Look who turned 2 months old!
Fun flashbacks: KK 2 Months | KJ 2 Months
Okay, well, like a week ago, but still. Baby girl is 90th percentile for height (23.5 inches) and is doing okay with weight, weighing 10 lbs and 10 ounces. She’s tracking us more now, enjoying time on the playmat in tummy time and on her back, talking a ton, and even laughing! She’s starting to “wake up” a little bit and wants to join in on the fun, but also, she’s still has moments where she is a sleepy newborn that slides off to sleep. There is no “easy” baby, but she’s pretty mellow as far as babies go. I’m grateful for that. I’ll never forget her first laugh. She was hanging out on the bed at close to 9 PM after nursing. I was wondering why she wasn’t going to sleep. Then I mimic one of her little noises, and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. She continued to giggle when I made the noise and even made herself laugh with a high-pitched noise. She’s such a cute!
Anyways, I’m excited to share this update as we had a rather eventful month, the both of us.
Breastfeeding
Around 5.5 weeks, she was choking during every letdown, so I scheduled an appointment with Modern Milk. I figured since I had six appointments covered under insurance, I might as well use them. She did a weighted feed, and during that time, she only got 1.3 ounces, which was concerning. However, she had also been super tired, staying up the whole car ride over and prior to that, so she really just wanted to snack and sleep. She advised me to go home and do some weighted feeds on the Hatch Scale. If she wasn’t getting an average of 3 to 5 ounces, I might want to consider a tongue-tie evaluation.
Since baby girl seemed happy and was making the minimum recommendation of 0.5 ounces per day weight gain, she said not to be stressed about it but to keep an eye on it. With some positioning tips, I was able to keep her from choking each feed until she gradually grew out of that a couple of weeks later. However, her weighted feeds at home were not much better, and she was still barely making 0.5 ounces per day. So, I decided to get her evaluated for a tongue/lip tie. Her pediatrician had already said there was likely a lip tie and maybe a posterior tongue tie, but like the lactation consultant advised waiting a few weeks to see if it absolutely needed to be done.
The week after we got back from Colorado, I took her for a tongue-tie evaluation. Her weighted feed there was a little better at 3.5 ounces, but we decided to go ahead with the procedure anyway. The lip and tongue tie revision was done that day, and I was given a set of exercises to do. I did the dutifully for a week, and at the follow-up appointment, her rate of weight gain had improved. She didn’t get much at that weighted feed because, again, she was overtired. However, since the rate of weight gain improved, I was happy. This seemed to stay the case at the pediatrician the next week. She had gone from gaining an average of 3-4 ounces a week to closer to 5-6 ounces, nothing earth-shattering but still much better.
Bottle Troubles
Our biggest struggle has been she does not like taking the bottle. I’ve tried different bottles, and it doesn’t seem to matter. We have Comotomo bottles which I’ve recently learned are not the best bottles because although they have the shape of the breast, the actual nipple is more like a pacifier encouraging a shower latch vs. some others. What’s interesting is she takes the bottle from me the best. Usually, breastfed babies prefer it “straight from the tap.” She doesn’t seem to mind me giving it to her, though. A few times, I had to bait her with the breast and then quickly shove the bottle as a replacement in her mouth. “Bait and switch.” Luckily, we haven’t had to do that in a while, but it’s still kind of stressful. Especially when Mr. Hungry calls while I’m at lunch, I’m a flight of beer deep, and he’s saying it’s been 30 minutes, and she still hasn’t taken the bottle. Luckily, she did end up taking it, and I got to finish my lunch and beer flight, haha.
My lactation consultant advised that we give her a bottle every single day so that it gets easier and she doesn’t outright refuse it. We’ve been doing almost every day, which has made it difficult to keep building my stash. Luckily though, I have 100 ounces in the fridge so far, so it’s okay, I guess. We have noticed if we skip a day giving her the bottle, the next day, she is much more fussy at taking it. So, I’ve tried to make a point at keeping giving it to her and having lots of people try to give it to her – babysitter, Mr. Hungry, and my MIL mostly. But, in a pinch, I try to give it to her just so she stays used to the bottle. The boys I was more worried about them refusing the breast because they loved their bottles from the start. KK didn’t take a pacifier, but he never had a problem with the bottle. So, that’s new for this third-time Mama. Babies love to keep you on your toes.
