Midnight to about 10:00am:
- Sleep in 3 hour or so long chunks.
- In between sleep, I find myself feeding a baby for about 30 minutes (including burping), changing diapers, and eventually changing clothes because she either pees while I'm changing her diaper, or her diaper leaks and she gets pee all over her pj's. Keagan sleeps pretty good when she goes to sleep. Sometimes, after feeding, she just stays awake. Other times, she sleeps with Shannon.
- This consists of more feedings every 3 hours or so. It's kind of difficult to plan events around feedings. She gets really fussy before feedings and lately has been pretty fussy after feedings too. I'm not sure if I'm eating something she doesn't like, or if she is eating too much too fast, or not enough, or if she's uncomfortable, or if something else, it's really difficult.
- Shannon has been SO helpful in helping her calm down. And when Rhonda and Dave and my mom where here, that was super helpful also. Just knowing that there are more people who I trust around to help and who have experience was awesome!
- I try to remember to eat enough. I don't think I am. Now that she's fussy, I'm afraid to eat things. I don't know if eggs bother her, or milk, or sausage, or spicy foods. :( It's quite difficult.
- I took naps when Rhonda was here. Those were nice. :)
- I cross-stitch and work on Etsy things. Those go MUCH slower now that my prime responsibility is Keagan.
- Laundry. Jeepers. She goes through a lot of clothes and blankets and washclothes.
- She pees and poos all the time. We probably change about 15 times a day, and half if not more of those have poop.
- Walking around. We hold her and just walk around the house. She just stares at things, including lights. She seems to like lights.
- Sticking her tongue out. It's always out.
- Eating. She is constantly rooting and looking like she wants to eat. That makes it quite difficult to know when she actually wants to eat.
- Being swaddled. Although that seems to be wearing off.
They made me leave in a wheelchair. No complaints though. I got to be wheeled out while holding my new baby. :)
Here she is on her first car ride in our new car, which we basically bought for her. She slept the whole time.
For not going out of our way to get pink things, we sure do have a lot of pink for her.
Nap time with Daddy (crazy, Shannon is a daddy).
First trip to Panera. We met Shannon for lunch on Friday.
3 comments:
The good news is that this no sleep phase doesn't last forever!
Other random advice which you can take or leave at your pleasure...
If she's peeing through her disposables onto her pjs in 3 or even 6 hours, there's something wrong... not with Keagan but with the diapers... I would suggest first trying to make sure that the gusset is standing up when her diapers go on. Failing that, I would try a different brand of diapers. Not all diapers fit the same and the brand can make a huge difference. We tried one cheap brand that leaked all the time and finally decided to spend a little extra to get non-leaking disposables (we used only disposables for the first couple weeks because of cord issues and the lovely pooping constantly issues... now we use the cloth).
Is she fussy immediately after feedings or after a delay? Is she less fussy after she burps? Is she gaining weight well? If she's gaining weight, then she's getting enough... If you are worried about weight, stop by your pediatricians for a weigh in. They'll do this even without an appointment with your doc. It could be something like acid reflux... If so, you could try, propping her upright after feedings (like in her car seat or bouncer) to help keep the acid from coming back up. Do you normally feed both sides? Does she only get fussy after feedings at certain times of day? Autumn likes to cluster feed... she eats about every 1-2 hours in the morning and then starts to go 4 hours by afternoon. Don't feel like you have to stick to every 3 hours. If she seems hungry in an hour, feed her. If she hasn't eaten in 3 hours though, you should definitely feed her regardless. If you are concerned about things you are eating, to test it you need to cut it from your diet for about a week. This part sucks. It's like playing scientist with your baby... What's going to make her sick/fussy? The two big things that made a difference in Autumn's fussiness and poop were my drinking milk and caffeine. The caffeine a little more on the fussiness and the milk on the poop. So if you have been drinking caffeine you may try cutting that and see what that does. Caffeine causes anxiety and jitteriness even in adults so in a little body it can make them pretty fussy. Eat well and drink lots of water! It will get better!
Feel free to e-mail or call me if you have any other questions or you want any clarifications.
I love you Nicole! I know you are doing a great job! Kiss that baby for me! :)
When Nikki was fussy I bounced with her. I would sit on the edge of the bed like Mom used to with us and bounce. OR, not sure if you remember me doing this with her, I would sit on the couch and bounce my back against the back of the couch. For some reason the more violent bouncing calmed her down or it put her in shock, one or the other. All I know is it worked. Do you do tummy time? being in a different position may help her as well. I was a bad Mommy, Nikki slept on her tummy, when she slept on her back she was very fussy. what else..... Na-ne-na-ne-na-ne. The 'Song', this was helpful also.
I love you Nicole and your Keagan and Shannon. I love all three of you and I can't WAIT to be down there!! ARG!
Thanks for all the advice! Things with fussiness have gotten a lot better. We are learning her hunger hints. Also, we are getting better with feeding her enough at the right times. It is working much better. I think there was just a lot of stress for Keagan and I with feeding and that was causing problems, including gas But it's all going much better now.
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