Three months!

This girl gets more fun every day!  Sometimes it is hard to get anything done because I just want to play and snuggle with her all day.  She wakes up with a smile on her face and is ready to start chatting.  We had our first family vacation with just the 3 of us this month.  We went down to California and enjoyed some fun in the sun in Palm Springs, then went to Orange County for a wedding, and spent Easter with my family in Manhattan Beach.  The kid was born to travel; everything went smooth and we had the best week.  We got some advice from friends and the traveling part was a breeze.  We did curb side check-in for our ridiculous amount of luggage including the stroller and car seat, Travis carried Rilynn in the Baby Bjorn, and we both had a carry on.  Since we had the early 6 am flight, she slept the entire way; not a peep!  In Palm Springs we enjoyed lots of time by the pool; in the shade of course.  Rilynn had her first pool experience and didn't exactly love the water at first but she sure looked cute in her little swimsuits.   She was so happy in the dry heat, I'm sure she will be a sun worshipper just like her parents.  

She is sleeping for about 5-6 hour stretches at night, waking up once or twice to eat.  She's on a pretty good night time routine and goes to bed around 7:30.  However, she is the worlds worst napping baby. The one nap we can count on is about an hour after she wakes up in the morning, she takes a quick snooze.  I think she would love to start crawling; during tummy time she rocks back and forth and reaches for things in front of her.   

At 3 months Rilynn~

Milestones: lifts her head and shoulders off the ground on her tummy, swings at her toys, tries to roll from her stomach to her back but only gets part way there and then I push her

Firsts: airplane ride, trip to California, time at a wedding

Loves: dancing with Daddy, babbling, having her hair brushed, foot rubs, her swing, splashing in the bathtub, and sucking on her fist.

Dislikes: Manicures, being hungry, and tooting

Sunglasses on in Palm Springs

Starting the vaca, drink in hand, baby in Bjorn. 

Rilynn Tries swimming.

And this is how she felt about it. 

Afternoon nap in the shade.

Bathing in the sink on vacation. 

Crab Pot dinner!

My life.

At the wedding. 

Rehearsal dinner for John and Annie. 

Peed in one pair of pajamas, pooped in the other.  Watching TV while Mom does laundry in the hotel sink.

Dancing with Dad at John and Annie's wedding. 

Happy Easter from Manhattan Beach. 

This girl LOVES splashing in the tub and often splashes most of the water out before we even get to the cleaning part.  She also screams when I make her get out. 

Getting strong.

Hips Plan B

4 weeks ago the thought of Rilynn being in a Pavlik harness for 12 weeks was the worst thing I could have imagined for her.  I cried for hours when they put her in it.  Today, if I were to get the same news, I'd cry again, only this time I'd cry tears of joy.  I'd give anything to make that harness work and keep her in it, but yesterday we took her out and started to mentally prepare for our next option, a closed reduction and spica cast.  I'm proud of myself for trying everything I could.  I read several blogs and stories to get ideas.  I kept her out of her car seat for 8 days before the final ultrasound.  I kept her in 2 diapers to keep her from leaking and in hopes it would keep her hips apart.  We held her the way were supposed to, changed her the way we were supposed to, but God has a different plan.  I know that she will be healed eventually, but it is sad to watch her go through this and scary not knowing how long it will take and if their will be a complication that effects her for life.  People keep telling me, it will go by fast, but who wants time with their baby to go by fast?  

On the bright side, we are leaving for Palm Springs on Saturday for our first family vacation.  We were expecting that she would still be in her harness which would mean no pool time.  Although I wish that was the case, I am SO excited that she gets to wear her cute swim suits and get in the pool with us.  We are going to enjoy every moment out of the spica with lots of cute clothes, kicking her legs, and outings.  I know we will enjoy every moment of her in the spica too because how can you not enjoy that face, but it will be different.  

We are so thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers.  From the moment we got the news of her hip dysplasia, I wanted to post to Facebook and instagram to get the support we need from our friends and loved ones.  Every comment and "like" means so much to us.  

So here's the new plan:  In about 2 months she will have an x-ray to verify her hips are still out.  There is a teeny tiny itsy bitsy probably won't happen (but we can always hope) chance that they go back in on their own.  Then, we schedule the procedure.  Rilynn will have a closed reduction in the operating room sometime between when she is 4 and 6 months old.  Originally we were hoping for earlier, but there is a higher risk of complication that could lead to life long hip problems if we do it too soon.  Rilynn will be put under, they will inject dye into her hips so they can see how things are going by x-rays, they will manually put her hips into place, put a spica cast on, and we will stay over night at the hospital while nurses teach us how to care for her in the cast.  If they can get her hips in this way, she will have the cast for 12-18 weeks with cast changes in the operating room every 6 weeks.  During the cast change they will check that everything is going as planned using x-rays.  The cast goes from about her chest all the way down to her ankles and keeps her hips in position.  If this works we are done with surgery and we just have to play catch up to get her muscle strength back; they say they are usually caught up in a year.  If it doesn't work, we schedule an open reduction and another 6 weeks or so of casting when she's about 10 months old.  But fingers crossed we only have 1 procedure and everything goes smoothly.  It will be an adjustment, but we will get through it. I'm so lucky to have such a loving and supportive husband who will be so helpful in caring for Rilynn and keeping me calm during all of this.  

For more information on hip dysplasia visit: http://hipdysplasia.org/developmental-dysplasia-of-the-hip/child-treatment-methods/closed-reduction/ 

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!  

One Month

Has it been a month already?  Rilynn is growing so quickly and we are loving every minute of parenthood.  I can't believe how much she has changed in just one month.  She has moved up a size in diapers and is about to grow out of her footed pajamas.  She still has lots of dark hair, but it is falling out a little and lightening.  She still looks just like Travis and even makes his facial expressions.  We love her growing little Buddha belly! Her little personality is coming out more and more each day too.  Rilynn loves the sound of her own voice; she grunts and makes lots of noises all the time.  She is very vocal about how she is feeling and lets you know if she isn't happy.  She isn't a fan of being swaddled anymore because she likes to have control over moving her arms around.  She is a great sleeper, so I usually have to wake her up in the night to eat.   I was the stereotypical worried new parent for the first couple of weeks.   One of my biggest worries was if she was getting enough to eat, so I brought her in to be weighed 3 times!  She's gaining weight like a champ and I've calmed down a bit.  At 3 weeks she was 8 pounds 1 ounce and getting heavier by the day.  

Firsts:

Play date- She's "played" (okay more like napped) with pals Sydney & Dominic Mills

Bath- she hasn't decided if she likes them or not and usually poops half way through

Outings- Other than a few trips to Mimmi and Aija's and her Doctor appointments, we have pretty much hung around home this week.  Her pediatrician recommended staying close to home for the first several weeks, especially during flew season, to build her immune system.  We have gone on a few outings though... Target, Costco, the Woodburn Outlets, and Hannah Anderson Outlet.  She's going to be a shopper!  

Milestones:

Lifts her head and turns it from side to side during tummy time and when she's on our chests.  Her neck is super strong; we like to say she gets her neck strength from her cousin Jordan.

Follows her rattle with her eyes and head.

Some photos from this month:

Our 1 month old!

Family!

This is how she often feels during bath time.

Dad is very helpful.

Tummy time.

Lifting her head to look the other way.

Snuggly outfit!

Play time and story time. 

Josie babysitting. 

Syd and Ri having a wild time together.

While sister was napping, Josie thought she'd have a turn on the play mat.  She brought her toy and snuggled on the lamb's head. 

Some of our favorite newborn photos by Suzie Halberg: