Miko at Three Months



How Miko is Doing
-Miko weighs 14.5 pounds and is about 63 cm long
-Still feeds every 2 hours during the day but has gone over 5 hours between feeds at night a few times!
-He is all smiles now, and makes noises of delight quite often.
-He has learned to makes splashes in the bathtub, its so adorable.  He gets his legs kicking and moves his arms back and forth and looks so serious while he's doing it.
-Shortly after his 2 month milestone he started to suck on his fist, he tries to get his whole hand in his mouth.
-Miko has just recently discovered his hands, he will stare at them quietly with a look of concentration.  He can even bring his hands together and will reach out and touch objects that are close to him.  While I am nursing him or giving him a diaper change, he will often find something to grab or stroke with his fingers.
-When I read him books now, he actually looks at the pages very intently and will occasionally reach out and touch them.
-Miko is so easy to run errands with, he just sits quietly in his car seat taking in all the new sights and sounds.
-Spring has come early to the Okanagan valley so we had our first nursing session outside last week. 
-Miko has started drooling and making spit bubbles but is not teething yet.

How I'm Doing
-I still weigh about the same and have decided not to keep track of it anymore. I have never been one to weigh myself, in fact, I have never owned a scaled until now (we bought it to weigh Miko).  What matters more to me is how I feel about my body.
-I have had a few health issues flare up since giving birth and I am working towards getting back to my healthy self (I am going to go into more detail in an upcoming blog post)
-Miko and I have stated going to 'Baby Talk' classes together.  It's a great excuse to get out of the house and meet other new Moms.  The topics we have covered so far are safety, attachment parenting and infant massage - which Miko absolutely loved - the nurses kept commenting on it.
-Miko and I have a great routine going and manage to get outside together almost every day.
-I get between 7-10 hours of broken sleep a night and I am feeling great
-Books I have read this month: Healing Psoriasis - the Natural Alternative, White Oleander, and Sarum (thanks Mom)

 

2 to 3 Month comparison

More Miko and Mommy

Thanks Luke for always grabbing the camera!  I am so glad I can look back at these lovely moments of motherhood.

And thank goodness for 'selfies' ;)



My Favourite Online Resources

 



My favourite Blogs (See My Blog List to the right for an exhaustive list)
Creativity - Under the Sycamore
Photography - Small Things, Under the Sycamore, Frontier Dreams
Writing - Dear Baby, Girls Gone Child
Honesty - Girls Gone Child
Everyday Life - 71 Toes
BC Blog - Little Red Caboose
Finances - The Greater Fool
Educational - How We Montessori
Useful Advice - Memories on Clover Lane

My Favourite New Mom Resources
Kellymom
Ask Dr Sears
A Collection of Passions
The Alpha Parent
The Natural Parents Network
Adventurous Parents

Most Inspiring Reads
Getting Through the 6 Week Growth Spurt - Don't Give Up Breastfeeding Moms!
It's okay if your baby is not sleeping through the night
Positive and Useful Information about infant sleep
An Evolutionary Perspective on Child Sleep
99 Tips for New Moms

More Thoughts on Night Waking and Sleep Deprivation

I am one of those people that likes to rationalize everything, I like to find explanations. I am always trying to better understand the world in a way that makes sense to me.  Having a baby has completely thrown me for a loop!  Miko's sleeping patterns are beyond comprehension, the more I try to identify a pattern the more confused I get...

 I have become obsessed with documenting his sleep habits. In fact, I have four different spreadsheets where I record his daily nap schedules, his bedtime routines, and his various night wakings. Every morning I pour over my spreadsheets to try and unlock 'the secret' of his sleeping habits. I even chart his progress in a graph and have become disheartened by a downward trend that has occurred in the past few days. Miko was feeding at regular intervals throughout the night - anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours between each nursing session.  I was getting between 8 and 9 hours of broken sleep a night and could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel of sleeplessness.  I was starting to feel like a normal human being again and assumed that the worst was over.... Just as thought I had it all figured out, everything changed again. Maybe it's because he got his first immunizations, maybe it's another growth spurt, or maybe its because we had to start using a different swaddling blanket because he outgrew the old one?  Maybe its something else entirely? 

 I will forever be baffled by newborn sleep habits. I may never fully understand the sudden and unexpected sleepless nights.  But you know what, that's okay.  I have grown to accept that fact that I have very little control over this aspect of my life right now. The only thing I can do is adjust my attitudes and expectations, and remind myself that it will get better.

