Happenings

Hi everyone. Yes, we are still alive. Sorry I've sort of been MIA the last few weeks. To be honest, things are still rough here at our house. Things seem to be getting worse with our little princess. She has been sleeping better at night but screams cries for a good portion of the morning, afternoon and night. We've tried everything and her doctor is working with us to figure it out. Now she is on the formula Neocate. Which costs about $60 a can. Yup, you read that right. We are working with the insurance company to get it a little cheaper because the doctor said she has to have it. So there's some form he can fill out. We are still trying to figure out her stomach issues. But what concerns us most is her cry. It's a pain cry not a regular "baby cry." We just know that she is hurting!  Today she had an ultrasound of her belly at the hospital. They found two hemangiomas on her liver. Which the doctor said shouldn't cause pain and is nothing to worry about. As I mentioned before, our sweet girl has a pretty large hemangioma on her back at the base of her neck. They are common in low birth weight babies, especially girls. And they usually grow and they go away by their first birthday. Samantha's has grown pretty large and it just looks like it hurts. The doctor originally said that it doesn't hurt her, but now it's ulcerating (breaking/scabbing over) and it's definitely causing her pain :( I don't know if there's ever been a time where I have picked her up and she hasn't cried out. It's in a bad spot. So once we get her stomach issues straightened out, the doctor is going to have us see a specialist about the hemangioma. They usually don't treat it on babies this young. But we are so beside ourselves over constantly seeing our girl in pain. For now all we can do is put A&D ointment on. It's been a really hard and stressful time. We love our baby girl so much. There have been a few times this week where we have both broken down and cried because we just want her to feel better. And still no real smiles from her. Which I'm thinking, if she's in pain most of the time, of course she isn't going to smile. But that's another thing I've been worrying about her developmental milestones. We are hoping this new formula works and that the doctors can help her with the hemangioma.  I can't stand to see her hurting anymore....

The last time (last week) when we were at the doctors she was 7lbs 10oz. So she is quickly approaching the  8lb mark! :) Preemie stuff doesn't fit her anymore but some newborn stuff is too big still! Depends on the brand. Lately, she's really been loving laying up on her Daddy's shoulders. It's pretty cute. And something else I love is when I have her over my shoulder (burping or cuddling her) she inches her head down to my chest so we are skin to skin. It's really sweet :) She's really been focusing a lot more lately on things and I go crazy do silly things trying to make her laugh or smile! :) Guess I'm not that funny.

Here is her birth announcement! I took the pictures and my blog buddy Carlia from nest building 101 designed and edited it! Isn't it so cute? :)

Love this pic too!

And last but not least! Something really amazing happened this weekend. Could this be any more awesome?  Nope! 

My lovely friend E and her husband finally got their miracle through adoption! I'm just so happy for them!