Santa is Fun and Mommy is Crazy

It is hard for me to believe Neely Jo is already going for her two month well visit. This is all happening to quickly and I want to push pause so I can enjoy this time a little longer. I just want to sit down and cry because I know she will never be my 6 pound 8 ounce baby girl again. She now weighs in at 9 pounds and 5 ounces and is 22 inches long. Dr. Kries says she is growing at a perfect rate, heart and lungs sound wonderful and that she is quite strong (I assure you this is not only a reference to her physical strength. The child is strong headed and not at all ashamed of it).

She handled her shots very well. Better than Derrick or myself (we both covered our faces). Since she was so good, we decided to get some shopping in and to take Miss Neely to see Santa. She loved him. I know this because she didn’t scream in his face. Thankfully.

Derrick had basketball practice so we had to leave afterwards and Neely and I took a big long nap. Well, when I woke up she had a fever of 100.3 and I flipped out. They told me she would probably have a fever and not to be alarmed but to call them if it reached 99.4. These are things that went through my mind…

1. I am a horrible mother who took a nap while her baby had a fever.

2. I let her fever get an entire 1 degree higher than I was supposed to before I called.

3. I don’t have a clue how much Tylenol to give her.

4. How fast can I lower her temp in the bathtub?

5. When will she start getting brain damage because I am careless?

After running around my house in complete hysterics (seriously – I was completely out of control and screaming) and watching Derrick feed off of my nervous energy, I started making phone calls. After I called Dr. Kries, my friend, Laura, my sister, sister-in-law, mother and mother-in-law I now realize a few things…


1. 100.3 is not anything to worry about after vaccines.

2. There is a chart for how much Tylenol to give infants.

3. I should not have put her in the bathtub to lower her temp.

4. Babies fevers shoot up whether you are taking a nap or not.

5. Derrick and I need to invest in a tranquilizer gun and take turns shooting each other when we have first-time-parent-events. We have a tendency to overreact.

Neely is totally fine. She has been an angel every since we got her out of that cold bathtub. I think she is so happy not to be an ice cube that she is pretty much content doing whatever tonight.

Even though I am completely calm now, I think I will still sleep with one eye open tonight. Just incase.