We’ve been working on our social smile and it’s going good =) Nothing melts your heart like the first time she smiles at you…..but I’ll tell you a very close second would be what I saw the other day….Fiona was lying on the couch looking around and Zoe came up to her and looked right at her and Fiona gave her the biggest smile. Uh, when I saw that I just about cried =) I’ll try and catch more smiles on film….but here is one for you to enjoy!
Oh today was a great day! Ellie and I loaded up the kids and the dog and we went for a hike. It was so good to get back onto the trail and smell that wonderful smell that you only get in the woods. We just headed out to Tiger Mountain and though it took us about a hour longer to get onto the trail then we planned
We just did an easy little trail and meandered at a nice slow pace but it was enough to make me sweat and get my heart rate up…thank god! Zoe was SO HAPPY to be running around out there with us. I even tried b-feeding F from the sling and it actually worked pretty well so now I know that is an option if need be!!! (ellie has a picture so i’ll post when she sends it to me!)
We turned around just in time…the kids were starting to melt down a little bit and the rain was just starting to fall….got back to the car and fed everyone and all was good.
It is amazing what fresh air does for us all. Fiona is so much more content if we’ve been out for a walk…she even sat AWAKE in her car seat all the way home and didn’t cry once….something that rarely occurs….she hates her car seat and cries till she falls asleep…which only happens if we make it to a freeway so there is no stop and go. And now she is laying in her crib laughing at her mobile.
Theresa and Jonah are coming to stay tonight through the weekend. Greg will be home Wed. I can’t wait till he get’s back!
Today was a great day!
Ellie told me about this free class that is held near the U called “First Weeks”. They get together three days a week and there are different classes for different age groups…so first weeks is only for babies and their parents under 3 months of age. It’s free (they ask for a donation ) and it’s taught by a lactacian nurse who also helped author a book on pregnancy and babies. It was WONDERFUL!!! The class was an open forum….babies are there…and we are all free to cry, change diapers, breast feed….whatever you need to do….there are lot’s of “magic bouncy balls” otherwise known as the exercise ball that magically stops crying in its tracks….and people can ask absolutely any questions that they want to do and the nurse will tell you what she knows plus call on the experience of the other people in the class. There was a lot of disucssion about what babies are doing at what ages and it was so great to see other babies the same age as Fiona and to hear that she was doing the same things as them. (of course…none of them were rolling over =)
We learned a lot…and got some interesting tips and thoughts on things like getting her take the bottle….but more then anything it was just great to see all these babies and hear the noises they were making and see how much they cried….WE are not alone!!! Fiona is a lot like them. Those noises she makes aren’t weird….maybe she doesn’t cry more then other babies her age….oh my goodness maybe she is just a baby!!!
I think i am going to start going once a week. It was just such a lift for me to be with these other mothers and this wonderful lady who was telling us that we were all right! I’m also going to try and get my mom to go once (and maybe greg…don’t tell him yet). Mom has been staying with us a lot…and she has a ton of experience with babies….i mean she had three kids plus she has taken care of several children in her life….but I’m realizing that maybe she has forgotten what an infant is like. I think a lot of people remember babies after the 3 month stage…but they forget what they’re like the first couple of months…the noises they make…the crying they do…. Mom says things like, “i don’t remember you kids making those noises” or “i don’t think i’ve ever seen a baby cry that much” she means well…but now I think she’s just forgotten what an infant is like after seeing all these babies this morning. It might set her mind at ease as well!
so…..this week i learned that lil’ miss thing can roll herself over. This is a skill that she’s not supposed to learn for at the very least a few more weeks….or even a month or two more. ( she can only roll over onto her tummy….then she’s pretty much stuck!…tummy to back is much harder ).
So now I have a new “label” for my baby…if you’ve been following my label montage….this one was offered up to me from a nurse who teaches a class for new mothers…. “precocious” … “you really have a precocious little girl on your hands don’t you?” …. i think i like this one better then “hyper alert” =)
Well, if you’ve been wondering….we still are refusing to take the bottle. Sigh. She is SO stubborn =) I can’t imagine where she gets it from! She’ll take it from us just fine if we get her when she’s just starting to wake up…..but once she is all the way awake and sees what’s going on she SCREEEEEAAAAAMMMMSSSSS! Then there is no going back. We are running out of ideas of what to do so we’ve started cooking up all sorts of things to try. It doesn’t seem to matter what bottle I use….if she tried the bottle and then protested I would think it had to do with the nipple….but she doesn’t even try it…she sees it and screams. sigh. sigh. sigh. We have 6 more weeks before I go back to work…..I read a site the other day that says, “Don’t make this a battle of the wills”….ha! he never met Fiona Rose Golding =)
A lot of people have told me that 6 weeks is a first in several mile stones to look forward to. That at 6 weeks the crying seems to lessen a bit and things seem just a tad easier….i’ll let you all know if I find that true or not =) But here is a 6 week (and one day) photo taken at a baby shower that Greg’s mom’s (norma) friends threw for us. It was a great day – you should see the bikini that Fiona was given from her Aunt Laura (we’ll take pictures once she grows into it!)
Whew. I think we did it. I think we figured out what was making little miss F so mad. And I think the Zantac is taking care of the problem! I can’t begin to tell you how this changes my day. If you ever meet a parent who tells you their child has colic just drop everything and give them a huge hug and then offer to hold their crying baby for a few hours. I can’t imagine what it’s like to go through that night after night for months. Just a couple weeks and Greg and I were struggling!
