Hey time, come back!! I don't want my baby to grow up too quickly!
Sure she's only 4 months old - but she's hitting so many milestones already!
At 3 months old Quinn C Noelle had her 2nd lot of infant immunizations - she did so much better the 2nd time around, she did give a loud cry - but who wouldn't?! She doesn't have anymore for another 3weeks - boy does it go fast!
She loves bath time & getting changed, she would scream bloody murder every time she was naked in the beginning, but she has grown accustomed to it all now!
She was on 5floz of formula 3 times a day & feeds off me 2/3 times a day - we started to combination feeding her at 2 weeks old. She was so desperate to be fed & I got so stressed out so my milk didn't come in at that time, Kurt (my fiance - her Dad) was quick thinking and bought her SMA ready made milk in case of an emergency at any point, so we used that and it became a second helping hand. At 1st he was the only one who could bottle feed her, but she's used to me feeding her both bottle and breast now. She's never had nipple confusion so she can have dummies, bottle or breast with no problems. As a mum, I never wanted to bottle feed her & have all the junk that comes with bottle feeding, or give a dummy, or sit her down in front of the TV. That all goes right out the window when you are "desperate" to calm your child down. Believe me I finally know what it feels like to have "unrealistic goals and parenting styles".
The health visitor also said that she should be doing Tummy Time - I wasn't aware that you should do it from birth, but at 2 months old every couple of hours I put her on a blanket on the floor, while I was on the sofa and let her get used to it all. 2 days before she turned 3 months she finally lifted her head with ease and confidence & for about 1 minute long! And on 8/3/16 at 11am she rolled over for the 1st time by herself! She's a fast learner for sure! I don't want my baby to grow up too fast, but at the same time I can't wait to see her grown up & see her personality shine through!
At 2.5 months we noticed Quinn was getting more irritable, dribbling more and would shove her fists in her mouth - she started showing signs of serious teething. After her injections the 2nd time around, the teething has gotten more intense and it can sometimes give them an upset tummy - she wasn't having a good experience going to the loo, often crying in a bit of pain & a few stained clothes along the way :(
At 6 weeks old she started babbling and cooing - oh my f$%^king god - I swear me and Kurt both had tears in our eyes! She responds most to "Hello/Hiya" and "Good girl" or any words beginning with G.
Her eye colour hasn't changed so we think she's going to be fair with the deepest pair of blue eyes you've ever seen! She's the prettiest girl in the world - I know it's a bit bias, but everyone agrees!
At the same health visitor appointment, she got weighed in at 10lbs 15 oz! She's doing incredibly well for a combination fed baby! In some ways it has been bitter sweet, but it's all been for Quinn - there's no time to be selfish - what mattered most is she got fed and felt full. There were so many times where I didn't produce enough milk for a full feed so it meant she was "snacking" - not so good for a growing baby!!
I am proud though, that I continued to feed her myself, even if it was part time. The night feeds were so important to me & her, bonding experience & both individual selfish reasons! I didn't LOVE breast feeding, I felt glad I did it & stuck with it, but in a weird way I miss it - will NOT miss the amount of food I need to be eating to sustain us both! I am not really used to the extra eating, all the snacks combined is like an extra 2 meals. I am a fairly balanced eater so having to eat more than "usual" has been hard. At my heaviest at night I hit 9st (I was only this big at the end of my pregnancy at 9st 12 lbs) I cannot wait to have a routine going so I can get to work out & get my body back. I have never been really self conscious of my body, I never hated the way my body looked but after having a baby & going through it all I felt empowered, my body is amazing & I am so proud of myself. I felt incredibly sexy while pregnant, although I never got the "glow". I have a few "hang ups" like my boobs disappearing when I lay down - damn that flat chest! & how white my legs are - I don't tan particularly well...
Since I have had my baby I've still kept up the same eating habits as when I was pregnant (high fiber, dark green veggies, and 1 cup of tea a day for my caffeine fix *no coke/pepsi/lucozade*) & still kept up taking multivitamins. Although my skin has broken out majorly with my dermatitis again, my hair and nails have been amazing, long and strong!
At 3.5 months my breast milk finally stopped, as I said I do miss it, for the comfort but after a while she started to really prefer the bottle and messed around too much in the mornings with me. I did pump for the final time, but it was only 1 oz and it really wasn't good quality milk. Because I did start to rely on bottle feeding her more and more I was being too energetic and getting too much done around the house that I didn't produce anymore, that was bad on my behalf but at the same time I wasn't satisfying her enough so it was a little bit of a lose-lose situation! I was very concerned about her weight as well by this point so I checked her into the day clinic & they weighed her at 11lbs 6ozs - more than I thought, so I was doing okay.
Her routine right now is 4oz in the morning (if she wakes up before 7am) 5oz mid morning (9am) 6oz lunch time (1pm) 5 oz tea time (5pm) & 8 oz at bedtime (8pm) - she is more content this way, if I fed her 6oz all through the day she would throw a lot of the feed up, her body is still getting used to the new change of a full feed. She likes a bigger feed at night, it's better for her to stay down at night - she's been sleeping through the night since the middle of March 9pm-8am - I pray that it continues! She does wake up earlier but them falls back to sleep & there has been times where she had woken up at 4am for a change and feed, but that's been rare!
2 days before she turned 4 months old she started to shuffle/crawl/wriggle her way around on her tummy - the most amazing thing to witness! Our baby is learning! She loves her toys, but at the moment she really likes people's company more than the toys, which is cute, but can lead me into a situation where I can't put her down or leave her for too long, she soon makes in known she wants your attention. She's also found her voice, it's hilarious to have conversations with her as she babbles away in response! Sometimes it sounds like she's singing too! I'm very lucky I get to spend as much time with her as I can now that I'm not working! I get to film her every moment and take as many pictures of her as possible, I don't want to miss anything!
Overall I am so pleased with Quinn & I with our progress - may it continue!!
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~Ellie xoxox
