October 8, 2013

Two Weeks Of Indie Scarlett






Indiana is 2 weeks old. I forgot how quickly time goes when you are severely sleep deprived and drugged up all the time (c-section narcotics!). 

Here is a little Indiana update:

Girl loves to cuddle. She is not a huge fan of being put down. I am starting to put her in her crib for naps and while she is slowly learning to accept the fact that this is where I expect her to sleep, she much prefers my arms and chest. I can't blame her, I am equally a fan of our cuddle sessions, however, I know this is not something I can keep up long term (carrying her 24/7). So I am following the old adage: "Start as you mean to go on" and trying to get her comfortable in her crib, before I start a habit that will be emotionally traumatizing to break later on. We are on a 3 hour cycle so far. This consists of feeding her, trying to play with her, watching and waiting for drowsy signs, and then taking her up to her crib, cuddling with her just a little bit until I see her starting to doze and then putting her in her crib (drowsy, but not all the way asleep). About half the time she will go straight to sleep, but the other half she will start to fuss. I give her about 5-10 minutes of fussing to see if she will settle by herself before I go in and comfort her and most of the time she will, but occasionally she will get hysterical and start screaming. I always laugh to myself when she is hysterical but as soon as I pick her up she takes one deep breath and calms down. All she wants is mama. Its a little sad, but I have to keep reminding myself she will be a much happier baby overall if I give her the gift of learning good sleeping habits. 

She is still very sleepy and I'm pretty sure she has her days and nights mixed up. During the day between naps it is difficult to get her wide awake. Even when she is hungry she rarely has enough energy to throw a proper fit, its always just mild fussing. As soon as I put the nipple in her mouth she is soothed and it isn't long before her eyes are closed and she is breathing deeply. During the night. however, she is much more alert between feedings. I remember in the womb she was most active at night, around 11-2 and this is still true today. Its a little rough in the middle of the night when she is so alert and I'm waiting for her to get drowsy, but I'm hanging in there. When I'm desperate I just bring her back into bed with me or prop her in her stroller bassinet in my room. I'm hoping that this process will reverse as she gets older, the only advice I've been able to find so far is to make sure she stays on her 3 hour schedule during the day, that way her longest stretches can be at night. Its surprisingly hard to mind the clock and not to push a feeding out 15 - 30 minutes when she is happy asleep and I'm busy doing something, but it will be worth it if it fixes this day/night confusion. 

Indiana has had a couple baths now and I'm happy to say she doesn't appear to mind them as much as most newborns do. She is relatively calm throughout which is great because I've been doing them in the sink which is always a little tricky. Can't be bothered to get that giant baby bath tub out of storage in the garage. 

I'm pretty sure Indie has her daddy's mouth/lips. I love it because they look super pouty when she is sleeping and makes for the cutest photos. Austin has a great smile so I'm hoping she gets that too. When I compare photos of Heidi and Indie as newborns I don't see alot of similarities, but one thing I do see in common are their super expressive facial expressions. Many a picture has been ruined by grumpy looking facial expressions, most commonly by a furrowed brow. I've been told that I wear my heart on my sleeve too, so I guess they are getting that from me. 





Well thats it for now. Check back in soon! 

3 comments:

Natalie said...

She is a very, very pretty baby!

It's always so awkward when someone has a ugly baby haha. Seriously though she is gorgeous!

Lisa @ Tales of a Young Housewife said...

Holy gorgeousness! She has the sweetest little face. Glad to see a blog from you finally lady! Sorry you had a rough recovery, hope you feel more like yourself sooner than later! Congratulations:)

PS- I want to see updated pics of pretty Heidi!!

Amanda K. said...

thanks for stopping by living on grace!
your little girl is GORGEOUS! she looks just like a doll. congrats :)