Growth

I can't believe it has been nearly 6 months since this little 8 pound 2 ounce bundle of love entered our lives!  It has been the best few months of my life and I wouldn't trade it for anything!  Life as we knew it has completely changed and though there have been ups and downs, I wouldn't trade a minute of it!  Some noteworthy moments from the past few months:

Summer spent the first month of her life making frequent trips back and forth to the doctor's office.  Her biliruben level was too low and so we had to have it tested every 2 days or so.  She ended up needing to be put on a bili-blanket to get her levels up where they belong.  When she was about 3 weeks old, she finally was able to get rid of the blanket!

We also struggled a little bit with getting her weight back up.  She lost about 14 ounces after birth and my milk took about 5 days to come in.  Once it was in we were off to a good start and able to get her weight back up.  The doctors were concerned and requested weekly weight checks to be sure she was gaining weight.  She was, just at her own pace!  After about 3 weeks she was back up to her birth weight.

Some other noteables from month 1: July 23rd--grasped my finger and sucked her thumb (interesting because she hasn't  really sucked her thumb since then).  August 6th--smiled at me!  August 7th--grasped a toy and brought it to her face.

Month 2 was pretty uneventful!  This was a good thing based on what was to come...

Noteable events from month 2:  Week of August 26th--discovered her voice and started "coo-ing".  August 30--grabbed and pulled my hair!  September 7--slept 6 hours at night! (approximately 6 weeks old). September 6--laughed out loud.

Month 3 is when things got a little crazy!  On October 21, Summer quit taking her bottle.  We thought it was a one time thing, but when she refused it for Grandpa the next day, we knew something was wrong.  In the 2+ months since then, we have tried every bottle we could buy, tried different positions, temperatures, all kinds of tricks!  Then I was doing some research in November and learned that I have a high level of lipase in my milk.  It causes the taste to go bad after about 24 hours, but can be stopped by scalding the milk after pumping.  (Seriously!  After tasting bad milk and then the scalded milk, I realized that it was like comparing vinegar to chocolate.  No wonder the poor girl didn't want to drink the milk!)  I started this process late November/early December, but it still didn't get Summer to drink from a bottle.  In the meantime, we were able to get her to take the scalded milk from a spoon.  She didn't get much, but it was much better than nothing at all!  I am thankful that she only misses out on about 5 feedings a week while I'm at work.  (As of the writing of this post, we haven't tried a bottle in over 3 weeks.  We will try tomorrow and are hopeful that she has forgotten about her dislike of them!)

This month:  Approximately 9 weeks old Summer began sleeping consistently 6-7 hours at night.  October 4-6--we went to Canada for the weekend.  Summer did great in the car!  11 weeks old--first cold that lasted about 5 days.  October 12--said "goo-goo".  October 19--first belly laugh when Mike and I were playing peek-a-boo with her.  October 20--grasped and held onto a spoon.

On top of the lack of bottle feedings, in late November, we also began to struggle with our bed time routine.  After sleep training Summer around 6 weeks, she had been sleeping great on her own. Then, the day before Thanksgiving she started having issues.  She screamed for about 1.5 hours before falling asleep.  We attributed this to 4 month sleep regression, but her sleep still has not returned to normal.  Once she falls asleep, she sleeps great, it's just getting to sleep that is problematic!  (We only have this problem at bed time, nap times are just fine!)

This month Summer became very vocal and began laughing daily.  She is ticklish, especially under her arms.  Mid-November she began consistently cooing.  She also started falling asleep on her own without being rocked.  She discovered her hands this month and they were constantly in her mouth.  We think she is teething but has yet to pop any teeth!  November 19--tried rice cereal for the first time (in an attempt to thicken up breast milk on the spoon.)

Then in December, she stopped pooping!  After 2 weeks without a bowel movement, I took her in to the doctor.  They recommended giving her apple or prune juice (easier said than done when the baby doesn't take a bottle!).  When that didn't work, we ended up using a suppository which provided relief in less than an hour.  I hated feeling so useless when Summer was in so much pain.  We've continued giving her prune juice along with her probiotics daily in an attempt to keep her regular.

I joked with my mom the other day that babies do 3 things: eat, sleep, and poop; and my baby has had issues now with all three!  But, she brings so much joy to our lives that these little inconveniences are worth it and easily overlooked!

December brought a few more fun firsts!  On December 6 she sat up long enough for a picture to be taken.  And on December 10 she rolled over from her stomach to her back.

Like I said before, we are so blessed with this little girl.  Being a mommy is more challenging and more rewarding than I ever could have imagined.  She is the most precious baby and her smiles just melt my heart!