Wednesday, April 1, 2015

::Macie:: One Month Old

It's here! We've already had little Macie in our lives for one month. Time goes by so fast! Especially when life with a toddler keeps on chugging along. Macie has been a great addition to our family so far!



Weight

At her two week appointment she weighed 9 lbs 2 oz so I imagine she's around 10 lbs, she has gotten noticeably bigger this week. I think we are going through a growth spurt.


Health

Macie appears to be healthy but her crying is leading me to believe otherwise. We are heading to the doctor tomorrow to see if there is anything we can do.


Sleep

Macie has done great with sleep. She is sleeping between 15-17 hours a day total. Our schedules lately have been waking up by 8am. A morning nap around 10 for 1-2 hours, awake for the early afternoon and then sleeping from 1-4, sometimes waking for a quick bite to eat. Down for the night by 8pm. Her first night time stretch is the longest, somewhere between 3-5 hours. Last night she slept over 5 hours in a row for the first time!! Woo hoo!! She wakes for feedings around 2 and 4. She goes right back down for the most part. From 4am on though she is pretty grunty, making all kinds of noises and passing gas.




Clothing

We has officially grown out of all of our newborn clothes. They have been boxed up and ready to go to some of our friends that are pregnant. She is comfortably in 0-3 months. She is definitely longer than Henley was, I don't think we will be in 0-3 months near as long as Henley was because of this.

My Cutie!
Diet

Macie is exclusively breastfed and has been doing great. The few weeks or so we were challenged with sore nipples as expected but once that passed she has been eating every 1.5-2 hours.


Crying

Ok here is where we are going to get real---girlfriend has been crying like there is no tomorrow. Dr. Google and myself along with my gaggle of moms from real life and internet board are thinking colic, gas issues from a dairy intolerance, or silent reflux (hence the dr. appointment tomorrow---clearly we have no idea). Starting around two weeks, Macie started having gas issues. We remembered this from Henley and didn't think much of it. Three to four days later we knew this was something different. She was crying 95% of her awake time. I bounced her and it seemed to help. She loves loud (super loud) white noise so I learned turning the bathroom fan on and bouncing her in the dark was best.

I decided to see if dairy was the culprit so I cut all dairy. Things got a little better during week three but not perfect. I would say she went from crying 95% of her awake time to about 75%. I noticed a difference but still challenging for sure.

This week we are back to crying the majority of her awake time. I think she is going through her four month growth spurt since she is nursing more frequently so I don't know if that is it or if there is something else going on.

I have cut dairy totally from my diet. I have also cut caffeine and have not eaten cabbage or beans. We give her gripe water, gas drops, and colic calm and at different times they seem to help some. Last Friday I started her on probiotic drops. I've read this can take a week or two to show improvement. As you can see I am searching long and hard for a solution. I really hope the pediatrician has some insight tomorrow. It breaks my heart to hear her in so much pain. I can feel her belly gurgling and she is tensing up her whole body in pain. Most nights her and I cry together---some sort of weird mother/daughter bonding activity you could say. Wish us luck tomorrow and say a prayer for my sweet baby girl.


Baby Gear Love

My biggest baby gear love is my Tula carrier. It's so comfortable and at times it's the only thing that will calm her down. Last week I was standing in the driveway with her in the Tula at 9:30 at night just bouncing. She eventually fell asleep. Love it!!

Also loving the Sleep Sheep. Like I said Macie loves white noise so this is a portable little gem that I put with her in the Rock n Play or on the floor. We never really used this for Henley, funny how different these two are already.


Social

Little Macie has met tons of our family and friends. We have also met her future BFF Vivian. Vivian was due two days after Macie and was born ten days after. I can't wait to see these girls grow up together.



She also has taken a few trips to Target with mom. We also went shopping at the mall and the outlet mall with Grandma to get some much needed summer clothes for big sister Henley.


Milestones

This month everything is new and a milestone---first outings and doctors visits, first bath (w. big sister near by to help), first walk in the stroller. She is getting really great at holding up her head and this week has started using her legs to push up.





Postpartum Mama

I'm feeling great! I am down over thirty pounds, I think I gained about 36 pounds overall. My stitches have almost totally healed. I have some serious stretch marks that I am using my super duper lotion on twice daily. I have my six week appointment with the OB on April 10th to see how everything healed.

Big Sister Love

Henley has been so great with Macie. She is gentle and not jealous at all. She sits next to me while I am nursing and sucks her fingers while lightly rubbing Macie's hair. It's so precious. The other morning she laid on the floor just hanging out with her. Last night they took their first bath together and it was seriously the cutest thing. These girls are going to be best friends and I cannot wait to see how their friendship grows over time.





Say a prayer for Macie tonight and thanks for reading!!



xo
Mere