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Brinley Summary: Week 14 {3 Months Old}

3 month old photo taken by me
Oh my goodness! I know I am biased, but isn't she just seriously adorable? She is seriously sweet. This is a summary for Brinley's 14th week. She was 13 weeks old. At the beginning of this week, she turned 3 months old. I will label this with newborn still since she was a newborn for a couple of days of it.

REFLECTION
As her official newborn period ended, I reflected on it. It went by so very fast! I do not traditionally really love the newborn phase, but I am happy to say that I did this time around. I really enjoyed it to the fullest. I loved it for its good points. I soaked up those quiet moments with her. I let her sleep in my arms sometimes. I cuddled her. Those first smiles are just amazing. Life is slower paced with a newborn, and while that was hard for me to get used to with Brayden (I am a busy body) and hard to manage with my other girls just because of having busy little toddlers and preschoolers, it was something I fully appreciated this time around. Thank you for forcing me to slow down and take notice of life!

EATING
Oh these kids this age! They start to get distracted while nursing. I have to laugh. You start life out working so hard to get this baby to stay awake to eat. You get some time to enjoy baby just eating. Baby focuses and stays awake without a battle. Then baby gets about three months old and everything is a distraction. 

My mom was remember the days of Brayden when he would get distracted and she would have to go into another room or hide from him so he could just eat. That worked great for him. I tried going into a quiet room where Brinley couldn't hear the many distractions of our house...but that didn't work. She is used to noise. Brayden was used to silence of course since it was just he and I at home. Brinley is smart and knows these people should be there, so she still looks for them if they aren't there.

I finally got out the nursing cover and covered her up. If she can hear them but not see them, I can usually get her to eat. I don't think the cover will be a fix forever, but it is helping right now. 

SLEEP
Sleep was good and normal. 

At this age, many moms start weaning or have even dropped the swaddle by now. I tried the one-arm swaddle one nap this week...definitely NOT ready. 

PLAYTIME
This age is fun--the baby just gets so interactive and really enjoys playing. And it just gets better from here on out. I love her squeals of delight and fun while she plays. A cute thing is that she loves to be tickled under her chin. I can tell when she wants to be tickled by her little happy dance. 

TIME CHANGE
This was the week of the time change. I had her schedule fully shifted except for the dreamfeed. Oh the dreamfeed. I think this has to be incredibly rare. She was at the point when all signs pointed to dropping the dreamfeed, but it was a time change when you fall back. So I didn't want to drop it and have her wake earlier in the morning--earlier would have been early with this time change. 

I thought and thought and thought about how to do this. Do I drop the dreamfeed altogether? Do I leave it at the same time to her (the new 9:15)? Do I move it some but not all of the way? I didn't really want to push it later because the way I like to drop the dreamfeed is to move it up a bit, so to move it later when I should be moving it earlier didn't seem to make much sense. But if I move it earlier I am at the point I could just drop it. 

So what I did was move it to the new 9:45 (old 10:45). I will leave it there for a while--at least a week. Maybe two or more. I tend to drop the dreamfeed later than needed. I just feel better about it that way. 

AS FOR ME
My hair has started to fall out again. So far it is just normal hair amounts. It reminded me that my hair hasn't fallen out for months and months. It also reminded me that the crazy amounts of hair falling out is in my future. Ahh good times (sarcastically stated).

SCHEDULE
This is our daily schedule. Most of the week was pre-time change, so I will leave the pre-time change schedule up. 

8:10--feed
9:10--nap
11:30--feed
12:20--nap
3:00--feed
3:50--nap
6:00--feed
7:00--nap
8:00--feed, then bedtime
10:15--dreamfeed



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Brinley Summary: Week 13


Any Harry Potter fans out there? Brinley was Dobby the house elf for Halloween. My husband was Hagrid, I was Professor McGonagall, Brayden was Harry Potter, Kaitlyn was Hermione, and McKenna was Ginny Weasley. Brinley was going to be a wizard (I guess witch), but my friend Manda had the idea for her to be Dobby. So we ran with it.

