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.