3 Months Old and More New Mom Survival Tips

Baby E is three months old! So big! After my last post, baby girl had her two month check up with her pediatrician. She weighed 11.6 pounds and was 23.5 inches long (73rd and 90th percentile respectively). She also had to get some shots and it was awful. She only cried for about 15 seconds but the face she made was brutal.

WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!?!?!?! WORST MILK MACHINE MOM EVER!!!!

She then had an epic blow out diaper, bled through her mini bandaids, and basically ruined a really cute pair of pants.

Also, why do we say "pair of pants"? It isn't a pair of pants. It is a singular object. A pair of pant legs I will give you, but it's not a pair of pants. Someone get on this stat. It is obviously very important information we all need to know.

Anyway, she up to about 14 pounds now (what. a. chunk) and is finally, finally sleeping for big stretches at night. Up until last Thursday, baby E would sleep for 2-3 hours at a time. Since I went back to work part time when she was 9 weeks old, this was obviously not working out for my sanity.

Then suddenly, gloriously, she started sleeping for 5-6 hours at a time. It literally came out of nowhere. I know we are due for a growth spurt. They come in threes: 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, etc. I am really hoping this growth spurt just makes her want to nom nom nom more during the day and doesn't disturb her sleep like the previous two did.

Dream big, Samantha. Dream big.

Without further ado, here are her progress pictures (there will be more ado after pictures, just not before).

Here she is being a happy baby, but she's scrunched up her legs so you can't see her full length.

Here she is silently judging me as I do my best to get her to smile and stay fully elongated.

Here is my gigantor baby compared to last month.

Here she is compared to one month. Big ol' baby head.

Now for all that ado I promised you above.

I went to the doctor yesterday and it would seem I have done myself an injury. Something has been wrong with my knee ever since baby E was born. It may have been an issue before and I just didn't notice until I started trying to do the momma sway (if you don't know what that is, ask your mom--she'll know). For whatever reason, my right knee really does not agree with the sway. It also does not agree with going up and down stairs, but only some of the times. 

When it decides that stairs are a no go, it is not a matter of, "Oh sweet mother of pearl, my knee hurts," it's, "You thought you could bend this knee? You thought you could ascend or descend stairs? THINK AGAIN BIZNATCH!" And then I fall down (or up) the stairs. This is obviously not ideal given that most of the time I am carrying a baby. 

El doctor says I have a meniscal injury and I need an MRI. Of course, I cannot bring the baby with me so now I have the super awkward challenge of figuring out what to do with her for the duration of the appointment. Apparently the military has some child care option, but I would really rather her stay with someone I know personally. 

Oh well, I'll figure it out eventually. 

Also, I have new tips to add to my New Mom Survival Guide. They are obviously very serious and very useful. 

1. Do not sleep on your stomach.

Being pregnant comes with quite a few physical limitations, one of which is not being able to sleep on your stomach after a certain point. I was very much looking forward to reclaiming glorious stomach sleep upon giving birth, but alas. It is not to be so. I have giant milk balloons on my chest that make this pretty much impossible. Of course, I thought if I pumped and/or fed baby girl shortly before going to sleep this would mitigate the issue. Then I woke up in agony because they re-inflated in my sleep. Ruined sleep is not on my list of favorite things, so side sleeping it is for now.  

2. Meal prep is a must

I've discussed food in my new mom survival tips before, and this is because I am constantly hungry. One issue with constant hunger is I have no patience to prepare dinner every single night while starving. Plus, baby E has this magic ability to know exactly when I least need her to wake up. Going to the bathroom? WAKE UP. Trying to squeeze in a work out? WAKE UP. Trying to cook dinner? WAKE UP. You get the idea.

To cut down on the amount of time I have to do battle with the oven, I have started to prepare 3 times as much food as I normally would. Then I divide it all up into individual meals and freeze them. This has simplified my life tremendously.

3. Assume it will take you 17 times longer to get anything done.

Case in point, this blog post has taken me I don't even know how many hours to type. I also just had to stop to go change a poopy diaper. So glamorous.

Between feedings, diaper changes, and spit up changes, I am amazed when I get anything done in the time frame I wanted to. I budget extra time to do anything and everything but the day still somehow gets away from me.

Oh look, it's 4:00pm. Thank god for tip #2 or I would have to try and figure out what in the heck to make for dinner.

