I'm going to pretend she said Mama!

New Year, new attempt at posting!

Okay so it has been awhile and rather than giving everyone a day by day replay of the last 5 months I will give you the Cliffs Notes...

Katherine now smiles and laughs, especially when you blow kisses on her neck or feet.
She rolls over in both directions, although she prefers to just roll on to her tummy.
She sleeps on her tummy full time and ends up with a drool stain the size of her body.
She sits up on her own, well doesn't get into the sitting position by herself but will sit unsupported.
She is now pushing up onto her arms and attempting the early stages of crawling. Right now she just scoots backwards, but hey, at least she is moving!
She has had 3 colds and 2 ear infections. We are on the way to tubes, I can feel it. (Mommy has had 3 colds too! Aunt Al, Bebe, Colonel and Ging have all had one too. Somehow Daddy has managed to stay illness free!)
She had her first Thanksgiving and Christmas and enjoyed both holidays...especially the wrapping paper!
She loves Marty, by far her most favorite pastime is grabbing her fur.
She sleeps from about 630 until 730, and takes 3 1-2 hour naps a day! She is a baby who loves her sleep!

So all in all it has been a very productive and joyous end of 2009. I now stay home full time and I must say I love it. It is tiring and I have a new found respect for my own mother who stayed home my whole childhood.

Here are some pictures of our sweet little girl. Her disposition really is wonderful. She does not cry unless she is hungry or tired and laughs and smiles most of the day.










At her first vineyard in DC with our favorite people...Charlotte and Alex! (and Mandy and Steve)


Daddy holding Katherine in my sling...she loves it!

Two months of fun!

It's hard to believe how quickly these first two months have gone. Quick update on what has been going on in the world of Katherine. We had an appointment with a pediatric gastroeterologist several weeks ago. He said that yes, she does have pretty bad reflux. He upped the dose of her Prevacid to half a pill in the am and half in the pm. She also gets two bottles of breast milk now each with 4 oz with 4 tablespoons of rice cereal. Both of those things have made a world of difference. Katherine no longer cries in pain when she spits up. It has made both mommy and daddy really happy to know that at the very least the reflux is not hurting her anymore. She was a trooper at the Dr. as he poked and prodded all the while she was hanging out in just her diaper.

She has been smiling up a storm and I think she is attempting to laugh. It melts my heart every time I see that toothless grin. We have had lots of outings and even several trips to church. Two Sundays ago we had to leave because of Katherine's loud snoring! I thought it was precious but I am sure the people around us who were trying to hear the sermon weren't as amused. We made a trip to Jackson to see her MiMi and Granddaddy. That was her first overnight trip and she did fabulous! The following week Robert went to New Orleans for work (just for a night) and Katherine and I had our first night alone. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Three nights later Robert left again for a family reunion but this time Bebe (my mom) came over for a weekend visit. We all had such a great time.

Two final "last but not leasts". Katherine had her 2 month well baby check up on Wednesday. She weighed in at 14 lbs, 24.4inches long and her head measured 41 cm. She is well over the 90th percentile. She weighs as much as some 5 month olds! Dr. Sanford said she is right on target for all of her milestones, smiling, following you with her eyes and brief support of her head on her own. The shots weren't as traumatic as I had anticipated and she only cried for less than 10 seconds. Robert and I were both so proud! AND, this is big, on Tuesday night Katherine and I moved to her nursery. After 8 weeks of being in our room we decided it was time to begin the transition to her room. I put her on her Tucker sling in her crib after feeding her at 11 and then at 5 am she woke up for the first time. The next night she slept until 6:45! According to all the books, she is officially sleeping through the night! YAY! My body is totally confused with all this sleep, but I'm not complaining......


Katherine and Mimi


Katherine and Granddaddy


Katherine and Bebe


Just hanging in my room

5 weeks...Time flies when you're having fun!

