Elizabeth has been a peanut since Day One, when she was born at 6 pounds 2 ounces. At all of her weigh-ins at the pediatrician since, she has been in the lowest percentiles, but always following her curve.
At her six month appointment last month, she was falling a bit off her curve, so I was told to bring her back in one month for a weigh-in. That was last week. The peanut was even more peanutty than I had thought; she'd only gained 5 ounces in one month. Yikes! What had happened: When I started giving her solid foods, it just wasn't enough. I had followed the advice of Dr. Sears (who gives somewhat "earthy" advice; my sister-in-law follows him and she's raising three healthy kids), among which tidbits were that babies did not really *need* solids until 6 months, and that when they did, a fist-sized amount of food was enough for tiny tummies. Also, Elizabeth's cousins have a history of food allergies (although we think it's on their other side of the family), another reason I wanted to delay.
Anyway, despite all my good intentions, Peanut just wasn't getting enough calories, between the small amounts of solids and what has probably been low breast milk production. I was told to really pile on the calories! So, over the last week I've added an extra feeding of solids into her day, and do NOT stop feeding her them until she's clearly done. I add some formula in between breastfeedings, too. And today we went for her weigh in and she had gained 7 ounces in a week--more than she had in the last month!
Part of me feels really guilty that my poor baby was so hungry. I'd had no idea; she's a very happy kid, and has been meeting her milestones well (she sits like a champ!). For all my good intentions at introducing foods, it just wasn't right for E. I guess that's what parenting will be like for the next 18 years (see my previous post called "The Great Experiment"!). But I'm shaking off the worry and just having fun feeding her--it's pretty entertaining for both of us! She loves her pears, applesauce, bananas, carrots, and prunes (have yet to introduce the "grosser" veggies, like peas...) She gets a kick out of "Puffs", the baby cereal that helps her practice using her pincer grasp to self-feed. (And I get a kick out of finding the random Puff that hasn't made it into her mouth...stuck to her legs, or inside her diaper!) Best of all, the insanely crappy sleep patterns of the last several weeks (literally awakening 2-3 times a night) have subsided into one wakeup, when I go in to feed her. Bliss!!! (I'd better not speak too soon...)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Traveling Baby
It's been a busy summer!
A few posts ago I documented our big multi-state tour of western Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. At the end of July we were on the road again. Craig had a conference up on Mackinac Island. The two of us had used the conference as a vacation for a couple of past summers, mainly because we got to stay at the famous and elegant Grand Hotel! We decided to do the same thing this year, thinking it would be an easy trip to take with a baby.
It was a wonderful few days. As we've learned, with traveling we need to be flexible and creative, and we were--like changing a very messy diaper on the floor of the ferry that took us from the mainland to the island, and pushing Elizabeth endlessly around the island in her stroller because she refused to nap. My parents came up to the island to see us, and were a big help one evening when they watched Elizabeth so Craig and I could enjoy a nice dinner in the hotel dining room.
We decided to extend our trip a bit by going a little further north and exploring some of the Upper Peninsula. We had a great time with all thing Up North: driving across the famous "Mighty Mac" bridge, visiting the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, seeing Tahquannemon Falls. Other than some very less-than-stellar nights of sleep, Elizabeth did great.
Pictured: Who needs a nap on Mackinac Island?, hanging out on the famous porch of the Grand Hotel, making the "squish face" under the very end of the Lower Peninsula side of Mackinac Bridge.
A few weeks later E. and I were on the road again, headed out to Holland (my college town) for my annual girls' weekend with my college girlfriends Rachel, Rachel, and Emily. We all spent the weekend in Emily's in-laws' summer trailer on Lake Macatawa, enjoying all the delights of ice cream, art fairs, strolling my college campus, and swimming. Elizabeth got IN a pool for the first time at Rachel's parents' house, sitting inside a baby inner tube. I think she liked it!
That weekend was rough in that she had one horrible night's sleep...in the trailer she slept in her Pack and Play in a back room, with me on the living room sofa at the front of the trailer. She literally woke up every hour. Not wanting to bother my friends, at 3 AM I took her into the living room with me, thinking maybe we could sleep together on a blanket on the floor. Well, she thought that was pretty hilarious, and lay there on the floor grinning at me and reaching for my face. Time for Plan B! I fed her and we went back to the tiny back room where her Pack and Play was. She protested so much about the PNP that, in desperation, I spread a blanket on the floor of THAT room and let us lay side by side. She fell asleep...I was curled in the fetal position because there was no room for me to stretch out all the way. I got two more hours of sleep :) Praise God, the following night was MUCH better.
We're off again next week for another visit to Illinois to see my family. I'll admit it's tough schlepping around all the time, but that's the life we chose when we set up home away from our families and close friends. So far, Elizabeth has been a champ. I do look forward, though, to a quieter fall!
A few posts ago I documented our big multi-state tour of western Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. At the end of July we were on the road again. Craig had a conference up on Mackinac Island. The two of us had used the conference as a vacation for a couple of past summers, mainly because we got to stay at the famous and elegant Grand Hotel! We decided to do the same thing this year, thinking it would be an easy trip to take with a baby.
It was a wonderful few days. As we've learned, with traveling we need to be flexible and creative, and we were--like changing a very messy diaper on the floor of the ferry that took us from the mainland to the island, and pushing Elizabeth endlessly around the island in her stroller because she refused to nap. My parents came up to the island to see us, and were a big help one evening when they watched Elizabeth so Craig and I could enjoy a nice dinner in the hotel dining room.
We decided to extend our trip a bit by going a little further north and exploring some of the Upper Peninsula. We had a great time with all thing Up North: driving across the famous "Mighty Mac" bridge, visiting the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, seeing Tahquannemon Falls. Other than some very less-than-stellar nights of sleep, Elizabeth did great.
Pictured: Who needs a nap on Mackinac Island?, hanging out on the famous porch of the Grand Hotel, making the "squish face" under the very end of the Lower Peninsula side of Mackinac Bridge.
A few weeks later E. and I were on the road again, headed out to Holland (my college town) for my annual girls' weekend with my college girlfriends Rachel, Rachel, and Emily. We all spent the weekend in Emily's in-laws' summer trailer on Lake Macatawa, enjoying all the delights of ice cream, art fairs, strolling my college campus, and swimming. Elizabeth got IN a pool for the first time at Rachel's parents' house, sitting inside a baby inner tube. I think she liked it!
That weekend was rough in that she had one horrible night's sleep...in the trailer she slept in her Pack and Play in a back room, with me on the living room sofa at the front of the trailer. She literally woke up every hour. Not wanting to bother my friends, at 3 AM I took her into the living room with me, thinking maybe we could sleep together on a blanket on the floor. Well, she thought that was pretty hilarious, and lay there on the floor grinning at me and reaching for my face. Time for Plan B! I fed her and we went back to the tiny back room where her Pack and Play was. She protested so much about the PNP that, in desperation, I spread a blanket on the floor of THAT room and let us lay side by side. She fell asleep...I was curled in the fetal position because there was no room for me to stretch out all the way. I got two more hours of sleep :) Praise God, the following night was MUCH better.
We're off again next week for another visit to Illinois to see my family. I'll admit it's tough schlepping around all the time, but that's the life we chose when we set up home away from our families and close friends. So far, Elizabeth has been a champ. I do look forward, though, to a quieter fall!
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