This is a summary of Brinley's 13th week--she was 12 weeks old. This is the last of the newborn phase!

EATING
Oh eating. So this is wonder week 12 week. The most notable thing for me with wonder week 12 is the non-eating that happens. It can be very hard to get baby to eat. We had only one day of this. Then I started lightly keeping my free hand on the back of her head and found she would nurse as normal if I did that. 

She also refused the bottle again this week. I was helping in Kaitlyn's class at school and my mom was watching her and she refused the bottle. Later in the week my husband tried to give her one, and she wasn't so offended as she was with my mom, but she also didn't really eat. I fear our bottle days might be over. We will keep trying though.

PLAYING
Her two favorite toys right now are the activity gym and her bouncer seat. She really, really loves the bouncer seat. 

She also likes to look at light fixtures if they stick out from the ceiling. She loves the ceiling fan (not moving). 

She also started having a longer waketime this week. She now does 60 minutes for each waketime length.

SLEEPING
Sleep was good and normal this week. She had one day where she ate sooner than usual. I guess that was a growth spurt day? 

I moved her into a larger diaper at night. So in the day she wears size one, but through the night she wears size two.

WONDER WEEK 12
I find Wonder Week 12 to be one of the less intrusive of the wonder weeks. This is about smooth transitions. Your baby will be able to move more smoothly after this week. So by the end of the week, Brinley was less likely to smack herself in her face. I did love how she would do that and then look really offended :) 

After this wonder week, there is a good chance your baby will be ready or close to ready to drop the swaddle. She is a lot less jerky. So we will try that next week!


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Brinley Summary: Week 12

It is so bright outside!
This is a summary for Brinley's 12th week--she was 11 weeks old. This was really a perfect week. In my experience, I knew this was the "calm before the storm" kind of deal before the next wonder week came along. Even though it was a nice, calm week, there are some points of interest.

EATING
All normal. Still six feedings a day. She took her bottle again this week just fine.

SLEEPING
Sleep was all good and perfect. I still love the Merino Sleep Sack. I haven't decided if I am getting a second one or not. She did fine for her one nap without it last week on laundry day. However, she is a child who obviously likes her stuff clean. I have never had a child be like this. I change her swaddle blanket every other day and her sheets three times a week. So I do think she would be happy with two just so she could have it cleaned more than once a week...but I don't know. Yes, I know. She is my youngest child alright? Allow me to do some spoiling here. 

Brinley is still in her bassinet in her crib for all naps and night. I did a couple of naps in the crib, and for one she slept as usual but seemed to take FOREVER to fall asleep. Then the next day, she didn't fall asleep at all. I think she still likes the incline. I am sticking with the bassinet for now and will try the crib again at a later date. We still have months before it will be too small for her.

I also changed the light in her room this week.She has always napped with the blinds fully open, but after watching her on the monitor, I thought the sunlight streaming in the window might be making it difficult for her to get into a nice deep sleep. So I now close her blinds half way. I think that is better. Every child is very individual on what kind of light they can have, and Brinley has even changed through her life, so always keep that in mind when troubleshooting sleep.

WITCHING HOUR
Witching hour is definitely on the way out. It is often not even around.

SUNDAY DISRUPTION
The church disruption can be killer. I think being at church is important, so we push through it. This week, though, I did leave 20 minutes early because she just wasn't sleeping.

This week I also skipped a feeding in the evening. She gets so tired that it is hard to wake her up to eat, and then she ends up snacking. So I skipped a feeding in an effort to get her hungry enough to just eat. I still had to wake her up to eat, but she did eat well and we had no night issues that night.

COCONUT OIL
At the risk of sounding trendy, I know coconut oil is all the rage these days, coconut oil really is fantastic. My sister-in-law gave me some when I was pregnant with Brinley. She had a dry forehead, and I had tried the various lotions. I finally decided to go with the coconut oil and one nap later she looked 100% better. The rest of her skin does great with the Aveeno, but her face does best with coconut oil.

