From month one to month two it has felt like the shortest and longest days of our lives all at the same time. If you've had a newborn that sentence probably makes sense to you. But man month two has been the most rewarding and also the most challenging. #growthspurts
| STATS |
As I mentioned in her one month update, we had been struggling to get Olivia back up to birth weight, which we finally did at her 4 week mark. Our Lactation Consultant (LC) wanted us to come back again 2 weeks later (at 6 weeks old) for a weight check to make sure she was still gaining weight at the appropriate amount (about 1oz per day), otherwise we'd have to come up with a new feeding plan to get her back on track. At that weight check she should have been around 8lb 9oz and she weighed in at a whopping 8lb 14oz! She had her 2 month checkup today and officially now weighs 10lb 12oz, she is 22.75" long and her head is now in the 98th percentile. ha!
| EATING |
She has been eating like a champ ever since her last LC appointment. We went from scheduled feedings every 3 hours to "on demand" feeding which basically means she is eating all. the. time. We're in a fun phase right now where she is only happy when she is nursing. And it's like we can literally see her growing right before our eyes. She no longer seems to have her tummy troubles that we've been experience thus far, so we've cut out the gripe water and are continuing to give her daily probiotics which really seem to be helping. I'm still not eating dairy, which I plan to ease back into my diet because I am struggling without my ice cream and cheese.
| SLEEPING |
Sleeping is still a struggle. We had her sleeping in the Rock n' Play for almost a week straight but some nights she is just extra fussy or extra hungry and in order to get some solid blocks of sleep we have reverted back to the sofa nest as a crutch. It's not every night but it still happens so we aren't out of the woods yet. On the weekends though we push the Rock n' Play method because our sleep is less valuable since we are both home and can take turns napping and no one has to be at work. Also. I didn't mention it in her One Month update, but we are practicing the Happiest Baby on the Block 5 S's and they are working like a charm. In case you aren't familiar they are Shush, Swaddle, Side/Stomach, Swing, and Soothe. We have both mastered having her swaddled, in our arms but on her side, shaking her, soothing her, and shushing her all at once. She falls asleep like magic. Not enough to put her down on her own, but it works for her naps during the day and most times in the Rock n' Play. The shushing part works the best we've found. It's like a drug. As soon as you start her eyes roll back in her head and she's out. Physically "shushing" is king of exhausting though so we found someone shushing on Spotify and just have that on a loop when we need it. We'll even play it over bluetooth in the car when she's freaking out. Now that we know that it works, I'm thinking of getting this so that we can preserve our phone batteries. I wish the Snoo wasn't a zillion dollars or we would get that since it has the 5 S's built right in.
| DOING |
Olivia's little personality is really starting to come through. She smiles at us all the time now and if you tickle under her chin she makes a little gurgle when she smiles. Now that she is so much more alert we are having fun reading books, practicing tummy time, and enjoying her baby gym.
| MILESTONES |
She has outgrown all of her NB sized clothing and diapers and we've moved up to 0-3m clothing and size 1 diapers. And as of this past week her 3m clothing is getting snug. Which was both sad that she will no longer wear her tiny newborn clothing, but also exciting that she is continuing to put on weight. She is so tall, she is mostly growing out of her clothing in the torso area while the arm and leg holes still have plenty of room to grow. She has learned how to smile and gurgle. She has almost full control of her head and it only drops every now and then. We have mastered our Solly wrap (finally) which has been so great. Olivia will just fall asleep in it which allows me to be hands free and get work done while she naps.
| FAVORITE MOMENTS |
Sometimes when she's nursing she will stop and look up at me and just smile like she's having the best time, and then will go back to eating again. She goes through a couple of 20-30min spurts a day when she is just as happy as can be smiling and looking around. So I try to take advantage of this time and talk to her, sing, read, walk around showing her things. It's a really special time. I feel like she is really just taking it all in.