Because I'm a Peditric Nurse. . .

My daughter has experienced several symptoms that parents of my patients frequently call about. Dr. Roy said the same thing happened to him when he had his twins. According to him, we need to deal with them ourselves to better understand and sympathize with our patients and their families. Here is a list of what we've seen so far:

1. Weight loss due to lack of breast milk. (details in previous posts) Solution-supplement with formula.

2. Constipation due to formula. Solution-tummy massage, bicycle legs, rectal temp (to stimulate the muscles and promote BM), Karo syrup.
3. Extreme fussiness and gas. Solution-Change to Gentlease formula, give simethicone (mylicon) after each bottle.

4. Colicy. Solution-purchase a swing and ear plugs (we only bought the swing but ear plugs would be nice too!) Patience, lots of swaddling, walking, bouncing, singing.
5. "Newborn acne" followed by a "newborn rash" that covers her face, head, chest, shoulders, and back. It looks a lot like an allergic reaction. Solution-wash twice a day and apply Aquaphor (this stuff is GREAT!) Give it time. Brayli's is starting to clear up but it can lead to her next condition. . .
6. Cradle cap. Solution-apply small drop of baby oil or olive oil to the scalp and let it soak in for a couple minutes to soften scales. Then brush out with soft baby brush. This can and is contributing to her next condition of
7. Hair loss. Solution-deal with it!!! She looks like a balding male. She is only losing it on the top of her head right now so she has an extreme receding hair line. You can't even see her cowlicks anymore. Hopefully her new hair will grow in quick. I wonder what it will look like???? Maybe blonde and curly? Both traits run in both sides of the family.

I think that is all for now. We'll see what diagnosis manifests itself next. Hopefully nothing too serious. I guess we have been pretty blessed if these are the most serious things that we have had to go through so far. I've seen a lot worse diagnosis in patients at our clinic. All of the above are very common and I'm grateful for my job that has provided me with the knowledge I've needed to deal with them.

Now for the fun part--PICTURES!

Brayli's new, amazing swing that she LOVES which means we LOVE it too! It can swing from side to side of front to back.
Side note: Matthew's work had a baby shower for us a couple weeks ago. We got a humidifier, booster/highchair, books, and an Avent baby monitor! The IT department bought the monitor after some research. It's AWESOME--no static at all. Definitely worth the money. We also got a lot of gift cards and were able to get this baby swing and still have gift cards for future purchases.

This is how Brayli fell asleep one day at my parents' house. Very unusual. She usually likes/needs to be swaddled or at least wrapped in a blanket to fall asleep.

This is the face Brayli always makes when we take her bottle out of her mouth. I LOVE it! Her chubby cheeks are soooo cute! I also love how she holds her burp rag when we are feeding her. The hand that is covered is also holding on.

This is just a silly picture that I thought was cute. This was actually her first day wearing a size 0-3 month outfit. The pants are rolled at the waist and the sleeves are rolled at the wrist. She's 6 weeks old! Her weight on Thursday was 9-6. Matthew weighed 9-3 when he was born! At least she's growing though.

Time is flying by. I can't believe it's been 6 weeks and 2 days since she was born.

I took this picture on Saturday. She is wearing the same jammies she wore home from the hospital 6 weeks ago. They're size newborn and she still fits in them even when she stretches! I didn't think she would be able to wear her newborn clothes for so long. It's great to get such good use out of them. I borrowed some from my cousin though because Brayli was wearing the same 6 outfits over and over again. It was nice to get a few more to choose from. Thanks Deidra and Sophia!!

How Could I Resist???

I just love this little girl soooo much. I can't resist taking pictures of her all the time! A lady at Matthew's work made this blanket for Brayli and wanted a picture of her with the blanket so here are a few that I took yesterday.

This bottom one is my favorite. I LOVE when I catch a smile!

Unfortunately the photo shoot ended when I realized a big wet spot on the blanket. That's what I get for taking the diaper off I guess. More laundry to do. Yay!!!!

Another sleepy Sunday!

Brayli has decided church time is a great nap time. It's actually pretty nice. I don't have to worry about her crying and interrupting anything. I can just sit and cuddle her while I listen. My mom found a size newborn dress the other day so this is pics of her in her first Sunday dress.

The sweater is nice because the church is always soooo cold!

I was bored on Saturday and deciced to tie a ribbon around her head while she was sleeping. The outcome was this cute little bow. It makes her look girlie. I like it!

Did anyone else notice how chubby her cheeks are getting? Aren't they cute?

Can you believe she is 4 weeks old already? It has gone by so fast. She is changing every day and we have so much fun with her. We're so glad to have her in our lives and all the love and happiness that she brings.

Weight Check

We were thinking Brayli was getting chubby and her newborn clothes aren't quite as big so I decided it was time to weigh her again. I didn't want to go into the Dr's office so we took a trip to the butcher shop instead! I think most of the Hill children have been weighed on a meat scale so today was Brayli's turn. It's not the best picture but if you look on the left you can see she weighs a tiny bit over 8 lbs!!! Yay!! She's gaining weight. We are so happy to start seeing rolls on her little arms and legs. Good job Brayli!

Picture Time!

When Brayli was 10 days old we went and got her pictures taken. The photographer from our wedding did them for FREE! He said it was included in our wedding package. (We've been married for 3 1/2 years) He's been taking pictures for our family for quite a few years. It started with my cousins senior pics. Anyways, he hasn't had a lot of experience with newborns so I was trying to pose Brayli. It was a little hard. She didn't really want to sleep either. We got a few that we really like though. I wish we would have gotten a better one of the family looking at the camera. We got some great ones of Matthew and I but Brayli was making weird faces. Maybe I can learn how to edit in photoshop. Overall I think it was fun and we got some good memories of our baby girl.

3 weeks old!

This was taken after Brayli's first day of church. It wore her out apparently. She's too small for all her dresses still so Grandma found this cute outfit for her to wear. This picture doesn't show it off but it's really cute. She's 3 weeks old and wears newborn clothes. She was wearing preemie diapers too but we just ran out of those so she's in newborns now. Her closet is full of summer 0-3 month clothes that are all too big. :(