Leah and I went to a the Breastfeeding Support group at Clarian North yesterday and I'm able to weigh her there. She is now a big bag of potatoes and weighs 10lbs 2 oz, she gained a pound in 2 weeks which is right on target according to the doctor. And this kid is long, I'm interested in what she is measuring at her 2 month appt that is coming up, because due to length she can't fit in really any newborn clothes anymore and is basically in all 0-3 clothes and some 3 month clothes. I hope for her sake she is tall and lean like her daddy.
She is also really starting to notice her surroundings, especially her toys and mirror on her activity mat. I got a video of her playing from earlier today (if I upload this right)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Feeling Blessed!
Do you ever have those days when the blessings of life are just more apparent to you than others, I think I'm having one of those days. Here are some of the things I'm grateful for:
1. A nice warm home that is comfortable and a place where we can host friends and family, and use the blessings we have been given to bless others.
2. A perfect little girl that is healthy, and getting to watch her literally change every day and learn about the world around her. This week she loves seeing herself in the mirror on her activity mat and coos and smiles. She now give tons of smiles to Daddy and I and doesn't laugh yet but gets this really excited coo when we respond to her smiles. She also just seemed to realize there are toys hanging on her activity mat and hits them and gets really excited that she figured that out, as well as, laying on her tummy and holding her head up like a champ.
3. Being married to a man that is both an amazing father and husband. I didn't realize when we had a child how much more I would love my husband by watching him embrace his role as the rock of our family. I feel like our marriage has grown more in 6 weeks then it probably had in 3 years, b/c you forget all the little things that you used to argue about and just concentrate on taking care of this little person and being a team to accomplish things. The way he takes care of Leah and I melts my heart everyday. Leah is one lucky girl to have a daddy that loves her the way he does and is so hands on with taking care of her, never turning away from changing a diaper or giving a bath, or like this weekend nearly getting pooped on!! :)
4. Friends that want to help us in whatever way they can as we transition though life. We have had meals twice a week brought to us since the week after Leah was born, until this week. It seems like a small thing, but what a blessing to not have to worry about meal planning or eating really badly those first 6 weeks, and getting to spend that time as a family enjoying one another. It also gave us an excuse to get to visit with a lot of friends we don't see as often and get to introduce Leah to them. Also those friends that call to check in just to make sure you are doing OK or that try to help you with the small things b/c you usually have one arm occupied by a little person.
5. An OB/GYN and Pediatrician that are wonderful doctors but that care for the people they see and not just medicine. My OB is close to my age and has two small kids so her opinions are nice to hear and she is helpful and encouraging in being a new mom. She is also very good about making sure that both myself and Adam are taking care of ourselves so we can adequately take care of Leah. Our pediatrician was totally picked by a couple of referrals of friends and he has turned out to be nothing but great. He is awesome with Leah, supportive of me and breastfeeding and willing to allow me try different things to stick with it, and also makes sure Adam and I are doing well so we can be good parents to Miss Leah.
6. Our families. You never know how much you love your parents until you are one yourself. Although I was already really close to my Mom I feel even closer to her now, understanding what it is like to be a Mom. She has been supportive, encouraging, and there whenever I needed her while letting us have our space as needed.
So those are some things going through my mind today and just wanted to get it down to have it to read when I may not being having one of those "I feel so blessed" days :)
1. A nice warm home that is comfortable and a place where we can host friends and family, and use the blessings we have been given to bless others.
2. A perfect little girl that is healthy, and getting to watch her literally change every day and learn about the world around her. This week she loves seeing herself in the mirror on her activity mat and coos and smiles. She now give tons of smiles to Daddy and I and doesn't laugh yet but gets this really excited coo when we respond to her smiles. She also just seemed to realize there are toys hanging on her activity mat and hits them and gets really excited that she figured that out, as well as, laying on her tummy and holding her head up like a champ.
