Barfing Betty

Elizabeth always spit up a lot. Babies just do that....it's more of a laundry problem than anything else (unless it's Gastro Reflux, but only your doc can tell you whether they have that or not...).

The last two weeks, I noticed that Elizabeth wasn't feeding very well. She'd finish in about 10 minutes instead of the usual 20-30 minutes, and she'd be spitting up shortly after. Not regular spit ups either, like completely curdled and a lot more than usual. In fact, it really was becoming a laundry problem because we were running out of facecloths!!

Over the weekend, I really started getting worried because she wasn't napping well either. I think she was waking up hungry halfway through her naps and eventually she was just a cranky mess because she was tired, hungry, and her mouth must have had a bad taste in it from all the spit up.

And off to Google I went, typing in "Common Causes of Baby Reflux". Two common culprits? Chocolate and Garlic. We didn't have that much chocolate in the house, at least nothing that I'd eaten constantly for 2 weeks. But J did buy those Pita Chips at Costco the last few weeks and I'd been having some (probably too much) for the past two weeks. Well, I didn't have any yesterday and Elizabeth is a much happier camper today! She fed for 20 minutes and didn't spit up once!!!! AND, she's enjoying a nice luxurious morning nap.

I have to say that she was still pretty chipper over the last two weeks, giving us a few smiles before spitting up all over her clothes.

The pink shirt? Completely ruined just after that photo was taken!

So, lesson from this post is not to freak out that your kid has some sort of reflux disease if she's normally been ok. What mom eats could affect the baby, so pay attention. If there's something you've introduced recently and she started acting this way recently, try cutting it out. See what happens. It's like one giant science experiment....which is great because I'm a chemist!!!

Our brave girl!

About a month ago, Ellie and I were at the doctor for her 1 month check up. After that checkup, we set up the appointment for her first round of (scary music here) immunization shots!

So, basically, for the last month I was NOT looking forward to seeing my little get two needles, one in each thigh. I know, I know, it's not that big a deal, people get needles all the time. The thing is, she sometimes cries so much that she can barely breathe and her face turns purple (she hates water on her face) and I couldn't bear to see her like that.

Mentally prepped and assured by J's coworkers that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would be, we went to the doctor this morning. Well, she gave me quite a surprise because she only cried a little bit. No purple face, she was able to breathe just fine, and if anything, she was just whining because she had missed her first morning nap. Honestly, she cried more then I (gasp) cut her finger accidentally with the nail clippers the day before (Googling calmed me down when I found that I wasn't the first and I won't be the last!).

When we got home, I fed her and we had a bit of activity. Our little trooper was right as rain...although she did grab my hair and pull really hard. Ouch! She is so strong! Was she perhaps getting me back for taking her to get her shots?

No longer a sleepy-head!

From about 4 weeks on, we started reading the book "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems". Ok, first off, it doesn't solve ALL your problems, but if you have a problem with seeing the reasonable way of doing things sometimes (as J and I do), a book spelling it out for you may help. I will also add that I do know there is no manual or handbook when it comes to babies, so although we are reading and somewhat following the guidelines of this book (ie. the EASY routine - East, Activity, Sleep, time for You) we've realized that you can't tailor your baby to a routine. You tailor a routine to your baby.

I've already done a post about waking Elizabeth up and how hard it can be. Lately, though, she's either been waking up on her own by making cute babbling noises until I come in and get her, or her eyes pop open when I turn on the light in her room and open the curtains after a nap. For the latter, here is the sequence of events:

1. I open the door and say "Time to wake up, Elizabeth!", turn on the light and open the curtains. At this point, she opens her eyes.


2. She hasn't really seen me yet, so I unswaddle her arms. One at a time, they shoot up for a stretch.


3. After the initial stretch, she goes into one of those full body stretches we all have after a good sleep. You know, the one where you actually make some noises at the back of your throat and your face contorts because the stretch is so good.


4. Then, the moment comes when she's done stretching and she sees me. A big smile appears on her face and she starts kicking her legs. "Pick me up already!!!" is what she's obviously thinking.


5. Lastly, and this isn't really in the sequence of events, but because she is sleeping on her back all the time and she moves her head from side to side, she's developped the cutest baldspot!

Nothing a little brown marker won't fix.....KIDDING.

A German friend for our little girl!

This is a quick post to say CONGRATULATIONS to my friends C and S who welcomed their little bundle of joy into the world early this morning (German time).

Remember the advice Elizabeth gave you via video....lots of ups and downs will come your way, but you'll get through each one as a family!

We can't wait to meet the little J!

8 is the magic number???

About 2 weeks ago, J was reading some lists of what your kid is supposed to be able to do at 7 weeks. He mentioned that one thing is rolling is one direction from their tummy.

