Monday, August 8, 2011

K is 4 months

K turned 4 months today.  She can roll both ways, although she prefers rolling onto her tummy from her back.  She can move a couple of feet by rolling.  She will also move a couple feet by scooting her legs.  She also likes to make noises with her mouth, and she is practicing new sounds every day.  She loves to smile at her daddy and does a smile then looks coyly away.  She giggles and is very funny.

She's definitely adorable and we get comments about how cute she is wherever we go.  She's also super alert and loves to smile at people when we are out and about.  She's definitely getting more interested in playing with things.  She plays more with her rattle toys, and she tries to eat her diaper cover during diaper changes (don't worry, we don't let her actually put it in her mouth).  She plays with my shirt and the tubes while I feed her.

She's been having some napping issues lately.  She has a very small window in which to get her down for a nap, and if something messes that up she tends to get herself crazy overtired and hysterical.  She's been having poor timing on dirty diapers and tending to have one right about the time she's in the nap window.  When I do get her down for a good nap, she'll sleep about 2 hours, although she'll usually wake up and fuss but go back to sleep on her own.  Nights have always been better for her sleep, and she does give a 5-6 hour stretch most nights.  She goes to bed at 10 or a little after most and sleeps until 7 or 8 (with a few nursings in there), although after 6 it's kind of fitful sleep.  She nurses before sleeping and then usually at 3 or 4 and then 6 off and on until she's up for the day.  I have no desire for her to nurse any less, so I'm willing to put up with interrupted sleep.

She's still doing about 14 oz of formula a day, and we are still supplementing at the breast.  We are using the tube placed directly into a bottle, and she controls the flow. She gained 10 ounces last week and hopefully if her gain is good tomorrow, we can talk about very slowly (like reducing 2-3 ounces a week) weaning her off of the supplement.  I'd love to have her off formula if possible and I'm hoping that we can get my supply to cover her needs.  If not, we'll be starting solids right at 6 months and I hope that after that point we can be doing just breastmilk and solids.

I definitely will do some things differently if we are able to have another child.  I'll be doing weight checks every week or two starting at two weeks until we are confident about weight gain.  I won't be doing the crazy traveling that we did; no traveling out of the city until at least 2 months old.  Anyone who wants to see us can come to us.  I'll also start pumping earlier and try to have a stockpile if I can.

I feel like I'm finally getting this being a mother to K down, even though there are definitely challenging times each day.  Also, I feel like D and I are getting on the same page about things and working better as a parent team most of the time.  Don't get me wrong, when she's gotten overtired and is hysterical, I still get pretty stressed, but it's not as soul-crushing to me.


2 comments:

  1. Awww you sound like such a great mom! You are doing a great job!

    Ian is on pretty much the same night routine as K. He goes to bed and then nurses on and off throughout the night...and then gets up between 7 and 8 am. We haven't been as good during the day as far as a real napping schedule goes though :( I think that's because I have Isabel too, so Ian just has to nap while we are doing whatever we are doing.

    And 10 oz weight gain is GREAT!!! Isabel fell off the growth chart I think around 6 months (started to slide at 4 months, so we have always battled with her as far as getting food into her, cal supplements, etc,...it can be one of the most stressful things! Praying for you that K can get up there in the lbs and you won't have to worry about weight gain anymore!

    We are starting to watch Ian now, b/c his weight % slipped from like 60% to 25%, so I'm starting to get stressed about it that it will be a repeat of Isabel! :(

    Anyway, that was long winded, but just wanted you to know that I can relate! And am praying for you!

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  2. You're doing beautifully as a mom!! I can't believe it's been four months, and I definitely need more pictures of K!

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