4MONTHS!!!
So, I am sitting here writing her “4-month blog update”
after she’s already turned 5 months old. Not going to make myself feel guilty though
because since going back to work, when I’m at home I’d rather spend every
minute with Harper than worry about this blog J
I know I need to make time to document what’s happened in the last month, each
month, because she is growing up so fast I want to be able to remember what
happened and when it happened. I especially want to document with all of the
pictures because she’s changing so fast.
So, with her 3-month update I had just gone back to work. It
was extremely hard in the beginning because I missed her and Bruce so much (he
had an extra week at home with her before returning to school for the fall
semester). The thing that made it easier was when she was still asleep when I
would leave for work. I leave home at 6AM and most days she wouldn’t wake up
until 630 when a school bus went by the house. But there were some days when
she’d wake up at 530 and I would want to stay home and snuggle with her. Those
were the days when Bruce would not be so happy at having to get up so early and
we would sometimes have a little fight because I would remind him of how I
would love to be able to stay home and snuggle with her for a couple more hours
before Jessica picked her up. Unfortunately I have to go to work early so I can
get off work early and be home in time for Jessica to drop her off after
picking up her own kids from school. I do know that I am lucky because I would
have 3 or 4 hours to play with her before it was time for bed. Most moms get
home at 5 or 6 and their kids are in bed by 7 or 8.
Back to what happened between 3 and 4 months. So, like I
said I was back at work and that means I’m pumping about 3 times a day. It was
a struggle in the beginning because of co-workers not understanding the
importance of this for a working mom. We moved to our new office in the spring
of this year and it was a total remodel before we move. With this remodel, I
requested a Mother’s Room for all moms who would be pumping after returning to
work. A nice room with 2 comfy chairs, outlets, a sink, and a mini fridge were
provided. I was so thankful for an employer who valued their employees enough
to make a separate, comfortable, private room. But once I returned, the room
had not been used in several months and some employees were using the room for
their breaks, taking naps, and putting their food in the mini fridge (even
though we have a LARGE, restaurant size refrigerator in our break room). So,
when I came back, I requested a key and for the room to be locked at all times
so I could set up my pump and leave it set up for the entire day instead of
taking down and packing up and then setting up again every time. I got a little
push back and employees said I was making a bigger deal out of it than it
should have been. Maybe I did but the room was created for people like me, not
people wanting to take a nap or store their food away from everyone else’s.
Plus, I think it’s gross that my daughter’s food would be around other people’s
food that I really don’t even know (I work in an office of about 200 people). I
don’t think anyone would do anything but it’s the thought of their lunch
sitting next to my daughter’s “lunch”. Anyway, that got sorted out, I was given
a key, the room is locked at all times and we have a nice, clean, private room
to pump and store our milk. I’m glad I took a stand for myself and the other 4
women who are pregnant and will all need to use the facilities within the next
6 months.
So, what has happened with Harper? The BIG thing is she’s
been sleeping SO much better at night. On August 31st, she slept for
10.5 hours straight. I’m sorry to brag because I have several friends who are
still waking up numerous times a night with their children but I also know that
a good night’s sleep for a tired Momma makes a world of difference. I pray
their children will start sleeping better as well. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve
had our rough nights, too. We’ve had some nights where the only thing that
would calm her down is snuggling in our bed with our “tranquil turtle” (thanks
to Dr. Ford).
She has also started rolling over. She tried so hard for a
couple of weeks and just couldn’t figure out how to push off and pull her arm
underneath her. This also caused her to wake up a lot during the night because
she was trying to roll over and couldn’t. Plus, she was still swaddled (and
trying to break out every chance she got – see picture below). Then, one night
she was really fussy and I turned on the video monitor and boom, she flipped
over right in front of my eyes. I shot out of bed and screamed at Bruce that
she rolled over and we both ran into her room to check on her. Of course she
was fine, but it was crazy how at 3AM she decides, “This is it, I’m flipping
over!” That day, I got on my “What to expect when you’re expecting - May Baby”
group discussion board that I’m on and several women were experiencing the same
thing of babies waking up, trying to roll over and not sleeping well. Also,
they say you’re not supposed to keep swaddling them once they start rolling
over because they can’t roll back over and the whole SIDs issue of sleeping on
their bellies. Well, one woman wrote about a thing called a “Zipadee zip” so I
researched it. Several people stated that it helped their babies sleep so much
better, while others said it didn’t work for them. I thought what the heck,
let’s try it and see. It’s basically a sleeper that covers their hands and feet
and feels kind of snug but they’re still able to move their arms and legs and
roll over easy. I thought it would also be good because of her eczema and stop
her from scratching in the middle of the night. I ordered 2 and got them a week
later. During that week, we put her in footed pajamas and had to put mittens on
her to keep her hands warm and from scratching her face. The first night we put
her in her Zippy, she only got up twice but after that she started sleeping
through the night. I HIGHLY recommend to at least try them. They may not work
for everyone, but they work for a lot of babies. They were featured on Shark
Tank a month ago and are still running specials from that show – look them up!
She also had her 3 month pictures taken at the Botanical
Gardens. These pictures really captured her personality and how she’s such a
happier baby now. I know it has a lot to do with her reflux getting under
control and that she now takes every other bottle with hypoallergenic formula
for her sensitive issues (that’s probably also why she’s sleeping so much
better). People always say she’s such a happy baby by the pictures we post and
it’s true. Unless she’s sleepy or hungry, she doesn’t really fuss anymore and
she just smiles and melts our hearts every time she does. Bruce says all the
time that we got a different baby between 2 and 3 months and she’s only gotten
happier and more fun since then.
We went and visited Daddy at work a few times this month and
all of his student and co-workers love to see her and say she is the cutest
(which we already knew that).
And we had to change our diaper on his desk – he didn’t know about that until
it was posted on Instagram haha. We’ve been shopping several times and Daddy
bought her a toy that has been her favorite toy since the day he got it. He
calls it an atom but it is a block rattle that has plastic, soft wires coming
out of it and it has been a lifesaver since she has started teething (which
also means drooling everywhere) but she loves to chew on it.
Harper had her 4 month checkup and Dr. Holly was so
impressed that she was already rolling over and holding her head up like a
champ. Harper just watched Dr. Holly as she walked all over the room and would
grin at her. Dr. Holly also suggested starting cereal and when she could eat
that easily – opening and closing her mouth and keeping it in her mouth for the
most part – we could start baby food. So,
I went to Wal-Mart as soon as we left and bought some oatmeal cereal, carrots
and beans to try. Her stats were 13lbs, 23 ¾” long and 25th
percentile in all categories. Dr. Holly says she’s healthy and looks great and
to keep up with the formula every other bottle, advised to try hydrocortisone
ointment for her eczema and to cover her in Vaseline to help her skin as well.
So, at night, after she’s had her bath and before she gets in her Zippy, I
cover her in Vaseline and her skin feels so soft in the mornings.
I had a lot of favorite pictures from 3-4 months.
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