Slumber Party!

Brenna had her first official slumber party with her friend Jacy this weekend. Our friends the Simmers had some bad luck with air conditioning and stayed with us for a couple of nights. Although Brenna mostly slept during the slumber party (she wasn't very entertaining for Jacy), they had fun! The other major activities included crying, eating and watching Jake and Scruffy (the dogs) chase each other around the house. All in all - a great party!

Brenna's day out

Well, Brenna is sleeping much better these days. The fussiness still continues, but we are all hanging in there. Attached is a picture of one of our calming techniques - the swing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it's just not enough! Yesterday was a very exciting day. We had a visit to Dr. Beals (the surgeon who will repair her cleft lip/palate), went to the County Attorney's Office to visit mommy's work friends and went to a restaurant for the first time!

The visit with Dr. Beals went well. He was very positive about her repairs, indicating that her lip will be easily repaired since it has a small section that is already connected. She will not need the obturator (the prosthetic palate that may have been needed) because of this connection under her nostril. They gave us the time frame of 4 months indicating that surgery on her lip would be done sometime in January. They explained that it will be an outpatient procedure and that she should be able to eat with the Haberman Feeder almost immediately out of recovery! So, stay tuned for updates. We'll be seeing Dr. Beals again in a few months for a pre-op appointment and will know more then.

To sleep or not to sleep?

Lately, it seems the answer is not to sleep. Brenna has made mommy and daddy the parents of a colicky baby! It comes on suddenly and makes us all nervous wrecks (not to mention tired too). The doctor says to try gas drops or colic tablets for a few days and if they don't work - it's on to soy formula. So, we're just waiting to see how she responds. Here is a picture at one of her more pleasant times!

Lost the Stump!!

I know this may not seem like exciting news to everyone, but it is a little milestone for Brenna! Yesterday evening, Grandma Harvey was changing Brenna's diaper and found the little umbilical cord stump wandering around in her onesie. So far, it looks like she'll have an innie =) Now she can be submerged in the water for a bath instead of fighting with mommy and the soapie washcloth like she had to before this picture. Hopefully those baths will be a bit more pleasant!

Oh Baby!

Brenna Lee Harvey made her appearance at 3:59 am on August 2, 2005!! She weighed in at 8 lbs, 1 oz and measured 22 inches long (we've since learned that she's not quite that long, more like 20 1/2 inches). Mom and dad are getting used to little sleep - especially between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am (that's when Brenna likes to party) but are loving every minute of having precious Brenna around.

As expected, she was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate and will have surgery to correct both once she is strong enough. We have the first appointment with the surgeon, Dr. Stephen Beals on August 24th and will learn more then. The lip will be repaired first - when she is between 3 - 6 months old. The palate will be repaired later - when she is between 6 - 12 months. So far, she is doing well and has pretty good sucking abilities (which was a concern initially). We use a special bottle called a Haberman Feeder to feed her and she does pretty well with it. Otherwise, she is a normal, healthy baby girl who keeps our hands full!