Reese: Three Months

 How Old: Three months

Weight/Height: Reese had quite a growth spurt this month. At least I think it was a growth spurt, she was fussy and eating every two hours…so I can only guess that’s what it was. When I weighed Reese with me, she’s about 12 pounds. Growing girl!

Baby Clothes: Reese can still fit into 0-3 month clothes and she’s still in size one diapers. Clothes around this age confuse me because there are 0-3 month, 3 month, and 3-6 month. How am I supposed to know when she’s supposed to wear what?! It’s very frustrating.

Milestones: Reese gained a lot of head control this month. We first started noticing how much better she was doing while in Florida and since then she’s been a pro. Ok, that may be a little overboard, but I don’t have to worry as much about neck support while holding her. 

I'm too cute

She's also focusing on things more and more. I love watching her as she stares, I can just see her mind trying to figure everything out. I've also noticed how intently she looks around when we are at a new place, she’s definitely aware of her surroundings.

Figuring out the new room

Reese has also started to talk to us. By talking I mean lots of coos. Her stories are always so interesting; at least they are to me. :)

Talking

We haven’t heard any laughs yet, but she makes this noise and I can just tell it’s going to be a laugh soon! I've already called that the fan will be what she laughs at first.

She is still hating tummy time. I don’t think this child is ever going to learn how to roll cause she just sits there and cries. I’m not really sure how to help her either. Husbandy and I will both get on the floor and interact with her, but it doesn't seem to calm her. All I know to do is to keep putting her there and pray things get better.

Special Outings: I took Reese to my work this month so everyone could meet her. She did so good! I thought she might sleep because we went right after a feeding, but she was awake the whole time and didn't cry once. Good job baby girl. 

Reese also went on her first plane ride this month! I was so worried she was going to be fussy at the airport and during the flight, but she did great! When we got to the airport I put her in the Moby wrap. She usually does pretty well in it, especially because she is so close to me. With my warmth and the beating of my heart close by, there really is no chance she won’t fall asleep. :) After getting through security we settled at the gate, only realize we brought bottles, but forgot a nipple. Seeing as a bottle is pretty much useless without this Husbandy began an airport wide search for a nipple. Everyone kept telling him about one store that might have something, but it was awfully hard to find. But, fear not, after much searching he found the store! Thankfully it sold Simalac ready to go formula and it came with a nipple! Better yet, it fit the bottle we brought! So, we fed Reese right before getting on the plane, and then she slept. I knew she was going to get hungry again before landing so I prepped myself for feeding on the flight. Lo and behold we did it! We also fed in public a few more times during the Florida trip. We are by no means pros, nor is it either of our favorite thing to do, but we did it.

At the airport

Reese wasn't real sure about flying

Florida was fun because we got to see Husbandy's family and everyone got to meet Reese. She gave her Mimi Wagner some pretty big smiles. However, the trip became a tad bit stressful when Reese decided to have a growth spurt that week. The whole week she was fussy and wanted to eat every two hours. This made things a little hard and I was stressed out. By the end of the week, I was ready to get back home. On top of the growth spurt I think being in a new place freaked her out a little. She seemed to do much better when we were back home.

Mimi Wagner with her two grand babies

Grams

Jason with our niece Evalyn

With the cousins

Family photos!

Reese also took part in her first A&M football game this month. She loved every second of it. :)

Highlights of the Month: Smiles. Oh my goodness, she gives the biggest smiles! Reese is definitely the happiest right after she eats. I figured out she really likes when I make a surprised look on my face, so I do that quite often. Reese also still loves her daddy, A LOT. He can always make her smile big and it’s so cute. 

Say whaaat

So happy the Aggies were winning

Baby’s Routine: As usual we are working on this. I still let her feed whenever she wants during the night. So, that could be anywhere in between 2:00 and 4:00. One night she slept until 6:30! That was only once though, she must have been super tired. Since I went back to work this month, I now have to wake her up at 7:00. I try to either top her off or have a full feeding before we go to Donna’s. I pump at work 2-3 times a day, but I know Reese is usually ready to eat around 6:00, so sometimes I skip the last pumping time. We still feed one last time around 9:00 and then she goes down for the night.

Baby’s Favorite Food: Mommy’s milk. I still love when she grips my fingers as she eats, it’s so sweet.

Baby’s Favorite Activity: I want to say looking at the fan. But she also really enjoys the swing (she’s always really liked it) and has fun on her play mat as long as she’s on her back. She does get tired of it though and will let you know when she does!

Fun video

 Baby’s Favorite Toy: The fan. It’s just so interesting. She will always find it if there’s one in the room and they usually make her smile.

