Sunday, January 25, 2009
Week 16
Here are some pictures of Austin from this week. The first two are from Friday when Luke watched (and dressed) Austin all by himself. It was a good day for him, but I could tell he was a little worn out when I got home. Austin's sucking reflex has got a lot stronger this last week. She sucks on her entire hand and almost gets her whole fist in her mouth. She has finally been more receptive to the pacifier, but I think she prefers her hands. At this point pretty much anything she can get her hands on ends up in her mouth.
Austin has also taken an interest in what Luke and I are eating. They say this is a sign she is getting close to starting solids. As soon as the pediatrician gives us the go ahead at her 4 month appointment we plan are starting with rice cereal.
Also this week Austin has become very vocal and has earned herself the nickname of "Chatty Kathy." I tried to get it on video yesterday and of course as soon as I hit record she was as quiet as a mouse. My Mom even called me this week on the phone so Austin could talk to me.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
week 15
This week went so much better than last week. Austin is now taking the bottle from my Mom with little or no fight. I think part of it is because we figure out that I am having an issue with my milk going bad after 24 hours in the fridge. Breast milk should stay good for 8 days in the fridge. As long as Austin is eating what I pumped the day before I think we have the problem solved, except for Mondays. Mondays she should be eating what I pumped Fridays at work, but with it sitting in the fridge all weekend she will fight the bottle if my Mom tries to feed her it. After countless hours of research on the Internet and advice from three different lactation consultants, we have figured out that I have to scald my milk once I get home and freeze it immediately. The true test will be tomorrow when my Mom tries to feed Austin this milk. Fingers crossed! Even with the odds stacked against me I have no plans of giving up breastfeeding anytime soon.
On Friday Luke watched Austin again, but my Mom came over to be his helper. The first two feedings did not go well for Luke and my Mom end up feeding her, but her last feeding Luke got her to take the bottle. I am so happy for him. Speaking of Luke, today he is going down to Tucson to watch his friend Ramiro compete in Iron Chef Tucson and he will be spending the night. This will be the first time Luke is away from us since Austin has been born. I am looking forward to spending the day with Austin and not having to share her.
I really do not have any other updates for this week...Oh wait, I almost forgot. Austin laughed out loud for this first time this week. Usually her laughs have no sound and she grins really big and shakes her head. It brought tears to our eyes because it was the cutest thing ever and we both were there to catch it.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Week 14
Tuesday went by so much better for Austin and my Mom, and for me at work. She ate all of her bottles and we thought that she was really starting to get the hang of it. Nope, Wednesday was like Monday again. She ate, but not a lot and she was not happy. Then on Thursday she decided to go on a hunger strike. I feed her at 6:30am and my Mom finally got her to eat at 11:30am by using a different bottle she had not tried. She also got her to eat later that day too and we thought we figure out a winner with the bottle. My Mom has been trying different kinds and seeing which one Austin prefers. I think so far she has tried 6 different kinds. I was so thankful that my Mom was watching Austin. I cannot even imagine what would of happen if she was in a regular daycare. Would they of let her starve? Would they of just let her cry all day? After a rough week my Mom said she was looking forward to her days off so she could recoup.
Friday was Luke's day. I don't want to throw Luke under the bus, so lets just say it was not as easy as he thought it was going to be. Austin of course reverted back to her hunger strike and at Noon I got a phone call from Luke asking if I would please come home. He said he failed. Which he did not. She just would not eat. Its not like they ended up in the ER . When I got home Luke looked so sad and defeated. I think he now as a new found respect for me. One good thing out of this whole situation was that I got to work a 1/2 day and spend time with my baby. We will try again next week and hope for the best.
Sad Austin
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Austin Makes Her Magazine Debut!
This evening when Luke checked our mail we were pleasantly surprised to see the below picture and caption in the January 2009 issue of Maroon & Gold Illustrated Magazine.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Week 13
Today was the last day I had before I return to work. I am not going to lie, I cried a lot and when I put Austin to bed tonight I did not want to let her go. Tomorrow is going to be really hard and I am going to miss her so much. Just thinking about it I start crying again. I know she is in good hands with my Mom and I will get through this.
This past week went by so fast. I cannot even remember what happen. Luke and I did get a video monitor and last night was first night we used it. I absolutely love it. I can check on her 10,000 times a night with just a click of a button instead of going into her nursery and potentially waking her up. This week also we started putting Austin in her jumperoo. She is still a little small for it but she is catching on to the concept. Her head control has gotten really good also in the last week or so.
Here are some pictures from this week of her in her sock monkey slippers, her smiling and eating her hand (she is very close to figuring out where her thumb is), her trying to "eat" her glow worm and finally her in her horsey jumperoo. It's the cutest thing ever!
