3 months old

Now you are three months old! You are so grown up now it seems, compared to when you were brand new and couldn’t do anything at all. Of course, sometimes I miss that sleepy floppiness, but you are so much fun now!

Currently you are obsessed with standing—you can support all your weight on your legs! What a strong baby—you’re doing this very early. You can’t balance at all yet though so we hold you by your hands or around your torso. You smile and wiggle and dance this way. We say, “Ready? One, two, three” and you know how to use your body to help pull you up from a seated or lying position into standing. You have sort of rolled from your back to your side a few times, but you don’t find rolling that interesting as you would rather stand!

Finally your thumbs are finding your way into your mouth when you want them, and I’m also happy to say you have now developed a regular schedule. Right now you are taking your afternoon nap in your crib and look very happy. One thing that makes you happy is to look into a mirror—you love to laugh at and talk to and smile at the cute baby you see there. You can hold toys now, too, and like to shake your seahorse rattle. And the last couple of days you discovered squealing; if you are very excited (like if Daddy is playing with you) you will squeak so loudly. It’s very cute!

You’re a sociable, sweet baby who loves to cuddle and chat and we love that we get to be the ones who take care of you and see you every day.

You’re waking up, so I’ll go get you and we’ll play or read a story or you’ll help me do housework (you like to oversee my doing the dishes from your swing in the kitchen) until Daddy comes home.

Love from,

Mama

What a wonderful little girl!

Discovering rattles

Smiley McSmilerson

It’s okay if she only takes 19 ounces/day

Baby, at almost 3 months old, only takes 19-20 oz a day or so. Apparently this is fine. Every baby is different. I am still obsessing about it, though. This isn’t even my first entry on it.

I always get thrown off by the charts for formula-fed babies, which say she should be eating something like 30 oz at this point, but apparently intake is different for breastmilk fed infants as the milk changes as they age to fit their requirements, but formula is always the same, so they don’t need more breastmilk from 1-6 months, except for during growth spurts.

I still worry she’s not getting enough but it’s not like you can make babies eat more!

Plugged up

I just got my first plugged duct today! Ick. Left breast.

I got some lecithin. I already pump really often and do breast massage, so I’m not sure what else I can do. I think I got it from eating lots of junk food and going longer between pumps at night now that my baby is sleeping longer. I hope the plugged duct is not recurrent!

10.5 weeks old

Today is mommy’s birthday and you gave me a lovely present (beside the flowers your Auntie E helped you send me). You laughed for the first time! Daddy was playing with you while I held you and he poked your little nosey and you smiled and said, “Heh, heh, heh.” It was so cute! What a sweet baby. You are 10.5 weeks old. At your two month appointment a couple of weeks ago you were 11 lbs. 8 oz.

You have been very happy lately and we are getting into a good rhythm, and you are so easy to take places. We have lunch with friends, we go to parks, we go shopping. Everyone comments on what a pretty, easy baby you are. We’ve meet two other babies about your age in the last week and you were so much chubbier and cuter than they were!

Now you smile every day and are starting to be able to hold rattles. You love to look at your mobiles—particularly the one with animals. Your friends make you smile as you watch them dance around. You almost have total head control at this point and once even lifted your chest off the crib mattress while you were on your tummy (but you still hate tummy time!). You have been working on using your hands—for reaching towards things and for sucking.

Daddy and I love you very much. We are always looking at you and talking about how precious and amazing you are, and how happy we are you’re here. We are so lucky! What a wonderful birthday present you are. This was the best year of my life because you came to us. We had been waiting for you for so long! You are the baby I always dreamed of.

Love from

Your mother

Where is Baby during all this pumping?

Baby stays where I put her, for now, as she’s just 10 weeks.

When I’m pumping (which is often, right now even) Baby lots of times lazes about on the bed with me propped on a Boppy or pillow (my pump station is the pump and a laptop on a tray that sits under the bed when not used and on the bed when in use). This is when I’m home alone and she’s awake. Right now she’s just sitting right here and looking around. Oh, now she’s fussy instead. Oh, now she’s okay again.

If she fusses, I have figured out how to pick her up (put her over shoulder or hold her far back on hip) and comfort her, even feed her (harder), while the pump does its thing. Less efficient due to less ability to do compression, but fine.

If she’s asleep, she is usually in her swing beside same bed. Occasionally she will be in her crib looking at her toys but that’s dicey because it’s hard to get to her if she fusses. If Husband is home or my mom or a friend over, they will entertain/comfort/feed/hold baby as needed while I’m off pumping.

This mostly works fine, for now. I worry about how it’ll be when she’s more mobile.

Choosing a bottle nipple

It seems like all the bottles/nipples say they mimic breastfeeding. I’m sure some are better than others, but nipple confusion isn’t just about the nipple, it’s also about the flow of the milk. My baby’s problem is less nipple preference (the nipple shield makes my nipple enough like a bottle nipple to confuse her at first into sucking on it), but her intense dislike of the slower flow of breasts (especially breasts having trouble letting down).

Here’s some good info on choosing a nipple type and bottle-feeding method that reduces the problems of flow/nipple preference/confusion.

My LC told me it’s important to test different nipples of the same kind, too. There is no QC on nipples so they are really variable. If you want to reduce flow preference, choose the ones with the absolute slowest flow (I think it’s supposed to be less than 1 drip per second or something).

We use Dr. Brown’s level 1 standard nipple, and I wish we didn’t. These are what the LC recommended, but they are a hassle to clean and not on the (above linked) BFAR recommended list of nipple types. We are slowly phasing in the Avents we got at baby showers since they’re easier to clean.

Maybe getting Baby used to a variety of nipples will get her to like mine better.