14 Weeks

Maya is 14 weeks old today.  We had a bit of a diaper malfunction first thing this morning.  It required a change of clothes for both of us.  She still poops all the time.  I keep expecting it to decrease but it's almost as much as when she was a newborn.  I've heard people say their breastfed baby only goes every three days or so.  Not this kid.  I'm sure me telling everyone this will embarrass her in the future so I'll apologize now (sorry, peanut).  She seems to have forgotten how to roll over.  She did once yesterday but I couldn't get her to do it at all today.  Also over the long weekend and continuing through today, she hasn't wanted to sleep.  She prefers to scream.  Last night she cried for about an hour before falling asleep.  Today the naps got progressively easier as the day went on so hopefully tomorrow will be better.  I think the weekends are hard on her since her schedule gets messed up.  Sunday's are especially bad.  She usually sleeps until 9 or 10 so we have to wake her up for church and she usually pushes her first nap back because of church also.  This generally means she is grumpy for the rest of the day and I think it carries into the next few days.  Today, other than not wanting to sleep she was happy.  You may be thinking that the sleeper below looks familiar.  We had the same sleeper in preemie, newborn, and 0-3 months sizes.  I've included pictures of her in each size so you can see how much she's grown.  It's pretty crazy.  I'd say she is probably double her birth weight now.  

It seems that I've been on a buying spree of baby stuff this weekend.  Friday I ordered a grab bag of random cloth diapers.  Those arrived today.  We got 2 different brands of pocket diapers and one fitted one.  The pocket diapers are about as easy to use as disposable diapers other than having to wash them.  They have a waterproof shell and soft liner and an absorbent pad that you put in the pocket between the two.  The fitted one needs a cover so I ordered two covers today.  Hopefully this will give us enough variety that we can see it we like cloth diapers and if so what kind.  Cloth diapers are pretty expensive up front but supposedly cheaper in the long run, especially if you use them for multiple kids and/or resell them.  I'm hoping that cloth diapers will cut down on leaking but we shall see.  Sunday we picked up a stroller.  We originally weren't sure if we would use one enough to make it worth it.  But we found a used that goes with her car seat for a good price and we figure if we end up flying this summer it will make the airport easier.  

preemie 3/18/2011

newborn 4/21/2011

0-3 months 5/31/2011

Our diaper "stash"

Proud Mary

I was trying to think of a title for this post when Proud Mary came on.  You may know the song better as Rolling on the River.  We weren't on a river but I am proud.  :)  (you'll have to excuse the boxes of clothes still sitting around)

Difficulties of Staying Home

Today I discovered a problem with being a stay at home mom.  The problem is that I am responsible for the daytime spider killing.  There was a large one in the living room this morning.  And I failed at killing it.  I lost it before succeeding and then was too creeped out to go back and look for it or move the furniture and stuff back where it belongs.  I think Derek found the whole thing pretty funny.

After that excitement Maya woke up and we video chatted with my family.  They were amused that they could hear her sucking on her paci and filling her diaper.  Maybe the microphone is too good.

This afternoon, Maya and I had our first outing by ourselves since moving.  We went to a store in the women's hospital to get a nursing tank.  I'm not sure what it says about me that I was excited to get a nursing tank and it may be the most expensive piece of clothing I've ever bought for myself.  Maybe I lead a boring life these days.  It was nice to buy in store because they did a fitting.  It's kind of ridiculous how much I've grown.  Maya was chilling the whole time.  The lady helping me kept talking to her and talking about how cute and calm she is.  She told Maya that dad is going to be in trouble in a few years and Maya gave her a big gummy smile.  After shopping, we took a walk in a nearby park, well I walked while Maya napped in the wrap.  We then picked up Derek and work, and Derek and I ate while Maya napped in the wrap.  You may notice a trend here.  We really like the wrap.  It is worth every penny we spent on it.  All in all, Maya was a sweetie until bed time when she didn't want to go to sleep.

Keep Derek's brother in your prayers.  He is off the vent, out of ICU, and able to eat now but still has a long, hard road ahead.

This is from a few days ago, but I was playing with it tonight and thought it was a cute one.

This is from a few days ago as well.

13 Weeks

Maya turned 13 weeks old yesterday and she was a fusspot again.  She spent most of the day clawing my neck/face and screaming or trying to pull my nipple off.  She woke up at 9:30 or so was happy for about 30 min and then cried for about a 1.5 hours.  She slept for 45 minutes or so, then cried for 2 hours.  I was concerned since it was the second day of almost constant crying so I called her pediatrician.  She screamed all the way there, then fell asleep in the waiting room.  She slept until we were called back and then was smiling and cooing.  She was happy until we were getting ready to leave and then she cried all the way home  and continued to cry after we got back.  She even cried through her bath, which she never does.  She finally fell asleep and was a little happier when she woke up.  The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with her.  I guess we spent 10 bucks for peace of mind and a weigh in. She was up to 11 lbs 12 oz so she's gained about a pound in three weeks.  She is really starting to feel heavy to me.  Fortunately, she was much happier today.  She kept crying out in her sleep though.

