What a cough!

Well, we should have expected it, a week after traveling Maggie and I are sick! Seana also had a bout with it she just came down with it while in California. Maggie came down with the sniffles on Sunday. I am happy to say the runny/stuffy nose wasn't accompanied by a fever just watery eyes and she was rubbing her face a lot.

So Monday morning I called the pediatric nurse line for instructions. Our instructions were to suck her nose when needed (use Little Noses Saline solution when stuffy) and give Tylenol every 4 hours if needed, we were also instructed to hook up a vaporizer in her room. Seana and I also did a little internet research and we decided to steam Maggie whenever I showered... Seana would sit with her while I took a very hot steam producing shower. We also added eucalyptus oil to the water in our humidifier.

We have learned that Maggie is not a fan of Tylenol, but she will take it if I put a small amount on her pacifier let her suck on it a bit then put on some more until we get through the entire dose... otherwise we get sticky chin from her spitting it right back out. We already knew Maggie didn't like the bulb syringe so we had actually ordered a Nose Frida before our vacation... little did we know it would be so useful. A nose frida is a syringe shaped tube that has a filter then smaller tube with a mouth piece. A mouth piece??? you say. YES! I use my lungs to suck out her boogies!! Well she doesn't like it either but recovers from it much more quickly than the bulb syringe and I like it more because I can see that I am getting results. It is a different approach and not good if you don't want your babies germs but it really works great!

I'm pretty certain I didn't get my cold from the nose frida... I started feeling gunky Monday morning and my symptoms seemed to worsen by Tuesday while Maggie's improved, so with Seana's prompting I called the pediatric nurse line to see what if I could take Mucinex (the expectorant). Which I did and I got the go ahead for using it. In my defense I had been using the Netty Pot and I still am... I wish Maggie could use the nose pot.

Needless to say, we are both still fighting it, Tuesday and Wednesday were my hardest days but I am progressively feeling better... Maggie however seems to have plateaued. She doesn't seem to be getting any better than she was on Tuesday and she has added wet cough to the list of symptoms. It breaks my heart to hear her little cough.

Unfortunately for my sleep schedule Maggie's sleep schedule is all off but I am not too concerned I just want her to rest as much as possible and that is one thing she doesn't seem to be having too much of a problem she has been having some nice long naps.

As of last night we are adding some other holistic options suggested to us for treating her stuffiness. We were told breast milk is better than the Little Noses saline, so we tried it. We used a dropper to put some breast milk into her nose. It seemed to help loosen stuff up. Today we added eucalyptus oil to our shower/steam experience which was quite refreshing and Maggie's nose has been draining ever since!

Hopefully the weekend will bring health with it! I know this cold is not the worse of what we will face as parents but this first cold is unnerving.

Hello Cereal

Maggie just turned 5 months and since she is still waking up through out the night to snack we have decided to introduce her to rice cereal. We ended up giving her her first meal on her birthday February 16th! Its been a couple days now and she is already improving on sleeping longer through the night... I can not complain about her sleeping 7 hours straight one bit!!

We took a little video of her while she ate so enjoy!



After she finished up I guess she still had room because she started licking and sucking on the edge of the table which I didn't catch on video. Seana fed her a bottle of breastmilk to top her off! All in all it went really well. She handles cereal like a champ... granted a messy champ.

Our Trip to Cali!

We just got back from a great visit with Seana's family who live in California. This was Maggie's first big trip which involved flying! Our flight had a connection in Denver, so round trip we had four total flights. Maggie was a great traveling buddy addition! She was fussy from time to time but the duration was short in each instance and she didn't get too loud with it so we count ourselves blessed that this trip we weren't hated by other travelers! However, I must say that we found it funny that while in the airport strangers would smile at Maggie, strangers would say how cute she was... and then magically upon boarding the plane... the smiles disappeared... and were replaced with "Blagh" looks of "Oh God there is a baby on this flight"... not even Maggie's cuteness could save us from the unhappy glances.

Now some pics... and more trip details...

Breakfast with a view in Denver while we waited for our connection to Sacramento

Our travel buddy enjoying the ride!



A clip for your viewing pleasures... see babies can be cute on a plane!


Once we landed and got our bags, Maggie got to experience California warmth and sunshine... we put her cool shades to use... they do provide UV protection believe it or not!


Upon arrival to Nana and Grampas house we were all beat and napping was in order! Here Mutti and Maggie catch up on some needed Zzzzzs


Of Course play time was also in order, Maggie had all the comforts of home provided to her by Nana & Grampa!


And boy is that Grampa funny!


Maggie loved grabbing at his face!

They were so cute to watch!


After a couple days of downtime and a wonderful birthday dinner for Seana, we headed down to San Jose to see Aunt Amber and Uncle Patrick and let Maggie meet two of her cousins, Matthew and Mark.

Here Aunt Amber is showing off her niece after her son Mark's basketball game.


Mark enjoying his win with a cookie and Maggie deciding sunglasses aren't her thing for this photo!


Matt and Mark chompin' on some goodies.


Candid shot of Maggie with her Aunt and Cousins.

Our time in San Jose was short lived, we returned to Sacramento... where I took my turn napping with Ms. Maggie... I love their couch, I think we actually have a similar photo of my sleeping on this couch in almost the same position as I am here from my first visit out there... minus the baby of course.

Maggie getting a photo op with her grandparents... California is so beautiful when in bloom, behind them is an apricot tree...everything is so green... and the weather is so nice out even when raining! This photo was taken on the day we were leaving.


On our way back to Indiana, we had another lay over in Denver, this time the lay over was 3 hours so Seana had worked it out with her sister to meet us. Two great things about this, we got to see Heather and Heather got to meet her niece.

She be entertained!

So a couple weeks ago we introduced Maggie to a baby entertainer aka baby exersaucer aka baby play station which has been officially dubbed "the office". She just loves it! And so do I! This thing keeps her busy and happy for a good chunk of the morning... giving me the opportunity to get some things done FINALLY!!! So I send her off to work in her office while I scramble to play catch up. This thing... is so fantastic... so much so I found one on craigslist in California, so she would have it on our trip!

Here are a couple of pictures in her Office.

Looking Cool in her new shades!




Hard at work at the office!


Everyday, Maggie starts her day in the office, she watches her "Your Baby Can Read" Video and then maybe Baby Mozart or Baby Van Gogh while she keeps her hands busy playing with all her toys! Marley also loves when Maggie is in her office... She is at lick level... no more bending down to sneak in a lick!

Marley

Marley [mahr-lee]
-noun

Four legged creature, golden in color; can be found with a Maggie, enjoys holding baby toys in the mouth, mild temperament, and loves licking a Maggie in the face and hands especially when a Maggie has just eaten.