My baby is growing up

Astraea is feeling much better. It turns out that she most likely had roseola. Her fever broke on Friday night/Saturday morning and she broke out in a rash. Right away you could tell she felt better. They didn't run any more tests since it is a viral illness and they thought that was probably what it was anyways. There is no treatment for this, it just passes on its own. The last few nights have been pretty difficult though. Not sure if she is just having a hard time recovering and getting back into a schedule or if these are just normal "Astraea problems"...Doug and I find ourselves saying often that we hope our next baby is our "easy" one. She certainly is not! We love her like crazy, regardless. So, the sleeping problem right now is this. She goes down pretty easily at around 7:30. (sounds early, but she is practically falling asleep in my arms at this time so I haven't tried to keep her awake) At around 3 am she is awake and ready to play. If I put her back in her crib after her bottle she just screams like crazy. For several nights I just went ahead and got up with her and waited til she got sleepy again. But, I don't think this is the best course of action! I don't want to be doing this for months, or years. So, last night I tried CIO. I put her back in the crib and left for 5 minutes. Went back in a comforted for a few minutes. Left again, stayed away 10 min. Comfort. Stay away 15. Etc....I finally broke down and picked her up. She went to sleep about 5 am. I guess tonight I am gonna try it again. It is just sooooo hard and emotionally draining. So in addition to physically having very little sleep for the last week I am also feeling guilty for letting my babygirl cry. It's just not me...I know many people have luck with cry it out, but I HATE IT. At least so far. Please tell me it will get easier...

On a positive note, Astraea is now sitting up on her own. She does fall over when she reaches too far and tries to get a toy and she can probably only stay up about 5 minutes, but it is a major milestone in mommy's opinion. I just can't believe how fast she is growing. She will probably be crawling before we know it. With her personality I have a feeling that we are in for a crazy ride! Woo Hoo!

Sick baby

We had big plans for this week, but sadly, none of it happened. Wednesday was my birthday and we were set to go visit Nana and go out for dinner. Thursday we were heading over to see Grandma Jo, and then to a park playdate with some Mesquite Mommys. However, little precious has been sick so we didn't get to do any of it...She had a little fever last week and I attributed it to teething because it seemed to break easily and go away. Plus, it wasn't too high. Well, starting Tuesday night it was back. This time it seemed to stay up between 101 and 102. I tried Tylenol, but it would only bring it down a little and would eventually be back up. So, we went to the pedi today to see if we could get some answers. We got there at noon and they weighed her and took her temp. It was back up to 102.3. After checking her out pretty thoroughly (ears, nose, throat)the doc said that she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. She was worried about her having a temp for too many days. She feels that if it is teething it wouldn't be so high. Only slightly elevated, like 99 or maybe 100. So, she wants to do some bloodwork and get a urine sample to rule out a UTI. Let me just say, this is where the nightmare began. They started by trying to insert a cathedar, because with a baby it is pretty impossible to "catch" the urine when they pee. It just didn't work, she was so upset and started fighting them and they couldn't get it in for anything. She is tiny to begin with and they were afraid of hurting her. She was already screaming at this point and they still had to get blood. Of course, they couldn't find a vein. She ended up getting poked and prodded til she was beside herself, and so was I. I swear, it is really awful to see your baby in pain! They ended up having to send us to the hospital to get the blood drawn. There they got it on the second try, but not without another meltdown from my poor tired baby. She still hadn't gotten a nap at this point and it was nearly six! So, we are finally home and both extremely worn out. I just hope she gets some good sleep tonight and feels better cause it sure was the day from hell. We should get some news tomorrow on the bloodwork and UA. I am just praying that it's only a virus and will pass on its own. BUT, I will be so sad that she went through all that for nothing. I so wish I could have done it for her!!!!

New pictures

Like a weed

Astraea is really growing. Everyday I find myself saying over and over "She is so big!". I can't believe how fast the time is passing. She is still working on rolling over. She can do it, but sometimes just doesn't feel like putting in that much effort. She would rather have Mommy and Daddy carry her around. She is also getting very close to sitting up on her own. She will be mobile soon and I think she will love it when she has a little more independance. She is just sick of laying on her back.

We haven't been to the doctor since her four month check up, but I swear that she must have gotten 2 inches longer. She is so long! Most of her three month clothes are fitting now. She has so many cute outfits that her Mimi got her and we couldn't wait to be able to put them on her. Her Mimi is also an amazing seamstress and likes to make her dresses. We are so lucky! She is making her an Easter dress and we can't wait to see it. It is so nice to have cute things that you can't find in the store, and everyone else doesn't have! These will be dresses that she can pass down, too.

Astraea has been a little sick lately. Mostly I think it is from teething. She ran a fever earlier in the week of 102. It only lasted about 24 hours, luckily. We called the doctor and they said if it didn't come down the next day to bring her in, but it did. They weren't too worried because there weren't any accompanying symptoms. They agreed that it was probably just teething. However, it did make her feel yucky which we hated. You can see where one tooth is trying to push through on the bottom, but I have heard that it can take months, so who knows?!

Today she has been throwing up a little bit. She doesn't have a fever though, so I am waiting to see if it continues and I will call the doctor again. It could be nothing. She doesn't really go out much and she isn't around other kids, so it's not likely that she picked up anything. We will see. I am always careful to keep in touch with her pedi just to be on the safe side. I guess that is just part of being a first time mom. Mostly they just tell me to make sure she is eating normal amounts and has plenty of wet and dirty diapers. Just so you know she isn't getting dehydrated. Which she has been. I am sure it's fine.

Today she got a Valentine in the mail from Mimi and got her first lollipop. Oh boy! I decided she could have some cause I have heard that sugar can settle your stomach too. Boy, did she love it! We ended up having to strip down and get in the bath when she was done. So, Mimi made it a double good day. A sucker and a bath! Wowweee! And can you believe it? After the bath I put her in her crib and she rolled over and went to sleep with no fussing. Amazing considering the last two nights she has been up a 2 in the morning ready to play. And every time I try to put her in the crib she has a MAJOR meltdown. I am exhausted...I am gonna blame it all on the teething and hope it gets better soon. I told Daddy that it's his fault she wants to play in the middle of the night. I know that is what he did as a baby. I should make him get up and play peek-a-boo...

Wow! I guess it has been a while since I posted. I had a lot to say. I will try to keep up with it better. Thanks for reading!