TIME CHANGE
I have been shifting her schedule in preparation for the time change. The only thing I haven't shifted is the dreamfeed.



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Brinley Summary: Week 11

Isn't she sweet? This is her, giving me big smiles, at my cousin's wedding reception. She was  so tired and still happy as can be.

This is a summary for Brinley's 11th week; she was 10 weeks old. You know, babies are just the best. I know in the past I have said newborn phase is not my favorite, but I have loved it with Brinley. In a couple of weeks she won't be a newborn anymore! I think when you have older kids, you really appreciate baby's. For one thing, they make life slow down. You have to slow down for the baby. For another, your concerns over a baby are so trivial in comparison to concerns over older children. Not to say they aren't important, sleeping and eating are important, but I don't find that as stressful as making sure life's moral lessons are all happening at the right time. And they never talk back. You have to appreciate that about a baby :) They also stay put. You know exactly what they are doing and where they are.

EATING
Eating returned to normal this week. 

BOTTLE
She took a bottle as usual again this week, which was a relief to me. 

WAKETIME
Waketime was fun this week. She really enjoyed her gym. She would slowly grab the toys and hold on briefly, then slowly grab. I just love sitting and watching her learn these skills. 

She is getting much better hand control. She started to suck on her hands briefly at times when awake.

SLEEPING
Naps were normal. 

Night was different. She had three nights in a row where she woke up. Every week after church, she has woken in the night. This week, after church she just slept and slept all day. It was so hard to get her to wake up and so hard to get her to eat when I did wake her up. That night, she woke at 3:15 in the night. The other two nights when she woke in the night it was closer to 5 AM, so not a huge disruption and not way off of normal. I figured she woke at 3:15 because she was hungry from not eating the evening before. I thought it would have been better to skip a feeding to let her get some sleep and to build up an appetite.

I also wondered if she was getting cold at night. I really think that was part of it. The last night of the week, I had a new sleeper sent to me to review. Here is a link: http://www.shoppingmoa.com/Merino-Kids-Baby-Sleep-Bag-Natural/M/B005OU5QEG.htm

Here is a picture from their website:

Just a normal looking sleeper. But it isn't--it is made from Merino wool. What is Merino wool? Here is a description:

Merino wool is nature's smart fiber and the fabric of our times. Soft as silk, yet durable. Warm yet breathable.
Merino has the remarkable ability to regulate body temperature. It captures and circulates air to insulate baby when the room temperature falls, and releases excess body heat and moisture as the room temperature rises. Baby stays warm and dry through night and day without overheating. 
Research shows merino is the ideal fabric for baby sleep sacks. A 2010 AgResearch study determined that babies sleeping in Merino Kids' newborn merino sleep sack are less likely to overheat or to become damp or chilled compared with synthetic polar fleece sleep sacks.

It is pricey. Spendy. It normally runs up to $150.00 but is on sale for $99.99 right now. But it is worth it. It really works. I put Brinley in it in her swaddle blanket--so she is all swaddled up inside. She has slept perfectly ever since. I think she was cold at night. This blanket is so great because it keeps baby at the perfect temperature without you having to guess exactly how to dress baby each night. And it is a blanket that can't be pulled over baby's head. I told my husband after trying it I would totally buy it. I don't get anything for saying it--and I wouldn't recommend a product that is so expensive, especially in this economy, unless I really believed in it. I think I might buy a second for laundry day...I am about to have her take a nap without it so I can wash it :) I am honestly nervous! Ha ha! 

It is sized up to 2T, so you can get two years of wear out of it. Definitely a product that I recommend.

WITCHING HOUR
I wanted to make a witching hour note. For Brinley's 7:30ish feeding, I do things differently in order to help avoid any witching hour sleep aversion. 

