We started putting her in size 1 diapers a couple weeks ago, but they’re still a tad loose. Just like when the newborn diapers were initially loose.

I think we’ve got the breastfeeding down, but she still does this funny thing where she grunts the entire time she’s eating. It gets pretty annoying especially in the middle of the night when I just want her to finish her business and go back to bed. She does it when we bottle feed too, but not as bad. I wonder if it has to do with her congestion and breathing.

Unfortunately she’s still sleeping in the swing. I’ve tried several times to have her nap in her crib or pack and play and she’ll wake up screaming after about 5-10 minutes. I’m hoping between week 6 and 8 we can transition her out of the swing. It will be tough. If i can get her to nap successfully, then maybe we can put her in the crib at night. Although she does have her fussy periods during the afternoon where she can’t really get into a deep sleep, so maybe we just try this routine at night. She’ll sleep for 10-20 minutes during the day and wake up fussing, and this usually happens between 2 and 5pm. I’ll eventually swaddle her and put her back in the swing and she’ll sleep until Brian gets home or when she wakes for her evening feeding at 6 or 7. Luckily we don’t have to deal with this at night.

I’ve taken her to the mall a couple times this week. She does so well in the car and carseat. I even got a chance to take her out on a walk earlier in the week with our new jogging stroller. She slept the whole time, but at least she got some sun.

Next week, assuming I get the signoff from the doc, we’ll start on the Baby Boot Camp classes at Stonebriar. I’m excited about getting back into shape. All this laying around is hurting my back and making me feel unproductive. The classes are between 9-10 every morning, so we’ll have to time our feedings around it. The only problem I see is making myself get up. Lately I’ve been sleeping in till Brian leaves for work at 9. The 5/6 am feeding sucks the energy out of me since I usually sleep until 7.

I’m hoping she’ll drop one of the nighttime feedings soon. She’s no longer eating every 2-3 hours, it’s more like 3-5 hours depending on the hour or day.

So far everything is looking good. We’re still spending our days eating, playing and napping (sort-of). If I can get her to nap for longer than 30 minutes, then maybe I can do some actual housework. We still have our Christmas decorations sitting in boxes in the living room and I need to do some laundry, or maybe just sneak in a nap…

I hope we get back on track tonight. Here she is grumpy after putting her back to sleep after the 4am feeding.

After the appointment I took her on a stroll through the mall.

I think I was more exhausted than she was. We did great until we got into the car. She was ready to get out of that stroller.

Cheeky:

Post shot:

In the stroller:

The last few days have been going well I think in terms of our routine. She eats every 2.5 hours during the day and we try to get her to bed by 8:30 at night. She will sleep until 11 when we feed her again. Then she’ll wake up and want her night time feeding at around 3 and again around 5:30 or 6. The last couple of days she’d want her morning feeding at 6:30 which is nice because we can sleep in.

The hardest part is keeping the routine consistent. 8:30 is too early for us to go to bed but we usually find ourselves in bed by that time too. I guess when baby crashes we do too.

The other challenge is the daytime feedings. By the time she’s done eating and settles down for a nap, it feels like she’s only been sleeping for 30 minutes before she wakes up and wants more. That doesn’t give much time to do anything but feed her. I need to find a better way to soothe her so that she can fall asleep quicker. She did pretty well today but had very little playtime because all she wanted to do was sleep after eating.

I guess as long as we remain consistent things will get easier. I know at some point she will want to eat less frequently, which means more time for me to rest.

I leave you with her “I am about to make a big poopy face”. She makes this face and slowly shakes her head from side to side until she lets it out. Then freezes for about two seconds before she relaxes. It’s hilarious and I need a video of it.

I hope it’s not too early to try to put her on a sleep routine, but with Brian going back to work already I think it’s much needed. We’ll follow the 7,10,2 schedule. Bathe her at around 5:30 or 6. Feed her at 7 and put her to bed right after. Feed her again at 10 and then once more at 2. We’ll still follow her cues, so if she happens to wake up before or later we’ll push out the time. This already corresponds to her current feeding schedule, but not her sleep schedule. The next few days will be rough, but I’m hoping we’ll get this routine down by week 6 and maybe start transitioning her to her own crib starting at week 8. Who knows if any of this is overly agressive. As a project manager by profession, I feel like I have to have set milestones and schedules so that we have some sort of control. I’m hoping the parent-led/baby-led routine will work for us.

But the carpal tunnel needs to go away. It’s terrible and is making me weak in both hands. I can barely put my seatbelt on because if I happen to hit the right nerve, the pain would shoot down my arm. I also think the way I hold the baby while she’s nursing doesn’t help it either. Hoping it’s not a permanent issue…

Baby’s congestion is still going strong. We’ve tried just about everything but you can still hear her struggle to breathe at night. Luckily she’s able to sleep. The last couple of days she’s been grunting more during her sleep. I think it’s just a new found ability and probably related to gas, but Brian seems to think its related to her congestion. I guess we will ask the doc during our next appt.

I just hope her congestion goes away so that she can sleep in her pack n play and eventually her own crib before month 2.

She sounds so small and fragile. Makes it hard to not wake up every time she makes a noise. She breathes fine most of the time but when she tries to take a deep breath she really struggles. She wheezes big and sounds awful and miserable but usually settles right back to sleep. I wish I could do the same.

Everything says congestion is very common in newborns/babies but that doesn’t stop me from worrying. We are using saline spray, a humidifier, and steam to try to clear it up but I’m not sure it’s helping.

Hopefully she starts feeling better soon.

We are still working on getting the feeding in a rhythm that works for us. I’ve been pumping more over the past week only because it was easier. But each time I pump, I feel guilty that I’m missing out on any bonding we may have. So beginning last night I’ve cut back. I feel like we’ve started over.

It seems that after feeding off one side she’s done. She’d go for about 20 minutes so I’m not concerned that she’s not getting enough. But that leaves me lopsided until her next feeding. Perhaps after today we’ll both figure each other out and my body can regulate the supply based on her needs. I plan to
pump a couple times a day just so she gets used to the bottle.

We also had to start giving her a paci
only because she kept reaching for her fingers. But luckily we haven’t had to use it the last couple of days. Maybe because I’ve responded by feeding her. So far she’s eating every 2.5 – 3 hours. I still rely on an alarm at night, but she usually starts stirring and waking a few minutes before it goes off.

I really hope we get this straightened out by the time Brian goes to work next week…luckily all the family have left so no more distractions.

We really don’t want to go to church just for the sake of the baby…

This just means that things like the baby’s baptism may have to wait a few months or maybe a few years.

I hope by doing this, Baby E will have a solid foundation in her faith. She can then decide what she wants to do when she gets older.

I’m hoping Monday is the last time I will have to deal with this process….

I’m hoping in the next couple days we can figure out a schedule so that B can get all the sleep he needs since he goes back to work in a few days. I feel guilty waking up and seeing that he’s already taking care of the baby.

In other news, we finally got a call back from her pediatrician regarding her newborn screening test. It looks like we have nothing to worry about. There’s a probability that she may develop anemia later in life but they monitor iron counts on little girls anyway do we will know early on if it’s an issue. We can now breathe easier….