It's Wednesday!

Yesterday, I took Karissa to a program at the library. My sister lives in an area where she was able to do all sorts of classes and playtime things with her son when he was a baby and we don't really have anything here. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE living near the beach, but sometimes it does stink when we don't have all of the amenities that other places have. BUT, I was talking to a friend from church about that and she works at a local library. She told me about a program at one of the other libraries. It is a 40 minute drive....I wish one of the closer libraries would pick up this program...but it was worth it! We had so much fun doing activities and movements and singing and saying nursery rhymes. Karissa was wide-eyed, just soaking it all in. She got a little fussy during part of it, but then after a few minutes let out a huge burp and was better. I checked out a book so we could do our own little movement and rhymes at home and she was laughing and loving it. Of course, as soon as Dave grabbed the video camera she acted like she wasn't enjoying it anymore. We'll have to try again later. Another good note is that Karissa is up to 11 lbs! Hopefully, she'll maintain that or gain even more so she can impress her doctor! We'll have to go all next week without weighing her which is a long time for us. The reason we'll skip a week of weighing her is because we will be busy laying on the beach or poolside in Hilton Head Island! Dave and I discovered this place a couple of years ago when we went on our road trip. It is gorgeous and warm. There are building codes so there are no huge billboards or hotels like in our beach areas, so it feels like a secluded, quiet place when it is really a beach resort. When we get back we have doctors appointments and softball games so it might be a little while before we can get back on here and update you on the trip. So the point for today - It is Wednesday...weigh-in day. Before I say how I did, I must confess....I missed 2 days of shredding....Yup....not one, but TWO. Not good....haven't been tracking my calories either....again, not good. And just in case you are wondering, I still HATE the plank. lol So anyway, I'm down one pound. Considering the above, it's not bad. I got a new scale the other day. I was weighing in every week at my mom's and now I can weigh in at home. But it shows the body fat percentage and everything and that is not good. I'm around 24% and it's supposed to be 19%. Hopefully shredding will take care of that. See you in a couple of weeks!

First trip to the zoo!

Hi! As Dave said, I took Karissa to the zoo yesterday with ladies and kids from church. I know Karissa is too little to know what the animals are, but figured it would get us out in fresh air and give me a chance to hang out with other moms from church. We had a lot of fun. Considering, it was during her morning nap time, Karissa was really happy. She was smiling and talking and laughing the whole time we were there. She loved it! I had fun hanging out too. You can see some pictures below of her in her Easter outfit and at the zoo. (I had to get a pic of the two of us in our shades lol). So I was supposed to post on Wednesday about my non-existent weight loss, but was too frustrated. However, Jillian is making me healthier because I used to feel like I was going to have a heart attack during the cardio segments and now I don't lol. I moved up to level 2 a couple of days ago...it's actually not bad.....I kind of like it...except the last 5 minutes kick my butt. Ask Dave how much I HATE the plank! lol She does too many plank moves in those last few minutes and my arms are weak, but I make it through. So no weight loss this week, but I was able to fit into another pair of my smaller pants (my jeans actually! :). Anyway, back to Karissa. We have a busy upcoming week - library activity time Tuesday, packing for vacation, and scrapbooking Friday, along with all the regular stuff. Then a week from Sunday we leave to go to Hilton Head....I hear the warm weather and ocean calling my name already. Oh and Karissa is already getting close to 11lbs.! Her doctor was hoping she'd be at 11lbs. by her next appointment on May 4th and she is already 10lbs. 13oz. Maybe she'll blow the doctor away and actually make it to the 5th percentile!!!! :) So have a great weekend and enjoy the nice, spring weather (FINALLY!!!).

