Timeline of a Breastfed Baby

Some days, when I am pumping while writing patient notes and eating my lunch all at the same time while praying to get enough to keep up with Sienna, my shoulders tense and I get stressed and I forget the purpose of it all.

Today I spilled about 1/4 ounce of milk post pumping because Sienna is on a sleep strike and I am so tired I can barely hold things steady. Good thing she is amazingly cute and that at 4 am I actually found myself staring at her sleeping in my arms instead of putting her back down and running to my bed. And I almost cried over spilled milk. And that made me realize that I am doing this for a reason- because I want the little one to get what's best for her.

Who knows how long I will last. My goal is a year, but if at 6 months this doesn't work out of us, I will know I tried my absolute best. And to remind me of all the good it does, even week by week, I went back and read a favorite blog post about the timeline of a breastfed baby.

Timeline of a breastfed baby

Here's to you Sienna, my little up all night want to be with mama and nurse buddy!

Lately with our 3 MONTH OLD!! (Time is flying!)

Ummmm first things first- I haven't even TOUCHED the kitchen with paint. Oops. Guess I am not doing well for my June 6 deadline!

Moving on... the reason I have not touched it is because we've been on the go! Today is Sienna's 3 MONTH birthday! I told her this morning when she woke up how 3 months ago at that time I was getting ready to be induced. Our lives have changed soooo much!!

Last weekend we met friends at the Wilmington Flower Market. Sienna loved people watching, and I loved my delicious crab cake sandwich and diet coke.. and some time with fellow parents and friends. We also got Sienna the cutest headband (oops it cost $15 not $5 like I assumed it would).

We spent our first mother's day with mommy and Sienna both having cuddle time ad then a nice 2 hour nap in the morning, a gorgeous locket with an S on it from daddy and Sienna, and a trip to Yardley to visit grandma.

So now that Sienna is 3 months, life is becoming more predictable (at least during the day!) She takes 3 solid naps each day and we can count on them being at least 45 minutes each! This leaves time to blog, shower (woohoo!), make my bed, and drink a cup of coffee way before it's time to nurse again. I love this. My mom loves this. Our nanny loves this. Predictable is good! Hello sleepy baby on the video monitor... best invention ever!

Bed time is also predictable- 8:00 on the nose every night we are ready for sleepy town. I actually think she'd be ready at 7:00 but mama isn't... and that would mean an 11:00 wake up call for me some nights, not good. Last night, as her 3 month birthday present she slept from 8-2:30 and then 3:15-6:30! Woohooo!! In another 3 or 4 weeks we will push bed time a bit earlier.

Sienna is just about the happiest baby there is. Unless she is REALLY tired or REALLY hungry she's generally in a good mood. Smiling, laughing cooing. It is so much fun to play with her... and she loves anything from her play mat to just sitting on your lap staring at your face. It's so cool. She's able to hold her head up better, turn to look at you, and defiitely tracks her favorite toys at a much further distance than before! This photo is at 6pm. Pretty impressive!

Yesterday daddy had a work softball tournament and we went to watch. Sienna wanted to stare at the grass and trees because it was breezy and they were moving! I think this semi sad face was after I sat her up from staring at the branches. Mama, put me BACK!

We are love love loving spring into summer with our girl. She's happy, interactive, and she is such a cute little love.

We have a VERY busy early summer coming up.... hopefully we can keep track of it all here. One day it will be nice to look back and read what the little one (and we) were up to each week! Happy almost summer!!



PS happy birthday to my blog friend Sarah today! xoxo.

To Do List

Having Sienna is awesome. BUT I end up not being productive on the weekends. I mean, would you? I spend from 7-8:30 am in bed with J and Sienna playing and feeding her and watching her smile. Then when she goes down for her nap I do too! Because we I am still only getting sporadicly a few hours of sleep around here. Sienna even sleeps through her own feedings. By the time she's up again at 10 or 10:30, I feed her and oh my goodness it's halfway through the weekend! I sort of wouldn't trade this time for the world though. She is happiest in the morning well rested and smiley.