I nurse the first side as usual. Once she is done, I take her to her room, change her diaper, put her in her PJs, swaddle her, and then nurse the second side. Then when I put her in bed, she isn't asleep, but she is very contentedly drowsy.  If she was asleep, I really wouldn't see anything wrong with that. She just isn't. She pulls off, is done nursing, and I burp her and put her in bed. 

So if you have witching hour going on, don't feel like you can't do what it takes to help it to go away. Nursing to sleep, swing sleeping, rocking to sleep--whatever it takes. It is one or two feedings a day typically and it is only a few weeks. It is okay to do what it takes to help baby peacefully sleep.

AS FOR ME
I had a night of insomnia again--the night she woke at 3:15. I guess I got used to not waking in the night and I was up for the day at that point. I stayed in bed after I had fed Brinely and put her back in bed. I tried to sleep, but to no avail. I was awake. As annoying as insomnia is, I am really grateful that it is only once a week and not several days in a row like it has been for me in the past.

I wanted to update exercise for me. I started off exercise with pilates. About three weeks ago I upped it to Lindsay Brin's Boot Camp. I do that three days a week. Next week, I plan to add in cardio on my elliptical two days a week. 
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Brinley Newborn Summary: Week 9

love those smiles!

This summary is for Brinley's 9th week--she was 8 weeks old.

NURSING
Nursing went well this week except for one day--a wonder week 8 thing so see that below to know about that day.

POOPING
She is still on the 1-2 times per week pooping plan.

SLEEPING
Oh sleeping! This was a great week. One morning early in the week I woke at 5:30 AM and realized she hadn't woken in the night at all. A 7.5 hour stretch! It was a day I needed her on her normal schedule because I was helping in Kaitlyn's class, so I woke her, fed her, then put her back down and got her up again at 7:30.

Through the week, she kept sleeping longer and longer. She moved to 9 hours!

There was a morning she woke at 6:15 AM. This is such an awkward time to wake up when our goal time is 7-7:30. I find it difficult to decide what to do. I either start the day at 6:15 and move on from there, or I feed then get up again in two hours. There really is no wrong or right way universally--just what works best for your baby, you, and your family.

As she ate, I thought and thought about what to do. In the end, I decided to put her down and then get her up in two hours. I had two driving reasons for coming to that decision.

The first reason was that if I started the day then, she likely would drop a feeding. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it being the first day of possibly doing that an her being 8 weeks old, I wasn't sure that I wanted to drop a feeding. I wanted to stick to 7 feedings in a 24 hour period for the time.

The second reason was that the time change is coming up (ugh). So if I start the day at 6, it is like starting at 5 in a month. I don't want to train her body into that starting time. This was my primary reason for feeding and then waking again in two hours. For more on this, see my post:  Early Morning Feedings Before Waketime: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/early-morning-feedings-before-waketime.html

And of course with the good sleep the comments start coming. "You are so lucky!" She is a good baby, but I wouldn't put it to luck. I haven't just happened into her being a great sleeper. I make a lot of sacrifices to protect her sleep and I make sure to keep her routine consistent.

Happily I also get the positive comments. One nice old lady at my church asked me how she was sleeping, and when I told her she said, "Well you know why don't you? It is because you are such a good mom. You know, you really need to write a book about babies. And look how alert she is! For her age she is just so alert!" I really love her :)

MILESTONES
A Babywise milestone she met this week, besides the sleeping, is that she started to wake happy. She wasn't happy for long periods, but she would wake up and lay there and look around contently. 

WONDER WEEK 8
We had one day of wonder week 8 business going on. Wonder Week 8 is "The World of Patterns." Your baby starts to become aware of patterns around her. Baby might stare at lights (this is something Brinley did--obsessed with lights). She can also be obsessed with playing with her hands (but Brinley was not). There can be more sound experiments and babbling noises (yes). She can focus longer (yes). Baby can be more clingly, cry more often, loses appetite, shy around strangers, and sleeps poorly. The gym is a great toy for this age.