Easter

Hello all, Happy Easter to all of you!! We hope you all had a wonderful day and celebrated the real reason for this holiday-Christ's resurrection. We had a great day at church and Karissa looked so adorable in her Easter dress and hat. After church, my dad and grandfather and Megan's parents came up and we had a simple Easter dinner. Just ham, venison roast, mashed taters, green bean casserole, and rolls. It was a good day. Megan wasn't as eager to post this week because she didn't lose any weight. She is frustrated so I know she would appreciate all your encouraging comments because she has worked really hard. I told her at least she didn't gain but she didn't take much solace in that. I think she looks great for having had a baby a few months ago but you women know how you are about that. LOL We are really looking forward to vacation which begins in just over a week. We will be leaving April 26 for Hilton Head Island, SC and we are very excited. Later today Megan is taking Karissa with some other ladies and kids from church to the zoo. I will get her to post some pictures from that and Easter later today or tomorrow. Have a great week everyone.

Spring is here!

So spring may have finally arrived...although not according to the weather yet. It's still a little chilly. BUT baseball has come back so Dave is very happy, I'm happy, and so is Karissa. She watched her first Yankees game the other night. She woke up early from nap, was really fussy (which is very unlike her), and what got her to settle down was when she sat on the couch with her daddy and watched the game. There is a pic below. The rest of this month will be a busy one for Karissa. Next week we will possibly be trying out a nursery rhyme/activity time at the library and maybe going to the zoo with other moms and kids from church. Then it is time to start packing for vacation at the end of this month!!!! Spring cleaning is more than halfway done too. Plus, I might finally be on my way back in to my pre-pregnancy clothes! I can't afford to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, so I'm hoping to fit in my summer clothes before vacation. Joining the Shrink Into Summer Challenge is a great motivator. There were only a couple times this week that I contemplated not working out, but then I knew I'd have to update my weight so I did my workout (and that was even during spring cleaning so I was considering that being my workout). Anyway, I'm down 1.3lbs. Not much, but I wasn't really watching what I was eating until just a day or two ago so I can't complain. Hope I keep it up! And Karissa seems to be doing well gaining! Gotta go workout now, talk to you later!

I joined the Sisterhood!

Hey everyone! It's been a looooooong time since I've been able to blog! Karissa is now on a good napping schedule and has been for about a week so I should be able to blog more often now. In the meantime, Dave has done a good job of keeping you updated! Karissa had her 4 month well-check earlier this week and the doctor was very pleased with her growth. She grew an inch and a half in length since last month so she is now 22 and 1/4 inches long. She weighs around 10 lbs now too. The doctor showed me the graph with weight gains and last time she had moved far away from the 5th percentile line. This week she was very close to it and the doctor is hopeful that she will finally be on it in another month when we go back for a weight check. I was able to answer "yes" to all of her develpmental questions (like, "is she grasping her hands together? does she watch you or a toy move back in forth" etc.) . I told her sometimes she is still a little unsteady with her head and she only pushes up with one arm on tummy time, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned. Plus, I need to remember she was considered premature, so she might be a little behind in some areas (but she's also ahead in other areas!). She hated her shots even more. Her face was even more red than the last time and she took so long to breathe in between her screams that the nurse was telling her, "Breathe Karissa, breathe." Anyway, our vacation to Hilton Head Island is less than a month away, so I started to give up hope on losing anymore baby weight. I've been slacking lately because being busy with Karissa and Dave has been sick here and there so I just gave up on excerising. (I do so much better in the summer when it is warm out; thankfully it's starting to get a little warmer.) Then on my friend Melissa's blog, I found a link to The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans (that's where I got the button to the left). Now, I know some of you guys could care less, but I signed up! I'm ready to try the 30 Day Shred and lose some weight by the end of the challenge in May....just in time for summer I might add! Plus, I need to get some muscle and just get in better shape! Part of it is accountability, so I'm supposed to post how I'm doing on my blog. Each Wednesday is their weigh in, so I'll be posting how I'm doing. Thanks for your support! So as Karissa tries to gain, I'm trying to lose. :) Talk to you later!

