6 Week Updates

It's so hard to find time to keep up on my blog now. Sydney is going through this phase where I cannot put her down and she isn't happy in her swing or her papasan chair...this makes it very difficult to get ANYTHING done! I have a carrier that I use but I have to keep moving when she is in it or she cries! I started this post on Monday and it is now Friday!!!

Sydney has discovered all of the fun and exciting things she can do with her tongue! We went on a walk and the whole time she kept playing around with her tongue, it was very cute! She has also discovered her fist and fingers and will often suck on them.

She has now developed a scream...not just a cry, but a scream... that she uses to let me know when I am not meeting her need to be fed fast enough. In her mind it's, "Baby gets what baby wants, NOW!" She screamed so loud at me the other night at 2 am. Greg came flying into the baby room to see what was wrong. He thought there was some emergency. Well, there was in Sydney's eyes, she needed food!

She smiles now when we play with her. She likes Peek-a-boo and she LOVES to dance to 80's music!! We have the station on all of the time now and we hold her and dance. She doesn't like to be held in just any old way either. Sydney is also finding her voice with lots of coos and cute noises. And she has also discovered her arms. She is constantly bonking herself in the face with them.

Daddy has named Sydney as the World's Loudest Sleeper!! Oh my gosh, she is so noisy when she sleeps that we hardly get any sleep!! I am constantly looking in at her bassinet to make sure she is still sleeping, which means I am NOT sleeping!! She gets up only 2 times throughout the night now, not bad!

Mommy and Sydney dancing to 80's music. Notice how she just has to have her head tilted back!! This is her favorite way to be held!

A close-up of her dancing face!

Here she is at 6 weeks old!!Here she is waving at Nana and Pap after her bath!!

Throughout each day, I think of all of these things I want to write about and then when I actually get a minute to blog...I forget!

Let's see...

Well, Sydney slept for 6 hours straight on Wed. night and 5 hours straight last night. I love it, however, I kept waking up to make sure she was breathing!

I took Sydney for a walk early last evening. It was great until out of no where a wind and rain storm came thru. I had no choice but to run. Then it hit me, I am running with a stroller with an infant in it! In my head this voice said, "Oh my God, you are a horrible mommy...you are running and the stroller is shaking and you probably just caused baby shaken syndrome!!" I freaked! I quickly checked in on her (I had the visor covering her due to the rain) and her eyes were wide open. I thought, "Oh dear Lord, I've killed my sweet Sydney!!! Then she saw me and smiled!! "Oh thank you God, she's not dead!"

A very sad thought crossed my mind as I was in the shower today. Sydney is almost 6 weeks old. Many of my friends have had to return to work after 6 weeks of maternity leave. I feel so sad for all of you, it must have been so hard! I just cannot imagine leaving her at daycare at this age. Maternity leave should definitely be longer. I am so sorry all of you moms had to endure that separation and stress!

Well, I can't remember what else it was that I wanted to write about. If I think of it, I'll be back!

Quick Update

Sydney is taking one of her very short naps so I only have a minute to write. On Monday, we took a field trip to the mall with Jamie and her kids. We were there walking and talking for about 3 hours. Sydney took a bottle from me while we were there, it was great. She also proceeded to have a poop explosion and poop all over her new pink outfit. Thank goodness for family changing rooms!

On Tuesday, Sydney again denied the bottle and was very upset at me for even thinking of giving it to her! We will try again later this week. We didn't get out for too long yesterday because Sydney was in a mood and the only thing that made her happy was sleeping on my chest. I didn't mind too much!

This morning She really gave me a scare. As I was giving her Gripe Water for gas, she began choking (which she does at least once a day when she eats); however, this choking was much more serious and she turned completely red and her legs went limb. I had to flip her over on my arm and hit her back a few times. She pulled it together and became very quiet and then fell asleep while Mommy took some deep breaths!! It was horrible!

Well, there she is, up from her nap. The neighbors can hear when she wakes up from naps!

Ahhhh.....

Sydney had a great day yesterday!! She played and napped and didn't have any gas problems! Mommy was able to clean, do some scrapping and journal in Sydney's baby books, and cook a nice dinner. To top off a great day, after dinner, Mommy got to take her long waiting hot bubble bath, read, and have a small glass of red wine...ahhhh!! And the topper...at 9pm we gave Sydney her bath, fed and rocked her and put her to bed. She slept a full 5 HOURS!!! I actually had to wake her up to feed her because of my breasts!!! She then went back to sleep until 6am. What an amazing gift!!!

