Picture day: October 6 - 10

We took a trip to a local farm on Tuesday. "Yee-haw!" said Arabella. She looked like a genuine country girl 😍. The only thing we were missing was a cowgirl hat! 

We were in search of some pumpkins, and this particular farm is always the best place to go. It has all kinds of activities for kids too, like a barnyard zoo, a corn maze, wagon rides, bouncer castles, a playground - you name it! It's also a great place to snap a few photos!

The weather was fantastic. We made sure to soak it in...

So many pumpkins to choose from..."Which one should we get Belle?"

We grabbed the biggest one we could find. It actually weighed more than Arabella! 

But maybe we'll carve it closer to Halloween, and that way it won't rot too soon...

So if you count Arabella, we ended up taking home two pumpkins that afternoon! 😉

"Well that was fun, wasn't it? We should do this again next year, and the year after that!"

Belle had a pretty good week...but they're all good weeks in our books.

 

She's been getting a lot better at tummy time. She's holding her head up for longer periods of time these days, and that's a relief because we were worried about her for a while.

Walks around the neighbourhood are my favourite. Everyone gets a dose of fresh air, and we all get to break away for a moment 😊

The days and weeks continue to pass by so quickly. Thanksgiving came and went in the blink of an eye. Before you know it we'll be looking ahead to Christmas...

Kiera's already talking about the Christmas tree. Each year she demands that we put it up right after Remembrance Day. I imagine that this year won't be much different!

Arabella's such a sweetheart. We're so lucky to be her parents!

Happy Thanksgiving

We would like to wish everyone a wonderful, relaxing, and joyous Thanksgiving! Here in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving six weeks earlier than in the US - but both countries' approach to the national holiday are very similar.

Today we celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the past year. To me, Thanksgiving is mainly about family and togetherness. Oh, and who can forget about turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce...all of those yummy things! Mmm...

Delicious food aside, Kiera and I have a lot to be thankful for this year. We're thankful for our wonderful family here in Canada and abroad, we're thankful for our friends who have supported us over the years, our neighbours, coworkers, the extraordinary hospital staff (especially the nurses) who took such care of us and our precious Arabella, and the entire community of people (you guys!) who have helped us get through this year. We couldn't have done it without you guys.

We've received so much help this year that it has truly surprised us. Our faith in humanity was restored simply based on all of the acts of kindness that came our way. And boy, was there a lot of kindness! Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Above all, we have to thank the Good Lord for all of these blessings. And we have to thank Him for one very special blessing in particular...

This 11 pound Butterball we call our daughter 😄. We're grateful and so blessed to have her with us to celebrate this day. 

So from our family to yours, may the good things of life be yours in abundance, not only at Thanksgiving but throughout the coming year. May your home be filled with laughter, joy, and happiness.

Love Dan, Kiera and Arabella
💗

Picture day: October 1 - 5

The adventures of Naked Baby continue 😁

"Did you miss me?" says Arabella.

Personally, I miss coming here to blog every night like I used to. And do you know what else I miss? Getting more than 4 hours of sleep! 

Belle thinks that's funny.

Since Kiera and I decided to both sleep through the night (and avoid the shift-work) we have been absolutely exhausted. This last week has been especially rough. But it comes with the territory, right? 

"Dad, what did you expect? You have a baby on your hands!"

I know, I know...I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm missing the shift-work a little bit. Although the sleep wasn't the greatest after 6am, at least it was uninterrupted. It also gave Kiera a chance to be at 100% the following day. But hey, it was unrealistic going forward. We just can't keep it up forever...

So now we're perpetually tired, and there's nothing we can do about it. Either Arabella wakes us up, or we're up for one of her night time feeds. And around and around we go. 

But it's all worth it. As grumpy as I am in the morning, I'll never complain for more than a minute (Kiera might say otherwise, though) 😄

This little girl is worth everything!

"Let's go Arabella! It's time to go outside!"

You might hear me complain about the lack of sleep, but I certainly can't complain about the weather. It has been great walking weather, and we've taken full advantage 😊

I don't remember the last time Kiera and I have walked so much!

Arabella's been fascinated with her tongue lately...

She's exploring her tongue, her hands, her face...she's doing it all...

She'll touch and feel her ear, she'll poke herself in the eye, she'll put her finger up her nose, and she'll even shove her entire hand in her mouth sometimes...all in the name of 'exploration'!

She's getting good at tugging on her cannula and feeding tube, too. Kiera and I have to keep replacing or adding tape more frequently to hold everything in place.

Do you remember all of the hair she used to have on her forehead (from the sugar drugs)? Well, in the last few weeks the hair has completely disappeared!

We won't need to wax her forehead after all! 

Just kidding Belle, that was never an option - and you know it! 😄

As tired as we are these days, we'll never stop having fun...

And whenever Arabella is cranky, all we have to do is sing a song and she immediately calms down. It works every single time! She just loves a good tune!

This week we ran out of songs to sing, so we randomly started singing the Canadian and American national anthems, and they worked like a charm!

So if it's getting late and you hear "Oh Canada!" coming from inside our home, you'll know that we have a cranky Arabella on our hands!

