4 months old!

On Sunday you were four months old!

Here's an update on you!

Size

You weigh almost 15 pounds! 14 pounds 15 ounces to be exact.  You are in the 67th percentile for weight. You are officially in size 2 diapers full time now. Your clothes all have to be at least 3 - 6 months now.  I am trying to weed out the 3 months things now.  Most of them are too tight.

Feeding

We still feed you every three hours during the day right now.  They are ideally at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, and 9:30 or 10.  You were getting 5 ounces until yesterday, when we increased it to 6 ounces.  You have not had any solid food yet, but we are meeting with the doctor today. We might be able to start giving you rice cereal.  While we were in Kansas City we had our last nursing session.  You were having a hard time nursing since you have been sick.  We made it almost 4 months! I think that is legit :).

You have had a lot of drainage and coughing for at least a month now.  I hate it.  But, the doctor says that you are fine as long as you are not having a hard time breathing or running a fever.  You have not had issues breathing, except when you are coughing and something gets caught in your throat.

Sleeping

You should be in your pack and play more, but you seem to sleep better with me and your dad.  I usually have you sleep with me when your dad is working.  We just make sure you are above all of the covers and not right next to our pillows.  There is a bit of controversy about the "family bed".  We try to have you sleep in your pack and play when your daddy is at home.

You normally sleep from 10 until 5 am.  You were back to waking up from 2 to 4 am recently, until we started giving you 6 ounces.   Yesterday you took 6 ounces very well, and have done well today so far.

We put you in a sleep sac overnight, rather than giving you your own blankets.

Development

Last Sunday you really started sitting up on your own.  It didn't last long, but you're trying!  You can also stand quite well when someone gives you stability.  You are putting many things into your mouth.  You do not like to hang out flat on your back, you like to be up seeing what is going on.  The Bumbo chair is helpful in the kitchen so you can be up on the counter seeing what I am doing.  We also decided to buy a bouncy chair with things that hang down, and that keeps you busy.  You like to kick your legs and make your bouncy seat move.  You are starting to try and hold your bottle.

You flail your arms quite a bit, so people have to watch out! You also have a very good grip.  You use it to hold people's finger while they feed you AND to pull hair! I have to wear my hair up quite a bit these days to keep it away from you

Sickness and Maladies

You have had a cough and drainage since around February 20th.  We took you to the doctor that week, and he said you had good oxygen levels.  So, we just keep an eye on it to be sure you don't have a fever or a hard time breathing.  Your breathing is fine unless you get something caught in your throat while you are coughing.  Your face is much less red and not as try.  Your forehead still has some odd things going on, so I try to put Mary Kay botanical moisturizer and Aquaphor on it.  

You definitely still have reflux.  Your daddy forgot to give you your medicine (Ranitidine I think it is) the other night, and the next day you definitely threw up more than normal.  As long as you have your medicine you don't throw up often.  You do occasionally in the evening.  The Dr. said we could give you 1/2 of your normal dose in the evening and then the rest at bed time if we want.  We have not tried that with you yet.

We still have to be careful to check your neck for milk and slobber.  Your neck sometimes is totally clear and other times has the red areas again, so we put more A&D ointment on them.

You like to scratch the areas on your head behind your ears.  There is a small sore behind your left ear.  We will ask the doctor about it.  We have tried putting a benadryl creme on it, but it is a bit difficult because you would touch it and then put your hands in your mouth.

Firsts

I worked from Kansas City for a week while your dad was doing training (Feb 24 - 28).  You had your first swim while we were there!

Personality

You are becoming your own little person.  You are usually in a very good mood.  You do like to be moving though, and you do INSIST on eating every 3 hours.  You smile at everyone very easily.  You have ticklish feet and you love to be touched and to touch others.  You will rub your face on blankets.  You are like your daddy and are very tactile.  You will rest your hand on people and occasionally try to give them a pat.

My journey

I am still working on losing weight.  I have a hard time sticking to a good diet these days.  I will do good for a few days and then regress a bit.  I am under 130 now, but just barely.   I need to lose 15 pounds by the end of April or end of May for a few trips that we have coming up!

3 months - a bit late

Dear Baby Rose,

In some ways it is a surprise that you are already 3 months old.  The time has flown by.  In some ways though, you are such a treasured part of our lives I cannot imagine our lives without you!

We took you to the doctor today because you have had a nasty cough. You seem to have some drainage that is making your tummy a bit more upset than normal.

Your height is 23.5 inches, you weigh 13 pounds and 14 ounces

You sleep very well.  We do your last feeding around 10 pm, and then you generally sleep until 5 or 5:30 a.m., then you go back to sleep until 7:30 or 8 am, when I nurse you.

