13' 13"

Melanie is at 13 pounds and 13 ounces now. She had a visit to the doctor this past Tuesday. Melanie had increased coughing, fever, and just wasn't herself. The doctor told us to give her breathing treatments every 4 hours during the daytime. With the drastic change in temperatures coupled with sick kids at daycare she got caught up in the flu season. Melanie was on a short-term antibiotic and a steroid to help her lungs. All of this has worked for her and she is already doing better since Tuesday. That's the good news.

The bad news is that Matt and I got whatever she had, but probably tenfold. I haven't seen Matt this sick ever from a cold.... he had it bad. As of today he is still only about half-way to getting better. I got hit hard on Wednesday and have been fighting back ever since. After two full days of basically doing nothing but sleeping or laying around (Thursday and today) I am finally feeling on the upswing of things. Matt said that today he started feeling like it was going downhill for him again. I hope I can continue to stay on the upswing of things so that we're both not sick again; that was awful!

I have taken pictures of Melanie's new crib and of her, too. I will be posting them over the weekend.

There can be only one....

No pictures in today's update, sorry for the disappointment. However, we are celebrating the last day of two-a-day breathing treatments. Starting tomorrow Melanie goes down to one breathing treatment a day. As long as she responds well to that, next Friday she'll be off them completely. I am continually thankful for having such a wonderful pediatrician's office that found her issue early enough that we were able to treat it. His advice has enabled us to treat Melanie's RSV in a way that will most likely keep this from happening again and enable her little body to mature through it.

Our daughter is happy and healthy. Praise the Lord! :)

Reaching...

Melanie is reaching the last days of sleeping in her bassinet. We have picked out a crib and will be buying it within the next couple weeks. As luck would have it, the crib is on sale, is a convertible style, and can fit in the back of Matt's car to bring it home. Yesterday I moved her current bassinet into her bedroom. She spent her first night physically away from our quick grasp and did wonderful. Not only did she sleep like she normally does, but Smokey already has his own spot in her own to watch over her. When she stirred during the night Smokey had no reactions. When she finally did wake up all the way, around 6:30 this morning, Smokey was pacing back and forth between the rooms alerting me to her needs. He is going to be a big help. Who thought his annoying pacing could one day serve a vital purpose? Ha ha

Melanie fell asleep in my arms during a breathing treatment this past week. She was so peaceful that I asked Matt to grab this shot.
This morning Melanie was playing on the floor reaching for her toys and pacifier. I grabbed this shot right before she pulled the toy back to herself. She is beginning to "scoot" along when her feet are up against something firm.
Another picture from this morning. I was giving her a lot of time to practice turning from her stomach to her back. Here is one of the times she rolled onto her back and celebrated with a giggle, smile, and arms swinging around. She was so proud of herself every time.This is my favorite picture from her tummy-time today. It was when I first put her down, gave her a pile of toys, and set back on the sofa to see what she would start doing first. The first thing she did was look at her toy pile and get all excited. She looked right up at me and I captured this shot.
The last picture in today's posting is one from a rice cereal feeding this past week. This picture was taken before her "meal". I put her in her chair, give her some teething rings, and let her explore them. Teething rings are her favorite toys at the current time. Every night she holds a pair of rings while she is falling asleep.

Speaking of teething, Melanie has not cut any teeth yet. It is not for lack of trying because she is slobbering up a storm! :o) I hope to get a good picture of her when the time comes.

Melanie is just about 13 pounds now. She was last weighed at the doctor's office about two weeks ago.... so I am somewhat estimating. Enjoy the pictures!

5 Months Old

Melanie is still getting her breathing treatments. Here, Matt is letting her do it herself (not really, but she likes to think so sometimes). Since her last doctor's visit to check on her RSV (Fri, 02/01), her breathing treatments have been "upgraded" to during the day only. We are back to letting her sleep through the night. It was amazing how soon we realized we were spoiled when we were having to wake her up during the night. Thank goodness she has improved! We are weaning her of the treatments by slowly reducing the daily doses. Because of getting RSV, Melanie will have "tender lungs" until she is around 1 1/2 to 2 years old. Basically what this means (according to her doctor) is that she will be more susceptible to air quality. This is no indication of her getting asthma... she is too young to be diagnosed with that anyway (again, per her doctor). We are so happy she is healthy again.
Soon after a cereal feeding, Melanie is enjoying cheesing for the camera.

Cousin Katie (4 yrs old) and Melanie. Katie loves to see her little baby cousin.
Yes, that is right... Melanie can get her own pacifier into her mouth now. In fact, she gets a little frustrated if she isn't able to do it herself. This past week she has been turning from her back all the way over to her stomach. She is definitely getting more and more active. Melanie is now eating rice cereal every evening. Let me say that she is not very patient about that spoon getting to her mouth.... in between each bite is a small protest for how slow mommy is going. I believe Matt's mother told me he did the same thing as a child. Hmmm... looks like she will have a healthy appetite. Speaking of appetite, Melanie is drinking up to 6 oz of milk at each feeding now. In the evenings we are starting to feed less milk and a little more rice cereal. Until next time, enjoy the pics!