Two Months Old

Grace was born on Friday, November 27, 2015, just a few minutes after midnight.  The first month of her life was just pure survival (for me, for Brian, and for her).  The second month has been still physically exhausting, but so so much better.

Me: "Hey, I showered today and am not
wearing my bathrobe, can you take a pic?"

And now that she's been outside of the womb for two whole months, I'm really starting to get to know and love her sweet personality more and more each day.

Here are some of my observations of my precious daughter at two months:

- She is vocal!  She has a lot to "say", and likes to make all kinds of noises.  We used to only hear noises from her when she was fussy or upset.  Now she makes happy noises!  And noises as if she's talking to us.

- She is an eater!  She loves to eat and can eat like a champion.  She has no problem drinking a full four ounce bottle of breastmilk.  She has no problem nursing on the left side for 25 minutes and then the right side for 25 minutes.  (This means we spend a lot of time nursing).

- She is a sleeper (usually)!  There isn't a big consistency yet with sleep.  Our general nighttime pattern right now is a 4 hour sleep, a wake up to breastfeed, and then a 3 hours sleep, followed by a big (2 hour) morning nap at some point. She must go down for a nap exactly 2 hours after waking up (or fewer).  I've learned that over-tired is a real (and not good) thing.

Oh I love her smile!

- She is a happy girl! The smiles that were so fleeting and rare at one month and even just a few weeks ago are becoming more common every day.  She smiles back at us.  She smiles when we laugh.  Sometimes Brian will make me laugh as we chat about our day, and we look over at Grace and she has a big smile on also.  It is the sweetest.

- She can be fussy.  Although she is a very happy baby and smiles a lot, she also has her fussy times.  I have to admit, I am really scared to take her out in public, for fear of her crying.  (And for fear of breastfeeding in public).

Most of her cries are completely normal!  But my problem is how to handle them when we're  out and about.  Here are some reasons for her to be fussy:

She cries when she has a dirty diaper. That's an easy fix at home. It's more complicated and stressful to do a diaper change not at home, or "on the run".  I've never changed her in a public restroom, I can only imagine how traumatic that would be.  What if they don't have a changing table?  I changed her once in the dark in the backseat of the car on the way to Ludington.  That was certainly challenging and I'm sure I'll be doing it again to avoid public bathrooms. Hopefully I'll get used to quick diaper changes in any setting once I've done it more.

She is seriously his little princess!

She cries when she's hungry.  Once again, that's an easy fix when we're at home.  I can just sit down, pull her on my lap, get comfy and cozy, and breastfeed right out in the open.  But it's not a realistic fix for when we're out.  We're not always going to be at home and cozy on our own couch right when she needs to eat.  I have several breastfeeding covers, and plenty of bottles, but still have a lot of anxiety about needing to feed her and being somewhere like Target or Meijer.

She cries when she's tired.  Once again, this is an easy fix at home.  I swaddle her up, I turn on the white noise, I go in the dark bedroom, breastfeed a little, bounce her and pat her a little, and put her down (sometimes it takes a few tries of putting her down before she actually goes to sleep).  What about when we go to other places?  Will she be able to just fall asleep at daycare with 4-5 loud little ones in close proximity? With no swaddle and no white noise and no breast?

She cries when her tummy hurts. For her first month of life, I just thought this was normal for newborns.  "Their stomachs are little and so it hurts them to poop."  But poor Gracie was yelling out and crying and grunting loudly almost every time she had to pass gas or poop.  Plus, this painful passing of gas was waking her up at night (which meant waking me up too)!

Her doctor said we could give her gas drops, and I still waited a week to buy them, thinking the painful gas is just normal.  But once I started using them, I saw the relief in her on the first day. Now, I use them at every single feed.  She can pass gas and dirty a diaper with a few grunts and a scrunched up face, but no longer does it cause her tons of pain.  She still can get fussy from a tummy ache (if she ate too fast, if she needs to burp, or if she is hungry), but the gas drops have been amazing, and I recommend them to any new parent!

She cries for unknown reasons. This one is the worst, and usually the loudest/saddest/most

angry cry of all.  It usually happens at night, and can last for up to an hour or more, but normally can be calmed with a good swaddle, white noise, and a boob. Seriously, what do people do who have to formula feed??  Have a bottle ready at all times?  There is nothing that can calm this baby like being cuddled into me and feeding. (Which makes me all the more worried for daycare, but that's another post for another day.

These two months have seriously flown by.  Grace is growing and changing every day. She is asleep on my lap as I type. And all I can think to myself is, "Could life possibly get any better than this moment right now?"