I do want to document this time though, as much as I'm able to, and I know a lot of you guys that read want to see and hear what is going on, so I am trying to drop in from time to time to update.
Allie is six weeks old today. It's weird because in a lot of ways it feels like it's flown by, but at the same time, like she's been here longer than that. I don't know that I feel that sentiment a lot of people mention that it seems like she's always been here, but it's probably because I had such an established life before her- 11 years with my spouse (almost 7 years married), 6 1/2 years in our house, 3 years with our dog, etc... I really feel like it's been an adjustment getting used to life with a baby for me. Everything from getting used to talking in the "baby voice" to Allie, to setting aside time to stimulate her on the play mat, to planning outings around her- it's all still kind of weird to me. Last weekend I turned down an invite to a dinner thrown together by friends that I probably would have gone to had I not had Allie to worry about. I'm still not comfortable taking her out at night yet, since that tends to be her fussy time and I don't want to disrupt her sleeping habits by having her out too late.
Even though I'm still adjusting, I know I'm lucky and that Allie is a pretty good baby. She really doesn't cry for no reason much, it's usually to be changed or fed, although, recently we've discovered we think she is crying because she is bored and wants stimulation on occasion. I can already see that it's important for me to play with her and entertain her frequently, so putting her down in a Bobby lounger or some other device doesn't work so well, and limits my ability to get stuff done. I frequently camp out in a chair in the living room with water, snacks, my phone, and anything else I might need for a while, prepared to entertain Allie or hold her while she sleeps. Right now, I have a rare moment when she's asleep in the Bobby lounger, which doesn't happen much these days.
She's an okay sleeper. I think she could be a lot worse. She wakes up about every three hours to eat at night, and I'm lucky if she goes a little longer. Usually it's pretty easy to feed her and get her back to sleep though, and since I don't have to work, I don't mind that much if I'm up a few times at night, because we usually don't get up til about 8am or so, so usually I still end up with around 8 hours of sleep, it's just really broken. Her naps during the day are kind of all over the place and she often sleeps on me. If we go out to lunch or something, she sometimes goes a 3-4 hour stretch in the car seat sleeping. I know soon I need to start figuring out her sleep habits and maybe start sleep training. We also need to think about transitioning her to the crib. If you guys have tips on any of this, let me know.
Like I mentioned, she seems to crave stimulation now. It's pretty cute to interact with her now and feel like she's interacting back some. She loves the play mat, loves hearing people talk to her, and music. My mom is convinced she's a genius, because at five weeks old she can kind of bat the toys on her play mat...
Her favorite lullaby is Baby Mine, and I like to either sing it to her or play her the Alison Krauss version or the Bette Midler version at night to settle her down. Usually by the end of the song she's falling asleep.
I love taking her for walks in the Ergo or in her stroller. Sometimes she will stay awake and look around when we go for walks now, which is cute to watch her looking at everything.
Allie's still a good eater, and usually eats about every two hours during the day unless we're out somewhere and she's sleeping. At night she goes anywhere from two to four hours between feedings. In the past couple weeks, Allie has started spitting up a bunch after eating. I don't think she has acid reflux or any serious symptoms (it doesn't seem to bother her), but it's something I keep an eye out for after feeding her. I've started putting bibs on her and watching for it, because she'll get it all over her clothes, bassinet, or wherever she is when it happens. I wonder if it's because I have a lot of milk and it kind of shoots out when she first starts feeding.
She is now growing out of newborn diapers and usually wears size ones. Same thing with newborn clothing. She can still fit into most of her newborn outfits, but they are getting snug and 0-3 seem to fit her better- with a little room. I have recently gotten in to putting her in actual outfits instead of just dressing her in sleepers every day. She has a couple pairs of pants and some tops with the snap bottoms, so I like putting her in those if we're going out or something to up the cute factor. They are a bigger pain for diaper changes than sleepers though!
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| Dachshund onesie with pants and mary jane socks! |
I am doing well, and feel pretty happy and healthy.
I'm about 5 lbs up from my pre-pregnancy weight now. I can fit into some of my pre-pregnancy jeans, but they are still a little snug. I have two pairs that are a size up and wear those most of the time, but they are actually a little big on me, so I have to wear a belt to keep them up. Really the problem with the pre-pregnancy jeans is that I have some "muffin top" going on in them. I need to work on my abs to see if I can get those back to a more normal belly. It's pretty flabby there right now, which I guess is to be expected, especially since I've done zero ab work since pregnancy. Another change is that my boobs are bigger, so a lot of my tops fit weird, since my chest is normally on the smaller side. All in all, I'm actually surprised at how much my body has bounced back to its pre-pregnant state though. I am in my mid 30s so I wondered if I might have trouble losing the baby weight, but it seems to not have been a big problem, and that's with no working out besides walking. I'm lucky, I know.
Speaking of working out, I had my six week follow up with the OBGYN today and she gave me the all clear to resume normal activity, including running! So that's something I want to do soon. I also want to do yoga again, and maybe even other types of workouts. The biggest issue is finding time to do it and time when I want to do that as much as hang out with Allie. I know I need to set aside the time for myself to do it though, it'll be good for me both mentally and physically.
Greg and I are doing well. We have our ups and downs with getting used to life with a baby. Last week was kind of rough actually and I found myself stressed out, crabby, and taking some of it out on him. He left for his trip and I could tell we both really needed a break from each other, even if that meant me doing it all by myself for a few days. This week we're better though, and I feel like the team effort in taking care of Allie is really there. I also feel like he's starting to bond with her more, which makes me really happy. I know it's tough for guys to bond with babies sometimes, but I feel like he's making more of an effort to bond with her.
That's about it for my six week update!
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