Dedication

Hello everyone, well, on Sunday Karissa was formally dedicated to God at our church. It was a great service and everything went smoothly. The family who came to see was Karissa's great grandfather on my side, both of her grandfathers and grandmothers, her Aunt Traci and Uncle Ryan, her Aunt Melinda and Aunt Leah and both of her cousins Dylan and Hailey. Karissa didn't even cry when Pastor Duane held her to pray over her. Afterward, we had all the family up to our home and had a luncheon and that was a really nice time of visiting and hanging out. This was the first time Karissa was able to spend time with both of her cousins at the same time. We have lots of pictures that were taken of her dedication and later today I will get a slideshow posted so you all can see those pictures. Take care and thanks for reading.

Gaining

Karissa has continued to gain although it has slowed down some. She is up to 9lbs, 8 1/2oz. We got the results of her ultrasound and everything was negative. Praise the Lord. Tomorrow she is being dedicated to the Lord at our church. Even though we dedicated her when we knew we were having a baby, this is a formal way of showing others our intentions of wanting to raise a Godly daughter. Here are a couple more pictures from the past few days. The first is playing with her Aunt Melinda. The third is playing with her "Build A Bear Bunny" from Grammy (she loves her), and the fourth is her 4 month picture with her teddy bear.

Karissa update

I figured I would get on here and give an update on Karissa. After all her weight gains last week she stalled for a couple days and also seemed to get constipated from the iron in the formula. Megan had been trying to nurse but she wasn't getting much so for a whole night she gave Karissa milk she had been able to pump. This helped Karissa poop and she got a lot out in a couple days. The first day after going again, her weight dropped down to about 8 lbs, 9 ounces. That was Thursday night. Friday she went to A.I DuPont and we haven't gotten the result of her ultrasound yet but her VCUG test for urine reflux was negative. We are pretty sure the weight issue is all tied to Megan's milk; it just must not be nutritious enough. Karissa had a really rough time at AI and screamed the entire time they were doing the VCUG test. Suprisingly they didn't check her weight or any other vitals while she was there. We checked her weight Friday night and it was up to 8 lbs, 12 1/2 ounces so she was back to gaining. Last night we checked it and it was up to 9 lbs, 1 ounce so she's on her way again. Megan is now alternating between pumped breast milk and formula and still nursing before feedings as often as possible. God is sooo good and has watched over Karissa and us through all this and we thank Him. Thank you all again for your prayers. Here are a couple of pictures of Karissa laying on the hospital table in her gown waiting for her test to begin. This was while she was still happy.

A few of the Most Recent Pictures

Karissa

I'm sorry I'm always the one blogging but Megan never really gets any time. Well, we know that God works all things out for good but we saw that first hand this past week. Karissa had to go to formula on Wednesday and since then she has done nothing but gain weight. Last Tuesday night she weighed 7 lbs, 10 1/2 oz and last night (Monday) she weighed 8 lbs 10 1/2 oz. 1 lb in less than a week. Megan's milk has started to come back but Karissa still has to have a bottle of formula after nursing so I don't know how much the nursing is doing for her. As long as she is getting something I guess it's better than nothing. So far she hasn't seemed to have any problems with the formula thankfully. She goes to AI DuPont Children's Hospital on Friday to have tests done to make sure she has recovered from the infection and that nothing else is wrong. Thank you all for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Megan

Hello friends. The news doesn't seem to get better. On Sunday, Megan started complaining that she wasn't feeling well and by Monday afternoon when I got home from work she had a fever of over 103 and was having unbearable pain in her back. I called both of our mothers to see if they could come up and help out with Karissa since I needed sleep and Megan needed to rest. My mom said she could come up and Megan's mom said she needed to see the dr. I took her to the dr. around 4:00 and he checked her over and said she had a kidney infection. He put her on an antibiotic that she could take and still nurse. It's good she went when she did because the dr. said she could have become "septic" quickly. On Sunday night, Karissa started not nursing well and couldn't get full. That has continued ever since. Megan is starting to feel better but it is looking like the infection has started to dry up Megan's milk supply. Please pray that it will come back as the infection goes away. Also pray that Karissa won't lose weight through this and that the Lord will provide formula for us if we have to go to that. Thank you all