Big Changes: Head control and smiling more often at mommy and daddy.

Playing with mommy

Mommy Journal:
My hair, my poor hair. I lose sooo much every day, it's crazy how thin it's getting. I know it eventually comes back in, but oh my goodness I'm going to be bald if that doesn't happen soon!
Unfortunately, I had to go back to work this month. :( I dreaded the day up until it happened. The week before I went back to work I took Reese to daycare for two half days. I hadn’t really thought about doing it, but so many people asked me if I was going to that I thought maybe I should. I’m so glad I did. The first day was the worst. The minute I walked out of Donna’s I bawled. I then cried on the drive home (luckily it’s only 1.5 miles away) and cried when I got there. I had planned to do some errands, but after falling asleep and then crying some more, I decided that wasn’t such a good idea. I was so thankful to see my sister that morning (her little boy is going to the same day care…love it) and she was so sweet. She made a sign that said, “Welcome cousin Reese! I can’t wait to play with you.” and had Aidan “sign” it. She also bought me flowers. Obviously she knew how I’d be feeling as she had gone through it a few months prior. The second day I dropped Reese off was a little better. I still cried, but I also managed to run errands. Soo by day three (the real deal) I was a pro. Not. There were tears, but I got through the day. Everyone at Merit was super sweet. So many people welcomed me back. Lots of the working moms also talked with me, assuring me it would get better. Though, they were sure to tell me: it gets better, not easy.

First day of daycare

Reese and I are definitely having to adjust. I’m not sure she likes the adjustment. I’d say maybe 4 of the 7 mornings I’ve dropped her off so far she cries right as we step into the house. It’s so hard leaving her as she cries. :( Hopefully as time passes the mornings will get easier on both of us.

Being a working mom is hard. It’s hard leaving my baby with someone else each morning, it’s hard pumping throughout the day (though I do like being able to get away), it’s hard only having a few waking hours before putting her down each night, it’s hard keeping the daily routine on the weekends. I know it’s something we have to do as a family and that ultimately it's helping Reese, but it’s hard.

Gig'em

I love you so much little girl. You warm mommy and daddy’s heart every day. I know you are going to be laughing soon, and I cannot wait to hear it! I love you to pieces!

Reese: Two Months

How Old: Two months

Weight/Height: At her two month check-up Reese weighed 9 lbs 14 oz, putting her in the 14% and was 22.5 inches long which is the 50%. At her two week appointment, she was in the 8% for weighed, so we are gaining ground!

Baby Clothes: Soon after her one month, we moved Reese to size one diapers. We still had a big box of newborns, but I didn't want to open them cause I figured she would soon be out of them. The size ones seemed a bit large at first, but now she’s starting to fill them out. We still have a ways to outgrow them though. We have also moved to 0-3 month clothing. Some newborn outfits still fit, but I’m slowly convincing myself she’s not my 6 lb baby anymore. :(

Milestones: We are seeing Reese’s eyes more and more these days. Some days I feel like we see them a bit too much because she doesn't want to sleep. This month has been lots of fun due to coos and smiles. I remember the first time I was pretty sure I saw a real social smile opposed to one brought about by gas. It was confirmed the next day when Mimi said she thought she saw a real smile too! They are just so sweet and I capture as many as I can.

I've been bad at putting Reese on the mat for tummy time, but when she’s on us she does pretty good at holding up her head. 

Special Outings: Reese went lots of places this month including more restaurants, the airport, and the mall. 

At the airport

She also accompanied me to my six week checkup. It was a little stressful as it turned out she was going to want to eat right in the middle of it. I was hoping she would sleep and forget about how hungry she was, but that didn't happen. Thankfully, I brought a bottle of pumped milk and the nurse fed her. She was the talk of the office though. 

Funny story: Dr B had been requesting a picture of Reese to put on his wall, so I brought a few for him to choose from. As soon as he saw the photo envelope he got super excited and then asked if he could have all of them cause he couldn't choose just one. I can’t blame him, she is pretty cute. On the way home we stopped at Husbandy’s work to show Reese off. All the girls just loved her. I’m sure the guys did too, but they didn't make it as apparent.

Hangin by the pool

Highlights of the Month: Reese met Mimi Wagner, Papa Wagner, Aunt Amanda, and cousin Evalyn! We were all very happy they came to visit for a week. It was nice having help around the house while Husbandy was at work half the day. 

Brother and sister with their babies

Cousin Love

All of Reese's cousins!

Reese went to a couple GNDs with me, but Husbandy was nice enough to watch her a few weeks too so mommy could get some grown up time. I miss holding her while away, but I think it’s good for Reese to have some alone time with daddy.

