Back to Work!

So last week was my first week back to work! It went a lot better than I thought it would, although it did take me a couple days to get used to sleeping during the day. It was also my first week of being a nurse without being pregnant, haha! It was definitely much easier than before. I used to have to bring so much food to work with me because I would get so nauseous if I let my stomach get empty! (hello 65 lb weight gain! lol) I like being able to have a break for 3 days out of the week, although I still get to see Charlotte for about an hour total those 3 days. And then we spend 4 days together! It is going to work out great, I think.

This weekend Charlotte and I have also been a little under the weather. I have a horrible cold right now and I have to work tomorrow so I hope I feel better. I would hate to call in on my 2nd week back! How embarrassing! Anyways Charlotte only had a stuffy nose and she coughed and sneezed for a day or two, but she was such a happy "sick" baby! She wasn't fussy at all and slept great, something I was worried about when she was to get sick. I wonder if she only had allergies with all the seasonal changes we are going through right now. She seems to be doing much better now. Which, by the way, I thought breastfeeding was supposed to help babies not get sick! This has been the second time since she was born that she's been sick! So much for all that... :)

For right now, everything has been going great. We are still struggling our way through short naps (45 mins! ugh!) but I've read some info about how to extend them so I am going to be trying some of the tips this week. It worked today for her morning nap, she slept 2 hours! Anyone have any advice for this?? :)

In terms of milestones, not much has been happening! She turned 3 months old today, though! How the time has flown. I can't believe it! Seems only yesterday I was rubbing my tummy and she would kick me and I would press her foot and she would move it back in, lol. Such a little miracle! But she has been much more aware than she used to be and she loves to smile! She hasn't started giggling yet, but I can't wait 'til she does! :) She'll definitely fit into this laughing family! She can lift her head up a bit like you can see in one of the pics above. She also tried to roll over, but not yet! Soon enough though, I'm sure!

Pretty in Pink!

Charlotte just seems to be getting so big lately. When I have been bathing her, I've noticed she's almost outgrown the newborn sling part of the baby tub. I remember when she was so tiny and she would only fit in the netted part! ha. She's about 25 inches right now. She's ginormous! I swear I see an extra fat roll in her legs every time I change her diaper. She likes lying on her boppy pillow and kicking her legs and smiling. She has even started giggling a bit! It's so precious. Here are some pictures!

Snow Day!

It's snowing! I haven't seen it snow like this in ages! It snowed about 3 inches around here. So it was baby's first snow day! We didn't stay out in the snow for long, but Charlotte Rose was able to wear her snow outfit for a little while outside, and then she took a nap in it in the swing. My mom also came down the day before and she hadn't been down since Christmas so it was great to have her here and for her to see the baby. She has grown a ton since she has seen her!

Yesterday I was at a women's retreat for my church. It was a great time of fellowship and sermons that I really needed to hear. I realize I have wasted a lot of time during this maternity leave. It is so easy to get caught up in a routine of life, all the while leaving the LORD out of it. I feel ashamed of that and I plan on fixing it. Here is a great software program I found that helps you with Scripture memorization: http://www.memorizehisword.com

This last week has also been very hard on me. I pretty much had a meltdown on Tuesday and Wednesday. I had been reading too many baby books (sleep books, in particular) and I think I had just become too paranoid. I am feeling much better now after talking it over with a couple women from my church whose parenting styles are similar to mine. I've realized that God really is our help in times of trouble and He definitely helped me through it and has given me a spirit of peace about it. I'm just going to raise my baby the way that God has instinctively called me to do it and by His Word, of course! On a side note, it simply amazes me what people will read and implement just because the author says he is a Christian.

2 months!

Charlotte is 2 months old now! I can't believe it, time has flown by so fast! On Tuesday she had her 2 month doctor's appointment. She apparently doesn't have thrush anymore, just a white tongue which the doc attributed to milk. Hmm. Then why do *I* keep getting it? I've heard you can get it from the pump, but I hope not! It's not like I have an extra few hundred dollars lying around to buy a new one! Anyways, she is perfectly healthy and weighed in at 11 lb 4 oz (about 50th percentile) and get this... 24.5 in long! That's 99th percentile! I always thought she was a long baby, but my goodness. I wonder where she gets that from? Haha.

Yesterday I took her to the ENT doctor to have her tongue tie evaluated. Ever since she was born I had noticed a very noticeable indention in the middle of her tongue. All the doctors, lactation consultants, etc all said it was fine and wouldn't affect nursing. But we have had so many problems with nursing from the very beginning (we're still not nursing, btw... gotta love breast pumps!) I really don't know what else it could be. Anyways, so I had her checked out, and he just basically said go ahead and clip it. So we did! I wasn't really expecting him to do it yesterday. They had to strap her down and she gave him a big smile (poor kid didn't know what was comin') and he clipped it. It wasn't too bad, she cried for a bit, but she was ok. When we got home and I got her out of the car seat, she was smiling at me. :) So we'll see if this helps out at all with the nursing. I attempted to latch her yesterday morning (before the clipping) and she latched right on. (btw, sorry if this is TMI for anyone!) Twice! It was only for a few minutes. But then she fell off and got fussy. Oh well, atleast it's something!

