Bullet points seem to serve me well, even though they're not much fun to read.
The other day, I went into our room while Avonlea was sleeping (she sleeps in the pack-n-play in our room), and I just stared at her and cried. Because with all of the craziness that we have endured, we have come out the other side in a better place. Though I know we'll have hard days (the previous entry is proof of that), I am crazy in love with my daughter. I kiss her sweet head and snuggle her close on my shoulder (since she doesn't like snuggling on my chest), and inhale her sweet scent. She makes me laugh with her funny faces, and I look at her in wonder when she is discovering the world for the first time.
She's still fussy a lot. It's not during a consistent time of the day, so I'm thinking it's diet-related. She is still 100% breastmilk--yay! She eats with the nipple shield, which I think is adding more air into her system, so I'm working on weaning her off it. It's hard, though, with her eating off of the shield for 2/3 of her life! Today she has eaten half of her meals off of the shield, so I think we'll get there. Also, in the last few weeks I added dairy back into my diet, but I think it's messing with her stomach. I bought some of the "Little Tummys" drops, and they seem to help, but I'm also going to go back to no dairy to see if it improves her mood.
She continues to be a great sleeper. She'll sleep 4-5 hours during the day (either 2 "shorter" naps, or 1 long nap). She'll go to bed between 9 and 10pm, get up around 3am to eat, and then get up between 7 and 8am. She has gone as long as 7.5 hours once (and my boobs were READY for her to eat that time!), but usually she'll have a longer stretch (like, from 9:30 to 3:30), then a shorter stretch (from 4:15 to 7). But again, NO COMPLAINTS from me, as I know a lot of babies don't sleep at all. But I remember praying that she would sleep well because I don't do well on little sleep.
Here's her evening sleep setup:
Swaddled, spit-up rag under her, covered with a quilt from Aunt Sharon (we sleep with the windows open, and it can get chilly), iPad playing white noise.
Nick's friends from high school were here last weekend. I took Avonlea with us to Rodeo Drive and the Santa Monica Pier. Here are Avonlea and I at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Dayton Way. Appropriate, right? :)
Avonlea has become a fan of the Moby wrap. The only problem with it is that it is so THICK and HOT! I swear my body temperature has been permanently screwed up. I get so hot all the time. I think I'm going to make my own Moby wrap out of linen--I found a tutorial on Pinterest. I'd love to do a ring sling, but they are more complicated to make--and I can't afford to buy one!
Sounds like things are coming along nicely! YAY! Our third child had issues with dairy, too. His poo was frothy and green (not solid and yellow/brown so that was a big sign) when I ate dairy so I cut out dairy for the first year. After that, I was able to start having little bits of dairy again.
ReplyDeleteAlso...I have a ring sling that I no longer use and you're welcome to it if you'd like. I'm in Miamisburg, OH (close enough to Dayton, right?) and I'd be happy to send it to you or a family member if you'd like your address to remain anonymous. It would be my honor to bless you with it if you're interested.