In the past 5 years I have:
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
One Month
Yesterday Madilynn turned one month old. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how big she's gotten. I see her changing every day. Although I'm glad she's getting bigger and stronger, I still sometimes wish that she would stay small forever.
Weight: She now weighs 8lb. 12oz. That's a 2lb. 5oz. increase.
Height: Though the nurses at the hospital measured her at 20.25 inches, she was really only 18 inches long. She's now back up to 20.25 inches. An increase of 2.25 inches.
Body: She's lost the newborn curl. She stretches her legs out longer and carries them away from her body. Her cheeks have plumped out. Her thighs are getting bigger and chubbier too. Her hair is getting longer and darker in some spots. She also has a pretty bad case of baby acne. It's been making its way around her face for a few weeks now and has spread to the back of her neck and down her chest. It's so annoying. I wish it was gone and her smooth, soft skin was back. Dr. said there's nothing you can do to remedy it, so we just have to wait for it to take its course.
Eating: She's a breastfeeding champ! She's a fast and efficient eater, taking less than 10 minuets to nurse. My nipples are still a little sore and it's uncomfortable when she finishes her meal and uses me as a pacifier to soothe herself. I'm still building my stash in the freezer. We introduced one bottle this week. She took it without really putting up a fight. I'll admit I was a little sad that she didn't "need" me to eat. Jordan really enjoyed feeding her though.
Sleeping: She's still sleeping in her co-sleeper. On a "normal" night she'll fall asleep between 8:30 and 10:00. I usually leave her downstairs with Jordan and go up to bed for some alone time. I get to read a bit, but usually end up passing out, book in hand. Jordan brings her up around midnight and I feed her while he gets ready for bed. Then he changes and swaddles her and puts her to bed. She wakes up between 2 and 4 (and on a REALLY good night 4:30-5:00), and then again 2 hours later. Some days we get up at 6:00, but most days I get her to fall asleep for another hour or 2 before we wake up for real.
Crying: We have been blessed with a good baby. She only cries when she is hungry, needs a fresh diaper, or needs a burp, to fart, or poop. Sometimes she'll fuss when she's tired and wants to be held before she takes her afternoon naps. In that case I lay her on my chest until I can transfer her to the swing. I occasionally put her in the Moby Wrap if I'm busy around the house. Other than that she really doesn't cry.
Playing: She's awake more often and for longer periods of time. She likes to lay on her play mat and look at the hanging toys and mirror. We also have an accordion book with black and white images on it that we put up for her to look at. We also read to her. She LOVES her Look Look Books. We do tummy time, but not as often as we should.
My Favorite: The mornings are my favorite time of day. She wakes up, eats, then it's time to stretch. I undo her swaddle and she lifts up her arms and stretches out her legs and does full body stretches. She grunts and smiles and is wide awake. She's always in a great mood. We lay in bed she looks around, smiles at me, coos, and kicks her legs and waves her arms around. We do tummy time. When she's done stretching, I take her to her room and wipe her face, give her the vitamin D drops, change her diaper and dress her for the day. I just love that she's always in a great mood in the morning. It puts me in a good mood. Her smiles and coos melt my heart and it's a great start to the day.
My Not Favorite: Sometimes I feel like I am trapped in the house all day. Jordan goes off to work and I'm here, hanging out with Madilynn. And, although I love her dearly, she's not one to hold much of a conversation. She totally runs the show and dictates what I get done, when I can eat, when and where I go, and what I do. It's so nice when visitors stop by to break up the monotony. Also, my neighbor is a teacher and has the summer off so we get together and have adult conversations. It really helps with my sanity.
How am I doing? Pretty good. I'm generally in good moods and have good days. My stress level is still very high, especially in new situations with the baby. I still don't like to take her to the grocery store for big trips. I went to dinner with a friend and Madilynn slept through the whole meal. It was great. Though I'm getting better with it, I'm still nervous when people stop to look at her and ask me questions about her.
Jordan: Still doing good. I think he feels a little left out at times. The other night I had just fed Madilynn and gave her to him to burp. She didn't burp and he was just holding her when she started wailing. He didn't know what was wrong. I said, "She needs burped. That's her burp cry." He said he tried burping her and that she didn't need to burp. I told him to try it again and, sure enough, as soon as he put her on his shoulder, she burped and stopped crying. He asked me how I knew that's what she needed and I told him that I could tell by her cry. I think he felt bad that he didn't know right away and that I did. That he doesn't know her different cries. That he's missing out because he has to work and I stay home with her.