3. Being married to a man that is both an amazing father and husband. I didn't realize when we had a child how much more I would love my husband by watching him embrace his role as the rock of our family. I feel like our marriage has grown more in 6 weeks then it probably had in 3 years, b/c you forget all the little things that you used to argue about and just concentrate on taking care of this little person and being a team to accomplish things. The way he takes care of Leah and I melts my heart everyday. Leah is one lucky girl to have a daddy that loves her the way he does and is so hands on with taking care of her, never turning away from changing a diaper or giving a bath, or like this weekend nearly getting pooped on!! :)
4. Friends that want to help us in whatever way they can as we transition though life. We have had meals twice a week brought to us since the week after Leah was born, until this week. It seems like a small thing, but what a blessing to not have to worry about meal planning or eating really badly those first 6 weeks, and getting to spend that time as a family enjoying one another. It also gave us an excuse to get to visit with a lot of friends we don't see as often and get to introduce Leah to them. Also those friends that call to check in just to make sure you are doing OK or that try to help you with the small things b/c you usually have one arm occupied by a little person.
5. An OB/GYN and Pediatrician that are wonderful doctors but that care for the people they see and not just medicine. My OB is close to my age and has two small kids so her opinions are nice to hear and she is helpful and encouraging in being a new mom. She is also very good about making sure that both myself and Adam are taking care of ourselves so we can adequately take care of Leah. Our pediatrician was totally picked by a couple of referrals of friends and he has turned out to be nothing but great. He is awesome with Leah, supportive of me and breastfeeding and willing to allow me try different things to stick with it, and also makes sure Adam and I are doing well so we can be good parents to Miss Leah.
6. Our families. You never know how much you love your parents until you are one yourself. Although I was already really close to my Mom I feel even closer to her now, understanding what it is like to be a Mom. She has been supportive, encouraging, and there whenever I needed her while letting us have our space as needed.
So those are some things going through my mind today and just wanted to get it down to have it to read when I may not being having one of those "I feel so blessed" days :)
One month post ( a little late)
On January 9th, Leah turned 1 month old. I'm going to try and take a picture each month with this same stuffed dog to see how she is growing. Her first month was a great and totally busy month with Christmas and all the other things going on during that time. We finally had some success in the weight gaining department and by the time she was 4 weeks old she was several ounces over her birth weight, it was a lot of work for all involved to get that pound of weight on that little girl. We have enjoyed getting to know our little one and can't wait to see what the future months have in store and how much she is growing and changing.And this picture if from this weekend at about 6 1/2 weeks, hasn't she changed so much, and Leah just wanted to say "Go Horse"!!!!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Catching up
We've been a little behind on blogging these days so this will be a catch up entry. On Christmas morning we woke up for our first Christmas as a family of 3 and really the only ones with gifts under the tree were Leah and Abbi. Adam and I didn't really worry about getting presents for each other this year since we had so many other things going on with having a baby.
Leah was sporting her Christmas wardrobe and looked a bit like a candy cane, a cute candy cane, of course.
On Christmas Eve Leah got to meet her Uncle Ryan, my brother, since he hadn't been home from St. Louis since she was born. It was weird that my little brother wanted to hold this tiny newborn right away, but I guess having a child of your own gets most guys over the I'm going to break the baby thing. On the Saturday after Christmas she met her Uncle Chris, Aunt Kacey, and only boy cousin, Nolan. We hadn't seen Nolan since this summer, because he and his parents are now living in Boston, and boy has he changed from a 1 year old to an almost 18 month old. He is a very active little boy and is starting to try and talk more, although his words are a little cryptic right now he can get his point across :)
We were a bit busy over the Christmas weekend and just needed some recoup time after that weekend. Adam said next time we need to have better timing and not have a newborn right at Christmas, as if we have that much control :) The last week of the year we just spent a lot of time together since it was the last week before Adam went back to work.
We didn't really do much for NYE since we didn't know if we would be awake, asleep, or feeding a child, we slept through the ball dropping and I think said "Happy New Years" to one another about 2:00 am when Leah woke up to eat.
Below was Leah's first time wearing her Boiler gear for the game against West Virginia on New Year's day. We think she might be the cutest little Boiler fan out there!