That is all for now. I will include more amazing tips as I learn them myself in the future. 

Two Months Old

Baby E is two months old! Time is flying by and she is getting so big. I wish I could make her slow down :( On the 21st she weighed 10 lbs 14 oz. What. A. Chunk.

That is almost 4 pounds heavier than her birth weight. She's also almost grown out of her Moses basket and she doesn't fit in any of her newborn clothes anymore :( She's wearing size 0-3 months or just 3 months depending on the brand.

Nona is still super jealous of baby girl, but she doesn't seem to be as terrified of her. In pictures it looks like Nona is giving baby girl some snuggles, but I know better. Nona just can't stand not having attention so she got over her fear and is trying to get pets when she can (usually when I'm holding baby girl, how inconvenient haha).

I don't really have anything new to report since last week other than baby girl's progress pictures. Here is her two month photo :) Look how much she's grown! Chubby baby cheeks :D

Here is another side by side:

Bonus picture. Once again, baby E didn't feel like taking picture time seriously. Ninja kick!

She also needed a wardrobe change. Naturally, due to the fact that she was wearing white pants and a brand new dress from her Great Aunt, she felt the need to have a massive diaper blow out.

I would have had these posted on time (say whaaaaaat?) except our internet crapped out yesterday around two in the afternoon and didn't get fixed until after 5:00AM. Thankfully it was a decent weather day so baby girl and I could go on walks.

I'm pretty baby girl has an upper lip tie  :/ It would explain her latch issues at birth and some of the other less than favorable nursing habits (popping off randomly, sucking air, gassy baby, not flaring her upper lip, etc). Here is a picture of it. It's kind of blurry, but baby girl really did not care much for my attempts to lift her upper lip to snag a picture.

I'm going to talk to her doctor about it at her two month well baby check up to see what our options are. I know it can be clipped, but I've also heard the upper lip tie bleeds like crazy and I don't want to put her through an unnecessary procedure if we aren't going to get that many benefits out of it.

New Mom Survival Tips

Man, does time fly when you have a new baby! Little miss is 7 weeks old today! However, her 6 week growth spurt is still going strong. Hopefully one day soon she will return to her awesome power naps. Until then, we are up every 90 minutes. This growth spurt isn't nearly as bad as the 3 week growth spurt though. That one I wasn't getting any sleep and I'm pretty sure I went a little nuts. Thankfully, my mom was visiting and could lend a hand. Thanks mom!

I also managed to snag a picture of her at one month on her super awesome blanket that my sister-in-law got for her. It has her name on it, so I've blocked it out for now. I'm still not really sure how I feel about divulging personal details about my child to the world wide web. So for now, no name sharing.

She was just really not into giving me smiles and stretching out full length to give you an idea of her size. I plan on using this blanket for all her monthly growth pictures (whether I get them posted on time is another matter entirely.

Above is baby E giving some serious side eye at my attempt to snag a picture.

And here she is being Super Baby. I either get Super Baby smiles or side eye frowny face. Oh well. I'm sure she will learn to ham it up for camera in no time.

I'm also back to my pre-pregnancy weight! This took about 4 weeks, but I'm still not back to my pre-pregnancy muscle definition. I have no idea if that will ever happen, but I'm working on it. The top picture is 3 weeks postpartum, the bottom is 4 weeks postpartum.

I plan on running a 5K tomorrow, so we will see how that goes. I ran 2.8 miles without stopping yesterday, so I should have no problem with the 5K. Stroller friendly activities for the win! I've been pleasantly surprised with how much of my endurance I retained. I'm only running at about a 10 minute mile pace, but considering I haven't run in 4 months and I'm pushing 50 pounds of stroller, infant car seat carrier, and baby, I feel pretty good about it. I seriously love my Bob jogging stroller.

3 weeks PP

4 weeks PP. Are those abs? No? Dammit. Maybe one day they will return.

Since my last blog post, baby girl has learned to roll over from her stomach to her back. Whether this is because she is a genius or because she really, really hates tummy time, we will never know. But since I'm her mom, I'm going with she is a genius.

