It's been a beautiful week

Highlights of last week:

• Monday - Greta celebrated starting her second month by smiling at me. A REAL smile. She also has outgrown almost all the newborn outfits and quite a few of her 3 month onesies. She's a long girl so although she's not too "big" for most of these, she is too long for anything that is an all over body suit, be it a sleeper or onesie.
  
• Tuesday - Greta and I ventured out together without assistance. We had a wonderful time and I'm sure many more trips to follow. Where did we go, you might ask? Victoria's Secret and William Sonoma. She slept through VS so her virgin eyes were shielded.
• Wednesday - Another trip out and about. I also got my first experience trying to diaper her in our backseat on my lap. It was very chilly outside and she needed a diaper change so I balanced her on my lap and cleaned her up. She was very cooperative and much happier with a clean bum.
• Thursday - nothing exciting - just a day at home.
  
• Friday - Greta started her 6-week growth spurt - or rather she started making sure momma has enough milk for it. I think she nursed constantly most of the night. We also made our first trip out to Target and visited Aunt Julie at work.
• Saturday - Greta attended her first party - a lingerie shower for a friend (hence the midweek visit to VS). She also slept for 5 hours during the night. I hope this trend continues
  
• Sunday - I wore pre-pregnancy jeans for the first time! In the interest of full disclosure they are a bigger pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans and they are tighter than I would wish but they zipped and buttoned and I was able to wear them all day. It was so encouraging to be able to wear pants without elastic and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get into the rest of my pants before too long. On the other end of the spectrum I'm having problems with my shirts. Nursing has "blessed" me so some of my pre-pregnancy shirts are tighter than I would like. I guess being tight in the bust because of nursing is better than being tight elsewhere. I'm gonna hang on to those shirts though because I have a feeling I'll lose some of my "blessing" once we finish nursing.

Tomorrow Greta has her 1 month appointment. I'm excited to see how much she has grown!

Adventures in . . .

Pumping

• Today I pumped for the first time. I got the pump yesterday and was going to pump this morning but my schedule just didn't permit. Greta went down for a nice long nap this afternoon so I pumped then. I must say, it was much easier than I expected. I only pumped for 10 minutes as I wanted to make sure Greta had enough for her next feeding. It wasn't painful at all and the milk seemed to flow pretty easily. One thing I can say, my child has the suction of a barracuda! Compared to her, the pump barely felt like it had any suction! I'm going to start building up my milk supply so that I can leave her for a few hours or Graham and I can go out.

Cloth Diapering

• A while back my doula started a workshop at Babies R Us about cloth diapering. While I was never able to attend the resulting discussion on their message board intrigued me so I researched the whole thing. I really couldn't see any downsides so I bought 13 fuzzi-bunz off of eBay and then bought cloth wipes, a hanging diaper pail, and the recommended detergent from another web site. We used newborn disposables until her meconium (sp?) stopped and also until her umbilical stump was pretty much dried up. It's been really easy and my favorite part is the cloth wipes. They stay warmer much longer from the wipe warmer and unless she has a MAJOR blowout you only need one wipe for even the messiest diaper vs several paper wipes. Graham likes that he doesn't feel like he's throwing away 25 cents every time he changes her. Each evening once she is down for her evening nap I throw the dirty diapers in the washer, run them through a cold rinse then a hot wash with detergent and then either that night or the next morning I pop them in the dryer and they are ready to go. The nicer cloth diapers (meaning those that are more like a disposable) are an investment but I figure we'll be diapering her for a while and we won't have to make this purchase again for future children. My child also loves to be a nudie baby when she gets her diaper changed. We've started letting her lay on her changing pad as long as she likes without a diaper on. I figure this is good for her bum and it makes her happy. I just stick an old fashioned cloth diaper under her to catch any accidents.
  

Bathing

• My doula mentioned to me that Mommy Baby bathing was a good idea if Greta was crying and we weren't able to console her. Once her umbilical stump fell off we decided to try this. It really makes bath time a whole lot easier. She's more comfortable because she's able to be more submersed and Graham and I aren't trying to contort her in all sorts of positions in the little bath tub to get her washed. She really enjoys bathtime. She can be so fussy but as soon as we put her in the tub she gets all relaxed and makes the cutest faces. I would post pictures but as it's Mommy Baby bathing...well you get the idea. I think she is definitely going to be a water baby and will enjoy the pool this summer. I can't wait! And lest you ask, so far she hasn't had any "accidents" in the tub.

