Rose is 2 Months Old!

Time sure does fly. My little peanut was two months old this past Monday. Unfortunately for her, it meant a trip to the doctor and three shots in her little legs. She screamed like a champ for a brief moment and we were quick to offer her some comfort nursing and she was good to go.

As of Monday, Rose is now 9 lbs, 8 ounces and 22 inches tall. She has certainly filled in and has remained at the 25th percentile for weight. She was tall at birth (90th percentile), but her measurement now has her at only the 25th percentile for height.  I don't know how accurate heights are since babies squirm so much and it's difficult to get them when they stretch out.  Her head circumference has remained at the 50th percentile since birth.

We were lucky she didn't react to any of the shots, not even with a fever. We continue to be in awe at our good fortune with her health. Everything checked out great and we don't have to go again for 2 months.

Below is my attempt at a 2 month photo shoot.  She was fine with the hat on for about 30 seconds, then got really fussy until I took it off. Once she settled down, I was able to get her hat back on for a few additional shots.

Everyone who sees her comments on her beautiful eyes. I know I am biased in thinking she is adorable, but it's nice to have so much confirmation from others.

Rose's First Beach Trip

Over the past week, it seemed like the weather transitioned from winter to summer.  One night it was so warm we actually had to turn on the air conditioning. With the promise of nice weather continuing through the weekend, we decided to take Rose on her first trip (of hopefully many) to the beach.

We were up very early and decided to get on the road after getting Rose fed and changed. We were fortunate that she rested most of the 2.5 hour drive down to the beach.

We arrived to fairly strong winds and cool temperatures down by the water's edge.  Thankfully, we all had our hats and several layers of clothing. Rose was so comfortable, she managed to sleep for a solid 3 hours on the beach as the temperatures warmed into the 70s. The only downside was that it remained windy.  Neither Colin nor I realized the exposed areas of our skin would get sunburned.

 Rose's first trip to Fort Fisher State Park Beach, NC

Enjoying the ocean even though it was cool and windy

The few hours Rose was awake at the beach she seemed to enjoy it.  She gave us some of her adorable smiles when we talked to her and she was very relaxed.  I doubt she actually took in the ocean and the sand, but I'm guessing the sounds of the waves and the seagulls were soothing.

Since Darwin wasn't forced to go in the water, he had a great time at the beach. We took a long walk and a short walk and Darwin was so comfortable, he also managed to take a nap.

Colin and Darwin did their usual racing on the beach

Mommy wearing Rose on our long walk

Rose napping in the Moby Wrap

Darwin relaxing by the water's edge while Rose gets fed

For the afternoon nap, 

Rose got to sleep on Daddy's chest

The skies clouded up by early afternoon and since we had been up since 4:30am, we were ready to make our way back home.  We stopped to have some dinner on the way back through Wilmington and made sure Rose was clean and fed before starting the journey back.  Rose lasted about 30 minutes before she got fussy. It was the witching hour, after all.  To calm her and give us all a quiet ride back, I sat in the back seat with her and Darwin so I could help her keep a pacifier in her mouth.  The drive certainly felt much longer coming home.

Even though Rose slept a lot at the beach, she still managed to have a good night of sleep with 3-4 hour stretches. Both Colin and I were grateful for the rest! As soon as we were unpacked and bathed, we all crashed!

I'd say it was a fairly successful first trip to the beach - or at least the best we could ask for with an 8 week old.  We only hope that Rose loves the beach as much as we do and look forward to lots of trips in our future.

So Many Changes Between 5-7 Weeks

Over the past two weeks, we've seen lots of changes in little Rose. The most rewarding include receiving smiles when interacting with her. Around 5 weeks, we started getting a few grins and smiles and now she squeals and almost laughs when we talk to her.  She is most content after eating, though at 7 weeks, she is now fairly content being left alone in a bouncing chair or on an activity mat and observing her surroundings. She still loves her musical mobile and now watches the red and blue cars as they pass.  She also loves to stare at ceiling fans - just don't turn them on!

Here is a video of Rose's first smiles (dated 3.19.14) - sorry for the poor light quality.

Around 5 weeks, I went to the HUG your baby class because I needed some resources on helping Rose during her fussy period, known to most parents as the "witching hour."  Around 5-6pm, Rose would cry and generally be unhappy for several hours. She would be quieted only with nursing, bouncing on a ball, or going for a walk.  The class was really helpful in giving some techniques I could use to settle Rose without feeding her or moving.  Bringing her hands to her chest and offering a pacifier has worked wonders!  And, while I don't want to jinx us, I do think Rose's fussiness peaked around 5-6 weeks and now seems to be getting better. She will still occasionally go from happy to screaming in a matter of seconds, but these occurrences are much less frequent. Yesterday was the first day we were able to lay her down during the 5-8pm witching hour and have her remain content. During most of that time she entertained herself and didn't even need the pacifier.

