Hadley's 5-month update

Hadley turned 5 months old about a week ago (I hate that I missed blogging about it right away, but things have been SO busy here!)! She is growing, growing, growing - up to about 14lb, 9oz now, with a head circumference of about 16 inches & a height of 24 inches! She is also gaining such a personality & is really a lot of fun to hang out with all day. Her favorite new toy is her Elmo's Super Boom Box from Aunt Jenna; Cookie Monster says, "Play it again!" - Daddy loves that, too! Hadley also makes "raspberries" with her lips from time to time & she laughed out loud this month when my family was up visiting from central PA.

Hadley has grown so much that she moved up ANOTHER size in diapers (up to size 3 now!) and her car seat is also on its biggest setting (we adjusted the waist and shoulder straps). We're hoping to get a few more months out of the infant seat, though she is getting too heavy to actually carry her in the seat when we go anywhere.

Hadley consistently uses her pacifier for naps now & she sleeps (at bedtime) with a little lovey blankie in her crib & her new crib aquarium. She is still in the swing for naps, which we're working on eliminating, but we also still have to swaddle her & bounce her to sleep for naps, so those ones might be tough to break!

Hadley also laughed this month when my family was visiting for her baptism!

Hadley had a lot of big events going on this month! She had her baptism on the 17th, which went very well. She looked like a little princess & didn't cry when she got the water sprinkled on her head. We had a nice brunch with all of our family and friends at Grammy & Granddad's house - we had a lot of visitors at our house that weekend since some of Mommy's family came in to visit: MumMum & Pops, Aunt Jenna, Aunt MaryAnne, Uncle Frank, Aunt Sandy & Tim.

The following weekend was Hadley's first Easter - she did GREAT on the trip up to MumMum & Pops's house, sleeping almost the entire way! While we were there, we got Hadley's picture taken to redeem a gift certificate that we received for her shower - the pics came out really cute, too. The trip home after Easter was not quite so smooth, as Hadley screamed for 45 minutes simply because she didn't want to be sitting in her car seat; fun times!

We also started Hadley on solids this month! It took her a couple weeks to get the hang of it, but now she eats like a champ - her favorites seem to be pears, bananas & carrots, though she seems to like everything we've given her so far (also squash & sweet potatoes). We started out with diluted rice cereal & she hasn't seemed to be a fan of that, but she does like it mixed in with her other solids.

Hadley's not a fan of rice cereal!

But she does seem to like it mixed with sweet potatoes!

Hadley also had two big events right after her 5-month-birthday, so I'll blog about them now otherwise I'll forget by the time the next (6 month???? REALLY?) update rolls around. First of all, a few days after her 5-month-birthday (right around Mommy's birthday), we started sleep training - she was still up EVERY THREE HOURS (or less) EVERY NIGHT and it was getting REALLY old for sleep-deprived Mommy. We knew that she didn't need to be eating, but we couldn't figure out why she was always up, as her gas issues seemed to have subsided for the most part. We finally realized that she just didn't know HOW to put herself back to sleep, since when she was up with gas, I would either nurse or just hold her to fall asleep because I felt so awful that she was in pain. With the exception of one night of crying for 3 hours (night #3), Hadley has done an awesome job! While she is still waking up almost as often, she is learning various self-soothing tactics to put herself back to sleep & has gone as much as 8 hours between feedings now! During the day, Hadley will stretch to about 4 hours between feedings, which is excellent!

We also had a visit to the pediatric GI specialist (which was scheduled a month and a half ago, when her gas issues were still really bad). We loved the doctor; he praised that I had continued breast feeding even though she had the gas issues, knowing that formula would not be more easily digested (though some people had suggested adding it in) & that I was planning on BFing for a year. He was really great in that he explained everything & did a lot of talking and questioning so that he could really get an in depth history of Hadley & her issues. In the end, he said she was a beautiful little girl and he couldn't rationalize ordering invasive tests on an otherwise healthy child, so that was that! Hopefully as she continues to grow, the gas issues will continue to lessen.

Overall, we had another great month! It just keeps getting better!

Hadley's 4-month update!