Soothing

• All in all, Greta is not a fussy baby. But, she does have periods of fussiness in the evening. Gripe Water has become our salvation. It really calms her down and makes the evenings much more enjoyable for all of us. It's also great for her hiccups which she gets pretty often. And, to top it off, she LOVES the way it tastes.
  

Traveling

• Yesterday was the first day I really got out with Greta by myself. Our day started off at the Midwife/Doula's office to buy the aforementioned pump along with a lactation consultation. After we were done I decided to be adventurous and go to the mall. As it was nearing her feeding time I decided to try and feed her in the car. This worked rather well and we shopped for a bit then I fed her again before we left. We also visited Graham at work and showed her off to all our coworkers.
  

This first month has been a challenge but each week it has gotten easier. I'm looking forward to what next month will bring!

Questions

I hope none of these are stupid questions but they are things I've been wondering about.

1. When Greta starts eating more (as she grows) will she need to eat more often than she does now (about every 2 hours), or will she eat more at a time but less often? I'm assuming the latter but would like to know for certain.
2. When do I start introducing stuffed animals or dolls for her to love on. I'd like for her to get used to something like that as I hope it might help her to fall asleep or soothe herself. We have plenty of options to choose from. She has several great stuffed animals (including Ella the elephant from Aunt Julie & Uncle Jack) and a beautiful soft doll from her Mimi.
   

Sad Yet True

I am excited because today I cleaned our living room, dining area, and hallway for the first time since Greta arrived. I started it during one of her naps today but she didn't nap very long so I finished up this evening during one of her longer naps. Hopefully I can get to the rest of the house this week during her other naps.

Clean House = Happy Kelley

Getting Back to that Pre-Pregnancy Size

I, like every other woman who has had a baby, am eager to get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I bravely tried on some of my pre-pregnancy pants and shockingly they weren't that much too small. I expected much worse and it was so nice to be pleasantly surprised. I don't know how long it'll take me to get back into them but I'm hoping that with regular walks in the neighborhood (which Greta & I started last week), sensible eating, and nursing it won't take too horribly long. For jeans I am currently wearing some of the maternity jeans I bought at the very beginning of my pregnancy which I couldn't wear in the last few months. Even though they are maternity jeans it still makes me feel good that I can get back into them. Oh yes, I've also been doing a set of exercises the midwife gave me. Most of them are abdominal but there are a few chest exercises to keep those muscles toned. I'm supposed to do these for a few months and then I plan on transitioning back to pilates. I really missed those core workouts during pregnancy.

On the subject of maternity clothes I have decided that any future pregnancies will not involve pants bought at Motherhood. When I initially bought clothes there I was pleased with the prices and quality but over the course of my pregnancy I had two pairs of khaki capris rip from the fabric being weak - not because they caught on something. My shirts and dresses from there weathered much better - even with frequent washing so I'm still ok buying those items there. I did buy one pair of pants from Ann Taylor Loft and LOVED them. Even though they are a bit pricier I think it's worth it as they fit wonderfully and are really good quality.

So Cool

I'm amazed how much Greta has learned in her 3 short weeks of life. She definitely communicates with us - not always in a way we understand but she tries! I'm definitely picking up her feeding cues much better and we've also figured out the "I'm stinky/wet/both, please change me" sign. (In case you are wondering she starts off fitfully moving her legs up and down and gradually add whimpers and cries if we don't respond quickly enough.) My favorite thing she's learned is that lying down on the boppy means she's gonna eat. She can be crying so hard and as soon as I lay her down on the boppy she stops crying and looks at me with big alert eyes.

We're also trying to transition her to sometimes sleeping in her co-sleeper for naps rather than always sleeping in our arms. Not that I mind holding her - I really enjoy it! But, I do sometimes need to do stuff around the house and nap time is ideal. Graham is better at transitioning her to the sleeper without waking her than I am. I'm not sure what the difference is but he definitely has the touch!

Completely off topic with the rest of the post but I am so glad to have Sushi back in my life. Strangely enough I really didn't like Sushi before I was pregnant but I craved it during pregnancy - right when I couldn't have it. We've had Sushi twice since Greta arrived and as luck would have it a new Japanese restaurant opened very close to our house a few months ago. It's "fast" Japanese food which basically means their sushi selection is limited but it's about 1/2 the price of the fancier sushi restaurants. Sushi also seems semi healthy to me since it's not greasy and it's fish which is not a meat I generally love but for some reason in Sushi (whether cooked or raw) it's different.

This whole leaking milk at random times - very annoying. The only upside I can find is at least I know I have plenty of it!

I've been assured that eventually this will stop but until then. . .