Elsie Marie-Two Months

Today our little girl is 2 months!  We are having so much fun at home and I can say I LOVE this phase that she is in.  We are starting to naturally fall into a routine  of eating, sleeping, and playing.

Her at home weight is about 10.5 lbs  (We have her 2 month appointment tomorrow so I will give the official measurements then).  She eats between 6-8 times a day and between 22.5 to 28 ounces a day.  She is getting more breastmilk these days about 2/3 breastmilk and 1/3 formula.  Which I am really happy with.  I wonder if I will ever catch up to her needs...who knows.  She is still pretty impatient when it comes to when she wants to eat but she isn't as demanding when she wakes up from her naps.  That may be because she  isn't sleeping as long or as often

She has worked her way into a sleep schedule.  She takes a couple of naps a day and then has been sleeping really well at night.  We have her last feeding around 10:30 and sleeps anywhere until 3:30am-5:30 am.  Lately more on the 5:30 range.  Let me say it has been nice.  When she gets up that late she doesn't really go back to sleep but that will work out okay for when I go back to work.  She does on most days take a morning nap and afternoon nap and will sleep for most of the evening (7:00-10:30 ish when we move upstairs and get ready for bed).

Sleeping in her Daddy's arms is where she spends most of her evenings.

Still loving the cloth diapers.  Yesterday I put on one of her newborn diapers and pretty sure it may be the last time she wheres it.  I can hardly get the velcro to latch.  As for clothes some of her 0-3 sizes are getting a little small.  I better get some photos of her in more of her adorable outfits before she completely outgrowns them.

She is interacting so much more these days.  I LOVE it!  I can't get enough of her smile.  She loves to be in her swing, in her bouncy seat or on her playmat.  In the past week or so she has really found an interest in the things hanging above her head.  Mornings are fun for us because she is always smiling and cooing-another thing she has been doing a lot more of.  

We have done a lot over the past month.  Elsie attended her first "Book Club" night, went to lunch with Steph, a friend from camp and her two kiddos, went to her first Superbowl party, has enjoyed dinner a few times with some friends, and made another trip up to Minnesota where she attended a wonderful baby shower in her honor (separate post to come soon), had a sleepover with her cousin Allie, and Grandma and Grandpa Fenstra (we left for a few hours), and finally got to meet her Uncle Tony.

Below are the comparison of her one month and two month photo.  Not too much of a difference but I imagine that will change as the months go on.  

Can't wait to see what she has in store for us next month!!

Elsie Marie-1 Month

One month ago our little girl was born and what an adventure this past month has been. It has been a learning process for us all, and I have enjoyed every minute of it!  I look back at some of the pictures taken of her right after she was born and she has already changed so much.

Her current weight taken at home is somewhere between 8 lbs 14 oz and 9 lbs.  She is my little chunker :)  She is eating anywhere between 2 oz. to 6 oz a feeding.  She also likes to mix up how long she goes between feedings.  Sometimes is is 3 hours and sometimes it is 5 hours.  She is still eating a mix between breatmilk and formula.   We are currently at a 50/50 ratio which I am pleased with.  Of course I would be happier if she was getting more breastmilk but we are doing better that I had expected.  She definitely lets us know when she wants to eat and has very little patience as we get it ready.  

We have made the switch to exclusively cloth diaper.  Yay!!  It took us a few weeks we are finally there and  she has not be red at all since the switch.  So far what we are doing is working great.  She is still in newborn size but we have also been able to use some of the next size up and some one size diapers.  They are so cute and I love snapping pictures of her in them.  

Not only is she getting so big she is getting so strong!  She is really getting a lot of strength in her neck and can hold her head up for a decent amount of time.  She loves tummy time and we try to do it often.  She has discovered her hands and are mesmerized by them.  At times she looks like she is checking out her biceps but in reality she is checking out her hands.  When she sleeps, she prefers to have her hands out.  We don't really swaddle her anymore, especially with her arms in.  She gets really upset. She loves her daddy's made up songs and listening to my stories.  She hates getting dressed but has finally stopped crying when we change her diaper.  She is officially out of newborn clothes and has moved up to the 0-3 size.  

