Kaitlyn: Month Two

Katie (Our beautiful baby girl),


Mommy is so late in writing this letter. I am actually writing this a month late and back posting it. Whoops. Life is so hectic and chaotic at times. Your great-grandma left to go back to Oklahoma at the beginning of the month, and mommy has been having fun learning how to do things by myself all day. We are doing much better, and you are such a good girl for mommy. That makes it a lot easier.

I love to get out and about with you, but it takes SO LONG sometimes. The first time I went with just me and you, it took me 2 hours. LOL! You are sleeping less than as a newborn, but you are finally starting to clump times together. You have been going to sleep around 10:30, after your last bottle, and sleeping until 2-3am. Most of the time you go right back to sleep, but sometimes you stay awake for a bit and mommy has to find some toothpicks to hold her eyelids open. LOL! You usually stay asleep until 8am, and then you are up for the day. I have to get up extra early to get ready before you wake if we have early morning doctor's appointments.

Speaking of doctor's appointments, your two month check-up is on March 3rd. I am so excited to see how much you weigh now. At your 5 week check-up, you were 8 lbs and 2 oz. You have gotten so much bigger that I have put away all your newborn clothes and you are wearing your size one diapers. You are also eating 8-10 bottles a day for around 20 oz. You are getting to be a big girl! :)

I am not looking forward to you getting your two month shots. It makes mommy sad to think of you hurting or being in pain. I wish that we could skip over that part of the visit.

You celebrated your first holiday this month, your first Valentine's Day. Grandma stayed overnight with us and watched you so that mommy could sleep. We spent the day with her and Uncle Jon as a family. You even got a Teddy Bear from Grandma that tells you "I Love You More!" when you tell him you love him. Mommy also had a birthday and turned 27. We went to eat at Silo's, mommy's favorite restaurant, with Daddy, Grandma, Uncle Jon and Aunt Tara. You did soooo well at the restaurant and did not even cry.



You are awake for 9-11 hours a day, and are developing quite the personality. You make so many cute faces and are trying so hard to hold your head and shoulders up by yourself. Everyone loves to comment on how cute you are! We are pretty proud parents, too.


Things you love:

-Going for car rides or shopping

-Being outside

-Baths in Mommy's big bath tub

-Snuggling

-Sleeping

-Being Held

-Milk

-Lunch with Grandma

-Sticking your tongue out at Uncle Jon

-Releasing air, one way or another

You are so precious, Kaitlyn. We are thankful that we have been so blessed to have such a wonderful daughter. We love you more than anything.

Love,
Mommy

Breastmilk Strong!

Kaitlyn had a weight check up today. Dr. H wanted to make sure that Katie is continuing to gain weight and grow as she should after her bout with jaundice and having such a drop in weight. And...she did so well! She is 8 lbs and 2 oz, which is almost two pounds up from three weeks ago!!! :)

Dr. H walked in the exam room with a huge smile and asked me what I had been feeding her to have her doing so well. I told Dr. H how much she had been eating and that I had been continuing to express breast milk for Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn hasn't had anything but breast milk for over a week. Recently, I have managed to take breast milk with us fresh when I leave the house so that she doesn't have formula at those times either. Even after everything that we have been through, she has only had 28 ounces of formula out of the 510 ounces she has drank. That's less than 6%!!

I really feel so proud; I feel like I finally got something right because she is thriving off of her Mother's Milk. I wanted to breastfeed Kaitlyn so bad and it was a very difficult and emotional decision for me to stop breastfeeding and exclusively pump. I almost didn't continue to pump, but with my friends and family (and my daddy) encouraging and supporting me, I have been able to do so. I have only set small goals, for example "I will pump until she is two weeks old." Then I went to 6 weeks old. I think my next goal will be until I return to work, but really, as long as I can continue to do this, I will.

She is her Father's Child

Last night, Katie woke up after her bath and we discovered that she has poofy hair like her daddy. Poor baby....