Pics

We call this "Baby Fan-Worship" . . . you'll see.  Babies LOVE ceiling fixtures.

I love this picture of her.  Haha.

She's singing already!

Dunstan Baby Language

I love libraries.  They are like heaven for someone like me that is always looking for my next "new thang".  That "new thang" right now is my baby.  So of course, I am researching all things baby . . . and driving my husband nuts I'm sure.  

Well, I have checked out the "Dunstan Baby Language" DVD from my local library.  I saw this lady on Oprah last year when I was barely pregnant, and vowed to look into it.  However, I was unwilling to purchase the overpriced video (I'm extra glad now that I discovered I could get the extremely-short DVD from the library).  

My review:  short but helpful.  Definitely worth checking out.  I guess you can read about it online.  Heck, I could even tell you all of it, BUT it is really helpful to hear the different babies making the sounds.  The idea is there are 5 main different cries (because of 5 main different reflexes).  After they introduce each new cry, they show 20+ babies making that sound.  All the cries do sound very similar, so it's helpful to know what to listen for and then to hear it so many times.  

It was about 5:00pm when I watched it . . . time to feed Davie.  Steven had said she was taking forever to eat earlier so she may or may not eat on time.  As I was watching the video I started listening to her little sounds.  If this video was gospel, then she was telling me she needed to burp.  We hadn't really even started eating yet though.  But I started patting, and out came a burp.  We started to eat again . . . barely . . . and again, she started making the burping sound.  So I patted her again for much longer this time, and out came another burp.  This carried on, off and on, for an hour.  Finally, we got all the air out, and then the food could fit in.  Then we burped some more and some more.  I had no idea she could burp so much.  I started to wonder if she tries to do this everytime we eat.  Interesting.  

Oh by the way, usually I just burp Davie every 3-5 minutes (.5-1 ounces).  And we still have problems with her projectile vomitting at least once every 2-3 days.  Sometimes more often.  Ewww.  But the DVD said not to pull the bottle away from the baby to burp.  It says wait until the baby pulls away and makes the burping sound to burp her, and keep burping until she stops making that sound.  I was nervous, and expecting lots of vomit . . . but it seemed to work . . . this time.  I'll keep you updated.

Anyways, I wish the website (dunstanbaby.com) had a forum though so I could ask questions.  Like what sound do they make when they want a pacifier?  The hungry cry or the uncomfortable cry?  Also, Davie didn't make the sleepy cry sound even though I know for a fact she was very sleepy . . . is that because she wanted her pacifier first and foremost, and the need for sleep came after that?  

Well, if anything, the burp thing worked, and I think that will help!

Babies First Shots

Davie is 8 weeks old as of last Wednesday.  NUTS!  So, last Friday she had her 2-month well check.  We found the most amazing pediatrician in Norman!  The office was like a baby wonderland compared to the prison-like waiting room we were sitting in before.  Anyways, Davie is healthy.  She now weighs 10 pounds and she is 22.5 inches long.  She is in the 25th percentile for weight, and 75th percentile for length . . . sounds like her momma already.  

Then came the shots.  Oh man, was it sad!  Davie cried so hard she stopped making noise.  Heart-wrenching!  But I didn't cry.  I had to stay strong!  Anyways, she didn't cry for too long.  Then she slept for 48 hours (not constant sleep of course).  Finally today she had a little life to her again.  

Now that she is smiling all the time, (and even laughing some times!) she has also learned to pout.  It is the saddest face you've ever seen.  Her mouth turns into a perfect upside down U, and her bottom lip sticks out so far.  This is also paired with crying, and happens when she is really really tired.  

I really like that I am starting to figure this gal out a little bit more.  She is doing very well with her schedule . . . although the shots threw us off a little bit.  Anyways, we are still striving for a little bit longer stretches at night, but I can't complain too much.  

Back to School

Today is my second day back at school.  Not bad.  Actually it would be as good as I could imagine going back to school would be, if only I weren't sick.  I've had a little nagging cough for a couple of days.  Yesterday was too much for my little throat and I lost my voice.  Then I didn't get much sleep last night and so today I had the saddest, squeakiest voice you've ever heard.  But I taught 6 lessons.  By the time school was out, I could barely make myself heard on the phone when I called Steven.  

But I'm glad I'm back at school . . . for now.  I do miss being at home with Steven and Davie, but it's nice to have a routine and something to get up and showered for.  