Sleep
*PS I had the fire department check her setup recently. They removed the shoulder pads from the doona and said to keep them off until we take out the infant insert. I also don’t leave the sound machine where you see it while driving for projectile risk.
I feel like what we’ve been experiencing lately is the lull before the storm. Baby girl is, on average, sleeping in 4-7 hour stretches, with the average being about 9 pm to 3 or 4 am. I usually pump around 1030/11, which is how I get the extra ounces for bottle practice. If conditions are right, aka she’s not too hungry or overtired, she will put herself to sleep sometime for naps and even at bedtime (although that’s only happened once.) Although I do aim for her to practice putting herself to sleep at least once a day, I don’t push it.
KJ could put himself to sleep only to wake up 8 bajillion times a night. He never really slept longer than 3-4 hours at a time until I finally had to sleep-train him, which was an incredibly difficult experience. KK refused to put himself to sleep EVER. He required lots of rocking or nursing to sleep but then would sleep like a dream until the four-month sleep regression, which happened at 3 months. But, when we sleep-trained him, it was fairly easy. He didn’t put up much of a fight. (For both boys, I did a dream feed even though they were sleep trained to keep up their weight gain.) I’m kind of holding my breath right now because although she exhibits great sleep qualities, I know the only thing guaranteed about baby sleep is that it will change. And I’m holding my breath for that dreaded four-month sleep regression because that really killed me with KK. The sleep deprivation kicked into gear PPD/PPA as it did with KJ. It was easier because I recognized the hormone/lack of sleep roller coaster for what it was sooner than I did the first time, but it’s still not fun.
Mama Recovery
Around 4.5 weeks, I started having SUPER heavy bleeding. At one point, I was soaking through a pad for hour, and my OB wanted me to go to the ER. After an ultrasound, bloodwork, and exam, the ER couldn’t find anything wrong. By then, the bleeding had slowed. This was about a week before we were supposed to leave for Colorado.
At the follow-up with my OB, she said that it was likely a scab bleed. Basically, where the placenta was attached to the uterus forms a scab that then comes off, causing bleeding. At least, that is the assumed cause for heavy bleeding after birth with no other cause. 4.5 weeks is a little out of the normal window for that, but that was still their diagnosis. I was happy to get the OB’s blessing to travel to Colorado.
I started working out a few days after we got back from Colorado and after my six-week appointment at 7.5 weeks postpartum. There is nothing I appreciate and love more than working out again postpartum. I love the feeling of progress and getting stronger (vs. the perpetual weakening of pregnancy). Workouts have been going really well. I’m doing the Expecting and Empowered workouts 3 days a week and walking workouts 3 days a week. I won’t begin running again until 12-16 weeks postpartum after I’ve seen a pelvic floor therapist for clearance to begin running.
I’m still wearing some maternity shorts, and although I’m down about 20 lbs, I still have 25 ish to go. That’s pretty typical for my other births. It will take me all year to lose all the weight. I find a slow and steady approach makes maintaining the loss when it’s done a lot easier! I also like to live my life while losing weight! AKA go out to dinner with friends, enjoy holidays, etc.
That’s it! Below is a list of things I’ve been loving this past month! The only thing I left off the list is the Ergo Embrace Carrier. I love the softness and ease of use, but my only complaint is that my babies are taller than average, so it doesn’t hold great neck control because no matter what I do, their head sticks up a little higher than needed for really good neck control, so I kind of hold it with one hand. Not the most convenient. I’ll likely switch to the 360 Ergo once she doesn’t need the infant insert anymore.
Question! Has anyone tried the Hippy Joey Wrap? I’m super interested in it! What are your newborn favorites?
LOVING THIS MONTH:
- This playmat
- Portable sound machine
- Swing
- Bouncer with toy attached
- Elvie Breast Pump
- Hal0 Bassinet with newborn insert
- Ollie Swaddles
- Hatch Rest + (gifted to us)
- Doona Carseat –> the one big purchase I did for baby 3!
- Baby Brezza Sterilizer
- HATCH Baby Scale
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