It's funny to me that babies fall asleep in what appears to be very uncomfortable positions. For example:
1. In her sling, curved sideways and scrunched up, yet she slept in there for like 2 1/2 hours. My back hurt but I didn't want to wake her up!
2. On the couch, sitting up, one arm out, one down, clothes all disarrayed.
3. On Dad's lap, leaning forward, binky pushed into mouth. She LOVES being held facing forward doubled over on our arms or hands.
Got Gas?
Rachel does. She didn't for like the first 3 or 4 weeks of her life, and then all of a sudden, she's in pain several times a day from it. So far we've tried switching formula several times, gas drops, glycerin suppositories (sounds very un-fun, but they work), and burping more. All has helped a bit, but she's still not a happy camper occasionally because of her tummy troubles. So if anyone else has gone through this with their babies - what helped your baby? Most of the time we run through our list of solutions and if all else fails, hold her by her tummy leaning forward and bounce until she settles. This picture shows one time she found comfort by sucking on my finger and hanging on for dear life to my thumb and other finger.
So What's Going on Besides Rachel?
I know, my blog posts are always about Rachel. But honestly, right now, that really is pretty much all that's going on. I'm happy if I can find time to eat or do a load of laundry, nevermind doing anything out of the ordinary. Funny, I always thought that when we had a baby and I wasn't working, I would have more time for hobbies and housework... how naive I was... :) She grows up so fast though, so I love spending all my time with her and watching her grow.
Stop By and See Us Sometime!
So now that Rachel's almost 6 weeks old, I finally feel comfortable having people come and see her. Plus, even though we go out to the store and grandparents' and all, I still feel like a shut-in sometimes, so I would LOVE visitors!! My parent's are driving out to visit from Connecticut, and they'll be here this Saturday through Tuesday, so we'll be busy then, but after that, PLEASE come by and see us sometime! Feel free to just stop by, but if you want to make sure we're home and relatively dressed, give me a call first. If you have a cold, a sniffle, or anything remotely resembling sickness, please wait 'til you're better, but otherwise, come see us!!! :)
Sleep
Rachel is starting to go 3 hours between feedings, which for her, is amazing. I'm feeling less and less like a zombie every day. However, she's been not wanting to go to sleep until around 1 in the morning. Suggestions to get her to bed earlier?
Random Pictures
Wow, this turned into a long post. Anyway, here are some pictures from the last week or so.
I figured I needed to post a picture of her crying, to show that it actually does happen.
Ah, Otter Pops and a cute baby. Life is sweet.
Giving Grandma a funny look.
We found out that Rachel likes the shower. (And it's fun for us too!) We wear cotton gloves to keep her from being slippery. This is Mike holding her above the shower curtain to say hi to Mommy.
Touchdown!
Her face looks oily in these pictures, but that's just what the pics look like sometimes when we use the flash.Below: Almost got a picture of a smile. She's smiling more now, especially when Mike first comes home from work and holds her, she grins like crazy. Such a Daddy's girl.
I think this one's funny, because she's like completely expressionless. And yet, still so cute. :)
12 comments:
for gas we did the gas drops each time after Zac ate, and it helped a lot. but if we ever missed a time, we could definitely tell. also pulling his knees up to his chest helped too. I don't know if you have gotten any foot/hand print impressions, but I just got some for Max and I love them and it is so cute. And maybe Mindy would like a set? something like this: http://www.tinytouches.com/gallery.html When we got ours back, i just thought of Rachel...don't know why?
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Oh man this is probably the cutest post ever! I cant believe it's possible for her to get cuter but she does every time I see her! Thanks for posting so many pictures, I love them! And I love Rachel and you guys!!
For Connor and Deirdre, we made sure their naps during the day were out with us, in the light and with noise, so that they knew daytime sleep was different. At night there is darkness and a CD of multicultural lullabies and a change of clothes. It took Connor 2-3 months, which is typical, but Deirdre only 2 weeks.
Connor was a collicky, screamy baby until I stopped eating dairy. You might try a soy or goat milk formula, which is not cheap, but a lot of babies are sensitive to cow's milk. Connor liked to be rocked in a football hold with his tummy and face down. The book Happiest Baby On The Block taught us different holds and movements that were helpful.
Your back shouldn't hurt with a sling! Visit http://www.thebabywearer.com/ for videos and tutorials on babywearing! If none of that works, the Moby wrap is my favorite for newborns and little babies - it goes over both shoulders but still has a nice reclining or chest-to-chest position for babies.
She is a very beautiful, angelic looking baby. There's no doubt why your posts are all about her. Babies are quite intoxicating!
When our kids have upset tummies we found that holding them laying on their tummies on your arm. We also would move their legs slowly in and out from a straightened position and then knees into their chest. Sleeping sitting up in their swing after eating helped too.
We had 2 of the 4 who had reflux. Contrary to popular belief, reflux babies do not always throw up. Without fail our babies would scream in pain about 20 min after feeding. It was heart breaking! They grow out of it usually before they are one. Jenna grew out of it by the time she was 9 months. Jordan was about a year. So, if you try other things,ie. drops, diet changes etc. and she still screams in pain about 15-20 min after a feeding, ask you pediatrician about reflux. Once my kids got on medication, every one's life was better. Another up side for me was that I could eat what I wanted again.
Obviously you want to try the other things before you medicate!
It seems like we tried everything with Mason and nothing really seemed to work(with the gas thing). The suppositories were the only thing that seemed to work because he was quite constipated for a while. To me, I think gas is just a small stage they go through. I could be wrong, but I promise it will be over soon. I too feel like you and all my posts seem to be about my baby boy. We are just proud Moms and we should be able to post as many things about our babies as we like!
I'm so sorry Rachel has gas! Both of our kids are gassy little farts. Gas drops never seemed to help with Kaemon so I haven't even attempted them with Eli. I agree with what Brooke said, we do those things, too. Another thing I do is I feel their tummy and you can feel if they have gas, they are hard and bloated and you can actually feel it in their tmmy. So I would massage the tummy in circular motions and then keep rotating the baby's position until the gas comes out. It's hard because when they are so gassy they can't sleep. Eli used to not want to go to bed until late either. We would just make a conscious effort to keep him up more during the day, especially in the evenings. That's what our doctor told us to do and it has seemed to really help.
Rachel is changing so fast and she is sucha cute little girl! Can't wait to meet her.
A book that saved my life in those early months is called. On Becoming Babywise. I think most people just call it "Babywise". It's all about getting sleep schedules down. My pediatrician recommended it and I love it! With it's help Cougar was sleeping through the night consistently by about 4 months. Lovely! Rachel is such a sweetie! She's even starting to look like an infant and not a newborn.
I have neglected to say how beautiful I think she is and how much fun it is to see all of the pictures. She is changing so fast. You will be grateful you have taken so many pictures. I know we are! :)
We have essentially the same problems with James. None of the cures for gas seem to work at all, same with not falling asleep till late at night. But, it won't last forever, right?
k the picture second to last seriously looks like Mike! That's so awesome!
That's funny that Jessica said that because I was thinking the same thing. A couple of the pictures look like you guys. We had a foster child who was adopted and she looks just like her adopted parents. It's amazing! Heavenly Father sure knows what He's doing, doesn't He? We miss Rachel, but we love you all, our new family!
you guys look like such great parents mary-- and what a doll your little rachel is:)
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