It doesn't seem possible that Jules is almost a month old.  When you say 4 weeks, it sounds sooooo long.  When you live it, it goes by toooo fast.  I no longer live for Fridays...  I live for everyday; including Mondays! :)  We've enjoyed every minute of being parents, even the rough parts!  Here are the last 4 weeks in snapshots.


Week 1- Her first week in the world was spent mostly going to the doctor.  She aced her first well check at 4 days old and mommy and daddy got a "keep up the good work"!  She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz, which is what she weighed when we left the hospital.  My lactation consultant did noticed, however, that Juliet, (in simplier terms), was a bit tongue tied.  The correct terminology is a short frenulum.  She was feeding like a champ, but I wanted it clipped for fear that it might have caused her to have speech issues in the future.  So we went and saw the EENT Dr. on Friday.  He took her back, clipped it, and it was all done within 3 minutes.  Believe me, it was 3 minutes.  I was the anxious mom in the waiting room looking at my watch the entire time.  We also celebrated Halloween during her first week, (hence the purple glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas), by putting a basket of candy bars on the porch and making cupcakes- very festive, I know!  We'll participate more next year.  Some of her cousins and Aunt Chantelle came by to get some sugar that week too! 

Week 2- We mostly spent her second week at home watching Hallmark Christmas movies.  We did run into another problem, though.  Her umbilical cord.  I had some concerns about it so I called her doctor, took her in, and he had to cauterize it with silver-nitrate.  They called it an umbilical granuloma.  They also weighed her again and this time she had gained 10 oz!  She was up to 7 lbs 4 oz.  On another good note, she took her first bottle with no confusion!  Woo Hoo!  Also, Joey's sister and dad came down from PA and OH to see her for the very first time, so we ate pancakes, played at the park, and just chit-chatted the weekend away.

Week 3- She got to experience the wonderfulness of a hot bath!  I loved listening to her little sounds when I poured warm water over her belly.  We also found some time to take a few newborn pics in her nursery.  The mornings are her favorite- and mine!  We snuggle on the couch by the fire.  She smiles so much in the mornings and I'm not sure if it's sass or gas, but it's adorable either way.

Week 4-  We've feared from day one, that our little gem has had to fight reflux, but wasn't quite sure until this week.  We had 3 days of straight tears; no naps; uncomfortable feedings; lots of gushing, spitting, gurgling... One thing that we found to relieve some of the discomfort was for Daddy to bounce her around the kitchen while whistling.  So off to the doctor we went... again.  He prescribed some baby Zantac for her and gave me some pointers that might help.  He also had to cauterize her belly button again; surely for the last time.  She weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz, so I know that she's getting something inspite of all the spitting up.  We started her on the Zantac as soon as we got home and everyday she seems to be better.  Thank goodness!  We celebrated by taking her Christmas shopping on Saturday.  She was so content with only a few hungry and tired tears.  We even ended the night with dinner at Carrabbas!  It was her first time in a restaurant.


You know us... We are so excited about making Juliet's first holidays memorable.  These pictures of us in front of the gigantic Christmas tree at the mall just makes me giddy!  What are your plans for the upcoming holidays?  

Sincerely, 

The Lishias