That being said, we've got things to do. And OMG, January 20, one month before the little one arrived, was the last time I posted about house things. Since then though, we DID get actual lights installed in the kitchen and can now cook without squinting. Success. I'll post on that later.

But let's recap. Here was the list I had back in the day, but updated!

House & Baby Prep List

Kitchen

Finish last piece of tile

Grouting

Recessed Lighting

Light over sink

Choose paint for eating area

Paint eating area

Finish reno of china cabinet

New Cat Room

Clean out "storage" area

New FLOR carpet tiles

measure new door

frame new door

move cat things (beds, food bowls, litter)

create cat door into room

DIY Crafts & Baby Projects

Buy Anthro pulls

Change hardware on baby armoire to Anthro pulls

Buy second hand dresser

Renovate second hand dresser

DIY name project (secret even to me since we haven't picked a name yet)

Baby Room

Move all office furniture out of room & store

Clean, Clean, Clean!!! (well clean time #1)

Paint second coat of ligher yellow paint

Move in furniture (December/January delivery)

Hang chandelier & wire lighting

Clean out closet (dreading this) to make room for baby clothes

Hang Wall Decor

 

Ah I love the look of a nice well crossed off list. As you can see, the kitchen still lives on that last. And I want to add a chalkboard wall to the cat room area.

 

So my goal in the next month (stating this publicly may help me out here) by June 6, is to paint the eating area of the kitchen and the trim, and to hang up the wine racks we got for our wedding. yes, way overdue.

 

Let's hope I can stick to this. Sienna is up from her nap, off to play with my little one!

chronicles of a working breastfeeding mama

Back to work full time is HARD! I hate being away from Sienna for so long each day, and missing her daytime happy smiling face. She is the cutest thing there is and I miss her when I'm gone. I also am managing to work on about 4-5 hours of sleep per night which is not really ideal. But an unexpected awful part?! Breastfeeding and working! Which actually means pumping and working. I love my time with Sienna when breastfeeding, but I dispise pumping. It is a little rough trying to fit 3 sessions in an already whirlwind day. I run from meetings or patient appointments to pump and then run back!

So since I am exhausted at work with no Sienna to keep me smiling, and lots of time spent with me and my pump, I've taken to preparing the night before as much as possible and doing my best.

Here's what I've found to be important things in my day:

1. Eye brightener and mascara. I look like a walking zombie without their help. Good old maybelline seems to be the best mascara there is for my mama eyes. Cheap and easy. My sephora brands just can't hold a candle for some reason. Pixi eye brightener I happened upon by mistake and originally thought it was concealer. Not so, but stil awesome. Brightens up the face that looks like sleep has left forever. I usually put this on in the car in the work parking lot. Time management.

2. Water, water, water. With a mix of gatorade. Known fondly in our house as "waterade". I have two of these non sweat cups and I fill them up each morning and take them with me. They keep me hydrated because breastfeeding (aka pumping) needs some major hydration.

3. Tea. Mother's milk tea to be exact. This stuff is supposed to boost your supply. Oh I forgot to mention that in the I hate pumping sentences. With just pumping and not breastfeeding, I seem to have less milk. Problematic when I need to leave Sienna milk every day. So we've got this. I also take some natural herb pills sometimes that also help increase supply. I don't know whether it works or whether it is the fact that I'm drinking tons of water. But either way, I seem to be keeping up. A good thing.

4. Photos of the babe at my desk. The first one my work hung up in my space before I came back. So I had a cute birth photo of my little one when I got here. The framed one is a favorite- she's grown so much since then! I need a new one. I also look at my cell phone for photos about 10 times a day!

5. Two bags. One is the pump. Yuck. One is my bag o food. It actually has tons of snacks, like more snacks than ever because I need to eat all the time because hello breastfeeding takes calories. I am sure that even when I leave work there is still snacks in there. And yes, I have more food than work items.  Don't judge.

6. I'm tired when midnight or 1am rolls around and the little one is crying. But then after she eats, this happens. And I melt looking at the little chubby faced sleeper. Cuddled up in her swaddle (I never even unwrap her to eat or rock her) she is just such a little cute nugget! So I take these photos because I know when she's older and doesn't want snuggle I will look back and cherish these moments. 