So Fiona, of course, still cries and fusses…but the difference is that now we can console her. Now she really is crying either becaues she’s hungry, tired, bored or needs to be changed. And once we figure out what one of those things it is she STOPS CRYING. Now she sits for long periods of time awake and eyeing the world. She smiles…( and laughs in her sleep…what do you suppose she’s laughing at? ) and she’s just starting to “goo”.
And going out with her seems so much easier. I was so anxious before because if she woke up I knew she would start crying and I knew that I probably couldn’t stop it….but now I know that I can….aaaaah….ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.
Here’s a couple pix from St. Patrick’s day….the onesie says it all….
Greg leaves for Asia tomorrow so the grandparents are stepping in =) I’ll update you on that soon and our big trip to the Claw that we are taking at the end of the week……
Here’s more on the rest of lil’ Fiona’s one month check up. She is 21 inches long (grew and inch) and just over 10 lbs!!!! She is at 50% of kids her age which is just perfect. The neatest thing was that there was a big mirror next to the table she was on and she immediately focused in on herself in that mirror. She just LOVED gazing at herself (it’s starting early….oh my!) Dr. larsen said that it was pretty amazing that she even saw the mirror and to see how responsive she was to Greg and my voice….she said that that’s pretty advanced for a one month old…most babies her age still wouldn’t really realize the mirror was there, let alone look at themselves. She described her as a “hyper observant” baby (yes…even more labels!!!) Very active, and very observant….her mind is probably always going…. HMMMMMM…..for those of you who know Greg….gee, I wonder where she get’s that from! She said often times babies like that are fussy…they just are taking in way more then they are ready to….but in a few months she will be a lot of fun because she will really be engaged in what she’s doing and what’s going on around her…we just have to watch for over stimulization….which is fine because I do that for Greg all day!!!!! =)
Remember when I didn’t think I had a colicky baby….just a “high-needs” one? Well last night my mind changed. Lil’ miss Fiona cried from around 7 p.m. till close to midnight….I think I only cried from around 9 to 9:30 =) UGH!
So this morning we had her 1 month check-up and in my long list of new mom questions for the pediatrican was….”should she really cry this much?”. Dr. Larsen informed us that newborn generally only cry/fuss around 1 to 2 hours a day….oh my we said….really? Fiona cries and fusses every waking hour it seems. So we went on to describe her behavior. She fusses after she eats…and unless she falls asleep eating she cries for a period of time after eating….when i try and feed her more to see if she is just still hungry, she cries while eating (I then of course stop figuring that she has gas and it hurts her) then when i try and burp her she stiffens up and arches her back and cries harder. Even my mom, who has stayed several days now, said that she though Fiona cried and fussed a lot, that maybe more then normal.
Dr. Larsen said that colicky babies usually cry like clock work….usually at night and at around the same time each night. This hasn’t been Fiona…she cries and fusses all day. The dr. thought that that sounded like something they call GER, which is basically baby heart burn/reflux. That maybe the little thing that shuts the stomach off from the esophogus is underdeveloped…or maybe even the heavy antibiotics she had to take when she was so young for the eye infection effected her stomach lining. A lot of babies have it in the early months, most out grow it by 8 to 9 months, some kids it becomes a serious problem for them. Up until now it has been missed a lot because many parents and dr.’s have mistaken it for colic….but after reading the list of about 10 symptoms…I would say she has at least 6 to 7 of them…
She prescribed Zantac for her twice a day and we’re giving it a go. I’m supposed to call on monday to let her know if there was any change….dr. larsen thought we would know within a day or two if we had a “new baby” or not! I don’t want to say too much before it’s time…but I gave her her first dose this morning and right now she is sitting…AWAKE…. in her vibrating chair…NOT CRYING….something she has NEVER done before. In fact, she hasn’t cried since I gave her that….slight fussing here and there, but easily comforted.
again….not going to get ahead of myself on this because i don’t need to feel defeated! But if you read this send me good vibes please!
I can’t explain what a relief it was…in a weird way….to hear that this wasn’t normal. I had really started doubting myself. Was I just a wimp? Had I taken on more then I could handle? Maybe I wasn’t ready for this? I have always been such a patient and easy going person…so patient with children…even crying babies…but here my own baby couldn’t be comforted by me no matter what I did….she just always seemed so unhappy….and man does that break your heart!
I’ll keep you all updated….read more on the rest of the visit!
We had a great week for week 4. This is already getting easier (note, I did not say easy….just easier!)
Our goal last week was to LEAVE THE HOUSE….and boy did we! We had coffee with Lori on the sunniest day of the year, we went to Fred Meyer and shopped, Uncle Alan and Aunt Val stopped by and visited, we had lunch with Tami at Stellar’s in Georgetown and visited Earl and Doreen, we went and visited the Booher family and yesterday we we went to REI with Dad and then partied with cousins from P-Town and up north.
What a week! We’re learning to take the bottle…slowly, slowly…..and we’re putting together sounds with where are head turns and how we look….she is learning and changing every single day!
Wed. is our 1 month pediatrician appointment where we’ll find out how much we’ve grown….it’s hard for Mom to tell but everyone thinks she’s growing like a weed.
enjoy the photos…and remember there are lot’s at www.thegoldings.myphotoalbum.com
