Taylor 2 Months

Okay, poor girl did not have as much fun the 2nd month. On July 20th, we attended a family reunion in Cedar City, Utah. A couple of days before, she started having the sniffles. Both Dakota and Ryden had been sick the week before and I assumed she got it from them. She was not happy about the congestion and I had to bulb suction her nose for her to eat and sleep at night. While on our weekend trip, she became extremely irritable and I could tell she didn't feel well. She wasn't sleeping or eating well. Plus, it was blazing hot. She ran a fever several times and she cried a good portion of the drive home. Finally, on Monday, I decided to take her to the doctor. She wasn't sounding well and started with a cough. The doctor said she was congested in her chest and to treat her like an RSV baby. She gave me an rx for the suction clinic if I needed it. She seemed to get worse and Tuesday night was very rough. Finally, I took her to the clinic Wednesday morning to get suctioned. She wasn't doing well and had stopped breathing a couple of times. She was lethargic and miserable. After being suctioned she wasn't showing much improvement and wouldn't eat. She met all the criteria for being admitted to the hospital, including being dehydrated. After a stint thru the ER, including a lumbar punture (sadness) and finally being put on high flow oxygen, she was sent to the ICU. After about 24 hours, she was able to come down to regular flow oxygen and was eventually transferred to the floor. She stayed in the infant medical unit until she was able to breath without oxygen and without apnea. We finally came home the night before I started back to work. Needless to say, going back to work was pretty hard. My first weekend back, I only worked half shifts but she still woke up miserable. I had to take her back to the suction clinic a couple days later. The next weekend was a little better... she was able to take bottles but dad still didn't get much sleep. Later that week, she got thrush from all the meds she was on in the hospital and she was NOT happy. She didn't sleep much at all that week and was in a lot of pain. Just as the thrush cleared up, she got a case of Croup. So this poor girl has had a rough month. She was pretty well for her blessing on August 4th, which turned out wonderful! Most of our local family was there, plus Mima and Dave, the Gales and the Feils. The good news is, her puking has stopped. And when she isn't sick, she does sleep for about 6-9 hours at night without waking. So I'm hoping she'll be a good sleeper when she finally gets healthy again. She has smiled since the week she was born, but she gave her first intentional smile at 5 weeks old. She is starting to smile more and more. Her eyes are big and we are just starting to see flecks of brown in them. She has filled out quite a bit and has some chubby cheeks and little double chin. She still has the curly-Q eyebrow and her lashes are growing. She seems to get prettier and prettier each week. Most people say she looks like her sister, but she very much resembles Oakley's baby pictures at this stage and I think she has a bit of her own look as well. Her hair is filling in as quickly as her head is growing so she still has quite a bit of hair. At her 2 month check, she weighed in at 11 lbs 5 oz and 22.5 inches long! She is by far our biggest baby. For girls, she falls in the 50% for weight and 65% for height with a tiny head like the rest. I don't think any of the others have ever been over 30% in anything! So this takes me by surprise. She got the DeMilt genes in there somewhere from my tall dad. She is already wearing most of her 0-3 month clothes and in size 1 diapers. She's still a great eater and is doing fine with bottles. Right now the focus is to get her well so she can be a normal baby! We just love her though. Oakley and Dakota adore her and Ryden now gives her kisses EVERY time he sees her. She has acquired a little nickname of "LoLo" and it's actually kind of cute for her. She even responds to it when you are trying to calm her. All the kids now call her that frequently. They all try to help her when she is crying and Oakley is extremely sweet with her. My biggest problem is that when she is sleeping or peaceful, they will wake her up or agitate her because they can't seem to ever leave her alone. :) Dakota is a great big sister and is a good helper with her. She also can carry her and hold her, though I have to keep an eye that she doesn't try to walk around with her too much or over hard ground and without my permission. One thing we have learned for sure this month, she is a fighter and she will definitely let you know when she isn't happy! But when she is calm and happy, she is the cutest thing!