Did I fake my own fever?

Could it be that I staged the whole thing? Could it be that there really was no fever? Maybe when Mom wasn't looking, I pulled the thermometer out of my bottom and put it on my nightlight to heat it up to the fever zone. Why would I do such a thing, you might ask. Well, here are just a few possibilities. I'll let you decide which one is likely the truth:

1. I had organized a 4-week reunion for all of the babies who got to leave the hospital on September 17th. Something must have gone horribly wrong with the Evite, though, because it turned out that I was the only one that showed up.

2. We just recently used up our supply of diapers and shampoo that we got for free from the hospital when we were there last month. I thought it'd be good to go back so we could replenish our supply at home.

3. I hate apple picking. Mom has mentioned the idea of going apple picking 2 times this fall. The first was the morning of September 3rd. Later that day, Mom was hospitalized for high blood pressure. She mentioned it again early last week, and so of course I had to take drastic measures to prevent this event from occuring. I hate apple picking.

4. For the past few weeks since we've been home from the hospital, Mom's been starting to go stir-crazy and has been dying to get out of the house. So, I thought I would treat her to a 5 day, 4 night all-expense paid vacation. You're welcome, Mom!

Wednesday Morning Fever

Last Wednesday morning, Mommy kissed me on my forehead and I felt hot hot hot! She then checked my temperature and found out that I indeed had a fever (101.5), and so we headed straight to the doctor's office. After a long day of testing involving a catheter urine test, an intravenous blood draw, and an ultrasound, we found out that I have a Urinary Tract Infection and so I was admitted to the hospital for antibiotic treatment and monitoring.

Now for those of you who know Mom pretty well, you'll know that she HATES IVs. Until last week, she didn't think that there was anything worse than getting an IV. It turns out, however, that there are a few things that are even worse:

1. Holding your 1 month old while the nurses try to give your baby an IV in her left hand.

2. Finding out that the nurses were unable to get the IV into the left hand and then holding your 1 month old while they try to give her an IV into her right hand.

3. Finding out that the nurses were unable to get the IV into the right hand and then holding your 1 month old while they try to give her an IV into her right arm.

4. Having the successfully inserted IV in the right arm come out in the middle of the night and then holding your 1 month old while the nurses try to give her an IV into her left arm.

Yeah - it turns out that the veins in a 1 month old (who was born 4 weeks early) are pretty small. Weird, huh?

Anyway, here are some pictures from my adventures in the hospital:

First they got me in my right arm:

And then they got me in my left arm:

Here's a picture of me in my "cage". This crib had a warning on the side that said it could only support 300 pounds. Now THAT'S a big baby!

Mom stayed right in the room with me at night and Dad, Grammie, and Grandpa kept me entertained during the day. My parents bought me this pink elephant to keep my spirits up, too. I named her Elli. I didn't quite know what to think of her at first, especially since the nurses in the hospital kept calling me "Peanut" and supposedly elephants eat peanuts. I growled at her a few times, though, to show her how scary I can be, and now we're good friends.

Daddy took good care of me while I was in the hospital. This morning when I was discharged, I even weighed 7 pounds!!

This was the view outside my hospital room window. Nice, huh?

Mom and Dad said that I was so brave the whole time I was in the hospital. I was a true Warrior Princess!!!!

Anyway, after 5 days in the hospital, I'm now finally recovering with oral medication at home. I'm going to have some more tests done in the next few weeks to see if I have Urinary Reflux; that's a condition where some of my urine goes backward toward my kidneys when I pee. Man - that would mean that I have both Gastroesophageal Reflux AND Urinary Reflux. Everything seems to be going in the wrong direction! Maybe I'm really an opossum and need to be hanging upside down for things to work right!

Needless to say, after everything my parents and I have been through this past week, my 2 month immunization shots are going to be a walk in the park.

I'm 1 month old!!!

On Saturday, I turned 1 month old!! Here's what's new in my [beautifully fall-colored] neck-of-the-woods.

At my 1 month check-up, I weighed in at 6 pounds, 13.5 ounces. It's such a good feeling to know you're alive. It's such a happy feeling: You're growing inside!

On my birthday, Mom and Dad and I got out to enjoy the fall colors by going leaf-peeping. I could have sworn that they said we were going "leaf-sleeping", though, and so I ended up napping through most of it. Here's a picture of Dad and me heading off into the woods with my stroller. I promise I'm in there!!

And here's one of me with my cherished find:

Mom and Dad put my name on my door so that I know which room is mine when I get up in the middle of the night to fix myself a bottle. Yep - the bad news is that I have a horrible sense of direction. The good news is that I can read.

Check out my new onesie! Mom got me this awesome onesie with my name on it. It's a "little bit" big for me right now, but I'm looking forward to growing into it and wearing it a lot next spring.
I found a great new hiding spot! You like it? Yep, Mom likes it, too, except when she forgets where she put me.
Hey Mom - Here I am!!

And finally, some more photos of me doing what I do best - SLEEP!

See, Mommy's been taking the advice from others: "Sleep when baby sleeps." :)

Not so cute afterall?

Apparently, there's been some doubt as to whether I am really Mom and Dad's baby. Some are claiming that I'm just too adorable to possibly be their child! First of all, Mom wants me to set the record straight - Despite what the onesie above says, I'm not all that cute. It's true that I've been posting a lot of pictures of myself lately where I'm all snuggly in my cradle or wearing some adorable outift which may make you think I'm only pure sweetness. I apologize - I've only been showing you half of my true self. Mom's right in pointing out the fact that I have my ugly moments. Here are some of them:

First of all, I look like a fat old wrinkly lady when I'm being burped:

Second, I'm a VERY sloppy eater:

Third, I've been having pretty bad acid reflux lately, which causes me to scream at the top of my lungs. Yep - sometimes I scream so loudly that I have to cover my own ears:

And finally, I won't even show you what the inside of my diapers looks like. Yikes!

But if you still need proof that they took the right baby home from the hospital, here it is. Need I say more?