It Won't Be Like This For Long: 2 months

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

2 Months: Stats, Shots & Smiles

This past Sunday, our little nugget officially reached the two-month mark of her short little life. My, how time flies. Jeff and I grow more smitten with her every single day, as she reaches new milestones and grows more and more into the person she will become.

We visited with our amazing pediatrician on Monday, and she assured me, again, that Caleigh is absolutely perfect. (DUH!) Here are her updated stats:

Length: 23 inches (73rd percentile)

Weight: 12 lbs, 5 oz (73rd percentile)

Head: 15.7 inches (92nd percentile)

In comparison, here's where she was at her very first appointment, four days old:

Length:19.25 inches (34th percentile)

Weight: 5 lbs, 15.5 oz (8th percentile)

Head: 13.8 inches (75th percentile)

Talk about growth!!! This kid has gotten huge!! I can't get over the improvement in her weight. I remember vividly, the second or third night we were home, I called the nurse line convinced Caleigh wasn't getting anything to eat and was starving to death. I bawled in Jeff's arms because I felt like a terrible mother, not being able to feed my baby. What a difference two months makes! This kid clearly isn't starving, and it's showing in her round little body and chubby face. She's developed those adorable little baby rolls in her arms and legs, and has acquired an additional chin.

Monday's visit wasn't just to check on Caleigh's growth stats, it was also an opportunity for immunizations. She received one at the hospital before we were released, but the nurse had taken her out of the room and brought her back sleeping, so I have no idea how much she freaked out then. This time was a totally different story. I had the "pleasure" of holding my tiny girl while she got stuck with big needles THREE TIMES. I'd been able to get her to sleep while we were waiting for the nurse to return with the shots, so she didn't react too bad to the first one. She noticed it, but with her paci securely in her mouth, she handled it pretty well.

I wish I could say the same for the next two, wowzer.

The second one saw the paci come flying out of her mouth and my daughter wailing like I had never seen before. Full-on mouth wide open, eyes scrunched tight, in the most pain she has ever experienced in her little life. My heart broke in two. And then she got stuck again, and I think that one hurt a little more, because she looked at me, tortured, and wailed and wailed and wailed. My poor little baby girl. My heart broke some more. I was crushed. I am already dreading having to take her back again and again and again, and especially when the time comes that she'll know what is about to happen and can tell me how much it hurts. My heart will break some more I think.

So after the shots, I managed to get her clothes back on, calmed down and back in her car seat. She fell asleep in the car on the way home, but I gave her some infant Tylenol when we got home just in case. She napped in the afternoon and seemed fine the rest of the night, so I'm thankful for no adverse side effects. Minus my still-broken heart, of course. Maybe next time Daddy will have to take her.

We also received a referral for a local eye doctor because our pediatrician (at my inquiry) suspects Caleigh might have one or both crossed eyes. We haven't made the follow-up appointment for that yet, so I'm not sure if she actually has crossed eyes or not. We'll find out more in the next few weeks.

Finally, the two-month mark has brought us something super exciting: SMILES!! Jeff and I are definitely learning what things we can do to help bring on smiles (tummy tickles, excited faces) and do them as much as we can. It is another level of parenting when your child smiles at you. Didn't think I could love her little face any more, and then she SMILES at me and it's like

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

She's too much cute for one baby. We're looking forward to continuing to watch her grow and change. It seems like every day she learns something new, or shows us some more of her sweet personality.

That's probably about all for my update, so here's some more recent pictures of our angel:

Napping with daddy.
My loves. <3

Smile!

So much change in just 31 days!

Outtake from our 2-month photo shoot.

Beaver believer!!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Two Months!

I have pretty severely neglected my blog - sorry friends! I keep telling myself I'll be better about updating, and then I procrastinate for a couple months and feel even MORE guilty for not updating more!

Anyway, here's what we've been up to lately:

Right after my last post, the three of us joined the other students and instructors here at Kingsley for the annual 173d Ops Group camping trip. With a three-week-old baby, we didn't camp, but we did visit for the day. It was a great time! It rained a little bit, but once it passed, we hung around the fire and enjoyed ourselves. Caleigh did great, she didn't fuss much at all and was happy to be passed around and held.

Caleigh with great-grandma June.

For the long Labor Day weekend, Jeff had arranged a hunting trip with his dad in Eastern Oregon, so Caleigh and I ventured back to Corvallis to visit with friends and family. Caleigh met her great-grandmas, and both were immediately smitten with her. It's a crazy thing to think about your own grandmother holding your daughter, and thinking about how different things will be for each generation. We hung out a bit with some of my friends, and had a nice relaxing weekend at home. We probably won't go back until Christmas, so it was nice to make the trip!

Shelby's 30th Birthday celebration!

In early September, we "celebrated" my thirtieth birthday. Okay, everyone else celebrated, I pouted in a corner, hehe. Jeff planned a great barbecue and invited all of our friends, and even took care of the baby so I could have a beer or two. We had a great time! Caleigh especially. She's pretty happy as long as someone is feeding and snuggling her. Lucky for us (I think?) she's not terribly partial to who it is that is feeding and snuggling her. For the week or so leading up to the party, we started introducing one bottle of breast milk each evening so she'd be able to have bottles during the party. I think Jeff enjoyed getting the chance to feed her, and be even more involved in taking care of our little nugget. Since then we've given her bottle intermittently, when we're out and about and breast feeding her isn't really feasible. She doesn't seem to mind a bit!

The next week after my birthday, I got to visit my doctor for my six-week "post-op" appointment. This is just the check-up to make sure everything looks good and I've recovered well from delivery. She said everything seems just fine and my body has healed well. Good news! Things feel pretty much back to normal, which is incredible considering what your body goes through to grow and then deliver a baby.

As Caleigh approaches her two-month birthday, it feels like we notice her changing every single day. She holds her head up better than ever, and she has great focus on objects and faces. She will turn her head towards familiar noises, like mom or dad's voice or her car seat toy. Just this past weekend, she started deliberately smiling at Jeff and I. It's the sweetest thing to watch this little girl just grin at her daddy. They are the cutest. We have our two-month checkup with the pediatrician on Monday, and I expect her to tell us that Peanut is a happy, healthy baby girl. She's gained great weight, and I won't be surprised if she's 12 or 13 pounds by the time we visit. This appointment is also her first big round of vaccinations, which means lots of pokes for my poor tiny girl. Hopefully she handles it like a champ, otherwise mommy's heart just might break.

I'll try and remember to update more after our doctor's appointment next week. Until then, here are more snap shots of our little bug: