3 month update

Emily turned 3 months on January 1st.  Her first couple of months have been interesting to say the least...and I feel terrible for her for having a first time mom who doesn't know anything.  Things have been slowly improving for the better and she's also turning into an actual little person that it's a joy to watch.

Eating
She is a champion nurser since the beginning.  We still have to use a nipple shield (but that's more my fault bc of my extremely flat nipple).  Her suck is so strong that at one month, she was only eating 4 minutes at a time, but still gaining weight that our doctor told us she must be a good eater.  just like her mamma.  Now at three months, she usually eats every 3-3.5 hours, for about 10 minutes at a time. About 2 weeks ago, Emily started refusing the breast for no reason to the point it was hysterical crying.  I had to calm her down, feed her a little bit of the vitamin d with the dropper, wait until she swallows, and then feed her.  Strangely, this usually did the trick and she went back to nursing with no problem.  Hopefully this breast refusal thing is now over.

 If I had one complaint about her eating is that I wish she'll take the bottle.  She refuses every bottle and ends up just playing with all the nipples.  We've tried the Medela slow flow nipple (i figured since we use the medela nipple shield it will have the same consistency). We've also tried the this Similac bottle and the  Phillps avent bottle which I both got for free.  Then, at a desperate attempt to bottle feed her I bought the  very pricy Comotomo Natural bottle.    She's eaten from this one couple of times    but it still doesn't help at all.  On Sundays when I'm working all day, I use to bring my pumped milk with this bottle with me but since she doesn't really like to take it, I've been just feeding her in my office when I can.

Sleeping
She started sleeping through the night (STTN) at a very early age, around 6 weeks.  I think it was a fluke and something that just happened and I'm praying that it doesn't regress or get any worse.  Since day 1, we had put her in her crib to sleep at night, and on our bed to take naps in during the day and at night, she has slept very well.  We're not as strict as we can be about her bedtime schedule but usually around 9 pm, we start her loose bed time routine.

bathe
lotion
massage
put on pj's and sleep sack
brush hair
read a book together (depending)
nurse for about 10 minutes
prayer
sing lullabies while rocking

She usually falls asleep within 20 minutes and (knock on wood) sleeps through the night until about 6 am.  As a new mom, I'm extremely thankful that I get immense amounts of sleep at night (*ducks while other moms throw things at me).  There are days when she doesn't want to sleep and it takes more than an hour to put her to sleep but I can't really complain.

Emily used to love the swaddle until she hit about 2.5 months.  We had several swaddle helpers that we've tried but she hated the restriction of it, especially not having her hand by her face.  On a side note, Emily always has had her hand by her face.  We saw it on our 20 week ultrasound as well as that's how she was at 41 weeks which was one of the contributing factors that resulted in my c-section. Because of that, we would usually wrap her in a swaddle blanket with one hand sticking out and she'll sleep great.  Until at 2.5 months, I found her several times in the morning, busted out of her swaddle, with the blanket by her face.  Freaked that she'll suffocate, I quit the swaddle cold turkey and moved her into the sleep sack and she hasn't even noticed.

Her naps are another story.  It takes forever to put her down for a nap.  Some days she only naps when I'm holding her.  If I put her down, she wakes right up crying and fussing.  Again, I feel bad for complaining  considering Emily sleeps so well at night but I need to find a solution for the daytime bc I get absolutely nothing done.

milestones
At 3 months, Emily is turning into a little person.  She's found her hands and stares intently at them when it's not in her mouth.  She also coos and "talks back" a lot to us that I feel like she'll start talking soon.  She can also "sit up" assisted on my nap and watches tv intently (I don't think she's actually watching...just likes the movement).  She pays more attention to her mobile and her playmat lights.  Her smiles and laughs are contagious enough that even if we're having a tough day, her smile will just melt me.  She has a little bit more of neck control but still hates tummy time.  For Christmas, my brother got her this tummy time mat so maybe that will help a little bit to prop her up a little bit.  She can grasp her Oball and her Sophie the giraffe.

her mamma
I'm doing well considering. I never understood what the big deal of post-partum depression is but I can say that there are days when I wonder if I am having a case of PPD.  I start regretting choices and my past as well as feeling hopeless about my future.  When I'm spending my entire day on my glider, feeding and holding her, I wonder if this is the reason I went to college and am still paying my loans for.  Thankfully, things have been getting much better and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It helps that I have a "part time" job and something to be doing.  I also make it a point to get out of the house at least once a day, even if it's going to Target and just walking around.

I can't believe 3 months have gone already.  Now that Emily is out of her "4th trimester," I can't wait to see what other milestones and growth has in store!