Tall Drink of Milk: Six weeks

Oh my goodness, Cadence is already six weeks old? I feel like I needed to do an update, lets see if I can form my thoughts.

Lets talk about the elephant in the room: sleep deprivation. It doesn't matter what time I feed her in the evening, whether it's 9:30, 10:30 or 11:30 pm- she wakes up at 3:30 to eat. Then again around 6am. At 6am, she wakes up and does not want to go back to sleep. Party time. JR goes to bed early, so he gets up with her around 7am and lets me sleep until she's hungry again (usually around 9 or 10 am).

Activity: she's awake a lot more during the day. Which is good - she is alert and has started focusing at things. I walked in the room and she fixed her gaze on me and watched me walk across the room. Wow! She smiles, especially when being sweet talked! She makes some pretty interesting faces. I'm sure she would be embarassed for you to know, but she turns bright red and makes this gut wrenching face when she is working on a poopie. And let me tell you, she is pretty good at filling that little diaper.

Milestones: she is moving her arms and legs more. She has started to put both of her hands at midline simultaneously (ex: I put her paci in her mouth the other day, and she reached with both hands to "hold" my hand like an older child would hold a bottle")... so advanced! She still has her sweet baby reflexes of holding your finger, pinching her toes, and getting in her "fencing" stance.

Nursing is going very well. She eats a lot! We don't have a set schedule, but I track her feeds with an iphone app (it also helps me keep up with which boob to feed her from. I know I only have two, but it is sometimes difficult to remember which one she ate at last). It's important for me to keep up with the sides for feeding because women produce three different kinds of milk. As she is eating, it goes from skim milk consistency, to 2%, then to whole milk consistency. Each kind of milk has important nutrients, and it is important for her to get to the "whole milk" kind for important fats! I have been very lucky, so far we haven't had any difficulties with nursing. I have to pump occasionally, if we miss a feeding (due to sleeping!) or if I have excess production through the evening. If I don't pump, milk will start squirting. It is very strange, let me tell you.

Appearance: I compare sizes based on "Carters clothing". It's standard and pretty reliable to sizing. For example, today she is 6 weeks and 5 days old. She is wearing Carters 0-3 months, but Carters 3month clothes are a little too big. Polo size 3months are WAY too big. Gap size 0-3 months will probably fit at 3 months, they are a little too big right now. Her hair has all about fallen out, but from the top of her head. The back of her hair is still there. Her baby acne has gone away. She has a little bit of redness around her chest from where the brace fits snuggly around her midsection.

Speaking about the brace- we had her ultrasound last week and go for follow up with the orthopedic tomorrow. The ultrasound was taken of both hips, the left hip being the "bad" hip, and the right hip acting as a control - for comparison. They look at the angle of the depth of the hip socket: dysplasia measures are 40-60 degrees, normal measures are 60degrees +. Cadence's left hip, of course, measured at exactly 60 degrees. The radiologist reviewed the results and discussed with me (side note- i'm not sure radiologists usually discuss results with the patients right then and there, but I impressed him with my medical jargon and he let me know what he saw. Or that's what I tell myself at least, haha!). They send the results to a pediatric radiologist who will review the results with our pediatric orthopedic doctor. We go tomorrow (12-12-12, scary!) to hear what the orthopedic wants to do. It depends on how her left hip compared to her right hip, and how it feels during the physical exam. Fingers crossed, I'm ready to start weaning off of the brace. It's going to be a rough transision though- Cadence has worn the brace for almost her entire life. She is restless when the brace if off, so I fear we will have even less sleep than usual.

Cadence's Favorites: Bath time, snuggles (especially chest-to-chest), facetiming/skype with family, looking at Nana's Christmas tree, riding in the car, her Nuk pacificier or Soothie.
Cadence's Dislikes: Drying off after bath time, dirty diapers, changing clothes, sunrise/sunset

One little snip-it about me: I gained 30 lbs (well, 29.9 lbs :-P ) and I have lost it all. I can wear larger pre-pregnancy pants. My pregnancy "pooch" is still there which makes pant-fitting a little difficult. I have nursing bras, tops and tanks that I love to wear (they make it very easy to feed on the go). I have a nursing cover so I can feed baby girl in public- one of the difficulties of breastfeeding and feeding on demand. But it's totally worth it for her health, my health, our bonding. Even though 3AM is very early, I love being able to pick up my baby girl and nurse her. My favorite thing is when she looks up at me and smiles, and places her little hand so lovingly on my chest. Love!!!

I've had to modify my diet- no onions, gasy veggies, milk and limited cheese (we had pizza the other day and I was fine, but she does not like baked ziti, or ice cream). If I eat these things, she spits up A LOT. So yeah, we try to avoid that.

Life for us is a little stressful- lots of "Stress indicators"! I have received a promotion in Raleigh, JR is job searching, we are putting our house on the market, packing, and trying to find a house in Raleigh to rent. All before I return from Maternity leave! Prayers are appreciated :)

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