Also, I think I forgot to mention it, but she rolled over again on Saturday.  I didn't get it on camera, but at least Derek got to see it.  I don't think she really realizes what she is doing yet.  

This is about how she looked all day yesterday

 Compared to this today
(this was taken with my phone so the quality isn't that great but I still thought it was cute)

3 months and other things

May 23
Maya was a grouch this afternoon and evening.  Not all smiles and coos like I claimed she is.  She didn't want to nap.  In the afternoon, I put her in the wrap and we went for a walk.  She settled down and fell asleep.  When she woke up she was happy for a while but when it was time for her next nap she started screaming again.  She slept for 15-20 minutes and then woke up screaming.  We tried most of our tricks and she still wouldn't calm down.  We tried the wrap and a walk again but I think it just made her mad that it was dark outside.  Finally we put her in the bath tub she settled down. We were discussing when we should get her out and she pooped so that made the decision easy.  She then fell asleep in the swing but woke up shortly thereafter hungry.  Hopefully the night goes better.

May 22
I can't believe that our little peanut is three months old. She is a lot of fun these days.  She's generally all smiles and coos when she's awake.  She also really enjoys chewing/sucking on her hands and her clothes if she can get them in there.  It's cute but makes it a little difficult to get good pictures of her face.  She is such a cutie.  We might be a little bit in love with her.  It's been nice to have her to snuggle when our hearts are heavy.

May 21
Three months ago I went to the doctor and found out Maya would be coming sooner than we expected.  I was admitted to the hospital that afternoon.  It doesn't seem like it's been that long.  Today, Derek and I spent the day in shock, I guess, after receiving the news of Derek's brother's injury.  Maya was super sleepy.  I'm not sure if it was missing her afternoon nap since we were out and about or what.  We took advantage of Maya's sleepiness to snuggle her and each other.  In the evening, we decided we really needed to get out of the house.  We took Maya to her first soccer game today.  I wore her in the wrap and she slept through most of it.  The fans screaming startled her a few time and made her cry.  Also, she wasn't a fan of the loud music at halftime. She got hungry as we were walking back to the car and was mad that I didn't feed her immediately.  I was a little concerned about germs with the crowd.  But it was outside and she stayed in the wrap the whole time so hopefully she will be fine.  We haven't gotten out much recently between Maya's birth and the move so it was nice to spend time out as a family.  However, it was hard to really enjoy with everything else going on.

May 20
We picked up some more pacifiers for Maya (since she only likes the soothie ones, not the other ones we bought) and then a chair and some clothes.  Since we got them secondhand, the chair and entire stash of clothes cost less than what the chair would have new.  Other than a few things I picked up before she was born, these are the only clothes we've bought so far.  We were blessed at our showers and have almost enough clothes up to 6 months.  She was really only lacking pants in the 0-3 and 3-6 sizes and sleepers in 3-6.  We picked up some of these today as well as larger sizes.  The 6-9 and larger stuff looks so huge.

Thoughts and prayers for Derek's brother

On Friday evening, Derek's brother dove into a lake and damaged his spinal cord.  He has no movement from below the shoulders.  He and the family could use your prayers.  

Just a Normal Day

With the sleep discussion yesterday, I thought I would jinx myself.  Maya woke me up around 4 grunting but she never really woke herself up.  I fell back to sleep and we slept until my alarm went off.  It was apparently too loud because it startled me and woke her up.  The weather was great today so Maya and I went for a walk and took some pictures in the back yard.  Pretty normal day other than that.

Sleep dilemma

At 10 weeks, Maya's pediatrician said not to let her go more than about 7 hours between feedings. I was surprised by this. I assume it is because she is still pretty small. She always woke up before then so it was never really an issue. I still set an alarm just in case. Last night my alarm went off before I heard a peep out of her. I decided to give her another 45 min. She woke up 1 minute shy of it. It seems silly to me to wake her up but I'm sure the pediatrician has her reasons. So do I wake her if it happens again? Let her sleep? Talk to her pediatrician? At the time I think I was too surprised to ask about it. Just posting this probably ensures she will wake up every 3 hours.
In other news, Maya rolled over this afternoon during tummy time. I think it was unintentional. I couldn't get her to do it again. And of course I didn't have the camera. Also, she has been really grabby today. I'm not sure if this is new found awareness of her hands or just crazy hands. It's cute though.

