6 weeks

Today we had a pediatrician appointment because we were concerned with some rashes that have appeared all over our little baby's body!  It turns out to be a combination of milia and baby acne.  Our PA, Jackie, thinks that Anne's skin is just really sensitive.  She recommended a few products to use: corn starch in the folds of her neck, Vaseline on her face/chest/back, and Aquaphor bodywash/shampoo.  She also told me to limit skin to skin contact with anyone other than Kris and I.  She said that Anne's skin can break out from lipstick, chapstick, make up, perfume, scented body lotion, etc...  The good news it that this is common and that it'll go away in a couple months.  The bad side to it is that we have to be more mindful of what we put on our skin and clothes!  The rash looks really icky.  :(  It's all over her face, chest, and back. 

They also weighed and measured her today.  She weighs 11 pounds 10 ounces!  She measures 22 1/4 inches long!  WOAH!  This little one is growing FAST! 

I also discovered a birth mark on her left knee!  :)  It looks a lot like the one I have on my neck, but hers is on the bottom side of her knee!  :)  I'll try to snap a picture of it sometime! 

OMGosh

This was the face right before.....

HHHAAAAAAAA! 

A week of firsts!

This week we've had a bunch of "First Times"!

On Thursday, Anne and I had an appointment with Becky from MILKY WAY (lactation consultant). The appointment was awesome. She weighed Anne and she was: 10 lbs 9.7 oz! WOAH! We learned that Anne has reflux and I do have hyper lactation syndrome. She gave us suggestions to help with both problems. I felt so much better by the time we left. She was very encouraging and informative. We are currently trying new nursing positions, which are soooo much more comfortable for both of us. I'm now on a block feeding schedule, which means I nurse only on one side for 4 hours and then switch sides. This will help get the right balance of sugar and fat in my milk. :) So far, this is working out really well. Anne slept great Thursday and Friday night. :) We will continue to try all these new suggestions. On Thursday, we also had our first restaraunt trip! Patty, Evie, Anne and I went to Einstein Bagel for lunch! I even had to nurse Anne while we were there...so that was my first public feeding! All in all, I thought the trip was very successful. :)

On Friday, we had our first mall trip! The four of us went to the mall to walk around. I decided to bring along a bottle so I didn't have to nurse there. So, I gave Anne my first bottle! Evie was kind enough to assist with the bottle feeding!

I also did my first public diaper change! The four of us piled into the family bathroom. While I was changing Anne, Evie went potty. This is when the chaos began. :) The toilet Evie was using kept flushing randomly, Anne started crying, then when Evie went to wash her hands-the cold water wasn't working so it was too hot for her, and then finally there were no towels to dry the hands so we used wipes! It was very comical! Later that night, Patty and I went out for a girls night! We had dinner at the Olive Garden while Kris hung out with Evie and Anne...they watched "Princess and the Frog." I also had my first glass of wine since....Bridget and Kev's wedding last August?

After we got back, I went to change Anne's diaper and she started sucking her thumb big time! 
When we got home, I was changing Anne's diaper when she started sucking her thumb big time!

On Saturday night, Kris had his first outing with Anne (all of us went). We went to dinner at Famous Dave's, and then went to the mall so Evie could enjoy Playtown and they all got Dairy Queen! :) Patty also walked into TWO PARKED cars.... hee hee hee!

Since Tuesday night, when Patty and Evie arrived, Evie has been an amazing cousin! She has helped change Anne's diaper, feed her, give her medicine, pick her clothes, pick and put on her bib, push her stroller, "babysit" and much more! She's more of a big sister than a cousin! It's been amazing to see Evie and Anne interacting!

BTW...I cannot believe how fast Anne's growing. She's already grown out of QUITE a few things!

5 weeks!

Anne is growing so fast!  I'd heard people tell me not to blink because I'll miss something...they are right! 

She is quickly growing out of her newborn clothes and has moved up a size in diapers.  :)  She has stopped scratching her face (for the most part), so we've been able to leave her mittens off!  Last Friday, she started gripping with her hands.  When I'm nursing, she likes to hold onto my finger!  Early this morning, she figured out how to put her thumb in her mouth!  :)  I've also noticed that when I'm holding her, she almost always puts her arm on my chest.  :)  She continues to do baby push ups and hold her head up...like she's done from just about day 3!  She can hold her head up and turn it.  Using her legs, she can turn and move her body when laying down.  When being held, using her legs, she can push herself up and reposition herself.  She is so dang strong!  Friday was her first real bath.  That was definitely a learning experience and I don't feel that we did all that great....very awkward.  :)  But...Saturday's bath went better and Sunday's was great.  She likes the warm water and LOVES LOVES LOVES to have her hair washed!  :)
We find it funny that Anne's favorite thing to lay on is our brown ottoman! She has a swinging cradle, a bouncer, 2 co-sleepers, a crib, and a bassinet. But...most of the time, all she wants to do is lay on the ottoman.

She is still struggling with gas but I think we have figured out what the problem is.  I am pretty sure I have HYPER LACTATION SYNDROME and that's causing her unusual amount of gas.  I have an appointment with a LACTATION CONSULTANT on Thursday to see what I can do about it.  In the meantime, we have tried MYLICON DROPS which didn't do a lot...so we switched over to GRIPE WATER yesterday and that seems to be helping!  :)  I also think that some of the sleeping problems are tied to her gas issues because it keeps waking her up.  After her first dose yesterday, Anne slept for 3 hours, woke up to eat and fell back asleep for another 2 hours!  In addition, she has started eating more.  I think as the gas is clearing out, there is more room for milk-so she is wanting more and more often.  Unfortunately for ME, that meant hourly feedings last night.  :(  But...that's ok...I think we are getting close to a solution. 

