Month 3

I went back to work in January after 10 weeks with you at home. You also started school on the same day that Auburn played for the National Championship. Unfortunately, you and I were way more successful at going back to work and starting school than Auburn was at bringing home the win, but we love our tigers regardless! I also started using the “Moms On Call” app to assist with getting us on a routine schedule. It has been very helpful and I believe it greatly aided us in being able to get out of the house. As much as I miss being home with you, I get so excited to pick you up after work! It also gives me a sense of great accomplishment when we make it out the door in the morning, like I am a super mom or something.

Sleep: This month began with a sleep regression that resulted in a 5 hour stretch at night which amounted to me getting up 1-2 times a night. Luckily that only lasted a short while and you went back to sleeping 10 hours straight around 11 weeks. Glorious! At this point we decided to (lovingly) kick you out of our room and transition you into the crib in your room. At exactly 12 weeks old, you spent the night in your Wombie in your crib. Obviously you had so much more room to move about so you were a crazy wiggle worm that first night. I stalked you through our video monitor (which I LOVE) and your father and I decided to forgo the sleep sack. I feared that you would roll over on your stomach and I could not deal with that anxiety. For the next few nights you went without a sleep sack and it was okay, but not great. At our household we like to “go big or go home!” Clearly this is evident in our parenting as we switched you out of our room, into a new crib and without any sleep sack all at once. What is wrong with us?!? Surprisingly, you only had trouble falling asleep and would wake yourself up a few times with all the movements you continued to have. I decided to order another Wombie that freed your arms and a Magic Merlin sleep suit to try. The Merlin sleep sack reminds your father of the kid on the movie “A Christmas Story.” It’s so thick and allows you to move, but muffles the movement so you are not constantly waking up. You once again started sleeping through the night. Success! There have been a few times we have put you to bed awake and you have put yourself to sleep. You typically wake up in the morning and peacefully hang out until I come and get you. Although you are still not a great napper, you are doing much better. This past month we have gotten better about reading your tired cues. In addition to actually yawning, your eyes get a bit red and you will continually rub them when it’s bedtime.

Clothes and Diapers: You are in 3 month clothing and typically wear onesies to school. I have also discovered that it was a successful day if I pick you up from school in the same outfit you were dropped off in! You are a size 1 in the diaper world, but will be moving to size 2 soon. We began putting you in size 2 overnight diapers (they do not make them in a smaller size) when you go to bed or when we head on a longer car ride out of town. So far there have been zero leaks, but I’m sure something crazy will happen since I put that in writing. You wear Target brand diapers during the day and Pampers Dry at nighttime. We primarily use organic wipes from Earth’s Best or the Honest Company. I swear it helps keep diaper rash away!

Bath: Good news – we still bathe you! And it is still a family event with you, the two of us and the foos. Twice a week we attempt the craziness that is bath time. I seriously need to Google easy ways to bathe a baby. Bath time makes your parents want to drink.

Medical: We haven’t had any more blood issues so the GI specialist was not too concerned. Between you, myself and my medical degree from Google, I really think you are anti-most dairy. I still eat some, but have cut out a tremendous amount.

Food: You are still EBF. I try and nurse you in the morning before work and in the evening before bed. Sometimes we will give you a bottle before bed depending on the time. You currently take 3.5 oz per bottle and will eat anywhere from 3-4 bottles when you are at school.
Stats: You weigh 13 lbs and are 23.5 inches long. Your head is 39 cm. You had a big head when you came into this world. Yup.

Development/Mannerisms: Your fists are unclenched! You have now discovered your hands and love to chew on them and stick them in your mouth. The drooling has begun and you blow bubbles all the time. Such a pleasure you are to be around because you smile A LOT. You are a happy girl and we love to see that big gummy smile! Like mother, you love to stare at yourself in the mirror on your swing – you make yourself smile and are so happy to see yourself - so sweet and vain at the same time. J My favorite new development has been conversing with you. I will sit in front of you to talk to you and you get so excited and “baby talk” back. I always talk to you about school and explain what I am doing (making dinner, cleaning/prepping bottles, etc). I love it.


Likes:
Mommy Milk
Playing on the play mat
Chatting

Dislikes:
Dirty Diapers
Diaper Changes
Gas


All About Mom:
- Joined a gym. I have no idea when I have time to even attempt to work out, but it’s there when I can.
- Went back to work.

