Ada: 5 Weeks

I was planning to write that Ada has been awake far more hours this week. It was true for a five day stretch. And then in the last couple days, I feel like she's been sleeping more than ever.

For example, last night she fed around 9PM and was asleep by 9:30. She didn't wake again until 2:30, at which point I did the math and realized it'd been nearly 6 hours (SIX!) since she had eaten last. Usually I set an alarm as a rough guide to not necessarily let her go much longer than 4 hours (though I've read at this point that we can basically let her sleep -- she usually beats that alarm by a few minutes), but I must have forgotten to set it.

Strangely, she had also slept a long chunk in the afternoon. I've checked her temperature and she doesn't appear to be sick. So, I'm trying to relax about the whole thing. Changes in behavior from day to day -- just like with adults -- is probably normal. I'm just worried about my milk supply if she continues to space feedings like that.

Anyone know what's "normal" for number of feedings at 5 weeks?


Ada, seen above in her very first pair of jeggings, isn't on any sort of schedule yet. I have trouble knowing how to spend time with her when she's awake. My mom has a degree in childhood development, so I've asked her many times if there's anything specifically I should be doing to enhance her development. At one month, there isn't much, really. Just lots of snuggles and a little bit of tummy time and play.

I thought I'd share some highlights of our days for this post. In photos, of course.

Here's Ada's favorite toy. Just some plastic links with different colors and textures.


Whenever she opens her hand, I place one of the rings in her palm and try to get her to grasp it. There's a name for the reflex that babies have at this age, but I forget.


Anyway, at first, Ada would just grasp and then let go. But in the past couple days, she's been holding on to them for longer and longer periods of time. Pretty cool!

We usually have an hour or so throughout the day that I call "music appreciation" time. It involves me scouring YouTube for fun tracks. It's how I found her favorite Christmas song.


We only started last week. Artists we've covered include: The Beatles, Aerosmith, Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Elton John, Justin Beiber (hahah -- don't ask!), Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Dave Brubeck, and multiple covers by Glee.


I tend to have TLC on in the background much of the day. I suppose Ada's getting quite a fashion education with all the What Not To Wear that airs each afternoon. And, yes. I, too, was appalled at how that professor dressed!


Ada despises tummy time. We try to get in at least 10 minutes every day. I know it should be more, but I read that on-chest time counts, too. She gets plenty of that. Her neck has been super strong since we brought her home from the hospital. And just this week she started holding her head up for longer periods of time and raising her chest sometimes as well!


We also soak in the Christmas tree for a while. Ada just loves staring at all those ornaments!

You may also notice in that last photo that we started cloth diapering this week. She's still a bit small for them (well, they fit -- but they just look ginormous), but overall -- the switch has been much less traumatic for the both of us than I thought it would be. Right now I'm finishing a load of dirty diapers. So far, so good. But the whole thing deserves its own post.

Here's something interesting: During the day, we're diapering Ada on the dining room table. Want to come over for dinner?


That's about it for daytime activities. Stephen shines at night when he gets home from work, so we'll do another post on that sometime soon, too. For now, I need to fully take advantage of this quiet time and finish the laundry.

Can you believe Christmas is this weekend? Having a baby sure screwed up my sense of time. I thought I had one more shopping weekend. This means Stephen's gifts were purchased on Amazon yesterday and will arrive on December 30th. Sigh . . .

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1 Month Birthday

Yesterday was Ada's 1 month birthday! I'll write a full update soon. We have lots of Christmas shopping to do.

In short:

• The GERD medicine is working wonders.
• I *think* she's starting to smile for real.
• We've started using the cloth diapers.
• Adventures with the bottle are going well.
• She's starting to sleep for slightly longer periods at night.
• We had our second successful long outing to the mall/etc. this week.
• And Stephen and I had our first night out thanks to her grandparents.

Here's Ada's favorite Christmas song. She's often cranky after her morning nap. This song does the trick every time. And she scores extra points for those sweaters. What good taste our baby has!


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4 Weeks Postpartum

I gave birth 29 days ago. For the first two weeks, I did absolutely nothing but sit on the couch, hold and feed Ada, try to feed myself, hang with Stephen, and attempt to get some light walking in. Sleep was especially rough, as I was camped out on Ada's nursery floor.

