Doctors appointment and feeding

I got Natalie an appointment with the clinic at OU family medicine yesterday because she's had a cough for like 10 days. I think it was the worst over the weekend but it hasn't been as bad the last couple days. Well, the PA said she is moving air fine and her lungs are completely clear so everything is good there.

Last time I wrote we were going to start sweet potatoes -- which she loved! This week I gave her smooshed up banana and she ate it but didn't seem very fond of it.

Saturday of memorial weekend Natalie got her first ride on the boat! Her life jacket is a little too big for her so I have to get a different one but she slept most of the time we were out there! I was impressed.

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OH MY GOODNESS!

I haven't updated in months and I'm pretty sure I have a LOT to write about so here goes!

3 MONTHS : 13 lbs 2 oz
At 3 months Natalie got sick and I had to make an appointment with at her Drs office. She was super congested and you could tell she was having a hard time breathing. At the doctors appointment she got tested for RSV & it came out negative, but her PA said that she wasn't convinced so she got treated as if she had it. She got a breathing treatment that day and they gave me everything so I could give her breathing treatments at home. She also had an ear infection but both cleared up after her medicines.

4 MONTHS : 13 lbs 9 oz, 24.5 in long, 41 cm head circumference
On April 20th, Seth's Nana took us to the OKC Zoo. I decided to wear her in the Moby wrap and it was so awesome! No stroller to push around or leave while we went on the tram. We got there and took the tram around and saw the new exhibit for the elephants. Natalie was so interested in everything she was wore out and asleep by the time we got off and walked to the children's area.

I have a few GREAT videos of Natalie laughing (youtube.com/alimama10) and I will just tell you this: there is nothing better than hearing your BABY giggle! And after I get caught up with this I may catch up on my youtube account because I have a lot of videos!

MOBILITY!
On April 8th, Natalie rolled over for the first time. For a good 2-3 weeks she only rolled over from her back to her belly. At first, she didn't like being on her belly at all so she cried until I flipped her over, but with time, she has grown to love her tummy time. Today I put her down while I was sitting in the recliner and she rolled (continuously, like when you roll down a hill!) to the other side of the living room and reached for the extension cord I use for the humidifier. I know they say that you should baby proof while you're pregnant so it doesn't catch up with you but holy smokes! She's on the move!

EATING HABITS!
So, starting solid food is a BIG step for baby and I hadn't planned on starting anything until AT LEAST 6 months or well after, if she was still content with breast milk. Well, the same week as her 4 month well check I noticed how interested in food Natalie had become. At the Festival of the Arts, I had a chicken sandwich and she was reaching for it and grabbed the lettuce off. She hadn't even reached for something (like toys!) like that so when she started reaching for my food all the time I was like HOLD UP. She watches me eat my lunch all the time. I lay her on the floor with a toy and she will just bend back and stare at me while I eat. Last week I had spaghetti and she was totally jealous, I could tell! So, I took a few of the clues she gave me and thought about it. I don't know if this is a good reason, but since she didn't gain very much weight between 3 and 4 months and was really acting like she wanted real food I decided I would start a little earlier.

I am really excited about being a Mommy (obviously) and I am trying to make the best decisions so I can have the healthiest, happiest little girl; in order for that to happen, I know I need to start her out right by introducing her to the right types of foods. I have also decided to attempt making her baby foods so they can be as nutritious as possible. On May 8th, Mother's Day, Natalie had her first 'serving' of solid food. I had done a lot of reading about it and asked some of the Mommies I know and I decided to give her fresh avocado. It was Sunday, and Mother's Day, so we were at my parent's house-- she doesn't have a high chair yet anyway but we just used the Bumbo seat with the tray on it. For avocado, all you have to do is slice it in half, pull out the pit and extract and mash up the pulp with a fork. It was way too easy! I also have a video of her eating her first bites, but it's not on youtube yet. (Don't worry, it will be!) It was amazing though, I was a little anxious about it since I wasn't planning on starting so early but she didn't even hesitate. It was like she knew EXACTLY what to do. She opened her mouth right up and moved it to the back of her mouth fine, it wasn't even very messy. Anyway, that was the first thing she ate and I gave it to her Sun-Wednesday to give her a break in between new foods, so I can see how she reacts to them.