7. And then I wake up to this in the morning. I mean, come on, how can this not make it all worth it?

8. Also important? Well let's rephrase important to "awesome". This week we cooked a total of one dinner. ONE. On Monday & Tuesday my mom brought was here and made us dinner. On Monday we had amazing tilapia meal, Tuesday was mushroom ravioli with pesto... Wednesday rolled around and I wondered what I would make after Sienna's first whole day with the nanny. I came home to chicken parm and pasta prepared. Now THAT is good child care. On Thursday my mom left us dinner to have when she took off to head to see the other grandbaby! THANK YOU to the best mama ever and to our great new nanny! Having dinner prepared = lifesaving when you're sleep deprived and have approximately 2 hours between getting home from work & getting baby ready for bed.

The thing is, I am surviving. Sienna is happy. And that's what is most important. Come September I will most likely not be working full time, so I keep telling myself just a few more months until I have more uninterrupted time with the little one.

xoxo

PS- still in the market for a good stroller and not sure what we want so feel free to offer suggestions :)

2 whole months!

Warning: LONG blog about baby!!!

The difference in a 2 month old and a newborn are just tremendous. Happy 2 months in our world, Sienna! As I type this, little one is cuddled into daddy's chest in the baby bjorn. She has figured out that it is way more cuddly to nap on daddy than in bed. We let that slide at least once a day because she's too cute and when she sleeps (no matter where it is) she wakes up all smiley and happy.

So many growing experiences in the past four weeks little one! In the last month, you've traveled to Boston, Milton, Lewes for daddy's half marathon, made your first trip to Home Depot, started to smile, started to coo more, love toys now (especially ones that light up), giggle as you fall asleep and sometimes when you are really happy if we are lucky. You like to hang out with mommy and daddy after breakfast in the morning on their bed before your first nap and are completely content talking to us and looking at the fan.  You are literally cuter every day. Uncle Matt says you should be a model. GAP is having a baby casting call, maybe we should apply! You love soft stuff just like mama and dada do. I have a feeling you'll never let us put any scratchy wool on you. You love your stuffed pink giraffe that sings lullabies from grandma, a light up toy that our friend Laurie gave you, and a toy that's technically for the car seat but it lights up too so we use that in the house, too. You pretty much love anything that lights up. You now look all around and are starting to control your head better too! Oh and you can roll to your side, but not over yet. You also decide when you're finished eating now by smiling up at me. I love it. The little things in life to a mama.... You're really growing! Just about 11 pounds and 22 1/2 inches. Your chubby legs and cheeks are adorable!

2 month pediatrician visit looking at the doctor!

You loved seeing daddy run his half marathon and were such a good little cheerer! You didn't cry or fuss at all that morning! What a champion baby! Daddy is sort of in love with your smiles and will do anything to get them. He also scoops you up and asks what's wrong when you cry, as if you may just answer (and one day you will). I love watching you two play. (PS Jamie and Emily did awesome and finished with a great time- we were so proud!) Go Walls siblings!

happy baby with daddy!

Sienna is starting to hold things. Not always on purpose and I crack up when she surprises herself that something is in her hand! But she defiitely knows those hands are hers. She takes one and massages my back when we nurse, also making me laugh every time. She grabs my shoulder when I am carrying her and grabs onto toys if we put them in her reach-- though again not purposefully.

Holding bunny blanky watching the fan!

Sienna also sort of loves laying against the boppy now that she has some control of her body. It helps keep her upright after she eats too (stupid reflux) so that makes everyone happy. I can walk around the room and put away laundry and talk to her, as long as she can see me she's pretty content there.

I mean, those lips and those eyes- the cutest baby there is! And oh hi kitty!

One day, grandpa came to be the grandpa-nanny. Sienna loves grandpa because he plays with her past her nap times and bed time (already a pattern starting, just wait until she's two and can really play with him!) He also sings her James Taylor and irish lullabies. Lucky kid to be loved so much.



