First Week Wrap-Up

Last night, Maddi had her first night that didn't involve a tiring amount of crying and patting. Fuss-free, oh the bliss! To top it off, we've made enough progress with nursing that I let Aaron sleep through the night. She woke at 1:30 and 3:30, then 6:30, and I nursed her on the couch - just us and the boppy - without too much soreness. It was a great way to end Maddi's first week with us.

Nursing
I think the pain and scabs peaked around Wednesday, but Saturday was the first day that the pain was mild enough to nurse on the couch in front of the kids. Trust me, when it hurts badly, it takes a lot of concentration and willpower just to latch on! I'm very grateful. Her tongue still clicks often when she's nursing, but we've practiced opening wide and staying wide constantly, and this seems the best she can do. She nurses much better on the left side, so we start on the right side, usually do a diaper-change/burp mid-feeding, then do the left side. To have moments of pain-free nursing gave me a glimpse of the moments I'll have the next year or so, nursing Maddi happily. I'm looking forward to it.

Sleeping
She started fussing at night Tuesday night, when we arrived to Tulsa. It got worse on Wednesday night, with her up for two hours straight crying. Thursday night and Friday night were a bit better, with peak fussiness between 1 and 3. Friday night wasn't too bad either. Last night, when she woke, I nursed her, changed her diaper, nursed on the other side, and let her nurse until it seemed she was asleep, then gently lay her down on her tummy in the bassinet. And she slept, bless her. She's slowly easing into the familiar pattern (Joseph did this!) of eating every 2-3 hours at night, and sleeping blissfully during the day, stretching her feedings to up to 4 hours! I will need some strategory for this soon. :)

Maddi just might be my Sleep Anywhere Baby! She will sleep on her tummy on a bed, in the bassinet, on the couch, on a blanket, on the sheepskin; she will sleep in the carseat (this seems to be her favorite - she likes cosiness), in our arms, upright, sideways (I haven't tried upside-down, though); she even slept while big brother held her. :) She will occasionally wake up after we lie her down, but otherwise sleeps very well.

Lately, it seems that during the day she will not even really wake up with some of her feedings, but go straight back to sleep. Sometimes, like earlier today after she ate at 2:00, she gets fussy and needs to be rocked. She took a paci almost right away - the day or two after birth - but we've used it rarely. I wanted to hold off until nursing was going well, just in case it affected that. I'm glad she takes it, because I wanted to be able to comfort her when I can't comfort her; when we're in the car, for example. Either way, it's nice to feel that she'll go to sleep when she's tired. I didn't have that confidence with precious Emmaline.

Diapering
Yeah, she's still not giving us any BMs on her own. She's upgraded to grunting in the last couple of days. We've resorted to giving her a glycerin rocket every other day or so, if she seems fussy after a meal. It should even itself out soon, though. She really dislikes diaper-changing time. It's the only time of the day she "loses" it! Today, Joseph ran out of the room while I was changing her diaper, and screamed "She's gonna cryyyyy!". :D

Growing
She barely fits into her NB or 0-3mos clothes! I've never had a baby do that before, and it's refreshing to know that I most likely won't worry about her gaining weight or being too small. We weighed her (very scientifically: I weighed myself, and then held her and weighed again), and it says that she now weighs 11.4 pounds! I can't imagine that's accurate, but who knows with my giant baby. :)

Maddi loves looking at the fan in the living room of the duplex here in Tulsa. She also loves looking at Mama. Of course, we all just *love* watching her smile after she nurses or in her sleep. It's adorable!! Emma loves when Maddi happens to smile after Emma's kissed her, and today Maddi stuck out her tongue just as Emma went in for a kiss! Emma thought that Maddi was hilarious and "trying to be silly". :)