Baby’s Routine: It’s been hard for me to get Reese on a routine when I’m such a laid back person. For the most part, I have just been letting her eat when she wants to, play, and then sleep. I know when she goes to daycare the lady puts all the kids on a schedule (I think you have to when you are watching so many at once), so hopefully I assist in this and not hinder the process while Reese is at home. Typically a day goes something like this: wake up around 2:00-3:00am to feed and again around 6:00-7:00am. After that feeding we try to have 30 min – 1 hour of playtime then I put her back down for a nap. I let her sleep as long as she wants to, but typically she’s ready to eat 2.5 – 3 hours after her last feeding. We repeat this throughout the day. Husbandy and I have noticed the hours of 6:00-9:00pm are not Reese’s favorite. She is usually either fussy during this time, or fights sleep. We started to introduce the pacifier this month to help with these times. We also wanted her to get used to taking one as we are flying to FL next month and she’ll need something to combat with the changing pressure in the airplane.

For her naps, she’s usually in her swing, but recently I've been trying to lay her in her pack n play so she gets used to that since she’ll be in a crib at Donna’s. She definitely doesn't like it as much, but I can see slow progress.

Baby’s Favorite Food: Mommy’s milk

Baby’s Favorite Activity: Watching the ceiling fan. She loooves it! The easiest way to get her to smile is to lay her on our ottoman and let her look up at the fan. 

Looking at the fan

Baby’s Favorite Toy: I want to say the fan, but also the other day she was very interested in a pink giraffe that plays music. I got her to follow it all over the room. We are definitely keeping that one close by for playtime.

Big Changes: What a difference a month can make! Reese is so much better at breastfeeding now and I’m so glad I did not give up. The soreness is gone, though it did come back for a couple days which I thought was weird. Thankfully, it went away. Reese prefers my left breast and always latches really well, but sometimes has trouble with the right. She has also definitely found her lungs and shows them off when hungry or overly tired. She has a few cries that are just so cute. They usually happen when she fake crying or when she’s calming down. I call her my little kitten when I hear them cause they are just so cute and pathetic. Is that bad to say?

Since Reese is awake more these days, I get to interact with her more. Sometimes she seems more interested in the fan than in what I have to say, but I know she can hear my voice. She loves her daddy! I think he can get more smiles out of her than I can and she turns to looks at him a lot when he’s talking. It’s very cute.

We started to read to Reese so she can hear the candence of spoken language. We also take daily walks to the mailbox and I tell her about the bright sun and what we are doing as we walk.

Mommy Journal:

This month has been so different than month one. Reese and I have definitely gotten to know one another and are working better together, especially on the breastfeeding front. As I mentioned, feeding times have gotten so much easier. They are still a little longer than I wish they were, but I will take it over the 1.5-2 hours they were in the past. There are definitely still those times Reese decides she just wants to fall asleep and it still frustrates me, but they are much less frequent. Even though things have gotten better, we are still not at the point where I feel comfortable feeding in public. I would love to get there, so hopefully things keep improving.

As far as pumping goes, I have allowed myself to not do it as much anymore. I am still pumping a few times a day though cause I need to have a supply for Reese when she goes to daycare. The easiest time for me do to this is during the night. I always pump after our middle of the night feeding. I know that means I’m going to be giving Reese a lot of night milk during daytime feedings, but I think it will be ok. I also try to pump during the day when I can, but it’s much harder when Reese decides she needs to eat every 2.5 hours.

I love this picture

There are some weeks where I feel like my supply is falling. I don’t know if it really is, or if it’s just in my head, but when I feel this way I drink lots of Mother’s Milk tea, eat oats, and take fenugreek. I typically take fenugreek daily anyway, but on these days I may up the dosage. So far, it seems to have worked. :)

I love holding my baby so much and I do it as much as can throughout the day. I know that soon I’m not going to get the precious moments daily and it really breaks my heart. But, because of this I have been somewhat bad at tummy time. During her two month appointment our pediatrician kindly reminded me Reese needs to have at least 30 minutes of tummy time daily. I don’t think he was concerned, just a gently reminder. I do hold her up on my shoulder a lot, so she has strengthened some muscles, but there is still some room for improvement.

I'm going to miss this

Loving tummy time

Maternity leave is really winding down and I don’t think I could be less excited about going to work. I am excited to see all the girls but I have really gotten used to this being at home thing. I know we need the money right now to help pay off student loans and such, but I do pray the day comes where I can stay at home. Thankfully there are a lot of working mom’s a Merit, so I will have to get strength from them in knowing it can be done! Plus, my sister is working and Aidan is doing great! This is very comforting as Reese will be going to the same in home day care.

