Lucy Mae: 2 Months

 

Our sweet Lucy Mae is 2 months old!  We had her wellness check with her doctor about a week early, but at the appointment she weights 12lbs 2oz and 22.5 inches long.  She grew an inch in one month and gained over 2.5 pounds.  She's growing so well!  She's in 0-3/3 month clothes and size 2 diapers already.  We did get an ultrasound at 6 weeks old to check her hips since she had a few risk factors (female and breech).  The radiologist may have seen some left hip dysplasia so our doctor referred us to a pediatric orthopedic specialist that we see in a few weeks.

She's breastfeeding like a champ still!  We finally are in a great groove.  When she's awake she eats every 2-3 hours (whew) but she doesn't really nurse through the night so we'll take it for now!  She's still taking her bottles well.  We make sure she gets one a few times a week for practice.  I have about 60 ounces frozen and stashed in the deep freeze so far for work.  Not bad for not pumping a whole lot yet. It's difficult for me to feed her when we are out and about without the help of my breastfeeding pillow, but it's doable.  She's just so heavy and long and not much neck control yet, so it literally takes all my hands and legs.  

She's sleeping mostly through the night!  I'm waking her up for a dream feed around 2-3am just to make sure her weight gain stays steady and my supply doesn't dip, but other than that she's sleeping pretty good!  She's still sleeping with us in our room.  Since she's our last I don't know when I'll be emotionally ready to kick her out.  Maybe never haha!  She doesn't really nap in her crib because we love holding her when she naps or she naps in the swing.  I want to start getting her to nap at least once a day in her crib just so it's not so hard when she transitions to daycare.  They sure won't hold her for a hour in their laps for her naps.

As far as things we have loved this month...she gave us her first awake smile!! AND I caught it on video by luck!  Ugh it makes me tear up every time I watch it.  She's got TWO dimples (one on each side) and I'm just obsessed.  She's been giving us personality during her awake periods and we love watching her eyes light up or her baby coo attempts. She's pretty go with the flow and easy to settle so far.  We did start school back so poor thing gets dragged around to all the drop offs and pick ups but she's handling it well.  We also love unzipping her from her night swaddle and watching her BIG stretches.  Norah and I are obsessed.  We love too when I pick her up out of her crib in the mornings she purses her lips, crosses her arms and sticks her little booty out.  Norah always says, "there's that booty!"  We are big fans haha. 

Speaking of school starting...the two oldest are back in school so now Hazel is home with me and Lucy two days a week.  Slowly inching toward our new normal.  When I go back to work in about a month Lucy and Hazel will be home with me two days during the week and daycare 3 days.  I really like the balance.  I feel like they get good socialization but I don't feel like someone else is raising my kiddos.  We are so grateful for me to be able to be home with them 4 days out of the week when they are this little. As much as I enjoy maternity leave and the snuggles I do long for that sense of normalcy. 

She doesn't dislike too many things at this point.  She dislikes the car seat but falls asleep pretty quickly in it.  She doesn't really do well by herself for more than 15 minutes, so you could say she doesn't like being solo quite yet.

Lucy loves watching the ceiling fan, when we chat with her face-to-face, when we hold her and her milk!  She loves to poop SO loud right after her morning feed and right before we need to be heading out the door.  Drives me crazy because I can't stand being late but this girl....she's something else.

Her sisters still love her something fierce and shockingly are still gentle with her.  Scarlett still calls her "new baby".  Hazel asks to see her in the morning, but that's about it.  Norah asks daily to hold her.  She loves to lay next to her and talk and roll her.  She's such a loving big sister.  I feel like they will have an amazing bond growing up. 

This next month will be full of change.  We'll meet with a specialist about her hips.  I will start back at work.  Lucy will start at daycare.  Whew big month coming up!

Nonetheless we love our Lucy so much it hurts.  I don't want to forget her big rolly thighs, her soft feet, her blue eyes, dark wispy hair or kissable cheeks.  I don't want to forget her sweet dimples when she smiles or how intently she looks at us when we coo at her.  These next few weeks are our family's last to have a newborn in the house.  I don't know if that reality has hit me quite yet, so in the meantime I will soak her sweet soul up as much as I can.  Take pictures of every memory I can and kiss her sweet cheeks every chance I get. 