So, things are going well. We have a happy and healthy baby. Jordan and I are still doing great together and we make a good team.
Weight: She now weighs 8lb. 12oz. That's a 2lb. 5oz. increase.
Height: Though the nurses at the hospital measured her at 20.25 inches, she was really only 18 inches long. She's now back up to 20.25 inches. An increase of 2.25 inches.
Body: She's lost the newborn curl. She stretches her legs out longer and carries them away from her body. Her cheeks have plumped out. Her thighs are getting bigger and chubbier too. Her hair is getting longer and darker in some spots. She also has a pretty bad case of baby acne. It's been making its way around her face for a few weeks now and has spread to the back of her neck and down her chest. It's so annoying. I wish it was gone and her smooth, soft skin was back. Dr. said there's nothing you can do to remedy it, so we just have to wait for it to take its course.
Eating: She's a breastfeeding champ! She's a fast and efficient eater, taking less than 10 minuets to nurse. My nipples are still a little sore and it's uncomfortable when she finishes her meal and uses me as a pacifier to soothe herself. I'm still building my stash in the freezer. We introduced one bottle this week. She took it without really putting up a fight. I'll admit I was a little sad that she didn't "need" me to eat. Jordan really enjoyed feeding her though.
Sleeping: She's still sleeping in her co-sleeper. On a "normal" night she'll fall asleep between 8:30 and 10:00. I usually leave her downstairs with Jordan and go up to bed for some alone time. I get to read a bit, but usually end up passing out, book in hand. Jordan brings her up around midnight and I feed her while he gets ready for bed. Then he changes and swaddles her and puts her to bed. She wakes up between 2 and 4 (and on a REALLY good night 4:30-5:00), and then again 2 hours later. Some days we get up at 6:00, but most days I get her to fall asleep for another hour or 2 before we wake up for real.
Crying: We have been blessed with a good baby. She only cries when she is hungry, needs a fresh diaper, or needs a burp, to fart, or poop. Sometimes she'll fuss when she's tired and wants to be held before she takes her afternoon naps. In that case I lay her on my chest until I can transfer her to the swing. I occasionally put her in the Moby Wrap if I'm busy around the house. Other than that she really doesn't cry.
Playing: She's awake more often and for longer periods of time. She likes to lay on her play mat and look at the hanging toys and mirror. We also have an accordion book with black and white images on it that we put up for her to look at. We also read to her. She LOVES her Look Look Books. We do tummy time, but not as often as we should.
My Favorite: The mornings are my favorite time of day. She wakes up, eats, then it's time to stretch. I undo her swaddle and she lifts up her arms and stretches out her legs and does full body stretches. She grunts and smiles and is wide awake. She's always in a great mood. We lay in bed she looks around, smiles at me, coos, and kicks her legs and waves her arms around. We do tummy time. When she's done stretching, I take her to her room and wipe her face, give her the vitamin D drops, change her diaper and dress her for the day. I just love that she's always in a great mood in the morning. It puts me in a good mood. Her smiles and coos melt my heart and it's a great start to the day.
My Not Favorite: Sometimes I feel like I am trapped in the house all day. Jordan goes off to work and I'm here, hanging out with Madilynn. And, although I love her dearly, she's not one to hold much of a conversation. She totally runs the show and dictates what I get done, when I can eat, when and where I go, and what I do. It's so nice when visitors stop by to break up the monotony. Also, my neighbor is a teacher and has the summer off so we get together and have adult conversations. It really helps with my sanity.
How am I doing? Pretty good. I'm generally in good moods and have good days. My stress level is still very high, especially in new situations with the baby. I still don't like to take her to the grocery store for big trips. I went to dinner with a friend and Madilynn slept through the whole meal. It was great. Though I'm getting better with it, I'm still nervous when people stop to look at her and ask me questions about her.
Jordan: Still doing good. I think he feels a little left out at times. The other night I had just fed Madilynn and gave her to him to burp. She didn't burp and he was just holding her when she started wailing. He didn't know what was wrong. I said, "She needs burped. That's her burp cry." He said he tried burping her and that she didn't need to burp. I told him to try it again and, sure enough, as soon as he put her on his shoulder, she burped and stopped crying. He asked me how I knew that's what she needed and I told him that I could tell by her cry. I think he felt bad that he didn't know right away and that I did. That he doesn't know her different cries. That he's missing out because he has to work and I stay home with her.
