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Thursday, August 30, 2007

Anna Style


mad baby
Originally uploaded by BigBiteMama
If you've ever seen the movie Dirty Dancing, you'll catch the reference on Anna's retro onesie...

I love love love this outfit! It cracks me up. I caught this picture of my little mad baby before her pants got all jacked up and gave her a wedgie.

Poor Anna...I haven't the slightest what was wrong when this picture was taken. As Grace's mom Jill says, "It's hard being the baby."

Weight Update

At 7 weeks old, Anna now weighs in at a whopping 9 pounds and 12 ounces.

I had her weighed yesterday at Expressly for You, the breastfeeding supply store at Baptist. We also visited with Jessica the lactation consultant and learned some good tips for nursing.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

7 Weeks Old and...


A few more winks
Originally uploaded by BigBiteMama
SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Yay!

Last night was probably a fluke, and Anna won't do it again until she is 3 years old, but it was divine! We had such a rough day yesterday. She was almost inconsolable for a large part of the day, and I spent several hours driving around with her so she would sleep. That was the only sleep she got, so I think she was just plain worn out by the time bedtime came.

Joseph put her down at about 9:30 p.m. and she woke up at 6:30 a.m. I didn't realize it, but her daddy had dressed her in a long sleeve gown and then he also swaddled her! He assured me this morning that she was just warm and not sweaty. Uh-huh.

(Note to future self: the picture in this post was taken a couple of weeks ago.)

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

All Jacked Up on Mountain Dew

Dear Anna,

In the future, when you are nursing from my bosom, I will try to refrain from dumping ice cold Diet Caffeine Free Mountain Dew on your head.

Love,
Mama

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Home Sweet Home

Anna and I are back home after a weekend at Nana and Big Pop's house. It was Anna's first time to be away from her daddy at night. We were gone three nights, too, so we didn't break him in gently.

Joseph and I would have liked to have been together, but circumstances didn't allow it. We both had some work that had to be completed...since neither of us could be on child duty, we let Nana (and Big Pop) take over. And they did a fine job! Anna even spent one night away from me when Nana decided to give me the whole night off.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Chillin'


Chillin'
Originally uploaded by BigBiteMama
See. She got happier! I'm not that mean!

"Houston, we have a problem."


Aftermath
Originally uploaded by BigBiteMama
Well, thankfully, the space shuttle Endeavour landed safely today and didn't have a problem that Houston had to address...but NASA should have been on hand today at baby Anna's house to address the excess liquid that spilled over into Anna's diaper changing apparatus! The pee went everywhere during a diaper change soaking Anna, me, her outfit, and the changing pad. So we had a mid-afternoon bath! Fun!

Anna loves bath time so much! She is smiley and kicks throughout. Her daddy and I need to perfect the art of rinsing - we're definitely novices. We haven't hurt her too bad, yet, though.

After the bath, I found the outfit you see pictured in her chest. I was a little too excited to see her wearing it - and of course we had to pose with the matching blanket! For some reason, this outfit cracks me up. Hey - the mama has to have her fun while the baby can't talk back!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Superbaby!


AnnaStrong.jpeg
Originally uploaded by BigBiteMama
Anna is so strong! She can hold her head up now for quite a long period of time. I think that is amazing for her to only be 5 1/2 weeks old.

I am also impressed by her arm and leg strength. I am continuing to work with her each day...we do the oft dreaded tummy time and "barn time," where Anna lays on her back under the Barnyard Gym and I exercise her little legs like she is riding a bike.

Just this week I have noticed that Anna focuses her eyes on objects much more than she did. She loves the little orange giraffe, which hangs over her green bouncy seat. She also likes the little bugs I have hanging off of her car seat handle. I am beginning to work with her on tracking objects - we're using a colorful toy caterpillar and a blue bear rattle to master that task. So far, Anna just looks at me with an expression of boredom, but we're getting there!

