6 months old

Miss Emma is 6 months old now. I can not believe it! I'm going to rattle off some random facts about her because, since she is a terrible sleeper, my brain isn't always functioning at 100% these days.

• She's been to the pediatrician four times in the past month (once b/c I thought she had an ear infection (she didn't), twice b/c of this terrible cold that she can not get rid of and again for a double pink eye infection!).

• She weighs a little over 14 lbs (her actual 6 mo well check isn't for another week).

• She is a very quiet baby...in terms of "talking". She doesn't talk much and when she does, it's pretty quiet. Sometimes she blows "raspberries".

• Did I mention that she doesn't sleep well? She doesn't. She only sleeps in 2 to 4 hour stretches (4 hours on a good night). It's exhausting. We've just started to "sleep train" her this week. It's so hard but it HAS to be done. I am loosing my mind and have no motivation. It's not fair to myself or our family. Wish us luck!

• Emma is a very hard baby to nurse. She only nurses for 5 min a time, therefore she is always hungry. There's nothing I can do about it...you can't force a baby to nurse longer! lol

• We just started giving her some baby cereal last week. The first attempt failed. She clenched her lips together and would not try a bite. The second day, she just stuck her tongue out to taste it. By the third day, though, she was taking small bites. This weekend we are going to give her some avocado. :)

• She has a tooth coming in! Front & center on the bottom. Lea only had two teeth on her first birthday, so this is early to us.

• Emma is sitting up on her own very well. She doesn't need any support anymore...however if she gets startled or excited )or just reaches too far for something), she will topple over.

• Emma has a lot more hair than Lea did at this age. It seems thicker and darker than Lea's. Emma still has blue eyes, too. (Lea's eyes are hazel)

Lea and Emma love to play together. Emma is so happy to just watch Lea and Lea loves the attention. No one can make Emma laugh out loud and giggle like Lea can! I love watching their friendship grow.

Oh, those blue eyes!

A tiny tooth!

She loves teething on cold celery.

My girls (all three!) cuddling on the sofa on a cold morning. :)

 

Yum!



I just don't have fat babies...

and that's ok.

Unless said baby gains weight so slowly that they begin sliding down the growth chart.

That's our little Emma! For the past several weeks, we have been taking her to the pediatrician for weight checks. She is gaining weight, but very slowly.

Here's her percentiles since she was born...

2 weeks - 60th %
1 month - 50th %
2 months - 25th %
3 months - 15th %
3 1/2 months - 10th %

She should be gaining around an ounce a day. She actually gains an average of barely half an ounce a day.

So, since we aren't sure if it's her just not eating enough or if it's me not making enough, we have a new game plan. I am to nurse Emma, at least, every three hours AROUND THE CLOCK. That's right. Our sweet little Emma, who was sleeping so well at night (sometimes over 10 hours straight...which could be part of our problem!), now has to be "disturbed" to nurse twice every night. (I say "disturbed" because she doesn't actually wake up. She just eats in her sleep.) While that is nice and all for Emma... it means that mommy (me!) will not be getting any more sleep for awhile. :( I've done this for only three days and I am already so exhausted. I know I need to be careful and take care of myself but, honestly, I would not feel comfortable giving my baby formula until I can truthfully say that I have done EVERYTHING possible to make breastfeeding work...

and that's exactly what I am doing right now.

I am working hard and praying hard that we can get this under control and things will be back to normal soon.

Emma Update

Emma was taken off of oxygen this morning around 7:00am. She was doing great so I was finally able to nurse her. After a rocky start (that really only lasted about 5 minutes), she was nursing with no problems! A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. :) We spent a good hour with her and then left to get some rest and some lunch. It will never feel right leaving my baby behind in someone else's care... I can't image how so many families do it in much worse situations.

Anyhow... we returned around 12:45pm and were told that she had a bad spell where she actually stopped breathing for a bit. Her face turned blue and she needed to be stimulated to start breathing. Let's hope that doesn't happen again! But since it did happen, they want her to stay in the Special Care Nursery a little longer.

After a little help from the lactation consultant to wake her up (and keep her awake), she nursed very well, again, this afternoon around 3:30pm. Poor thing must be exhausted... we've had a very busy day!

Besides the oxygen issue, the other thing that is being monitored is her low blood glucose level. It should be above 50. With an IV dose of 13 ml an hour, Emma's level was 61. So, after we nursed at lunch time, they reduced her IV to 6 ml. Her level was tested again before we nursed this afternoon and it was down to 50. :( So... we're leaving the IV at 6 ml and will see if her glucose level comes up any. This means she will need to keep the IV a little longer.

