I have now been trying to write the same entry for almost two weeks. I have finally come to the realization that backtracking will not work and I must simply move forward, starting over instead of trying to figure out where I left off. Needless to say, it's been a hectic couple of weeks adjusting to going back to work, getting Piper's tummy adjusted to a myriad of things (I'll touch on that here in a sec), and getting myself adjusted to being a mom outside the comfort of home. That last one was probably the biggest hurdle, as my tension directly feeds Piper's mood. Once I began to relax in my new role, she soon followed suit.
Such a flirt with those eyes!
I am now going to attempt to catch up on everything I have been meaning to post, but it will be in the most random of fashions. I thought about simply copying and pasting various paragraphs from my other attempted entries, but not even I can handle that much randomness! Instead, I will offer up tidbits in no particular order of importance.
I look drunk with happiness!
First off, Piper has had tummy issues. For anyone who follows us on Facebook, you are most likely well aware of this. At her two-month checkup, the doc determined she did have GERD, just as I had predicted, which is basically acid reflux for babies. They put her on some liquid meds, I could tell you what but the bottle is not here at the office, of which she takes 0.6mL twice a day. That seemed to work wonders on her gassy tummy and her innate ability to spit-up half a boob after every meal. That only turned out to be a part of her fussy issues, however.
When the tummy pains would hit...
Literally a few seconds after they went away!
Along with her general fussiness, I noticed she was eating about every 2 to 2 1/2 hours, which is way too often. A meal every 3 to 4 hours sounds more reasonable for a girl her age. She was also not just wanting to snack, she was ravenous for full-blown meals. After much debating and contemplating, I finally decided (with the helpful suggestions from my parents) to start her on rice cereal a couple meals a day. I began mixing her two ounces of my milk with rice cereal (mixed in a bottle) last Thursday and giving her that at her 10am nursing and her last pm nursing along, with as much boob afterwards as she's wanted. Low and behold, the poor starving child finally began filling up and taking naps again! She had been refusing to take daytime naps not just because her tummy was gassy, but because she was getting too hungry too quick. The little munchkin is growing like a weed, so I'm not surprised the milk wasn't sustaining her long enough to actually get a good nap in. By the way, she was 11 lbs 4 ozs and 22.5" at her 2-month checkup. The girl is growing!!! Now that she has the rice cereal that put some substantial solids into her diet, she is taking her afternoon naps and sleeping more soundly at night. It's literally like having a new baby. I was admittedly being worn down by her continual wakefulness during the daylight hours. Now I can actually get work done at work, like typing this entry (lol), instead of nursing her continuously throughout the day. As a matter of fact, she is sleeping in my office right now. UPDATE: I'm now at home finishing this up as there were issues with Blogger earlier, but I'm not rewriting the damned thing again!
We are all happy when Piper's happy!
It has been her continual wakefulness that has kept me from writing over the past couple of weeks. Couple that with her reflux and crying in pain before that issue was resolved, and going back to work, and you can see why I've been not getting anything remotely blog related accomplished.
Who would believe those sweet little eyes could ever cry!
Okay, now onto her milestones. She has been supporting her own weight on her legs since she came home from the hospital. Now she is doing that without any help at times, and with only the minimal of help, such as leaning up against me, at other times. She also began walking this weekend. Not the unsupported kind, but the kind where I lightly support her under her armpits and she takes 5 or 6 steps towards me. It's like she has discovered what her legs are actually for besides standing and squatting. She did a pile of walking before bath time this evening.
Forgot to mention she also had shots at that check-up, hence sad face here.
I'm pretty shocked at her physical capabilities all the way around. She has been holding her head up for a couple of weeks now, she can sit a few seconds completely unsupported and for quite a long time with very minimal support, she has now started reaching and grabbing things with intention, and she can now roll over from back to front at will. The rolling thing has happened several times, but she usually has to be motivated, such as wanting that antagonistic monkey that hangs in her crib at work! She also likes to grab at her toes, as her foot fetish is a bit on the embarrassing side.
Sleeping in her office swing.
Yes, she has a foot fetish. I know all babies go through a fascination with their feet, but hers is way above and beyond what I've ever encountered, and I worked at a preschool for many years. She loves having her toes in her mouth, and moves her big toe over every surface inside her pie-hole (out term of mouth endearment). She also loves to gnaw on her hands, leading us to think she may already be teething. She not only gnaws at them, she shoves her whole fist in her mouth and then sometimes wiggles her fingers until she gags. She also likes to try and catch her tongue, which she will offer up on demand. I am constantly fetching her tongue, as this is one of the fun games we love to play.
About to have it out with her fist!