On a completely unrelated topic, our friend Katie found this AWESOME product.  We aren't going to get it, but I did want to share this with my mommy friends.  It's a NEWBORN ROCK N PLAY SLEEPER...I wish I knew about this before I started buying all these different co-sleepers!

My sister and niece will be here tonight and I can't wait to see how Evie and Anne interact!  :)  I had some fun with pictures yesterday...this is amazing!

 

My baby is 1 month old!!!

The time is flying by!  She is smiling and laughing (at random times), she can hold her head up for at least a full minute, she tracks with her eyes and is interested in her surroundings, she is starting to play with the mobile toys, and she is slowly working through her yucky gas issues.  :(  She's quite a mover and is constantly kicking and punching!  She makes the funniest faces and sweetest noises! 

Today she had her 1 month check up. She weighed 10 lbs 1 oz.  She is 12 1/3 inches tall.  She is in the 50-75% for her weight and 50% for her height.  She got her second Hep B shot...MAN DID SHE WAIL!  :(

I can't believe how fast she is growing!  She has already grown out of some of her clothes!  There are a couple outfits she didn't even get to wear before she grew out of them! 
We are still working on the whole sleeping thing.  We tried a bassinet next to the bed...that didn't really work.  We tried swaddling her...she didn't like that.  We got a co-sleeper to put between us in bed...slightly better, but our bed isn't even because we have two different firmness' (we have a Sleep To Live bed).  Got a sleep wedge with a positioner...getting closer, but it doesn't work with the co-sleeper since the one we got is not really sturdy.  So, I got a new co-sleeper today that vibrates and makes noises. So, I put the sleep wedge in that today and she seemed to like it!  So...when Kris and Anne wake up from their little nap, I'm going to put her down in that for the night!  Hopefully we'll have a good night!  The funny thing is that she likes to just lay on the ottoman in the family room.  I don't know what she likes so much about it, but she'll settle down most of the time when we put her on that! 

Anne and I are doing a good job getting out and about at least every other day.  We've done trips with the stroller, with just the car seat, with the baby front carrier, and in the shopping cart.  I'm feeling pretty comfortable with outings now!  ...EXCEPT when Oreo is with us!  I had to take Oreo (and therefore Anne) to a vet appointment on one day and had to pick him up from a grooming appointment on another day.  That was CRAZY trying to handle a baby and our high maintenance dog!  YIKERDOODLEPIE!  Thankfully the girls at the vets office are wonderful and they helped me out.  :) 

There are pictures and videos of Anne (and some friends) on our site.  Click HERE to see them. 

Ahhh....progress

YES!  Last night Anne slept for almost 4 hours straight!  I got some DELICIOUS sleep then!  We created an incline under her bed to see if that would help her sleep better.  It DID.  Apparently she is not a fan of laying flat on her back.  Today on our first outing with the stroller, I picked up an actual sleep wedge so we can use that instead.  I'm looking forward to continued sleep progress!  I also had my first solo bathtime with Anne this afternoon.  We normally do it after dinner (Kris and I) but I did it earlier so I could also get her nails cut.  Bathtime was...effective.  I'll have to get more comfortable doing it by myself...but she is clean.  :)  I also was successful at cutting her nails!  YAY!  Our pediatrician told me to just file her nails...I started with that.  That was taking forever and not working very well...so I used the nail clipper.  I managed to get her nails trimmed without and bloodshed!  Now she is has been liberated from those mittens!  Anne has some nice nails!  And they grow fast!  She is such a girl...she tolerated the nail trimming and filing, but when I moved to the hand massage with lotion-she just melted!  She completely relaxed and just enjoyed the pampering!  :)  I took out the activity mats yesterday and introduced Anne to those exciting toys!  I think she was a little overwhelmed, but she did manage to smack a couple of the dangling toys!  Our family room (AKA brown couch room) is looking way more kid-like now! 

I added more pictures and videos to our site.  Click HERE to see them! 

2 week check up

Anne had her 2 week check up today!  She is 20.25 inches long and weighs 8 lbs 5 oz!  They did another PKU test and we will get those results soon.  Other than that, our doctor said she was doing great.  She is having a little trouble with gas but our doctor explained that Anne was learning how to "expel the gas".  :)  So she showed us some techniques to help her "expel the gas" and Kris has been trying them all afternoon!  ...on Anne that is.  :)  She's making all these noises and I feel horrible for her, but there isn't much I can do other than help soothe her.  She will soon learn to be a burping and farting master!

She's on a fairly regular schedule:  sleep for 2 hours, eat for 10-15 minutes, pee/poop, and repeat.... At night, she usually gets a 3 1/2 hour snooze in and we get a little extra sleep.  Tonight will be the first night I'm kinda' on my own.  Kris is going to go into work tomorrow for a half day, so I'm going to do all the diaper changes tonight.  I'm feeling confident I can do it...I've already taken a nap today and am going to grab another one in a little while. 

Today Kris showed me how to use the car seat and stroller...and since I'm physically feeling good I may try to make a solo trip out of the house with Anne sometime in the next couple of days!