The Parks Family: September 2010

Micah is 6 weeks old today and it's hard to decide if it seems like a lot longer or shorter than that. In some ways it's hard to believe he's that old, but at times it seems like forever ago that we were sitting in the hospital watching Dan in Real Life and waiting for our little guy to come out.

Things are settling down at our house and we're really enjoying being a family of 4. Micah is on Nutramigen (hypoallergenic formula) and seems to really be doing well on it. It's helped with his GI issues and we're all thankful for that. On the downside it smells terrible going in, and much worse coming out. But it's worth it for a happy baby.

He's now enjoying bath time a little more, and we love the fresh, clean cuddles we get post-bath.

With baby #2 it's rare to find a time to snuggle together, so it makes those moments all the more special.

I wanted to take a couple of pics to show the color of his hair. You don't notice it as much unless it's clean and in natural light, but it's definitely an auburn color. I love it :)

Sophie and I have been having some fun also. She recently discovered the joys of Nutella.

And here are some pictures from last night - Micah is finally starting to smile, and it is so precious and rewarding!

Yesterday was Micah's 4 week birthday and he celebrated it by getting his first shot. I remember Sophie getting her first shot and she didn't seem to notice it - Micah was not so naive. He let me know that he felt every second of it. But then he slept it off and we're friends again. We got a great report from his doctor - he now weighs 8lb 4oz and is 20.5 inches long. His weight percentile has increased from 8% to 18%, so we're happy that he's enjoying Mommy's milk and growing well. And he should be, because we had a crazy growth spurt last week that had Mommy, Sophie and Micah all in tears one day. But all good things come to and end, and now we're just fine.

Actually, speaking of Mommy's milk, I had a checkup with my cardiologist last week and got some bad news. The echo showed that my heart was weakened by the delivery, and my ejection fraction went down to 45% from 55%, so he wants to get me on some medication to hopefully strengthen it. He said I could continue breastfeeding and we'd do the meds afterward, but when I talked to him about Micah's allergies and my diet, he felt it was best that we get Micah on a formula so I don't lose a lot of weight like I did with Sophie. So over the next few weeks we'll be transitioning Micah to formula. We're going to try soy first in the hopes that he doesn't have the soy allergy - only dairy. But if that doesn't work we'll have to go to a hypoallergenic one. And as far as his allergies go, I really don't know what's going on. I've been off every trace of dairy for 3 weeks, soy for 2 and he's still having lots of issues. So I'm not sure what the deal is, but hopefully we'll quickly find a formula that works and we can all be healthy and happy.

We've had lots of family in town, which has been so great. Micah has experienced no shortage of cuddling from his grandparents. My parents left last Monday, so we were on our own for a week. My dear friend Amber kept Sophie for me one day, which was great for both Sophie and me since Micah was growth-spurting and eating every hour for awhile. It's hard to explain that to a 2-year-old. Then Friday Erik's mom came and was joined by his dad Sunday and Monday. Sophie LOVED playing with them and was a little sad today when Gigi had to leave to go back to AL.

We are so grateful for all the help from our moms (and dads). Now we're on our own indefinitely and ready to tackle this 2 kids thing. I don't know how I ever thought having one baby was hard. But on the upside, it's a lot easier to take everything in stride this time around. And some wonderful women from our church have been bringing delicious food for us, which helps a ton. Thanks!