Hadley had her 4-month checkup on Friday! I can't believe she's a third of a year old already! She is growing so quickly! She weighed 13 pounds, 6 ounces; her head circumference was 15 3/4, and her height was 23 1/2 inches! That put her in the 10th percentile for height, the 25th for head circumference, and the 50th percentile for weight - our little chunky monkey!

Although still having major sleep issues (still getting up every three hours all night, every night, almost always due to gas pains), Hadley continues to be a very pleasant baby during the day. She smiles all the time now...at Daddy when he comes home from work, at herself in the mirror, at her grandparents (even on Skype!). Hadley is also slowly getting a little more tolerant of tummy time, so she can lift her head pretty high (90 degrees) when she wants to. She squeals often, which we think must be the precursor to her laughing, and she seems to want to have nothing to with rolling over yet, though she does lift her legs and shift her weight from one side to the other when she is playing on her back. She is also getting really good at grasping things, which means that once she gets ahold of something, it goes right into her mouth! Her favorite toys are stuffed ones, which she can chew on!

During this month, Hadley has also found her feet, which she plays with often now! She will hold onto them as she lifts her butt for diaper changes, which Mommy and Daddy both think is pretty funny! Hadley also loves to suck on her fingers; she does this quite often! She can also (and usually does) go about three hours between each feeding during the day now, so her schedule is often eat, play, sleep (for 45 minutes - no more, no less), play, then repeat!

A few weeks ago, we took Hadley to visit our friends, the Knights. Their son, Ryan, though not due until January, was born just two days after Hadley in the same hospital (the day we were going home). They were so cute when we actually got them to look at each other (and Shake n Bake with their daddies' help!!)

And finally, here is a funny story from Hadley's fourth month...Daddy was playing with Hadley one day while Mommy had a snack - a banana with peanut butter. Daddy wasn't sure if he liked it, so he asked Mommy for a bite. Later on, while Mommy was feeding Hadley, Daddy got the same snack and offered Mommy a bite in exchange for the one she gave him earlier. As he was bringing the banana over for Mommy to take a bite, the banana broke in half and landed, peanut butter side down on Hadley's head! I wish we had taken a picture because she looked like a little peanut butter Alfalfa (and smelled like one, too)!

And now for this month in pictures...

Hadley's 3-month update!

On Saturday, Hadley turned 3 months old! I can't believe she's a quarter of a year old already! That is so scary and it makes me sad, but it's been so much fun to watch her grow and change! I can't wait for each new step! We weighed her on her granddad's baby scale over the weekend & she weighed 12lb, 1 oz! What a big girl!

This month, Hadley had a bunch more firsts! She went to her Daddy's school for the first time and met all of his co-workers and students. She also met all of Mommy's cheerleaders and they oohed and aahed over her! She did an awesome job that day and wasn't fussy at all, which was a huge deal since she went to a dinner for Daddy's basketball team that evening, so she had been out and about all day. She also watched her very first Superbowl with Mommy and Daddy at Aunt Mel & Uncle Pat's house, but unfortunately (or fortunately if you ask her daddy), the Steelers lost to Green Bay.

Hadley is becoming somewhat of a better napper, but does still like to be held for at least one nap a day. She typically eats, plays & naps (in that order) about 3-4 times throughout the day. She is slowly becoming a better sleeper at night, as well. In her third month, she typically slept between 3-4 hours for her longest stretch each night, followed usually by a couple of two hour stretches. She did have a six hour stretch about a week ago, so I think we're on to something, as she continues to grow! Speaking of growing, Hadley is now in size 2 diapers and all of her clothes are now 3-months (none of the 0-3 will fit anymore)!

Hadley has been cooing and smiling a lot more this month, but it's still been difficult to catch them on film (because she tends to look at the camera instead of at Mommy or Daddy, who are trying to get her to smile). Hadley is getting better at sitting in the Bumbo seat, as well, though she still doesn't *love* it. She also doesn't really enjoy tummy time, but has been picking her head up to about 45 degree angles here and there.

Hadley still loves playtime on her back & that is often when she has her best smiles, however, she does love to sway her head back and forth, which has given her a lovely bald stretch all across the back of her head (think bowl cut up high & mullet down low with the nice hairless streak in between!).

