Kherrington 6 month check-up

So on Jan 7th, Kherrington had her 6 month check-up and is still doing great.
I just can't believe that she's 6 months old.  She did great with her immunizations again. YEAH!!

So here's her stats:

Ht: 26 inches    (57%)

Wt: 15 lbs 9.5oz (40%)

    Head Circumference: 43 cm        (64%)

She's accomplishing so many stepping stones in her development.  It's really exciting to sit and watch her grow.  It really amazes me.
 So some things that I've noticed just recently, is her attention to detail. She's starting to focus on small things that I'm surprised she even sees.  Like a blonde piece of my bangs that is hanging down in front of my eyes, so she starts to try to hold it using her thumb and forefinger, but ends up using her fist.  Then you watcher her try to pick up other small things with the same 2 fingers.  Not that she's overly capable with them yet.  I just love to see her try.  She is noticing strings, so when I have a sweatshirt on...the hoody tie is what catches her attention.
Just this last week she has started rolling from her back to her right side...Something that she hasn't done much up until this time. So now I see her do it all the time.  I used to like to put her in her crib to sleep so her left side was right against the crib pad.  Just so she couldn't turn over and just play on her stomach.  I know, I'm a mean mother, but it was helpful for a little while.  Now I find her and she's rolled to her right side over and over again until she's against the other side of the crib.
So now she can roll from her back and stomach both directions.  She's also starting to  propel herself forward a little, trying to reach for things that she's moved away from.  Every once in a while I'll catch her and she'll have one knee under herself.  It's only a matter of time before she'll be crawling.  She already move backwards by pushing herself and then she'll turn a 360 on her stomach to change directions or things she's playing with.
Chad and I are so in love with this girl, and can't believe we're so lucky to have her in our family!

Kherrington 4 month check-up

Ht: 24 inches (32%) 

Wt: 13 lbs 6.2 oz (38%)

Head Circumference: 41 cm (45%)

So Kherrington is a "perfect little baby" as Dr. Adkins says.  She did great with her vaccines again and really her demeanor didn't change too much yesterday. He said that I could start her on cereal if I'd like too, but didn't have too since she was growing and gaining weight as she should.   Go KHERRINGTON!!

Kherrington's 2 month Check-Up- Sept 3

So today has been a very busy day.  It's started off with Kherrington and I going with Chad to school so we could watch him give his Senior Paper Presentation.  He did such a great job!! He did his paper on CEM or Contagious Equine Metritis.  It's a venereal disease of horses, that was thought to be eradicated at one point, but has a current outbreak in the US.  I've come to learn a lot through this study about the subject, but was totally amazed and how well he presented the subject and made it move so smoothly!!  Way to go Chad.  One major thing down and now it's bring on the boards!!
Then shortly after that, Kherrington and I got to go for a check-up with Dr. Adkins.  Kherrington passed with flying colors.  The doctor is so pleased with her growth and she dramatically is climbing on the percentile charts and catching up with the majority of other infants her age, even though the doctor's haven't really ever been worried about her!!

So here's her stats:

Ht: 23 inches (68%)

Wt: 10 lbs 12 oz (47%)

Head Circumference: 42 inches (42%)

Dr. Adkins was nice enough to find out the exact percentile for me this time, so I didn't have to eyeball it off the graphs they give us each visit. Now the sad thing is that I knew going in today that she would be getting her vaccinations.  So I was a little apprehensive, cause I just didn't know how'd she'd react. And of course she cried, which made me tear up.  (I'm still blaming it on my hormones!!) I just have to keep remembering that it's important that she has them to prevent future suffering, or to relate to Chad's presentation today, to keep those diseases eradicated from the US.  But as soon as I picked her up she quieted right down and the nurse was so surprised!  "Oh wow, is that it?" she asked.  So apparently she did amazingly well, which I'm not surprised, cause she really has been such a good baby! I know that was a great reaction too, cause I heard a baby next door for a while before the Dr. came in and the nurse explained they had lots of vaccinations to do today. We're so blessed to have her!

Just this last week Kherrington has started sleeping through the night.  She sleeps between 8-10 hrs each night now!!  Which has been wonderful!!  I've finally stopped pumping in the middle of the night since I have a freezer full of milk!! So now I'm feeling great with the less interrupted sleep!!

Also when I go to get her out of her crib in the morning she is usually any which way, but the direction I placed her in the crib.  (Sorry for the horrible picture.  It was taken on my iphone in the dark.)
So I know now that I can't leave her alone anywhere without being totally braced in, and I know that won't last long either.  Wow! She's just grown so fast and I can't believe how the time has flown.
So tomorrow marks my first day back to work.  I only have an 8 hr day, cause we have to get ready to fly to Idaho Falls on Saturday for Chad's nephew, Marcus' wedding!!. Yeah, but BOO HOO for going back to work.  That is the other reason I'm going to use to explain the tears at the Dr's office today!!

Kherrington's 1 month check-up- Aug 4th

So on Kherrington's 1 month check-up she was doing great. Dr. Adkins had no concerns and informed that most of what Kherrington had on her face was the baby acne, but that the redness to her ears and on her eyebrows was probably cradle cap, and that it's go away when her skin starts producing the right amounts of oils. Nothing I can do to help that. So shes doing really good.Dr. Adkins asked if she was sleeping through the night, but with all the traveling she's done I felt really good about the 5 hour and then a 4 hour stretch that she'd been sleeping pretty consistently from the 2nd night home. There have been a few nights were she ate every 3 hrs, but still has done wonderful. She's getting stronger through her neck and still like to try holding her head up whenever she's laying on your shoulder. She's also making cooing sounds, which are fun to hear!!

