Test Results, The Shmanz & Comparison Shot

So today we found out that the GI/bottle test and the ultrasound came back normal! Praise the Lord! We are still waiting on blood work and we should know by tomorrow morning but you know how those things go, you just never know. We are sooo thankful there is nothing seriously wrong with Adelyn's anatomy. As I sit here typing this the night is starting out typical. Adleyn would not go to sleep and finally did about thirty minutes ago and just started crying again on the monitor. So frusterating, but at least I have hope that we are going to get this problem solved soon. I cannot tell what happened, whether it be the new medicine, me not eating dairy or all the prayers, but Adelyn only had two bad spit up/throw ups today and that is a drastic change from how our days noramlly go so thanks sooo mcuh for the prayers. I know God heard them. I will definitly keep everyone posted on the situation. Oh and here is a picture of Annabelle in my cowboy boots today. I know it's not a great picture but it was soo hilarious if you could have seen her begging me to help her put them on and then trying to walk. She is so funny!

Oh and the picture of Adelyn in the car seat yesterday kept reminding me of this picture of Annabelle and so I looked it up and here it is. I definitly think they look like sisters!

Adelyn's still smiling & Baby Oliver

Well, let me tell you a little bit about today. Ok, first off, why would I even write about today since it was not the best most blog worthy day. Well, first, because I have found blogging to be oddly therapeutic, to sit down and write just feels good to me and second, I want Adelyn to get to look back at what all she went through today and see how brave see was... :)

So, I got in to see our doctor at 8:15 this morning. When I got in the nurse commented that Adelyn's color looked off and I just told her that she literally has not slept more than an hour or two in a row for over a month. The nurse then took me in to weigh Adelyn and she had lost 8 ounces and she looked concerned. Then, my doctor comes in and the first thing he comments on is how off Adelyn's color looks (as in she is pale and has dark circles under her eyes.) I told him the same thing I told the nurse. He really already knew this because this was like the fifth or sixth time we have been in to see him in the past 6 weeks. He kept telling me that he thought we are missing something and that now Adelyn is considered to be "not healthy" anymore since she is losing weight and he really wanted to run some tests her. He then put her on a different medicine and said we will see if that helps. So after I got home, I got a phone call from the doctor's office telling me that they got the ultrasound scheduled for today at Nationwide Children's branch in Dublin at 2:00 and about two minutes later they called back and said that they got her GI test scheduled for 4:00 at Nationwide Children's in Westerville. They told me she could not have anything to eat after 10:00 in order to get the GI test done. I was thinking, "Seriously?? I have to make my baby wait 6 hours to eat during the day?" but I knew it was going to be ok because Adam was coming with me and it was for such a good reason. So, at 1:30 off we went to Dublin (about a thirty minute drive from our house.)