Speaking of games, one of her favorites if "kiss-kiss." This games involves someone, usually Nana as she invented the game, saying "kiss-kiss." After saying this you must bring Piper to your mouth, giver her exactly three kisses on the lips, and return her to whatever position she was in previously. This maneuver must repeated three times, and three times only per round. We have been playing this with her since she was born, and for some time now she has been initiating the game when she wants to play. This initiating consists of her opening her mouth real wide, as she loves to give wide-mouthed, wet and sloppy kisses, and leaning into whoever is holding her (or whoever she has her eye on at the moment). She is completely aware of the number of times the action is repeated in one round of the game, so I am assuming she understands the concept of counting to three already. What can I say, she's still a genius!
Kiss me!!!
One more time!
The many faces of kiss-kiss!
As for other games, there are many that we play, but kiss-kiss is by far her favorite. She does, however, also like rocketship baby, earthquake, and pattycake played with the feet (remember her foot fetish!). And I must not forget about the little man. While it is not necessarily a game, it is a favorite thing of hers. The little man is a two-fingered tyrant who loves to tickle and antagonize his victims. My dad has been torturing us all with the little man for forever. Now he has a new victim!
Besides loving her games, she now has an established posse of friends that must travel with her at all costs. We have Jerome the Giraffe, Penelope the Elephant, Lovey the teddy bear security blanket, and Rennie the black-haired little girl security blanket. Rennie is the newest to the group. She was acquired this past Saturday after Piper went shopping with me and behaved for a four-hour stint in public! She loves to yum with both her hands, the soothing rubbing motion she uses to help put herself to sleep, so her teddy bear lovey just wasn't cutting the mustard solo anymore. I found Rennie, who was so named because she looks like my mom as a little girl...pitch black hair in pigtails. My mom's name is not Rennie, but her first name she thinks is so god awful that she came up with this "nickname" in substitute for using the actual name. Btw, my mom goes by her middle name and refuses to let me reveal her first name on such a public site.
Lovey and Rennie and Piper
Besides needing something to yum on when falling asleep, I also have to perform a couple more tricks to get her to settle down at night. Like most young ones, she seems to have a bit of the restless leg syndrome! No, not the real kind, I'm just using it as an analogy. To help her quit squirming all over, I now give her foot massages to calm her legs, and it also satisfies her foot fetish. I also let her rub her feet on her blanket with the satin edge and minky fabric, as this also is a way she likes to yum herself to sleep. She also gets back scratches and head scratches to sooth her restless self. I am probably starting a pattern of complete dependence on these methods, but she loves them all and it is a great bonding time for the both of us. I also, when I get ready for bed, go to sleep holding her hand as it helps me to drift off. I love having her in a co-sleeper crib since it allows me to reach over and have a hand in hers during the night. I will have to write a review blog about the co-sleeper as it is the greatest invention ever!
She loves her Lovey!
A lot more has gone on over the past couple of weeks, but I can choose now to keep typing or stop, drop in some pics, and get this dang entry published before another week goes by and I have to start over again. I'm gonna go with the stopping thing and get this one out there for everyone. Anything else that has occurred can make it into the next entry. In other words, I need to get back to work! Sorry it took so long between my last entries, I'll try not to go so long again between the next ones.
I love her naked!
As per usual request, please vote for me over on Top Baby Blogs by clicking the button below. You can vote once every 24 hours, so feel free to re-vote if you have voted before. I was at #36 last time I checked! Also, feel free to follow me on these other wonderful social media outlets. I am constantly updating on Facebook when I cannot get the time to write, so that is my number one suggestion if the waiting two weeks between entries makes you crazy! Hope everyone had a lovely Monday!
I had begun a new entry a few days ago, one that examined all the new things Piper had discovered and had become by her seventh week in this world. I had, and still have, every intention of finishing it, but it will be more like her eighth week by then. Why the delay? It's what I like to call that horrible thing most of us must do to survive...work!
Checking out Nana!
Yep, my maternity leave officially ended Sunday. Monday I was back to work, and I would love to be able to say that all things went smoothly and everything is bright and shiny in my world. But I made a promise to all my readers when I began writing, and that promise was to keep all things honest no matter what. Here is some honesty...These past couple of days have been anything but easy, and they have come with more than one bout of tears. I discovered the joys of motherhood right from the start, but now the realities are also coming to call, and while nothing can take away the sublime happiness Piper gives me, she herself can cause me more stress than I ever expected I could handle before.
She loves to play!
Piper has had a very difficult past week or so with stomach pains. I thought that it was typical gas at first, then I discovered she had an ingrown fingernail. After fixing that problem, she was happy as a lark for a full day. Naturally, I then contributed her previous fussiness to that nail. Oh if life was just so easy as an ingrown fingernail! Unfortunately for both her and myself, her fussiness returned the following day, and with a vengeance. And today was a downright tear jerker.
It's odd, she sleeps very well throughout the night and has been sleeping through the nights since she was three weeks. She is a happy baby in the mornings, smiling and taking good mid-morning naps, but then around 2ish everything seems to change. She becomes crabby, sometimes inconsolable, refuses to take her afternoon nap(s), and by the time the early evening rolls around I'm at my wits end.
