"Your friend is the one who knows all about you, and still likes you."

Today Arianna and I drove to Revere so she could meet the girls. It's hard to believe that we have known each other for over 10 years now and that we've been out of college for 10 years. WOW, we're getting old.

Over the past 10 years there have been lots of laughs,tears,fights and more booze than I'm going to admit to! But one thing has always remained, we are always there for each other when we're down or in need of a hug. Our lives have gone in different directions but we always make time for each other. Friends like that don't come around very often so when they do, you hold on for dear life!

I love you girls!!!

Here are some pictures, just for Cara since she loves being the star of my blog!

Some recent pictures

A day filled with doctors visits!

We had a horrible night last night with Arianna. She would.not.go to sleep. It was horrible. She would start to fall asleep then scream out. I called this morning for an appointment to see Dr. D. I didn't know if the medicine wasn't working enough or if it was something else.

Well, she only gained 4oz since last Thursday. She weighed 6lbs 13oz today so she is a little passed her birth weight (6-11). Dr. D said that she may not be getting enough at each feeding or the Zantac dose isn't high enough. I felt horrible when he said she may not be getting enough to eat. HORRIBLE. He said based on her weight she could take 3.5-4oz every 4hrs but when you throw her age into that it brings it down to about 3oz. He also increased her dose of Zantac to see if that helps. If neither helps he gave me some soy formula to try. He said she could be sensitive (not allergic) to the milk proteins. I'm hoping its just that she needs more to eat. Fingers crossed for a good night tonight!

I also had to go to the doctors today. I haven't been feeling great and I thought I had mastitis. My mother had just left and I decided to call the nurse and see if I could get an appt. for tomorrow morning. Well, as soon as I said "mastitis" I was put on hold to talk to a nurse. They were both busy so the receptionist said she'd have one call. Less than 5min later she called back. She asked me to come in ASAP. I called my mom but she wasn't home. I figured if they wanted me in right now it was probably a good idea to just wake Cam up from his nap and take them with me. He did ok considering, Arianna slept the whole time. Cam screamed when the nurse called me in. He thought he was seeing the doctor! Luckily we were in and out within 30min. I am now on antibiotics for the next 10 days!

I really need to find a babysitter for stuff like this!

We survived!

Daddy's first day back at work went very well thanks to Dianna, Carla and Tanya. They came over with the kids for a playdate. Cam had a blast running around and getting COVERED in sand! Thank you guys SO MUCH! I think we should plan weekly playdates!

I've heard a lot of people say that the second child kind of gets brushed aside. Well, I don't want to say Arianna has been brushed aside per se, I like to think we're more experienced. When Arianna cries, we wait a few minutes before going to her. With Cam we were on top of him if he made a peep. When Cam would drop his binkie it would get sterilized immediately. If Arianna drops her binkie we wipe it on our shirts and hand it to her. Yesterday during our playdate Arianna slept for HOURS in her carseat. She seemed so comfortable. Well, last night she was fussing non-stop. We just wanted sleep. So I put her in the carseat on the bed in between Steve and I. Steve looked at me like I had 10 heads until she was quiet then he thought I was a genius!

It's reflux

Dr. P called us back and said it could be reflux, a milk sensitivity or something I ate and passed to her in the breast milk. He gave us an Rx for Zantac. She had 2 doses last night and after the 2nd one we noticed a difference. She was able to relax and go to sleep after each feeding. Mommy and Daddy were very grateful since we hadn't slept the night before.

What a night!

Yesterday started out great! Cam's drop off at daycare went well and Arianna's doctor's appointment was uneventful. She weighed 6lbs 9oz so she's gaining back her weight.

Yesterday afternoon I gave her a bottle of breast milk. Well she screamed and cried for the rest of the day. She wouldn't relax and go to sleep. It extended into the night. I ended up letting her sleep on my chest so we could both get some rest. It was exhausting. She would scream, burp, be ok for a few minutes then start all over again.

The same thing this morning. It's happening regardless of whether or not she's drinking breast milk or formula. I think my baby has reflux! :o( I'm waiting for the doctor to call me back. The poor thing is so miserable.

Some pictures of my babies!

Arianna with the flowers Cameron picked for her



Cameron enjoying a snack!



Such a good big brother!

Happy One Week Birthday Arianna!

It really seems like it has been longer than a week since Arianna arrived.

This past week I have learned:
*I am done having children. Yes, I did say Cam was going to be an only child and look how that turned out but this time I'm *really* done!

*Cam is going to be an amazing big brother. He loves giving "Aahwee" hugs and kisses. Of course he has his moments where he wants our attention and gets upset when we can't give it to him. That is something I need to work on. I need to make sure he gets the attention, hugs and kisses he and I both need.

*Steve is an amazing Dad and husband. I truly do not know what I would do without his love and support.

*Breast feeding is just not for me. I dreaded each feeding. It was way too stressful for me to get her to latch, stay on, and stay awake to feed. I truly give all you girls who can do it so much credit. I just don't have it in me. I do feel guilty (as I did with Cam) but I truly believe that formula feeding is the right decision for us.

*Arianna really is the right name for her. She wasn't named until after she was born. We decided before the section that if she came out kicking and screaming she would be named Kendall. That name for us described a feisty little girl. Well, she came out and gave the most sweet little cry. Then when we saw how dainty, small and blonde she was we knew she wasn't a Kendall. I asked Steve what he thought, Arianna or Lillian and he chose Arianna. I cannot see her as a Lilly!

This is hard

If I thought pregnancy hormones were bad, post-partum hormones are worse.

Cam is all out of sorts. He's trying so hard to get our attention and its not usually in the best way. I think I can do more physically than I can and I end up hurting because of it. I seem to always forget that I had surgery and I won't bounce back like I did after having Cam. Getting in and out of bed is a chore, my ankles are swollen and I just have no energy. I don't know what I'm going to do when Steve goes back to work.

Today Arianna and I went to the Breast Feeding Group at the hospital. She weighs 6lbs 4oz so she still isn't close to her birth weight. I weighed her after each feeding and she took in a little over an ounce. I'm going to go back again on Wednesday before we go to the Pediatrician.

I have to thank the girls yet again for all their support. I don't know what I'd do without you guys! I love you guys!! I know I haven't called everyone back, thank you for the well wishes and concern. I will call you back I promise, we're just trying to adjust and get used to each other right now.

We survived our first night!

It went a lot better than our first night with Cam. She slept great, me not so well! I wasn't used to having her in the room with me since she went to the nursery every night. I was awake at every little noise she made. We had to wake her up once to feed her! Breast feeding is going...I'm glad I was in the hospital the extra nights I think it helped. We'll see how it goes!

We're home!

After a long 4 night hospital stay we're finally home!! I'm not sure I'm ready for this...





Wednesday, September 3rd Arianna meets her big brother!



Tuesday, September 2nd Introducing Arianna Lillian!

Arianna Lillian entered the world at 1:32pm weighing 6lbs 11oz (one ounce bigger than her brother) and 19" long. The c-section was uneventful but a weird experience! I was kept in recovery for 4 hrs since the spinal wasn't wearing off. After we made it up to my room Nana and Papa came for a visit. Since it was so late we decided Cam could meet her tomorrow.

My last day as a Mom of one!

I cannot believe tomorrow I will be a Mom of 2. That is so scary and thrilling at the same time.

We didn't do too much today. Yesterday I was sick as a dog. I thought maybe it was the start of labor but it was just a bug. We went to my Mom's for dinner and went to bed early!