Davie is doing well on her little "schedule".  We're trying to get her to eat at 5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, 11pm, and then hopefully not at 2am.  Last night she woke up at 2am, and so I gave her a pacifier until 3am, and then fed her half of what she normally eats . . . enough to ease her back to sleep.  Then I fed her half again at 5am.  The rest of the day has been pretty much right on.  We'll see how tonight goes.

Day Two and Three Without the Pacifier (and Day Four With It)

So, Day 2 and 3 went just fine, but the poor kid is all over the place schedule-wise.  I had decided this weekend to, for the most part, let her be . . . and see when she tends to get hungry and sleepy and go from there.  I kept notes.

Steven and I talked it over and decided to at least set a first feeding time in the morning (at 8am) and a last feeding at night (at 11pm) and see how it goes.  She's made it 6 hours quite a few times but they are always different times, so we're going to try to reign it in.  For this effort we will need the workings of a pacifier.  It is a great tool for scheduling.  It can tide them over before eating.  It can help them fall asleep.  

I didn't like thinking about using the pacifier as a "sleep prop" . . . but I thought, if we can get her on a fairly predictable (yet flexible) schedule, then we can worry about getting rid of the pacifier later.  It makes sense that if you eat at the same times everyday, after a week or two, you get hungry at the same times everyday.  If you sleep at the same time everyday, after a week or two, you get sleepy at the same times everyday.  If you wake up at the same time everyday, after a week or two, you start waking up on your own at the same times everyday.  

So, now that I know about how much she eats in 24 hours and how much she sleeps in 24 hours, and around when those times are . . . we can kind of set up some times of our own and see if she will work with us.  She very well may not!

Thanks for the pacifier posts!  I needed the encouragement.  

Day One Without the Pacifier

Like I said before - we've had a rough couple of days.  I wore myself out over-analyzing what could be wrong.  I think I am reading TOO much, and just need to go with the flow a bit more.  But out of my desperation, I think I did discover a few things.  

A)  It was time for us to trash the pacifiers.  I know she's only 7.5 weeks old, but when she started crying everytime it fell out of her mouth, I knew it was time.  Yesterday was our first full day without it.  It was . . . rough.  The poor dear just kept vigorously sucking the air and flailing her tongue about and fussing.  I manipulated her in to sleeping 1.5 hours twice in the morning, and she pretty much didn't sleep after that until about 10pm.  She wasn't really that fussy though for not sleeping.  

B)  We also upgraded her bottle nipple.  I bought a few different kinds that were for 3 months and up.  I cannot believe the difference it made for her.  It used to take her 45-60 minutes to eat 2.5 - 3 ounces.  And she rarely ever ate more than 3 ounces.  She'd get tired of working so hard and quit, and then be hungry an hour later.  Since I switched yesterday evening, she's been eating 4 ounces in 20 minutes!  Hallelu!  

C)  Today I am not thinking about what "the books" say.  I'm going to watch Davie for cues, and go from there.  I'm writing EVERYTHING down, so I can compare her routine day to day and not just make her do what I think she should do.  

Gotta go, she's waking up from her nap!!!

Cry It Out / Weaning Binky / Eating More

Davie has been pretty difficult the past 3 or 4 days . . . compared to the breathing babydoll she was before that is.  I have scoured the internet looking up thing that might tell me what to do to help her be more content.  I already mentioned the over-tired issue . . . but I think that is because she is not napping well for one of the following reasons now:

A)  She has gotten used to sleeping on us, and now we've started trying to put her down before she's asleep and she wakes up early (like after 25-35 minutes).

B)  She wakes up wanting her pacifier, or if she has it to begin with, it falls out and she wakes up.

C)  She doesn't eat enough, and wakes up hungry.

I think all of these play a role in why she is not sleeping well . . . my mistake was trying to tackle all these issues at the same time.  It made for a VERY mad baby, and a VERY anxious mom.  Anyways, I decided the easiest thing to fix is trying to get her to eat more at each feeding.  After looking over my little "baby log", I realized the times she slept the longest were the times she ate the most before.  

I think she wants to be like her momma and eat small amounts very frequently.  So today I am stretching out the time between feedings to see if she'll eat more (she is also a very leisurely eater).  

I think the next thing to tackle is the pacifier thing.  By the way, let me know your thoughts on pacifiers and your experience with them.  I think we'll just hold her or rock her or whatever for a few days instead of using the pacifier.  I don't want her to NEED it to sleep or stay asleep.  We'll see.  

Then at some point we'll work on the napping in her crib thing.  She does good at night, so I'm not too worried about it.  But I can't handle the "cry it out" thing yet.  

