Wow!

It's been almost a year since I last posted! Lots of things have happened in that time.

We found out that I was pregnant at the end of October. Wonderful news, I know. Then I began suffering from morning sickness...all day and night for the first 3 months. What fun that was! But I lost weight. Good side effect? Of course! I didn't gain much throughout the pregnanct, only 26 pounds as apposed to the 50 pounds I gained with my firstborn. I weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant!

Baby daughter was born July 23rd. She weighed in a much smaller 8lbs 6oz, 20 1/2in. Now I have two precious little girls!

We found out after about 4 weeks after she was born that she had a bad case of acid reflux. It ws causing her considerable pain and discomfort. And, unlike with some other babies who suffer, Rayah didn't have a failure to thrive. Instead, she gad gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks, a total of 4 pounds in one month due to her comfort feedind in attempt to ease her pain. She would cry for hours many times a day, unconsollable; driving my dh and myself crazy! She spit up large quantities several times in an hour! I would change my shirt 3-5 times a day, and her clothes just as much! And she would only sleep for minutes at a time before waking up crying, starting the crying for hours all over again. Very frustrating, if you can imagine.

We tried mylicon gas relief, which helped a little, but nothing significant. I then went online and found info pertaining to her symptoms...she had ALL the symptoms of acid reflux. Although I wish she didn't have this, I was glad there was a reason for what she, and dh and I, were going through. I made an appointment with her pediatrician and requested medication to ease her pain. She was reluctant to give me anything, saying it's normal for babies to have acid reflux and all babies have it, yadda yadda. I knew it wasn't normal. I have a firstborn who NEVER had these issues. I told her I wanted to try a perscription for acid reflux. She relented and gave us a sample. And surprise, surprise. It worked! Rayah slept like a normal baby, ate with fewer spit ups, and was overall a more pleasant and happy baby. I was thrilled, so I got the perscription filled for her and we have much happier days and nights with Rayah. Everyone, even the toddler, have less issues and we all sleep better at night. No more crying ringing in my ears. I used to hear Rayah crying, even when she wasn't. We've changed how we do things with her, too. We keep her upright for at least 30 minutes after a feeding, keep her upper body elevated when she sleeps, and burp her frequently, at an angle, with little to no pressure on her tummy. This makes for a happy baby and less messes to clean up!

She still has bad days, though, but they are not nearly as frequent, and we no longer feel like throwing ourselves in front of a train! LOL! Life is much better now...from that end.

But we have, at the same time as all this was happening, and is still happening, a toddler going through her terrible two's. This alone can drive me to drinking if I were a drinking woman. Alethea is blatently disobedient. Beligerent and difficult. She just doesn't want to listen and, as a result, gets her bottom swatted every now and then. Nothing harsh or violent. Just a couple swats on her diaper padded rear. It drives the point home...sometimes. But I get through this phase by knowing that it's temporary, even though there are times when I want to give her to someone else until she's over it! LOL. And the good news? Once she's out of it, I'll have to deal with the terrible twos with Rayah right afterwards! We've decided that we aren't having any more until Rayah is potty trained. We still have to potty train Alethea, but she's resisting, even though she clearly wants to learn and is showing all the signs of being ready, so we're waiting.

Alethea will be turning 2 next month. She's getting so big. Its crazy that she's almost 2! They grow up so fast.

My nephew, my youngest sisters son, will be turning 1 at the end of next month, as well, and my other sister is pregnant with her first. My dad is retiring from 26 years in the Navy. My mom is looking forward to that!

Well, that's all for now. Got to finally go to bed. The little one woke me up at 3:45am and just went to sleep about 20 minutes ago. Time for me to go back to bed.