So, things are going well. We have a happy and healthy baby. Jordan and I are still doing great together and we make a good team.
Friday, June 17, 2011
On My Own
Today is the 1st day that I'll be completely alone with my child all day. Up until now I've have someone around to keep me company or help me out.
Jordan took 2 weeks off when we had her. He went back to work last Wednesday. My mom visited last Wednesday until Saturday. Jordan was home all weekend. I've had visitors every day this week until today. It really gave me something to look forward to. A reason to keep the house clean. Now I find myself sitting here, watching her sleep in her swing, wondering what to do with her and myself.
I'd love to go out and window shop. However, I usually only have an hour and a half to run my errands before she wakes up and wants to eat. To be honest, it's not worth getting her around and having to rush through my "fun" before she wakes up. I'm counting down the days until we can introduce a bottle. I'll be able go shopping and get groceries without feeling like it's a marathon or a race against the clock. Jordan's looking forward to feeding her so it will be a win/win.
Not only will giving her a bottle free me up, it will also allow Jordan and I to have some free time. There's some movies coming out this summer that I want to see. We have 2 sets of grandparents and lots of friends that have offered to lend their babysitting services. And we do plan on taking full advantage of them.
Jordan took 2 weeks off when we had her. He went back to work last Wednesday. My mom visited last Wednesday until Saturday. Jordan was home all weekend. I've had visitors every day this week until today. It really gave me something to look forward to. A reason to keep the house clean. Now I find myself sitting here, watching her sleep in her swing, wondering what to do with her and myself.
I'd love to go out and window shop. However, I usually only have an hour and a half to run my errands before she wakes up and wants to eat. To be honest, it's not worth getting her around and having to rush through my "fun" before she wakes up. I'm counting down the days until we can introduce a bottle. I'll be able go shopping and get groceries without feeling like it's a marathon or a race against the clock. Jordan's looking forward to feeding her so it will be a win/win.
Not only will giving her a bottle free me up, it will also allow Jordan and I to have some free time. There's some movies coming out this summer that I want to see. We have 2 sets of grandparents and lots of friends that have offered to lend their babysitting services. And we do plan on taking full advantage of them.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Surviving Weeks One and Two
We made it through almost 2 weeks. All 3 of us are still standing. Here are some things that have happened.
1St Dr. Visit: Madilynn had her 1st Dr. visit last Thursday. She had lost 7oz. from her birth weight. Everything was looking great and she's in good health.
1St Trip to the Store: Jordan and I took her to Target the day after we got home. We just needed a few thing. What would have normally been a 30 minuet trip took us THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!! As soon as we got there she started to fuss. That was remedied by Jordan pushing her up and down aisles in the stroller. Then she started to wail. She needed fed and changed. Since I wasn't going to feed her in the bathroom (yuck), I took her to the car to nurse and change her. This left Jordan wandering around the store trying to find the items we needed. It was very stressful, to say the least.
1st Family Party: We took Madilynn to Jordan's family's Memorial Day party. We really didn't want to go, but I was getting restless in the house and needed to get out. We were only going to stay 2 hours tops, but ended up being there for over 4. I was a mess of stress. Everyone wanted to hold her. We had to put up with "advice" from his family and got criticized for "Mother Henning" aka: hovering around our baby when others were holding her. I decided to wrap it up and go home when someone told me I "didn't get a turn holding my baby because I got to hold her all the time at home." My tongue was bleeding from having to bite it so hard.
Other "Milestones":
--Jordan survived projectile poop
--We cleared our 1st diaper rash
--Her bellybutton stump fell off
--Madilynn is sleeping more in her co-sleeper and less in bed or with Jordan in the chair
--We've mastered breastfeeding and have a little stock pile building in the freezer
What I Enjoy:
--Taking her photos
--Nursing
--Snuggling
--Giving her kisses
What is Tough:
--Learning to relax when she's on her own; either in her swing or co-sleeper. I check on her a lot but I'm slowly learning that it's ok to take my eyes off her.
--Seeing her grow so fast. I love that she's growing and getting stronger, but I wish I could freeze time a bit and have stay small a little longer.