I never would have thought almost 10 WEEKS after my baby was born I'd still be struggling with this stuff. But my baby is worth it. And I'm just plain too stubborn to quit.

Weekend Fun

This weekend we had some company! My best friend, Susan, came down to visit us from Birmingham. We've been friends since 7th grade and I think it's pretty impressive that we still keep in touch as much as we do!

So of course, we took lots of pictures. We took Little Lottie out on the town out to eat and took our stroller for a spin at the mall. That was the first time Lottie has been out in her stroller (well, outside of our neighborhood)! She did pretty well, she liked to look around at all the people walking by and at all the colorful things in the store. She also had plenty of compliments about how such a pretty baby she is! :)

And today my little princess is 8 weeks old! I can't believe it's been 8 weeks since she was born. It seems like I was just pregnant! I don't know if I'm weird, but sometimes I miss being pregnant. I miss feeling her kick and squirm around. And I miss sleeping! Ha. But don't get me wrong, I love cuddling with her and waking up next to her in bed. And I do NOT want to be pregnant any time soon! It was no walk in the park for me and I surely don't miss puking my guts out everyday for 6 months straight.

Anyways, now on to a new week!

For those who have babies or little ones and are interested...... http://www.ezzo.info (yes, the infamous Gary Ezzo of Babywise! Maybe he's not so "wise" afterall....)

auntie em comes to visit!

Today Charlotte and I had a visitor! A good friend of mine, Emily, came to visit us and have lunch. Emily and I go way back (all the way to freshman year lol). We were also in the same sorority. It was fun getting caught up. This was the first time she got to meet little Charlotte, too. Fun times all around! :)

Charlotte was happy about Emily coming!
What a sweet girl! :)

long time no update!!

Sorry about the lack of updates!! Of course, this is going to be one big update! :)

Where to begin?

As of today, Charlotte Rose is 7 weeks and 2 days old! She is getting big! If I had to guess, I'd say she's almost 11 lbs now! I think the last time she was weighed she was 10 lbs, and that was at her 1 month doctor's appt. She's getting so big!!

Just a few updates from since she was born....

The wonderful and lovely people from our church coordinated dinners for us. I cannot even explain how helpful this was and how blessed we felt during this time! It was so amazing not to have to worry about making dinner. I cannot express how grateful we are to have such a wonderful church family.

My mom came down to visit again during Christmas time. It was great having her here. She even watched the baby one night so Thomas and I could go out on a real date! We went to go see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Very good, by the way!

In early January, Thomas' mom came down again (she was here the day after Lottie was born with Fred) and spent a weekend with us. It was also great having her here.

Hmm.. And then the next weekend Thomas' aunt and cousin Addie came to visit. We went out to eat and spent some time together and they also watched Charlotte while we had another date night! Woo Hoo!

But I guess the biggest issue that has risen since she was born has been the breastfeeding issue. 7 weeks later, and we are STILL not nursing successfully. I have been basically pumping breastmilk for her ever since (I have a great supply, so PTL for that!) and bottle feeding her. We had latch problems from the beginning. I have tried everything to get the girl to latch, and she just won't. It's extremely painful and shallow. It was really bad the first couple weeks. I cried soo much during that time, I don't even like to think about it! I know I was starting to slip into some post-partum depression because she just wouldn't "get it" and I was just so mad that everyone else seemed to have a great breastfeeding experience, and why I couldn't have it, just bewildered me. I had a horrible pregnancy (constantly sick) and a painfully long labor, and now this! lol. So, needless to stay, we are still working on nursing.... I am almost at the point where I am about to quit, but I think I am too stubborn to! It's just that after I have read so many articles about how much a risk formula feeding is, I feel like every bottle I would give her of formula would be pumping cancer into her!! Ahhhh... This is a whole other blog in itself, can you tell?

Moving on....

Basically Charlotte has just been getting bigger and bigger! She seems to have added a few extra rolls onto her little legs. She also grew 2 inches in a month, so now she is about 23 inches! I'm afraid she is going to be outgrowing some of her 0-3 month clothing pretty soon!

She also started SMILING!! :) She started that at about week 6, which I was so looking forward to. She is so cute when she smiles! It really makes me teary eyed sometimes. I can't believe God has given me this precious little gift. She has also started to make a lot of cute little noises, like little coos and cahs.

Here are a few pics from the last 7 weeks...

Right after babies first sponge bath! What a cutie!


This was taken on Monday 2/2/09, she just loves her little playgym!
There is a little mirror which is what she is looking at.
She just smiles at her reflection. So cute!


This was taken last week. She likes to sit in her bouncy seat as Thomas and I eat dinner. We were trying to get her to smile, and she finally cracked one!


A few weeks ago my dad came down to visit.


This is the picture we used in our birth announcement. Maybe you received one? :)

Those are just a few of the pictures we've taken over the last 7 weeks. She has her 2 month doctor's appt on February 17. I'll be interested to know how much she weighs then! And how long she is! She will be getting vaccinated, which admittedly, I am a little nervous about.... With all this news going on about autism and all that. I'm thinking about having her on an alternate schedule, which is what Dr. Sears suggests. You know, of The Sears Baby Book?

Until next time....