Recently, Heather has taken to screaming fits when we try to put her to sleep.
Often, we can get her to sleep and then after anywhere from 0-30 minutes she'll wake up crying and then screaming and nothing seems to calm her down. She acts likes she's just in horrible discomfort. And this will continue for what feels like forever, but is usually more like up to 30 minutes.
Last night this went on and off for about 3.5 hours before she finally stayed asleep for a few hours.
We've tried all our normal soothing techniques as well as feeding her and administering Colic Calm. There doesn't seem to be any strong correlation between any of these actions and her eventual calming down.
Usually, once it passes, she's in a really good mood like nothing ever happened. And this change can happen in a matter of minutes.
Anyone have any bright ideas about what she could be so upset about? Or magic ways to help soothe her?
Heather turned 4 months old on Tuesday. So let's see, what's new in her life these days? She figured out how to use her knees, so now when she's standing on the bathroom counter, a lot of time is spent dropping down by bending her knees and then pushing herself back up. And she can still roll from belly to back, but she's still not very consistent about it. Sometimes she just gets annoyed and gives up.
She's found her feet and they are constantly in the air! She almost never lays her legs down anymore, which makes diaper changes interesting. And those little feet are frequently in her hands where she can keep better track of them. She hasn't quite figured out how to get them to her mouth yet, but I'm sure she will. Everything goes in her mouth these days.
She just started reaching for our faces a few days ago, which is pretty fun. Except when she's fussing and stretching out her hands to me, and then it's just heartbreaking. "Mama...Mama...please...fix it!" It's so pitiful.
Oh, and she now prefers being in her stroller, forward-facing, to being in her carseat in the stroller. She can see much better, and she seems to enjoy it much more. She's so small, though, that she looks ridiculous in it. The straps don't even tighten down enough to really fit her, and her feet just reach the edge of the seat.
Her four-month checkup was on Friday, and Dr. Daley said we should stop swaddling her. That's an ongoing adjustment. She seems to be doing alright at night, but her naps suck. Of course, her naps suck anyway, so it's not that big a change there, overall.
A couple weeks ago, she started nursing for much less time (5 minutes on each side instead of 10), so I emailed her pediatrician. (She also started spacing out her feedings, finally, up to 3 hours or so between them.) I've read that babies can become more efficient at nursing, allowing them to get it done much quicker, but with the concern about her weight, I wanted to check. Dr. Daley had us go in for a weight check last week, and she was 11 lbs. 8 oz., which put her down in the 12th percentile. The doctor still wasn't worried, though, so we just carried on as usual, only with more time on our hands.
Well, at her checkup on Friday, she had lost weight, down to 11 lbs. 2.4 oz.! That's the 5th percentile and not awesome at all. Dr. Daley put her on an iron supplement (apparently, iron deficiency causes poor weight gain because the metabolism has to run high to push the blood around faster to carry enough oxygen) and said to start her on solid foods! Eeep! So we went out and bought a highchair and feeding paraphernalia today. We'll start the rice cereal tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes!
The good news is that whatever is causing the weight issues, it isn't affecting her development otherwise. She's totally on top of all the skills for her age, which is a relief.
Also, our tiny apartment is pretty much wall-to-wall baby stuff. Kyle just paced it out, and you can take one step to get from the stroller by the door, to the carseat, to the bouncer, to the glider, to the blanket on the floor, to the high chair, to the playmat. We need more space!
Heather was three months old on Saturday, and she already seems so much more advanced than when she was born. She's able to:
hold her head up really well,
smile (the best is when she uses her whole face and hands and body because she's just so happy!),
make happy noises,
chew/suck on her hands (which she can get to her mouth pretty easily these days),
stand with support,
grab things (this is a new skill), and
roll over from her front to her back (not always, and not easily, but she has now done it several times).
Her current favorite thing to do is stand on the bathroom counter and stomp her feet. She also likes to play with the hanging animals on her playmat or bouncer, and I've recently started filling the sink with water then sitting her on the counter so she can splash with her feet. "Pat-a-cake," "This Little Piggy," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" often get smiles, too. She's sleeping really well at night (normally only waking up once to eat), but still not napping for more than 45 minutes at a time during the day.
[FYI, Heather's pupils get really small in these pics, but it's just because of the light in her eyes. Try not to be creeped out.]
At her two-month checkup, we discovered that she's not growing as much as her doctor would like, so we did another weight check last week to check her progress. She's growing, just not at a very fast rate. She left the hospital at the 54th percentile (7lbs 12 oz) for weight and was up to the 66th (8lbs 3 oz) a few days later, but she's now down to the 17th (10lbs 9 oz). Her pediatrician isn't worried, though—she thinks it's just Kyle's genes making her scrawny. She has another checkup at 4 months, so we'll see how she's doing then. It's hard for me not to worry, but I just keep reminding myself that she's happy and has all the skills she should have at this age, so she can't be doing too poorly.
As for me, I was diagnosed with post-partum depression a few weeks ago. I had been improving for several weeks, and my mood was alright most of the time, but the bad days were very bad. So I got in to see a psychologist who diagnosed me, and I saw a doctor the next day for some meds. I've been on a low dose of Zoloft for 2 weeks now, and I can already see a huge improvement. It probably also helps a lot that Heather is crying less these days, plus she's a lot more fun. I love when she smiles and makes happy noises, and I really enjoy seeing her learn to do new things, like grab at her links (a very favorite toy) or roll over.
All in all, I feel like things are starting to even out and calm down a bit around here. Finally.
