Two Months!

Rilynn is 2 months old and showing lots of personality! She has to be the sweetest baby ever; her smiles and coos just melt our hearts.  We are having so much fun with our little babe! She loves: when we talk baby talk to her, the sound of her own voice, the blow dryer, snuggling, eating, and sucking on her pacifier or her new found favorite, her fist.  She sleeps pretty well with one 4 hour stretch and two 3 hour stretches at night.  Her longest ever was 5 hours and man did her mommy, who used to get at least 9 hours in a row, appreciate that one.  We were approved at her appointment today to let her sleep as long as she wants since she weighs 11 pounds 7 ounces which puts her in the 50th percentile for weight.  I really hope she is a good sleeper like her parents are; fingers crossed!  We didn't get to measure how long she is since she is in her harness, but her head remains in the 95th percentile!  We've tried 3 different "beds" for her and have finally found one that's working pretty well.  I've given in to a co-sleeper.  Now before you judge me, I was very anti co-sleeper before having a child who needed me to put her pacifier back in her mouth 5 times in 20 minutes.  This little bassinet co-sleeper doesn't actually attach to our bed but it is right next to it at my level so I don't even have to open an eye; I can just reach on over and pop that paci back in her mouth. And this is what has allowed me to get more sleep.  Eventually, she will move into her room and sleep in her crib, but if you had a little "hip" girl staring at you with beautiful blue eyes, you'd have a co-sleeper too! :) She isn't a big fan of napping and fights to stay awake so she doesn't miss out on anything. But I put her down for a nap/quiet time twice a day.  This month Rilynn went on her first vacation to Black Butte, a place we know she will always love!  She flashed her first smile and is grinning more and more each day. Her first smile was for my mom and I was so jealous, but at least I get to see those grins every day now!! She holds her head up on her own when we support her sitting up. Her hair is getting so long it is almost getting in her eyes.  She loves when I brush it and I love when I put hair clips in it!  Rilynn is wearing 2 diapers at a time because the harness makes them fit awkward and she leaks otherwise.  At her 2 month appointment today she had 3 shots and boy was she mad, but Daddy was there to hold her while she cried. 

When Rilynn was 6 weeks she was put into a Pavlik harness for bilateral hip dysplasia. She is adjusting very well to it. She wears her harness 24/7 including diaper changes, nursing, and sponge bathes. She LOVES when I use the blow dryer to dry her and the harness after bath time! At her 2 week hip ultrasound we got the discouraging news that there hasn't been any progress. We will give it 2 more weeks and pray for success. After that, we will need to discontinue the harness if they haven't gone back in place.  The next step is called a closed reduction. This would be done in the operating room while she is put under. They manually attempt to reposition her hips. After, she would wear a spica cast that goes from her waist down for 12 weeks. There are other procedures if plan B doesn't work, but we are hoping to not even get to that point.  We are very hopeful we can avoid the casting and that the harness will be successful!!  Please keep Rilynn in your thoughts and prayers.

The months are starting to go by faster!  I'll post an update when we hear to results of her next ultrasound.  

Pictures from this month~

Josie wants to be part of the photo shoot!

Our little chunkster!

Notice the hair bow!

Always smiling on her changing table.

First wine tasting with Auntie Ging and Uncle Eric!

Keeping that hair out of her face!

Tried to take the kids to the zoo, but learned that the zoo closes at 4!  Who knew!?

Love her hair!

Big smiles!

Wearing big kid clothes to fit over her harness.

Playing with her toys.

Tries to hold her own bottle.

Car seat toys!

Tummy time on her lamb play mat from Auntie Jingles!  She LOVES this play mat!

Rilynn update: hips

Since before Rilynn was born, we knew she would be having an ultrasound on her hips at around 6 weeks because being breech, a first born, and a girl all put her at risk for hip dysplasia.  When I was told this, I put it in the back of my mind thinking there was no way my baby would be the 1 in 1,000 to have this condition.  At her 2 week check up, the pediatrician checked for clicking in her hips which would be a sign there was a problem, but there was no clicking.  I thought we were in the clear for sure.  Going to her 6 week ultrasound on Friday afternoon seemed like just a hoop to jump through, but just after leaving the ultrasound the pediatrician called.  Hearing the word, "Unfortunately" my heart dropped.  She let me know that Rilynn indeed had hip dysplasia and that both of her hips were dislocated.  Friday night Travis and I did some research and the more we read and saw the more heavy our hearts felt.  I had imagined my baby wearing her cute little outfits, not a Pavlik harness.  It was heart breaking.  We feel so fortunate that it was caught early enough that she can start treatment and hopefully fix the problem sooner rather than later.  Today we went to meet with the orthopedic surgeon; the good news is he was a really nice guy that knows what he is doing.  The bad news is that having both hips displaced isn't very common and they were so displaced he couldn't feel them going in and out of the socket.  Rilynn was fitted for her harness and will be wearing it 24/7 for a month to start with.  We will bring her in for check ups every week to have the harness checked and adjusted and she will have an ultrasound at 2 weeks and 4 weeks to check the progress.  If there is progress she will likely continue full time in the harness for 12 weeks and then we will wean her off of it.  We are hoping that at 4 weeks she has made enough progress otherwise we go to plan B which is surgery.  As Travis keeps reminding me, it is just a bump in the road.  We are re-learning to change her diaper and feed her.  But on the bright side this new outfit means less laundry!  We are learning quickly how emotional being a parent is, but it is so worth it.  We love our little pumpkin!