4 month update

Sunday was Ada's 4 month birthday. It's hard to believe that four months have already passed by us. Ada's growing by leaps and bounds with each passing day. She's already trying to feed herself when she has a bottle. I'm kept busy helping keep her entertained daily. Simply laying on her activity mat doesn't always cut it. We now have an activity center that she's enjoying, even though she looks ridiculous sitting in it. 

Everything goes into her mouth now and she's testing limits. Nothing like watching your child see how far down her throat she can shove her fingers. I live for her smiles and laughs. Whenever I get her laughing, it makes me laugh. I love to hear it so much.

4 months!!

Her 4 month check up and shots were on Monday. She didn't do quite as well as she did at 2 months, but we some how made it through. Ada is now actually on the charts in all areas: 23.25" long, 11.2 lbs and head circumference of 16.14". These are in the 16th, 6th and 52nd percentile respectively. We are going to keep up our current feeding routine and hopefully after the 6 month check we'll be able to let her sleep through the night. Our pediatrician just wants to be sure that her weight continues to rise at a good rate.

In other news, we've begun packing up our house in anticipation of the move. We folded down the dining table and put it off to the side so we could start filling our dining with packed boxes. The next couple weeks will go by quickly, so I'm trying to get ahead on packing things that we won't need between now and then.

Also, I've been having some issues with wrist pain in the past couple weeks. My ob/gyn referred me to an orthopedist to diagnose the problem. He confirmed what I thought it most likely was which is de Quervain's tendonitis. It's like carpel tunnel and apparently many new mom's experience it. Hopefully a regimen of anti-inflammatory pills and rest should help get me over it soon. Gotta love all these postpartum issues.... 

Well, it's time to get back to playing with baby girl, working and getting the house in order for moving.

Feeding Update

Not sure why I've been thinking more on this subject tonight than usual, but I know I haven't really said much in a while about how the feeding is going. Over the weeks we found our groove and what's worked best for us. We do 8 feedings each day with about 10 ounces of supplement throughout the day.

It's taken time for me to come to terms with how things have turned out. I keep thinking about how everything from labor and delivery to now has not gone according to plan. My plans have ended up going to the wayside. During L&D this didn't seem like a big deal. Sacrificing my plans to get Ada here safely were worth it because we got her here safely. However, having my breast feeding plans get thrown off has been harder to accept. Possibly because I'm reminded of it everyday.

As Ada gets older it's getting harder to stick with my plan. I feel like I've been stuck in a cycle of guilt. If I spend time pumping, I feel guilty that I'm not spending time with my family. If I spend time with the family, I feel guilty that I'm not pumping as much milk. There simply aren't enough hours in my day to do it all: work, take care of my home and family, enjoy all the little moments. Now throw on top of that trying to prepare for buying a house and moving.

In the end, there are a couple lessons I can take away from this experience. First is that seeking professional help is better done sooner than later (possibly the most important). With the next (which is a ways off still), I won't wait to call in the reinforcements. Especially after this experience. Second is accepting the balance that you achieve, whether it's your ideal balance or not. I'm trying to not beat myself up over only pumping 2 times a day (as opposed to 4 or more). I'm hoping once we introduce solid foods in another couple months the need to pump will become moot. This also includes accepting what my body is capable of in terms of production.

I keep taking life one day at a time. Lots of deep breaths and baby steps.

Ada's Baptism

Planning Ada's baptism for Easter weekend made for an interesting Sunday. Church was busy with all sorts of activities: an Easter egg hunt for the kids, family pictures, lots of fellowship time with good food.

Besides our family and friends, we had a packed house to share in our special day. There were over 300 people! Reverend Bob had the children come forward to share in the event, along with all the family.

Ada did really well with everything. She fell asleep at the beginning of the service. I thought she would sleep through the baptism, but she woke up right as we walked up to the baptismal font. She didn't cry once during the entire process. Not while Rev Bob put water on her head, not when he walked her down the aisle with all the other kids following.

Now after the service, that was a different story. She wasn't overly thrilled about being in the baptism dress (which was mine from when I was an infant). So after the baptism I took her back to the nursery and put her in her Easter onesie. Once church was over, everyone was asking to get pictures with her in the dress. I decided to put her back in it and boy was she unhappy with me. There's not one picture with her not screaming and red faced.

We had lunch at Sunflower bakery after, which was a really nice affair. Then we came home a got a few more family pictures with a happier (not dressed up) baby girl.

All in all it was another great Easter on the island :)

Easter Weekend

We had a fantastic, and busy, Easter weekend with family and friends. Long before Ada's arrival, we started making plans for her baptism. After consulting with the family we decided on Easter weekend. It gave everyone a chance to recover from Christmas.

Friday afternoon, Kyle and Marcy came down to spend some time with their niece. She enjoyed them, especially her Uncle Kyle. I think it's because he made lots of funny faces and noises, and played with her on her mat.

Candi and Michael spent Friday evening babysitting for us so we could enjoy a dinner out. We hit Sky Bar for happy hour sushi (making up for all the sushi I couldn't eat while pregnant).

Saturday the family and some friends went out for dinner at Salsa's. We enjoyed getting to catch up with everyone over good food. One of my favorite pictures captured Ada and Kaya interacting with each other. Hopefully they'll be great friends like their moms ;)