We've also been really lucky that Rose is a good sleeper. At 6 weeks there was one night where Rose slept 6.5 hours straight! It was amazing. While we haven't had a re-occurrence of 6 hours, she consistently has at least one 4 hour stretch at night and sometimes sleeps closer to 5 hours. I don't know if it is because Colin feeds Rose from a bottle in the evening or if it is because we swaddle her with her arms across her chest at night, but I will not complain and will take every minute she gives me at night.

Rose at 6 weeks

This past week I started working part time from home. I wasn't sure how it would go since we really haven't been home alone much. My mom left at 5 weeks and then we had Colin's parents visit at 6 weeks.  Thankfully, Rose has a long stretch of sleep (3.5-4.5 hours) in the morning so I've been able to get most of my work done during that time. After our morning feeding we have some interacting time, some quiet observing time, and then Rose gets rocked to sleep in the swing. So far, it has really worked for us.

This week I also had my 6 week visit with the midwives. Everything checked out great and I was surprised to learn that I am only 5lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight! Unfortunately, I'm not back into my old pants yet and I hope the weather warms because I can wear my old skirts and dresses.  Since Rose's second week, we've been walking as much as the weather let us. I've mostly carried her in the Moby Wrap during our walks (which as an aside - I much prefer the kangaroo hold to the newborn hug hold). Around week 5, I also started doing some exercises to strengthen my posterior chain.  I've felt myself hunched over holding and feeding Rose and wanted to strengthen the muscles that keep me upright. Colin helped me develop a list of ~10 exercises and I've done them 8 out of the past 12 days. These may have helped me drop 5lbs since my two week appointment and they work the core (which might help me get back into those pants).

Now that the midwife has confirmed I am "back to normal," I am ready to increase the intensity of exercise to get back into shape. I've seen too many girls come back to soccer out of shape and get hurt, and that is the last thing I want.  I was able to get a decent BOB stroller on craigslist and went for my first run this past Thursday (6 weeks, 6 days postpartum).  It wasn't fast (10.5 min/mile) or far (2 miles), but it was a beautiful day and I felt good. My first mile felt great and I maintained a good pace, but once I reached a mile and a half, I knew I wouldn't be able to go much farther.  Darwin ran really well alongside the stroller and after taking in her surroundings for the first half of the run, Rose fell asleep.

Darwin maintains a safe distance from the stroller

A good run on a beautiful Spring day.

Check out the flowering trees!

Rose at 7 weeks

You can't really tell in the picture, 

but her hair is starting to grow!

It really is amazing how much babies change from week-to-week and even day-to-day.  I love seeing Rose's transformation and continue to enjoy her as much as possible. She really is such a good girl and I am beyond lucky to have a healthy and happy child, loving and supportive friends and family, and a job that allows me to transition slowly back to work.  I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Rose

Happy St. Patrick's Day

(Thanks to the Miller side for the Irish ancestry!)

Happy 1 Month Rose

I can't believe it's been a month since little Rose entered our world! Time sure does fly.

Since I last posted about Rose's sleeping difficulties, she had a long stretch of sleeping well. By sleeping well, I mean 2.5-3 hour increments.  I guess I had to bash her for her to step up to the challenge!  :)  Although I did praise her sleeping yesterday to a friend and then she had a bad night last night.  Overall, I'd say she is a pretty good sleeper and generally takes several 3-3.5 hour naps. It's just difficult to predict when they will take place.

Over the past two weeks we have seen some dramatic changes in her.  Since 3 weeks she has started focusing on the musical mobile that is attached to the crib and can be rotated over the changing table. From the changing table, she follows the red cars as they pass in front of her (there are alternating red and blue cars).

She is our little squeeker and has started making some cute baby sounds. Unfortunately, they aren't as frequent as her bouts of screaming (usually for food).  Rose can go from content and smiling to screaming in a matter of seconds.  It's fairly often that I can't feed her fast enough.

She sure does like mommy's milk and she seems to be growing like a weed.  Weighing her on our not-so-accurate scale, she seems to be somewhere between 8lbs 4oz and 8lbs 8oz.  And she's about 21" tall.  When she stretches her legs - which she does when content on the changing table and when she's having a fit - she appears to be outgrowing her 3 month pajamas!

Over the past month, we've taken lots of trips out including: dinner at McCormick and Schmick's, attending a La Leche League gathering, grocery shopping and lunch at Whole Foods (twice!), visiting mommy's coworkers, shopping at a consignment sale, and many hikes/walks while in the Moby Wrap.  It is certainly a challenge to time a feeding and diaper change right to make it to scheduled events and we've had a few times where Rose has screamed for a majority of the car ride. I've also had the not-so-pleasant experiences of trying to nurse her in the Moby Wrap (which I have found to be impossible in the newborn hold) while shopping at the consignment sale and on a couple of our walks.