She had the one half day of poor sleep and lack of appetite. She was obsessed with lights, and definitely started using her voice more. 

TWO MONTH WELL CHECK
For Brinley's two month well check I tried something I haven't ever tried before. For doctor appointments, I have always gotten the baby up and fed her and then taken her to the appointment. This is great and all, but by the time you get into the doctors office, it is time for baby's nap.

This time, I woke her right when it was time to leave. We hopped in the car and drove to the appointment. It is only a 10-15 minute drive for us. Our doctor is fast about getting you out of the waiting room, so we checked in and were called back a few minutes later. We got her weight and length. Then I sat and started to feed her while I waited for the doctor to come in. She was finishing side one right when he came in. So we paused and did the check-up. Then she got her vaccinations and I fed the second side, we drove home, and she went down for her nap. I actually liked this a lot. One great thing is that she wasn't up as long. She was only up for about 15 minutes longer than usual, which she can handle once in a while. Another great thing was that I was able to nurse her after her vaccinations, so I was able to give her some comfort--not that you couldn't do the same even if it wasn't time to nurse.

Speaking of the vaccinations, she did great that day, sleeping the rest of the day. She did need acetaminophen throughout the remainder of the day. About six hours after her vaccinations, she was in some pain. It was almost time for medicine again, but not quite, so you know it is not working as well. She was nursing and just started crying from the pain from being on her side. My friend Kristi later suggested I do the football hold, which I didn't think of at the time--great idea! So you can do that if you are in a similar situation. Her next feeding was during her medicine being active. By the next morning, she was just fine.

CUDDLE BUG
Brinley loves to cuddle. She will often be sleepy at the end of a feeding and just cuddle up to me and doze. I love to sit and just hold her. I give her a couple of minutes before waking her up and just soak in the moment. She won't do it much longer and I want to just relish in it while she does!


SCHEDULE
This is our daily schedule.

7:30--feed
8:20--nap
11:00--feed
11:50--nap
2:00--feed
2:50--nap
4:30-5:00--feed
5:20--nap
7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime
10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed. Typically, this happened between 6-6:15. Toward the end of the week she slept until 7 AM.

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Newborn Summary: Week 8

B is for Brinley
This summary is for Brinley in her 8th week--while she was 7 weeks old.

NURSING
Brinley started to be more awake for her feedings this week, keeping her eyes open for the feedings. She hasn't ever been consistently difficult to keep awake for feedings, but even so, she wasn't completely alert during feedings. This week, she was alert.

Toward the middle of this week, I suddenly had a clogged duct in each breast. I woke the next morning to find they were red and hot to the touch. I feared mastitis was either here or imminent. It was Saturday, and I don't like our Instacare (Urgent Care), so I decided to try to work it out and call my OB on Monday if it didn't go away.

I got one side to go away by massaging it out. If you have never massaged a clogged duct, let me tell you, it doesn't feel good. But it is better than mastitis. The other side, however, was bad. It hurt so much that if her toe lightly touched my breast while she was eating, I flinched in pain. That day, I started every feeding on that side. I applied warm compresses and massaged and massaged. I also hand-expressed the milk out. By Monday morning, it was fine! I was so happy. I really, really want to avoid antibiodics if possible because in my experience, that has led to thrush all but one time. 

FEEDING INTERVALS
Brinley is old enough for 2.5-3.5 hour schedule. She eats much better if she wakes on her own versus me waking her, so if she is still sleeping at the three hour mark, I let her go thirty more minutes before waking her. She will then often have a 2.5 hour interval at some point in the day. Doing this doesn't remove a feeding from our day, it just shifts the exact time of feedings.

POOPING
She kept to the once-per-week poop. It has been about 7 years since I had a once-per-week pooper, and it is rather nice! It is nice not changing a poopy diaper every time I change a diaper. I don't mind newborn poop persay, but wet diapers are much easier.

SLEEPING
Naps have continued on as usual--which is fabulous.