Week three was much better. We got out of the house and went to walk around the mall. We visited my parents. We had a few friends over. Ada was more awake, too. Physically in week 3, I started to feel like myself again.

Now in week 4 (with the exception of my squishy stomach) I can hardly remember what it felt like to be pregnant. I have trouble believing that I gave birth already -- without drugs, for that matter (which was an event I had fretted about for MONTHS, mind you . . . years, even!). But what isn't so great this week is the exhaustion.

I'm dead tired. Is anyone surprised by that? I know it's just part of the territory.

What isn't normal is that I've experienced three episodes of what I think might be sleep paralysis. It started in week two. I was asleep, but all of a sudden, I was completely aware of everything around me. My body was heavy and felt like it was buzzing. I couldn't move a single muscle, though. I tried desperately to yell out for Stephen, but nothing came out of my mouth. It only lasted ten seconds or so, but it was scary. To the point where I thought the entire thing was just a nightmare. It happened twice that first night . . . and then again once a week later.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? The only reason I bring it up now is because I was thinking about it last night . . . how it might not have been a dream . . . and searched the symptoms and causes. It seems like it can happen whenever sleep patterns are disrupted (CHECK!) or there's lack of sleep (CHECK!). Thankfully, when those changes to sleep patterns are rectified, it clears up -- no need for treatment. Ada is sleeping better these days, so I'm hoping my episodes will stay behind me.


LIVING TO FEED

Which brings me to breastfeeding. I'm getting more used to the whole process. Overall, it's been far more demanding than I ever thought it could be. Ada is such a fantastic latcher and has been since birth. She hasn't been phased by pacifier and bottle nipples. She's a good and relatively quick eater, too. Still, there are times where she's searching for the boob in the evening, particularly if she's cluster-feeding, and I start weeping because I want my life back. I have read that feedings space out as babies grow, so I'm looking forward to those days.

I started pumping in week three. Just a 2 to 3 ounce bottle daily. I use the Medela Harmony hand pump and can get the small bottle done in about 10 minutes. I figure a fancier pump would be overkill since I plan to be home for the next 6 months. Last night we gave Ada a bottle for the first time (a Tommee Tippee, but we also have some Born Free to try). She took to it wonderfully, but when she was done she seemed entirely dissatisfied/cranky and cried for an hour but wouldn't suck on me or anything else. We're going to try again tonight. I'll write more about how it goes in her 4 week post.

Otherwise, I'm quite dismayed that if I'd like to sleep through the night . . . I can't. I keep reading that even if Stephen gives her a bottle, I need to wake at the same time and pump as if Ada is feeding to keep up my supply. Quite frankly, even if I wanted to try and sleep through a single feeding, I doubt I could. The boobs get overly full and painful if she waits even an hour longer than normal to eat. There's no winning this game!


UP AND RUNNING

As I wrote last week, exercise is going extremely well. I started walking one week after Ada was born (on Thanksgiving Day, actually). That first time, I went one mile. Crazy slow. I felt sore and tired, too. But from there, almost overnight my walks got much, much easier. I increased the distance because it felt so good to get out in the sun and fresh air. Walking also seemed to make my physical symptoms get better. Then at 2-1/2 weeks postpartum, I went for my first walk-jog around the neighborhood. It just felt right. I'd jog a block then walk one. Then I'd jog 2, walk 1. Etc. Three miles total.

I kept up walk-jogging for a few days until I felt comfortable slogging around for three miles at a slow clip. I'm not planning to go farther than three miles until January. I don't want to risk injury -- if you've read our blog long enough, you know I'm prone -- since in the last months of pregnancy I was running three miles at a time, max. And in those last couple weeks, I walked, usually 4 miles or so. What's funny is that I did a walk-jog the day before Ada was born! Anyway, my legs remember three miles . . . those miles feel longer than ever, but I'm loving every minute of it.

Return to exercise isn't easy, but it's much easier than I thought it would be. I'm not nearly as slow as I thought I would be. Not nearly as winded or tired. I can feel that all that hard work I did during pregnancy is paying off. Taking off 22 pounds sure helps, too. And to all your preggos out there: The upper-body work, push-ups and the minimal lifting prompted by prenatal DVDs, has helped the most of all. Lifting that car seat is tough. Ada is getting heavier by the day as well!

