2 Months In A Flash

I cannot believe we are now 2 months into this mommy thing.  My sweet baby has been with me for 2 months and it I cannot imagine our lives without her with us.  She is smiling and cooing at us and I couldn't ask for any better.  She is sleeping about 6-7 hour stretches at night in her crib.  We got to visit my job and it was so great to see my students and colleagues after having Kendal.  Everyone was so sweet!  Next we have to visit daddy's work.  God saw fit to allow me to be able to be home with my angel until August of this year.  I am so very thankful to be able to spend this time with Kendal and be available to my family.  I thought I would be ready to go back to work by the time she was 8 weeks old but I can honestly say I am not! We will be working with a budget for the next couple of months...YIKES...but we will never have this time again and so I will enjoy it while it lasts.

Getting ready for church!!

I gave up breast feeding because I couldn't keep up with Kendal's feeding desires.  Well, now she is completely on formula and I noticed that she was very uncomfortable when she would poop.  I mentioned this along with the fact that she has a rash on her entire body and she decided to test her for a milk allergy.  This consisted of providing a stool sample and testing her poop.  And of course my sweet angel has a milk allergy.  So we were told to switch to another formula called Nutramigen.  We had a bit of sticker shock purchasing our first can of this $40 formula but as we weened her off of the other formula and onto our new formula, she relaxed like none other.  If this is what I have to pay for my baby to feel better, I can do it.  She seems to be fine with the formula now and we hope that she grows out of the milk allergy.  

We have our 2 month appointment this week and I am so dreading this visit.  She gets 2 shots and I know she is going to scream when she gets them.  When she got her 1 month shot, she cried like I have never heard her cry before.  It was a painful cry that made my inside cringe.  I tried to hold it together while the nurse was in the room but once she left, I broke down.  I am tearing up thinking about it now because I hated to hear her cry like that.  It took me at least 15-20 minutes to gather myself and walk out of the office. Kendal was over it and I was still sad.  I chalk it up to baby blues but I told Mr. Wonderful that he will have to accompany me to future visits where she gets shots because I can't handle it on my own.  I will let  you know how this appointment goes after I peel myself off of the floor once she gets the shots this time.  

This month has been quite the trying time for my family.  As I stated in my last post, my sweet sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and she is now undergoing some intense chemotherapy sessions. She will have 6 rounds of chemo and then a double mastectomy followed up with 6 weeks of radiation.  She is in the fight of her life and she will be victorious in the end.  In the grand scheme of things, any sadness or pity I have about my circumstances are nothing compared to the fight my sister has to undergo right now.  She is 34 years old and has two sweet girls who need her just as much as she needs them but she doesn't always have the energy to help them.  My parents have been wonderful in picking up the load with the girls when my sister is too tired.  Mr. Wonderful and I try to be there, too, as much as we can but we can't be there as much as we would like.  I cannot say enough about my sister's friends and my in-laws for pitching in as well.  My sister's best friend went with her to her chemo treatment and my sister-in-law was gracious enough to pick up the girls and entertain them for the two days following her treatments.  Having support like this is priceless and  humbling and is a reminder that God gives you what you need EVERY time!  I decided to stay off on maternity leave until August and this gives me an opportunity to be available to help where I can.  I pray for my sister every day all day.  I even wish I had an ounce of the bravery she has to endure what she's going through.  She also found out that she has the breast cancer (BRCA) gene which makes her at a high risk for having pre-menopausal breast cancer.  Because she has the gene, it is likely that I could also have the gene and I will be undergoing genetic testing as well.  If I have the gene, it could mean that I will need to  undergo prophylactic mastectomy or hysterectomy to reduce my risk of cancer.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it and all of the implications it has for us to have other children in the future. I just have to keep in mind that there are so many women who go through this who are pregnant and have families and it makes me realize how much I have to be thankful for...even in my darkest hour, there are others who have it worse than me.  And when I think my situation is bad, it could always be worse.  Please continue to pray for us as we battle through this phase in our lives.