This week she had applesauce. I know you can make applesauce but I had picked some up from the grocery store for these muffins I have a recipe for. It's natural applesauce, and I looked at the ingredients: apples, water, ascorbic acid (vitamin c). I figured, it can't get much more natural than that. FYI: My mom questioned me about it, thinking about sugar content and about the acidity of the applesauce, so I double checked myself to make sure it was on the list of good starter foods, and not only was it on the list but I found something that said a lot of Pediatricians recommend 'adult' applesauce, rather than the baby food, because in some brands (and I haven't even looked at bottled babyfood, so I wouldn't know for sure) they add more sugar and it is a lot less textured than 'adult' applesauce.

Tomorrow I'm going to get some groceries, including some sweet potatoes so I can steam them up to start them for Sunday. I HAVE actually pureed sweet potatoes for my meals and have some in the freezer but I want them to be fresh. I will probably have to pick up an ice tray as well to put the puree in! :D
She has LOVED both the avocado and applesauce so we will see how the sweet potatoes go!

DIAPERING!
If you keep up with this blog you might have read that I am cloth diapering. Natalie has been in cloth since 8 days old and has not been in a disposable since, NOT ONCE. It is really going great! It took a little while to get my mom on board, but once she got the hang of it it really wasn't a problem. There are a few different types of cloth diapers and so far, I have stuck to prefolds and covers (BEST CD website: http://allaboutclothdiapers.com/) but have a few All-In-Ones as well. In addition to cloth diapers, I have also been using cloth wipes. It makes sense, but a lot of people who use cloth diapers still use store-bought wipes. Here's something you may not know if you haven't had a baby, and I'm not sure about all hospitals but I know mine isn't the only one. They give you wipes, but they aren't like the ones you buy at the store; they are just disposable dry wipes that you wet in the sink before you change the diaper. They don't use store-bought wipes for one of the same reasons people choose to use cloth diapers: CHEMICALS! Water (and a cloth) is really the only thing needed to clean baby's bottom-- so that's what I use. I got a bunch of super thin "washrags" at my baby shower (Burlington Coat Factory, I think) and those are what I use for wipes now. I just spray Natalie's bottom with water from a water bottle and wipe! I realize not all babys will like being sprayed on the bum with cold (eh, room temp) water but Natalie has never cared so it works for us! There are other ways to do it though.

Enough about that! Let's get to the good stuff! --If you don't particularly want to know about bowel movements and diaper spraying STOP READING HERE.
So, after I started Natalie on her avocados, on SUNDAY, she didn't poop until WEDNESDAY night. She is primarily breastfed and had typically been pooping 2-3 times a day. Then, she didn't for 3 days-- so that is something to look out for. It doesn't hurt to mention that the types of food obviously has something to do with it and this week, with applesauce she pooped the same day she started them-- and every day since.

With cloth, for exclusively breastfed babies there is no need to dunk or spray poopy diapers or anything. I know it's hard for some people to grasp, but with breast milk, there isn't much of anything left after it is digested so the poop is NOTHING compared to formula/solid food. WELL, since I started Natalie on solids I had to start spraying her diapers. There are a few companies that make diaper sprayers that use the water supply line from the toilet so that you just spray the poop into the toilet. They usually run about $40 if you buy one from a diaper company. While I was deciding which one to buy, I ran across this DIY tutorial on how to make a diaper sprayer from parts from the hardware store for around $20. I thought I'd give it a try and I will tell you -- DON'T. I thought it would be alright to save $20 bucks, but unless there is a plumber in your family that know EXACTLY what you need (and I can think of one person that may read this that does), it's probably not worth it. I think I actually spent around $34 once I FINALLY got it together, but it took me a total of 7 trips to Lowe's, Home Depot & Ace and a week and a half until I had it working. So, if I was making that decision again I think I would just buy the Bum Genius diaper sprayer. It's a learning experience!