You are a morning baby.  You are full of smiles and love to hang out on your changing table a bit.  You always seem to stare just off to the side a bit.  I ask if you are smiling at your guardian angel.   You have started laughing just a little bit.  I'm excited to hear more of that.

You are not rolling over yet, but you can definitely shift onto your side.  You love to be out facing the world.  When we hold you, you prefer to be facing out.  You enjoy laying on your activity mat with things hanging over you, but you still prefer to be up and able to see.  We decided to buy a different bouncy seat that has an bar to hang items down, so you can play and be sitting up a bit more.  You also will sit in your bumbo chair for a bit while I get food ready, or clean your bottles.

Sleep Arrangements

When your daddy is working days, we sleep in your room.  You were sleeping in your crib, and me in the bed.  But, now you have a bit of a nasty cold.  You cough quite a bit sometimes.  So I like to be able to sit you up and pat your back to help you get things down.

Weight and Height

We took you to the doctor on Wednesday to check out your cough.  The doctor said you are fine, and that you weigh 13 pounds and 14 ounces! You are almost 14 pounds.  That means you are almost out of size 1 diapers.

Schedule and Feeding

We are still on the every 3 hours feeding schedule during the day.  You usually nurse between 7 and 8, then have a bottle at 10, 1, and 4.  At 7 we usually nurse.  My supply has been a bit low so when we nurse at night you usually also get a bottle.  You usually wake once at night.  Most nights it is between 4:30 and 5:30 am, so we are quite lucky.  Lately you have started taking a nap in the afternoon after your 1 pm feeding.

You are starting to be awake and alert much more.  You still really love to be held, so I am learning how to do most things 1 handed.  We have not found a carrier that does not make my back feel weird.  You are able to hold up your neck quite well now.  So, hopefully we can try the ergo soon.

I am about 130 pounds.  We have now scheduled a houseboat cruise on Lake Powell for late May.  So I have some serious motivation to lose the last 10-15 pounds!  I have had a hard time working out much with your daddy's tough work schedule.  I have started doing some yoga in the mornings while you sleep around 6:30 a.m.   Hopefully I can do more of that.

We love you baby Rose! You are such a sweet reminder of God's love.  We are so lucky that he has entrusted you to us.

Love you!

xoxo

Mommy

2 months - a week late

Baby Rose,

I can't believe that you are 2 months old (and a week) already!

Your Auntie Daisy was here when we took this pic, so she was able to help me get a smile :).

Sleeping - You were doing very well and sleeping from our last feed at 10 - 10:30 through until 7:30 or even 8:30 if we slept that long! Your daddy and I got sick last week and for some reason after that you have regressed a bit and have started waking up at 3:30 am every night.  Then you come into bed with us and sleep another few hours.

Feeding:  We are on a pretty good schedule of feeding you.  We nurse you if you wake up overnight (3:30 a.m. lately) then a few ounces at 7 or 8 am (I nurse you then if you did not wake up overnight), then 4-5 ounces at 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, then I nurse you at 7 pm. And you get 4-5 ounces at 10 pm before we go to bed.

Activities:  You are not a huge fan of your swing.  You will stay in there sometimes.  We do tummy time with you several times a week.  Your babysitter Sandy told us that you did well in the Bumbo chair, so we have been doing that for periods of time now.  You really want to sit up, so the Bumbo is great for helping you see more.  You also are wanting to roll.  We have to watch you more carefully and cannot leave you on furniture now unattended.

Cute things:  You are smiling a lot now.  We get the best smiles from you on your changing table oddly. There seem to be some shadows on the wall that you like.  You make the cutest baby sounds.  Your Daddy's mom (Ummuchi) loves to talk to you on the phone.  The other night she talked to you for 20 minutes! I have no idea what she says to you.  It is all in Malyalam.  But, you do smile some, and try to lean into the phone.  You often fall asleep while she talks to you.

Personality:  You are awake a lot more now.  You like to talk some and make cute sounds.  You are less irritable now unless you are hungry.  You really are a pretty easy baby.  You like to be bounced.  So, if you are upset and the soothie doesn't make you happy I can usually calm you down by bouncing.

Three Month Rundown:
Weight: 12 pounds at your appointment on 1-10.  You are in the 67th percentile for weight
Height: in the 87th percentile, I can't remember what it was!
Bumbo: Just started this week – still a little wobbly in it.
Boppy Lounger Pillow:  You have started sliding out of them some. They can still be helpful though.  We have one in your Moses basket which is on the ground, so you don't ro
Car Seat:  You are not a a huge fan.  You often cry for the first few minutes you are in it.  But then you usually go to sleep.
Bottles: You do really well switching between nursing and our Tommee Tippe bottles

Pacifier: You LOVE your green infant soothie.  We try to sanitize it every day when we sanitize your bottles.
Teeth: Zero, but some
drool and chewing on fingers.