The first month has been quite the learning experience for us and parenting certainly is no easy feat.  I try to take cues from Rose on what she needs, but also try to adhere to a schedule and a routine. Some days I have been able to complete chores (like organizing all of our winter and summer clothes in bins), and other days my only job has been to feed myself and Rose, get showered, and nap.  I continue to be grateful for my mom being here. She always has breakfast ready for me and many times brings it to me in bed or in the rocker.  And, she takes care of Rose while I get to take a nice, long, warm shower every day! That shower is one of the highlights of each day - especially when the weather is crappy and we are not going to get out for a walk.

I leave you with the not-so-great photos from today's photoshoot and a video that shows Rose's attentiveness to her musical mobile.  It also demonstrates some of her many facial expressions and a couple of sneezes!  Since the weather is supposed to be amazing for the next 4 days, we'll see if we can get some better photos of her at 1 month.

Rose's video

Our First 2 Weeks With Miss Rose

I read somewhere that babies "wake up" to the real world outside the womb around 2 weeks and remain fussy until 6 weeks or more.  We are definitely starting to experience Rose's awake period.  The past few days have been a real challenge in getting her to sleep.  She loves to nurse and falls asleep eating, but wakes after 5 minutes screaming for more food.  Lately, her long stretches of sleep only come when she's in the car seat or when we walk in the Moby wrap.  My good sleeper from the first two weeks has been replaced by a fussy, screaming baby.

Recapping the first two weeks with Rose brings me back to the days of 3 hour stretches of sleep!

During our first day at home (Saturday), we did a lot of sleeping

The sleeping and relaxing on the couch lasted several days.

It was okay with us when snow shut down the area for two days. 

Even Darwin snuggled up with us all day.

Colin took on a lot of the cooking (along with my mom) and he found a helpful role in bouncing Rose on the exercise ball. Both he and my mom also read a lot to Rose.

On day 3 (Monday), we had our visit from the nurse at the Women's Birth and Wellness Center.  She visited to evaluate my recovery and Rose's health.  Thankfully, we both passed with flying colors. Rose only lost 6 ounces, so she got down to 6lbs, 12oz and at yesterday's 2 week follow up she got back up to 7lbs, 8oz.  During the 2 day visit, Rose had her heel pricked to have the blood tested for the metabolic disorders like PKU (which she thankfully does not have) and had all her reflexes checked.  We feel so lucky to have a healthy baby and hope she remains that way.

On Day 6 (Thursday), we brought out the camera and took lots of photos. 

Here are some of my favorites...

Our sweet doll and her accessories

Close-up of those big beautiful eyes

A family photo

Valentine's Day was one week from Rose's birth date and we took lots more photos...

Mommy and Rose

All 4 members of the Miller clan

The 3 generations

By Valentine's Day I was feeling cabin fever. My butt hurt from sitting on the couch so much and I was sick of the living room.  So we tried out the Moby wrap and went for our first walk.  I only managed about half a mile, but it felt great to get out.  Thankfully, we had wonderful weather during week two, so walks (of increasing distance) have become an almost daily event since that first walk.

During the second week, we also decided it was time to give Rose her first bath - which she enjoyed.

I know there is much more I want to write about baby Rose, but I'm starting to feel the sleep deprivation of having a baby that won't sleep. Blog posts may become few and far between, unless we can figure out a solution. I caved today and gave Rose a pacifier for the first time, which she sucked for about 30 minutes non-stop!  I hope to get some help through the La Leche League Cafe meetings.  If we are going to give her a pacifier, I want to be sure I'm still feeding her enough.

Any tips on getting a baby into "deep sleep" are welcome!

Rose Estelle Miller's Birth Story

The thought of writing a birth story, a story about the most physical and emotional experience of my life, is overwhelming.  As each day passes, I seem to remember and forget various moments of those 24(ish) hours and I'm glad Colin was there with me to help me capture and document as much as I can.

Since finding out I was pregnant so many months ago, I knew I wanted to experience childbirth in as natural state as possible. Not because I welcomed the pain, but because I wanted my child to be born in a chemical-free environment and because women have birthed naturally for thousands of years.  I thought "if others can do it, so can I." Choosing to birth at the Women's Birth and Wellness Center (WBWC) in Chapel Hill provided me with the comfort of experienced midwives while offering an experience in line with my goals of letting nature take its course.  I appreciate modern medicine and am glad we can now save mothers and babies when things go wrong and I was glad that the WBWC could advise me if medical intervention was necessary.