MORE ON NATALIE SOON!

Short Update!

Milestones! -- I just wanted to write somewhere that Natalie slept from 11pm to 8am Wednesday night and Thursday morning she was following everything with her eyes!

Baby girl had her 2month well check...

She is now 23 inches long and 11 pounds 8 ounces! I tried to put her in one of my favorite outfits yesterday and she was too big for it. It was a sad day.

Sunday, Natalie turned 2 months old! I looked over the last entry I posted and her sleeping habits have changed quite a bit. Right around 6 weeks she started sleeping longer during the night. In that entry I wrote that she has slept 8 hours waking up only once to eat and went straight back to sleep. Since then she has pretty much cut out the feeding. She typically falls to sleep anywhere from 9:30 to 11 and sleeps up to 8.5 hours. She has only slept that long once but last night she slept 7 hours.

At her doctor's appointment she had to get 3 shots and a liquid medicine. She cried pretty hard while getting them but when it was over and I got to cuddle and comfort her she calmed down really fast and was back to her normal, happy self! It was a long appointment by the time it was over but Natalie fell asleep on the way home and slept until after noon. She has pretty much slept all day.

On Valentine's Day we got to enjoy the outdoors for the first time! We went to Mitch Park in Edmond and walked the trails with Melissa while she walked her doggy, Snickers. The next day Natalie and I went to Lake Hefner and walked those trails.

We have noticed that her hair looks lighter. Last Thursday, Heather came over and we went to check the mail and Natalie's head looked like a glowing red ball! When I saw it I said, "Natalie's hair looks RED! Uh oh, She's gonna be a ginger and Uncle Q is going to have a ball with that!" Since then, my parents and Seth's Nana have said something about how red her hair looks. :D

OH! We also had her first play date! One of my coworkers' wife had her daughter on December 8, so they are pretty close in age. We joked that they would be twins because that was Natalie's due date. So, on February 8 we went over to her place and visited and let the babies lay on the tummy time mat and hang out. ;D

On Sunday, I caught Natalie sucking her thumb over a half dozen times! I think it is so amazing how she is learning and knows what she is doing with her hands. At first they just flail and go everywhere, but now I have seen her suck her thumb, take her pacifier out with her hands, and last Saturday Melissa took a picture of her holding the bottle she was drinking from by herself! That's my little genius!

Natalie is Six Weeks Old!

That's my big girl! Our doctor's office does appointments at 8weeks so we haven't had one since our first appointment at 1week. However, everything is going great and I estimate she is over 10lbs now. My family is starting to call her 'chunk'; she is NOT chunky but she's getting some thicker skin for sure. ;)
She has laughed 3 times in her sleep now but it is still hilarious! I can't wait til she starts laughing for real! And...speaking of sleep-- Seems like she has been eating less frequently and sleeping longer intervals which is AWESOME for Mom! Last night from 12am to 8am we only woke up once (around 4am) and were only awake for around 20min. AWESOME! I borrowed the swing my mom had for her because I got a bouncer that she isn't too fond of and she LOVES the swing! If shes not hungry it's pretty much guaranteed that it will put her to sleep so that is handy too. :)
She is growing up so fast it's crazy.
Saturday I took my little brother to his first concert (JEW-- AWESOME) and my parents watched Natalie. I took about 6oz of milk there and she took 3oz from a bottle. That was the second time she'd had a bottle. I gave her one the week before because I wanted to make sure she would take it when I went to the concert. She had no problem with it and when my mom fed her she said Natalie drank it in less than a minute. Then Mom went to warm more but she had fallen asleep before it was warmed.
She is also starting to 'talk' a lot more. It's so cute! She makes a noise sometimes that worried me at first. The first time I noticed it she was crying. It sounds like shes gasping for air in a really high pitched tone. I thought she was having trouble breathing but she's just making noise. Crazy girl.
Wellllllllllll, until next time. :)

OUR ONE MONTH OLD.

