In 1 week, Abigail will be 5 months old...wow.
Over the past couple of weeks, life has gotten back to normal (well, as normal as it can get with a baby in the house). Abigail's feeding has stabilized and she has gotten through her constipation issues. She did come down with a cold that caused a few miserable days last week, but she is now over that too. For the most part, she continues to be a very happy baby and is still sleeping very well both at night and for naps (even unswaddled).
I guess the big news doesn't have to do with her at all. Over the past couple of weeks, I have finally started to overcome the guilt of leaving the house for some time "off" to do some of my hobbies and the things that I love. Last Wednesday, I tent camped with my mom and dad at Lake Belva Deer (in near freezing temps) and spent some time fishing. That was my first night away from Abigail since she was born. I expected it to feel weird. Although I missed both her and Erin, I think that trip is exactly what I needed to overcome the guilt that I have been feeling. It actually made me feel "normal" again (whatever that means). Last weekend, my parents came to our house for my birthday, so naturally, my dad and I spent time fishing. It was a blast! It is so fun to watch my parents interact with Abigail and see how much they love and care about her. This coming weekend, Melissa and Mike will be stopping by for supper Saturday evening so they will have a chance to see Abigail again too.
Over the past couple of weeks, Abigail has started to try to mimic faces that we make which can be quite entertaining. She also tries to mimic some sounds as well. Tummy time continues to become less of a chore as she spent about 30 minutes straight on her tummy a couple of nights ago. Every time she is on her tummy, she seems so close to rolling over but she still hasn't. I feel like she has been close for a month now, but there is no rush from me. She has also figured out how to grab the pacifier out of her mouth and put it back in. It certainly isn't a fluid motion, but she can get the job done as long as the pacifier is within reach. Last week, Erin said that when she put Abigail in the car to go to daycare, she didn't have a pacifier in her mouth, but when she got her out at daycare she did.
I have also discovered another perk to no more swaddling, and that is sleepers...oh my gosh does Abigail look cute in a sleeper:)
Although the doctor said it can take awhile for the teeth to actually show up once a baby starts teething, I'm pretty sure Abigail is on that track. We are going through several bibs a day to soak up all that drool.
This week Abigail moved up to the next room at daycare. I really like the staff in that room and it seems that there is a greater focus on development and play over the last room, which was focused more on feeding, diaper changing, and sleeping. She now has 2 nap times in her crib and gets to spend time with play mats and in an excersaucer (which she loves).
I think that is all for now.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Troublesome Month and Great 4 Month Well Baby Checkup
As mentioned in my last post, we were having some issues with Abigail eating and the consistency of her stools. Well, I'm going to lay out a time frame for you as we continue to see repercussions of this issue.
August 2: We discover mucus in Abigail's dirty diapers
August 4: We take Abigail to the doctor's to get checked out. The nurse practitioner believes it is a GI infection and will pass. Told us to call if it is still happening on Monday
August 8: Still have mucus in the stool. Call the doctor and she has us switch Abigail to Soy Formula
August 19: Mucus is gone, but now Abigail is having issues with spitting up and vomiting (often several hours after eating). Doctor okays switching back to regular formula
August 20: Abigail vomits after eating in the morning and eats very little for several days (although nothing else seems to be wrong)
August 22: After 3 days of not eating much, we call the doctor with concerns of dehydration and schedule an appointment for the next day.
August 23: Doctor thinks the spitting up and not eating well are both related to infant reflux recurrence (She says reflux is usually at its worst around 4 months old). Suggests going back to sleeping upright and keeping her upright as much as possible. Also suggests trying to feed her a little less and prescribes Zantac to be taken twice a day
August 29: Reflux symptoms subside but mucus returns to her stools
August 31: Abigail's 4 month well baby appointment. Doctor is happy with her progress in the past week and suggests trying to go back to Soy formula since that eliminated the mucus the first time.
September 2: Successfully start Abigail back on Soy formula
September 5: Now 2 1/2 days since her last dirty diaper, Abigail is showing signs of constipation (Straining, crying and a little bit of hard stool). After getting suggestions from my mom and the on call doctor, we give Abigail some prune juice.
September 6 (Today): Abigail wakes us up around 3am with a full diaper (although it is still quite firm, it was good to see her pass that much). She went back to sleep until her feeding at 5:30 and didn't seem to be straining and wasn't crying like the previous day. Erin fed her some more prune juice before dropping her off at daycare.
Hopefully the battle with her GI system is coming to a happy end soon, but it has made for some stressful moments in the past month.