--Watching her struggle and push to poop. She grunts, stretches, and cries. Sometimes she wails and screams. It hurts my heart. I try to rub her back, move her legs, and soothe her, but it's little help. It's tough to watch her cry as she works it out, but there's not too much I can do.
How I'm Feeling: I've had a few days of baby blues where I cried a lot. There are days where I'm just irritated and frustrated. It's getting better though. I'm doing better physically and have bounced back surprisingly fast. I've lost 12 of the 15lbs I gained while pregnant so far. I'm thinner looking than I was before I got pregnant. Everything is back to normal except that my belly is a little loose. My boobs have gotten a lot bigger and I've gotten a few stretch marks on them. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of this little head start and working out. I know if I start working out right away I have a better chance of loosing all the baby weight and, hopefully, a little more. I'm just waiting to heal 100% before hitting the gym. In the meantime, I put Madilynn in the Moby wrap and take walks around our neighborhood.
Jordan: Loves being a dad. He's so good with Madilynn. He's not scared of poop or spit-up. He takes a very active roll in taking care of her. He's looking forward to feeding her when we introduce bottles in a few weeks. I know that him going back to work is going to be a little tough cause he'll miss her a lot.
1St Dr. Visit: Madilynn had her 1st Dr. visit last Thursday. She had lost 7oz. from her birth weight. Everything was looking great and she's in good health.
1St Trip to the Store: Jordan and I took her to Target the day after we got home. We just needed a few thing. What would have normally been a 30 minuet trip took us THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!! As soon as we got there she started to fuss. That was remedied by Jordan pushing her up and down aisles in the stroller. Then she started to wail. She needed fed and changed. Since I wasn't going to feed her in the bathroom (yuck), I took her to the car to nurse and change her. This left Jordan wandering around the store trying to find the items we needed. It was very stressful, to say the least.
1st Family Party: We took Madilynn to Jordan's family's Memorial Day party. We really didn't want to go, but I was getting restless in the house and needed to get out. We were only going to stay 2 hours tops, but ended up being there for over 4. I was a mess of stress. Everyone wanted to hold her. We had to put up with "advice" from his family and got criticized for "Mother Henning" aka: hovering around our baby when others were holding her. I decided to wrap it up and go home when someone told me I "didn't get a turn holding my baby because I got to hold her all the time at home." My tongue was bleeding from having to bite it so hard.
Other "Milestones":
--Jordan survived projectile poop
--We cleared our 1st diaper rash
--Her bellybutton stump fell off
--Madilynn is sleeping more in her co-sleeper and less in bed or with Jordan in the chair
--We've mastered breastfeeding and have a little stock pile building in the freezer
What I Enjoy:
--Taking her photos
--Nursing
--Snuggling
--Giving her kisses
What is Tough:
--Learning to relax when she's on her own; either in her swing or co-sleeper. I check on her a lot but I'm slowly learning that it's ok to take my eyes off her.
--Seeing her grow so fast. I love that she's growing and getting stronger, but I wish I could freeze time a bit and have stay small a little longer.
--Watching her struggle and push to poop. She grunts, stretches, and cries. Sometimes she wails and screams. It hurts my heart. I try to rub her back, move her legs, and soothe her, but it's little help. It's tough to watch her cry as she works it out, but there's not too much I can do.
How I'm Feeling: I've had a few days of baby blues where I cried a lot. There are days where I'm just irritated and frustrated. It's getting better though. I'm doing better physically and have bounced back surprisingly fast. I've lost 12 of the 15lbs I gained while pregnant so far. I'm thinner looking than I was before I got pregnant. Everything is back to normal except that my belly is a little loose. My boobs have gotten a lot bigger and I've gotten a few stretch marks on them. I'm looking forward to taking advantage of this little head start and working out. I know if I start working out right away I have a better chance of loosing all the baby weight and, hopefully, a little more. I'm just waiting to heal 100% before hitting the gym. In the meantime, I put Madilynn in the Moby wrap and take walks around our neighborhood.
Jordan: Loves being a dad. He's so good with Madilynn. He's not scared of poop or spit-up. He takes a very active roll in taking care of her. He's looking forward to feeding her when we introduce bottles in a few weeks. I know that him going back to work is going to be a little tough cause he'll miss her a lot.
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