Introducing Alana (by kelli)
And I thought it was hard to keep up with this blog when I only had ONE kiddo!?!? I am typing this one-handed while Alana naps on my lap and Caden is upstairs napping…. so I may need to just do a bit now, a bit later, and then finish up in a week or two… AT least I am getting started on 7/12/09.
Our daughter, Alana was born via scheduled c-section on May 26, 2009 at 7:51pm. She weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. The entire process was smooth and uneventful. Well- that is not true- it was extremely eventful- as we were lucky to meet our precious little girl. She is a sleepy little one- much more than I recall Caden being. But maybe my memory has faded- it is just hard to believe our active little boy was ever so sleepy. My parents stayed with Caden at the sublet that we were living in at the time for the days I was at the hospital.
Alana has been such a mellow little girl in general! She is almost 7 weeks old now and I am impressed at how adaptable she has been to this world. She sleeps fairly well- waking off and on throughout the night to nurse, but falling back asleep easily. I have been co-sleeping with her so far, so as soon as she begins to squirm and fuss in the middle of the night I am able to nurse her back to sleep quickly. So fortunately I have actually been able to get quite a bit of sleep too.
Now it is July 22 and I am determined to finish this one blog post! At the moment Alana is asleep in her crib! We have been transitioning her to her crib for the past 5 days. Since she is so used to being close to me, the transition has been a slow one. She still ends up co-sleeping with me or us part of the night, but we have her in her crib for some of the night for now. I don’t feel a big rush to get her into her crib. We know she will be our last baby, so I am cherishing all the moments… and I have really enjoyed co-sleeping with her. I do miss Dave though too… he has opted for the couch or futon when we co-sleep, so we can all catch more zzzz-s!
Alana started social smiling at about 6.5 weeks of age, and she has recently been smiling more and more. Her eyes are still blue, although I think they will change to a hazel at some point. There are some blue eyes on my side of the family, but since Dave has brown and I have hazel, I would guess that Alana’s will change.
My mom has continued to come over about twice a week to help out. She has mainly been focused on Caden while I have to focus on Alana, since she is still so Mommy-dependent. Over the past week, my mom has been in Minnesota, so I have called on friends to come over to “see the new house” or “enjoy little Alana”… but they really know they are helping keep me sane by helping out with the juggling of two kids.
I have gotten more confident and able to juggle them both while getting some things done, like taking both kiddos to the store in the afternoon. Alana sleeps as we walk to the store in the double stroller, but she almost always wakes up when we are in line. I wish that would help us move up quicker in the line, but unfortunately it doesn’t. Luckily she calms right back down when we get outside and are on the move to get home. It is amazing how just walking to the grocery store becomes such a feat when you have two little ones!
Last week we had a scare. Alana had a temperature of 101.7. I called the Advice nurse thinking she would have me give Alana some Infant Tylenol and keep track of her temp at home. She instead set up a Doctor’s appointment for that same afternoon. I took Alana in, not thinking it would be a big deal. After measuring her temp a couple times, the MD told me that we would have to admit Alana to the hospital and she would have to stay 1-2 nights! I was shocked. They took a urine sample (poor baby had to have a catheter for a moment so they could collect the urine.) She had to have blood tests and a spinal tap. After 11 hours at the hospital, they released us because Alana’s temp was down and all the tests that came back were fine. I am leaving out many details, but it was an awful experience. 
Although Caden has gotten better with his interactions with Alana, he hasn’t shown too much interest, though I am sure that will change when she becomes more interactive. So far he usually ignores her, unless she is squeaking (or crying, but even a squeak will set him off). Luckily she doesn’t cry or fuss too often, but when she does Caden will demand, “Mama hold the baby, Mama hold the baby…” sometimes while practically crying himself. Often, he will be more upset and louder than Alana. It could seem like he is empathetic, but really I think he just doesn’t like to hear her. He has also become much more of a Daddy’s boy as opposed to the very obvious Mama’s boy that he used to be. He sometimes seems mad at me- not saying goodnight and barely looking at me. It does make me a little sad during those moments, but I do know that it is a phase. The closest he has ever gotten to Alana was when we asked him to hold her hand (like the photo). Besides that the only other “interactions” have been “petting” her hair and giving her a few toys. I look forward to seeing their relationship grow.
I think that is it for now. I apologize that this update is SO long. It would be much better to do many small updates, but I just have a hard time doing that. I hope to update more often, now that I am getting into a little groove here. AND since Alana is getting used to her crib. Until then…