Here's a picture of her on her 2 month anniversary. A big thank you to Ginny for her adorable outfit, Holly for the adorable shoes, and Sarah for her super sweet headband! It was so fun to dress her up and nervewracking as I watched her and prayed she wouldn't spit up all over the outfit before I had a chance to snap a picture!
She's starting to move more fluidly now, but she's still grabbing and scratching at her face, which makes me sad. I want so badly to play with her and try to get her to grab at toys and whatnot, but we have to keep her hands in mittens or covered at all times otherwise she'll scratch her face hard enough to bleed. Even when I keep her well manicured!
Also, she's starting to coo and "talk" which is adorable! I'm thankful to have more than just screams or fusses. She's also smiling a lot more, even if they don't last more than a second or two. But they're adorable!
The doctor's visit that I had been dreading with a furvor has come and gone now. It was her first round of shots and I was not looking forward to it. I'm so grateful Jason was there!!
For those that have never gone to a baby's doctor visit, it's kind of interesting. As soon as we walk in, the nurse will come in, just like a normal adult doctor visit. She asks the same questions, "how much are you feeding her at each feeding? How often do you feed her? How often does she poop? Any questions or concerns?" At this point any questions we have for the doctor we go ahead and tell her, she types them in to her laptop, then asks us to strip our child down to her diaper. The first time we went to the doctor's office, I was a nervous wreck. My daughter was going to freeze! Now I don't mind so much since she's gained enough weight to hold her heat. The reason for the stripping of the baby? Easier to examine :o)
Once she's almost naked, we take her out to the scale to be weighed. We haven't weighed her in over a month, so I was banking on her weighing about 7.5 lbs. She weighed 8.5 lbs!!!! This girl's growing like a weed!!! And as soon as I saw the numbers on the scales I had a revelation: no wonder her diapers kept slipping off....they were for 5 - 8 lb babies! I was relieved to know we weren't putting the diapers on incorrectly, they were just the wrong size. Then I mentally kicked myself as just that morning I'd opened a new package of "newborn" sized diapers. I could have returned them or given them away in a nice package! No harm done. Diapers don't go to waste. Eventually, someone will have a baby that meets the 5 - 8 lb critera and can use these. :o)
The doctor then came in and did her usual physical exam. She looks the baby over, checks her eyes and ears, feels around her abdomen, and just generally makes sure she's ok. She informed us that she has a hernia behind her bellybutton, which is more common than you'd think. There's nothing that can be done right now and she should grow out of it as she gets older. We were informed that she needs to have viatmins added to her diet and encouraged us to get her some Gripe Water.
Gripe Water....what's that? It's a magical substance you can get for babies to help them with gas and acid reflux. I've finally had to agree that our daughter is overly fussy. At first I thought it was just us, but Jason did his research (he's so good at this stuff!) and determined that she has some painful gas. The doctor told us it would be fine if we wanted to get some of that, which we did. We add it in to most of her bottles each day and have noticed a significant change in her. However, when we hold her we can still feel bubbles in her side, even through her blankets! So I'm glad we've found something that helps bring her some relief.
At the end of the visit, it came time for the shots. Oh, the dreaded shots. I've been dreading this moment since before she was born. The doctor sold us some Sweet Ease (pronounced "sweeties"). It's this liquid that we dip her pacifier in and then put the pacifier in her mouth while she's given the shots. It's supposed to help keep her calm, but doesn't always work on every baby. The nurse began the shots and the cries started. She did all three shots and as soon as she was done.....quiet. What? Quiet? This kid was supposed to scream bloody murder for hours afterwards I thought! No....no wait....that was me making a nightmare out of something fairly minor and normal. *sigh* She cried really hard once, then stopped as soon as her last shot was over. She didn't hardly fuss anymore after that. Even the rest of the day her legs didn't seem to sore even though I could see the bruises on her legs! The shots did make her REALLY sleepy though. She slept the rest of the day and into the night. Thankfully, she didn't seem fussy or to be running a fever. Our kid is SOOOO brave!! (however, it's probably becasue she doesn't really understand pain. Her 4 month shots might be a whole other story). But it's over! We survived! I'm comfortable taking her back to the doctor again! :o)
In addition, we've been putting some advice we were given from the doctor into place to try to get her to sleep. This is still an ongoing process, but things are starting to work a little more smoothly! We're supposed to feed her every 3 hours during the day. We had just been feeding her whenever she woke up and was hungry. This was resulting in a baby that was up all night and slept all day. Sometimes she'd be up for a full 24 hours! So we changed my diet and started feeding her every 3 hours, regardless of how soundly she was sleeping. And trust me, as a person that kind of enjoys having a few minutes here and there, waking a sleeping baby makes me cringe!!! Although our new schedule still has its hiccups, Jason and I can finally put her to sleep at night, then go to bed at the same time. It's so nice! We both were getting tired of having to sleep alone. This new schedule has been crucial. Jason's starting to have to go back to the office and will have to travel soon, which means I'll be on my own for a week. So we needed her to be sleeping for at least 5 - 6 hours each night so I can get some rest. I'm comfortable now that if he has to travel, I can be alone with her for a week.
Finally, although I'm thrilled with how healthy Rachel is, it makes me sad. Each week I notice a few more outfits she's grown out of. My gracious she's growing so fast! I'm thankful that we have had such generous gifts from family and friends. This girl is in no danger of running out of clothes! It just makes me sad as some of my favorites are being put in the closet to be given away or donated since she outgrown them.
I think that covers everything new with Miss Rachel.
No comments:
Post a Comment