Twelve Weeks

It's Tuesday.  That means Maya is another week older and it's picture day.   Derek says I have a problem.  I'm not sure they have a 12 step program for taking photos of your kids though.  At least it's a fairly cheap addiction after the initial camera purchase.  And how can you not want to take photos of something this cute?

lots of smiles today

look at those blue eyes

I love the look on her face in this one

You may have noticed that we trying something different with the blog for now.  Rather than posting a weekly update, I'm going to try to post more often.  We will see how it goes.  With my new fancy phone, I can make new posts but I can't figure out how to edit existing ones.

Maya and had an okay day today.  She was smiley this morning but a little fussy this afternoon and didn't want to nap.  I put her in the wrap and took a walk around the neighborhood and that put her right to sleep.  She was still a little fussy when she woke up so I gave her a bath, which she always enjoys.  She, however, didn't enjoy me washing her neck creases.  Now that she's getting pudgy, we can't keep them clean.  They are red and irritated.  If anyone has any ideas about keeping them dry please share.  She also has an issue that every time she coughs she poots.  This resulted in a minor bath incident and a premature end to bath time.  But we won't talk about that.  After her bath, Maya hung out in her swing while I cooked.  As soon as I made my plate, she started crying.  I think she can sense when I'm about it eat.

The Twelfth Week

May 10

Maya is 11 weeks old today.  Where has the time gone?  How did she get so big?  Derek says it's because I keep feeding her.  She slept about six hours last night.  After she ate, she was smiling and cooing.  I told her she was supposed to be sleeping but it's hard to be mad when she's so cute.  This morning she had a hard time waking up.  She ate, then dozed back off, then she'd stretch and open her eyes and smile, then doze back off.  Too cute. 

Maya showing off her tummy time skills

May 11

We went to Bible study tonight and afterwards the car wouldn't start.  It's been having issues sporadically for a while now.  But usually when it does it, will start on the second or third try.  Not tonight.  We had to bum a ride home.  My car was reliable until we got rid of Derek's.  It's kind of a pain only having one car.

May 12

Derek bummed a ride back to our car today and had it towed to the shop.  Fortunately, it's only the starter and they were able to replace it today.  Maya woke up at 4 last night and then again at 7.  Those were her previous awake times before she started sleeping 6-7 hours.  Hopefully this is just an occasional thing.  It's nice to get more sleep, but I do enjoy snuggling her in the middle of the night.  Especially when she is smiling, cooing, and generally happy to see me like she was this morning.

May 13

We went shopping today and got a new web cam.  I'm sure the grandparents can't wait to try it out.

May 14

We went to the farmers market this morning.  Derek and I shared a cheese croissant and an amazing almond croissant.  mmm, It might be as good as the apple fritters at our old farmers market.  I'll have to try it again.  After the farmers market we went to a wedding reception and then to a bbq so it was a busy day.  She was a sweetie at the bbq and made all the ladies have baby fever.  We took out the newborn insert in Maya's car seat today.  It was for infants up to 11 lbs and she's probably pretty close to that.  The seat looks empty without it.  

Last ride with the newborn insert

First ride without it

A side note on this outfit and many others: since she's small (20-30 percentiles) the 0-3 month stuff is starting to fit well but since she has a big head (58 percentile) it is hard to get them on.  In this outfit, the onesie has snaps in the back so it's fine but the dress part only has one side snap and it's kind of tight over the head. 

May 15

We went to church this morning.  We made it out the door in time for Bible class.  Maya pooped on the way there.  I took her to the nursery to get her cleaned up.  As I was putting on the clean diaper she peed, requiring a change of clothes.  By the time I got her dressed she was hysterical and would only calm down by nursing.  When she finally fell asleep, class was pretty much over.  Slept through the service though so I guess it worked out ok.  We worked on unpacking and organizing today.  (I know, I know, it's been four weeks and we are still not unpacked. The days seem shorter these days, for some little reason.)  Maya finally has a piece of furniture in her room.  We repaired and cleaned the changing table and moved it in.  I put a soft book fold out book along the back rail and she seems to love hanging out on it.  Maya woke up twice last night and didn't want to nap today.  She wasn't cranky though so I can't really complain too much.

May 16

Today went a lot better than last Monday.  I was afraid that the lack of naps yesterday would mean today was rough.  Instead she was super sleepy.  She slept an extra two hours this morning and napped well.  Knock on wood, Maya hasn't had a colic evening since last Monday.  Since Maya was in a good mood this evening, we met Derek at work.  She was happy during the car ride except when we had to stop for a train to cross.  When we got there I found that she pooped and it leaked out the leg of her diaper, through her clothes and onto her car seat.  We have had too many leaky diapers in the past few weeks.  It started with the newborn size.  Even though they fit, they didn't have the capacity to contain her output.  Then we went up to size one and it wasn't any better.  They were still a little big and the legs weren't quite tight enough.  Until this latest incident, we hadn't had any leaks for a few days.  I think I jinxed it by thinking about it this morning.  After getting her cleaned up, I plopped her in the wrap and she fell asleep while Derek and I ate.  When we got home we worked on unpacking a bit more.  

