night was eventful! We could not get Kylie to sleep so Lee and I decided to take shifts. I stayed up with her until about 3 and Lee took over from 3 to 6am! Let's just say we are very tired today! Other than being a little fussy right now due to my milk not really coming in so far, Kylie is doing great. We go to the pediatrician tomorrow morning at 10 for her 1st checkup. Today we have mainly been playing with Kylie and trying to figure out when she needs/wants something. We are hoping we will be able to at least get a few hours of sleep tonight. She is so cute! She is very alert and loves to look around. I am working on taking more pictures now that we are home and hope to post some good ones this weekend. I think my mom (Wen-Wen) and Lee's mom (Honey)may come over to help this weekend which will be great!

Kylie Ann Calame is Here!

Kylie is here!! Thanks to Aunt Amanda for giving everyone an update an her arrival. We got home today a little after lunch. Kylie is doing great. We are all so happy to be home. She is so cute! We still can not really tell who she looks like, we see features from both of our baby pictures. Of course we think she is absolutely adorable! I am feeling really well, a little tired, but other than that I have no complaints. Labor went wonderfully. They begin the induction at around 5am on Monday and she was here at 9:56am. Dr. Miller told me it would probably be 4 or 5 in the afternoon before she arrived, but she proved everyone wrong! Our parents barely made it to the hospital in time to meet Kylie and even Dr. Miller barely made it in time to deliver. I only pushed for about 1 hr and 15 min...and 25 min of that was me trying not to push so the Dr. could make it over to the hospital in time. So things went very quickly and smoothly. I could not have asked for a better experience. Our Dr. and all of our nurses were so nice and wonderful (too bad we could not bring them home with us, haha). Below are some pics from the big arrival! We can't wait for everyone to meet her. Thanks for all the prayers, visits, and phone calls. They have meant so much to us.

Kylie Ann Calame Has Arrived!

The moment has arrived!! Kylie arrived today (July 7th) at 9:56 am. She weighs 7 lbs. 15 oz. and is 20 1/4 inches long. She has a little bit of dark hair and is absolutley beautiful! By the way, this is not her mother or father talking! They are both a little busy right now, so Kea asked Aunt Amanda to post the specifics. Kea was doing great and Lee was very excited this afternoon when we saw them. They are both very tired but glad that Kylie is here and healthy!! Kylie obviously had her own agenda because she arrived much sooner than anyone expected!! Things moved very quickly, which was truly a blessing! We are very excited to have her here and know that Lee and Kea are going to be fabulous parents. Welcome to the family Kylie Ann Calame!!

Hospital Bound

Tomorrow is the big day, the day we will head to the hospital for the birth of our daughter. Since the actual induction process will begin Monday, I will probably be much more nervous/anxious tomorrow rather than today. It is nice being able to plan and make sure you can get everything done that you want to before the baby is born, but something about knowing when you will go in to deliver your first child brings lots of anxious feelings. By this time next week, I will hopefully wonder why I was so nervous. (HOPEFULLY! :))

I always have managed to work up a bad case of nerves before any big event in my life. Even when I was little before getting baptized I was so nervous that I got sick before getting dunked, haha. And before our wedding...thank goodness Xanax was available. This is a whole different ballgame though and having a week to think about it only makes it worse, haha. Don't get me wrong, we are super excited to meet Kylie but of course can't help but think the obvious..."Are we going to know what to do once she arrives?" Hehe.

We just finished up loading the car seat and our bags into my car. We FINALLY have everything ready to go. Tonight hopefully we will get some sleep and even be able to sleep late tomorrow before heading to Montgomery. Lee is taking me out to eat lunch tomorrow before we go in and is even taking me to Storkland to pick up a welcome home present for Kylie. Next time we blog we will have pics of our little girl! We cannot wait to meet her and for all of our friends and family to meet her. Please pray for a smooth delivery and a very healthy baby girl!

Another Day...Another Dr.'s Appointment

Lee and I went to see Dr. Miller today before the long weekend and get the details on everything that will happen next week. I will go to Baptist East and be admitted Sunday afternoon. They will give me a drug (can't remember the name) to help thin out my cervix and prep it for the induction on Monday. I am about 1/2 cm dilated which is not much but way better than nothing given that I am being induced. On Monday morning I will receive the Pitocin drip and the induction will begin. Dr. Miller said if all goes well Kylie should be here late afternoon on Monday. The countdown is on! We are planning on relaxing this weekend and spending some good quality time with Dolly and Porter since they unfortunately will be neglected most of next week!

In other news...we purchased a new vehicle yesterday! Yes, the Volvo is gone...I am going to miss her. But I am very excited about our new Nissan Murano. I love it and it is going to be sooo much more convenient with Kylie and the pets.

Hope everyone has a good 4th of July!

Can't Believe I am Doing This...

Many friends have emailed wanting to see some belly photos. I am finally caving and am posting a photo before Kylie is born on Monday! I wanted one to put in the baby book anyway. As horrible as I look, hopefully Kylie will get a good laugh at this one day down the road. Hopefully the extreme swelling in the face will go away very soon! Even Lee was giggling as he snapped these photos! haha.