Her shirt says I love hugs from grandpa :)

Okay, now, I just have to admit, I am obsessed with sleep. Maybe it's because pre-Sienna I literally slept 10 hours per night some nights. The very least I ever got was 8 but that was pushing it. Along comes baby and at month one, I literally prayed to God for a 3 hour stretch at night. I'm happy to say we are falling into a better pattern and getting 4-5 hour stretches every night, sometimes 6 if we are extra lucky. Bed time has naturally moved itself up from 10 or 11pm to about 8:30-9:00 pm (this means mama is in bed as soon as you are!) Before Sienna was born, Laurie told us to get the Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child book. I read it and read it again the first 6 weeks- during which it keeps saying, "this is your baby's most fussy period". Yes, thank you book, I knew that. Now that we have reached (almost) 9 weeks! it is telling us to start gentle sleep training. You know, putting you down awake and seeing if you can fall asleep yourself yourself, etc. I maybe went overboard with my reading and then I found this chart, someone brilliant whipped this up according to HSHHC.

Okay fine you can't see this. It basically tells you how long to keep baby up between naps, what to expect of overnight sleep, and how may hours "night time" should be.

The best thing about this? It tells me what to expect developmentally. And in three more weeks when you hit 12 weeks, you should start to be awake and happy longer periods! Woohoo! For now, it says put baby down one hour after waking from the previous nap- that's FAST. We have time to feed her, cuddle, play a little, and rock her back to sleep. I have to say, as much as it is sometimes hard to work this around life, in the past two weeks she is so much happier during awake time! I don't expect miracles, but the importance of consistency and sleep times/awake times is making a difference already.

You're a happy baby, little one. And that makes a happy mommy and daddy. Here's to another fantastic month! It's getting more fun every day!

I feel remiss: A Vacuum review.

I talked about getting a new vacuum on this blog so many times. And then when I got one I never mentioned it. Maybe it's because I didn't get the bazillion dollar Dyson. Instead, when there was a sale, we ordered the Hoover Windtunnel Pet Rewind. I have to say, considering it is worlds cheaper, it does a really good job. I am more of a clean freak and less of a neat freak since baby arrived (meaning I'll clean the floor, bath tub, or counters before I pick up my clothes). The downside of the vaccum is its weight. Soooo heavy, which makes lugging it up and down stairs a few weeks post partum literally impossible. I wasn't supposed to lift anything heavier than baby. I broke this rule carrying the car seat, laundry baskets, etc. But I didn't want to break the rule toooo much. So here's the bottom line. Yes, this thing sucks up cat hair (and our orange furry cat has a lot during sprinig shedding). Yes, it cleans well. The attachments are great. It has both a hardwood floor and carpet surface. I wish the extensions were longer and it was lighter. But overall, a budgeted vacuum that gets the job done. I just thought you should all know.

PS thanks mom for doing most of the vacuuming for us when you're here with Sienna :)

A good reminder

This morning, after I put Sienna down for her nap, I rushed to the kitchen, put the dishes away, took a shower, dried my hair, and paid a bill. I've learned to move quickly with chores because when she wakes up, she wants mama! And I was reading a few emails (she's still asleep, what a good little napper!) and blogs, I came across this poem. And it's so true. The little baby Sienna moments won't last forever. My days in her glider singing the same James Taylor songs my dad sang to me will fade away quickly. After all, I feel like it was yesterday I was living in Ohio, and it was almost three years ago I moved out there- so much has changed since then! So I took this to heart before I have a three year old Sienna here, and a few minutes ago I put down the dishes, and I whipped out Sienna's baby book, plopped myself down on my bed to write about her latest and greatest while I wait for my baby to wake up and want to be cuddled some more.

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Off to soak up some mommy-hood. XoXo

Baby Sienna sleeping on mama's lap after eating.

What's better than one baby?

TWO babies. Not mine of course. I think if we were pregnant again I'd pass out. Not happening yet! But, Sienna got a cousin last week! Stella Rose is gorgeous and we made the trek up to Boston to meet her last weekend.

