Almost 7 weeks old!!

Tomorrow my baby girl will be 7 weeks old. It has been a HUGE learning experience these past few weeks. We have gone though 100's of diapers/wipes/feedings/tears and pictures :)

Allison is able to lift her head side to side and hold it in mid-line when on her tummy for about 15-20 seconds. She is visually tracking side to side, up and down, in diagnols, and we are working on circles. She will fixate on things she likes for a LONG time (lights & TV =/) She will pat at things that are hanging above her- she does better when they are on the left or right vs. middle (more difficult). She continues to enjoy working her sides independently and has not brought them together, but has found her mouth. She is SMILING, and cooing a ton! And also squawking/yelling at us instead of crying all the time- it is kind of nice :) She also likes to be upright so she can look around. I'm sure there are more things she is doing, but I can't think of them at this time.

To date I have continued to nurse on demand- every 3-8ish hours. I had to feed Allie a bottle one morning (we had 2 men over working on our house) and it was one of the most awkward things I have done in my entire life. I have grown to enjoy nursing my baby, it is our special bonding time when she is quiet and I can soothe her. But I have to say it is probably one of the most DIFFICULT things I have done in my entire life. (and I thought getting my Masters degree was difficult!) Nursing your baby is supposed to be "natural", and it is a LOT of work for such a "natural" experience. I am learning that a lot of people are weirded out by breastfeeding mothers, and I do not flaunt it, I am just have a hard time figuring out where I can go and feed my own child without people being upset. Hopefully over time things will only get better, until then I am open to all ideas/suggestions/advice so I can feed my baby outside of our home.

Sleeping is another thing that changes dramatically when you have a baby. I have to say I think I have a pretty good "sleeper". Once she is swaddled and put down in her rock n' play (bassinet) she will usually sleep for 4-8 hours (depending on how tired she is, and when she last ate). I am sleeping in her room, we left a full size guest bed in there, and I can nurse her and put her right back down. However convenient it is so sleep right next to the baby and feed her quickly and put her back down I would like to join my husband in our bed soon. We are moving the baby to her crib- currently she is taking 1 nap a day in her crib, but she likes to sleep on her tummy (so we have a video monitor) and I do not feel comfortable putting her down like that over night.

And finally we will talk about body shape/clothes :) My maternity clothes all fall off of me (with the exception of a couple of t-shirts bought at the very beginning of my pregnancy), most of the pre-pregnancy tops are too short (nursing mothers are well endowed), and the bottoms are just totally wrong. I have lost all my baby weight- I thank nursing to that- but my body is a TOTALLY different shape, with all different kinds of marks ;) I went shopping this past weekend and realized I had not bought regular clothes in over a year!!! I got some great deals, and a few new tops/jeans for now. Enough to get me through until more of my clothes fit better. (But really I am not opposed to a whole new wardrobe- my husband might be though ;) )

Well off to do something productive while the baby has her afternoon nap :) My hope is that once I fall into more of a routine with the baby I will have a little more me time to blog a few more times :) Until then.....

My body....

Let's face it, I had a baby. I did not have the "perfect" body before trying to get pregnant and it only got worst while "trying". But I am strong, healthy, and I grew a human inside of me! Well I sure do have the stretch marks to show..and YES as soon as I got pregnant I used lotion/cocoa butter DAILY to AVOID these marks- but I am pretty sure they are hereditary (thanks mom :) ). I am about 3 weeks out from having my beautiful daughter and 9 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight (I was at the doctor's 1 week ago). But it is so hard to look at your body after having a baby and find yourself beautiful. So here is a little quote someone shared with me to shine light on this topic:

"A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me. It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it."