Katie was jaundiced and had to stay under the bilirubin lights for a few days after we brought her home. It was really tough, because she had to stay under there and we were only allowed to take her out to feed her. She hated it and cried all the time. She had to wear this blindfold that she hated, and she would pull it off her head. She was only allowed to have a diaper on, so we couldn't do anything to keep her from pulling it off, so we had to keep a pretty close eye on her. I hate seeing my baby cry...it feels like it goes against my nature to sit there and listen to her cry and not do anything about it.
After about the first week, Katie started really struggling with sleeping at night. She really didn't like falling asleep unless she was in someone's arms, and the moment you would lay her down she would wake up and start crying. We started having her sleep with us in the bed, and that worked for a while, but eventually we had to find a way for her to sleep in her crib. She loves being swaddled, and that seemed to help her stay asleep when we would lay her down. I think it was because my uterus never grew and she had VERY limited room, so she is used to confined spaces. Her swaddle me blanket is really nice because she can't seem to wiggle out of it. Even at 2 weeks old she was really strong. Her legs and arms are so powerful...especially for a 5 lb. baby. She decided to show us exactly how strong she was...at two and a half weeks old she started rolling over.
The doctor told us that Katie needed to have "tummy time" twice a day, and she hated it (as you can tell by her screaming throughout the video), so she just started to roll over to avoid tummy time.
Katie also loves being in the sun. I think it has to do with the fact that she was jaundiced and sunlight breaks down the bilirubin in the body...sort of a natural defense. Anyway, she LOVES being outside, so Katie and I have started taking walks everyday. At three weeks it was pretty tough, because it was around 105 degrees outside. A little hot for my taste, but she loved it. Now that it is a little cooler, I have started to enjoy our walks a little more. It is about a mile and a half to Sonic, and I have become addicted to their Cranberry Limeades, so I have convinced myself that if I walk 3 miles I can have one.
I took Katie up to Minnesota to meet some of the extended family. I was really worried about flying alone with a 6 week old baby, but it was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. People were more than willing to help out and she was perfect on the plane. We had connecting flights, so we had 2 flights there and 2 flights back and she didn't cry on any of them. I was so proud of her. She got to meet her great-grandparents, and although she won't remember it, it meant so much to me.
Katie has become so much more aware and always seems like she is taking it all in. She started smiling about a month ago and is now smiling all the time.
Katie has started sleeping through the night (6-8 hours). It has been so nice to be able to get some sleep at night.
Katie got a cold last week, and it has been really tough. It just breaks my heart to see her sick, but what can you do when she's too little to take any sort of medication. She was really stuffed up and had a hard time breathing through her nose, so it made nursing really hard. Her fever went away Saturday and she seemed like she was getting better, but then Sunday night her fever came back. She seems to be doing better now and even though she is still a little stuffed up, she is pretty much back to her happy self.
Well, that' s all I have time for now, but hopefully I will be better about keeping this blog up-to-date.
Marybeth
This is adorable Marybeth! Katie is growing up so much, and is such a great daughter! Im really gonna miss you 3 + Miles! I hope you come visit!
ReplyDelete<3 Kendal Lynn