The Eleventh Week

May 3

Maya turned ten weeks today.  She slept about 7 hours straight last night so two nights in a row she's slept though the night.  She had her 2 month well baby checkup.  She's not such a little peanut anymore.  She was 10 lbs 11 oz and 22 inches long.  This put her at 32 and 21 percentiles, respectively.  And her head was in the 58 percentile.  She's almost double her lowest weight of 5 lbs 7 oz at 1 week and has grown 4 inches in length.  I've been calling her pudgy peanut for a few weeks.  After Maya was measured, she pooped and it leaked out the leg and all over Derek's pants.  We were cleaning it up when the doctor came in.  She also had her two month shots today.  She cried for only a few seconds after the first one but after the second and third she was sobbing.  I fed her right after and she fell asleep on the way home.  She was more sleepy than usual today.  She slept and ate all afternoon until her usual 4 pm cranky time.  She then screamed for about three hours off and on, but it's hard to tell if it's just her usual "colic" or if it's the shots.  I'm afraid that the shots are going to interfere with the nice trend we've had in the sleep department.  Because of the appointment and her sleepy/crankiness we didn't take too many photos today. 

At least they have neat bandages.

Notice the tears.

She thinks she needs to sit or stand all the time.

May 4
The shots didn't bother Maya much today.  She slept about six hours straight last night.  And she hasn't been cranky today.

The shots left a little bruising. 

Roses in our back yard.

May 5
Not much to report today so I'll share some things that Maya does that make me laugh.  Hopefully they won't embarrass her too much some day.  Recently she has discovered that she has a tongue and has to lick everything that goes into her mouth.  This includes her hands, paci, and food source.  Also, since she started focusing on things she looks at my boob cross eyed when I try to feed her.  When she's tired but doesn't want to go to sleep she flings her arm, legs and head around.  If she's nursing she will latch on, pull her head back until she pops off, then root to latch on again.  Effective in keeping her awake but not the most pleasant thing for me.  I keep telling her she's going to lose her privileges but she doesn't seem to care.

May 6
We picked up a free changing table today.  It's not in the best of shape and needs a little wood glue, but it will work until we buy nursery furniture.

May 7
Maya slept for a long stretch again last night.  But she woke up early and didn't want to go back to sleep.  She kept talking and smiling at me.  We went and played in the living room so that Derek could sleep in a bit.  I think she may have giggled but I can't get her do to it again so I'm not sure.  One of Derek's coworkers invited us over for lunch this afternoon.  Hopefully they aren't squeamish about breastfeeding.  They seemed amused that Maya was pooping while eating.  Maya was a test baby with their dogs.  One of the dogs was afraid of her when she cried.  He would turn his head and stare at her then turn it the other way and stare.  He couldn't figure out what she was.  It was pretty funny.

May 8
Today was my first mother's day as a mom.  Derek and Maya made sure it was special.  I got breakfast in bed (biscuits and gravy), a nursing bracelet in Maya's birthstone, flowers, and a card.  Maya slept 6ish hours last night and was a sweetie all day, just a little fussy in the evening.

 Notice my bracelet here.

May 9

Ugh.  Today was one of those days that makes me wish Derek was home still or that we lived near family.  It started off ok.  I had to wake Maya up at 5 am to feed her since her pediatrician doesn't want her to go more than 7 hours without eating.  This is the first time I've had to wake her up since she was a newborn.  My alarm startled Derek.  He about jumped out of bed.  I think he woke me up rather than the alarm.  Maya and I then slept until 9.  She didn't want to nap today though.  She'd sleep a little and then wake up and fuss.  This is totally not like her, usually she's happy when she's awake during the day.  I spent the day shushing, bouncing, swaddling, singing, rocking, and so on.  I love her but it was exhausting.  Thankfully she slept a few minutes in the swing so I was able to eat and use the bathroom without her screaming.  Then she had her colic episode from 4-7.  She hasn't had this in a few days.  I was starting to think she was over it but not such luck.  Our neighbors probably think I'm a little crazy.  I put her in the wrap and paced up and down the block bouncing while she alternated between screaming and drowsy.  Fortunately it was mostly the latter as long as we stayed outside and moving.  She finally feel asleep right before Derek got home and slept for a couple of hours.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.