I told Husbandy the other day I miss being pregnant. He just looked at me with a yeah right look on his face, but really there are a few things I definitely miss. I miss knowing there is a growing baby in my tummy and the excitement we felt as we were waiting to meet her. On a more superficial note I miss not having acne. I’ve always struggled with acne, but while pregnant I was clear. I loved this, but just a couple weeks after having Reese it all returned and that stinks. Also, I miss my hair not falling out, showers and brushing my hair were so nice. But now, my hair is falling out like crazy and it’s annoying.

Reese, you are growing so fast! I cannot believe I already have a two month old baby. Mommy prays for you every day, you are such an angel and I love you to pieces!

Reese: One Month

How Old: One month

Weight/Height: The last doctor’s visit we had was her two week appointment, so these numbers are a little dated. At that time she was 19.5 inches putting her in the 20th percentile and 6 lbs 9 oz which is the 8th percentile. I wonder, since she was technically full term, if she is being compared to kiddos that didn't make their appearance until 39-40 weeks. If so, I feel like the percentages are kind of skewed. I will say I had a LC come help me and when she weighed Reese she was right around 7 lbs and when I stand on a scale holding her and then not, she’s around 8 lbs…so it looks like she’s growing!

Baby Clothes: Reese is still wearing newborn clothes. We have a limited number of these, so we are already recycling. I can definitely tell she’s growing though, cause she’s filing out these more and more. Maybe we’ll test out some 0-3 months soon. She is also still wearing newborn diapers, which is good cause we have a lot of those.

Milestones: Reese is definitely more awake now than when we first brought her home. (see mommy journal below) There are days where I actually see her eyes for long periods of time, so long I can talk to her and play. 

We've done tummy time on our chest and she’s pretty good at lifting her head. She of course gets tired before too long and I always feel bad as her head plummets back down. We just bought a play mat so I’m sure I’ll start tummy time on there soon.

When she hears someone talking she always looks around to see where it’s coming from and I’m pretty sure she can follow a toy once she locks her eyes on it. I've tried it several times and she definitely turns her head with the toy, but sometimes I can’t tell if it was just a coincidence.

Special Outings: Reese went to her first Mass on June 30th. We sat right by the choir which we later decided was a bad idea as it can get pretty loud, but thankfully she slept the whole time.

She went to her first restaurant, El Fenix for cousin Chad’s rehearsal dinner. Despite it being kind of loud, she slept right through the whole thing. 

Highlights of the Month: Bringing Reese home! After such a rough hospital stay, it was nice being at home as a family of three. There were of course struggles, but at least I wasn't being interrupted by a nurse every two seconds. Also, Mimi (my mom) stayed with us for the first week. Husbandy and I were both very thankful for her expertise and helpfulness around the house!

Seeing Husbandy with Reese is just so fun. I remember coming home from getting my haircut and they were enjoying some skin to skin time. I couldn't help but smile. Reese definitely loves her daddy.

Reese had her first photo shoot! A lady at the daycare Aidan goes to (the same one Reese will go to) was holding a workshop for photographers and needed newborns. So, I took Reese out to her house in Murphy and she was their model! 

Baby’s Routine: I don’t know that we really have a routine. For the first couple weeks I would wake up every 2 ½ to 3 hours to feed Reese. Now, I’m more or less letting her tell me when she’s ready. During the night she’s pretty good at waking up ever three hours; during the day she seems to sleep longer (of course). Sometimes I feel like it’s been too long, so I try to wake her, that never goes well.

Baby’s Favorite Food: Mommy’s milk

Baby’s Favorite Activity: Definitely sleeping. When Reese does happen to get worked up Husbandy and I will sing to her and a lot of the time it calms her down. It’s so cute. While she was in the womb, Husbandy would always sing her the Spirit of Aggieland. She seems to recognize the tune cause it typically calms her. We also like to sing Jesus Loves Me, I Love You Lord, Seek Ye First, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and Amazing Grace.

Baby’s Favorite Toy: Well, she’s only really seen one toy, so I guess that’s her favorite!

Big Changes: Everything is a big change this month! I think the hardest change for Husbandy is sleep. I try to let him sleep as much as I can, but sometimes I need someone in the wee hours of the morning. The biggest change for me is learning how to get things done during the day while there is a newborn in the house. I don’t think I've mastered this yet. I’m very hesitant to hop in the shower without someone else at the house. You just never know when the little one is going to wake up and need you. :) The biggest change for Reese is her sleep/feeding schedule. Thankfully, she is now more awake; maybe not quite as awake as I would like, but there is improvement.

