Party and Photo Shoot!

We had a great day today!!  I was a little disappointed because it rained out our yard sale this morning, but we are trying again next weekend.  Maddie had gym practice till 2:30 and at 2:30 the kids had a birthday party there for Katie.  It worked out perfectly!  The kids loved it and Harper even attended and was on her best behavior!  I think we might finally be able to go out and do things as a family of five.  For the past several weeks one of us have been staying home with Harper because she has been so happy.  Praise the Lord we are finally getting her figured out!

I bought Harper a cute little swimsuit today and I decided to play dress up for a bit.  The fun of having another little girl:)  We are planning on all going to church in the morning and I am excited.  I think I might be able to actually sit in church tomorrow and pay attention!  Things are getting better and going smoother at the Wilkes house and I couldn't be happier!!

Catheter for Baby H:(

Went back to the Dr today.  Sweet Harper is back up to 10lbs 8 oz, which is great!  That was her weight 3 weeks ago, but at least she made it back up there.  She has been a pretty happy baby this week, but we still don't have her pooping under control.  By tomorrow we will strictly be giving her soy formula, and totally off Nutramigen,  which is another praise since we couldn't afford that one anyway:)

Dr. Scott decided to cath her to see if she had a uti.  He said that could cause her to poop more.  I could hear the nurses outside upset about having to do it.  Who wants to do that to a month old??  It was pitiful,  but thankfully didn't take long.  Her urine was fine so while a good thing, we still don't know why she is going so much.  So now....I am to cook rice in extra water and use that water in her bottle to give her more starch.  The starch will hopefully slow her down.  I take her back next week.  If she is better we will just weigh her, if not she will have to see the doctor.  Praying that she will be better!!!

  She also has a rash on her face and neck which I thought was baby acne.  Turns out it isn't and all the stuff I have been doing to make it better....just made it worse.  I can't spell what he called it, but we are using hydrocortisone twice a day to take care of it.  I had forgotten just how complicated and stressful babies can be!!! 

  We are supposed to have a neighborhood yard sale this Saturday.  Of course it is supposed to rain.  Maddie and Turner are ready to sale snocones and we need the money.   We also have a gymnastics party that afternoon.  The kids love anything at River City!  Hoping for a fun sick free weekend!!

Update on H

Back to the doctor we went yesterday.  I started writing everything down over the weekend.  She was eating between 18-22 oz a day with between 7-9 poops a day.

She is down 3 ounces:(  We are now adding rice cereal to bottle for the extra calories and to hopefully slow down poop.  She had a happy day yesterday.  She was not near as fussy-huge blessing!!  But the poop has not yet slowed down....we go back Thursday.   I don't plan on leaving without doing some tests and figuring out what is going on.  This is exhausting!

A few pics from the past few days.  Love them:)

Family Fun/Sick Day!!

Today was a crazy day.  Turner had a great day and Maddie stayed home from school and went to the doctor.  She had 102 fever when we got there and tested positive for strep:(  She has had a popcicle, sno cone, and whatever she wanted to eat today.  She watched movies and still doesn't understand why we won't let her kiss Harper.  She hasn't been sick in a long time and I am praying she gets over it quickly and Turner doesn't get it.

Turner had his Family Fun Day at school and he has been so excited.  There were pony rides, a train ride, a few games, and a big petting farm.  I was so proud of him-he fed and petted all of them!!  Normally tiny dogs scare him, so he was very brave today:)  The original plan was to take Harper and Aubry and my parents were going to come and help.  Well, it was freezing today and Maddie was sick.  So It was a Mommy and Turner morning and It was much needed.  Turner was all smiles the entire time and it was great quality time spent together!

  I wish Daddy could have joined us but Bolton's powder puff game was this afternoon and he is in charge of that.  His job has tons of perks for sure, but there are some things that I hate he misses.  Not planning on doing anything this weekend!!  Hoping everyone gets well and lots rest!

Tummy Issues and Table for Four!

Been a long week!! Most of this post is for my benefit, so I will remember everything. H is 5 weeks old today and yesterday we took her to the dr for the fourth time! We have changed her formula four times and she is on now on Nutramigen, which costs an arm and a leg!!

She is taking zantac for spitting up, a probiotic to help digest her food, and now a medicine for stomach cramping.Our poor baby hasnt gained weight in the past week, her pooping is out of control, and as a result her bottom is fire engine red. Praying for some relief for Harper and for us. Crying all day is exhausting for everyone. Her amile is too precious and we are ready to see it more!! She still weighs 10lbs 5 oz and should be taking between 24-25 oz of formula a day. I don't think we are there. I fix bottles all the time trying to settle her crying. We are definitely not on a good schedule during the day. But...praise the Lord she does well at night. I think her screaming wears her out because she normally sleeps from 8-7 and gets up twice. She slept last night from 8-3 and I woke her up because I was worried. If her pooping isn't under control by Monday, back to the doctor we will go.

In other news...Maddie came and go us at 4 this morning running 101.5 fever.So she is home and will be going to tbe doctor. Today is also Turner's family fun day.  He has been looking forward to this for weeks!  Mimi and Boo Boo are coming to watch the sick and crying ones so that I can spend some quality time with our little man.  Megs stayed home with A today, so hopefully she doesn't catch anything.