Over-Stimulation

Poor Davie.  Her dumb mother has subjected her to stimuli that her little nervous system is not ready to handle.  Last night, we went to the OKC Thunder game ... with a 7 week old.  It was SO outrageously loud.  She didn't act like it bothered her then, and actually I had her asleep in a sling most of the time.  But when she woke up at home, she was VERY upset.  We tried everything - feeding, changing, pacifying.  She was so mad she wouldn't even let a pacifier past her lips.  Finally, I swaddled her up tight and we turned out all the lights in her room and rocked while I shushed her.  She calmed down enough to take a pacifier, and then after that she was good.  Whew.  

Today I took her to school so I could get some stuff to plan for next week.  We stayed in the teacher's lounge during lunch.  My 4th grade team is laidback and calm, so no big deal.  The 5th grade teachers are loud and boisterous and I think she became over-stimulated again, because tonight she was again inconsolable.  

It's important to remember that babies DO have immature nervous systems, and therefore need us to shield them from getting over-stimulated or over-tired.  We have to look for "cues" that tell us they are getting tired, and then get them to a quiet place where they can rest.  

I looked up techniques for soothing a baby that is over-tired.  I found a website/book/DVD called "The Happiest Baby on the Block".  The dude (Dr. Karp) talks about 5 S's: 1) swaddling (tightly with arms down by their sides), 2) shushing (louder than their crying, or use some kind of white noise), 3) side (lay them on their side or tummy . . . I prefer us being tummy to tummy with her on her side), 4) swinging (or some kind of rhythmic motion), 5) sucking (pacifier, finger, bottle, or breast).  

Most of these I tried before reading this out of instinct (or desperation).  I'm checking out the DVD and the book from the library, so I'll be writing about that soon.  Hopefully though, I can just avoid the whole over-stimulation thing and look for signs that she is getting tired, and skip this whole frantic soothing thing next time.  

Baby Slings Galore

I am a baby sling connoisseur.  When I was pregnant, I thought that the highlight of motherhood would be carrying my little bundle of joy around in a stylish little baby carrier.  I had many slings given to me.  So I have personal experience with 5 different brands, and I am here to give my two cents on them.  (By the way, because I have a husband that also wants to use the sling, I have to get boring neutral colors.  But I do appreciate having a husband like that).

Maya Wrap - I got a hand-me-down and I was so excited about it.  It was an XL, but I figured it was just a bunch of fabric with some rings, so I could adjust it.  I think I would've liked this one a whole lot, but I couldn't get it to fit right.  

Baby Bjorn - The old standby . . . but Davie is 6 weeks old now and is still a bit small for this.  I think this one will be great when she gets a little bigger, like when we go on hikes and junk.  

Hotslings - Again, I got this one a bit too big.  It is not adjustable, but I washed it and it shrunk up a little bit.  But because it's not adjustable at all, it's kind of difficult to get the baby in and out sometimes.  

Munchkin Cargo Sling - This one was quite awkward.  It had a teeny strap that digs into your shoulder, and the sling is like an elastic bag that you place your baby in.  Weird.   

Baby K'Tan - MY FAVORITE.  This one is fabulous.  It has straps to go over both shoulders to equalize the weight.  It is 100% cotton, so it's nice and stretchy and obviously adjustable somewhat.  You can also wear it like 8 different ways.  Davie really seems comfortable in this one, and it's definitely more comfy for me.  

Intrauterine Hell

Today I got my IUD inserted.  Yikesers!  It was a hellacious experience.  

You would think (as I did) that after having a 7 pound baby naturally, that having a teeny tiny device placed in my uterus would be like a slap on the wrist.  Well, it was like being slapped on the wrist with an electrifying cat-of-nine-tails.  

It turns out my uterus was tilted toward my back so they couldn't get it to measure the required measurement.  I laid on the table for nearly 30 minutes while they poked and prodded and I cramped and cringed.  I was SO CLOSE to saying, "Nevermind.  Just write me a prescription for oral contraceptives!"  It was really painful.  Finally, they got another doctor, and he got it in - THAT WAS A DOOZIE.  Afterwards, I sat up and felt lightheaded, so they made me lie back down and eat some crackers and juice.  So then I had to lay there 15 more minutes.

I felt crampy and terrible for a few hours.  Currently, I'm doing okay . . .  but that could be because I overdosed on Ibuprofen.  I plan on staying "doped up".  

At least with childbirth, I was distracted by a million things (and I had adrenaline on my side).