Below are some pictures taken over the last two days!

This is her interactive floor toy that we play with everyday and use it for tummy time also. She is looking up at herself in a mirror!

Sydney had a rough day yesterday with Daddy. I had to go to the eye doctor and then run 2 quick errands so I was gone for about three hours. I pumped and left milk for Daddy and Sydney. Well, Sydney didn't want to take the bottle and she had terrible gas. As a result, she cried for much of the time I was gone. I think Daddy was a little beside himself by the time I got home. I fed her and she slept until 8pm on my chest. She was exhausted from all of her crying as was Daddy. Today is a new day and so far everything is going well. We went for a long walk first thing this morning and now she is calm. She has a lot of problems with gas, painful gas. Usually in the morning and at nights. The gas drops make her throw up so today we gave her some gripe water and it seems to be doing the trick so far.

I have some new pictures that I will try to get up later today...depending on Sydney's mood!

Freedom!!!

I had my postnatal exam yesterday (my doctor completes them at 4 weeks instead of 6 weeks). Everything is healed well. I have lost over 30 pounds already and only have 9 more to go to reach my prepregnancy weight. Although, I may shoot for 11! Much of that weight was water and of course, I am sure breastfeeding has helped. She gave me the okay to start working out again and to take a hot bath. Many of you already know that my best stress reducer activity has always been to soak in a hot tub and read. Well, I haven't been able to do that for over 11 months now, almost a year and it's been so hard. So, I was very excited when my doctor gave me the okay yesterday. I was so looking forward to giving Sydney her bath and then putting her to sleep and then taking my hot bath. Well...I was so damn tired by the time we gave Sydney her bath that I went straight to sleep!!! She slept from 9-1 am and then 1:30-5:45am. We then got up, ate, got pooped on, barfed on, and then went back to bed and cuddled until 8am. Very cute!!

I pumped yesterday and left a bottle for Daddy while I went to the doctor and then to get groceries. Sydney would not take a bottle from me earlier this week but she did take the bottle from Daddy yesterday while I was gone. Michelle, you were right when you said that babies will sometimes take the bottle from Daddy rather than Mommy. So, I will pump some more today for Daddy and Sydney so Mommy can go to the eye doctor and to the mall...freedom!!

Greg took over a lot yesterday in regards to Sydney and gave Mommy some breathing space. I got a front carrier for him to use and they both loved it. This morning when Greg and I talked about Sydney, he relayed to me that he now realizes how much work it is to take care of her all day. He wasn't able to shower or eat a full meal. His back and body were sore from carrying her around all day, and he made the comment that he will never call me from work after 6pm again. Why, you ask? Well, starting around 6pm until bedtime, Sydney gets very fussy. I think up until yesterday Daddy didn't quite understand why I was so anxious for him to get home at 9pm and why I was so quick to hand Sydney over to him when he walked into the door. After last night, he fully understands.

Parenting is definitely a two parent job. I have always appreciated my mother and always let her know that by doing special things for her; but now, I have a whole deeper appreciation for her because she raised my sister and I alone. Mom, you are and always will be my inspiration.

1 Month Checkup

We had our 1 month doctors appointment today. Sydney is doing well. Her head is 37 1/2 , she is 22 1/2'' long and is 10.5 lbs!!! She's definitely getting enough to eat! I talked to the doctor about Sydney wanting to be fed every hour the last 2 days and he said that it sounds like she is using me as a pacifier. He also suggested that I start pumping so we can see just how much she is eating. I did rent a hospital grade electric double pump yesterday and hope to try it out tonight. This means I can leave Daddy and Sydney home and go for a massage this weekend! The doctor said she is doing great and everything seems normal.

Laura C. thank you for your good advise on my blog. I took it and we are out of the house today and I feel human again! We surprised Daddy and went to visit him at work. He was very happy to see us. Also, thank you for the stroller, it works great for quick errands and it's so easy to use.

A Call for Help!