HOME ALONE

Since this is my first week without Stephen's help, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get anything done during the day. My parents were kind enough to spend a good chunk of Monday through Wednesday with me. They played and rocked her while I did dishes and laundry. They watched her while I went for jogs. My mom even helped me fold s.e.v.e.r.a.l loads of laundry that have been on our guest bedroom floor for over two weeks.

Today I'm on my own. Ada is refusing to take her usual morning nap. We're running the hair dryer quite a bit (enough to make me Google: "How much does it cost to run a hair dryer for 2 hours a day?" -- the answer, by the way, is roughly 6 dollars a week). So, that's all from me for now.

Note: You can totally tell I wrote this post early in the day and am desperately trying to get it done by tonight. Also, the lack of photos is also due to just not having time!

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3 Weeks

I am slipping just like I did with the pregnancy posts. Ada is one day away from being 4 weeks old -- and I still haven't posted her 3-week post! Yikes. Life with a baby is definitely more intensive then I thought it would be. And yet in other ways, it's not nearly as draining. Slowly, we're getting the hang of things. Slowly.

Ada at 3 Weeks:

We've passed the sleeping-ALL-the-time phase and entered the several-hours-of-quiet-alertness one. We don't even need to wake Ada to eat most of the time. It's lots of fun. She's waking about twice a night to eat. She also had a growth spurt this week and was eating nearly every hour in the afternoons for a couple days straight.

These days, Ada is most content sitting in her bouncy chair, looking around the room at everything. Especially our Christmas tree, which she helped us decorate this week . . .


Her looks are changing slightly. Whereas everyone seemed to see Stephen in her face -- her eyes and lips, specifically -- now people are saying she looks like me. I'm not entirely sure. But her face shape, hair, and nose are certainly mine.

(That's my baby picture in the ornament.)


Stephen has gone back to work, much to all our dismay (dismays?). But not before he squeezed in plenty of cuddle-time. He's the expert diaper man. He is also the bath-pro. When 3:00 PM rolls around each day, Ada and I both get super excited to have him back home with us.


I mentioned in Week 2 how Ada has been having trouble with spitting up. We tried changing my diet (still cutting out dairy, etc.), elevating her after feeding, and tons of other suggestions we got from doctors, nurses, family, friends, and readers. Her spitting up has improved remarkably during the day . . . but at night, it's been terrifying. She chokes, gags, coughs, and vomits -- and cries. The other night, she didn't even seem to be able to catch her breath.

Definitely passed the happy spitter stage.

It was a r.e.a.l.l.y tough decision. One that made me cry, honestly. But yesterday we decided to give her medicine a try. We're concerned with all the choking that she might aspirate some of the spit-up and get much sicker. I don't know yet if it's working. We'll keep you updated. So far, I haven't noticed any side-effects. Apparently the medicine she's on (Axid) is a first line of defense. So, it isn't quite as intense/strong as other interventions might be.


She's also been a bit stuffy. I'm told that can happen with forced hot air heat. We're running the cool-mist throughout the day to help with that. Maybe even I'll have fewer sinus infections this year!


Now that Ada is in the 8 pound range (I'm estimating -- we don't know her exact weight), we thought we'd give her cloth diapers a try. She's still too tiny, mostly in the leg-area. So, we're polishing off the newborn diapers we received as shower gifts. We have a few boxes in size 1 as well. When we put the cloth on her, she seemed to like it and got really quiet.

Or maybe she was just embarrassed that we took so much time thinking about her poop these past 10 months.


I think that's pretty much it for week 3. Tonight we're trying something new: A BOTTLE. We're also leaving Ada with my parents on Friday so we can jog around our neighborhood with the runners club for the annual Christmas Lights Run.

Here's hoping it all goes well!

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3 Weeks Postpartum

It's been three whole weeks since Ada was born. I'm feeling so much better than I did that first day, first week, and even two weeks. To be entirely honest, there was a point when I never thought I'd feel like myself again. The whole physical experience of active labor and then pushing was just too intense to think feeling "normal" was a possibility.

Though I'm not entirely there yet, I'm getting much closer to my old self. But I'm sure it'll be a new normal no matter what.

