Thursday, September 15, 2016

Evie: 4 Months



Our 4 month old beautiful girl! These last 30 days have brought some relief and better times. It's like a flip has switched, made a complete 180 and now she is my laid back, smiling and talking sweet little pea that I always felt like she would be. She was so much more relaxed and quiet in the womb than Holt, so I thought she would be more relaxed outside the womb too. Those first 3 months were a rude awakening! But, now that she is getting bigger, she is outgrowing the colic and her reflux is under control with her medicine. Hallelujah!

The sleep department however has still been rough. We established a routine, so she is napping better during the day. But nighttime was still all over the place. She will sleep the first 6-7 hours with no issues, and then she will wake up with gas pains, crying. From that point on, she wakes up every 2 hours either in pain, or to eat, or because she rolled onto her back and can't get back to her tummy. It's been exhausting. I checked with our pediatrician an he said its still lingering colic and that she just has to outgrow it. Let's hope its sooner rather than later.

Other big news this month: our nursing journey officially came to an end. I have done everything I possibly can but my body is just not producing what it should. I have pumped, I have nursed more frequently, I have taken supplements, I have used essential oils, I have drank water until I felt like I would float away and I even tried Plexus. All of those helped a little bit, but not quite enough. It has taken a big toll on me emotionally--I have cried lots of times, feeling like I have failed as a woman. My husband has been my rock. He has been fully supportive of whatever I choose and has constantly encouraged me. Three days before she turned 4 months old, I nursed her for the last time and we are fully on formula. I am finally at peace with it and comforted in the fact that I even have the option of formula for feeding my baby. Honestly, I think we are all going to be happier. I won't be as stressed out and Evie will be fuller and more content. And PRAISES that we were able to get her onto soy formula instead of having to use Nutramigen!!! That saves us $10 a can, which when you go through a can every 5-6 days that really adds up!

Here is our current routine:

7/7:30AM wake up and feed (4-5 oz bottle)
Playtime
9:00AM  nap
10/10:30AM wake up and feed
Playtime
12:00PM nap
1/1:30PM wake up and feed
Playtime
3:00PM nap
4:00/4:30PM wake up and feed
Playtime
5:30/6:00PM catnap (sometimes)
7:15PM  bath
7:30PM feed
8:00PM bedtime
3-4AM (usually) feed (normally around 3 oz)

She usually takes 3-4 naps a day. Most are just about 45 minutes long, but I can usually count on her middle of the day nap to be about 1.5-2 hours (which happens to coincide with brother's nap--yay!).



Weight: 10 lbs 15 oz (3rd percentile)
Length: 24 inches (40th percentile)

Milestones: *rolls from back to belly several times daily (and then gets frustrated because she can't roll back to her belly) *sat in the jumbo for the first time *she talks and talks and talks---I LOVE it *she has laughed a few times *She holds her head up all the time now

Sleep: Nighttime sleep is rough, but getting better. There have been nights when she goes to sleep at 8PM, and then is up at 1:30AM, 3:00AM, 4:30AM, 6:00AM, and then 7:30AM. Then we have nights where she sleeps from 8PM-3:30/4AM and then goes right back to sleep until 7AM. Last night, she was up from 1:30AM-3:00AM because she kept rolling onto her back and getting mad. We would flip her back to her tummy and 10 min later she would be on her back again---over and over and over until she finally wore herself out and went back to sleep. To say we are exhausted is an understatement.

Favorite Things: She is so social! I lay her on the playmat and she will be content and play about 5-10 minutes and then she starts feeling left out. She cries and cries until I pick her up and then she just smiles and talks with me and her brother. She has also started liking her car seat much better--praises! She likes to look at herself in the mirror and has started grasping her toys. She loves to listen to music too! And she is a mama's girl---she can be with someone and crying big crocodile tears and as soon as I get her she smiles and coos and laughs.

Feeding: We have totally switched to formula this month. She has made the transition to soy formula so we are not having to buy the Nutramigen this time (PRAISES). She eats 4-5 ounces a feeding and then usually 3 oz once in the middle of the night. I'm sad to be done nursing, but relieved to have another option to feed her. Plus it frees me up to be able to be away from her which is a big bonus! Bring on the dates!

hangin' with RoRo

sweet thing

those eyes!

Add caption

sweet siblings

the many faces of Evie

Labor Day with RoRo

trying out the Bumbo

sleeping beauty

brother didn't want to miss out on all the picture fun

my heart



loving to be outside

trying to get in front of the camera some with my babes