On a good note, on August 31st, Abigail had another well baby appointment and the doctor is very pleased with her progress. She now is 11lbs 14oz putting her in the 15th percentile for weight (up from the 10th at 2 months). She is 22 1/4 inches long and her head circumference has jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 40th percentile. The doctor is convinced that we have been feeding her upside down. Short of rolling over, she is meeting all of the expected milestones for a 4 month old (I might add that she is getting close to rolling over, just not quite there yet).
Abigail loves to smile at us and it warms my heart each time she does it. We are starting to discover ways to get her to giggle but most of the time giggling ends in hiccups. She is still sleeping very well at night and napping well. Another milestone was reached last Friday night when Abigail started sleeping at night without a swaddle. I was worried that she might wake herself up during the night if we didn't swaddle her, but so far those worries seem to be unfounded (I don't count last night due to the constipation that she is dealing with).
This past weekend we spent in the quad cities. On Saturday, we drove up to see my sister and her family and had a great time playing with her kids. Sunday, we met them at the I-Wireless Center for the Ringling Brother's Circus and it was a blast. I think that the loud noises and busy atmosphere got a little overstimulating for Abigail, but she did a great job and eventually dozed off with Erin holding her. As for me, I absolutely loved the circus and can't wait to go back when Abigail is older.
August 2: We discover mucus in Abigail's dirty diapers
August 4: We take Abigail to the doctor's to get checked out. The nurse practitioner believes it is a GI infection and will pass. Told us to call if it is still happening on Monday
August 8: Still have mucus in the stool. Call the doctor and she has us switch Abigail to Soy Formula
August 19: Mucus is gone, but now Abigail is having issues with spitting up and vomiting (often several hours after eating). Doctor okays switching back to regular formula
August 20: Abigail vomits after eating in the morning and eats very little for several days (although nothing else seems to be wrong)
August 22: After 3 days of not eating much, we call the doctor with concerns of dehydration and schedule an appointment for the next day.
August 23: Doctor thinks the spitting up and not eating well are both related to infant reflux recurrence (She says reflux is usually at its worst around 4 months old). Suggests going back to sleeping upright and keeping her upright as much as possible. Also suggests trying to feed her a little less and prescribes Zantac to be taken twice a day
August 29: Reflux symptoms subside but mucus returns to her stools
August 31: Abigail's 4 month well baby appointment. Doctor is happy with her progress in the past week and suggests trying to go back to Soy formula since that eliminated the mucus the first time.
September 2: Successfully start Abigail back on Soy formula
September 5: Now 2 1/2 days since her last dirty diaper, Abigail is showing signs of constipation (Straining, crying and a little bit of hard stool). After getting suggestions from my mom and the on call doctor, we give Abigail some prune juice.
September 6 (Today): Abigail wakes us up around 3am with a full diaper (although it is still quite firm, it was good to see her pass that much). She went back to sleep until her feeding at 5:30 and didn't seem to be straining and wasn't crying like the previous day. Erin fed her some more prune juice before dropping her off at daycare.
Hopefully the battle with her GI system is coming to a happy end soon, but it has made for some stressful moments in the past month.
On a good note, on August 31st, Abigail had another well baby appointment and the doctor is very pleased with her progress. She now is 11lbs 14oz putting her in the 15th percentile for weight (up from the 10th at 2 months). She is 22 1/4 inches long and her head circumference has jumped from the 3rd percentile to the 40th percentile. The doctor is convinced that we have been feeding her upside down. Short of rolling over, she is meeting all of the expected milestones for a 4 month old (I might add that she is getting close to rolling over, just not quite there yet).
Abigail loves to smile at us and it warms my heart each time she does it. We are starting to discover ways to get her to giggle but most of the time giggling ends in hiccups. She is still sleeping very well at night and napping well. Another milestone was reached last Friday night when Abigail started sleeping at night without a swaddle. I was worried that she might wake herself up during the night if we didn't swaddle her, but so far those worries seem to be unfounded (I don't count last night due to the constipation that she is dealing with).
This past weekend we spent in the quad cities. On Saturday, we drove up to see my sister and her family and had a great time playing with her kids. Sunday, we met them at the I-Wireless Center for the Ringling Brother's Circus and it was a blast. I think that the loud noises and busy atmosphere got a little overstimulating for Abigail, but she did a great job and eventually dozed off with Erin holding her. As for me, I absolutely loved the circus and can't wait to go back when Abigail is older.
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