Hello again. I know it has been a while since I posted anything but keeping up with Tara has kept me busy. April brought me to 6 months with Tara and still loving it very much. I have had time to get used to her routine and it has worked out pretty well. She goes to a daycare two days a week, with someone who has the daycare in her home. This person has been a godsend to me when it comes to Tara. I can ask her anything and everything when it comes to taking care of Tara. I was very skeptical about taking her to daycare, but I found exactly what I needed in this person. She gets excellent care and a lot of one on one attention.
I feel very secure in the fact that she is safe and I can trust them to take care of her the way I would take care of her.
I know not all day care centers are the same, most of them have too many kids and not enough people to watch them especially when it comes to infants. Tara is one of only two babies close to her age and that other one happens to be the grandaughter of the person who runs the daycare. There are also about 10 other kids there and they all seem to love Tara. The all come to say good-bye to her when I come to pick he up. At least I know she will make some friends as she grows up as long as I can keep her with this daycare.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
5 Months
March brought me to 5 months with Tara and still loving it. March also brought about my 30th birthday. Yes, to answer all those questions, I had been dreading this day for a long time. It wasn't so bad now that I had Tara, but before she was born I had thought I was never going to have any children of my own and that I was getting too old to have any. Now that I am 30, it wasn't so bad I guess.
Well now that she is five months old, she has started teething. It hasn't been so bad that she can't sleep or doesn't want to eat, but she does have periods of extreme crankiness. I have found that most of the teething rings that have water in them and you can freeze are too big for her mouth. I found one that was one one of those bouncer chairs that was small enough for her mouth but she doesn't seem to like them at all.
I actually found that putting a baby carrot in her mouth and letting her suck on it helps a lot and she seems to like sucking on the carrot itself. I was shocked but if she is smiling and happy even though her gums may be sore, then I will do what she wants. I am patiently waiting for her to cut the tooth and she what happens. I am assuming that my wonderful sleep may come to an end and I will be driving her around the block in the car at 2 am but as the child of parents who did it for me, I will do it for my precious little girl as well.
Well now that she is five months old, she has started teething. It hasn't been so bad that she can't sleep or doesn't want to eat, but she does have periods of extreme crankiness. I have found that most of the teething rings that have water in them and you can freeze are too big for her mouth. I found one that was one one of those bouncer chairs that was small enough for her mouth but she doesn't seem to like them at all.
I actually found that putting a baby carrot in her mouth and letting her suck on it helps a lot and she seems to like sucking on the carrot itself. I was shocked but if she is smiling and happy even though her gums may be sore, then I will do what she wants. I am patiently waiting for her to cut the tooth and she what happens. I am assuming that my wonderful sleep may come to an end and I will be driving her around the block in the car at 2 am but as the child of parents who did it for me, I will do it for my precious little girl as well.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
4 Months
February came and so did another doctor appointment and more shots, but I had learned my lesson from her two month check-up and decided that I was going to make sure she didn't get sick from the shots again.
The check-up went well, Tara weighed in at 12 pounds and 9 oz. She is still a little small for her age but catching up fast and that made me happy to hear the doctor say she was doing great. We talked for a few more minutes about various things about Tara and what I needed to do with her to make sure she developed as she should be.
Then it was time to talk about the shots. If you remember from my 2 month post, Tara became ill after all the shots babies get at 2 months. I had found out from my parents and a few other people that I can split up the shots over a month. So the doctor and I agreed that she would get 2 shots at this visit and then I would have to just bring her in one time in March to get the other shots. Tara was pretty calm during these shots as she only got one shot and had to take the other vaccine orally, I was really proud of her.
I was also pretty thankful that the doctor allowed me to do this. I know I am her mother and I get to decide what happens to her, but I guess I thought that the doctors would be angry with me for telling them what to do. But it was just the opposite, the doctor was very understanding after I told hr had happened after the last shots. New River Pediatrics makes Tara's doctor visits very pleasant and I look forward to using them for Tara and any other children I may have.
The check-up went well, Tara weighed in at 12 pounds and 9 oz. She is still a little small for her age but catching up fast and that made me happy to hear the doctor say she was doing great. We talked for a few more minutes about various things about Tara and what I needed to do with her to make sure she developed as she should be.