Nighttime got even better. She extended her nights a bit, waking for her first time around 4 AM most nights. She also started sleeping consistently until my desired wake up time of 7:30 AM. I have to wake her each day to eat at 7:30.

SLEEPY TIME OF DAY
Brinley has a sleepy time of day, and it is the same as my other girls. She is super, super sleepy after her 1:30 PM feeding. I pretty much have to just feed her, change her diaper, and put her back in bed. My other girls were also sleepy at this time of day--especially Kaitlyn.

MILESTONES
The smile came! Finally! I love it! I have even been able to catch it on camera. Oh those first smiles just make your heart melt! Even if you have a baby that doesn't cry much at all, you spend 4-6 weeks taking care of this person, adorable and all, who doesn't utter a thank you or even give a smile in return. Some, like Brinley, are quite cuddly and that is a nice thank you. But that first smile just makes it all okay! It is the best thank-you ever. 

I also noticed Brinley's eye-lashes are in and dark. 

ADJUSTED AGE?
Adjusted age...this is such a difficult thing. So Brinley was born three weeks early. Do I count her age as 7 weeks old or 4 weeks old? Babies born 36 weeks or younger often are adjusted to really start counting age from the due date, but a 38 or 39 weeker isn't going to be adjusted...but shouldn't they if they are still before their due date? And what about late babies?

In my mind, I treat her like a 7 week old; however, I also acknowledge the fact that she was born early and might meet eating, sleeping, and physical milestones later than she "should." With sleeping, a huge factor is weight, so an early baby is often smaller than on-time babies.

MAKING BABYFOOD
I have been making baby food to freeze for Brinley. Most foods will freeze for around a year, so I can make the food now while it is in season and less expensive (or free...we have a garden and we have relatives who grow things we don't) and freeze it for later.

A FABULOUS resource for easy baby-food making is Fresh Baby http://freshbaby.com/home/index.cfm. Fresh Baby often sponsors giveaways on this blog. A great resource is the kit: http://freshbaby.com/buy_our_products/product.cfm?item=so-easy-baby-food-kit

Their instructions for making baby food are super, super simple and easy to follow. The way they have to you it is not intimidating in the least. 

Another great resource if you are into lots of information (like a textbook) is Super Baby Food. I love that book. 

OUTINGS
I forgot to mention last week another big outing we had. We went to an LDS temple open house. It was super busy and crowded, so we were inside for a couple of hours. She slept for one hour in arms, then was awake for one hour. She was super good. Once we got out, we offered her a bottle of breastmilk, but she only took an ounce. She is not a great bottle drinker yet. She often gags with it in her mouth. Hopefully that can change. We drove home and she nursed great. 

We had family pictures done this week. I am very excited to see them! Brinley was good. No smiling, but no screaming. 

WAKETME ACTIVITIES
These are the things we do during waketime. If there is a certain time of day we try to do something, I have noted it.
  • Bath (I always do this after her first feeding of the day)
  • Get held by siblings/parents (this happens a whole lot)
  • Tummy time (this varies based on mood--I like to do tummy time when she is happy and alert)
  • Gym play (I do this after her 10:30 AM feeding. I treat it like an independent play, though I am in the room with her while she does it)
  • Read stories (we do this before bed--after her 7:00 PM feeding)
  • "Play" on blanket
  • Lay there and have me take a million pictures of her
  • Walks 

SCHEDULE
This is our daily schedule that we shoot for. 

7:30--feed
8:20--nap
10:30-11:00--feed
11:20--nap
1:30-2:00--feed
2:20--nap
4:30-5:00--feed
5:20--nap
7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime
10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2:30-3:30 AM.

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Newborn Summary: Week 7

isn't this funny! I took this of her this week
This is for the week Brinley was 6 weeks old--so her 7th week but while she is 6 weeks old.

NURSING
Nursing is still going great!