I am so very thankful that this is my only 'issue' right now. Miko is an absolute joy!  He is such a happy baby. He seems so very content throughout the day and night.  There is an hour or two in the evening where he just wants to be cuddled and moved about, but other than that he is such an easy baby.  He breastfeeds like a champ and puts himself to sleep in his bassinet without any fussing whatsoever.  Every morning I am greeted with huge smiles and squeals of glee.  He seems to be doing great and that is all I could ever hope for. If I need to endure more weeks of sleep deprivation for his benefit, of course I will do it in a heartbeat! 

Miko at Two Months

 

How Miko is Doing
-Weighs 12 lbs 7 oz and is 61cm long (was 50cm at birth)
-Has started outgrowing his 0- 3 month size clothes! We are now into the 3-6 month size
-Still loves his bath and now enjoys getting his diaper changed. He also prefers to poop immediately into a fresh diaper.  It's quite consistent, I have to do back-to-back diaper changes a couple of times a day.
-Miko eats every two hours during the day and is less consistent at night. He can go anywhere from 1.5 - 4 hours between feedings
-He now smiles responsively and we can't get enough!  He is much less fussy and has long periods of alertness. He makes adorable 'happy' noises, kicks his legs, smiles and moves his arms around much more gracefully now.
-He has recently realized that my face is attached to my boobs. He gazes up at me and smiles before, during and after nursing sessions now.
-Luke hates how fast he has been outgrowing his cute clothing so we have started a keepsake box already
-Nicknames: Chubby Cherub, Grunty McGrunterson, Sunshine, Miko-man, Old man turtle (long story), Sweetheart

How I am Doing
-I weigh 120 pounds and I am still wearing maternity/yoga pants. I either go for a walk or do Pilates everyday
-I am dealing with the sleep deprivation quite well I think.  I have learned to be patient with the frequent night feedings and keep telling myself to cherish this stage because it will be over before I know it.
-I'm still getting 6-8 hours of broken sleep a night, and naps are very rare
-We now have a much more consistent day time and bed time routine. I am still loving my relaxing days at home with Miko. :)
-Books I have read this month: The No-Cry Sleep Solution (awesome book!), Clutter-Free with Kids and The Girl with the Pearl Earing

Making Memories



Dear Mikolaj,

Oh my sweet little one, I swear I love you more each and everyday!  How do you get cuter overnight? Everyday I see more and more of your individual personality peaking through and it is just awesome.  I can't believe how quickly you are growing, changing right before my eyes. You change so quickly that I barely have time to soak up each stage and store you away in my memories... Maybe it has to do with the lack of sleep but I find that I'm having a hard time remembering all of the little details from even just a month ago. I am so glad I am addicted to documenting my life with my camera!

From now on I am am going to exert every effort to cherish and remember each and every stage of your development. I am going to make sure I journal as much as I can, I will write down how it feels to be your mother. It is important that I record those little details before they get lost in time...

I am also going to start listening to music again so that I can associate certain songs with each stage of your life. It's amazing how listening to a certain song can instantly transport you back to a specific time in the past.  I am going to take advantage of this.

Luckily, I am obsessed with keeping jounals, notebooks and scrapbooks. I have a pregnancy journal, a baby book (thanks Nanna), baby milestones calendar (thanks Manda), a scrapbook that is all about you Miko (thanks Aunt Marg) as well as this blog, and my everyday journal. I will have quite an array of documentation to look back on and share with you when you are older. :)

I look forward to creating and recording a lifetime of memories with you my little Miko!

Love your Mommy

 



 Miko's scrapbook (in progress)

 

 Pregnancy journal

 Circus loves to photo-bomb

 

 Baby book

 

 Baby's first year calendar

Life With a Newborn - Dealing with Sleep Deprivation

As someone who 'needed' 8 hours of sleep a night to feel 'normal' I was a little worried about how I would deal with the inevitable lack of sleep.  I get very emotional and feel sad easily when I don't get my allotted 8 hours so I wasn't sure how I would cope with newborn sleep deprivation.

The first two weeks were astonishing, I had very little sleep but was obviously running off of adrenaline because I felt great!  After a few weeks of 6-8 hours of broken sleep a night I started to feel the effects. Now, at 6 weeks, I feel light-headed and exhausted during the day, I have a hard-time communicating and speaking in full coherent sentences and I lack any sort of creativity or enthusiasm that I had pre-baby. I turn into a zombie every evening around 6 or 7pm. This also happens to be Miko's fussy/cluster feeding time... 

