Sleeping and Parenting Books

Not to jinx it but I think that the transition to the crib has gone well for the whole family. Quinn usually gets up two times (or three if we are sleeping in) for food/diaper change but goes right back down. Getting her to sleep can be a little challenging but we have a routine and some techniques that we feel good about (no, none of these include dosing her with cold medicine, yet!). She went down super easy last night (we idealize our friend's son Jude who has been fabulous at going to bed the times we have babysat so Quinn has a lot to live up to) and slept well. We do use the swing during the day b/c the daycare does and she likes it. We have upgraded to a big swing from the small travel swing we started out with and the thing does so much stuff and looks so comfy, I want one. Of course she will sleep for hours at daycare and usually for about 45 minutes-1 hour for us but she seem fine with it.

People who know me well know I tend to be a little on the anxious side (I can hear Taylor giggling hysterically when she reads this and repeating "a little?") and I have found a new thing that causes anxiety for me: parenting books. They all say something different and all imply that you should have started x, y, and z at birth. I try to just take tips from whatever I read and stay away from one philosophy...for example the Baby Whisperer has some great tips that we use a lot for sleep but I feel vaguely patronized while reading it and it is a parent centered schedule, our daycare has a very baby centered schedule, and we fall somewhere in between. I think as long as she and we are mostly happy with our routine and lives we are doing well! Any thoughts from any of you on different philosophies and books? A whole different topic is advice from family and friends...sometimes a little overwhelming. :)

And the not so glamourous side of Quinn

Enjoy!

Quinn, the model...

Here she is at three weeks old; naked and in front of the camera! See if you can pick her out of the crowd.

Bodily functions and fluids

So yeah. We have turned into those parents that call the pediatrician a lot. To be fair to us I think they should expect this of new parents and really we have only called three times since our last appointment. The first was when we were diagnosing my lipase enzyme milk issue; just to be sure there wasn't anything we could do and to ask some nutritional questions for Quinn, the second was when she hadn't pooped in five days; apparently aside from dehydration growth spurts can be an explanation as they are using all of their nutrients for that...also the child had two major blowout poops that night after we had called, and then last weekend when we experiencing "baby's first vomit"--when she threw up all over me and out her mouth AND nose. Props to Taylor here who came running and helped clean up despite a strong aversion vomit. This recalls the time we were at a 4th of July party at a downtown Portland hotel where two suites had been taken over. This poor girl started to retch and Taylor was out the door, down the hall, and in the next suite before it even hit the floor. So the vomiting was scary and probably a result of all her sinus drainage but we called to double check and see what we should watch for. Quinn is, of course, fine just very snarfely (yes, I made that up) due to her daycare cold. Taylor took some fun pictures that we will try and get posted and a great video that we hope to figure out as well. Oh and the other news is that she seems to be teething, good times!

April update

I know, I know…no guilt or I won’t post at all! Here is an update on us (remember that even when we don’t write the pictures on the left get updated).

*Breastfeeding is still going really well although we discovered (luckily before daycare started) that I have this lipase enzyme in my milk (doesn’t hurt the milk or the baby) that makes the milk taste soapy after awhile and therefore it does not last as long as milk without this enzyme. Basically I have to scald my milk which gets rid of some of the immunological properties but allows for longer storage. She gets a bottle of scalded and fresh milk for the morning; I feed her at lunch, and then the fresh milk I pumped in the morning for the afternoon. She transitioned to the bottle really well for the daycare folks (Rosa is fabulous!) but still doesn’t like taking a bottle from her Zaza or obviously me.

*Daycare has been working out really well. She goes M/W/F and the people there are really nice. The babies seem happy and the other parents I have talked to, some with older kids as well are very pleased with the program. I wish we didn’t have to pay so much money but it is worth it to have her in such a good place.

*Quinn is a smiley wonderful baby. For the most part she is mellow except when her basic needs (sleep, food, pooping) aren’t met.

*We started transitioning her to her crib last week which has been a struggle but not as bad as we thought it would be…last night was the worst so writing that was hard! She had been in the bed with us and then in the bassinet but she outgrew it. Plus, we discovered that she and I sleep much better apart as much as I want to snuggle. Taylor can sleep through anything so she doesn’t count.

I am sure there is so much more but I want to make sure this gets posted.

Love to all!

Ramblings

I can't believe that Quinn is almost 2 months old. We are working on getting the birth story written and will post a little of it online but we feel really good about the birth and about the community we created around the pregnancy. We had amazing people to help us and they still are helping! Our last appointment at the birth center was last Monday and next we see the pediatrician.

Quinn slept for almost 6 hours in one stretch last night...this is unheard of so of course I was up and worried that she was sleeping too much. I am an anxious mom. She was, of course, just fine and today is not taking as many naps but seems to be pretty happy. She is smiling a lot and made some almost giggly noises at her ZaZa today which was so sweet to see. We are really in love with her and just stare at her most of the day! This does not mean that we don't feel completely out of our element as new parents most of the time. :)

We are still trying to get into some semblance of a routine but it is hard. We started charting her eating, sleeping, and diapers yesterday to see if there is a pattern. I will start back at work on 3/23 and Taylor has been working from home a little and goes back into the office for a few days starting next week. Quinn starts daycare on 3/30...I am not excited to leave her somewhere but know that it is good in the long run and what we have to do right now. We have managed to arrange our schedules so that she only will be going M/W/F. I will be home Tuesday and Taylor on Thursday.

I am on my own on Monday nights as Taylor has class and Quinn is waking up so I am off to get her.

Megan

Hello from the land of baby!

Hi all,

Sorry for the blog silence, it is hard to find the time or energy to blog since Quinn was born but we really appreciate all of you that have been e-mailing, calling, and dropping by to visit! The last six weeks have been a crazy roller coaster ride and we are still trying to figure out what we are doing. Quinn is amazing and is growing very fast. She was 7lbs 15oz at birth, went down to 7lbs 7oz and then 7lbs 5oz but by 1 week she was back up to 7lbs 14oz (they wanted her to be at birth weight by 2 weeks), at her 2 week checkup she was 8lbs 8oz, at her 4 week check up she was 10lbs 5oz, and today at her 6 week check up (a few days late)she is 12 lbs and 22 inches long (up 1.5 from birth). She doesn't really have a schedule but has in the last week started having one stretch of sleep at night that lasts around 3 hours which is amazing for her exhausted parents. She also has started smiling in the last couple weeks (mostly at everyone but her parents). I hope that we can post more regularly because for all intents and purposes this is her baby book!

She is starting to fuss and as Taylor is in class I am a single parent tonight so off to snuggle and feed her.

Megan