Then it was time to talk about the shots. If you remember from my 2 month post, Tara became ill after all the shots babies get at 2 months. I had found out from my parents and a few other people that I can split up the shots over a month. So the doctor and I agreed that she would get 2 shots at this visit and then I would have to just bring her in one time in March to get the other shots. Tara was pretty calm during these shots as she only got one shot and had to take the other vaccine orally, I was really proud of her.
I was also pretty thankful that the doctor allowed me to do this. I know I am her mother and I get to decide what happens to her, but I guess I thought that the doctors would be angry with me for telling them what to do. But it was just the opposite, the doctor was very understanding after I told hr had happened after the last shots. New River Pediatrics makes Tara's doctor visits very pleasant and I look forward to using them for Tara and any other children I may have.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Co-Sleeping
Some may ask what is co-sleeping? I found out what co-sleeping was shortly after my daughter was born.
Co-Sleeping, is having your baby in bed with you and your spouse when he/she is supposed to be sleeping in their own bed. This may or may not have a positive effect on how you sleep and on how your child sleeps.
In my experience, I put Tara in bed with me while I was still home on maternity leave, hoping that having me close would help her sleep a little longer so I could get a few more hours myself. It worked a few times and I was not as sleep deprived.
However, I do not still allow her to sleep with me now, and she sleeps just fine on her own at night in her bassinet next to my bed.
I have heard very negative things on co-sleeping and even a friend of my family is now having problems with her nearly three year old daughter not sleeping in her own bed at night and screaming to be in bed with her mother.
I think that co-sleeping is permitted when the mother is breastfeeding. At least that is what all the books I read say. This helps the mother stay in bed during feeding and the baby can drift off to sleep while nursing. I never tried this with Tara but only because I was too scared that I would roll over on her, but I have heard that it works well.
Co-sleeping after 4 or 5 months old should be stopped in order to get your child to realize that he/she has his/her own bed to sleep in. Now, will I permit my daughter to sleep with me if she has a bad dream? The answer to this is simple, yes. I could never let her cry all night when she clearly needs to be close to her parents.
But still, there has to be a clear boundary between children sleeping with their parents and sleeping in their own beds. Tara has done exceptionally well with sleeping on her own and I am proud of her. Now I need to get used to putting her in the crib in her own room, since she is still sleeping in her bassinet next to my bed. It will be hard for me not to miss not being able to look down on her from my bed as I get up to go to work in the morning.
Co-Sleeping is fine while they are still nursing, but once they stop nursing, he/she needs to be in their own bed, either a crib or a bassinet. I love that Tara sleeps next to me, and I can still look at and touch her same as I could if she were in bed with me.
Co-Sleeping, is having your baby in bed with you and your spouse when he/she is supposed to be sleeping in their own bed. This may or may not have a positive effect on how you sleep and on how your child sleeps.
In my experience, I put Tara in bed with me while I was still home on maternity leave, hoping that having me close would help her sleep a little longer so I could get a few more hours myself. It worked a few times and I was not as sleep deprived.
However, I do not still allow her to sleep with me now, and she sleeps just fine on her own at night in her bassinet next to my bed.
I have heard very negative things on co-sleeping and even a friend of my family is now having problems with her nearly three year old daughter not sleeping in her own bed at night and screaming to be in bed with her mother.
I think that co-sleeping is permitted when the mother is breastfeeding. At least that is what all the books I read say. This helps the mother stay in bed during feeding and the baby can drift off to sleep while nursing. I never tried this with Tara but only because I was too scared that I would roll over on her, but I have heard that it works well.
Co-sleeping after 4 or 5 months old should be stopped in order to get your child to realize that he/she has his/her own bed to sleep in. Now, will I permit my daughter to sleep with me if she has a bad dream? The answer to this is simple, yes. I could never let her cry all night when she clearly needs to be close to her parents.
But still, there has to be a clear boundary between children sleeping with their parents and sleeping in their own beds. Tara has done exceptionally well with sleeping on her own and I am proud of her. Now I need to get used to putting her in the crib in her own room, since she is still sleeping in her bassinet next to my bed. It will be hard for me not to miss not being able to look down on her from my bed as I get up to go to work in the morning.
