You thought maybe I had disappeared? + A list of firsts

Only having the interent at school makes updating the blog sometimes near impossible. That's an excuse. Take it for what it's worth. But now school is done, however, I don't have the internet (or at least this slice of internet) available at work, so I will try to be as frequent as I am given chance.

I am stil going to fill in Christmas and Sophie's blessing where they go, but beyond that, just know she's growing like big growing weed with the spring. She is currently five and a half months and her first little tooth poked through her gums last night. It was just another in a laundry list of incredible things she has accomplished over the past month or so.

In case you're wondering, here's my recollection of that list (which I might update after Annie tells me everything I forgot):

Taking assisted steps, which I may have already mentioned.

Rolling over.

Her feet don't really fit into most of her shoes anymore.

Got her first nasty virus.

More rolling over.

Holding herself up on her hands and knees.

The cutest little laugh.

Decided she loves toys.

Eating rice cereal.

Her dark hair fell out and is growing in thick and blonde. Right now it looks like a baby chicken.

Annie and I love our little Sophie Lou, even though we had no idea her ornery spells over the past few weeks were caused by her poor gums aching from pushing teeth. If we had only known and given her some Tylenol every now and then.

As for Annie and I, we're still just obsessed with Sophie. But we do have lives as well. I graduated from UVSC at the end of April with a B.S. degree in Communication and am currently in the market for any jobs in the surrounding states that have anything to do with journalism. Until then, I am still plugging away at the Financial Aid Office at UVSC until the end of May.

Annie is finishing out her second year of teaching and is anxiously waiting for me to finally get a job so she knows whether she will get her wish of getting to retire her teaching attire to be a mommy full time. We both have our fingers crossed. I have sent applications to places in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, California, New York, Washington State and Minnesota. Hopefully one of them decides they like me.

Wish us luck.

Back to the hospital

Yesterday was a great day, we finally got to bring Sophia home, and though Annie's leg made it a little more challenging than expected, we were ready to start being a family at our own home. Annie's mom, Dennyce, even brought home some Thanksgiving leftovers from Annie's aunt's house were her and Chris ate dinner.

The day was going great until the evening when Annie began to have an allergic reaction. The swelling began in her hands, then her face, eyes and ears. She also began to get hives on her neck, hands and around her hairline.


We tried Benadryl and tried to let her get some rest to see if that would help the swelling. I stayed out on the couch in the living room with Sophia to let Annie rest and I fed her with bottles just in case the allergy would affect the baby.

At 6 a.m. I went in to check on Annie to see how she was doing and she was not only still having a reaction, but the swelling had increased to the point her eyes could barely open. Dennyce and I immediately got the baby ready to go, and ran down to the ER.

After they checked her out, they determined that it was a reaction to something that we will probably never find out because of the amount of variables that would have to be tested to find out the cause of such a reaction, but some prescription Benadryl, and some other allergy meds prescribed by the doctor helped the swelling go down in just the few hours we were holed up in a tiny room in the ER.

It just so happened that Sophia needed a second PKU test to make sure she didn't have jaundice that same day, so it made it easy enough for me to head around the corner to get the test done. I also got my first taste of juggling everything to get her fed, changed and burped all on my own. Quite the deal to do for the first time in a small bathroom on the changing table.

The doctor finally let us go home in the afternoon and said we should probably keep the baby on formula just in case - plus Annie's mom was worried the Benadryl would make the baby groggy. This was a little hard on Annie, who wants to breastfeed so badly. To keep her milk coming she is now pumping her milk and then pouring it down the drain just to keep it coming in - also not very easy for her to do.

Even with all of this, we are so in love with our little girl.

It's Thanksgiving, baby

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We had an extra special Thanksgiving this year; Annie and Sophia were released from the hospital today. Sophia is doing really well, everything is going great, she's eating and all of the tests they run have come out good - as far as we know.

Annie, on the other hand, isn't having as smooth a transition post delivery. Ever since the delivery her left leg has been numb. She can't feel much below the middle of her thigh down until just above her ankle.

It makes it very difficult to walk; she has to kind of drag her leg along with her. She tries to take baby steps when she can to help it along, but that eventually led to her taking a spill in the bathroom as she was finishing up getting ready for the day. It's amazing how fast a husband can move when he hears his wife fall down around the corner. I think I was in the bathroom about the same time she hit the floor.

The doctors say the numbness is probably due to a pinched nerve, though it is possible it could be from the epidural shot (they would never say that though). They said it could last anywhere from six days to six months (not the most promising time frame), but we're crossing our fingers, hoping for six days - six weeks tops.

The nurses brought Annie a Thanksgiving dinner for lunch, and we just kept getting ready to finally get Sophia to the comfort of our home. It's still such a surreal feeling to think that Annie and I are parents. I attribute part of that to the lack of sleep.

The first night we spent in the hospital with our new baby girl (the room had a fold-out couch that I slept on both nights) we didn't get any sleep until four in the morning and were up and going early. Plus when they took her back to the nursery they brought her back every three hours to feed.

Even with these minor setbacks it is a great feeling to have our Sophie Lou here and safe in our arms. There's nothing in the world like holding your own child, fresh and unscathed by the wiles of the world. She's a miracle in every way and now she will fill our home with her pure innocence and the joy of parenthood.

To take her home we had a preemie outfit (purple pants with a purple hoodie) picked out that would be sure to fit - or so we thought. The hoodie fit fine and looked really good. the pants, on the other hand, were too short for her legs and way too big around the waist. It was almost like the pants were made for a very short and very, very fat baby.