Almost 2 months

What you're up to

You like to try and push up on your feet when we hold you.  When I nurse you, you do the cutest thing where you move your hand across my chest.  You can sometimes be very wiggly while I am nursing you.  I wonder if it is because you are not getting enough.  I am totally fine nursing you twice a day. You eat about 6 times a day at this point. So I would like to nurse you at least three of those times so that you are getting 1/2 of your food from me.

You have had a rash on your face for a few weeks now.  It sometimes makes your skin quite red.  Now the redness has subsided for the most part, but your skin on your face is very dry and rough.  We put Aquaphor on your face once a day.  You started developing cradle cap earlier this week.  Your Auntie and Uncle came to take care of you Thursday and they bathed you and tried baby oil.  I used Coconut oil based on Dr. Stone (the chripractor)'s suggestion that baby oil could not be absorbed by the skin.  It is looking much better now.

You are awake quite a bit more during the day.  You were quite fussy during the day for a few weeks.  You had your first full chiropractic adjustment on Friday.  On Saturday during the day you were quite a bit more content.  You have also started making sweet baby noises and talking to us.  You will often look people in the eyes when they hold you and talk to you.  You like to stare at our fans.  I am not sure you can see that far away though.  I joke that you are staring at your guardian angel.

What you like

You still love to be bounced.  That is often what you want when you cry.  Sometimes you just want to be held.  Sometimes you are content to be awake in the swing.  It sometimes helps you get to sleep.  You love your soothie pacifier.  It will often halt your crying unless you are very hungry.  You also like vibrating.

Sleeping

We try to give you your last feed around 10 pm.  You usually will go until around 4 am if it is a bottle feeding.  Last night I nursed you, so you only made it to 2 am.  On a normal night you will then go from 4 am until 8 am or so.  I am supposed to get up at 7 am to go with our schedule (7am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7pm, 10 pm, and as long as possible at night).

Since Joshy's mom stayed with us for a few weeks, you have been sleeping in bed with us.  She had you sleep up high on her pillow next to her head.  I had a hard time with that because you would slide down or roll a bit.  I have had you sleeping in the brown boppee pillow.  It works quite well.

Medicine

You have been taking your Xantac now for a few weeks.  I have noticed your reflux doing better, especially at night.  We give you your Xantac before bed.  We had been just putting it into your mouth.  But it tastes and smells bad.  Your Noni had a good idea to put it in 1 ounce of formula, so we have been doing that since Christmas Eve.  It has been working well.

After going to KC for Christmas you started developing some congestion. I have done steaming with you a few times.  That is from my Natural Remedies book.  It involves boiling water and adding tea tree oil, peppermint, and eucalyptis.  I put the towel over the two of us for a bit.  I have also put you in your bouncy seat next to the stove so you breathe in the steam for a bit. This seems to have helped some.  We also have been using a humidifier in our room at night.

eating and pooping

You usually have 1 poop a day.  You will often blow out you outfit if we do not catch it quickly.  You had been eating 3 oz at each feed.  In the last day or two we have gone up to 3.5 or 4 oz at a feed.

My Health

I gained about 1 pound over the Christmas holidays due to the tasty Christmas cookies etc.  So I was 134.4 when I weighed myself the other day.  I am now officially back to Weight Watchers Points Plus! We will see how it goes.  I was able to work out last night, and once earlier this week.  It is a bit harder with you around. I hope to lose 10 - 15 pounds.

I am quite healed otherwise.  I feel like myself, aside from my tummy area.  There is still a bit of extra skin and fat.

Here are a few cute pics of you lately!

This was your first time wearing a bow!

Christmas

Kansas City

My Cousin Kelli and her daugther Kami have been living with your Noni and Grandpa.  Kami was a bit sick so  I was afraid of us staying there.  Your grandpa has also been sick with bronchitis.  They assured me that the house had been well cleaned.  So, we went down there on Friday December 20th.  You only woke up 1 time on the trip.  Your grandpa took some pictures of you.

We had Christmas with my Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Royce, and Aunt Cindy, Kelli, Kami, and Noni and grandpa on Saturday morning.  We then had food and hung out the rest of the day.  There was some ice coming down.  We had thought about taking you to see the plaza lights.