This is a call out for help from all mother's whom are or have breastfed exclusively...How the heck did you survive? Okay, it's not that serious of a problem but it is getting frustrating. The last couple of days, Sydney has wanted to be fed EVERY HOUR. Now, for those of you unfamiliar with breastfeeding, eating every hour means start feeding at 12 finish around 12:30 and then rest for 15 minutes or so and then crying again for her next feeding!! It's killing me and it's getting really old! I tried to pump with my manual pump this morning but it hurt worse than Sydney suckling. I pumped for what seemed like forever and only got around 2 oz. Then, when it was time for her to eat it, she refused two different bottle nipples so I had to go back to the breast anyways!! I called the hospital to see if I could rent a hospital grade pump but there is a "considerable waiting list."

So, any suggestions? What other survival tips do you have for me in regards to being home with a newborn and keeping your sanity at the same time. I love my little one more than anything but being tied to my home 24/7 and lack of sleep can be taxing. Greg does what he can but he works Monday-Friday 12 hour days (9-9pm). Thanks for any suggestions or tips you may have for me.

Little Tadbits on Sydney

Is anyone out there? I haven't had any responses from anyone in awhile...just wondering if anyone is still reading my blog?

Everyday Sydney does something new. Yesterday, I was playing the "Little Piggy" game with her toes and when I did the high pitch noise at the end and tickled her, she smiled. She did it a few times but of course, she wouldn't do it again when I tried to show daddy when he got home from work! She was also imitating a face I was making at her...very cute!

I am learning to multi task. It never fails, whenever it's time for me to eat, she either wakes up or becomes fussy! So today, I was able to breast feed and eat my sandwich at the same time!

I have now been pooped and puked up on more times than I can remember. Last night before bed, Sydney puked everything she ate all over me. It scared the crap out of me!!! Then at our 2 am feeding, as she was eating and we were in our rocking chair, she had an explosive poop that scared the crap out of me. I thought we would be able to finish our feeding before changing but I then suddenly felt my stomach getting very warm...pooped on again!!

The last few days she has been going through a phase where she won't sleep during the day for longer than a few minutes if she isn't on her belly on my chest. I was getting annoyed by it but than Greg reminded me that she will only be this age once and I will miss these moments in the near future. All of the cleaning and other chores can wait. Today has been a little challenging in that Sydney is wanting to eat every hour!!! That makes for a lot of breastfeeding! This girl likes to eat!

My one complaint about the pink papasan chair is that the vibration is on a timer and when the vibration stops, cover your ears...the squealing begins and I have to make a mad dash to the chair to turn the vibration back on!

1 Month Old Tomorrow!!!

Can you believe it...Sydney will be one month old tomorrow! I feel like she has been with me forever, yet at the same time it's going so fast! I am sure every mom feels this, but, it seems like she is older than one month. Maybe because she is so big! She already lifts her head for short periods, she recognizes our voices and follows us with her eyes. She reaches out to touch our faces when we kiss her and she smiles when we play with her. She loves to sit up (of course we support her head) and gets upset if we try to lay her in our arms. She already has her own little whine and whimper - which of course we think is adorable now but I am sure that will tire as time passes! We start tummy time this week. I am still breastfeeding exclusively but will probably start to pump and store soon for the days when mommy wants to leave the house for more than 2 hours, alone!

Attached are some baby pictures that some of you may have already seen. I hope you all got your announcements by now...are they not just so adorable!!!

3 Week Update

Today is my birthday and I couldn't ask for any better gift than my new family. So far it's been a nice day! After I fed Sydney her 6am meal, Greg took her downstairs and I slept uninterrupted for 2 hours! I then fed Sydney again and Greg made me breakfast! He is also making me home made sauce tonight.

We gave Sydney her first real bath in the infant bath tub this afternoon. Her belly button took a little longer to come off because it is herniated, so we had to wait for the bath. I thought she would be angry but she actually seemed to really like it. She liked to look out the window at the bright light. Below are some pictures...

After our Bath

This last week we had a couple of long nights of little sleep. Greg and I were grasping for anything to get Sydney to sleep. Here are a few things that have worked well...

The vibrating chair on a vibrating washer & dryer...

The electric toothbrush!!

First Family Photo

That's it for now. Everyone needs to look for a little surprise in their mailboxes this week...