A Few Updates

We have had several follow-up appointments this week, both for Emerson and for me. In my last post, I wrote that I thought I had a stomach bug. It turns out I had a kidney and bladder infection. Fun fun! In addition to appointments for me, we again went to the pediatrician for another weight check. On Monday, Emerson weighed 8 lbs 10 oz. The pediatrician was happy with the progress, and Em is now on her way to gaining weight at a steady rate. We also had a follow-up appointment at the pediatric dentist. Dentist? Sooo, I've kept a few details out of my blog while Grammy and Grandpa have been away on their cruise. With limited communication during the 17 days, I did not want to worry them. Now that they are back, I'll share what else we have been going through the past two weeks. 

After my first lactation appointment on December 3rd, the lactation consultant thought that Em could have a 'tongue tie.' While not extremely common, it is not very rare either. A lot of nursing mothers will experience difficulty with breastfeeding, and the tongue tie will likely be the cause. If the issue is not resolved at birth, it could lead to a speech impediment a few years later. Otherwise, into adulthood, there are usually no side effects. Apparently it is a hereditary trait where the membrane below the tongue restricts movement of the mouth. My mother-in-law thinks that perhaps Boomer had a 'tongue tie' when he was born! For the procedure, we went to Charlotte on December 6th, just a few days after the lactation appointment, to a dentist who commonly performs these 'tongue clippings.' In addition to the site below the tongue, he also saw the need to clip the similar membrane above the upper lip. The procedure is completed with a laser and causes minimal pain or bleeding to the child. It has been just over two weeks since the procedure, and we are seeing improvement in breastfeeding. My subsequent appointments with lactation showed that each time, Em would get more and more from me. We are still giving her a bottle with additional breastmilk after each feeding, but hopefully we can eliminate that soon. For now, I continue to pump about 4 times a day. We also have to do special 'exercises' with Em's mouth and tongue to help her re-learn movements and to prevent incorrect healing of the lip and tongue sites. 

Whew! So that's all out in the open now! We are very excited that Grammy and Grandpa are home. As much as we missed them, I know that they missed us, too! Here are a few pictures that Grandpa took from their travels! Emerson was definitely on their minds :)

Emerson Street - Napier, New Zealand

Emerson Brewery - Dunedin, New Zealand

On Sunday, Boomer and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary! Grammy was home just in time to babysit (Thank you, Grammy!), and Boomer and I had our first date since having Emerson. In the past, we have usually gone away for the weekend: Asheville (1st), Charlotte (2nd), Wilmington (3rd), Williamsburg (4th), and Blowing Rock (5th). This year as new parents, Boomer did a great job planning a fun afternoon and evening for us. We first saw a live matinee performance of White Christmas, one of my favorite Christmas movies. The performance was in Winston-Salem, at the Winston-Salem Theatre Alliance. We had never been there before, but it is a quaint, intimate theater with about 150 seats. Sunday was their last performance after two-weeks of sold-out shows. It was a lot of fun! Then we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, 4th Street Filling Station. Right before we got our entrees, I noticed a familiar face at one of the other tables -- it was one of our delivery nurses! We laughed about how different we both must look outside of the hospital. Like proud parents, we showed her pictures of Em, now 5 weeks old. After dinner, we were back home by 7PM to relieve Grammy and put baby girl to sleep. While not a weekend away, it was still a very special anniversary!

In between appointments, Em and I visited Great-Gma and Great-Gpa and snapped this photo of the four generations. How special it is to have everyone together in Kernersville!

We have a lot of fun things planned over the next few days as we celebrate Christmas. I'm looking forward to having Emerson as part of traditions from this year forward -- and making some new traditions, too!