Doctor's Orders

We went to the doctor yesterday for Leah's one month check-up.  She's in the 50th percentile for height, 50th percentile for head circumference, and 10th percentile for weight.  She's 21 inches long and weighs 7 lbs 7 oz - and she's doing great.  Our pediatrician told us that our usual night time routine of taking shifts to stay awake and hold Leah all night, is not normal.  Most babies are sleeping for at least 2 or 3 hour stretches at this point.  We're lucky if she sleeps alone for 45 minutes.  He thinks she has GERD, or acid reflux, which is causing her extreme pain when she is horizontal (hence why she only sleeps when being held and cries the instant we put her down in her bassinet).  My poor baby!  We left the doctor's with a prescription for Zantac and O'Doul's non-alcoholic beer.  Well, the beer is just for me - haha.  I get to drink it while pumping to boost my milk supply.  Even though there's only 0.5% alcohol content in it, I'm still enjoying the idea of drinking after 9 months without a drop.  Pumping suddenly got a lot more fun!

One Month

Leah turned one month on Thursday.  We took a photo of her with a one month sticker on her onesie.  We received these adorable stickers from BA's cousin (thanks Renee!) that you place on the baby each month to track her growth.  So here's the first of her 12 monthly photos.

Our sweet pea at 1 month old!

Trying to get a family photo.

Unfortunately, Leah was not in the modeling mood Thursday.  She's been having a really rough time with sleeping - and BA and I have been having a rougher time trying to soothe her.  She will sometimes sleep for short periods in her bassinet during the day, but at night, she refuses to sleep anywhere but in someone's arms.  We have tried everything - mylicon drops, gripe water, switching to formula at night, elevating the head of her bassinet, extending her wake-time, shortening her wake-time, pacifier, bedtime routine.  Nothing is really working.  I think she has excessive gas because she will kick her legs frantically, bunch up her fists, and scream red-faced and then finally, more than an hour after she's fed, she'll burp, and go completely limp.  She'll be relaxed for a couple of minutes, long enough for me to put her in her bassinet, and then 5 minutes after I set her down, she'll be screaming and pumping her legs again.  And we start the whole process all over.  I think being held is the only thing that is truly comforting to her.  We feel terrible because there is nothing we can do to make her feel better, but at the same time, we are exhausted and can barely stay awake to hold her, all night, every night.  My Dad and Wanda have been visiting us this week and they generously offered to take the night shift for the past 2 days.  At first I didn't want to burden them, but then I realized that I wouldn't have this opportunity forever, and let them watch Leah from about 9 p.m. - 1 or 2 a.m.  Then BA or I will get up and take over and we rotate shifts until the morning.  It's been wonderful to have a small break for the first half of the night.  I just hope Leah outgrows this fussy phase really soon!

BA brought home a 1 month birthday cupcake for Leah.  He got the cupcake with the soccer ball on top because she is such a strong kicker :)  Leah was in no mood for a party.  She informed us that the memory of her actual birthday was still fresh in her mind and she was not at all interested in reliving that experience! 

Leah was not a happy camper

And.... we're back to our regularly scheduled programming.  The only place she sleeps ... on daddy :)

BA's Corner: Chain Gang

I'll be starting a support group for new Dads who have to return to work. It's tough to get fired up about work these days. I took 2 weeks off, but I needed at least 6. Aside from the adjustment and the bonding, sleep deprivation is no joke and AA can't do all of this alone. Besides, she's back in school now, so she's got her own problems to deal with. Fortunately, we've had great help.

Here's a picture from when I arrived home after my first day back in the office.

Depending on my schedule, I can sometimes get around this depression and still get my work done...

Hey, it works. Usually.

Growing up

My baby girl has outgrown her newborn clothes.  I could probably still squeeze her into the 5-8 lb size onesies but she's much more comfortable with a little wiggle room in the 0-3 month size. 