I can't believe it has been 5 weeks. Time really has flown and Katherine is really growing up! We have had a little going on medically, but everything, thankfully, has turned out okay. Beginning when she was about 3 weeks she developed a little reflux. It got progressively worse and so Robert and I took her to the Dr. They put her on half of a 15mg pill of Prevacid. We have to dissolve the pill in 2mg of water and force feed it to her. Once she gets the first taste, she really likes it and smacks her lips for more. It is not supposed to help with the amount of spit up, but should help her with the discomfort of the reflux. On Tuesday of this week I just didn't feel like the pill was doing what it should and back in to the Dr. we went. One thing they worry about with reflux babies is weight loss. Katherine however is not having any issues in that department. Last week she weighed 10 lbs, 13 oz. This week she was up to 12 lbs! So once they saw she was gaining weight they scheduled her for a barium swallow on Wednesday. Wednesday morning I had to set my alarm for 4:45 am to nurse her and then she couldn't eat again until after the barium at around 10! She was such a little trooper and did not cry or fuss even though I am sure she was starved. She took the barium like it was milk and laid very still so the radiologist could get some good shots of her insides. All of that to tell us what we already know...it is really bad reflux and to just keep doing what we are doing. I am so thankful it was nothing more serious but a little frustrated that nothing more can be done. Last night after much thought Robert and I added 5 teaspoons of rice cereal to 5 oz of breast milk. After talking to several people and bringing it up with the pediatrician we decided to give the cereal a try. It definitely helped with the reflux and she slept from 11 until 4:45 am! (she actually ate at 9:30, but wouldn't go to sleep until 11) I think we may stick with the cereal in her last bottle, it really seems to help.

So all in all, even with the exhaustion, it has been a great 5 weeks. Especially since she has started to smile at us! It makes everything worth it!

Introducing Katherine Alexandra Paine!

Katherine arrived June 12, 2009 at 12:10 pm via c-section. She weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long. Big baby! It was an amazing day and Robert and I feel so blessed to have a healthy, beautiful baby girl.

The past three weeks have been a mixture of immense love and happiness combined with exhaustion. No one can prepare you for how tired you will be! My mom and dad came for the first week, Roberts mom came for a night for the second week and my sister spent the last week with us. It was so amazing to have all of our loved ones around. Katherine is doing great, we think she may have a little eye infection and that she may be battling acid reflux. Our plan is to head in to the Doctor tomorrow to see what is going on. She is fine and happy during the day but when we put her on her back she is so unhappy and you can just hear the liquid trying to make its way back up. Poor baby! We already have over 200 pictures...completely obsessed! Below are just a few of our favorites.

Ready or Not......

Here she comes! So yet again, I have failed at blogging. I am not even going to attempt to make any promises about my frequency of posting once she gets here. Who knows, I may get better! Well, tomorrow, June 12, 2009 is the big day. We are scheduled for a c-section at Baptist Hospital in Memphis at 12:00. Initially we were scheduled because she was in a breech position. However, when we went in for our appointment on Tuesday, much to everyones amazement, she had turned! Although not in the best position. She has one foot down by her face, and one up by her head. They are also guessing that she is around 8 1/2 lbs. So, based on those two things Robert and I have decided to stick with the original plan. We will go in tomorrow morning at 8:45 just to check everything out (ie. see if I have progressed at all) if I have, we will make a decision between the c-section or an induction. If no progress has been made, we will be on for the c-section at noon! My parents drove to Memphis tonight as did Roberts. They will be waiting at the Hospital for us in the morning...I can't believe this is all really happening! Robert and I went for one last meal as just the two of us. So exciting to think that this time tomorrow night it will be "just the three of us"!

I'm terrible at this blogging thing.....

Okay, I am turning a new leaf in my blogging frequency, it will at least happen monthly now, I promise.

Well, a lot has happened since my last post.
Let's see...

I had some cramping a month in a half ago, which turned out to be nothing, thankfully. But because of that we got some more incredible ultrasound pics which I will post below.

I had to wear a holter monitor for 24 hrs. because of sinus tachycardia...nothing serious, it just feels like your heart is going to beat out of your chest. The cardiologist said it is most likely caused from the pregnancy. They will monitor me after she gets here.

I passed my glucose screening test! No gestational diabetes for me!

Robert and I took our babymoon two weeks ago to Hawaii and had a really great time. It is so beautiful!

Baby Paine moves constantly now. She really gets going as soon as I get in bed which is making sleeping harder and harder. I don't know how there is room for Robert anymore in our King size bed with all the pillows I have. (i think 5 or 6 total!)

We still don't have a name, so if anyone has any suggestions we are all ears. They don't let you leave the hospital without one so we may be there until August.

My view of the ocean


Robert is the one in red...SURFING on the North Shore!







23 weeks...isn't she cute!





I'm #1!


Okay, I am totally over this photo shoot.