Are you my baby?
Emma is down for the 3rd nap of the day, in her own bed, and has been sleeping for more than an hour (hence the TWO blog posts in one day, though I should be cleaning)! All three naps have been longer than 45 min, two longer than an hour. She's been up for an hour or so in between each one of them and falls asleep during a marathon feeding each time.
This is totally unlike her, usually, she gets one or two longish naps a day IF we're lucky, often its just a smattering of 10-20 minute ones throughout the day, on me after nursing. After that she wakes up as we try to transfer her to her bed. Luckily, she is better about sleeping at night, or I would have gone insane by now.
I've decided that either a) she's coming down with a cold; I do have a tinge of a sore throat b) she is in a growth spurt and using all excess energy to grow or c) she is growing into a new sleep pattern...ha!
I highly doubt c and am pretty sure thats not it. Really hoping its not a. We haven't had too many growth spurts around here, I think, so I guess I'm a novice when it comes to that. The doubting part of me starts to worry that this is all due to eating enough, and that I have in fact been starving her for 2.5 months. But, we've been on this new feeding routine with supplements for the past three weeks or so, and until now still not much sleeping so my head tells me thats not it.
She has been on the boob a TON, though she seems to be eating very inefficiently, with lots of napping and gazing off and around, latching/re-latching, etc, not even finishing a few ounces of formula in the SNS after an HOUR of sucking. I definitely feel like a human pacifier at this point...gah! Who knows how much she's getting from me, which is the frustrating part of this whole supply issue thing.
In any case, I am liking the naps, and am knocking loudly on wood that it continues, at least for a bit (though how is she ever going to learn how to walk and recite the alphabet by 6 months if she doesn't get in all her practice sessions...?)
Tomorrow we go in for another weight check. Hoping for big numbers again...
Baby Gear Round-Up, Part I (clothes)
There's a lot of gear that goes along with a baby, oooh, boy. A few things are somewhat critical to have, a lot of it is nice but not necessary, some of it is just luxurious, some of it is crap. We've really lucked out on that last category; we really seem to be using most of what we got. Part of that is because I did a lot of research ahead of time, but mostly it reflects highly on those who gave us stuff. Thanks again to everyone! So in the next few days, I will be posting my opinions of What You Might Want To Get When A Baby Is Coming To Your House Soon, based on what has been our experience.
Clothes
Notes: For the first days, you don't want anything too tight rubbing near the cord, like pant tops or zippers on sleepers. We used little wrap shirts, that snap on the sides, and/or "baby bags" with the drawstrings or elastic at the bottom, or jumpsuits with snaps. Later, soft zippered sleepers or jumpsuits are great for easy diaper changes (with feet or without) at night, and we've needed a lot of them because every morning they end up smelling like sour milk. For day clothes, pants without snaps or easy diaper access can be annoying, unless they pull on and off easily. Regular, non-stretchy pants, jumpers or full body outfits without snaps/diaper access = very annoying! Also, remember that whenever you need to go in the car, make sure the kid is wearing something that can handle the crotch strap (not a baby bag, for example)
3-4 "wrap-style" undershirts (or maybe some Kimono-style shirts)
2-3 baby bag sleepers
4-5 footed/nonfooted sleepers
1-3 sleep sacks, light or heavy depending on time of year
8-10 onesies
2-5 long sleeve onesies and/or shirts, depending on season
3-4 soft pull-on cotton pants
2-4 full body jumpers for daytime
5-10 pairs of socks (if you are like us you will lose a ton of these so stock up)
2 or more sweater/sweatshirts
1 or more coat, depending on season
2-4 hats, warm or wide-brimmed, depending on season. Its good to have at least one very soft warm hat for the first few days, no matter what.
Of course its nice to have a few more of each of those things, and some extras, too, like little dresses, jeans/khakis or overalls, shorts, etc, some funky t-shirts, soft shoes, but those are more for fun & going out, and not as necessary. Also, make sure not to buy everything in the tiniest/newborn sizes (ones saying up to 8-10 lbs) or all all 0-3 or 3-6 months sizes, in case you are surprised by a bigger or smaller than average kid. I've discovered, however, that baby clothes sizing ranges considerably, so you probably will get somewhat of a range regardless. And you will get a LOT of clothes as gifts, so I don't recommend buying a ton of stuff too early, either (though it is damn easy to fall for cute baby clothes, I've discovered).
Any suggestions, readers? More soon, including bedding, carriers, and other gear...
Emma lounging outside in her tent, wearing a terrycloth short jumper.