Here was the little schmad. You can see the bags under her eyes :(
When we got there they did the ultrasound. She was just looking so intently at Adam. She really does love her daddy; it was sooo good he was there for her.I couldn't help but think of the ultrasounds I had when I was pregnant with her. I always loved to see that little heartbeat.Here she is showing off her little Adelyn bloomers. :)After this it was about 2:30 and we did not know what to do because we had an hour and a half before we had to be at the other Nationwide to get the GI test done and so we drove around and let Adelyn sleep. She cried a lot when it was time for a feeding at about 1:00 but after that she only cried here and there. We were so thankful she fell asleep in the car and she could get a little much needed rest. So, we headed for Nationwide, only I was in the back seat and I was totally out of it (that's what not sleeping for over a month will do to you) and we pulled into Nationwide Children's Hospital in Dowtown Columbus. So we park and walk in and find the GI place and sign in and they call us up to the desk and we are at the wrong Nationwide. I knew we were supposed to be at the Nationwide at Westerville, I just lost it for a few minutes and soooo it was about 3:30 at this point and we got back to our car and headed to Westerville. There was so traffic and it took us forever so I called and told them we were running late and they said that it was ok as long as we made it there by 4:20. Well, the GPS took us to the wrong place (I am not a fan of GPS's ever since I missed my bro in law's wedding because me, Christi, and Riann got lost from following a GPS...anyway, another story for another day) so we got there at 4:23 and I was freaking out to say the least! I just knew we weren't going to be able to keep our appointment BUT God is good and they let us keep our appointment anyway! So, next on the list of tests was a GI test where they put Adelyn under an x-ray machine and x-rayed her while she got this chalk like stuff out down her throat. I say put down her throat because they tried to give it to her in a bottle and she absolutely would not take it, even though she had not eaten in 6 plus hours! So, they had to syringe it in and she was not happy about this at all! So here we are about to get her test done. They had her in this little hospital gown and me in an x-ray robe thing. Look at her smiling.
Next, it was time for blood work. Here is daddy warming up her foot so it is easier to draw blood. I hate blood so daddy definitely gets this job. Adelyn was such a trooper, she did not even cry until the very end.After all of this, we were exhausted to say the least and we knew we needed some food and we also knew we were close to a sonic which is a HUGE deal for us because this is the closest sonic and it is 40 minutes away from our house. Sonic is definitely one of my favs and it all started for me in college when we would go there every single day!! And since Annabelle was with a babysitter we decided we had to stop and see baby Oliver! He was so precious and tiny and Maly looked fabulous of course!!! I cannot wait for Oliver and Adelyn to be great friends!And last but not least, here is Adleyn smiling as we are leaving the hospital. I swear she is the smiliest baby....ok maybe not in the middle of the night but then again maybe she does and I just can't see them in between the crying episodes. This is the reason why it was so hard for anyone to believe she had any kind of a problem because she would always smile and smile at the doctor's office. I can still see those little bags under her eyes though and I am praying for more answers. The ultrasound looked good, as far as everything is in the right place formed correctly etc so tomorrow we wait for a phone call about the GI test and the blood work. I pray there is nothing wrong with either of them and that we just haven't found the right reflux medicine for Adelyn. Either way, I'm so glad we went and got all the tests done; we had to know for sure. I know all this craziness is going to come to an end soon.

This was the verse that God kept bringing up in my mind and yesterday I finally wrote it down and was meditating on it and decided to look it up in the amplified version. "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You." Isaiah 26:3. Wow. This is just what I needed today; thank you God for giving us just what we need when we need it!

Food!

I am not a food blogger; to be honest, you would probably be bored by the food I eat. For example, I have the same thing every single morning (except when I'm pregnant and it makes me sick.) I eat a cup of fiber one cereal, with cut up fruit, and skim milk and when I'm nursing like I am right now I add two tbsp of peanut or almond butter. Yum Yum!

Anyway, today marks a beginning to a new journey with me and food, a first for me for sure. By now all of you know that we are having a terrible time with Adelyn's reflux and it was suggested to me that I cut out dairy in order to see if she has a milk aversion. If she had a full blow milk allergy she would have blood in her stools or a rash or something like that and she doesn't but her system could not digest it easily or something so I say it is worth a try to see if it helps. I am going to try this for two weeks. Two weeks without dairy is going to be hard. This means no milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream but I can do it to see if it helps my sweet Adelyn. I know some of you must be thinking, why would you not just give up nursing to see if that helps. Well, that has crossed my mind but I have multiple reasons for not doing this and I will share since you asked. :) 1) There is no guarantee it would help and we all know breast milk is better for baby than formula and since she is gaining weight etc the doctor has encouraged me multiple times not to quit 2) I do not want formula stains and spit up everywhere 3) She won't take a bottle right now. We have tried 3 different kinds as of now. We are still tying. This is by far the best reason. Ok so you see my dilemma. So, this morning on my no dairy diet I had my "cereal" only I did not put milk in it. Weird but hope it helps.

Ok, so going along with the food theme in this blog post. I have some favorites that I want to share with you. I have trouble at lunch time, nursing, feeding Annabelle and eating myself so I started buying these healthy choice all natural meals and I looove them! They have 300-350 calories and they have real ingredients and no preservatives!We also love sweet potatoes at our house! I bake them with some EVOO and sea salt and pepper. Did you know that sweet potatoes and broccoli have the most vitamins in them of any food.Annabelle and I also like this organic yogurt! We put all kinds of things in it like granola and fruit. The only thing about this particular kind that is not great is the amount of sugar but hey in moderation it's great!Lastly, I don't know where we'd be without granola! We love it! We can eat it for breakfast, in our yogurt, for a snack or even for dessert! This is a picture of the homemade kind but we also like Cascadian Farms.Thank you so much for all your comments etc. I cannot tell you how much all the encouraging words mean to me. It is just so nice to know that people care and understand. We go back to the doctor tomorrow. Please pray for wisdom for the doctor and us as we continue to search for answers.