I think the biggest difference this week has been with my pain level. I don't really have any leftover pain from childbirth. I know I'm still healing and I can still feel my uterus contract from time to time, so I know my insides are still shifting from how they were when I was pregnant.

If I take the time to think about it, it really is miraculous. I mean, this was me at 37 weeks:


And here I am now:


That's A LOT of change.

Alright. I cheated a bit and wore my black nursing tank, which ultimately camouflages my baby-pooch. My stomach right now looks like someone slowly let the air out of a large balloon. Sort of squishy. I look like I did when I was about 20 weeks pregnant (though, I didn't pop until later). One cool thing -- albeit somewhat obnoxious to brag about, so I apologize in advance -- I don't have stretch marks.

My weight is still steady at around 7 to 8 pounds up from pre-pregnancy. It might have something to do with my eating habits, since I've been ravenous (this might have something to do with breastfeeding, right?). Or it could have something to do with the fact that I feel no need to diet right now. Or ever, for that matter. The weight will come off in time once my eating habits level out.

I'm already fitting back into many of my old clothes again. I'm not worried. Plus, in my experience -- weight is really just a number. I go by feel. Right now, I'm feeling great.


Stephen is going back to work next week. That will be a big change for me. I still haven't quite registered that I, myself, won't return to work for another 6 months. I feel like I am headed back next week. I don't know how I'll feel when I'm home alone with Ada all day. I have some anxiety about meeting all of her needs by myself. I'm also wondering if I'll go crazy not talking to adults or having assignments to complete.

I detailed my post-birth exercise plans before I had Ada. And, indeed, exercise is another big change for week 3. I don't want to get into too many details right now because I'm taking it one day at a time. Let's just say it's going extremely well -- better than I had imagined it could. Shedding 20 pounds nearly overnight has made walking and other activities a breeze. I plan to post more about what I'm doing soon.


I'm somewhat sad that we're now getting snow. Not exactly the best outdoor walking weather for a newborn. Sometimes I take her on the treadmill with me. However, Stephen has been great about giving me an uninterrupted hour of me-time each afternoon. So, I use it to get out of the house -- alone -- and get my body moving.

That's enough from me. The only other annoying thing I'm still dealing with is that I can't seem to put my contacts in to save my life. Maybe it's because I haven't been sleeping as much -- but they sting my eyes. Anyone else have this experience? I'm getting tired of wearing my glasses!

Stay tuned for Ada's 3-week update.


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The Sleep Situation

Before we get in to the sleep situation, I wanted to thank all of you for your help. The biggest surprise to me about being a new mom is the advice other moms (and dads!) offer up -- and it's been this way since before Ada was born. The help. The support. The suggestions. They are amazing and so very much appreciated. Even if we can't follow them all . . . just knowing that others have been there, done that, and their children have thrived (and mom/dad have survived!) helps us get through each day of this early period.

Thank you. Each and every one of you. I wish I had more energy right now to respond to each of your thoughts individually. Honestly, I have trouble finishing my sentences these days. Even short ones. Oh, and I put our milk carton in the sink this morning. We're working on it. Slowly.

Now: SLEEP! Before Ada was born, we set up her Pack 'n Play in our bedroom. There isn't much space for the thing, but we planned to sleep with her in our bedroom for at least the first week. Maybe longer, but we hadn't given it much thought. I read it would make the whole breastfeeding thing more convenient. Truth? The day she was born, it was serving as a large laundry bin. So, when we returned home, we had to empty it out and make a huge pile at the foot of the bed. Our room, in other words, was a complete mess. Not the ideal bringing-home-baby image I had in my mind those long 9 months.

That first night was . . . interesting. Ada made so many gremlin noises, most of them sounding like she was choking or worse, and we both didn't get much sleep at all. Some friends of our suggested we move her to the nursery. We were both so tired and caught off guard by her early arrival, we'd give anything a try. Thing is, I wasn't ready to leave her. I was all baby-blues emotional and couldn't stop thinking about how my poor baby had been inside me for nine months and how dare I even consider banishing her to her own room so very far away. I mean, it must take 20 steps to get to her crib from my side of the bed! (Sarcasm.)

Naturally, I slept that night atop a few quilts on the nursery floor, much to the horror of my own mother and mother-in-law.