4 WEEKS

(I started writing this yesterday, but never got a chance to finish...Let's just pretend it's still 17 Jan 2011)

Little Natalie Marie is FOUR weeks old today! I figured if I am going to do this blogging thing, it's now or never. I haven't written a real update since I had her! The last four weeks have been nothing short of challenging.

Our first week with Daddy home was awesome! He helped with anything and everything and it was so good to spend time with him before he left. His last day here was New Years and with a baby under 2 weeks we had to stay in. We all passed out before midnight-- I woke up at 12:05 and was like I missed it! Awwwwww! And Seth said he fell asleep at about 11:45pm.

After Seth left us my Mom moved in. :) She stayed for a little less than 2 weeks and she was loving it! My family is completely in love with her. Having my Mom here was great. She helped change diapers and entertain/hold her. I didn't know until she went home how nice it is just to have someone else to give the baby to for a minute while I get something done or after I have been holding her ALLLLLL day.

We started cloth diapers at a little over a week old. It's definitely more laundry but it's not hard and, to me, the benefits of using cloth are way more than that of disposables. I will definitely be sticking with them-- hopefully until she's potty trained! I also ordered a couple All in One's that should be coming in the mail. They are a bit more expensive than the prefolds/covers but cottonbabies.com had BG AIO 3.0s on sale so I got 2 of them. I am excited to try them out because I think they will be great for the diaper bag. I never thought of how much [ S P A C E ] prefolds occupy in the diaper bag.

When I was pregnant, especially towards the end, I said that I hoped Natalie was as melo on the outside as she was inside the womb. :) Obviously, newborns sleep a LOT but she really is a great, calm baby. Until recently she never even fussed unless she was hungry or wet. Now, I think she's starting to wake up a little bit and has gotten a bit fussier. A couple days this week, she was awake and fussy for the majority of the evening but one night she slept from 1am to 6am and the next from 12am to 5am. The first night REALLY wore me out but I was thankful she slept a bit longer. Anywho, I do get to sleep sometimes so it's not SO bad.

We have made a couple of ventures out into the great wide open. Haha Natalie has been to Best Buy, American Fidelity, her first baby shower, and 3 trips to the mall! For 2 of the trips to the mall and the time we went to Best Buy we used the MobyWrap! I love it! The first couple times we used the cradle carry and she slept through the trips but I wasn't doing it exactly right. The most recent time I used it we used the newborn hug hold and she LOVED it! Though it ended up being a bit hot, she slept the ENTIRE time. We will definitely be using that again. I don't know how long we were there but we did quite a bit of walking with no back/shoulder/neck pain at all! I will say it beats using the stroller at the mall (especially Quail Springs Mall, where they only have ONE FREAKING ELEVATOR IN THE ENTIRE MALL!WTF)! But that said, she liked riding in the stroller too, it was cute to see her face when we rolled over the tile floor and it made the stroller ride a bit bumpy--like the car, it puts her to sleep!

We are still nursing and it's going great. She hasn't had a bottle yet (except in the NICU) but I may have to start her on one soon if I want her to take it!

Today we went to the grocery store to buy tickets to see Jimmy Eat World on Jan 29th (and I bought oreos and milk!) The only other time we have been apart since she was born was last week when I went to dinner with some friends. I missed her but it was also a great time! That was the most fun I have had in a while and I got to indulge in my first post-baby alcoholic beverage!

Well, I'm sure this is long enough now that no one will even read it so I will try to update more so my entries are not so long!