Ryan and Casey plus 2

Poor Meredith has acid reflux.  We dealt with it when Whitney was this age but this seems worse.  She would start screaming around 3:00 in the afternoon and not stop until almost midnight!  Ryan and I had no clue what to do.  We would take her in thirty minute increments because it was too much to handle for long periods of time. After three or four doctor appointments and ten long days of crying and suffering, we finally got her medicine figured out and she started getting some relief. She is now on Zantac and Protonix and takes rice cereal in her bottles at night to help with the choking and gagging when she is laying down.  I had to cut out soy and dairy from my diet and stay away from foods that typically make me suffer with my reflux problems.  (pork, red meat, lemonade, tomato sauce......).  It is challenging but nothing we can't handle and it if makes her happy then we will do it. These pictures show the many different ways we tried to ...

We could not believe how much Meredith looked like Whitney when we were in the hospital.  Below are both of their pictures when they were newborns, so hard to even tell them apart!!!!  We notice a difference now that Meredith is awake more but people have also been saying just how much they think she looks like Ryan.  I see it too, in both girls actually. And the last two pictures are the girls within the first six weeks.  Whitney is in the pink and Meredith is in the white!

I was actually allowed to go home Sunday evening after only one night in the hospital, which I didn't think was going to be possible because of the drug testing issue.  But they got it all straightened out and we were on our way home around 5:00 p.m. Sunday evening. Its funny looking back to how scared we were driving home with Whitney and how I sat in the back to make sure she was okay.  Meredith was back there with Whitney, two adults in the front as if nothing were out of the ordinary ha!.....Second child syndrome right? The first few days went by quickly.  Whit was a HUGE help and loved holding her sister, getting us diapers or burp cloths when needed.  We were all just very tired obviously so we spent time catching up on sleep when we could and Daddy took Whitney on some special dates to keep her occupied! Then Wednesday hits!  It wasn't a good day.  I think the exhaustion caught up with us and it all hit the fan.  It started with Mer...

Well her umbilical cord finally fell off so it was time for her very first bath.  She was not a fan.  I am happy to report though that she likes it now and doesn't cry!!!  So much easier to bathe a little newborn that just lays there then a squirmy little three year old by the way haha! Of course Whitney had to take a bath in the baby tub because Meredith did.....that didn't last long though because she could barely fit!

Well it finally happened!!!  We were induced early Saturday morning, July 19th and before lunchtime she was here!! Meredith Lee, middle name after my grandma Shirley Lee, was born at 10:49 A.M.  She weighed 7 lbs 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.   It was a very fast labor and I actually had to wait an hour for my doctor to come before I could push.  I was feeling terrible with contractions and as soon as I got my epidural I felt incredible pressure.  The nurse checked and sure enough I was 10 centimeters and she was ready to come out.  The nurse actually said, "if you feel like a bowling ball is trying to come out....call me right away and do no push unless I am in the room!"  Comforting ha.  Not sure what took the doctor so long but it was hard to keep her in there! Going back to the night before, I was very sad because we obviously tried to be induced the day before but it didn't happen.  I was sad I didn't have a baby but ev...