Ada slept far better that night. So did Stephen. And feeding was relatively easy because I was right there. The next day, we grabbed the mattress from our pull-out in the living room and set up a camp for me. The mattress may have been even less comfortable than the floor, but mentally -- at least I was sleeping on some sort of "bed" . . . key words being "sort of."

Then, the problems began.

I found myself half waking up at night bringing her onto the floor with me and then waking up with her beside me without realizing I had fallen asleep. Or worse -- forgetting I responsibly put her back in her crib . . . and then waking up and thinking that I somehow crushed her. Yes. My level of exhaustion had made it dangerous to continue this type of sleeping relationship. So, I reached out to my friends on Facebook.

Wow. There are a million ways of doing the whole first year sleep thing. The suggestions were helpful, but overwhelming (for sure). What we ultimately decided was to bring her back into the Pack 'n Play in our room. We started this on Friday or Saturday night, I really can't remember. I have returned to our bed for better quality sleep. And it's working out. I don't know how much longer we'll keep it this way. Right now, we're thinking at least through December. Maybe longer.

Another thing I've learned from life with a baby is that these types of big decisions are up for change at a moment's notice. Who knows what tonight will bring! What's cool is that Ada typically wakes only twice each night to feed. Her grump-factor is typically calmed by the wee hours, so we're actually getting a couple 3-hour stretches of shut-eye.

(I hope I didn't just jinx us.)

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2 Weeks Old

Ada's two week appointment went well . . . and then it didn't. But before we get into all of that, our little lady is growing like a weed. Her personality is becoming more complex (and -- sigh -- cranky). And she's as gorgeous as ever.

Still, the last two weeks have been a blur of diapers, laundry, feedings, family, and not-enough sleep.

First, at Ada's appointment we learned that she now weighs 7 lbs, 5 ounces. A whopping 13 ounce gain in 9 days. Sounds like a lot -- right? The doctor commented that she's going to be huge if this rate continues. He also sort of chuckled, so I don't know if he was just being kind of funny or what. In other words, it was a good/bad thing to hear. Of course, now I'm all worried that she's gaining too much weight.

As the appointment went on, we talked about our concern that she's spitting up after most every feeding. He was quick to prescribe some drops to help with her apparent reflux. And then he brought up the possibility that we're over-feeding her. He then suggested that she should be able to get 1 ounce from each breast every five minutes -- so we, in his opinion, should restrict her eating to around 10-15 minutes. Give her a pacifier if she's wanting to suck more.

I smiled and nodded (because he was pretty keen on this idea, and proceeded to do a whole calories in/calories out analysis) -- but inside my head, I was screaming because this advice contradicts e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g I've ever read about feeding on demand.

So, I called our lactation consultant. And she said her weight is awesome. Keep doing what we're doing. She also gave us a bunch of other suggestions to help with her spitting up, since it seems like Ada is a happy spitter. Before we got off the phone, she said: "You're doing a great job!"


Of course, I want to believe the advice of the lactation consultant. She specializes in feeding. But now it's confusing because I don't know what suggestions to follow. I don't know if we should switch pediatricians. I don't know, in general, what to do.

I guess that's what parenting is all about. The not knowing. The going with your gut. But I'm happy to report that Ada -- though she's still doing it sometimes -- has responded well so far to elevation after she eats, better burping, etc. I don't think we'll need to fill that prescription. I'm still worried I'm over-feeding her, though.

Fingers crossed it all works out. I've read breastfed babies tend to gain wait more quickly and then level off.


The other item of note is Ada's crankiness level. (Note: Stephen's thank-god-she-stopped-crying-for-two-minutes face.) It's increased 1,000-fold since she was born. We're just living day by day. I don't think it's colic . . . but there are certainly times when she's inconsolable. We change her, feed her, play with her, rock her, etc. Nothing works.

We're thinking about offering a -- GASP -- pacifier, but would prefer to wait until four weeks, when we also are thinking of introducing a bottle for the first time. Any breastfeeding moms have experience with either of these things?

I'd write more, but Ada is now almost three weeks old. Expect another post about her development sometime soon-ish. Including one on our current sleep situation. It's been crazy trying to figure it all out -- that's for sure.

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