Here's her Stats:

Ht:20 1/2 inches (25%)

Wt: 8 lbs 1.8 oz (about 20%)

Head Circumference: 14 1/2 inches (almost 50%)

Kherrington 2 week check-up- July 13th

Dr. Adkins was out of the office for vacation right before we were scheduled to leave for Idaho, so we went and saw Olivia Ullrich NP. She was way nice and Kherrington "seems to be great".

Olivia told me about an experience that she had a new mother that I found so funny. But she was freaking out because she went to breast pump and her milk came out green tinged. (I probably would do the same thing). Turns out the peas she ate the day before, the pigment is transfered through breastmilk thus the greenish tint!! FUNNY HUH. I would never had thought. She was just explaining that if we had any questions to feel free to call the office.

Here's her stats:

Ht: 19 1/2 inches (50%)

Wt:6 lbs 8.4 oz (about 20%)

Head Circumference: 14 inches (about 60 %)

Kherrington's 5 day Follow-up July 6th

So Dr. Adkins is Kherrington's Doctor. We have been so happy with him. He's been great from the get go. Kherrington had a small heart murmur that was heard the morning of the 2nd. It was kind of neat to hear, and I knew that it's not that abnormal to hear right after birth. Later on that day Dr. Adkins stopped in again and the murmur was still there, but "seems higher pitched". So he explained that it probably meant that it was closing up. That was nice to hear. And the greatest news, was that it was gone by the morning of the 3rd. Yeah.

So Dr. Adkins fit us in for Kherrington's first appointment during his lunch break on Monday the 6th. Here were her stats:

Ht: 19 1/2 inches (50th Percentile)

Wt:6 lbs 5.4 oz (10th Percentile)

Head Circumference: 14 inches (about 60th Percentile)

He was just happy with her progress and that she didn't loose much weight since her birth. WAY TO GO KHERRINTON!!!

Something I also found funny was that with the printed information that Dr. Adkins gave me, there was some information that said, "Camping and crowds should probably be avoided during your baby's first month of life. Also, during your baby's first year of life try to avoide close contact with people who have infectious illnesses."

OOPS she went camping 2 times by one month of age and was around all the family. Does that count as a crowd???

The Results are......

Well today marks the 21 week mark, but not only that we were able to go for the ultrasound to find out the sex of our baby!! It was such a wonderful experience. We were amazed at the things we were able to see in action with our little one. It was amazing how much bigger everything seemed this time around. So the poll came out to be close with 57% as a girl and 43% as a boy. So to draw out the suspense, I'll tell you some of the details of our appointment.

We first saw all the basics of the baby. Then we saw my favorite part, the heart. For most of you, you already know that I worked on a cardiac unit the first 5 years of my nursing career. It's something I loved to do and miss being at Pullman, where it's all shipped to other hospitals. I've seen many ultrasounds of hearts looking for different heart problems. So it was crazy that even through my layers and then through the baby's that you can see the details that you can. We saw all 4 chambers of the heart and could see the mitral and tricuspid valves opening and closing as they should. That to me is a miracle in itself!! And Chad was able to hear the heart beat for the first time too. Then we started going through and see all the bones in the upper extremities and even saw the ribs as we moved from object to object. Here's the first part on video if you're as fascinated with the heart and what ultrasounds look like.

Were able to see the nasal bone when we got a great profile picture and then inside the head we saw the lateral ventricles. I'm not sure how much that means to most of you but we all 4 ventricles (or spaces) in our brains, so we saw 2 out of the 4. Then they measured the circumference and the width of the head. We then got to see the spine from top to bottom and were informed that it all looked good.

The ultrasoundographer, Sheryl, then asked us if we wanted to find out what we were having and we told we did!! She asked us if we had any guesses and I told we thought it was a boy, but that I had dreamed that it was a little girl. I even told her my dream. How embarrasing. If you want here's a video of the conversation and how we found out!!! Hope you enjoy!!! Sorry it's at the very end .

The umbilical cord and all 3 vessels are in place working as they should and the lower extremities also look good. We were informed that the baby was about 10 ounces at this time. So it doesn't explain the 4 pound weight gain I've had over the last month. So here are some more pictures from today, showing you the little Budha Belly I'm getting.Through this entire experience, it never ceases to amaze me how God has arranged the birthing process that allows His children to gain bodies. What miracle and blessing it is for us to have an opportunity to have one his children in our own home. We just hope and pray that we'll be able to be the parents that He would have us be.

Dr. Visit #2

So when I got home from our great time with our families, I had another Dr. visit to see Dr. Minudri. Which turned out to be really fun because it was the first time that I've had the chance to hear the heart beat. Chad didn't end up coming cause I didn't think anything that exciting would be happening. But the heart rate was about 160, which by wise tale says that it could be a girl. So within a few days I had a crazy dream....

Now just because I'm a nurse and know better than this is what makes this so funny. I had a dream that I came into the hospital to do the ultrasound and my friend Deb Cooper, (who actually does tons of different things at the hospital like Pulmonary and Cardiac rehab, pulmonary function test and so on, but she is NOT a ultrasoundographer) did our ultrasound. And when she got to where the private areas were on the baby it would turn into a cute little pink heart. She went on to tell me that if it was a boy that the heart would be blue. Funny huh!! So I think that heart rate thing really swayed me, but I've had lots of people tell me that I really know what sex the baby is? But I want to get everyone else's thought before our real ultrasound which in next week!!! on the 10th. So in the right had column is the poll!! Wish us luck!!!

I realize that I haven't posted any pictures of me being pregnant. So I finally had Chad take one. I haven't cause I'm not really that big. I was surprised that I wasn't bigger than I was when we went home. I really could have kept the secret a lot longer and not told anyone. So hope you enjoy the picts!! These were taken at 19 weeks.