Mommy Journal:

Wow! I cannot believe I have been a mom for a month! I still think that is just so weird. Am I really old enough to be a mom?! Guess so. Over the past month I've experienced every emotion possible, and to a heightened degree thanks to hormones. Who knew you could experience the greatest level of love and frustration for the same person. :) There have definitely been times where I felt like I just need a break. You know when you've had a hard work week and you just want to make it to the weekend cause you know you’ll get to relax or sleep in. Well, sometimes having a newborn is like that work week, you just want it to be over, but when the weekend comes there isn't a break. It’s just like any other day. Your baby still has to be fed every 2-3 hours and they don’t magically sleep better because it’s Saturday. The one saving grace you might have is that your spouse will be at home and can relieve you if need be.

Reese’s first couple of weeks were hard. I am convinced she was not ready to exit the womb at 37 weeks. She was a very sleepy baby. I know that sounds great, but really it wasn't because she wouldn't eat. We tried everything in the book from taking her clothes off, to wiping her down with a wipe, to putting ice on her feet. Some things would make her stir but after a few seconds she would decide eeh that’s not so bad. In addition, my milk had not come in yet. Because Reese wouldn't eat, there was a vicious cycle going on. Reese wouldn't eat, therefore I didn't have the stimulation I needed, therefore I couldn't produce what I needed to keep her fed, therefore when she did try to eat there wasn't enough to satisfy her. By her 48 hour doctor appointment, she was down to 5 lbs 6 oz, which is more than 10% of her birth weight and she was developing jaundice. Because of these two things the doctor recommended I start supplementing with formula. I so badly wanted to exclusively breastfeed Reese, but I didn't want to starve her, so we had to do something different.

I also started to pump around the clock to try to get my milk supply to come in. When it was time to feed Reese, it went like this….try to wake her up enough to get her to latch, in the rare instance she would watch her suck three times then watch her fall asleep, maybe repeat the last couple steps, hand her off to Husbandy or my mom who would first feed her the milk I pumped from the last session and/or formula while I pumped for 15-20 minutes, clean bottles and pumping supplies. This made feeding times awfully long…like 1.5-2 hours! Not to mention the constant battle with newborn hands. There were times I thought Reese was determined to block every attempt I made to get her to latch! Being able to feed her my pumped milk was nice, but I was only able to express 5 mL sometimes! That was definitely discouraging.

Thankfully, I had a lot of friends and family encouraging me. I also contacted a lactation consultant (same person that taught our Bradley classes). At that point she didn't think it would be beneficial to come out and see me since Reese wasn't really feeding, but she did give me tips on how to increase my supply and lots of encouragement. We spoke on the phone pretty much every other day for two weeks. At that point I made a deal with myself to at least keep trying until Reese would have been 40 weeks.

By the time the 40 week mark came around I had seen some improvement. Reese wasn't awake as I thought she would be, but every time I thought about giving up I reminded myself this is for Reese, not me. A friend of mine also said something that helped….Reese is just going to get better at this, she will learn and her mouth will just get bigger.

Despite all the troubles, there were sometimes breastfeeding was amazing. When she would latch just right and I could tell she was being nourished was perfect. There are also those times her little hands will be swinging every which way and then then would find my fingers and grip on to them tightly. I love when that happens. :)

By the end of the month Reese did start waking up more. I cherish the moments I get to sing to her and play. She really is such an angel.

Reese had lots of visitors this month. We of course didn't get pictures of everyone, but here is a list (if I forget someone, let me know!): the Poulsen's, the Darling's, Jenn, Meredith, and Papa Joe.

Husbandy had his first Father's Day! It was the Sunday after Reese was born, so we didn't do anything big. I did plan ahead a little and had a card ready to go. Reese was nice enough to give it to him. :) The picture is blurry because I was trying to take it before he made it back into the room.

One thing Husbandy and I are both very thankful for is the care calendar my sister set up. Friends and family have signed up for days to bring us meals. This has been such a blessing! I haven’t had to cook dinner once since having Reese. We have already talked about what we are going to do when this stops. I’m not real sure how we will handle that yet!

Learning how to be a family of three has definitely been a whirlwind. Husbandy and I are thankful for any second we get alone to just talk. We have been able to go on a couple short dates which have been so nice. Though, most of the time we are talking about Reese or looking at the latest picture we got of her. What can we say, she’s constantly on our minds! I am very thankful for the maternity leave I get. I don’t know what I would do if I didn't have this time with Reese, learning how to be a mom. It’s going too fast, though. I tear up every time I think about how fast it’s going. If I had it my way, I would stay at home! 

Reese, you have turned our world upside down, but we couldn't love you more.