Here are some positive things I have learned from this experience:
-I AM capable of surviving on much less than 8 hours of sleep a night
-When I am this tired I become much more true to myself.  I lack the energy to pretend to feel anything other than what I am experiencing moment-to-moment.
-I try not to put too much pressure on myself to 'sleep-when-the-baby-sleeps' because it actually ends up making me feel worse most of the time. I have a really hard time napping during the day and tend to get all anxious and stressed-out if I lay in bed and can't sleep (which still happens to me no matter how tired I am unfortunately...)

Here are some coping strategies I am going to try:
-I am not going to focus on how many hours I may or may not have slept during the night.  I am just going to sleep when I can and come to terms with the fact that I will most likely feel tired in the morning no matter what.
-I will try and nurse laying down more often.  I can't sleep in this position but at least I can let my body rest.
-I will remind myself that this will not last forever.  I will make a real effort to cherish this stage while I am living it.
-I will brew and enjoy some delicious coffee
-I will cuddle with Miko when I feel like I am at the end of my rope - there is no better way to remind myself that he is worth it!

Family Rhythm : Figuring Out Life with a Newborn

Now that we have been home with our little one for over a month, I feel like we have developed  a bit of a family rhythm. However, we have had family visiting for 3 of the last 4 weeks so I'm sure things will feel a bit different after we settle down.

Here's what has been working for us so far:

-I wake up for night feedings and let Luke (attempt) to sleep.  He has to get up and work, while I get to stay home and rest/take a nap, so I try to let him get as much sleep as possible at night.

-Luke spends some time with Miko when he gets home which allows me some time to take a shower, do some stretching and perhaps work on a blog post.

-I've been eating more snacks and small meals, things that are quick and easy to eat.  I have also been cutting up lots of veggies and making huge salads so there is always something healthy to grab in the fridge.

-I read, journal or work on my to-do lists during night feedings so that I don't fall asleep!  This way I am able to ensure little Miko is actively feeding, and I avoid falling asleep in an uncomfortable position.

-After trying a few different methods, I have come to realize that I identify the closest with the beliefs of Dr Sears and attachment parenting. Baby-lead feeding has been working great for us, and I am surprised at how relaxed I am about it. Miko has developed a pretty consistent schedule on his own anyway.

-I treat night time feedings a little differently than feedings during the day.  At night, when Miko wakes up hungry, I undress him and feed him from one boob.  He usually falls asleep after feeding for 10-20 minutes. I change his diaper and put his clothes back on. This process wakes him up again. He then feeds from the second boob until he falls asleep.  At this point I ease him into his bassinet so he can (hopefully) continue sleeping without waking up.

Miko at One Month

How Miko is doing:
-Weighs 10 lbs now and has moved up to size 1 diapers. Has also started growing out of his 'newborn' clothes
-Absolutely loves his tub bath
-Started eating more frequently during the day (1.5-2.5 hour intervals) but sleeps longer at night time (3-4 hour intervals between feedings)
-Has a fussy/'I want to cuddle' time after his morning feeding and around dinner time
-Has an identifiable 'I'm pooing' face
-He is very strong and can hold his head up for relatively long periods
-His favourite place is against Mommy or Daddy's chest
-Studies objects with great interest (choco-cat, lights, our faces)

How I am doing:
- I weigh 121 pounds, 8 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.  I still have quite a belly! I certainly can't wait to begin exercising after I get the go-ahead from my Doctor next week.
-I've been dealing with hemorrhoids that have been keeping me up at night (which is really frustrating when the baby is sleeping so well!)
-Pain from surgery is now non-existent :)  I have been massaging my scar and the surrounding tissue every day
-I get between 6 - 8 hours of broken sleep every night
-I have only had one blocked duct so far and haven't had to use my nipple cream at all yet!
-We both avoided catching Luke's flu somehow :)

New Nursing Mom Haircut

 For some reason I didn't realize how annoying my long hair would be with a newborn!  I wish someone told me to get it cut before I gave birth...  As you can see from the above picture, my hair was long enough to get in the way while breastfeeding.  Also, Miko liked grabbing a hold of it and did not like letting go :)  I'm surprised I let my hair get this long in the first place as I usually get it cut way before it gets this long.

Luckily, I found the time to get it chopped off while Miko was napping one afternoon.  I love it! I usually always love getting my hair cut, I feel like such a huge weight gets lifted, literally and figuratively.
Plus, it cuts down on my morning prep time immensely, it takes about half the time to wash and blow-dry my hair now.