One Month

Dear Ellison -

You are one month old now and we just can't believe it.  It's really gone by so fast and it seems like it can't be that long ago that we welcomed you into our lives.  You have been such a blessing and we are loving every second with you.  You are getting bigger and bigger every day and we are learning more about you every minute.  Here are some things that have been happening...

- You had your one month checkup with the pediatrician on October 1.  You weighed in at 9 lbs 4 oz (20th percentile) and are 21 inches long (28th percentile)!  That means you've gained exactly 2 pounds and grown an inch since your birthday!  You are still wearing newborn diapers and we are slowly transitioning into your 0-3 month clothes.  Some of them are still huge on you, but your newborns are way too short for you now.

- We have been dealing with two angry baby monsters lately - gas and reflux.  The Enfamil Newborn formula you were originally on was making you super gassy.  You would cry and scream for hours every night!  We tried to switch you to Enfamil Gentlease, and you wanted no part of it.  Apparently it doesn't taste very good and you let us know that you weren't going to be drinking it really quickly.  We switched you to Similac Sensitive and started giving you gas drops, and it seems to have helped your gas issues tremendously.  After we got that under control, reflux reared it's angry head.  We self diagnosed you...you were screaming with your feedings, spitting up after every feeding (sometimes three or four times) and it would often have pieces of partially digested milk in it, gagging and coughing, arching your back...all the classic signs.  We tried lots of things to help you.  We switched your bottles to Dr. Browns, bought a Rock N Play Sleeper (which by the way is amazing!), bought a wedge for your crib, and held you upright for 20 minutes after eating.  None of that really seemed to give you any relief.  So, we mentioned it to your doctor at your appointment and she prescribed Zantac.  Hopefully we will start to see some relief soon.  It makes us really sad when you're sad and we can't help you!

- Your first night sleeping in the Rock N Play was awesome!  You slept from 9-2 and then again from 3-6!  Of course, the next night you were up every two hours!  :-)  We are starting a bedtime routine with you to try to get you to sleep longer stretches at night.  Starting at around 8:00, you'll get your Zantac, take a bath, get a good bedtime lotion massage, have a little snuggle time while we read a book, get swaddles nice and tight, have a warm bottle, and then straight to bed.  Last night was our first night trying this, and you slept from 9-2, 3-4 (?), and then from 5-8.  If we could just cut out that random middle of the night wake up, we'd be good!

- We have been doing more tummy time and you are tolerating it for longer periods of time each day.  Sometimes, you'll just lay there, and other times you'll push with your feet and move your head around.  You really do have great head control though!  When we're holding you, you're always looking around and holding your head up straight.  You also have super strong legs and are always trying to "stand" while we're holding you.

- You took your first nap in your crib.  The first time, you only slept for about 15 minutes, but the next time you slept for about an hour!  We're going to slowly ease you into your crib, starting with your daytime naps.  We're not 100% comfortable putting you in there at night until we get your reflux under control.

- Mommy and Daddy went out to dinner for the second time!  Aunt Anna came over to sit with you for a couple of hours while we got out of the house.  It does get a tiny bit easier to let other people love on you for a little while, but we definitely miss you when we're gone!

- You had your first real outing.  We went to an event that mommy's work was putting on at the park.  The weather was nice and it was good to get out of the house.  You got to meet a lot of mommy's work friends and they all think you're the best!  We still haven't taken you out in public otherwise though yet.  The pediatrician made me nervous and said that we really shouldn't have you in crowds until you're 6-8 weeks, so I guess we're homebound again!  We do plan to get you outside a lot more though now that the weather is getting nicer.

- Happy One Month, Sweet Girl.  We can't wait to see what is in store...