We still haven't had any success with the bottle. Sadly, there has been no progress...

It's a bummer, but we're still attempting to give her the bottle during the day. At least we try. Unfortunately, Arabella rarely lets us get the nipple inside her mouth. 

Lately we're exclusively feeding her breast milk to see if it gets us anywhere. We've eliminated the formula in hopes that she digests everything faster. So far we've noticed that Belle is less uncomfortable (and less gassy), so maybe over time she'll feel a lot better and we'll start to see some changes. 

We're not holding our breath, though...

We took a trip to the feeding clinic this week and the dietitian and OT were just as stumped as we are.

They got to witness it first-hand. Belle kept her lips firmly sealed. 

There's no question that Arabella loves her soother. She can suck without any problems. But when it comes to the bottle she doesn't want any part of it.

Belle was listening attentively to the dietitian's advice (and ignoring all of it, I'm sure!)

Everything they suggested at the clinic, though, we've already tried or are already trying. We didn't really leave with any new insights or information...

It just reinforced our belief that parents know best. Parents see it all, don't they? We're already on top of things, we're doing our research, and we're doing our own trials and experiments. Even the professionals don't know Arabella's situation like we know it. With every new appointment we have to retell the same old story, too. And everyone seems to be merely speculating. Maybe it's time we stop going to these feeding clinic appointments altogether? I don't know.

At least hockey season is back in full swing 😃

I know I come here to rant sometimes, but really, I have nothing to complain about anymore. I almost feel bad complaining these days because Arabella is doing so great overall. Sure, we have our little issues and hurdles, but they're so insignificant compared to before. 

Everyday I look at Arabella and I thank God that she's here with us. I kiss her constantly to the point that I annoy her sometimes. Dadda can't stop kissing her. I love her so very much. Can you imagine that we were so close to losing her? And now she's here, smiling back at us. 

I'm really happy where we are right now. I wouldn't change it for the world 😊

Picture day: September 26 - 29

These last few days have been quite memorable. 

Arabella's been extra sweet and playful, and mom and dad have enjoyed every last second with her. 

We can never get enough of those precious smiles...

Earlier this week the weather was phenomenal. It was almost too hot at times, so we walked mostly in the mornings and later in the afternoons (when the sun wasn't beaming down so much). 

Oh, how I love our walks. It's become one of my favourite things to do as a family. 

On the hot days, we would take breaks in the shade. Belle would continue sleeping, and we would drop the top on the stroller. It generally felt like summer all over again, and it was glorious. 

I'm really going to miss this beautiful weather once it's gone...

And sure enough, towards the end of the week the weather got cooler, and we started to spend more time indoors. 

See you next year summer weather...please don't be gone for too long? 😕

We're keeping in mind what the developmental follow-up clinic had told us - more side playing, encouraging rolling, and as much tummy time as possible.

The only thing that stands in our way are Arabella's feeds (that we continue to give every 3 hours). The feeds put a pause on playtime and activities, since Belle tends to throw up if she's too rambunctious. Feed time must be much calmer, with a good book or a toy to keep her occupied. 

Kiera and I used to work shifts during the night (like we did while we were in the hospital). I used to stay up until 6am (in order to let mom sleep uninterrupted) but over the last few weeks we've totally changed our schedule. Now we're both going to bed with Arabella starting at 8pm. We're forcing ourselves to sleep when she sleeps, and we're waking up for the 9pm, 12am, 3am and 6am feeds. It's been the biggest change for us so far, and it's something we're still getting used to. 

We tried eliminating the 3am feed last week, but the lost volume would need to be distributed among the other bottles, and that's something that Arabella can't handle at the moment. The more volume that she takes in, the more she throws up. 

Arabella rubbing her eyes in the early morning...

"Oh, hello there!"

At our pediatrician appointment this week, we carefully looked at Arabella's weight, and we found that she's growing at a decent pace. She's still very small for her corrected age, but she's growing proportionately, and that's great news if you consider everything.

She's still throwing up more than usual, though, so the outfits and blankets are constantly being thrown in the wash. "It's typical baby stuff", we tell ourselves. Throwing up is just part of the game. 

If she kept her hands out of her mouth, maybe she wouldn't throw up so much (she gags herself a lot) - but what can you do? You can't keep her gloves on at all times, because that would mean restricting her hands throughout the entire day! She needs her hands to explore and feel the world around her, right?

Overall, we're trying to get into a good routine now, so that when I go back to work in January we're ready for it. The night time feeds are definitely a challenge, since a feed can take an hour (or more) from start to finish, but we're getting used to it. 

Kiera and I take turns waking up for the feeds (which are all done by gravity bag) - but in reality, we're both waking up because we're both in the room. It's not the end of the world, though. We've learned to operate on 4-5-6 hours of broken sleep 😄

At around 7:30pm every night we give Arabella a bath, and right after we place her into bed and attempt to lay down with her. 

Every night it goes - bed, bath, and beyond 😉

Sleep tight you little Tinkerbell. You've got mom and dad both under your spell 😊