A Fresh Start

Honestly, I completely forgot this blog existed. I, mostly, use my IG account (@chantallefiscus) to share my journey. Lately, I have had a lot on my heart, things I want to say and not enough characters to share my thoughts. Luckily, Google sent me an email (God works like that sometimes!) asking if I wanted to keep the blog active. Ah-ha moment: cue the angelic "ahhhhh" song.

From here on out... I will be sharing recipes, motherhood wins and struggles, and my journey with illness.

I hope you join me on my journey!

-Chantalle

Dear Letti: 4 month

Dear miss Letti,
You are such a ball of light and happiness. You are giggling and rolling over on your own. You had your first ear infection and cold. You are still sleeping in mama's bed 1/2 the night and your rock n play the first 1/2 of the night. We are going to work on transitioning you into your room and crib in the next month or so. Your reflux is still eh. We are just dealing with it right now, hoping you grow out of it soon so you can be more comfortable. You are grabbing at stuff and pulling things toward your mouth. You adore your older sister. You track her everywhere and smile when she talks to you. I love seeing your relationship grow! You love to be read, talked, and sung to. We went and saw Santa after Thanksgiving. We went to Champaign for Thanksgiving and you did great in the car ride!

Dear Colette: 3 Month Letter

Dear sweet Colette,
Your third month went by with flying colors. You are simply a joy to be around. You smile all the time and you started to giggle. Daddy made you giggle first. Mommy tried and tried, but he is funnier than I am, I suppose. You started grabbing the toys on your playgym thing. You also started rolling onto your side and I'm guessing in the next few days you will start rolling onto your tummy all by yourself. You do it now with a little assistance.
You are around 11lbs 2oz. We have had a couple set backs when it comes to your reflux and weight gain, but I think we may have sorted it out because this past week you gained an oz a day!!! You like to sleep with mommy at night and you nurse 1-2x a night. I love the sweet snuggles.

we read stories together at night in Lilah's bed

you are so happy and expressive 

Dear Letti: One & Two Month letter

Dear Letti,

The first month literally flew by and I'm shocked! Where has the time gone? I am combining your first two months into one letter because time just got away from me. I'm learning to adjust to having you and your sister and trying to find our new normal. Its been hard but I wouldn't change it for anything!

You are so easy going and you have such a sweet disposition. You were the smilest newborn I have ever seen! We had a little bit of a rough start... You were coombs positive and developed jaundice. You wore a biliblanket starting day one. By day 3, your bilirubin levels were still climbing, so you were admitted into the NICU for 24 hrs for triple light therapy. We got to come home on day 4! From the very beginning, I had pain when you breastfed. We got you evaluated when you were 11 days old for a lip and tongue tie.  You had both. They were both pretty severe and restricted. We got them revised by Dr. Mindy, who was amazing. We took a family road trip to Morrison, IL to see her because she was a specialist and highly recommended. It was totally worth the trip. You had a bit of a rough recovery and it took us a couple weeks to get the hang of breastfeeding. We had a lactation consultant come to the house a couple times. She helped assure me that I was doing everything right, we just needed to give you some time to heal and learn how to use your tongue. She also recommended that we get you evaluated by early intervention. She thought a speech pathologist could really help you with your oral motor skills. She also noticed some sensory/transition concerns that OT may be able to help with. We got you evaluated at 7 weeks and you qualified for speech, OT, and a nutritionist, who is going to help us with your reflux. We started you on medication for reflux around one month because you were not gaining the amount of weight the dr wanted to see. You are still very uncomfortable but gaining weight spectacularly! We are going to change your medication and see if that helps your symptoms better. I also went on a diet (no dairy, eggs, soy, or nuts) to help you and it seems to be working. Once we get your reflux under control, I'll try to reintroduce foods.

You rolled from your tummy to your back around 6 weeks old, and you have done it on several other occasions. I think you think you are bigger than you are. slow down please!!

You had your real first smile at 5 weeks old. You are a social butterfly. You make the sweetest coo sounds. You make me light up! You are just so easy going, despite everything going on with you. You are just so wonderful! It's amazing to watch you with Lilah. You smile at her and follow her with your eyes whenever shes around. She started sitting by your feet so you can kick her back and Lilah thinks its hilarious. She wants to play with you and she's finding ways :) I know you guys will be best friends, even though you may fight. I'm glad you guys will always have each other.

One Month: 7lbs 8oz, 20.75 in
Two Months: 9lbs 15oz, 22in

First time Lilah met you

4 long days in the hospital

13 days old

 

one month!

Colette Elaine: Birth Story

I was 39 weeks pregnant and the serious prodromal labor started. I say serious because I have had real contractions since about 21 weeks pregnant and was diagnosed with irritable uterus. The contractions never got more intense until 39 weeks and they were not causing changes to my cervix.  Every night I would go to bed saying, if they wake me up, I'll call the midwife. On Wednesday I told Zach I had a feeling I would go into labor on Thursday (my due date was on Saturday). Thursday came and I was having contractions but nothing unmanageable. I made cookies after Lilah went down and we went to bed around 10 pm. 11:30, I woke up with contractions (STILL THURSDAY!) I took a bath to see if I was having false labor and they slowed down a bit. As soon as I got out of the tub, the intensity picked up. By 1am, I was on the phone with the midwife because the contractions had gotten so intense. She told us to come in. We arrived around 3a and we were admitted! I was 4 cm. Lilah had to come with us to the hospital because we couldn't get a hold of anyone to stay with her at the house. Our friend came and got her from the hospital around 4a. We let Zach's mother know that I was in labor and she came up to stay with Lilah while we were in the hospital. I took a shower to try and relieve some of the pain, but nothing really helped. I was nauseous and vomiting and my body wouldn't stop shaking. Around 7a I was still at 4cm. We decided to get an epidural. Around 8:30a, I had the best anesthesiologist insert the epidural! I could still feel everything but the intense pain and nausea went away. I was able to move my feet and legs still. I had to breathe through every contraction. I still felt in control. It was the perfect combo. Letti was rotated along my right side, which put her at a high risk for being born posterior, so we tried some different positions and got her to flip so her back was on my left side. Around 8cm my contractions spaced out a lot, causing some concern. The midwife suggested we break my bag of water to see if we could get the process moving again. we decided to go ahead and break my water since Letti was in a good position and I didn't want to have other interventions. This happened around 11am. It was like the flood gates opened. The midwife left the room to chart and seconds later I was pushing. She ran back in the room, and Letti was born at 11:34a. While I was pushing, Letti was in distress and I had to wear oxygen. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and was blue for a little while after she was born. She was immediately placed on my chest. I said right then and there, Let's do this again! Everything was perfect. I would not have changed a single thing about it.

Colette Elaine Fiscus
Friday, August 14, 2015
11:34a

6lbs 10oz, 20 inches long