Beulah's First 12 weeks

Beulah is 12 weeks old. I can't believe it! As I was putting away her newborn sized clothes, I was amazed at how TINY she was and how much she's grown! She's around 12 lbs now and growing!

We've decided that she has her daddy's facial features with my facial muscle structure and shape. She is very expressive, like me, crinkling her eye brows and nose. As you can see from the pictures and video below, she's got such a happy disposition and a smile that will melt your heart. The only time she's not smiling is when she has gas pain. Seriously, she even smiles in her sleep (see pics)! And, in the middle of the night when I change her diaper and put her back down, she's always flashing smiles. I think it's her way of trying to get me to stay up and play...tempting!

Speaking of playtime, she loves her floor gym, especially the hanging monkey. She laughs at him, the hanging bumblebee on her swing, and the ceiling fans. I caught her having a riveting conversation with the bee the other day. Too cute! She doesn't like tummy time too much, but loves her daily anatomy lesson. I start at her toes, and with my silly voices I tickle and name her body parts. As soon as I start, she starts grinning. We also say our ABCs and count while I work her legs doing the bicycle. This helps with her gas too. Fun and functional!

Beulah loves baths. One night she was pretty fussy, but needed a bath. The minute we put her in the warm water, she stopped fussing and started smiling! Bingo! Now we know! We've recently discovered that she has another comfort (besides baths, nursing or the paci), her snugglie. It's a miniature blanket with the silk edges that we all loved as kids. Her "Aunt" Carrie sent it for her, and we're so glad she did! It says "Miracle" on it. :) She loves to hug it and sometimes chew on it when she's tired. Personally, I'm hoping she'll find her thumb soon so that she won't keep waking herself up when the paci falls out of her mouth.

Recently we've been trying to work her towards a manageable schedule. She is super alert and doesn't like to nap. So, I've been trying to be diligent about having her nap in her crib with the lights low and the sound machine on like at night. But, I haven't quite been able to put her down awake and let her put herself to sleep yet. I am much more of a wimp than I thought I would be! Ugh! We try to include books and a song in our routine. I've heard that if you sing the same song each time it will trigger her sleep memory, so I have altered the words to the old church song "Beulah Land" to say, "Beulah Grace, I'm thankful for you. And through life, I'll hold your hand. Child, my love shall be eternal. Beulah Grace, sweet Beulah Grace."

She has the funniest sleepy time routine. First, she starts talking. (I wonder if this will continue when she gets older!) Then, she'll do the best Stevie Wonder impression you've ever seen, at which time we sing "Isn't She Lovely" or "I Just Called To Say I Love You." As she turns her head from side to side, with her chin slightly raised for effect, the back of her head rubs whatever she's leaning against, which explains the bald spot. However, the hair just below it has been well preserved, which makes for a classic rat tail. Nice.

She's sleeping pretty well at night. One night she slept 9 hours! The next night she slept 7 hours. Ever since then, she gets up once in the night, usually because of gas, and then goes right back to sleep. She's only up for about 30 minutes total. She's been sleeping in her carseat (at the recommendation of the pediatric nurse), to help with reflux and gas. She sleeps much better on an incline, but we'll need to make the transition to the crib soon, so pray for that! She would much rather sleep on daddy or while nursing on mommy. :)

Beulah has gotten to know our doctors pretty well. Besides her one month check-up, we've taken her to the pediatrician for "excessive" weight loss (1 week old), gas, reflux, congestion, and baby acne. Sheesh! We've kept them in business! Lately, however, we've been taking her to a chiropractor for adjustments. She went four or five days without a BM, and her gas was unbearable. After a week of being adjusted, she has had multiple dirty diapers EVERY day! And yes, one of them covered most everything in the nursery. Let's just say I took the diaper off a second too soon and she went straight to the bath afterwards. :) But, since then, her gas pain has been MUCH more bearable than before, and her bouts of pain are more sparse. We could not be more grateful. We've also been able to take her off the Zantac that the pediatrician prescribed! We're happy to have found Dr. Bagwell's help when we did! I think we've found our new "pediatrician"!

At 11 weeks, Beulah discovered that she can touch things with her hands and feet. She's not super coordinated yet, but she's having a blast figuring it out, and it's fun to watch! She spends a lot of time looking at her hands and feet, and you can just see the wheels turning. What's next?!

People have been asking how Pedro (our 7 year old Boxer) has been with her. He totally loves her! He's been really good about not licking her with his abnormally large, stinky tongue, even though it's obvious he wants to. He walks past and sniffs her, and she just watches him and grins. When we go for walks, he walks right beside the stroller, turns when it turns, and looks in at her every 10 seconds. It's going to be fun watching them as she grows. I have a feeling they're going to adore each other.

Some of these pictures you've seen, some are new, so check them out! The video is an example of the joy I feel with her every day. I am so thankful for this time with this precious little angel.

Pray with Us

Today I am 35+ weeks. Saturday I will be 36 weeks; NINE MONTHS PREGNANT!!! Unbelievable!!

We started our appointment with an ultrasound to see if Beulah has turned. I knew she hadn't, but I was excited to see her again anyway. We were SHOCKED to hear that our "little" girl has gained more than a pound in less than two weeks!! She is weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs 3 oz!! The tech said she's going to come out will fat rolls!! Check out this beautiful picture of her FAT little cheeks! I had fat cheeks 'til I graduated college. Guess she's going to take after her mama!


This is a straight on shot of her face. Her eyes are faded into the dark top, so you're looking at her nose, lips and CHEEKS!! What a little chunker!!

She is still sitting with her bottom at the bottom of my uterus and her head at the top. Her LONG gorgeous legs (measuring at 39 weeks!) are straight up in front of her face. :) She's a flexible little bugger; again, like her mama!

The doctor recommended doing an external cephalic version TOMORROW, before she gets any bigger! Basically, I would have to go to the hospital, be put on an IV, medicated to relax the uterus, and the doctors would turn Beulah with their hands, externally. They would have to monitor her heart rate and my fluid, and if there were any signs of complications (cord entanglement, etc.), they would have to go ahead and take her. There is only a 50% success rate, and even less with first time moms.

Because of the risks involved, the drugs required, the stats, and the fact that we want to leave it in God's hands, we decided against the version. We are stepping out on faith and trusting that God knows what's best. We believe whole heartedly that He can turn her and do a better job than the doctors. We also believe that He is sovereign over her birth. If I have to have a c-section because she doesn't turn, we believe He has His reasons for that. We would LOVE to see Him turn her (against all odds) and get all the glory for it rather than the doctors. So, we ask that you pray for that with us. She is currently only consuming the space from my mid-line to the left of my uterus. It appears that she has plenty of space to use the right side of my uterus, and she is VERY active (see video taken this week--35 weeks). So, there is no reason to believe she is settled into her birth position yet...not to mention we serve a God who specializes in the "impossible!" :)


Beulah moving 35 weeks from Michelle Crissinger on Vimeo.

I bust out laughing at the end because Andy was watching with his mouth hanging open saying, "Woah!!!!!"

Who will she look like?

One of the most exciting things about being pregnant is thinking about what our little one will look like.  We can pretty much bet she'll be TINY.  Andy and I were both the smallest in our classes until high school.  We were both born a month early and both in the 5 lb. range.  We also think there's a good chance she'll have blue eyes, since both of us have blue eyes.  But, Andy was blond throughout his childhood and my hair was dark brown.  It's fun to think about which features she'll get from me and which ones she'll get from her daddy.  Just for fun, here's some pictures to help us dream about our precious little girl.