Sleeping (and Eating) Habits

I suppose I should document Anna's sleeping habits for posterity. And sleeping is akin to eating when you are Anna's age, so perhaps I should discuss that as well.

Let's see. Where to begin.

Anna spent the first few days of her life at home breastfeeding. She cried. I cried. It was rough. Looking back, I don't think my milk had come in yet. We left the hospital when she was a mere 24 hours old, and I didn't have a very productive session with a lactation consultant, so I just wasn't properly prepared. My, um, bits were very very sore (and bloody) and Anna's little lips were so chapped. It was awful. And I think she was hungry all the time.

So. I started pumping. At first, I was so frustrated because I wasn't having much output. I finally figured out that my milk had just not come in yet and stopped freaking out. Anna was (and still is) a jewel of a kid and ate both via breast and bottle (and didn't get confused). At Day 5 post-partum, my milk came in and everybody was much, much happier. I was able to actually nurse more, but I kept up with the pumping, too.

Call me crazy, but I like pumping and feeding Anna with a bottle much more than I like nursing. My OCD tendencies require me to KNOW how much milk she is getting. And we all get more sleep because Anna doesn't get hungry every hour like she does (or did) when she nurses. Also, pumping allows somebody other than me to feed her. I love her, but I don't like feeling like a cow.

So, where are we now with the feedings? She takes 4 oz. at a time, usually every 3 to 4 hours. I supplement on occasion with formula, but I'm not crazy about doing that. For starters, formula smells like soured milk and tastes like it, too. (I got curious. And, yes, I've tasted my own breastmilk.) I also think that Anna spits up a lot more after a formula bottle. And, despite what the Internet says, I haven't noticed that she sleeps any longer after a formula bottle than after a breastmilk bottle.

I'm not the best pumper in the world, though. I should do it more often that I do. I think my supply would definitely be better. I worry that when Anna starts to want more than 4 oz. at a time, I won't have it for her.

Lately (the last 3 or 4 days), Anna has slept much better at night. Instead of getting up at 11pm, 2:30am, and 5am, she's actually slept from 8:30pm to 4 or 5am. It is wonderful! The daddy and I are much more rested! I do pay for her newfound nighttime sleeping habits during the day, though - Anna is awake more and a little bit more fussy during the day now. Nothing terrible and I'm certainly not complaining, but I haven't been able to keep house like I was because I'm trying to keep her happy. (Yeah, I know. Terrible job, huh? Grin.)

I have also noticed a change in her diapers. The change began two weeks ago or so. She isn't near as poopy as she was. In fact, she often goes the whole night now with just a pee diaper. I remember that after she was born I was concerned because she was poopy a whole lot more than she was just wet. Although, I may have just not noticed the pee amid the poop. When she made the change, I was worried because I thought she was constipated, but I have not noticed any actual sign of that except for the lack of poop. I do think that she poops more at one time now, so perhaps that makes up for the decrease in the number of poops.

That seems to be a fair statement with respect to where we are now. The daddy and I are currently debating over whose turn it is to change a suspected poopy diaper. A common conversation in these parts. Heh.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

5 Weeks Old

Tonight during tummy time, Anna turned over from her back to her stomach...twice! She is so strong! She used her arms for leverage and rolled right over.

Anna also almost put her paci back into her mouth after dropping it. She can grasp things now (she has been for some time), but she kept grabbing the wrong side of the paci and just couldn't figure out how to flip it over before she fell asleep.

Also today (it's been a big day), during bathtime, Anna used her legs to push off the tub and almost jumped out the back of the baby bathtub! We're going to have to watch our little one extra close...she's definitely advanced!

Another first!


Just a swimmin'
Originally uploaded by BigBiteMama
Here's Anna while she "swam" for the first time! Isn't her swimsuit adorable?!

I only kept her in the pool a very very short while because the sun was so bright, and I was very very afraid of having a sunburned baby on my hands. Anna didn't exactly have a freak out in the water, but she wasn't laughing and cooing either. We got more of a luke warm response - much like the water temperature.