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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

4 Weeks?!?!?!

I can't believe that my little Lilly Bean is four weeks old today.  Where has the time gone?!  Before I know it, it will be time to go back to work (let's not dwell on that, sad face)...and then she'll be crawling and then walking and talking and OH I just can't think about it.  She has grown so much already!  In her short time with us, she has already added so much joy to our lives. I honestly can't remember what it was like before she was here.  Sappy alert!  Here are Miss Lillian Grace's 4-week stats:


Weight/Length:  I am really not sure why I continue to put this category on here because I haven't really kept up with it.  Worst mother of the year award goes to me?  Possibly.  We have her one month check-up at the pediatrician next week, so I'll report back after that.  I can't wait to find out weight, length and percentiles!  I bet she's put on a few pounds...she has a big 'ole milk belly!


Sleep:  She sleeps really well, and I know I have made this statement several times before, but I am still trying to figure out whether she has night and day mixed up.  I have done some research to find mixed responses on this topic, so I'm going to talk to the pediatrician about it next week.  Most of what I've found says that prior to 2 months of age, she is not forming any bad habits - just trying to get the hang of things - which makes me think she may be too young to be confused?  Who knows.  She is normally up every 3 hours during the night, but sometimes during the day she'll sleep in 4-5 hour stretches.  I'm not sure whether I should be trying to keep her up more during the day, or what.  But honestly, that is an issue in itself - I can strip this child down naked and hold ice cubes to her feet and she'll just keep on sleepin'.  I read today not to let her sleep longer than 3 hours at a time during the day to help cure the confusion, so I'm going to try that tomorrow and see how it goes.  I'll report back!


Feeding:   Still eating!  Back to using the nipple shield, but I'm OK with it.  I had a lot of responses after last week's post from my Mom friends saying that they used the nipple shield for several months with no problems, and I got a lot of much needed encouragement and advice - I was feeling very discouraged!  I spoke with the lactation consultant at the hospital as well as her pediatrician, and decided to go ahead and let her use it again.  I would rather her nurse however she can will because it's a lot easier and (sometimes) quicker.  The general consensus is, as long as she's eating, who cares how she's doing it? So we've been nursing with the nipple shield for the most part during the day, and giving bottles of breast milk and pumping at night.  I ordered several extra sets of pump parts, and may even order some more to make it easier on myself.  The only thing I'm struggling with now is how much to feed her. Previously, I'd been giving her 3 oz at a time, because I'd read that they should be eating 17-21 ounces in a day at her age.  She has been eating probably 8 times per day, and I didn't want to over-feed her, but she was still more fussy than before.  I finally figured out that she was still hungry, and we increased her bottles to 4 ounces of breast milk, which she's done much better with.  I need to talk to the pediatrician about this as well.  I was hoping that increasing the ounces would increase the length of time she slept at night.  For the past two, that has not been hte case, but I'm still holding out hope.  For now, I don't think I'm over-feeding her, because she's not spitting up.  So, we'll see how she does and what the pediatrician says next week!


Firsts This Week:  I can't think of too much except for the first bath where she didn't cry!  We figured out that if we make the water just slightly warmer than "ideal" per her little winnie the pooh temperature tester and if we fill her tub a little more full so she's nice and warm, she is much happier.  She just doesn't like to be cold!  She LOVES it when you pour water on her, and when you wash her hair.  Sweet girl! 


Developments:  She's growing stronger and continuing to develop her little personality.  She holds her head up for longer periods of time now, and a few times this week I've been sure she was going to roll over onto her back during tummy time.  She's almost got it, just needs a little more head control.   Still figuring out how that tongue works and making all sorts of funny faces in the process.  She is making eye contact more often and holding our gazes, and is VERY alert and awake for longer stretches at a time.  She's finding her hands a lot more often and likes to suck on her fingers - we may have a thumb sucker, folks!

Likes:  I meant to add these two new categories earlier, but forgot.  Oh well, I'll have them from now on!  She likes baths (for the most part), cuddles, eating, sleeping, her paci, her swing, car rides, stroller rides, singing/music and her bouncy chair.  Oh, and peeing on Daddy EVERY diaper change, and having blowout poops that ruin her outfits because she has skinny chicken legs and it comes out the side of her diaper.  Ew.  She also likes bright colors and Layla.

Dislikes:  Hands down, being hungry, being cold and having her diaper changed.  I think the diaper change thing has something to do with her hatred of cold.
 
What I'm Thankful For:  My husband.  Watching him with Lilly makes me fall even more in love with him, if possible.  He was saying the other day how he feels like there's not a lot he can do for her at this point, since I'm the one that supplies the milk. But he's always there to take over when I need a break, and he's so helpful both with the baby and around the house doing things that I can't seem to find the time to get to.  His laid back nature is a good balance to my high strung, which makes us a great team.  He gets up with me for night feedings on the weekends so he can feed while I pump, which is quicker and allows for extra sleep - every 30 minutes helps!  He is so sweet with Lilly, and I'm not sure if he knows it but she already has him wrapped around her little pinky finger!


What I'm Looking Forward To:  Seeing my Mom and Aunt Niecey this weekend!  Mom has been out of town for work for two weeks, so she's coming to visit Lilly when she gets home on Friday.  This will be Lilly's first time meeting Aunt Niecey.  I think they're going to love each other, don't you?


Next Pediatrician Appointment:  Next week - February 27.  I am excited to see how much she's grown and what percentiles she's in, and also to bombard the pediatrician with questions.

How Mommy's Doing:  Great!  No real developments to report here.  I'm just about down to my pre-pregnancy weight (which let's be honest could have been lower, so I still have a ways to go to meet my personal goal).  I bit the bullet and tried on some pre-pregnancy jeans over the weekend, and I don't want to talk about it.  Let's just say there were tears.  The pounds are gone, I'm just so...fleshy.  Also, my rings still don't fit. Did anyone else have that problem?  Are my sausage fingers just permanently more sausage-y than before, or is there a chance that it's still some kind of swelling and I'll eventually be able to wear my rings again?  Other than that, just dreading the 6-week follow-up violation OB appointment in two weeks.

I guess that's all for this week.  I'm strongly considering a switch to monthly updates from now on, because it doesn't seem like too much is happening on a weekly basis.  Plus, I'll have some cute pictures to go along with those posts using the month stickers from Auntie Meagan.  :-)  We'll see how it goes.

In conclusion, behold some of the cuteness from this week:
Bath time!

 
Not sure what she is doing here, but it cracks me up.


LOVE this little duck outfit!  This was the only outfit that we saw in the months leading up to her birth that Dan had to have.  Of course it was on clearance 'cause y'all know he's cheap, but still.  So cute!

Sweet nightgown from Auntie Amanda, which both Lilly and Mommy LOVE!

Night gown take two.

Love watching them together.  Also love that she's smiling!


Future thumb sucker?  Maybe.

Hope you're having a great week!

Sarah

1 comment:

  1. I've been keeping up with your blog. Lilly is just precious! I had the same problem with the rings! I actually went out and bought a fake look alike diamond that was much bigger than my wedding rings! I guess I'm crazy, but I had a serious problem with walking around with a baby without my rings on! It took about 16 weeks before I was finally able to shed the water weight and swelling!

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