Psalm 145:18-19

So our nights have not been getting any better. I know by now it probably sounds like "waa waa waa waa waa" to those who read often but I assure you to us it is a big deal. The doctor told us Adelyn was completely healthy and after posting that I was not going to let her cry I quickly changed my mind the fifth time she got up that night. We decided to let her cry it out and it did not go so good at all. She cried for two hours and by the end of that time I was bawling and so sad I had let her go that long so I went in to her room and consoled her and she went back to sleep only to sleep for another hour. What are we doing wrong? Is there somehing wrong with her? I ask myself these questions all the time. After this two hour episode, I called the doctor and he said that two hours is too long for a four month old to cry that there must be something wrong and he thinks it might be her reflux. Oh dear, so here we go round in circles again from ear problems to reflux and back again. I know it might seem trivial and is to some extent thinking about all the problems or crises we could be facing but going a month plus without hardly any sleep is a huge crises to us right now. So I found some verses on comfort, really to comfort myself and continue to have hope that God is going to rescue us. I am trying to memorize these so I can say them to myself all day when I need them.

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them Psalm 145:18-19

God is teaching me many things through this trial. First, I am one of those people who in the good times of life tends to think I can do life on my own. I can "get it all together" and be good and really that is shoving God out of the picture of my life. I must depend on Him throughout my whole day just to make it taking care of 2 kids so small without sleep. Second, as I wrote in my new year's resolutions I want the Lord to give me patience for my family and boy does no sleep test patience. God is teaching me to rely on Him even for my attitude on the hardest of days.

I know this post is kind of a bummer but I pray I can write soon with the good news that we have figured out the problem and that Adelyn is sleeping great! Until then here are some really fun pictures from this week.

My sweet baby is already in 6 month clothes! Check out that cute tummy!




This is Anabelle playing outside. I feel like she looks like a little model in this picture, if only there wasn't a car in the background, well, maybe I can get Adam to photoshop it out.

That's all for now. Hope you are all having a good weekend. We are still in our pjs today! Gotta love rainy Saturdays in your pjs!

The Schmadelyn

I just had to post another video of Adelyn laughing and talking. Our sweet neighbors got her this outfit. I was excited it came with a bib because we sure do need it!

Millie

Look what I got the other day, a candy bar from Bulgaria! It was oh so yummy! My sweet tooth is out of control these days and I can do nothing to stop it! I keep going in circles trying to decide if I am eating so much because Adelyn is so big and strictly breastfeed or she is so big because I eat so much! Don't worry, I am not thinking about this too much and most definitely not too concerned about it at this point. Ok, so back to the candy bar, my friend, Millie, who I met on the playground one day, she is from Bulgaria. We have had 2 playdates now and I am getting closer and closer to sharing the gospel with her. See, I really want her to know that I care about her and that I am not just trying to shove my "religion" in her face and so I have held off and waited for the opportunity and the prompting from the Holy Spirit. We have talked about religion and how she grew up and what she and her husband think about the church etc etc etc and so I have a feeling a gospel presentation is coming up and I am sooo excited about it! You know, whenever I am down about being so far away from my family and being in such a weird seasonal place and things like that, the Lord always reminds me why I am here and it is to share Him with people like Millie. I pray daily that God will use me to lead her to Him. Will you pray for her too??

Happy 4 Month Birthday Adelyn!

Sweet Adelyn is 4 months today! To say we are glad she is ours is an understatement. Look at this sweet smile!
Right now Adelyn is learning to grab things in front of her and she is trying so hard to sit up like her big sister. She is still struggling with reflux and sleeping but overall she is a very happy and smiley baby. She also laughs at us all the time (like in this video) and we love it! Her favorite person is her daddy and always has been; she stares and smiles at him more than anybody else.We got for Adelyn's four month check up next Friday so I'll post her stats then.I thought it was appropriate that we take Adelyn's 4 month pictures with her sister Annabelle in the glider for two reasons. First, we have spent a lot of time here in the last month and second, when I don't know what to do with these two or the are fussy I put them both in this glider and I sit on the foot stool and I rock them and sing to them. They love it and it always calms them down.
After I was finished taking pictures, I put Adelyn down for a nap and Annabelle wanted to get in the baby swing. It is so funny that Annabelle wants to get in every baby thing we have and she is still small enough to of it most of the time so I let her. She loved it. She sat and swung for almost 30 minutes eating her snack. :)For comparison purposes I posted the top picture again, the left is Adleyn and the right is Annabelle. I think they look more and more different the older they get.



















but their sweet little baby bathtub rolls look exactly the same and I love it!!