We got to take a trip home to visit Mum-Mum and Pops (and the rest of the family), which was really nice since we hadn't been home since Christmas. Hadley did an amazing job in the car ride, sleeping for most of it, despite the fact that she was in her dreaded car seat for about five hours that day. On the way to Mum-Mum & Pops's house, we stopped to pick up Aunt Jenna at school, so we couldn't pass up the chance to get Hadley's first photos with the Nittany Lion, especially since it was such a beautiful day!

Finally, Hadley's newest accomplishments are sucking on her upper lip and her fists, which is really, really cute. She's also starting to twist and roll a bit, so we think that rolling over might start within the next month. She's growing up so fast!

And now, some pics from this month...

Hadley's 2 month update!

Hadley turned 2 months old on Wednesday! WOW! She had her 2-month well-visit & had to get some shots, so that wasn't very much fun! 3 shots & an oral vaccine later & the tears were done as soon as Mama picked her up - I think I may have cried almost as much as she did - it's so sad to see your baby in pain!!! Here are Hadley's 2-month stats...she weighs 10lbs exactly (up almost 2 whole pounds from last month!), her head is 14-3/4 inches (grew 3/4 inch), and she is 21-3/4 inches long (2 inches longer than last month)! She got her vaccines for rotavirus (oral), pneumonococcal, ADPT/IPV/Hib, & a booster for HBV.

Hadley had some big milestones this month. She has started to coo and smile - her first smile was during a little family dance party, around 6.5 weeks. Her best smiles are usually during her early-morning diaper changes. She has slowly started to become a better sleeper, now going 3-4 hours between her first and second feedings at night...all the others are still usually 2 hours & often only because she gets woken up by dirty diapers or gas pains. She still won't take a pacifier, but we've figured out two pacis that are good possibilities for the future...she has also outgrown almost all of her newborn clothes now & is also in the next size (size 1) diapers. We also adjusted her car seat straps to the second level (but she still cries when you put her in the seat)!

Hadley also had to have an ultrasound done on her hips this month. At her 1-month appointment, the doctor said that she had "asymmetrical thigh folds," so they wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure that the ball & socket were aligned & forming properly, which they were. She was such a good girl for the ultrasound, too!

Hadley is much more wakeful during the day, which also means that she does not like to take naps (or if she does, she insists on being held the whole time). This would make Mommy crazy except that Hadley continues to be pleasant most of the time during the day. When she gets fussy (and she's not hungry), bouncing on the big exercise ball usually does the trick (and often puts her to sleep). Hadley also loves to look at herself in her swing mirror & also the mirror on her play mat. She's getting very good at hitting and kicking the toys on her mat. Mommy and Daddy are always singing to Hadley - Daddy's new song to sing is "Sweet Little Hadley" to the tune of "Sweet Serendipity" by Lee Dewyze.

Hey! You want a piece of me?

Bathing Beauty

Not a fan of the Bumbo seat!

Big smiles!!

Snow Day with Daddy!

And some videos...

Hadley's 1 month update!

I'm only 2 weeks late, but better late than never! Here's a list of Hadley's milestones and favorites from her first month of life!

Hadley has had a big month! She's met and had her picture taken with almost everyone in her Mommy & Daddy's families. She's been given a Godmother (Aunt Jenna) and a Godfather (Uncle Jeff/ Uncle J-Mo). Her neck and legs are getting very strong and she's beginning to grow out of all of her newborn clothes! She got her social security card in the mail, as well as her birth certificate, which came printed with the wrong date (November 27th)!!

Hadley had a lot of firsts this month: Her first tub bath, her first photo shoot, her first Christmas, her first big road trip up to Mum-Mum and Pops's house for Christmas, her first trip to the doctor & her first time at church! She even got to play baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve service (with Mommy and Daddy as Mary and Joseph!) Hadley also met Santa for the first time when he came to the neighborhood on a fire truck!

