We've been busy!

I had kind of hoped to keep up on this blog a bit.  But life with a newborn has been so busy!  When baby is sleeping I am trying to get something productive done, or sleeping myself.

I can't believe Fiona is a few days away from 4 months old!  What a whirlwind these last few months have been.  I would say that after the first month passed, that I finally felt like my head resurfaced and I could breathe a little bit again.

Fiona started sleeping through the night fairly consistently around 2 months old.  That has made all the difference, getting good sleep.  I also have slept so much better since we got the baby monitor and I moved back upstairs.  There have still been a couple of times when I have stayed downstairs after getting up to feed Fiona during the night...but those feedings are becoming fewer and further between.

She is such a content, sweet baby.  My heart just swells with love when I think about her.  So full of smiles and giggles and coos.  I am loving the more interactive side of her, and I imagine she will only get more and more interactive as time passes.  She is rolling over quite well from back to front and front to back.  She hasn't really figured out that she can use rolling to get places...but once she does, I am sure I will have to watch her like a hawk!

I decided this week that is time to try and get her on a bit of a schedule.  Her bedtime was varying anywhere from 930-1130pm.  I really wanted some evening time to myself, and to spend with Jay!  I had been feeding her 5 times per day, and decided to try 4 feeds per day and she seems to be doing well with that.  So, for the last couple of days she has eating at 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm then to bed.  It usually takes her a while to settle to sleep.  Some days I almost wish she took a soother, because I think it would be easier to settle her back down by plugging her cry hole, haha...but once she settles in, she sleeps really well.  I just feel like I pick her up to settle her more than I would like, but it seems to work. 

She has been doing really well in the Woombie, but with all of her rolling, I feel like it is probably getting to be time to get rid of it.  I am thinking I will wait until after Christmas to start working on putting her to bed without it.  I am sure it won't be the disaster that I am picturing, but she has just been sleeping so well in it, I am a little scared to see what she will do without it.  I will probably start with putting her down for naps without it....then move to night times.  Maybe she will be able to self soothe better if she can suck her fingers at night....I guess we will see!

I am getting excited for Christmas!  I know that Fiona won't have the first clue about what is going on, but I think it will be a fun day.  I am thankful that we get to spend the day with Jay's family and my family.  I am sure Fiona will enjoy the excitement, and hopefully we can get a good nap or two in, so she isn't too fussy!

Merry Christmas from our little family! :)

Three weeks?!

Is that all.  It feels like it has been months since Fiona was born.  Well maybe not months, but certainly more than three weeks.  I feel like I am living in a time warp these days.  I feel like maybe I am starting to have a bit of a grasp on what day of the week it is, but I usually have to think about it, and remind myself if I am to remember.  I think that is the sleep deprivation.

I feel that we are slowly starting to find a rhythm of life.  Eat, play, sleep.  Life exists in 3-4 hour increments both day and night.  Nights have been going okay.  Some shorter than others.  I would say I have had from 4-7 hours of sleep each night, usually broken into 2-3 chunks.  I look forward to her dropping a night time feed.  It wouldn't be bad if she ate once in the night, but for now it seems like it is usually twice.  And the feeds aren't so bad, it is when she won't go back to sleep afterward that makes for a loooong night.  I do think she is sleeping better since her and I moved into the basement for night time.  I miss our nice comfy bed, but honestly, I think my sleep is better, and I feel more relaxed knowing that Jay can't hear every little squawk.

I have found new parenthood to be really overwhelming.  I feel like maybe it is getting less so, as we start to find our rhythm.  I think as long as things go fairly well, I do okay.  But last week Fiona had one evening where she screamed her head off for an hour or so, and we couldn't figure out what the problem was (maybe gas?) but she did eventually settle and slept.  That was a short night, and the next day I felt really overwhelmed again.

I have had my mom come and spend a couple of nights to look after Fiona so I could sleep.  Though there is part of me that feels guilty for struggling, I know that there is no shame in asking for help.  And honestly, I think grandma enjoys spending the night with her newest grandbaby.  I find it so much easier and more enjoyable to look after Fiona after I have had a good night sleep.

My recovery from the c-section seems to be going well.  They say it takes about six weeks before everything should be healed and back to normal.  I expect that some of my fatigue is due to healing from surgery.  Though I expect more of it has to do with the loss of quality sleep.  I am trying to not do too much lifting, so we haven't gotten out of the house a whole lot....but have been making an effort to get out every few days.  So far we have been to Superstore, City Perks and tomorrow we are going to try to go to Costco.

I know every stage of parenthood will have its challenges, but as everyone keeps telling us, it gets better.  I am trying to savor moments with our beautiful daughter, but I do look forward to not feeling like a zombie.