Mia's 2 month appointment

I can't believe that Mia is already 9 weeks old and had to go in for her 2 month appointment. I was very nervous about all the vaccines that she would have to get. I really can't believe that they give so many shots to such small babies!!

Jeremy and I always make a bet and try to see who can guess Mia's weight. Jeremy won with his guess of 11 pounds 8 ounces because Mia weighed in at 11 pounds 5 ounces. I had guessed over 12 pounds because when she makes me hold her ALL day, that's how much she feels like she is! The doctor said that she's growing well and on track with all the amazing things a 2 month old should be able to do.

Mia got 2 shots and an oral vaccine and afterwards, she slept the WHOLE day. Poor baby! We also had to give her some tylenol because she was fussy and we were worried about the painful effects of the shots.

New things she's doing these days: She can hold her head up longer, she tracks objects and peoples faces that move in front of her, she bats at toys that hang from her play mat, she sleeps in her own crib (HUGE accomplishment!! WOOHOO!), and she has discovered her hand. She is constantly sucking on her hand especially when she's tired and she licks everything! She'll lick my shoulder when I'm holding her. I know some people are against their kids sucking their hands or thumbs, but we're happy that Mia has something to soothe herself since she is unable to hold a pacifier in her mouth.

Mia's lip surgery is scheduled for October 12th so please keep her in your prayers!!

Mia's Lip Surgery

Our baby Mia has quite the personality. She's generally a very easy going baby, but boy does she get feisty when she doesn't get what she wants!! When she's hungry, she turns into a monster!! She grunts and screams until a bottle is in her mouth! When falling asleep, she wants to be held and the person holding her MUST be standing and walking around. If I sit while holding her, she will kick her legs until I stand up. Here's a picture of our sweet, but feisty baby!















Mia's lip surgery has been scheduled for October 12th. The surgery will be about an hour and half and while they are doing the lip surgery, the ENT doctor will also be putting tubes in her ears because she has fluid there right now. We will be spending the night there and will be able to go home when Mia is able to show that she is able to feed. Hopefully the recovery won't be too painful for her.

We're excited for Mia and this surgery, but at the same time, as strange as it may sound, we're going to miss her cleft lip. That's the way that we've known her and that's the way that she was born. We don't see it as something that needed to be "fixed", but we know that in the long run, the surgery is what is best for her.

ENT Appointment

Just wanted to update on how our little one is doing...She has officially hit the 10 lb. mark. We went to the Ear, Nose, & Throat doctor today and when they weighed her, she was 10 lb. Personally, I think she's a little less than that because she had her clothes on and a REALLY full diaper! =) We're so happy that she's growing well and plumping up!

We went on our very first long outing yesterday to the outlet malls and I have to say that she did remarkably well! She only cried when she was hungry and seemed to enjoy the trip! I can't believe how much preparation it takes to get a little baby out the door, but it was worth it to get some fresh air and some cute outfits for our Mia baby!

It's very common for cleft babies to have fluid in their ears and need ear tubes put it to prevent infections and help with hearing. Our ENT doctor will be putting the tubes in during her lip surgery in a few months. We did some preliminary testing today and will retest her hearing after her surgery.

Please continue to pray for our Mia and we'll update everyone when her lip surgery gets scheduled!

Here's another picture of our beautiful Mia:














Her hair has grown much more since this picture was taken. No matter what we do, I sticks straight up!

Mia is so strong

Chunky Monkey!

Mia takes after her mother and is quite the eater! We're so happy to share that Mia is feeding amazingly. All babies will lose weight after they are born and doctor's will generally give about 2 weeks for them to get back to their birth weight. In the 11 days Mia has surpassed her birth weight and has gained 5 more ounces! Her skinny chicken legs will be a thing of the past! =) She came out of the hospital eating 35 mL of milk and now is drinking 75-100 mL of breastmilk each feeding!! The doctors have told us that she needs to be at least 10 pounds to be ready for her first surgery. So please pray for continual growth!

Here's one of our favorite feeding pictures...Here's Mia getting ready to feed:

Visits to the doctors...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. An the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philipians 4: 6-7

Ever since Mia was born, we've been so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by professionals who are so knowledgeable. From the moment she came out lactation consultants were at our side helping Mia to feed. Because of her cleft, she uses a special bottle called a Haberman feeder which allows me to press milk into her mouth as she sucks. We were then visited by the Craniofacial Clinic from Atlanta Children's Hospital who helped us to better understand Mia and the treatments that she would be receiving.

This clinic is renown for their work with cleft surgeries and has a unique practice where Mia will receive all the care that she needs from this one clinic. She is able to see a feeding specialist, a dietician, a plastic surgeon, a dentist, an orthodontist, and speech therapist all in the same office.

Today we had the meeting with the plastic surgeon who looked at her mouth and has tentatively set a time frame for Mia's surgeries. Mia will have her lip repaired at 3-4 months (this fall) and this will be cosmetic with some gum work done. Then at 6-9 months (next spring) Mia will have her palate repair surgery (The inside of her mouth). Dr. Burnstein has done over 8,000 surgeries and really reassured us that Mia will have an easy recovery and that she will have a wonderful outcome!

Back from the doctor's office!!

Life as a Parent

The second night that we were in the hospital, we saw a glimpse of what it might be like to take a newborn home. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that our new daughter had quite the lungs...she proceeded to cry and scream on the top of her lungs ALL NIGHT. Jeremy and I got only 30 minutes of sleep. As Jeremy put it, it was like someone took our sweet, quiet, sleeping baby and replaced her with a different baby at night.

There was a moment of sheer panic when she was crying on the top of her lungs while I tried to prepare her bottle and I opened her diaper to find it overflowing with poop. Then in her hysteria, Mia proceeded to kick her feet into the poop! What to do first? Finish preparing the bottle? Wipe the poop? Cry? I thought I was going to faint from exhaustion and panic.

Since coming home, the first two nights were also filled with delirium. I felt like I was on this high during the day, but at night it was as if I was sleep walking!! After the first few nights, we figured out that she was crying because the poor sweet girl was not getting enough to eat! Now she's an eating, sleeping, pooping monster!