Wednesday, November 16, 2005
3 Months!!!
Hard to believe we've been blessed with Miss Emma for 3 months already. Time sure flies when you're having fun! And fun we are having. Every day is an adventure, and I am finally to the point where I like that! Yes, Miss Anal Rententive likes it! Of course, I don't quite have a choice in the matter, but Emma is teaching me how to not only "go with the flow" but how to enjoy it. We are working on a loose schedule, but I don't sweat the small stuff anymore. If she only eats for 5 mintues, so what. She'll make up for it at the next feeding if she needs it! She's well into the 12-lb mark -- and on her way to 13 -- so I'm not worried about this girl thriving. She is growing like a weed!
So what's new since last I wrote -- tons of course!! Emma is smiling and cooing like crazy. She even giggles and razzes and loves to show off her latest trick -- blowing bubbles. Her head is strong and tall, and she likes to swing at her toys and touch their soft fur, especially Ms. Spider. She still loves to kick around on the floor and will always give you a smile if you make fishy lips. In fact, we had her 3-month pix taken today and she smiled in every one!!! It was so hard to choose. She honestly looked precious in every one!
As of our last doctor's appt, Emma's thrush is gone, but we do think she has acid reflux. We've been giving her medicine for about a week and a half now, and it's getting better... slowly. She still struggles with burps and spitting up for a good hour after she eats, which means she can get a little cranky. But the good news is she is napping a little longer -- sometimes 45 min!! That's a huge improvement from the 15-min naps I was getting for a while. She can usually sleep thru the night for about 6 hours without a feeding, but we still have our share of bad nights. At this point, I know enough tricks now to get her down again -- usually. If we end up snuggling in bed, oh well. Sometimes you just need sleep!
The best part of these last few weeks has been reaching a new level of comfort. I honestly feel like I really know Emma now and that I can read her like no one else. She is truly the love of my life and my heart aches with how much I care about her. She's my buddy, and I absolutely love spending every second with her. It's officially all about her now and, honestly, that just feels natural. I admit I struggled in the beginning, but I am now in total mommy mode -- and it is great!
I do have some time to myself though. I'm back to work, with one day a week in the office (actually just 4 hours), and I work from home the rest of the week. It's been a struggle trying to balance everything, but I'm managing. I just hate ignoring Emma during the day, so I usually get work done at night after Jeff gets home. I know I can't play with her every second, but I want to. It's so fun watching her learn and develop. I can't believe how much she knows already! I do let her explore on her own, but until she can sit up, I feel like I should interact as much as possible. The dishes can wait as far as I'm concerned. I know, I'm obviously a first-time mom. :o)
Well, that's it for now. Forgive all my mommy gush, but it just feels good to honestly say, "Everything is good." It truly is, and I am beyond blessed with this little peanut. She is just such a sweetheart. And Jeff is just as smitten with her. The way he looks at her melts my heart. What more could I ask for?!
So what's new since last I wrote -- tons of course!! Emma is smiling and cooing like crazy. She even giggles and razzes and loves to show off her latest trick -- blowing bubbles. Her head is strong and tall, and she likes to swing at her toys and touch their soft fur, especially Ms. Spider. She still loves to kick around on the floor and will always give you a smile if you make fishy lips. In fact, we had her 3-month pix taken today and she smiled in every one!!! It was so hard to choose. She honestly looked precious in every one!
As of our last doctor's appt, Emma's thrush is gone, but we do think she has acid reflux. We've been giving her medicine for about a week and a half now, and it's getting better... slowly. She still struggles with burps and spitting up for a good hour after she eats, which means she can get a little cranky. But the good news is she is napping a little longer -- sometimes 45 min!! That's a huge improvement from the 15-min naps I was getting for a while. She can usually sleep thru the night for about 6 hours without a feeding, but we still have our share of bad nights. At this point, I know enough tricks now to get her down again -- usually. If we end up snuggling in bed, oh well. Sometimes you just need sleep!
The best part of these last few weeks has been reaching a new level of comfort. I honestly feel like I really know Emma now and that I can read her like no one else. She is truly the love of my life and my heart aches with how much I care about her. She's my buddy, and I absolutely love spending every second with her. It's officially all about her now and, honestly, that just feels natural. I admit I struggled in the beginning, but I am now in total mommy mode -- and it is great!
I do have some time to myself though. I'm back to work, with one day a week in the office (actually just 4 hours), and I work from home the rest of the week. It's been a struggle trying to balance everything, but I'm managing. I just hate ignoring Emma during the day, so I usually get work done at night after Jeff gets home. I know I can't play with her every second, but I want to. It's so fun watching her learn and develop. I can't believe how much she knows already! I do let her explore on her own, but until she can sit up, I feel like I should interact as much as possible. The dishes can wait as far as I'm concerned. I know, I'm obviously a first-time mom. :o)
Well, that's it for now. Forgive all my mommy gush, but it just feels good to honestly say, "Everything is good." It truly is, and I am beyond blessed with this little peanut. She is just such a sweetheart. And Jeff is just as smitten with her. The way he looks at her melts my heart. What more could I ask for?!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Still Smiling...
And sleeping too! We're getting 5 to 6 hour stretches during the night, which means Mommy is smiling too! :o)
Uncle Johnny's Biggest Fan
Or maybe it's the other way around? These two love each other so much, I can't wait until they can play together all the time. Here they are at Johnny's college football game. She was such a trooper that day -- it was so cold!