Also, in my 7 weeks of mommy-hood I've discovered a few tips and tricks that are vital to survival. Maybe I'll make an actual guide for new moms. Then again, that is assuming that what works for me will work for other people. Assuming is bad. Anyway, this is what I've got so far:

1. Invest in dry shampoo

Showers are not a given with new babies, especially during the periods where I'm flying solo. Instead of looking like a grease monster and smelling like a dumpster, I use dry shampoo and get creative with braids. I also shamelessly steal my daughter's baby wipes. A stinky, dirty mommy is not a happy mommy (at least for this mommy), so dry shampoo and wet wipes do wonders on the days that showers are not an option.

2. Breastfeed or pump BEFORE a workout

I got cleared around 3 weeks postpartum to return to light exercise (elliptical and light upper body weights). However, starting at 6 weeks I was cleared to return to all previous exercise including running and other high impact work outs.

I made the mistake of not feeding little miss before going on my first run...so much ouch. Never again.

3. Invest in better sports bras

I still need to do this. I currently only have one sports bra that can support my newly inflated chest balloons (boobs, whatever). I have another sports bra that can hack it if necessary, but I am not thrilled with it.

It's like when you wanted cake, but someone gave you a fig newton instead. It's still sweet and resembles a dessert, but it is not a dessert. It is not cake. It is inferior and you will only eat it begrudgingly. This is how I feel about my second so-so sports bra. It is fig paste where I need icing. I need a lot of icing actually, as only having one cake bra and one fig newton bra is just really not cutting it.

/food metaphor

4. Always have snacks within reach

I said end food metaphor, not end food discussion. I am so hungry all the time. The amount of food I eat is kind of terrifying. On my last visit home, I kind of freaked out my dad with the quantity of food I ingested on a daily basis. As he put it, "You eat dinner...and then you immediately eat second dinner."

I am a hobbit.

But seriously, breastfeeding makes me SO HUNGRY. Snacks are a must. I am like a weird squirrel storing snacks all over the house instead of in one hidey-hole. And don't you dare touch my snacks.If you find snacks anywhere other than the fridge or pantry, they are not for you. I may or may not throw a gigantic tantrum to rival that of a toddler denied a lollipop if you move or eat my snacks. You have been warned.

5. Make noise while the baby sleeps during the day

I do not even try to be quiet when little miss goes down for a nap during the day. I watch TV, I type out my blog loudly, I open bags of chips, I vacuum (lol, no I don't. Ain't nobody got time for that), I run a box fan, etc. I also tried to be around a ton of noise while pregnant as well to get her used to the sounds. Now she sleeps through door bells ringing, the phone ringing, the cat knocking crap off the table because she is an asshole a cat, and so on. This has been a life saver. This is how I manage to take showers. Sometimes.

6. Put the baby to sleep in numerous sleeping devices

I have a crib, a bassinet, a Rock N' Play, a Moses basket, and an Ergobaby carrier. She sleeps in all of these things. She always has, since day one. Now I can pretty much put her anywhere and she will go to sleep. It is fantastic. I have no idea if this will last or if she is just too young to care about where or what she is sleeping in, but I don't care. I currently feel like a genius, so there.

7. Stay off the internet

Well, just don't ask it anything. Just as WebMD will always tell you that you are dying of incurable toenail cancer, the interwebz will tell you that you are doing everything wrong as a parent. The interwebz is an opinionated ass and will only convince you that you are terrible and should probably return your baby to the stork. Or WebMD will tell you that your baby is in fact a tomato or something else equally ridiculous. Seriously.

If you absolutely must turn to Google, stay away from WebMD and anonymous mommy forums. I don't know why, but anonymous moms on the internet can be a vicious lot. Some can be truly helpful, others are just in it to be mean. Tread carefully.

8. Write it down

Get a journal. Even if you blog and take twenty thousand pictures of your wee little one, keep a journal. By the time I get around to my blog, I've forgotten half of the things I wanted to write. My journal has details I won't remember years from now (or maybe even hours from now) and it has details that a picture cannot capture. Sure, the picture is adorable, but do you remember why you took it? Was your baby just being cute, or did she just pull off a major mile stone? Write it down. Get a journal.