Hadley's favorite toys right now are her Little Einstein's Radio & her Leap Frog Pal, Violet (though I think that's really Daddy's favorite toy instead)! Hadley's only fussy when she's gassy & she's beginning to randomly smile. Hadley loves to dance with Mommy and Daddy - Daddy's favorite song to sing to her is "Smiling Face" by James Taylor. She also loves to bounce when she's fussy.

Hadley's a great little eater & that definitely showed at her one month doctor's appointment. After initially losing weight (going down to 5lb 10oz after leaving the hospital), she began to gain weight again and shot up to 8lb 1oz, 19 and 3/4 inches (grew an inch), and her head was 14 inches (grew an inch)!

Hadley dislikes being put into her carseat (and screams like a cat when Mommy and Daddy put her in it) but she is getting better and usually settles down once the car gets moving. She sleeps between two and three hours at a time at night, usually the first stretch being three hours and all of the ones there after being two hours at a time.

And now some first-month pictures (coming soon - having some upload issues w blogger)...

PS - I also added pics to Hadley's birth story post & I added a post before that for my 39 week update since that's the day I went into the hospital with her! :)

Cute little crying face...

First tub bath

Meeting Santa...

First photo shoot (she cried through about 90% of it - poor Renee!)

The Holy Family at the Christmas Eve service!

Christmas Morning!

First road trip to Mum-Mum and Pops's house on Christmas Day (look for Hadley in the mirror, just to the left of Gregg's ear! You can see her little head!)

One month old at Great Aunt Sandy's house for the family Christmas party!

Hadley's Birth Story!

Ok, MIL is getting some Hadley time, so here is your birth story!!! :) Sorry, my kitty dying is intermingled with this story because it's part of the day's events.

On the morning of Black Friday (November 26th), I woke up around 2:30 AM with contractions. They weren't painful, but were coming at regular intervals between 7-20 minutes apart. I went downstairs and watched TV, etc so I wouldn't keep Gregg up. After a bit, I realized that I hadn't yet seen my kitty that day - she was not looking good the night before (breathing funny & just not being herself) & I actually cried at that time (Thanksgiving night) because something in me just told me it was the beginning of the end. I checked her usual spots & couldn't find her anywhere. I laid back down on the couch for a while, read, watched TV, etc & for some reason, though to check for her in the basement. As soon as I saw her lying on the concrete (something she would never normally do) and she didn't respond when I said her name (I didn't get close enough), I knew that she was gone. I was so, so sad. She was only 7 years old & she was a dating anniversary gift from Gregg for our 2nd anniversary. It was around 4:30 AM at this time & I ran upstairs to Gregg & woke him up: "Baby - um, two things...I think Faithy died and I'm in labor" - according to him, that was not the way he had planned on waking up that morning.

He went down into the basement and confirmed that she was gone & then texted his mom & dad so that they would call when they woke up. I continued with contractions throughout the morning until his dad called back. They were shocked at the news of Faithy passing & his Dad came over to take care of her. I wanted to see her to get some closure, but her eyes were open (according to G) and they could not be shut again, so I didn't get to see her. We drove over to G's parents' house & she was buried in their "pet cemetary" behind their house. G had basketball practice, so I stayed at his parents' house and continued laboring while he was gone (yeah, I know, I told him to go to practice...LOL). His mom and one of his sisters (Mel) timed my contractions all morning/afternoon. They were continuing to get stronger throughout the day & definitely becoming more regular. When they were about 7 minutes apart, I texted my mom and told her that I thought it was the real thing (after G's mom felt my contractions in my stomach and confirmed that this was most likely true labor).

We went home & I got showered & then we called the doctor around 3:30 when my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. Gregg had to take the call from the doctor when she returned our call (it goes to the answering service first) because I was busy throwing up. Despite the fact that my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart at this time, they told us to wait an hour and then leave for the hospital. My contractions were definitely stronger at this point & I was SO upset that we weren't able to go to the hospital yet. I was face-down on my exercise ball with a heating pad on my back, or with G rubbing my back constantly. We determined that my parents were about an hour away, so we waited for them to get there & then we left immediately.