Before I Was A Mom
I got this via email. I could not have said it better.
Enjoy! :o)
Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Spit on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests -- Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
And remember that behind every successful mother...
Is a basket of dirty laundry.
Enjoy! :o)
Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Spit on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom - I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests -- Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom - I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
And remember that behind every successful mother...
Is a basket of dirty laundry.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
7 Weeks
How time flies when you're having fun! And, yes, we are having fun. Emma and I are really getting to know eachother, and I love every second of our days -- even when she cries. She is having more awake time now and loves to watch her mobile and play underneath her Baby Einstein activity "gym." Her cooing and her smiles make my heart overflow more than I could have ever imagined!
Overall the last few weeks have been the best yet, but we did discover that Emma (and I) have thrush. It's basically a yeast infection in her mouth that could be passed on to me during nursing. I'm not really having any major symptoms, but she had them all -- white spots on the inside of her cheeks and on her tongue and a raised diaper rash. Plus, she was getting fussier and fussier at the breast, so I knew something wasn't right. She was growing so impatient that I knew it had to be more than her personality that was making every nursing session a screaming match. So, she has an oral medication that we give her 4 times a day, and I have a topical cream. Thankfully, things have gotten MUCH better and now there's maybe one nursing session out of 9 or 10 that she gets fussy -- and that's normally at night. I'm not sure if it's the thrush going away or her passing the 6-week and/or 10-lb mark, but I am enjoying her much more now, and I love feeding her.
Speaking of which, another development has been her weight gain. While we were at the doc for her thrush, he said her weight gain (over 3 lbs in 5 weeks) was "off the charts." He wasn't totally concerned but wanted me to spread out her feedings to every 3 hrs instead of the every 2 hrs she seems to want. "Pushing her off" has been hard. It's not that she's screaming to eat (thank goodness!), but when those big blue eyes look at me while she's sucking her hand, I just feel downright cruel for not feeding her. A lot of times I give in, but most of the time I try to at least get her to 2.5 hours. That may be another reason she's eating better, I don't know. The tricky part is that she kind of put herself on a 2-hr schedule during the day. She wakes up, eats, has about an hour of awake time and then takes an hour nap. This active little bunny won't take a 2-hr nap and gets fussy after an hour of awake time, so this "putting her off" for an hour after she wakes up kind of throws everything off. But we're managing and she's still gaining weight and growing like a weed, so I'm trusting our doctor while using my best judgment.
I am pumping now, so Jeff gives Emma a bottle every other night so they can have some bonding time. He's really enjoying it, and it gives me a break. She still doesn't sleep for more than 3 hrs, so I take what I can get! Hopefully as she gets older she'll start those 4-hr stretches at night. Every Tuesday, some mom at my nursing support group brags that her little one slept through the night. I can't wait until I can say those words... Keep praying! :o)
Well, that's about it for now. Hope you enjoy the photos of our little princess. Yes, we're a little biased, but isn't she just beautiful!!!??? :o)
Overall the last few weeks have been the best yet, but we did discover that Emma (and I) have thrush. It's basically a yeast infection in her mouth that could be passed on to me during nursing. I'm not really having any major symptoms, but she had them all -- white spots on the inside of her cheeks and on her tongue and a raised diaper rash. Plus, she was getting fussier and fussier at the breast, so I knew something wasn't right. She was growing so impatient that I knew it had to be more than her personality that was making every nursing session a screaming match. So, she has an oral medication that we give her 4 times a day, and I have a topical cream. Thankfully, things have gotten MUCH better and now there's maybe one nursing session out of 9 or 10 that she gets fussy -- and that's normally at night. I'm not sure if it's the thrush going away or her passing the 6-week and/or 10-lb mark, but I am enjoying her much more now, and I love feeding her.
Speaking of which, another development has been her weight gain. While we were at the doc for her thrush, he said her weight gain (over 3 lbs in 5 weeks) was "off the charts." He wasn't totally concerned but wanted me to spread out her feedings to every 3 hrs instead of the every 2 hrs she seems to want. "Pushing her off" has been hard. It's not that she's screaming to eat (thank goodness!), but when those big blue eyes look at me while she's sucking her hand, I just feel downright cruel for not feeding her. A lot of times I give in, but most of the time I try to at least get her to 2.5 hours. That may be another reason she's eating better, I don't know. The tricky part is that she kind of put herself on a 2-hr schedule during the day. She wakes up, eats, has about an hour of awake time and then takes an hour nap. This active little bunny won't take a 2-hr nap and gets fussy after an hour of awake time, so this "putting her off" for an hour after she wakes up kind of throws everything off. But we're managing and she's still gaining weight and growing like a weed, so I'm trusting our doctor while using my best judgment.
I am pumping now, so Jeff gives Emma a bottle every other night so they can have some bonding time. He's really enjoying it, and it gives me a break. She still doesn't sleep for more than 3 hrs, so I take what I can get! Hopefully as she gets older she'll start those 4-hr stretches at night. Every Tuesday, some mom at my nursing support group brags that her little one slept through the night. I can't wait until I can say those words... Keep praying! :o)
Well, that's about it for now. Hope you enjoy the photos of our little princess. Yes, we're a little biased, but isn't she just beautiful!!!??? :o)
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Friends Forever
Emma meets her friend Makena, daughter of Brian and
Carrie. Only 4 weeks apart! (By the way, we switched babies if you couldn't tell!)
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