Melody Raina Cadence Lowmaster

Melody is five weeks old today and she’s doing just wonderfully. She likes to smile at mommy, she hasn’t at Daddy quite yet. She spends lots of time with me and she likes when I give her kisses all over…that makes her smile and coo at me I’ve been lucky to get a few pictures of her smiling too!

Melody has been having a lot of gas… Gas makes her very sad too! I’ve tried using gripe water and not really sure if that is helping or not… I may try Mylicon since a lot of people have recommended since it worked for their baby.

Melody, Mommy, and Daddy have been trying to go on walks everyday or least every other. Melody usually just sleeps through our walks but I guess that’s fine because the repetitive movement calms her. I am sure as she gets old, she’ll start looking around more when we are outside.

On the fourth, we are going to the beach, it’ll be mine and Melody’s first time to the beach… well a first for me seeing the west coast… I know what east coast beaches are like! So, we are looking forward to that quite a bit… I wonder how Melody will do with the long car ride. I am guessing she might sleep the whole time but we’ll see!

Since I found sometime, how about an update?

Melody seems to be growing and changing a lot. She been awake a lot more… sometimes for hours at a time. She really likes to fight sleep… I guess she thinks she’ll miss out on something. She’s been getting Tummy time everyday and boy, she’s so strong as she is really good at scooting everywhere. She’s almost got complete control of her head too.

I haven’t been able to make a appointment with her Specialist yet due to getting records sent over and now he’s not in the office till sometime later this week.

I’m doing good.. just some days are harder than others depending on how much sleep I manage to get through out the day and especially the night. Daddy’s been doing okay too… he’s been super helpful at night when she wakes up. He’ll change her for me or bring her to me in bed, last night he went and watched some tv with her since she was staying up. I’m glad I’ve got a good and helpful husband… he helps give me some relief since it can be such a task for me to tend to her by myself everyday and juggle other tasks as well.

Well, Melody hasn’t gained back her birth weight just yet. She’s only 6lbs 14ounces right now but the good thing is that she has gained a few ounces if even not a whole lot.

She will be having to get a specialist to keep an eye on her Hypothyroidism. So, I’m having to have my husband set up an appointment for that. Basically we just keep an eye on her to see if everything seems to be going normal and administer her prescription as the Pediatrician ordered unless otherwise stated.

We also found out today that Melody also has a hernia… I found this imformation on it at Baby Center.

How can I tell if my baby has an umbilical hernia?

Umbilical hernias occur in 10 to 20 percent of children, more often in girls than boys, in babies born prematurely, and in children of African ethnicity. In the vast majority of cases, this condition is painless and harmless.

While a baby is in the womb, there is an opening in the abdominal wall beneath the navel. As the baby matures, this hole should close as the abdominal muscles merge. In some babies, the muscles don’t merge completely and a hole about the size of a fingertip remains.

If your baby has an umbilical hernia, you may notice that the area around his navel bulges when he cries or strains. This is usually due to air pressure from inside the abdomen.

Does an umbilical hernia need to be treated?

Although it may look impressive — in rare cases, it can bulge out to the size of a plum — an umbilical hernia usually causes no problems, as long as the area isn’t tender or extremely swollen, the bulge is soft and compressible, and your baby is comfortable. (If not, take him to the doctor right away. Umbilical hernias sometimes require surgery.)

Most likely, the hernia will go away on its own by the time your child is 2 or 3 years old, although some continue to improve until the age of 5.

In very rare cases, a piece of the baby’s intestine can get caught in the opening, which could cut off blood flow to the area and require immediate surgery. If you notice any swelling, tenderness, or discoloration around the area, especially if your baby is vomiting or in pain, take him to an emergency room.

So we are hoping for the best and leaning on God in this whole situation.

