Heading Back to Crazy?

One of my biggest reservations about getting pregnant again was experiencing postpartum depression again. Women who experience PPD with one child are more likely to experience it with subsequent children. But, as many of my PPD friends say, at least you're prepared to recognize the symptoms earlier and deal with them.

Lila has been an extremely easy baby. She has an excellent disposition and sleeps fairly well for a nearly two-month-old babe. However, about two weeks ago she caught a minor head cold. She was so congested that she couldn't really eat or sleep well for a week. That means that I didn't sleep well. To top it all off, Nate had his vasectomy performed in the middle of this chaos. I was doing double duty on less sleep. At least my friend Jayne was in town to help out!

This all added up to some minor anxiety last weekend. It was bad enough that I couldn't sleep well. Luckily, I had spoken with my OB about my history with PPD and requested a backup of anti-depressants. I figured having them in the house would make me feel better. I'm really happy that I had that foresight.

The anxiety has decreased in the past week (thanks to some good sleep) and I've decided to take the anti-depressants for the next few months. I'm hoping to avoid another case of the crazies. As long as I can get through the next two months and continue to get decent sleep, I think I can make it. Here's hoping that I'm not heading back to crazy!

Lila: One Month

Lila will be two months next week. This photo is a little old, but I figured I might as well post it. She is MUCH bigger now. A chunky little monkey!

October

The Cutest Dinosaur ... Ever

Halloween 2010

Who Needs Sleep?

Since last Tuesday Lila has thrown me for a loop on her sleep patterns (or lack thereof). She has been such an easy baby up to this point. Sleeping well, eating well, not crying much. Last Tuesday she must have gotten a minor cold and had some pretty awful congestion. On Tuesday it was bad enough that she couldn't eat or sleep very well and only took small catnaps during the day. She didn't sleep well through most of the weekend either.

Yesterday was the most challenging. Lila slept pretty well in the morning, but was up from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. She took a short nap and then was up from 7:30 until about 9:30. She was pretty upset too. Nate thinks it was gas. I'm not so sure. Long story short, it was a bear to get her to fall asleep last night.

But today she's done nothing but sleep! She slept in until 8:30 and has woken up briefly to eat throughout the day. She's a cutie, but this sleep thing is throwing me off! I just keep reminding myself that she will sleep better at some point! It may take a few months, but we'll get there!

The Name Explained

I want to post more photos of Lila, but Nate forgot our camera at work, so I have to wait until Tuesday to upload more pictures. We have some great ones of Halloween! Such a fun night.

In the meantime, I thought I would explain Lila's name. Many people have commented that it's a beautiful name. And it is. But Lila Marie is also very special to us.

Lila is Arabic for night. Marie is English for bitter. We didn't choose the names for their meanings. Nate's grandma's name is Lila and my mom's middle name is Marie. Lila is named after two of the most amazing women in our lives.

While I'm explaining names, I'll also explain Benny's name: Benjamin Jasper Brown. Nate's mom passed away six months before Benny was born. It breaks my heart that she never got to meet her grandchildren. We decided that we wanted to use her initials, BJB, for Benny. Benjamin was the only "B" name we could agree to. We spend part of our honeymoon in Jasper National Park in Canada.

I felt strongly that our kids have meaningful names. I am happy that they are named after three strong women who have influenced our lives in profound ways.

In other news, Lila is now SIX weeks old! She's gaining weight like crazy and already has rolls on her thighs and has a double chin! Lovely little Lila!