Elizabeth is a champion tummy-timer, but I just really couldn't see her rolling over. I was probably thinking how a dog rolls over rather than a baby. So when 7 weeks came around and she wasn't doing it, I just shrugged my shoulders and told myself these lists are just averages (and they are, don't worry if your child doesn't start to do something when they are 'supposed' to).

The other day, at about 7.5 weeks, Elizabeth rolled over!

J told me that he saw her do it, but no matter how many times he put her on her tummy for me to see it, she didn't do it.

Well get this: A couple of days ago, I caught it on camera! Unfortunately, I'm having some issues posting a video (I've tried different ways, trust me) so if you'd like to see the video, email me or facebook me and I'll send you the Picasa link.

Please don't judge my use of the phrase "yes-siree-bob!". I was really excited!

As for the number 8: my daughter, who was 8 lbs 8 oz at birth on Nov. 8th, who is currently 8 weeks old, slept for 8 hours in a row last night. What is it with the number 8??? Must be lucky :)

3 is the magic number

I can't believe Christmas is a week away. Time flies!

Speaking of time flying, Elizabeth is 6 weeks old on Tuesday! I had two weeks at home alone while dad went back to work and besides a few small hiccups, it went pretty well. We are well into a routine that could change at any time, but for the time being it's working for us.

Last weekend, we put up two Christmas trees. A 7 footer and a 4 footer. The 7 footer will be big enough for the mountain of gifts that Ellie is sure to receive, and 4 footer will be for her parents (haha). Last night, we took a family photo in front of the tree:
Over the past few weeks, I've contacted some of our friends that have recently had babies. One of my questions was "when does it get easier?" and a lot of them said "3 months". Other questions like "When does full support of the head happen?" and "When do they sleeping through the night without a night feeding?" were also answered by "3 months". So technically, on Tuesday, she'll be halfway there!!!

Other things I've discovered in the last few weeks:

-test your bottle warmer before you use it, otherwise dad may have a crying baby while you are out at the dentist and he's trying to cool down a scorching hot bottle

-almost 6 week old babies actually look AT you and smile AT you. So cute.
-Get that baby down for a nap at the 1st or 2nd yawn, otherwise she'll get her second wind and really make you pay
-At this point, she's actually grabbing things....maybe my shirt while feeding, but it's a milestone nonetheless (don't have a picture for this one!)

-Using a sling sometimes helps you get some stuff done
-Babies clearly have a 'poop-face'
So if we've discovered all this at 6 weeks, what craziness will be happening at 3 months??
Merry Christmas from the 3 of us.....3 really is a magic number!

Wakey, wakey, sleepy-head!

(I really need to change the title of this blog....but eventually, we shall travel again!)

Elizabeth enjoys her zzz's.

In the hospital, she got a little jaundiced and slept heavily as a result. The nurses and doctors kept telling us to wake her up to feed her, but she looked sooooo peaceful! Haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't wake a sleeping baby? I remember that episode of Friends where Rachel has just had Emma. Emma is sleeping in her bassinet and Rachel says something like "oooh! She's so cute!!! I have to wake her up and hold her!" and Phoebe says "No! Don't you know you should NEVER wake a sleeping baby?". Rachel can't resist and then Emma proceeds to cry for about 3 hours straight. Well I'll tell you right now. After 3 weeks of subscribing to this way of thinking: IT'S ALL A MYTH. Wake up that baby and feed her, otherwise you'll pay for it at night.

It's really hard to wake a baby from a deep sleep. Their limbs are all limp and their faces are all relaxed and no matter what we did, Elizabeth wouldn't wake up. This lead to lots of frustration as when we finally woke her she'd just fall asleep again while feeding.

Luckily, after about 12 days, she regained her birthweight and the Public Health Nurse that came for a home visit said we no longer have to wake her at night to feed. She can sleep as much as she wants since she's gaining weight well. Only problem now was that we had problems with the night sleep because we had subscribed to the 'Never wake a sleeping baby' myth and let her sleep so much during the day. All three of us were tired because we weren't getting any long stretches of sleep at night.

Anyways, long story short, we've fixed this 'day-for-night' switcharoo just by reducing her sleep during the day. We still have to work hard to wake her up when she gets into a deep sleep, but at night, after a good evening feeding, she'll sleep for 5 hours. I feed her again and she sleeps for another 3. Not too shabby.

Here are some pictures to show the sequence of events during the day (and this is really what most of my days consist of, at the moment):
1. I bring her down from her nap so that I can change her diaper.

2. Gradually, I try to wake her up. I talk to her, flash the camera in her face, blow on her belly...

3. Nothing is working.
4. I eventually strip her down completely so that she gets cold and then she gives me one of these looks. Bingo. She's awake and I can proceed with feeding her.
5. Then, she thanks me for it with one of these looks which says "Thank you, Mommy, for waking me up. I know I was grumpy earlier and I told you that I didn't want to wake up and that I wanted 5 more minutes, but you were right. I needed to eat something and I know that we will all appreciate it tonight when we go beddy-bye."