Update

We got the results of Karissa's urine test and she does have a mild grade infection (urinary tract infection). Her dr. put her on an antibiotic which she began Tuesday and will take for 10 days. We were worried she would hate it but she acted like she really liked it. Hopefully she doesn't start wanting that instead of milk. lol After the 10 days her dr. wants her to go to A.I. Dupont to have tests done to make sure there is nothing else wrong causing her to have this infection. While we are relieved to maybe have an answer to why she isn't gaining like she should, we are still worried about other problems. Please pray that she will be ok and that we will trust God to take care of her and bring her through all of this. We appreciate everyone's prayers.

Hello

Hello everyone, sorry it's been almost 2 weeks since we updated. Karissa had her 3 month check up on Thursday and it didn't go well. She weighed in at 7lbs 4oz so she only gained 13 ounces in a month. Her dr. said she fell farther away from the 5th percentile which is where she wants her to get to at least. Doc said she needed to take urine to check for a UTI which she said is the biggest reason for babies not gaining weight consistently. That meant that they had to put a catheter in her and that was the worst thing we have had to see her go through yet. It took them a few minutes to get it in her since she's so tiny. They finally did though and got some urine. We haven't heard the results. Doc said after she gets the results of that we will figure out where to go from there. Please pray for all 3 of us. We are very worried parents but are really trying to trust the Lord to take care of her. We are very frustrated because she has grown so much and is really looking very healthy. They also checked her length and head circumference and those were both closer to where doc wants them. She is now 20 3/4 inches long. Her 0-3 month clothes are too big but her newborn clothes don't fit over her head very easily. LOL. Poor thing has her daddy's big head. Well, there isn't much else to say. Til next time, God bless you all.

Please Pray

Hello everyone, not much is going on but we want to update regularily so that's why I'm here. Please pray that we don't get sick, especially Karissa. My parents stopped by Monday night and visited us and then Tuesday they were very sick and we just hope we don't get it, especially Karissa. We don't want to see her lose the progress she has gained the past few weeks. On a good note, Megan's sister Traci, her husband Ryan and our nephew Dylan came for a visit this past weekend. Dylan still loves his little cousin and Karissa seems to love Dylan more than anyone else as everytime she was around she gave him big smiles and laughs. Dylan still loved holding her and giving her hugs and kisses. Thankfully, he didn't give her any knuckle sandwiches. LOL We all enjoyed their visit and can't wait to go on vacation with them in April. Our teens are hosting a dinner and a movie event for the couples of our church and visitors next Friday night and we are asking that you pray that the Gospel will be heard through the movie. We will be showing Fireproof. Thanks for all your prayers and comments.

Growing Too Fast

Hello. We told you we would try to update more often so here I am since it's been just over a week. Our little girl is growing up too fast. No, she's not gaining weight too fast but she is growing up too fast. She seems to add new things all the time to the list of things she does. She hasn't rolled over in awhile like she was before though. One thing she does not like is tummy time. You can lay her down on her back on her mat and she will be fine for awhile but as soon as you turn her onto her tummy, she isn't happy. We tell her she needs to push herself up and get strong but she doesn't care. One other thing she doesn't like is sleeping in her own bed. lol We are trying to stop this but it's hard when Megan doesn't get much sleep already and I'm not there to help since I work overnight. I think it's so funny that Karissa likes the noises I make with my mouth because I have always made lots of noises with my mouth and Megan used to always get annoyed and tell me to stop so now I have to rub it in to Megan when Karissa likes them. We have discovered that Karissa enjoys her swing and will sleep in it and that has helped Megan get more things done around the house lately. We're wondering how long that will last because she seems to only like things briefly and then it stops working. I'm sorry if I've rambled all over the place--it's because it's late at night and I'm at work and tired. Thanks for the comments. Keep em coming!!