Month Two

Sleep: You are now sleeping in a 6-8 hour stretch at night - it's glorious! However, I am writing this a week late and for some reason this week you have gone back to 5 hours, which I predicted would happen because I was going back to work and things like that happen to me. You have also started to nap a lot less. I am hoping school can help with that.

Clothes and Diapers: I have moved you to 0-3 month outfits with an occasional newborn outfit thrown in there (although they are getting snug)! You are a solid size 1 in the diaper world and we beat the diaper rash - for now.

Bath: We bathe you about twice a week and we aren't very good at it. You are so fresh and so clean, clean, but I feel like there is an easier way to do it. Right now it's a family event with the three of us and the cats. They watch, but keep their distance from the water. The first few times your fussed a bit, but as long as we keep you warm you are content.

Medical: Sometimes I think that we are picking up thrush again and give you a bit of medicine, but I am beginning to think I am just crazy. Currently, I do not think we have thrush. Hehe. You had your first well visit with the doctor and received your first vaccinations. The whole debate to vaccinate or not to vaccinate freaks me out, but I simply pray about it and leave it to Him who has already written the story of your life. I got to hear what your "ouch" cry sounds like and I may have cried more than you. I also cry when I take the cats to the vet so I knew taking you to the doctor would be harder! On a more serious note you have been having some blood in your diaper so we will be seeing a GI specialist in January. The pediatrician ran some tests to rule out any infection and everything came back negative. It's not necessarily a lot and it's very sporadic. I think it is something that I am eating that bothers you so I have cut back on my dairy intake and it has been MUCH better, but I am not a doctor.

Food: You are primarily EBF, but I have mastered the whole pumping thing. Thankfully I can still nurse you and you will take a bottle. We try to stick to the Dr. Brown bottles to cut back on gas. You will take anywhere from 2.5-4 oz. You love to eat at night before bedtime. So much that we usually give you a 3 oz bottle and then I nurse you for a bit before you start snoozing. You also took a bit of formula when being baby sat in Atlanta because you gulped down all the milk left for you. It eased my mind that you would take it if necessary.

Stats: You weigh 11 lbs & 6 oz. and are 22 inches long.

Development/Mannerisms: You are not a fan of tummy time, but you love to hold your head up. Your neck muscles are getting quite strong! You clench your stinky fists ALL THE TIME and it's a battle for me to clean them. I have no idea how they get dirty, but they do. On Christmas Eve you freaked out and had a meltdown at one of our many stops to see family. You screamed your ouch cry and then you actually cried tears for the first time. So very sad. It shook your dad and I up for a few minutes, but you calmed down after a few HUGE burps. You have also mastered the skill of sticking out your lip before you cry. It's totally cute.

Events: You are a good luck charm to our Auburn Tigers! Thanks to the bottle situation, mom and dad went to the Iron Bowl this year. It was epic!!! Auburn won in the last second of the game (literally) and headed to the SEC championship game. Thanks to a fantastic friend, your parents were able to see Auburn win the SEC championship in person in Atlanta. Later that night Ohio State lost and Auburn is headed to play for the national championship in January! You had your first Thanksgiving and slept through most of it. When we were in Atlanta the following weekend you met your great grandma, great aunt and one of your great uncles on J's mom's side. When we did our brief trip back to Atlanta for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day, you met your grandma (J's mom) and your other great grandma from J's dad's side. During this month I finally felt a bit more comfortable taking you out in public so we went out to eat a few times. A week ago I received a phone call that our first choice for day care or "school" for you was available! Such an answer to prayer and an ease to my Law & Order/CSI mind.
 
Likes:
Mommy Milk
Car Rides
Nighttime Feeding
When G Daddy or Auntie Perry sings to you. You love it!

Dislikes:
Dirty Diapers
Diaper Changes
Gas


All About Mom:
- Down 32 lbs ish, but I need to work out and focus on building back my muscles.
- Have really weird joint pain in my hands and knees. Doctor thinks it will last until we are done nursing.
- Had my follow up doctor appointment and was cleared for everything.
- My BP was down, but I have to wean from the medicine for the next 30 days
- Had an allergist appointment and no more allergy shots for the first time in many, many years!
- Left the house by myself for the first time and went to Target for the Britney CD and to grab groceries. It was heavenly.
- The Iron Bowl marked my first adult beverage in 10-11 months. I heart mimosas....and pumping.
- Speaking of beverages I celebrated my 30th birthday with some fabulous friends while J babysat. He was totally jealous. #thirty&thirsty

- Mastered the pumping and even got a little crazy with it at our tailgate and in the parking lot of a MARTA station. Sketchy, but worth it to go to the football games. War Eagle.