Our little Sienna is a true champion traveler for being not even 7 weeks old during the journey. But, we definitely learned a few things on our trip. Like, don't take a 7 hour car ride- even divided into two days- with a 7 week old! The problem is, we failed to really realize that we could only drive for 2 hours before having to stop for an hour to feed our little bunny. And she was sick of the carseat.  But she did well and we made it! She had her first stay in a hotel and actually did relatively well that night! Now that we are back home she's back on track for the most part and happy to be in her room, with her white noise and to have her baby bath (J had to get halfway into the tub with her in the hotel to bathe her without a drowning baby- sort of hilarious).

So the whole point of the trip was to meet Sienna's new cousin.. and visit with family. It was fantastic. Sienna had a great pre-easter with her cousin and grandparents on Saturday. She even dressed up in an easter dress and bonnet! We got to spend time with J's family on Sunday too! A great (but extremely tiring) weekend! Happy Easter!!

With our new niece!

Matching pink leopard print onesies!

Cousins!

Easter-ed up!

Cousins in easter outfits!

Schedules + Car Trips

Everyone keeps telling me that babies don't have schedules yet. But my little Sienna is a champ. She naps 3 to 4 times a day around the same times. I think she is super baby. What? I swear I'm not biased. She even sleeps at the same times when grandma is here watching her. Then again, grandma is super grandma. An extra big thanks to my mom for watching Sienna two days this week already as I merge back into the working world. She's my hero (and I think Jamie's too because when she is here she always cooks us dinner- YUM!)

Heading up to Boston this weekend to meet our new niece, Stella! She arrived a bit early because she couldn't wait to meet us. So excited! It is also Sienna's first real road trip. I better pack lots of snacks and games like road trip bingo... oh wait, she's only 6 weeks. I think she will survive with a pacifier, a blanky, and her mama's singing.

And next weekend daddy runs a half marathon with Aunt Emily! We can't wait to go cheer them on and give lots of love when they finish! Lots of fun coming up in the next few months and hopefully we will all figure out our routine more and more.

Happy Spring! xoxo

How did that 6 weeks disappear?

In the throes of week 2 of parenthood, my days were all melding together. I didn't know which way was up. And suddenly those days seem so long ago! 6 weeks have (almost-Monday is 6 weeks) passed and this week I return to work. I hate the thought of going back but I know I need to do it for now. Come September, I am hoping I'll be part time and can spend more time with my little one. Sienna now holds onto my shirt when I carry her around the house and it is something so small but it makes me melt and I am jealous that the nanny and my mom will get those moments instead of me!

She is changing SO much every day! I was walking through Babys R Us (a weekly or daily visit) and saw a little tiny infant. I asked how old she was, and the mom said 15 days. She looked half the size of Sienna. I can't believe how big she looks to me now! We started to get our first REAL smiles this past week, around 5 weeks old! We got a few in the 4 week time, but now there is no doubt she is smiling when she does it. She loves to stare at mommy and daddy (and sometimes the wall or the fan or the window still) and it is so rewarding to have an interactive smiling face greet me after our morning feeding.

We are getting in a more normal sleep pattern too. It is not by any means perfect, but we made the move from our room to her room for sleep times. She seems to sleep longer because I'm not picking her up with every noise she makes and mama and dada don't wake up to every single little grunt. We have a video monitor, so of course I wake up and peek at it all the time to make sure all is well. She is starting to sleep from the time we go to bed (around 10:00) until 2 or 3 am, and last night went back to sleep from 4 to 7:30! It was amazing, but I realize probably won't be the norm for awhile!

We love our little one and really are amazed at how much she is growing. Today I picked her up and she actually felt heavy. I weighed her (you know, weighed me first, then her with me- and prayed she didn't pee on me) and the scale told me she is almost 10 pounds! That's some major progress from the beginning days of not gaining enough weight!

We are really looking forward to continuing to enjoy Sienna growing, changing, and of course becoming more interactive with us. She is so fun, and my heart hurts that on Monday morning I will have to leave her. But I do love what I do and am lucky to have supportive coworkers. Sienna and I will both survive, I guess!

Happy Weekend! Here's some recent photos of our little love:

Sienna will now go in the Baby Bjorn!

Mornings with Mama

Morning nakey time on the bed!

"My daddy is the FUNNIEST there is!!"