POOPING
This week, Brinley suddenly stopped pooping 4-5 times per day. My other girls were always the type to poop several times a day. Brayden, however, was always a "once every few days" sort. So I knew this could be normal for a baby. They can poop multiple times a day or once every week (or longer). I have to wonder if the timing is with wonder week 5. The book  The Wonder Weeks  says baby's digestive system will be more mature after that week.

WITCHING HOUR
So far, Brinley rarely has witching hour times, but McKenna didn't start until she was older so I wouldn't say we are free and clear. We decided to set up her swing this week. We hadn't used it at all yet, but I thought it might come in handy sometimes and I wanted to know if she would like it since McKenna hated it.

She had one night of witching hour this week, and for that we put her in the swing and she took a nap in it! Always remember, if your baby has witching hour, don't be afraid to do what it takes to keep baby happy and get a nap in. 

Also, if your baby has reflux and needs to sleep in the swing often, don't worry about it. Kaitlyn took a lot of naps in her swing as a baby, and she is a great sleeper today. It didn't negatively impact her at all. Sleep comes first.

OUTINGS
The big outing for us this week was my doctor visit. I wasn't worried at all about how Brinley would do. My other girls did great (Brayden, however, did not. He was crying so much my OB had one of his nurses take him out so he could talk to me. That was before we started with Babywise, though). 

Brinley started to cry as soon as my OB entered the room. Before that, she was fine. But I was thinking how funny it is to have a woman with a 6 week old stripped down and ready for a pelvic exam. It doesn't really put you in a position to help your baby. My OB did my exam and then I picked Brinley up and soothed her. Neither of us were stressed; she has four kids, now I have four kids...I guess we are used to it all. My OB commented, "At least her cry isn't annoying." It's true! Her cry isn't annoying at all. I assumed I just thought that because she is mine. Oh, and you might have noticed the pronoun genders changing with my OB; my first OB moved across the country after Kaitlyn was born so I have a different one now. Anyway, we survived just fine.

DREAMFEED
For her dreamfeed, she pretty much went back to eating from only one side. She sleeps the same with one or two sides, so I don't stress it out. I try to get two sides, but if she will only take one, I put her in bed and don't worry about it.

WAKETME ACTIVITIES
These are the things we do during waketime. If there is a certain time of day we try to do something, I have noted it.
  • Bath (I always do this after her first feeding of the day)
  • Get held by siblings/parents (this happens a whole lot)
  • Tummy time (this varies based on mood--I like to do tummy time when she is happy and alert)
  • Gym play (I do this after her 10:30 AM feeding. I treat it like an independent play, though I am in the room with her while she does it)
  • Read stories (we do this before bed--after her 7:00 PM feeding)
  • "Play" on blanket
  • Lay there and have me take a million pictures of her
  • Walks 

AS FOR ME
I had no insomnia this week! Hurray!

I had my six week visit this week with my OBGYN. Everything is great with me and I was cleared for exercise, so I decided to start out with simple pilates. With pilates, I don't get sweaty, so I am cool with doing them at any point in the day and not having to get up early to do them before I get ready. I figure I will do pilates for a couple of weeks and then try something more vigorous. Pilates will also be good because my abs really need some strength! They are definitely the weak spot in my body right now. 

If your back is really sore, work your abs. Often times back pain is caused by a weak "core"--including your abs. I am sure the extra weight from your breastfeeding breasts doesn't help, either. I have seen a big improvement just after three times of doing pilates. I did Winsor Pilates

SCHEDULE
This is our daily schedule that we shoot for. Our first feeding varies the most. It typically ranges between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. She is now old enough to do 2.5 to 3.5 hour intervals between feedings, so if she is sleeping when the time comes up, I let her go up to 30 minutes longer. She will eat better if she wakes on her own, and if not, those extra thirty minutes can often be enough to get her interested in eating.

7:30--feed
8:20--nap
10:30--feed
11:20--nap
1:30--feed
2:20--nap
4:30--feed
5:20--nap
7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime
10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2:30-3:30 AM.

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