The car ride was not a fun one & it seemed to take forever with lots of curvy, windy roads, despite the fact that it was only about 25 minutes. When we got there around 5PM, we went to L&D to get checked in & they told me that I needed to wait in the waiting room because they didn't have room for me. I was SO upset, I'm surprised I didn't cry. I ended up kneeling on the floor in front of one of the waiting room chairs, with my face in the chair, while mom or G rubbed my back and I breathed through all of the contractions, which were gaining in strength and frequency. To make matters worse, there were some annoying kids in the waiting room and I think I remember telling my mom that I was going to kill them - LOL.

After FORTY FIVE MINUTES (5:45pm) of laboring in the waiting room (there were about 4 other pg women there, but none as obviously into labor as I was), I was finally taken back into a triage room. A midwife came in to check me and immediately said, "whoa! We've got an active one - she's 8cm!" We were shocked! I knew the contractions were strong, but I was breathing through them and didn't think they were THAT awful. The doctor came in and I pretty much had to decide on the spot whether I wanted an epidural or not. I told her that I felt really good, but I was worried about the pushing part. She said, "I won't lie, the pushing is intense, but you're really going to feel that part either way" so I decided to tough it out (which is good since the anesthesiologist never got around to seeing me anyway, which they're supposed to do either way). They moved me to an L&D room & checked me again maybe half an hour later (6:30) and I was 9cm. The doctor broke my water & an hour later, I was 10 cm. I really didn't notice a difference in the strength of my contractions until the very end (right before I was checked at 10cm) - the nurse told me that if I felt the urge to push, I should take a deep breath in and breathe out in spurts like I'm blowing out candles - those were the hardest ones by far.

Once I was able to push, it was actually a great relief - fighting the pushing was definitely the worst part of labor. I began pushing around 8:15pm. There was definitely a learning curve in learning how to push, but the doctor and nurse were both great with encouragement & G was there the whole time with my ice chips, rubbing my back. After about an hour of pushing, I started to get really frustrated because I felt like I was doing it wrong or that it should be going faster, but the dr. assured me I was doing an amazing job. I remember both she & the nurse saying that they seriously should have made an educational video about laboring on me because they never ever would have guessed that I didn't have an epidural - I was one of the best "breathe through it" patients they ever saw! They encouraged me to change pushing positions (on my side) and those really helped to bring her down. Just before 2 hours, they switched me back to my back and I knew it must be time because they took off the bottom of my table, put up the stirrups & the dr. put on her gown. About 5 pushes later, I felt her head come out & another push or two came her shoulders & she was out! I did not even feel the "ring of fire" that so many women talk about - I honestly don't remember any pain during the pushing process - it was just exhausting...I think my nerve endings must be dead down there or something! :) And I was so proud of Gregg, he watched the whole thing and didn't pass out or get sick or anything (HUGE accomplishment for him)! Hadley Rebecca Scholl was born at 10:08PM, 19 inches long, weighing 6lb, 8oz! She had dark blue eyes and a little bit of brownish hair. They put her on my chest and it was all just so surreal - I almost felt like it was happening to someone else - some kind of out-of-body experience.

H was whisked away to the nursery (G went along) because they wanted to check her breathing (she was "grunting" a bit), but everything was fine. I delivered the afterbirth & was stitched back up for my 2nd degree tear & then I ended up watching What Not To Wear on TV alone in the room for 45 minutes while G was gone, even though I had asked the nurse to go get my family, which they never did. Our parents, G & H all ended up coming back at the same time and stayed with us until about midnight. I was so glad that both sets of parents could be there to see her right away. Though we hadn't planned on it, we ended up sending H to the nursery that night because we were both so exhausted and needed to get some sleep...of course I couldn't sleep anyway due to worrying about her, plus being on the adrenaline high, but that's a whole different story!

My doctor was amazing throughout the whole thing - before coming to me, she had only had an emergency c-section & then I was her only patient. She sat on the bottom of my bed the entire time - there are about 10 doctors at the practice and if I could have chosen, she would have been the one that I wanted, so I was SO happy when I knew she would be with me.

We texted Becki to tell her the good news and she cried when she heard the name - she said it was just perfect and she couldn't wait to meet her!

In the end, we said it's almost as though Faithy (our kitty) was like our filler baby - one angel left us just as the other came into our lives...