During the last several weeks of my pregnancy, I received reassurance week after week that the baby was not in a breech position, though she seemed to be facing forward instead of backward (which would result in back labor).  I was given some exercises to try and turn her and would do many of these on an exercise ball in the final weeks.

Then, on Wednesday February 5th, during my 39-week appointment and just several hours after having my baby shower at work, the midwife shared with me that my body was preparing for labor and that it could happen soon.  I had started having stronger and longer Braxton-Hicks contractions, but other than that, didn't feel any differently.

Since Thursdays are my work-from-home day, I was fortunate to be able to sit on a balance ball and do some of my exercises as I worked.  I continued to have some mild contractions that did not have any pattern to them throughout the day and didn't think much of it until they strengthened and became painful before bedtime.  Freaking out a little bit, I downloaded an app on my phone to time them and see if there was a pattern developing, and sure enough they were lasting between 30-45 seconds and about 10 minutes apart around 11pm-12am.

Throughout the course of the night I checked in with the on-call midwives a few times, updating them on my progress.  At one point, I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart, but then they went back to being 7-8 minutes apart later.  The back labor was extremely painful and I only temporarily found relief in my bathtub at home.  The position that felt most comfortable was being on my hands and knees, which made trying to lay down and sleep almost impossible.  The midwives advised Tylenol PM and propping some pillows under my abdomen to try and sleep.  I managed about an hour of on-and-off sleep on Friday morning, just before the contractions progressed to 3-4 minutes apart.

When I hit this next phase, the midwives advised me to come in.  The drive to the birthing center was surprisingly quick and calm. I had been worried about weather, traffic, driving through UNC's campus during the time when classes let out, etc., but none of that was a problem. We weren't in a rush and there wasn't any traffic, just a somewhat uncomfortable 30 minutes between home and my arrival.

The midwife and nurse were ready for me and calmly checked the baby's heartbeat with a fetal monitor and checked the baby's progress.  The heartbeat was good and I had reached 8cm dilation.  Little did I know at the time that it would take another several hours to reach the full 10cm.

During the next several hours, from about 1pm until my water broke around 6pm, I labored in the large tub in my private room, while the Jack Johnson Pandora station played on my phone.  I had tried the Tens machine (electric current) on my back when I first arrived, but that seemed to intensify the back labor and not distract from it.  The tub offered me the relief I needed to endure the contractions all afternoon.

My tub at the WBWC

My room at WBWC

Not long after my water broke, the midwife began suggesting laboring in various positions, which I did until Rose was born at 9:13pm.  There was one moment of humor where I took in my surroundings and noticed the midwife, nurse, and Colin all watching me and waiting.  I was able to joke about the awkwardness of the scene. The final stages of labor were certainly a challenge and I was grateful for the coaching and support all three of those people gave. I remember it hurting, but as many mothers have said and I agree, I no longer remember what the pain felt like, only that it hurt.  The moment I will never forget is looking down at my daughter's purple/ashy body as she was brought to my arms - where she stayed for the next couple of hours.  Of all the events of that day, that moment remains as vivid now as it was at the time.  It's also funny that I remember Weezer's "Say it Ain't So" came on Pandora just before I went into what felt like "the zone."

Thankfully, we experienced no complications after Rose was born. Her heart rate was on the upper end of normal at the beginning, but quickly normalized.  The midwives would also share that Rose decided not to tuck her chin as she entered the world, but rather wanted to look up as she came out (resulting in a very small tear and 3 stitches).  She continued absorbing her new surroundings by keeping her beautiful big blue eyes open for several hours and not giving in to sleep until the early hours Saturday morning.  We were eager to share the news with our families and called our parents and siblings as soon as we were settled.

Colin giving Rose some skin-to-skin contact shortly after birth

The WBWC requires a minimum stay of 4 hours and a maximum stay of 12 hours, and we debated whether or not to spend the night.  Since I was feeling well (thanks to the pregnancy hormones!) and we had mostly figured out how to breastfeed (though it's still a work in progress), we decided we'd spend the night in our home.  Rose was weighed, measured, received her vitamin K shot and had her pulse and heart rate checked and I was given my postpartum care instructions while Colin packed up our things and got the car started.

Colin resting at the birthing center as I get ready to head home

In hindsight, it all went by in a blur and it was helpful to have written instructions to follow.  By 1:30am, we were on our way back to our home in Cary and we were introducing Rose to Darwin by 2am.  We brought him outside to greet Rose in the car and then the driveway and then I picked her up and had him sniff her on the couch.  He seemed curious and sniffed, but thankfully he didn't bark or get agitated.  It was a good introduction before we all went to bed to start our new life as a family of 4.

Introducing Darwin to Rose 

Rose Estelle Miller

7lbs, 2oz and 20" long

Still wide awake just 5 hours after her birth