Three months have passed already! We had another month of big changes. Macie lost her "newborn" look to us. She became social. She started to move away from bottle feeding. She had a middle-of-the-night emergency that led to a 911 call. She grew. A lot. And while I am fully aware that she is still the size of some babies at birth, she looks humongous to me.
Macie is the sweetest, most precious baby girl. She continues to be a great baby and I am so grateful for her health every day. I can't help but remember how we started, and feel lucky at the outcome we were dealt.
Stats:
Chronological Age - 3 months
Adjusted Age - 1 month
Height - 21 inches
Weight - 9 pounds, 8 ounces
*There is no 3 month well child visit, and Macie is doing so well that her doctor felt a check-up unnecessary. I attempted to weigh and measure her on my own this month.
Milestones:
- First fat rolls (on thighs) - 11 weeks
- Smile in response to a smile - 11 weeks
- Coo - 11 weeks
- Put weight on her legs when held in standing position - 12 weeks
- Roll from back to tummy - 12 weeks
At three months, Macie was wearing 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. (Both up from month two.)
Notable Experience:
At the beginning of the month, we had a middle of the night emergency that resulted in a 911 call. Macie had a very bad reflux moment while she was sleeping on her back. She spit up so much, through both her mouth and her nose, that she ended up inhaling a considerable amount. I woke up to her making horrible noises as she attempted to catch her breath. This had happened in the past, and she had recovered after some intervention. However, on this night she could not recover. When she did start to breathe, she was only making very fast half breaths coupled with gulping noises. She was essentially hyperventilating. After 15 minutes of trying to assist her and suction her nose and mouth, she had not made any improvement. She started to turn color, and we felt we had to call 911.
Their response was very fast, they were here in a couple of minutes. They helped us make sure that Macie was okay. Once she was clear of the spit-up we believed that she would be fine, and decided not to take an ambulance ride back to the hospital. I held her for the rest of the night, and the following night, until we could get into her doctor and have her Zantac dosage evaluated.
Feeding:
For the first half of the month Macie continued to take all of her feedings via bottle. She took expressed milk fortified with Neosure formula. At the halfway point of the month she took six daily bottles of 75-80ml.
We began the transition to nursing on June 12th. I started by nursing Macie every other feeding, with full bottles in between. Her pediatrician felt that this would be a way for Macie to start the process of nursing without becoming so fatigued that she would fail to get enough milk. What actually happened though, was that Macie would nurse very lazily and for a long time (20-30 minutes on each side.) I believed that she was getting very little milk this way, and she was taking bottles of 90ml between sessions. We did not seem to be making progress.
After consulting a friend with knowledge and experience, we started a new plan. I nursed Macie for 10-15 minutes only on each side. I would then pump for 15 minutes, (prior to this I pumped for 20 minutes 7-8 times a day to provide her milk.) I followed this up with a bottle to supplement the milk that she received from nursing. At first these supplements were quite large, 50-60ml. By the final week of the month I was giving her supplements after only four of the feedings, instead of all eight. And the bottles were only 40-45ml. I used the size of the supplement she needed to determine her progress with breastfeeding. I felt that we were making excellent progress, quickly. At the end of the month I started pumping only 3 times a day and was thrilled when my supply seemed to maintain.
It was important to me to make the transition to nursing for three reasons. First, pumping 7-8 times a day for 20 minutes, storing all of the milk, preparing all of the bottles, washing all of the dishes... was tiring, to say the least. I needed to know that things were going to change because I was starting to get frustrated with the process after almost three months. Second, my supply through pumping was starting to drop. Where I used to be able to pull three ounces or more during every pumping session at the beginning of the month, I was starting to see amounts closer to two ounces. I am very pleased that I have been able to provide Macie all of the milk that she has needed since birth. I did not have the same experience with Ephram. With Macie's prematurity, it was especially important to me to do what I could to provide the milk she required. Third, I know that Macie must be my last baby and I crave the bonding and cuddling experience that I remember from nursing Ephram. I wanted to have that one more time, with my little girl. I refused to have that also taken away as one (hopefully) final effect of the pre-eclampsia.
Macie still takes Zantac at an increased dose of .5ml twice a day to treat her severe reflux.
Sleeping:
Macie continued with her excellent sleep patterns in the beginning of the month. Once we started to transition to nursing she started waking a little more frequently overnight, which was fine with me as I no longer had to make a bottle to feed her or pump when she woke. Macie sleeps for one four hour stretch and two to three three hour stretches overnight. She sleeps in a co-sleeper by our bed in a single swaddle. Her mattress is still inclined and we now sleep her on her side, using blanket rolls for support, to help with her reflux and prevent middle of the night 911 calls.
During the day Macie went from constant sleep to establishing 2-3 naps. Depending on when our day starts, she usually takes one morning nap (2-3 hours) and one afternoon nap (3 hours.) She naps in her carseat or her swing.
Favorite Activities:
- Playing with mommy and daddy
- Playing with Ephram and Charlie
- Cooing and smiling at everyone
- Sitting in the bouncy chair
- Sitting in the swing
- Tummy time
- Eating
Least Favorite Activities:
- Spitting up
- Being alone
Nicknames
Macie received her first real nickname this month - "May May". It was extra special because Ephram invented it. For those of you that know that Ephram has a speech delay, you may remember that he lacked most vowel sounds, including the long "A" sound. Trying to say Macie was the first time we heard him use the long A.
Here are some pictures from Macie's third month.
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