It hasn't been easy going back to work with a grumpipuss. I'm already a bit scattered from having to get back in the groove after being absent for about eight weeks. Add to that trying to figure out how to do my job with a little one in tow who seems to have developed attachment issues, well let's just say it triples my scattered, disorganized stress levels. I've felt pretty much lost and bewildered. I know it's just going to take some time for us to find our groove in an environment completely alien to her and pretty much completely different for me now that I have her there. By the way, in case you haven't picked up on it, I am able to take Piper to work with me. It's one of the perks of working in a small family business. Anyway, so we are both out of our element right now and trying to make major adjustments, to say the least.
Now throw in some very frustrating tummy issues, which I'm beginning to think may be more than just simple gas, and you get one very sad mommy who is beyond frustrated and anxiety ridden. I want to have Piper at work and be able to do my job. I also want her to be a good girl and show that wonderfully happy side to everyone in the office. I want not to have to hold her constantly because she is in pain and needs to be soothed. I want to be able to cure her woes with a magic snap of my fingers. Not being able to do any of those things to the extent that makes me feel like a good mother, well that is what brings on the tears.
I admittedly cried at work this morning, just for a bit, because I was stressed my boss would get mad because I wasn't doing my job 100% because I was having to pay Piper special attention. This is probably silly as he is my uncle and everyone at the office supports having Piper there and have told me to quit stressing, that we will find our groove and all will be okay. But it's hard for me to relax when she is in pain.
Now we're getting to the point of the title, I promise!
When I got home this evening she was wailing! She cried all the way home, even though the car usually puts her to sleep, and there was just no consoling her. I tried the gripe water and all things else gas-curing related, nothing seemed to work. She eventually settled down while having her dinner, but started up again not long after. Then I swaddled her and calmed her again, she fell asleep in my arms for a little while, and then she was right back to the wailing. Eventually I put her in her pjs and went to lie with her on my bed. We faced each other and I let her nurse some more. This helped calm her down and she finally fell asleep, eventually letting me move her to her co-sleeper so I could finally get some dinner for myself. She has been peacefully sleeping ever since.
Getting ready...
See, this is where I get baffled. She has these painful, shrieking, inconsolable bouts of crying; or sometimes she opts for the calmer whines and quiets down as soon as she is picked up and paid attention to. But in between all those, she is totally and completely happy. She will smile and coo and is just the most delightful little creature in the world. Then without warning, it's back to the pained screeching.
Take a sniff...
What I am thinking is that her stomach issues must come in waves. I know when I have a tummy problem that's usually the way it goes, so to me it makes since. Her tummy issues are then leading to the loss of naps, further leading into even more grumpiness from exhaustion. At least she sleeps well at night though, right? And my crying about all this, that is just from frustration that I cannot cure her and it makes me very sad to see her in pain wailing in misery. I try not to let it get me too down, but it's tough as a new mother not to blame yourself for every little thing that comes along.
Test the waters...
She has a pediatrician appointment Thursday, so I'm hoping her doc can tell me what's going on and help get us on the path to ending all her tummy woes. I have a feeling it will be GERD, which is gastroesophageal reflux disease. That's pretty much acid reflux for babies. With her excessive spitting up after meals, bad hiccups, congestion, and choking quite a bit while trying to swallow...well it sure does sound like she has all the tell-tale symptoms. If that is the case, I know something can be done with meds to treat it. I'm praying it is nothing worse than that, but it is definitely not just your everyday run of the mill gas, that's for sure! Found a great article regarding symptoms here. Piper has way too many of these symptoms!
Try the other end...
I hope I haven't vented my woes too much in this entry. Rarely do I stray from the lighter topics in life, as happy is more fun and more my style, but I really felt the need to get all of this off my chest. I needed to air it all out to keep my fears and worries at bay. Plus when Piper's older and being a little shit, I can make her go read this and remember the heartache she put me through as a new mother worrying about her constantly and crying when I couldn't fix her instantaneously if even not before she needed fixing to begin with.
Full on assault!
Wish me luck with her doc appointment Thursday, and I promise to keep everyone posted regarding the outcome. Between now and then I vow to try and keep my spirits up and excessive worries to a reasonably controllable level...at least I'll try not to cry anymore!
Go for gold!
Oh, and why the title? I got a new camera, a Canon T3i, and shot some great pics of Piper nibbling on her toes. She is obsessed with them!!! I figured since I was late on my previously scheduled post, and was going to be hitting on some pretty heavy stuff with this post, then happy toe-sucking baby pics were a must...always leave them with a smile, I say! And no one wants to read a blog entry titled "I Cried Today At Work Because I Suck!" anyway!
Tootsies are tasty!
And always leave me with a Top Baby Blogs and Top Mommy Blogs vote , if you will! :)