Co-Sleeping is fine while they are still nursing, but once they stop nursing, he/she needs to be in their own bed, either a crib or a bassinet. I love that Tara sleeps next to me, and I can still look at and touch her same as I could if she were in bed with me.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
3 Months
January..the start of a new year and yet another trip to Bedford to have Christmas with Shad's family. Everyone was was going to be there, well most everyone, Uncle Daniel and his wife Alison were going to be absent. We drove up on New Year's Eve and had made plans to spend the night. Tara is still good to travel with at this age, as she usually goes to sleep as soon as the car starts moving. She slept most of the way up and I did too.
January also brought lots of new things in Tara's world. She started lifting her head for a few minutes at a time and grasping at things for short periods of time as well. She laughs and smiles all the time and turns her head when she hears a familiar voice. I have been the benefit of most of her milestones so far, but she is generous with her smiles and laughs with the whole family. Especially her Uncle Andrew. It seems that everytime she sees him it just calms her down and she has nothing but smiles for him. I think it is because he has a lot of facial hair right now and none of the other men she has seen so far do. She even has more hair than her Uncle Aaron!
The New Year started out great. We had dinner and opened gifts on New Year's Eve and stayed up late to welcome in the New Year. Tara was already alseep by the time I took her to bed in the wee hours of the morning and slept until late in the morning as well. That in itself is a blessing as well. No more middle of the night feedings! I usually try to feed her around 10pm and she sleeps until about 630 in the morning when I get her to the babysitter or to her other grandmas house. I was so surprised before Christmas when she slept through the night. I didn't expect it to continue but it has. She wakes up sometimes during the night, but goes back to sleep as soon as I find her pacifier. I am not sure if that is a good thing to do at this moment, but I will address that in another post. Tara is thriving and doing very well at this stage in her life and I as her mommy couldn't be happier.
January also brought lots of new things in Tara's world. She started lifting her head for a few minutes at a time and grasping at things for short periods of time as well. She laughs and smiles all the time and turns her head when she hears a familiar voice. I have been the benefit of most of her milestones so far, but she is generous with her smiles and laughs with the whole family. Especially her Uncle Andrew. It seems that everytime she sees him it just calms her down and she has nothing but smiles for him. I think it is because he has a lot of facial hair right now and none of the other men she has seen so far do. She even has more hair than her Uncle Aaron!
The New Year started out great. We had dinner and opened gifts on New Year's Eve and stayed up late to welcome in the New Year. Tara was already alseep by the time I took her to bed in the wee hours of the morning and slept until late in the morning as well. That in itself is a blessing as well. No more middle of the night feedings! I usually try to feed her around 10pm and she sleeps until about 630 in the morning when I get her to the babysitter or to her other grandmas house. I was so surprised before Christmas when she slept through the night. I didn't expect it to continue but it has. She wakes up sometimes during the night, but goes back to sleep as soon as I find her pacifier. I am not sure if that is a good thing to do at this moment, but I will address that in another post. Tara is thriving and doing very well at this stage in her life and I as her mommy couldn't be happier.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
2 Months
December brought Tara's 2 month check-up and her first shots. In the first weeks of December, Shad and I decided to get Tara's tongue tie taken care of. She still wasn't gaining weight as she needed to. So I made an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Luckily, they were able to get us in before Christmas. When they finally called us in and the doctor came to the room, I was very apprehensive about having the procedure done., but the doctor was very friendly and put me at ease. As much as I have heard Tara cry in the last month, I did not think I could be in the room with her when the procedure was done. I handed her over to Shad and left the room with tears already welling in my eyes.
I sat in the waiting room not far from where I left her and as soon as I heard her cries I lost it. Crying so hard, that the other person in the room went to get me a tissue. for which I was grateful. It seemed like only minutes before the doctor opened the door and asked me to come back. Tara had already stopped crying and had her head on her daddy's shoulder. She smiled at me and I was happy to see that she was ok.
Exactly one week later, I took Tara to the pediatrician for her two month check-up and first set of shots :-( I was hopeful that she had gained some weight in the week following the tongue tie procedure. And I wasn't disappointed. She weighed an even 10 pounds! Now I'm not sure how much weight they are suppoed to gain per month, but since she had a hard time gaining weight in the beginning, I was hopeful that this was the start of some major weight gain from month to month. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health and I had to wait for the nurse to come in with the shots. That didn't go well either. She had to swallow 1 and get four shots, all in her little legs. She cried but I think I cried more. I was careful to avoid hurting her legs as I dressed her and took her home as quickly as possible. She slept a lot that day and didn't eat much as I expected. She was also very fussy when she was awake and didn't want to be put down, so I spent much of my day off just holding her and walking with her, not that I minded all that much.