The other picture is of the kids doing gel art earlier this week.  That moment was precious.  M and T doing what they love, and both littles were content and watching.  Moments like that are rare these days....but I know we will get there again! !

Picture Time!

Saturday morning we went to JC Penny and had the kids pictures made.  We wanted some with all 3 kiddos and some of Harper by herself.  Maddie and Turner have both had several school pictures made so we weren't as worried about getting individual one made of them.  It didn't quite go as I had hoped!  We did the group pics first and I mean as soon as we got them situated....Harper started pooping!!!  It took her about 10 minutes and her face was totally red and scrunched up the entire time.  She stunk and it was a mess.  He took several but we ended up with one that was decent.  It isn't really good of Harper but cute of the other two.
  After that we changed her diaper and thought we she would be ready to go-wrong!!  He took two pictures and she began screaming.  We called it quits and got out of there without spending much money:)  We headed to the food court to get the kiddos lunch and then it was time for Maddie to go to gymnastics.  Later that afternoon we headed to Appling Middle where they had bouncers, food, vendors, and the police department gave a canine demonstration.  It was a beautiful day and nice to spend time outside.  The kids had a good time and Harper slept.  Those pictures are on my phone and I will post them separate.
 

The Many Faces of H!

 Unfortunately, we spend a lot of our awake time doing this:(  We are taking Zantac and Bio Gaia and trying different formulas trying to get Harper's tummy figured out.  It is terrible!!

 But fortunately, in the last week of so this little girl has also started smiling which definitely brings a smile to our face!!  I take a million pictures on her changing table because that is where she seems the happiest.  Sometimes she just needs to be put down and left alone I think!

 This would be her pooping face:)  She seems to have some trouble in this department and there is no question about what she is doing when it happens! 

My favorite face of all-Ha!!  Finally content, peaceful, and zonked out.

Harper turned 4 weeks old on Friday and although she has definitely been our fussiest baby so far, we can't imagine life without her.  Just praying that we get her formula figured out and that we have a happier baby soon.  I hate it for her and it is hard to take her anywhere when she spends the majority of her time crying.  Maddie and Turner are so good with her and have handled the constant crying very well!!!

Keeping it Real!!!

Wow, been slightly overwhelmed and anxious about this morning!!  Aubry is back and I managed to get everyone to school on time.  It is going to take a little bit to get into a routine, but I think we are going to be fine.
  H is still having a hard time with her tummy, but I think we might be figuring it out.  We are now giving her Gerber Good Start Gentle and after three days, she finally pooped!!  Praying she will be a little more content.
  At three weeks she is starting to smile.. when she isn't screaming.  She is very fond of her Wubanub and will hold onto it herself-precious!  She does pretty well night.  I normally feed her between 12 and 2 and then again between 3:30 and 5:30.  The later she does the better, because then I just stay up and get ready for the day.  She is eating between 3 and 4 ounces at a time.
  The big kids have loved this weather and been playing outside a lot.  It is also affecting their allergies and both are coughing. Maddie started her new gym schedule last week and did well.  I thought she would be exhausted, but is handling it well.  Turner is going tonstart a new class tonight so I don't have to be up there every night of the week.  He is keeping the same coach, so I am sure he will love it.
  I love the picture I got of Kevin with the kids yesterday before church.  Too sweet!  We are a little more tired and a little more broke, but I can't imagine a bigger blessing than these three kiddos!  Love them and thankful to be their mommy!!

Harper so Far!

Hard to believe H is already 2 1/2 weeks old!!  We have had a time trying to get her feedings figured out.  We had a lot of crying days/nights last week.  I couldn't figure out what was bothering her between my pumping, the formula we were using, and the bottles we were using (similac).  I have stopped pumping, we switched to Dr. Brown bottles (what we have used in the past), and feed her Similac Sensitive.  Dr. Scott told is this could cause constipation,  so we add Karo syrup to it.  We did this with Turner as well.  We also give her gas drops after most feedings.  We have seen a huge difference in the past few days!!  She is still fussy, but not near as much.  Praise the Lord!!!

She is getting on a great schedule at night!!  I have only had to wake up once the past few days between 2 and 3 to feed her and then she goes right back down.  She wakes up again at 5:30 and I get up for the day.  After she eats it's time to get the kids up and moving.  She is doing wonderful in the sleeping department!!!

  She isn't big on the paci, but does like her wubanub occasionally when she is hungry.  She is enjoying laying on her playmat as well.  The kids just love her to pieces and we are constantly having to tell Turner to be a little more gentle.  She finally took a bath the other night without screaming the whole time.  She is wearing newborn size but probably won't be much longer.  She was up to 8 lbs 10 oz last Wednesday:)

We are just so excited to be a family of five and can't wait to see what God has in store for little Harper!  We love her more than the sky!

Easter Lunch!

After church we headed to Mimi and Boo Boo's for lunch.  We had a huge spread and everything was delicious!!  The big kids got new pj's and Harper received a new bib and bear.  They also hunted for eggs and got several "dollars" and candy.  It was fun playing with Aubry and Maddie was able to tell the Easter story by using the Resurrection eggs.  I managed to get a picture of everyone but Megs.  She was in attendance though and we had a great afternoon!!!