I actually have a few minutes!!!!

Hey everyone! So I've been wanting to do a blog for a long time now, just never have a chance. Karissa doesn't allow me to be on the computer a long time before she gets fussy. :) Yesterday we had her two month check-up. She gained enough weight to make the doctor happy even though it wasn't as much because of us running out of her supplement (see Dave's blog). She's now up to 6 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 in. long. I knew she was getting long because her pants were starting to become shorts! lol So she's been in newborn size which is good and today her outfit was even a 0-3 month size! She's definitely on the right track now. She did okay with her shots....her face got more red than I've ever seen!!!!! The doctor checked her all over and said she looks great. She's come alive so much in the past couple of months. As Dave mentioned, she smiles now with great big grins and sometimes makes a giggle sound when she smiles. During tummy time, she moves all around...pretty much from one end of the blanket to the other in only a few minutes. When Dave holds her and makes noises with his mouth, it is so cute to see her move her mouth to try to copy him. You also can't let anything get near her hands that you don't want her to grab because she'll grab onto stuff and not let go. So things are going really well....she's keeping me very busy, but we're having a great time. I put some pictures of her smile, where she starts tummy time, where she moves during tummy time, her 2 month picture, and of her and her cousin Hailey (it looks like she is saying "Not again Hailey" with her eyes because of Hailey crying). lol Thanks for the comments and hopefully, now that Karissa is doing better, we can get back to posting more frequently.

2 months

I can't believe it; Karissa is already 2 months old!! I don't think anyone is still reading our blog but I figured I would do one more post and see if we still have any visitors. Please let us know if you are still visiting so we know if we should continue to blog. Karissa has made great improvements since the last post. She is now about 6 lbs, 4 oz. The supplement we are adding to pumped milk is what we think is making the difference because we ran out last week and she hasn't gained much since then. It is very expensive and we have been waiting to find out if the insurance company will cover the cost. Thankfully her dr's office has been a lot of help and they got us 2 boxes for no cost that we are picking up today. If we need more after that we will have to pay for it ($150/box) and the insurance will reimburse us. HA HA we all know how that goes. Anyway, Karissa is doing lots of new things including smiling, holding her head up while on her stomach, rolling over, and she's laughed a few times in the past couple days. Our first time leaving her for a significant amount of time (well, to us) will be Saturday when we go to a teen activity and she stays with her Grammy. We will be gone for about 4 hours or so and Megan is already dreading it. I have been back to work for a few weeks now so I'm used to it. That doesn't mean I enjoy leaving but I have to obviously. Well, that's all I have for now. Again, please let us know if you still read this because we are considering stopping. C-ya

Christmas Pictures

Christmas Update

Hello friends and loved ones! Well, not a whole lot has changed since my last post. Karissa has only gained 1 1/2 ounces and is now at 5 lbs 3 oz. Everyone is getting concerned. Well, we have been concerned but we are more so now. The dr. has us adding a supplement to Megan's pumped milk which we are giving her 3 times a day after regular feedings to try to get her gaining. Also the dr. is going to check her urine for infections if we can ever get her to go in a bag without getting poo mixed in it. They also want Megan to stop all intake of dairy to see if that is bothering Karissa. The dr. said sometimes babies react to mom's intake of dairy and the only sign is they don't gain weight so that means we are having a really hard time finding meals to make for Megan. If any of you have recipes that would not include milk, cheese, cream, butter, etc and not a lot of ingredients that we would have to go out and buy please email them to thorpmegan@yahoo.com. Please continue to pray. This is real hard and frustrating to be dealing with and pray that we will just trust God to take care of Karissa and bring her through this time. Thank you all!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!