Oh so tired...

It has been an intense, overwhelming, emotional and exhausting few weeks.  I fought the good fight of trying to breastfeed Ava. I was really hoping it was going to work for us.  But, after lots of crying (both Ava and I) - I decided it would be best for both of us to switch over to formula.  So now after getting over that hurdle we are dealing with another -- crazy amounts of gas! Poor little girl is a burping and farting queen.  I just bought some new bottles and some gas drops so I'm hoping that will help.  If not, we'll have to try switching formulas.

Another hurdle we are in the midst of overcoming is thrush.  Both Ava and I got it. Let me just say that it is awful!  It was the reason why breastfeeding was so incredibly painful for me, and probably why she has been super fussy too.  We are on our 2nd medication to try and get it cleared up.  Slowly Ava is getting better, but it may take a full 3 weeks for it to be gone completely.  I'm hoping that the thrush is the reason why she isn't sleeping that great.  And perhaps also the reason why she wants to be held all the time. My poor baby doesn't feel good and wants to be cuddled. I get that, really I do, but its so hard to get anything done when you are constantly holding a baby!  And it's incredibly hard to sleep in the chair in her room. So needless to say we had a lot of sleepless nights in her first two weeks of life!

We are now on week #3 and yet facing another challenge - Jeremy had knee surgery yesterday.  So he has limited mobility at the moment, Brody is still adjusting to life as a big brother, and Ava doesn't want me to sleep!  Luckily Aunt Gail and Uncle Jim came down for a few days to help us.  I can't say thank you enough to them :) . Being able to get 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep was AMAZING. It was a much needed nap and made a world of difference.  And not having to worry about getting Brody off to daycare in the morning, and having that extra time to sleep was a dream come true.  And to top it off, Uncle Jim cleaned and organized my fridge and pantry!! Something that has been on  my to do list for quite some time -- but, just never seems to happen.

Tomorrow Jeremy and I are off to see his doc to talk about next steps.  And our fabulous neighbor Marie is going to watch Ava for us.  We are so lucky to have her and her husband Jiri as neighbors. They have become like family to us. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in our lives.

And now for some of the latest pics of our little girl (photos were taken my my neighbor lauren) -- didn't she do a great job?! :