Those are my pearls of wisdom. Good luck to all my fellow new mommies :)

Three Weeks Old

As of Friday, baby girl was 3 weeks old :) I finally got her birth announcements sent out on Tuesday, so hopefully everyone has received one now. If you did not and you would like one, send me your e-mail address and I will make sure you get a copy :)

Her pictures from the hospital arrived as well. Naval has a contract with a photography company that come around and take a handful of pictures of your day old baby. Baby girl was about 18 hours old when these pictures were taken :)

She's going through a growth spurt at the moment, so she has me up pretty much all night. She finally let me sleep for more than 20 minutes around 7:00AM today. Other than me being exhausted though, we are all doing well :)

Baby girl is learning some new things. She now smiles directly at me and my mom rather than just randomly at nothing or in her sleep. She also laughed for the first time and makes actual sounds from time to time rather than just newborn squeaks.

I've also been given the green light to start working out somewhat. I'm allowed to do light upper body weights only (no squats or anything that would put strain on my still-healing uterus) and use the elliptical in addition to walking. This is awesome news because 1.) The weather still isn't nice enough to go out for walks with baby girl all that often and 2.) I'm starting to go stir crazy and want to get back into a workout routine, even if it's super scaled back.

We have gone on a few walks on our randomly nice weather days. She does great in her stroller (OMG I love the Bob) and we also tested out the ErgoBaby with the infant insert. Once I figured out how to get her properly situated in it, the carrier worked great :)

Baby girl is growing way too fast for my liking. She has already almost outgrown her Moses basket :( Why can't babies stay tiny forever? So cute <3 I love her tiny little face.

One Week Old

Little miss is one week old* and she's above her birth weight! Chunky monkey weighed in at 7.2 lbs this morning :) Babies lose 5-10% of their birth weight in their first few days from a variety of factors. The pediatrician said she would like little miss to be back at her birth weight by her two week wellness check up, and we have clearly met that bench mark.

*And by one week, I mean 6 days. My sleep-deprived brain keeps thinking today is Friday instead of Thursday.

To refresh, baby girl weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces at birth. When we went home she weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces. At her check up on Monday (her actual due date!) she was up to 6 pounds 11.8 ounces. Now she is sitting at roughly 7 pounds 3.2 ounces. We win at the eating game!


I'm super excited about this because holy crap breast feeding is hard. I was concerned that she wasn't getting enough to eat (especially since she acts like she is starving all the time). We have an appointment with a lactation consultant on Saturday. It's frustrating because while in the hospital I met with the consultants upwards of 10 times. Her latch hurt like hell and she was making me bleed. They're baffled because her latch looks perfect on the outside and she does not appear to have a tongue tie. They are going to double check for tongue and/or lip ties as well as any other possible explanations.

Other than that, we are doing well. I'm not getting much sleep (no surprises there) as little miss likes to cluster feed at night. The lactation consultants want her eating every 2-3 hours (at least 8 times in a 24 hours period), but little miss acts like she is starving every 1-2 hours during the day. At night from about 1100 to 0500 she is up every 30 minutes to an hour looking to eat. So basically, she waits until it is time for me to sleep to decide to be awake all night, haha. Typical baby maneuver ;)

I forgot to include this in the last blog post. I took pictures right before going to the hospital. It was my very last pregnancy picture. Today I took one with me and little miss now that she has joined the outside world :)


Sorry for baby girl's super awkward angle. She is a wiggle worm and refuses to stay still for very long.

On that note, little miss is also full of surprises and has been since day one. Not only does she have bizarrely strong neck muscles (she can lift her head up and hold it for extended periods of time), she's been able to roll onto her side since birth. It kind of terrifies me actually. I was under the impression I would have a floppy-headed, immobile newborn. Instead I have a baby who cranes her head up and all around and can roll already.

I thought I was imagining the rolling thing when we were in the hospital. I kept thinking maybe a nurse came in and rolled her to her side to check her vitals or something. Then the nurses came to take her for her 24 hour check up. When the nurse brought her back in she incredulously asked me if I knew my baby could roll already. I don't know how common or uncommon it is, but it struck me as odd. Now I'm constantly checking on her to make sure she didn't roll over onto her face. She can lift her head up and around, but her coordination (i.e. not smooshing her face into the mattress) leaves much to be desired.

Body after baby update: One week PP. It amazes me how hungry I am with breast feeding. I'm eating over 1000 additional calories per day and I still wake up starving. I've also been getting killer headaches and  I'm not sure why. Otherwise, little miss and I are doing great :)