Lucy Mae: 1 Month

 

IT'S A GIRL!  We had another sweet, perfect girl to finish our crazy big family off!  We absolutely love it and her.  We named her Lucy Mae!  I need to sit down and type up her birth story!

This first month has been an adjustment like I knew it would be.  They say going from 3-4 isn't a huge transition but each teach their own!  It wasn't the worst transition we have ever had, but still took me at least a good 2-4 weeks to feel comfortable.  The evenings are the craziest.  I need to cook dinner, the bigs are playing/fighting after not seeing each other all day, the baby wants to cry and cluster feed and my husband isn't home until 6pm.  Awful but everyday is a new day!  Those are the times I feel like "what did we get ourselves into..."

Miss Lucy Mae is 10lbs 7oz and wearing a size 1 in diapers already!  She only wore newborns for about 3 weeks.  Newborn clothes fit but are getting a big snug.  She sleeps in stretches of 3-4 hours at a time and luckily will sleep in her crib.  I'll go into more about her breastfeeding pattern, but we are exclusively breastfeeding!

Lucy's personality is so sweet so far.  She is a snuggle baby.  She basically takes all her naps on my chest.  She's my last baby so I'm soaking it ALL in for as long as I can.  She farts so hard and so loud!  The kids crack up all the time and the running joke is she farts like a man!  She spits up a little, but nothing like our Scarlett.  We are getting a few sleepy smiles but nothing awake yet. 

Breastfeeding.  From hour 1 she's latched great and been a smooth eater.  My milk came in the day after we got home, so that was pretty on par with my last babies.  When we left the hospital she was 8lbs 9oz.  When we went for our second weight check at the pediatricians (first weight check my milk had just come in that day and she was still the same weight) three days later she was the EXACT same weight, so our ped recommended pumping and giving her the extra in a few bottles a day so we did.  The next weight check was 6 days later and I had high hopes she's be at least 9lbs.  She was 8lbs 9.5oz...she's only gained a half ounce when they should gain about 1oz a day.  It had been two weeks now and she hadn't gained 1oz since we left the hospital.  I was so discouraged.  I cried right there at the scale when her weight popped up.  I felt like a failure.  Luckily our ped has a lactation consultant on staff and she asked if she could watch a feed and weigh her after to see what she was transferring.  Sure.  She latched great, ate for about 7-10 minutes (our feedings are usually 15 minutes on one side) and she had gained 2.5oz from just that short feeding!  It was a relief that she was transferring the milk well and nursing great.  The plan was to try to feed her from both sides, not just one and give 3-4 bottles off extra milk or formula on top of the feedings.  Then she wanted to see us back in 2 days. They gave us a huge bag of formula and sent us on our way.  The next 1.5 days I fed her either by bottle or breast almost every waking hour.  The next check up 1.5 days later she was FINALLY 8lbs 14.5 ounces! Finally we gained weight!  From then on we have been gaining weight pretty well.  I have been using our food scale to double check.  She's the fourth baby I've exclusively breastfed and they still throw me for a loop! Now when she's awake she usually eats every 2-3 hours.  

This month was busy and crazy but we absolutely loved it.  We celebrated her first 4th of July here at home!  She slept right through the fireworks exploding all around our neighborhood.  

Lucy's sisters are in love with her.  The first few days it was a constant fight on who got to hold her next.  They asked all the questions about how she ate, where are her teeth, why does her belly button look like that, why does she cry....so funny.  Now that the dust has settled Hazel knows she's in the house, but doesn't care too much either way.  Scarlett will talk to her every now and then but prefers to play and rough house with her sisters.  Norah is my lone ranger.  She is still obsessed with this baby.  She asks to hold her every day.  She watches on how we comfort her and mimics it the best she can.  This summer she's stayed home with me and every morning after her morning feed she lays on the floor with Lucy and talks to her, reads her books. She continues to be smitten and it really is the best thing.  I never imagined how much love Norah could have for her baby sister.  It literally brings tears to my eyes.  We really are so blessed to have such amazing kiddos.

I am loving all the special time with our Lucy Lou.  I'm so grateful for our village we have around us.  Our family that has helped us transition (our Mamas are amazing) and our friends that brought meals those first few weeks. I'm even more grateful that I get this time with our last baby, unlike my husband who had to go back after two weeks.  We love our Lou Lou so much!