Flashback - I love this shot - it was taken at 1 week old.  She was already trying to hold her head up the day she was born, and I got lucky with this shot ... I caught her holding her head up and snapped the photo just in time.  

1 week old.

 
Look at her now!  We wanted to take some photos of one-month old Leah in this adorable outfit (a gift from one of my law school friends) complete with tennis shoes, before she outgrew it.  However, when we put this on her it became clear she wasn't about to outgrow it yet ... especially the shoes :)

1 month old

And here are a couple "outtakes" from her 1 month photo session. 

Weeeee - Modeling is fun!

Modeling is exhausting. 

Okay I'm bored.  I'm hitting the sack.

How do you unwind after a long day of work?

Grandma's Visit

Leah still wants to be held all night, every night.  She will sleep, but only if held, and then she only sleeps for a maximum 2 hours at a time.  The annoying part is that she's rarely irritable during the day - she usually sleeps just fine in her bassinet during the day.  I don't know if this is normal baby behavior, or colic, or painful digestion issues, but whatever it is, it sucks.  Lucky for us, we have family members who are very interested in getting to know our latest edition, and that equals help for me after sleepless nights.  Right now my Dad and his wife Wanda are visiting us and they have been relieving me at 5:30 a.m. so that I can get some sleep.  I got 3 hours in a row yesterday - the most I've gotten since Leah was born almost 4 weeks ago!

But our first visitor was Grandma, my mom.  She arrived 3 days after Leah was born and was with us for 2 weeks.  She was a God-send and we could not have made it through those early days without her.  Here are some pictures from her visit

The early days - Leah is only 5 days old here under Grandma's watchful hands and eyes.

My mom cooking up a storm!

Leah at 2 weeks.



Once Haley arrived in town, we left BA at home for some daddy-daughter time and took my mom to brunch.

Leah at almost 3 weeks!

Thanks for everything Grandma!

What Happened?

What happened?  My perfect little angel baby has turned into a crying mess.  Since she was born, Leah has never slept for very long - she usually only sleeps for an hour and a half at any one time.  I think part of that was due to the fact that I was breastfeeding her and had to wake her up every 3 hours to feed, but most of the time she would wake herself up.  We were tired but hopeful that she would start extending her night time sleeping.  Not so lucky.  This week has been terrible.  She will sleep pretty well during the day, but she is inconsolable all night.  The crying is related to pain; she squirms and fights and kicks her legs furiously like she's is such pain and I feel so sorry for her.  Unless she is laying on either my or BA's chest, she won't stop crying, and BA has to work during the day so that means I'm on night duty. The pacifier works only until she spits it out, which happens about every 5 minutes. So I've pretty much stopped sleeping over night.  I get about 2 hours total all day, and I haven't gotten more than 3 hours in any 24 hour period in the last 4 weeks.  It's so bad that I decided to place a call to our pediatrician and describe Leah's symptoms.  I'm scared to even mention the "C" word (colic) but everything the doctor prescribed for her symptoms relates to colic.  The doctor said to try out everything he recommended over the weekend and call if things don't improve.  We'll see.

Here's my little angel sleeping by day.  She hates to have her arms confined and will wiggle them out of any blanket or swaddle I put her in.

We've put her bassinet on an incline so she ends up sliding all the way to the bottom.  Check out what she did to this swaddle I put on her.  She hates to be covered with anything!

"What's wrong Mom, night time is for play time!"

The Middle Name

Leah's middle name, Haley, is my sister's name.  I wanted her middle name to be connected to my side of the family and I wanted it to mean something.  My middle name is my mother's name and I love it.  It means something to me; it connects me to my mother and my mother's side of the family.  Legally I have four names because I decided I didn't want to drop my middle name, nor did I want to drop my maiden name.  I wanted to give my baby my sister's name because I love my sister and I wanted my baby girl to grow up with a name that meant something to my side of the family.  Plus I just think it sounds nice. 

Aunt Haley came for a visit and brought books to read to Leah.

Leah enjoyed tummy time with Aunt Haley.