Thankful

Today was an interesting but a good day. Adelyn has been dealing with all of her problems and so I took her back to the doctor to check her ears again and GOOD NEWS she is fine. He said she still has fluid in her ears but as long as I prop her up to sleep she should be ok and it can drain. See part of the problem is the weather here; I know that the weather all around the country is crazy right now but it is SUPER crazy here. One day it's 80 and the next day it gets to 31. Crazy crazy! So, I am blaming the weather on all the crazy ear stuff that is going on with Adelyn. The doctor also said that Adelyn is so big that she is ready for rice cereal on a daily basis! Yeah for Adelyn and for me because I lost my milk with Annabelle at 4 months and we have 1 day to go until Adleyn reaches 4 months and she is definitely getting enough of my milk!!! I was dying to nurse Annabelle for year but it didn't work out so this is such an awesome big deal to me! To sum up the doctor's appointment, Adelyn's ears still have fluid in them but she should be ok without antibiotics, she needs rice cereal to help her sleep at night, I can let her cry it out at night instead of feeding her because she is definitely big enough and doesn't need to eat twice at night. I don't think I am going to let her cry it out yet. I feel like eventually the feeding thing works itself out but I might change my mind soon, who knows! I am soo glad for the great news at the doctor today! Thank you so much for the prayers! I feel like we have had so many people praying for Adelyn and I am so thankful; I can definitely feel it!

Here is the sweet baby at the doctor. They loved her bow! :) My doctor even took a business card home to his wife.


After we picked up Annabelle from Jennifer's (Thank you Jennifer!!!) we went to visit Daddy at work. I had never seen his new office. It is a lot bigger.
When Daddy came home we played outside. Adam's haircut is really growing on me! I usually love his hair longer because it's curly and I think it's cute but I think I'm really liking his hair these days.







and we went on a family walk to the school close to us to play on the playground. I know a goofy picture. :) I love it when we get to spend time together as a family! I am praying sweet Adelyn sleeps tonight and that things only get better from here!

Before and After of the Dining Room

BEFORE

(Excuse the ladder please. My before picture were taken quickly and while things were everywhere.)



AFTER
The before and after of our dining room. Adam painted the walls, installed hard wood floors and we got a table from the JC Penny outlet for 79 dollars and the chairs were 50 dollars a peice and he sanded and painted all of them white for me because I really wanted a white table! I had my friend Mary Emily sew the table runner to match my black/white decor in the rest of the house. The rest of the decor we had before we moved in. I know the purple color might be a little much but if you know anything about me you know that I loooove color in or on everything! Adam really wanted muted colors throughout the house but he let me have one room where I could paint it whatever color I wanted and this is what I picked, my favorite color, purple!!

How fun to redo a house just exactly how you want it! :)

Marmie and PapaDaddy come to town!

Marmie and PapaDaddy made the 10 hour car trip to see us last week. It was a good visit. On Tuesday we went to the zoo but it was only open another 45 minutes from when we got there and so we went back home. :( On Wednesday, the girls went to biblestudy and the park and the boys ran errands. Wednesday night we also had a prayer time for Mr. Dempsey. He lost his job last week and was put in a hard cast all in the same day. It was a really sweet family time. I did not take a lot of pictures but here are the ones I did take.

Marmie and Annabelle at the park. Annabelle is really starting to figure things out; I'm so proud of her! I have Annabelle in those pants because she falls down a lot and it breaks my heart when she skins her knees! I know it's going to happen but if I can prevent it I want to for sure!Annabelle was scared to death of this green dinosaur thing.
PapaDaddy with his girls.
Marmie and Annabelle
Marmie and Annabelle decided to decorate some cookies. Annabelle looved the icing like her mama.
Cute cookies
Adelyn decided to join in on the action. Mommy thought it was a good idea to strip down to save the clothes from getting icing on them.
What a fun idea Marmie!! The cookies sure were yummy!

Thanks for visiting Marmie and PapaDaddy! We love you and hope to see you again soon!