It’s hard to believe we hit the 3 month mark this week. Where does the time go? I can’t believe how much Charlotte has grown and changed already! Today I am sharing a monthly update on CC, including a growth progress photo collage. I also talk about what’s going on in my new Mama lifestyle.
Just in case you missed my delivery post, here are CC’s birth stats: Born December 28, 2015 // 6 lb 6 oz // 20″
CC’s Current Stats:
❊ Age – Three Months (13 weeks and 1 day to be exact)
❊ Weight & Height – 12 lb 13 oz and 25″ (CC has offically doubled her birth weight! 😀 )
❊ Eat – CC’s third month marked a new chapter in our breastfeeding journey. I’m happy to report we are finally thrush free for the past couple of weeks. Since then breastfeeding has felt easy and, dare I say, enjoyable (!). At last! CC continues to eat well. I’m pretty sure she went through her 3 month growth spurt at the end of last week as she fed a lot more frequently than she normally does for a few days but she seems to be settling back into her usual preference of nursing every 2 hours for about 20 minutes or so during the day with a few longer cluster feeds before bed.
❊ Sleep – Night and day sleep have been…well, night and day, really, in terms of experience. CC sleeps great at night. She’s been sleeping an average of 7 hours followed by a 1 – 3 hour clip after that most nights. A friend of mine mentioned her babies both started sleeping through the night when they hit the 12 pound mark and thinking back that’s about when CC started to, as well. Nothing to complain about there!
Her daytime rest, however, has been a different story. She started falling into a pattern of 34 minute (to be exact) cat naps soon after she turned 2 months old. During the morning she goes about an hour and a half between these catnaps. The afternoons are a total crapshoot. Sometimes I can’t get her down at all. She hardly ever naps after 4 PM, so I started slowly moving up her bedtime from what was 10 PM to now 9 and even a bit earlier when I can. I’m hoping this is just a temporary phase and that she’ll at least pick up consistent afternoon naps, if not extended ones at that, soon. In the meantime I plan to continue to inch up her bedtime so she’s going down closer to 8 by the end of this month.
❊ Recent Milestones – CC has been sleeping in her room full time for a few weeks now. I started by putting her down for naps in there at about 8 weeks old and then transitioned her to nighttime sleep in her crib full time by 10 weeks. She’s also now much more vocal and enjoys “talking” (i.e. cooing) with Mama. Sometimes she’ll even “sing” while I sing to her, which is too cute. She grows more alert and aware each day. She has now discovered her hands and spends a lot of time grasping and gumming on them. She also is fond of practicing swinging and moving her arms and legs. I can’t get enough of her sweet baby smiles!
I talked about CC’s silent reflux issues in her last update and I’m happy to report that she seems to be growing out of that, as I hoped she would. I continue to do as many of the at home remedies as I can, including feeding and sleeping her on a slight incline, keeping her upright for a time after eating, and giving her probiotics daily. She was prescribed Zantac by her pediatrician which she started at 6 weeks old. This made a huge difference in her comfort level almost immediately. I noticed after a few weeks, however, that she didn’t seem to need such a strong medication anymore.
She still has silent reflux, but it’s much less pronounced and continues to improve as she grows and her digestive system matures. I transitioned her off Zantac and onto a homeopathic remedy called Natrum Phosphoricum 6x at 10 weeks old. She takes half a tablet dissolved in a bit of breast milk after every other feeding and this keeps the reflux at bay. If her reflux continues to improve at this rate I hope to wean her off both the Natrum Phos. and sleeping on an incline in the next month or so. As always, I do my best to observe her carefully and follow her lead for learning her ever changing needs.
** Please note that I am not a medical professional and have chosen courses of action based on advice from qualified experts who know our specific situation. I strongly suggest consulting with your health practitioner before giving your baby any medicine or homeopathic treatment. **
❊ Special Moments – Greeting Mama with a smile after each sleep and “singing” together after bath time (she particularly likes to croon along to “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid). Meeting her Great Grandma Betty in person for the first time. Exploring exciting places like Target and Trader Joe’s with Mama. Daily walks (weather permitting) with Mama and Winnie.
❊ Mama’s Experience – I feel like I’ve started to fall into a groove over the past month. It’s been a bit challenging to get a lot of non-baby related things done with the super short naps, hence the lack of posts lately. I’ve had to prioritize eating, laundry, and cleaning up around my house during these short breaks. It’s also been tough to get help during her waking hours as she developed a strong Mama preference during the height of her colic, which is now thankfully subsiding.
As important as I think dedicating time to personal interests is, I really haven’t minded not having much, if any, time for those sorts of things lately. I’m loving being a Mama so much and it feels so right that I am fulfilled in just that for the moment. I have been able to squeeze in a few baths and moments spent working on my Project Life album here and there, both which bring me great joy. I’m looking forward to dedicating more time to blogging and getting back into working out as well, even if it means sacrificing a bit of sleep in order to do so. You’ve got to follow your passions!
Check out this video if you’d like to hear more:
I hope you enjoyed CC’s third monthly update. Let me know if there are any other points you’d like me to cover in these posts. As always, I’d love to hear about your experiences if you care to share.
Thank you so much for all of your support and well wishes! ❤️
* This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are genuinely my own. *