The Best Baby Items - At least in my opinion....

Now that I have my own child I totally have this whole parenting thing figured out - like what works best for a baby and of course, I have the right to judge your parenting skills. Totally kidding. Parenting is a journey, but so far we have been incredibly blessed with a fantastic baby. I wanted to share a few of the items that have worked best for us in these past 8 weeks. Sidenote: I cannot believe it has been 8 weeks already!  

Disclaimer: We have SO many other items that are critical to our every day sanity, but these are just a few I chose to highlight in this post.

E has been rooming in with us. Don't worry, she sleeps in the bassinet in her pack & play. The layout of our room has this little nook area with a light. Within the first week, we bought and installed (by we I mean J) a dimmer switch for the light. Genius. We are able to turn the light on low to change her in the middle of the night. I also dim it when we are doing her bedtime routine and getting ready for bed. In all honesty it is just easier on the parents since J is early to bed and early to rise.

This was one of the best gifts I received post delivery. We were gifted a 6 month subscription to emeals. Every Wednesday I get an email with 7 dinner meals and a grocery list to go along with it. This means that the majority of my grocery shopping is already written out for me AND the meals are already planned! We eat at home a lot and I pack J his breakfast and lunch each day for work so having emeals is an enormous help. I know I will appreciate it more when I return to work. You can choose a plan each month. We started with the Publix plan which was awesome because the meals were planned around the different deals that Publix had going on that week.You can choose plans from clean eating, low fat, slow cooker, paleo, gluten free, etc.

My family made fun of me for using the Baby Connect app, but it is great! I mainly use it to enter her stats at the doctor appointments, vaccinations, when she has been fed (bottle & nursing) as well as the number of diapers. I like to know that she is fed as evenly as possible from each side. You can also add users to enter her information and view it. So when J is with E, I can log in and see when she last ate, etc. It also helps so much with the doctors ask about her eating and diapers - you just pull out your phone! I know I could keep track of it all, but it's much easier to use this app.

When my sister came to visit she suggested using the Netflix account on my iPad for the nursing sessions. I am forever grateful. It helps pass the time when I feed E and J uses it too when she takes her nighttime bottle. I have also expanded my list of tv shows which I know thrills J! So far I have become hooked on Revenge, Once Upon A Time and I just started Army Wives - which I have cried during each episode. I'll probably breeze through this series as well so I am open for suggestions.

We do not swaddle E during the day, but she does sleep in her Woombie Air at night. She has crazy hands and I firmly believe that this helps her sleep. Around 4 weeks she started sleeping in long stretches at night (anywhere from 4-9 hours). I'm terrified her great sleeping will disappear when I go back to work, but we will see. I purchased two woombies and have been very happy with them so far. They are snug, but very strechy so she can move a bit. It also helps me when I feed her because she's confined.

My BFF Double L and I match....Even our Brest Friends match. I think this is a fantastic nursing pillow. It doesn't just fit on you, it buckles around you which gives a lot of support. It also has a little pocket to keep your phone, chapstick, etc. for your nursing sessions. I did not have a C-section, but it claims to be a great pillow for moms who fall into that category.

I know people may laugh at this and say "Give it a few months and you won't sterilize everything or wait until baby number 2 and you won't care that the paci fell on the ground." I assure you that we are not crazy sterilizers for our baby stuff. However, I do sterilize after washing bottles and especially after using my pump. I have this sterilizer plugged in right next to my sink and love the convenience. Surprisingly it holds SO many items (which is great for bottles like Dr. Browns that have a ton of parts) and is very simple to use. It runs for 10 minutes and automatically shuts off when it is done. It has been one of my favorite items thus far and I know I will appreciate it more when I go back to work and have to prep my pump bag and her bag each evening.

Hands down this has been the best gift we received. The Fisher-Price Rock 'N Play Sleeper has been a lifesaver. My plan was to keep this item downstairs for her to nap in during the day. E was jaundice when we left the hospital and we had to keep her on a biliblanket at home for 24 hours. This went on for 2-3 days which made it difficult for her to sleep in her pack & play. That's where this item came in - she was able to keep her blanket on and sleep comfortably in this sleeper. I did move her to the pack & play at night because I was nervous she would be used to sleeping at an incline and that would backfire when we tried to transition her to the crib. It's a great item to contain the baby and it is very easy to take with you while traveling or going up and down the stairs.