In my previous posts I mentioned some issues we have had with Leah's weight gain. After her 2 week appt where she hadn't really gained any weight and was below her birth weight still we tried a different approach to feeding and she lost another 3 oz, at this point the pediatrician was a bit more concerned and so for the next week I exclusively pumped and fed her all the breast milk I could pump and then supplemented with formula until she was full, which seemed to top off at about 3 oz. She did great with the bottle and it was actually a little bit nice that Adam could help me feed her. In that week she gained 13 oz and went from a sleepy, kind of apathetic, eater to a really hungry demanding eater. She was finally back up to her birth weight plus a little more. The pediatrician then said that I could just pump and feed every other feeding and go back to nursing the other feedings. We visited the office again this week for a last weight check and she is still gaining weight, finally this kid is heading in positive territory. We are still doing the combo of pumped milk and nursing but I hardly have to supplement anymore so its working for now and our baby is gaining weight so we are happy.
Although I definitely want her to have the benefits of breast milk, I'm glad I have been pretty open and flexible to how we are feeding her so that we can do what works for us as a family and not get so wrapped up in success or failure on the breastfeeding front. A mindset I would recommend for any new mommy, everything is new and not easy so feeling like you are a failure at something is just a stress that you as a new mom and your family doesn't need!
And here is just a cute picture of our little peanut and as you might be able to tell she is filling out more, you can see it in those chubby little cheeks!! She was done with me taking pictures of her but I think she is so cute when she gets fussy, at least when its during the day and only last a minute or two :)
Leah was sporting her Christmas wardrobe and looked a bit like a candy cane, a cute candy cane, of course.
On Christmas Eve Leah got to meet her Uncle Ryan, my brother, since he hadn't been home from St. Louis since she was born. It was weird that my little brother wanted to hold this tiny newborn right away, but I guess having a child of your own gets most guys over the I'm going to break the baby thing. On the Saturday after Christmas she met her Uncle Chris, Aunt Kacey, and only boy cousin, Nolan. We hadn't seen Nolan since this summer, because he and his parents are now living in Boston, and boy has he changed from a 1 year old to an almost 18 month old. He is a very active little boy and is starting to try and talk more, although his words are a little cryptic right now he can get his point across :)
We were a bit busy over the Christmas weekend and just needed some recoup time after that weekend. Adam said next time we need to have better timing and not have a newborn right at Christmas, as if we have that much control :) The last week of the year we just spent a lot of time together since it was the last week before Adam went back to work.
We didn't really do much for NYE since we didn't know if we would be awake, asleep, or feeding a child, we slept through the ball dropping and I think said "Happy New Years" to one another about 2:00 am when Leah woke up to eat.
Below was Leah's first time wearing her Boiler gear for the game against West Virginia on New Year's day. We think she might be the cutest little Boiler fan out there!
In my previous posts I mentioned some issues we have had with Leah's weight gain. After her 2 week appt where she hadn't really gained any weight and was below her birth weight still we tried a different approach to feeding and she lost another 3 oz, at this point the pediatrician was a bit more concerned and so for the next week I exclusively pumped and fed her all the breast milk I could pump and then supplemented with formula until she was full, which seemed to top off at about 3 oz. She did great with the bottle and it was actually a little bit nice that Adam could help me feed her. In that week she gained 13 oz and went from a sleepy, kind of apathetic, eater to a really hungry demanding eater. She was finally back up to her birth weight plus a little more. The pediatrician then said that I could just pump and feed every other feeding and go back to nursing the other feedings. We visited the office again this week for a last weight check and she is still gaining weight, finally this kid is heading in positive territory. We are still doing the combo of pumped milk and nursing but I hardly have to supplement anymore so its working for now and our baby is gaining weight so we are happy.
Although I definitely want her to have the benefits of breast milk, I'm glad I have been pretty open and flexible to how we are feeding her so that we can do what works for us as a family and not get so wrapped up in success or failure on the breastfeeding front. A mindset I would recommend for any new mommy, everything is new and not easy so feeling like you are a failure at something is just a stress that you as a new mom and your family doesn't need!
And here is just a cute picture of our little peanut and as you might be able to tell she is filling out more, you can see it in those chubby little cheeks!! She was done with me taking pictures of her but I think she is so cute when she gets fussy, at least when its during the day and only last a minute or two :)
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