We like to take outings to get out of the house every now and then.  We have lunch one or twice a week in town with John, Grandma Bev, and Grandpa Dale.  We have also had a girls lunch with Lisa and Kara.  On the days we don't go out for lunch we have lunch at home and if we are lucky John gets to join us.  She had her first dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and also out at the country club.  She does so good and mostly just sleeps her way through dinner. With all the beautiful weather we have been blessed with this winter we have had the chance to get out for a walk or two as well. She has made one trip up to Minnesota and will be going up soon for another trip where she will finally get to meet her Uncle Tony.  

The bunny is to show scale and I plan to use it to compare month to month photos.  

I love looking at her little nose, mouth, fingers, and toes.  I can't get enough snuggle time and I love watching her as she starts to wake up.  Her stretches are adorable and the sounds she makes are so cute (until she starts crying because she wants to eat now).  I can't imagine anymore what our life without Elsie would be like.  She is truly a blessing and I can't wait for all the adventures that are up ahead.  

Two Week Highlights-Elsie Marie

I can't believe already how big Elsie is getting.  Yesterday she was two weeks old and on Tuesday we had her two week appointment.  It is amazing how fast they change already.  Already I don't want her to grow up :)  I am loving her at this stage right now, she is just so precious and small and snuggly.  Here is a few updates of our life together so far:

Feeding/Breastfeeding
Our biggest challenge thus far has been the breastfeeding.  It started in the hospital and has continued still to this day.  I just don't make enough milk.  I don't feel like my milk really came in.  Since being discharged from the hospital we have had two visits to the lactation consultant and two phone calls from them to check in.  The day after we left the hospital we went back in for a weight check and she maintained which was awesome.  She hadn't lost anymore which was a concern.  Then the next Monday we went back again and she had gained 2 oz.  More good news.  We then changed our routine for feeding at that point.  This is what we have been doing:

• No more feeding tube!  yay!! Let me tell you that was a big pain and definitely needed John to help with it.  
• Pump every three hours with the hospital grade pump that they loaned out to me for two weeks, then feed Elsie that first.  I started getting 1/2 ounce each pumping, then moved up to 1 ounce and now the past few days I have been getting and ounce and a half (this morning I got 2.5 ounces-not typical). 
• Then we supplement with formula until she doesn't want to eat anymore. 
• Take herbal supplements to help produce more milk:  Blessed Thistle and Fenugreek
• Hope she gains more weight and I make more milk.  

Also, we were told that until she gets back to her birthweight we need to wake her every three hours to feed.  We decided to go straight to just pumping for now instead of continuing to nurse so that I could see how much milk I was producing and if it was increasing with hopes that she will be able to go back to nursing.

Two Week Check Up
Elsie had her two week check up on Dec. 27th.  It is hard to believe two weeks had gone by since she was born!!! I have a feeling I will be saying that a lot!!  The first thing they did was weigh her.  It was the moment we had been waiting for.  She really needed to gain weight and boy did she do that.  At her last weight check she was 6 lbs 11 oz and at her appointment she weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz.  So she gained 1 lb 3 oz in one week.  I was excited!  The rest of her check up went well.  Her length was 20-5/8" long.  We also found out she has a mild case of thrush so she will have to go one medication to get that cleared up.  The doctor also told us we no longer have to wake her up every three hours to eat.  We can go as long as five hours now.  He also recommended that I start to nurse her again first, then give her any breastmilk I have pumped previously and then formula.  He said that nursing will do a better job of helping with my production than just pumping alone.  He also recomended that she be given a Vitamin D supplement since we are doing 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula.  Apparently breastmilk doesn't supply them with the amount of Vitamin D that they need.  So all in all the appointment went great.  Elsie's