I hate shots myself, so I know these were painful, especially for my tiny little girl.
I sat in the waiting room not far from where I left her and as soon as I heard her cries I lost it. Crying so hard, that the other person in the room went to get me a tissue. for which I was grateful. It seemed like only minutes before the doctor opened the door and asked me to come back. Tara had already stopped crying and had her head on her daddy's shoulder. She smiled at me and I was happy to see that she was ok.
Exactly one week later, I took Tara to the pediatrician for her two month check-up and first set of shots :-( I was hopeful that she had gained some weight in the week following the tongue tie procedure. And I wasn't disappointed. She weighed an even 10 pounds! Now I'm not sure how much weight they are suppoed to gain per month, but since she had a hard time gaining weight in the beginning, I was hopeful that this was the start of some major weight gain from month to month. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health and I had to wait for the nurse to come in with the shots. That didn't go well either. She had to swallow 1 and get four shots, all in her little legs. She cried but I think I cried more. I was careful to avoid hurting her legs as I dressed her and took her home as quickly as possible. She slept a lot that day and didn't eat much as I expected. She was also very fussy when she was awake and didn't want to be put down, so I spent much of my day off just holding her and walking with her, not that I minded all that much.
I hate shots myself, so I know these were painful, especially for my tiny little girl.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Formula vs Breast feeding
Do babies really like the taste of this stuff? It smells bad and tastes bad, at least to me, but Tara seems to like the stuff, and who am I to tell her any different. I can't drink the stuff. I had hoped to be able to breast feed her for an entire year, but things did not work out in my favor and I had to continue to feed her the formula. But it did come in handy when we went to Shad's moms house for Thanksgiving. In a house full of people, it is hard to find a place to breast feed a baby and be left completely alone.
So it was just easier to give her formula only while we were away from home and then breast feed her when we got home later in the evening. I read all the books about why breast feeding is good for the baby and for mom too. And I loved breast feeding. The smell of the baby, having her close to me while she was nursing, hearing all the sounds she made while nursing. But knowing that she was not gaining weight as she should be was my main concern and I would do anything to make sure she was healthy.
Those first few weeks where I was breast feeding only were great. I noticed a change in my body almost immediately. I lost some weight quickly, but also knew that I had to keep eating well and make sure I was getting enough calories in order to keep up my milk. That was hard. If I fell asleep after nursing Tara, I would sleep as long as she did and if she woke up and it was time to feed her again, I didn't even think about trying to eat something.
As for the baby, it helps them get important immunities from the mother as they are nursing. This helps them build up their immune systems. I know that there are some moms who would rather breast feed and there are some who absolutely refuse to breast feed. I know that I will do it again with any other children I have because the experience is one that I will cherish. That first bond between mom and baby is important and the way it helped me bond with Tara those first few weeks is unforgettable.
So it was just easier to give her formula only while we were away from home and then breast feed her when we got home later in the evening. I read all the books about why breast feeding is good for the baby and for mom too. And I loved breast feeding. The smell of the baby, having her close to me while she was nursing, hearing all the sounds she made while nursing. But knowing that she was not gaining weight as she should be was my main concern and I would do anything to make sure she was healthy.
Those first few weeks where I was breast feeding only were great. I noticed a change in my body almost immediately. I lost some weight quickly, but also knew that I had to keep eating well and make sure I was getting enough calories in order to keep up my milk. That was hard. If I fell asleep after nursing Tara, I would sleep as long as she did and if she woke up and it was time to feed her again, I didn't even think about trying to eat something.
As for the baby, it helps them get important immunities from the mother as they are nursing. This helps them build up their immune systems. I know that there are some moms who would rather breast feed and there are some who absolutely refuse to breast feed. I know that I will do it again with any other children I have because the experience is one that I will cherish. That first bond between mom and baby is important and the way it helped me bond with Tara those first few weeks is unforgettable.
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