Catching Up

The last three weeks have gone by in the blink of an eye! Literally, a blink of the eye, since that seems to be as long as I get to close my eyes for at one time :)

 Isla's first visit to the Dr. went well, she gained some weight and was at 5lbs 14oz. Still such a small peanut at 5 days old.

We decided to have family cuddle time (FCT as we nicknamed it). 

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures so far. I don't care how I look, its just amazing to be so close to my baby girl and I love how we instinctively face each other.

The first week Isla was home, Alex was home from work and it was so nice. He cooked all the meals and helped keep the place clean so I could just concentrate on learning how to breastfeed. I never knew I would have so many questions. We even took a breastfeeding class, but until you are doing it for the first time, you wouldn't know what kind of questions to ask. Luckily I have a few breastfeeding moms for friends who were very helpful when I would text or call. Also, we had a nurse come out to the house on day 6 and she was also helpful. I never knew the benefits of breastfeeding until a few months ago. I have to say that I am impressed with the amount of support that is now available for moms. It just takes the courage to ask questions and seek out help if you are struggling. Its now week 3 and I still have questions. Breastfeeding is definitely more of a commitment than I thought it would be, but I think it is worth the work.

We gave Isla her first bath that week. It was a little stressful :) She screamed the entire time and her little lower lip was quivering, she was so cold. We couldn't put her in the water though because of her belly button stump. Luckily she had her ducky towel to keep her warm afterwards. Her belly button stump fell off at day 9 and she was much happier once we could place her in some warm water while washing her.

Other Week One Memories:
Alex was pooped and peed on, which has never happened to him before
I had to "practice" going to Target with the baby before Alex went back to work
We discovered that it's possible to think that "sharts" are adorable

Week two we were still learning alot. Alex went back to work and I was with baby girl by myself for a long time. She was only sleeping for a couple hours at night (like one hour at a time for three hours) so I was trying to figure out what to do to help her sleep more at night. She also appeared to have major gas pains which was worrisome for us. She wasn't screaming, but grunting, kicking, and fussing. I even took her to the pediatrician because we were worried. They said it was pretty normal though and gave us some suggestions to try which included feeding her every two hours (except at night). At 12 days old she weighed 6lbs 9oz and was growing very healthily!

Isla was able to meet Grandpa and Grandma Julie in her second week.

I had to give Isla a bottle and a pacifier at two weeks because I was going back to school. I had to leave for about six hours on Friday, Saturday, and that Monday. I was so sad. I knew it would be hard to leave and I hated doing it so soon. I was also stressed about how much milk I had frozen and if it was enough to cover the times I was gone. Everything went well though and the bottle and milk were not a problem.

Week Two Memories:
I don't know how much Isla has grown in inches, but her little legs are too long to rest on my arms when I hold her across my body now
Many more smiles now - although its probably just gas
Isla is making eye contact for longer periods of time
We found daycare!

     Look at that eye contact! My friends at AM will appreciate this :)

Onto week three! Grandpa and Grandma Julie were here all week and helped to watch Isla,  It was awesome. I was able to get some much needed things done around the house and homework. In fact Julie...can you come back? I've already messed up the baby's room ;)

Isla's getting more and more fussy and having crying fits at night (between 12am - 5am). We thought it might be acid reflux. We took her to the Dr. today though and they assured us that Isla is perfectly healthy! Apparently projectile spitting up and gurgling and hiccups 3 -4 times a day is perfectly normal. She just may have colic. I even brought in a video to show the Dr. how Isla fusses in her sleep. Its just hard for me to see her strain, grunt, kick her legs, etc., and to think that she is ok. But if the Dr. says so..........

Here is the video...does anyone else's baby make this much noise during naps and at night?

This video wasn't the one I wanted to upload, there is another 30 second video where she is doing the same thing, but just throughout the whole video. But anyways, you get the idea.

After her 1st church service

We might have picked a hat that was too big...whoops

YAY!                                          

 Her feet are my favorite

 

Hey Isla, maybe if you slept more at night you wouldn't be so tired during the day ;)

Week Three Memories:
Isla went to church for the first time
Isla pooped and peed while I was changing her diaper. The poop shot out and went through the mesh on the pack and play onto the floor and all over my pants :) So far, everytime she's peed or pooped outside of her diaper, I just laugh. Maybe eventually I'll get annoyed
Continuing that thought, Isla peed all over the scale at the Dr.'s office today
Baby now weighs 7lbs 11oz so she is thriving :)
ONE night this week, I actually got 4 hours of sleep in a row for the first time since she was born

P.S. I had to change the background of the blog. I figured purple is her color, and this layout looks more organized to me