The original plan was to have Emma rooming in with us as soon as she got off the glucose IV, however since she just had this little breathing set back, they want to monitor her more now. So... we have to pray that she can get off the IV and can continue breathing well on her own so she can leave the Special Care Nursery.

Our chunky monkey!

Lea getting a ride on mommy's chair.

Baby Sister Emma

Daddy trying to console Emma...
it's hard with all those tubes and bandages!

Emma Margaret

Around 10:00 pm on April 30th (my due date), the Braxton Hicks contractions started getting a lot stronger...but still did not hurt at all. They were a little consistent for about 40 min. and then started going all over the place, again. So, at midnight I decided to go to bed. At 1:30 am on May 1st, I jolted out of bed with a very painful contraction. About three mins. later I had another one! After a few of those, we decided to call my parents. They needed to come up and stay with Lea so we could head to the hospital. By 2 am, my contractions were only 2 min. apart! We called our friend, Amie, to come over because we didn't think we could wait for my parents. Once Amie arrived, we rushed to the hospital, arriving just before 2:30 am. I was taken to a room right away and as we walked through the door, I told the nurses I needed to push! Just after I sat down on the bed, my water broke and Emma was crowning. She was born at 2:49 am. :)

A big girl, weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces and measuring 21 1/2 inches long. Everything happened SO fast... unfortunately, that meant she swallowed a lot of fluid. Also, her oxygen levels were low. I got to hold her for maybe 20 seconds and then she was taken to the Special Care Nursery. They hooked her up with oxygen and also discovered that her blood glucose level was low, so she got an IV for glucose fluids, too. We didn't get back to see her until about 5:00 am.

Check out all that hair!!

I haven't been able to nurse her, yet, because of the oxygen. She was just taken off of it, though, at around 7:00 am. So, as long as she is doing well without it, I can go nurse her! Now, we're just waiting on the glucose IV. They have already started weaning her off the glucose so our hopes are high that she will be done with that soon, too. But that's not the end of it... I had GBS (Group B Strep) with this pregnancy and since my labor was SO fast, I was unable to get an antibiotic in time. So, little Miss Emma has to have two antibiotics (one every 12 hours and the other every 24 hours) to be sure that she doesn't get GBS.

It sure is strange sitting in a big, empty, quiet hospital room with NO baby! I can't wait to have her here with me. Until then I am just resting and twiddling my thumbs with Kevin. :)

Happy World Breastfeeding Week

Congrats to all the mamas out there who are or were able to provide their little ones with naturally and perfectly created nutrients to help them grow and thrive. Often times breastfeeding is not the easiest thing to do, but if you are able to overcome the obstacles it is one of the most rewarding things you can do for your child... physically and emotionally. The benefits of breastfeeding are substantial. From protection against ear infections and respiratory illnesses to higher IQ's and a reduced risk of heart disease later in life (and many, many more).

This is World Breastfeeding Week. It is vitally important for mothers and fathers to be well educated on the benefits of breastfeeding. Without support from family, friends and health care providers a mother is not very likely to be successful in breastfeeding. I am so fortunate to have such a supportive husband. I am also lucky enough to have a fabulous pediatrician that actually has a lactation consultant on staff. I can't even count how many times I called her during those first few months of nursing my baby girl. My personal goal in nursing Lea was 6 months. She is now almost 11 months old and still nursing.

Breastfeeding is not easy... especially in the beginning. It is so much more demanding and time consuming than I thought it would be. Until Lea was about three months old, she nursed every 2 hours. That's right. Every TWO HOURS for three months. And in those early months, nursing was pretty uncomfortable. Once we got through that, though, it became much easier and less frequent. Lea quickly got on her own schedule which made it easier to plan my days. Three months became five, five months became eight and now it's almost been a year!

I wouldn't say I am lucky. This took a lot of determination and work on my part. It is a commitment. It is something that I feel very strongly about. When I start to think about how nice it would be to not have to wear nursing bras (that are so unflattering!) and not have to give my time & myself (literally) four times a day, I get so mad and feel so selfish. It's not about me anymore. It hasn't been about me since the day I found out I was pregnant... and that's ok. Because now it's all about the beautiful angel that's just now waking upstairs in her crib. Someones calling mommy! I gotta run. :)

Medela Nursing Camisole Review & Giveaway

Check out The Bragging Mommy blog... they did a fabulous review on the Medela Bamboo Nursing Camisole. AND, you can enter to win one!

Here's a little of what they had to say about the camisole:

Things that are Bragworthy:
Cute: Love the lace
Great fit
Very soft material
Comfortable all day, even all night!
Easy to unsnap for quick access
It would look great under other shirts, great for breastfeeding on the go!
Eco-friendly materials
Extra layer of fabric between bra shelf and outer layer provides modesty and elevated support
Perfect blend of functional and fashionable!