On Sunday morning we went to my grandma's church and met her friends.  We then went to her house for some lunch.  We had very tasty brisket and ham.  Then we went to my dad Phil's house for you to meet him, Maribeth, and my little sisters Nicole and Natalie.  You also met my Aunt Ceci.  They all spoiled you with presents. You were very good on our drive home and did not wake up at all! You did have a blow out though, so I gave you a bath as soon as we got home.

Nebraska

We came home on Sunday December 22nd because your Daddy was off.  We spent some time with him on Monday and Tuesday.  Your Noni and Grandpa came up for Christmas on Christmas Eve.  We went to our church St. Joseph's on Christmas eve for the 4:30 service.  We got there at 3:45 and the the place was packed! We had to sit in the hallway area where they had set up chairs.  We may have to get there at 3:30 next year.  Your Auntie Daisy and Uncle Kevin went to mass with us too.  We then came home to a Christmas dinner of tasty soups, sweet potatoes, and ham.  Your daddy opened presents because had to go to work at 4 am on Christmas day.

On Christmas Day we got up early and made breakfast for your Noni and Grandpa.  We watched some Christmas movies.  We finally got around to presents in the afternoon . We ate lots of Christmas cookies! That is why I am on a diet now :).

What a great first Christmas with you!  You were a very good traveler.

1 month

I can't believe you're one month old now! We are about 1/2 breastfeeding, 1/2 formula.  For some reason I have not been able to pump.  I don't seem to be able to "let down" for the pump.  We have been giving you 3 oz of formula at a time.  We are trying to do a schedule of every 3 hours during the day and 4 at night (or as long as you will sleep :)).  You have had some "reflux" issues where it sounds like you are spitting up, but you swallow it again.  Apparently we were feeding you too much!  The doctor does think you might have some reflux so we are going to give you some medications.  Hopefully we will only have to give it to you until you are 4 months old and can start having rice cereal and pureed big people foods.

You will usually sleep for usually at least one 4 - 5 hour stretch a night now.  Luckily your ummuchi has been in town to watch you during the week until daycare starts.  She has even taken the nights during the week! So, I am pretty well rested right now.

We took you to the doctor today.  You are 10 pounds 5.5 ounces.  You are 22 inches long.  You are in the 87% percentile for your height and weight! You're a pretty healthy baby girl.  You are able to hold your head up for longer periods of time.  You can turn your head from side to side when you do tummy time.

You really love bath time! You don't cry at all during the bath...just afterwards when we have to dry you have.  You just started into your size 1 diapers too!

Thanksgiving and Week 4

I can't believe you're already 3 weeks old plus baby Rose! Your reflux seems to be getting a bit better.  We have been trying to keep you close to 2 ounces when we feed you formula. Breast feeding is going well.  It is still a bit painful at times.  As of now we are doing at least half of your feedings as breast feedings.  I still have not been able to get the breast pump to work.

But, my nipples are in good shape.  You are still a bit fussy in the mornings.  You are still sleeping most of the time.  Yesterday you had your first bout with baby acne! I think it might have had something to do with the chrism oil they used at your baptism.

You got to meet your daddy's parents! They were so excited to meet you.

Thanksgiving

My grandparents, your Noni and Grandpa, cousin Kelli and Kami all came to stay with us from Thanksgiving through your baptism which was on Sunday 12-1.  We had a great time bonding.  Everyone loved holding you and taking care of you.  It was so nice having everyone in the house all together.  Your Ummuchi and Uppachen also came into town last Wednesday, as well as Auntie Dainy.  All of your dad's family came over to the house most of the 4 days too.  So we had a full house! We really enjoyed it though.

Fitness and Health

I was down to 135 pounds as of before Thanksgiving.  I am not sure what it is now! There was a lot of good food over Thanksgiving.  I was able to walk 3 miles before all of the family came.  I have not walked any since then though.  I have been trying to sit up straight and do some ab tightening.  My abs, and especially my lower abs, have so much more flabbiness now!  It is all worth it to have you ;).  But I do wonder if my abs will ever look the same.  Not that they were wonderful before, but I would like to get some of this flab gone.  It is not healthy to have fat there.  I came across an interesting article about fitness.  I need to be sure to teach you that it is good to be strong and healthy.  Working out should be fun.  Part of the goal should be health at least.

Work

It has been a bit tough to not have real maternity leave.  I had to get an item on file the day we came home from the hospital with you! I have had a few actual work days now for meetings.  I am heading back to BNI next week.  I do miss you while I am away from you. But, I find that I enjoy my work and my professional relationships.  My work helps me treasure and enjoy the time that we do have together.