Welcome to my Digital Baby Book - Dedicated to Jillian, Weston and Georgia.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Our Jilly Bean

5 weeks have gone by since our little Jilly Bean was born. A lot has changed.

Jillian is an easy going baby for the most part. When she cries it is for a reason - she's either hungry or just wants to be held. She never cries when she dirties her diaper, but we change her constantly. Our first week home, Jillian had the worst diaper rash. It looked like a deep, painful burn. She would cry her little heart out when we changed her, which resulted in her momma crying too. We figured out, through trial and error, that baby wipes were the culprit. Every single brand we used was too harsh for her sensitive skin. Tim and I figured out that water worked just fine, so what we do now is take the wipes and run them under the sink. This not only warms them up, but we rinse out any product at the same time. This isn't the only extra step we do when changing our little princess. We use the hair dryer to dry her chubby little buns. This combined with the wipes, has alleviated any diaper rash which equals one happy baby.

A happy baby also means happy parents. We have enjoyed these past 5 weeks together - although they haven't been perfect. Unfortunately Tim has gone back to work this week. Now that it's just me and the Jilly Bean all day, there is a lot I don't get to. When Tim was home, we had a really great schedule going. I was able to shower, eat, make coffee runs, pump, do laundry, clean the house, make the bed, take the dog out for a walk, talk to friends and family, check the mail, watch a movie and surf the internet. Whoa, now days if I gt a shower I am happy. Heck if I can get 20 minutes on the breast pump, I am happy. Which brings me to Jillian's schedule.

We don't have a strict schedule. The only consistant part of our day is how often we feed Jillian. She is fed every 3 hours. I have had some breastfeeding trouble, so not only is she eating from the breast, she is also getting pumped breast milk from the bottle, and when that supply is low we are supplementing with formula. Every night we try and put her to bed at 9 pm. I go to sleep at this time as well, and she will sleep 4 hours. When she wakes, we feed her, change her, rock her and put her back to bed. We do this again in 3 hours, and then again another 2 later. So basically she sleeps 4 hours, then 3 hours and then 2 hours. It's rough in the morning for me to get up, because once she is up, she goes right into play time or she gets really fussy. So after I feed her, I place her on her activity mat and "talk" to her. After about 30 minutes, she then gets tummy time. She loves tummy time, but will cry once she is over it. She has great neck control, something our pediatrician noted on our her first appointment. After play time, I usually feed and change her again. She takes a nap every afternoon for about 3 hours. In the afternoon, I will put her in her chair or swing and hope she doesn't need much stimulation. I would try and sleep when she takes her nap, but it's still hard for me to go to bed around 8:30/9 pm. If I take a 2 hour nap during the day, it might be even harder for me to go to bed at that new time.....

There have been so many "Firsts" in the past 4 weeks.

  • First stroller walk - December 8, 2010
  • First bath - December 9, 2010
  • Cord fell off - December 14, 2010
  • First Doctor's appointment - December 7, 2010
  • First Tear - January 3, 2010
  • First road trip - December 27, 2010
  • First Christmas
  • First New Years
  • First time without mommy and daddy - December 28, 2010
  • You found your thumb - December 9, 2010
  • First smile (I think) - January 4, 2010
  • First Family Outting - We went to Target and Babies R Us - January 5, 2010
  • First coo's and grunts

Some other notable things:

Jillian loves her play yard, any loud white noise (like the hair dryer), car rides, walks in her stroller, and to eat. She also is a great at burping right after a feeding.

She dislikes her swing which makes me so sad. I had high hopes for the swing, as all momma's have suggested it. I think Jillian just needs to grow into it. She also dislikes bath time, even though Tim does a good job getting her squeaky clean. She turns into "happy baby" when she is dry. This is when Tim gets to spend some quality time with his daughter. The usually "talk" and coo with each other for 45 minutes after.

7 comments:

  1. Don't lose hope on the swing. Logan went through a short phase of not liking it but I just kept putting him in it and he finally enjoyed it. Also, I think it is pretty cute/funny that you are blow drying her booty! What a nice mama!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I feel your pain on not getting anything done besides baby stuff. It's driving me a little nuts to be honest.

    Also we went through the diaper rash stuff. I'm using cloth diapers so it might not be as convienient for you but I switched to cloth wipes and the kissaluvs diaper wash solution that you can mix with witch hazel or distilled water. I ordered it from jilliansdrawers.com if you're interested. The baby wipes were too harsh for Ethan too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. aww I understand when there are 2 parents around its so much easier to get things done! !
    Yes mine little one HATED the swing and still doesn't like it.. he liked the bouncer better.! Good luck this week!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have you tried putting Jillian in the swing while it is still (not running) and let her just get used to the seat and the "view" a few times before turning it on? That might help get her over the hump. Don't give up yet, she is still pretty tiny for a swing :)
    Regarding the wipes, you may want to look for wipes that don't contain any aloe or lanolin, if you haven't already. Even the "sensitive" wipes can be pretty harsh on a new baby's skin.
    Sounds like things are in full motion at your house, looking forward to seeing more pictures of baby girl soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Don't feel bad about the swing, our little man loved it at first and then he went through about a month of "you're not putting me into that thing" back to loving it...try giving her a break from it and then try again in a few weeks. She may change her mind :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. My son was born December 1st and our schedules sound eerily similar. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. So sweet! Glad to hear you are all doing well! Peebs didnt like bath time in the beginning either but now he loves it! Wipes also bother his butt so I use cloth wipes and make my own wipe solution that is all natural! I can send you some links if you are interested!

    ReplyDelete