We met with LAB people today and they took so much blood out of my poor little baby. First they took one from her left arm and thought that was all they needed then they checked and had to get more… so they took more from her other arm. Then before we thought we could go her blood was not usable because they drew it too slowly so then they had to fill four little ones up from her feet.. all the squeezing left a nasty bruise on her foot She cried and cried… and I couldn’t do anything to stop it from happening…  had to keep telling myself it was for her own good.

We will find out the results of her blood test tomorrow and see were we will go  from there. Right now she is a prescription for her Thyriod called Levothyroxine.. I have to crush up a tablet and half for her daily until otherwise notified by her Doctor. I gave her some tonight in a little medicine dropper mixed with breast milk and she didn’t spit too much back… She had a long day and is sleeping well now…

So, we’ll know tomorrow the whole situation and what we’ll be having to do.

No mother ever wants to receive news that their is something wrong with their child, trust me. I got the results back from Melody’s newborn screening and it seems that she tested positive for congenital hypothyroidism and what that is exactly is something that cause your child to grow at a slower pace….. retarded growth and brain development problems. I was reassured that it could be helped with medication… so they are doing more test on her today to really make sure that she has it and they are going to be starting her on this pill that I am going to have to figure out how to crush up and administer it to her… easier for people that formula feed trust me. So, if Melody does have this problem, she will probably have to get a specialist from Emmanuel Children’s Hospital and possibly be taken to get blood drawn all the time so she can be closely monitored.

Please pray for Melody, Justin, and I as we are going through all this. I’ll keep you informed on the situation…

Mommy, Daddy, and baby Melody are all doing great over here. I had no time for update before but I figure I’ve got time for one now.

I just laid Melody down to sleep after I just fed her and gave her a bath. It’s her first real bath since her cord came off earlier this morning. She’s so adorable and a great little baby… we just have to figure out the night schedule still… she’s been wanting to sleep in the bed with us instead of her own… we’ll see how that goes.

Labor and delivery…how did that go? It went well. I went in Tuesday the 27th to be induced and had natural birth in mind but shortly after my water got broken… about 3-4 hours later my contractions were hurting me so badly that I went ahead and got an epidural done. I felt so much better afterwards… well other than the drive heaving of nausea it caused me. I did have to have second dose of the epidural because I started having alot of pain in left side of my body. I had the baby around 4:00pm since I dilated pretty quickly. I went from 4 cm around 1pm to 9-10cm at 4pm. I only had to push for no longer than ten minutes. My RN started my pushing and the Doctor arrived short after to deliver my baby What an experience it all was. Melody had three visitors in the hospital … Grandma Becky, Auntie Megan , and our life group leader and friend Jake and of course there were calls from family in Georgia too.

How are we doing on sleep? We are doing okay… no major loss and I feel great… my stitches aren’t bothering me anymore and as for the bleeding, it’s been pretty light now. The breastfeeding took some getting used to as I wasn’t having her properly latch right off so I got bruised pretty badly and was quite sore to begin with.

She weighed 6lbs 9ounces at the pediatrician visit so we are hoping she weighs a lot more at her two week visit but other than that, she’s a very healthy little girl

born: 27 May 2008
time: 4:10 pm
7lbs 2 oz, 21 inches long, 13 in. head, lots of black hair, and in perfect health!

My 39 week Doctors appointment and to be my last one this pregnancy! Doctor said I was about 3cm dilated and still 90ish effaced. Baby still could come at anytime but she’s being a bit abstinent! We went ahead and scheduled an induction, that is if she doesn’t come before then. I should be having her on Tuesday, her original due date. Wow… can’t believe it’s almost over. So many feelings to describe! A bit overwhelming to an extent… a bit surreal.

Update on my Doctors visit for 38 weeks. I’m 90% effaced and 2cm dilated. Doc said I won’t make it to my my due date for sure and maybe not even to my next appointment. I wish she should would come today so I can have some nice hospital air conditioning but until then, I am staying hydrated! I am so super uncomfortable… so I am just kicking back and relaxing and resting as much as I can!