A letter to Lizzy

Dear Lizzy,

I know that I am the source of your food. However, when I am trying to get to to go to sleep during the night, please happily oblige. I promise I will not withhold the boob from you when you wake up again. Being awake from 10:30 PM until 2 AM is not fun for Mommy. It's also not fair for Daddy when Mommy wakes him up at 2 AM (because she's so tired that she can't see straight) to help to get you to sleep. Mommy feels almost like a failure when you go right to sleep for Daddy around 2:30 AM. Again, I know I smell like food, but you do not need to eat 24/7.

Love you always,
Mommy

P.S. I don't really feel like a failure. It's just so frustrating when you won't go to sleep for Mommy EVAR...

Doctor appointment

Date: 05/26/09
Weight: 9.05 lbs (65th percentile)
Length: 20 inches (25th percentile)

She gained 2 lbs since her last doctor appointment! She's now about a half pound heavier than her birth weight. Asked about her grunting so much and spitting up a lot. Dr said she is eating too much, plus she might have some reflux. So now we have to keep her sitting up straight for 30 minutes after she eats, and I have to get her off the boob when she goes to sleep b/c she keeps comfort nursing, causing her to overfill. She's got a little bit of baby acne on her face, but nothing too serious. Her left eye has been a little goopy with some green discharge, but nothing that makes her eye stay shut. The dr asked if either of us have allergies, which Steve does, to which he said that that is probably what it is since it's not bothering her. Basically Lizzy has some seasonal allergies and with all of the rain and wind we've been having the pollen is way up.

We can't get her shots early b/c the insurance won't pay for it, but the dr said getting them a week earlier won't be any different than getting them on time. So the trip to Houston is still on for the family reunion. Just have to make sure no sick people come around her. She's also had a little bit of a diaper rash going on. Not anything too bad, just some redness around her anus. Dr said that's normal, just to apply regular diaper cream until it clears up, so that's what we've been doing. I've been trying to find diaper cream safe for cloth diapers, but I need to order it online. lately I've been using desitin creamy. I'll have to strip my diapers after she's done with this small rash.

I also asked about bathing her everyday now. She gets so dirty b/c of how much she was spitting up. Dr gave the okay to do it everyday, so it'll be part of our routine. Hopefully this will help with the rash as well. They did the second baby screening today too. Basically they prick her heel and fill 5 areas of a special piece of paper. Wooo boy did that make her angry. She cried so hard.

So that was her appointment. Nothing too bad. Everything was answered. Her next appointment is July 7, 2009 at 2 PM. She'll be getting her first set of shots.

Two weeks old already

I can't believe she's been here for two weeks already. She's such a good baby, doesn't fuss much and when she does it's really easy to calm her. She loves being held, and will go to sleep on your chest/in your arms easily. She's a grunter though, so no light sleepers are safe in our house.

Cloth diapering is going well. We do diaper laundry about every other day. We also sun out any stains after the diapers get washed. It's so cool how the sun just bleaches the stains away by itself. Lizzy hates diaper changes. If it was up to her, she'd stay in a dirty diaper forever. It's great at waking her up to eat though.

Breastfeeding is going really well also. The first day after she was born was really easy, then we hit a rough patch. I had to start using a nipple shield to help her latch on. Once she got used to latching, I was able to get rid of the shield. We probably used it maybe four days total. Now she latches on like a champ. It's funny, the other day I was taking a nap and Steve tried to give her a bottle of pumped milk. She wouldn't take it. Seems like she's spoiled on the boob :)

I've used my Moby Wrap a couple times now. Lizzy really seems to like it. She goes right to sleep as soon as we put her in it. I need to wear it more around the house, but never think about it until the day is gone and it's bedtime. After she gets her shots (or starts them) I'll be wearing her more, since it's easier than bringing the stroller in the car.

Mom O'Donnell is having lots of fun with her. She keeps suggesting that Steve and I have a date night again (we had one last weekend) so she can babysit. I have a feeling she'll go through withdrawal when she heads back to Houston next week.

Everything is going well otherwise. Hopefully I can get an update in here every week if not more. This way everyone can know how everything is going.

Time to get back to my baby girl!