Knowing this fact, I think it best for me to talk about her milestones this month. As we all know, her life started with a bunch of challenges - the most of which included blood oxygenation issues, a hole in her heart and a heart murmur, and a touch of jaundice.
I am grateful to share the news that this past week we visited our Cardiologist and were told that the hole in her heart has closed perfectly, and the heart murmur is so slight that she has been given an A+ and has 'graduated' from needing her own Cardiologist!
The blood oxygenation is still being regulated by herself - through her hyperventilation - which still scares the crap out of her mom (who knows that babies should NOT do that!) but her dad has come to see it as her normal breathing and has been really calm about it. Just this morning we visited her Pediatrician, Doctor Bloom, for her one month check up! The doctor was impressed at how strong she is - lifting her head up like a pro! She will be controlling it on her own before you know it! She is also focusing on objects and is hitting all of her milestones on or before schedule!
As for her specs, she is growing right on track! She is gaining about a half ounce per day, putting her at 9 lbs 9 oz, and she gained a WHOLE INCH in the last two weeks - putting her at 22 inches long. She is an excellent eater according to all of her doctors.
This month we are going to try to tweak her schedule and get her to sleep the larger sleeps during the night time hours. The doctor is confident that we can do it since everything else is on par. :) Then mama and daddy can start sleeping semi-normally again as well! (instead of the shifts that we have been taking for the last month!)
She is still sporting her newborn clothes and diapers, swimming in the 0-3 months clothes so I honestly don't even bother to put her in them. She has been cycling through the 7 onesies I had in newborn size and it's working out just fine. We are hoping she can wear her size one diapers this week so that we don't have to go back to the store to buy newborn diapers. I actually went through her drawers yesterday and sized them so that its easy to transition from one size to the next, I hope that it proves helpful in the weeks to come.
As for personality - she certainly has her likes and dislikes! She does NOT like sponge baths, but really enjoys time in her TummyTub! She likes to sleep in her crib BUT only when her Pandora Yurima station is playing. She enjoys her dad's "White Boy Shuffle" as he lovingly coined the dance he does when he calms his "little fuss-bucket". And stares at him when he makes faces at her... (check out this face!)
She also loves to spend awake time looking at the whale picture in her bedroom... It's a print of a mommy, daddy and baby Orca swimming in a teal blue ocean... it's her favorite spot in the whole house and it calms her right away. (if you caught her awake time video on facebook - that is what she was looking at the whole time)
As for me, I am recuperating nicely from my C-section, still get winded when I do too much (like my Santa Clarita trip last week where I was surprised with Violette's welcome message in Inside SCV!).
The main issues I still have are pain in my lower back (I still feel as though top and bottom of my body aren't quite attached) and excruciating pain in my hands - I have been told that its related to breastfeeding and possibly a vitamin deficiency. I started taking vitamins to fill the need but it isn't helping as quickly as I hoped. Other than that most of my pregnancy symptoms have dissipated aside from the occasional acne breakout.
I rarely get time at the computer these days, strange for me since I used to spend 18 hours or so a day on it!
It's been especially difficult this week because Violette has been rather 'needy' of her mommy, not wanting to let me go at all during the day! She opens her eyes mid sleep to make sure I am still beside her - and if I am not she screams as though she has been abandoned! It's literally the only time she screams that loudly... my little Violette turns violet! I think she realizes that she gets me all to herself at this time of day and she is taking advantage of every minute!
I was grateful to finally be able to send out her announcements featuring her amazing portraits by Laurie Sachs... (I hope you all have gotten yours in the mail by now! but here is a sneak peek for those who haven't!)
The left side was taken the day before she was born (MY BELLY IS HUGE!!!!!!!!) and the right was taken when she was 2 weeks old - (Doctor said we had to wait before letting her out in the sunshine).
Not much else for computer time - I must say that I HAVE NO IDEA what new mommies did before smart phones and tablets... and social media of course. Maternity Leave must have been a lonely existence - though I still crave adult time - it's awesome to be able to see what everyone is up to, chat with friends and share daily photos of Violette on my Instagram. Seriously even taking a photo with a camera seems difficult - as you miss the moment you are trying to capture just pulling the camera out and pressing Power! Thank goodness smartphones are always on your person and feature digital cameras and video cameras and Pandora apps and Instagram apps... LOL. It makes being a one-able-handed mommy much easier! Thank God for technology and progress!
Well guys, sorry for the REALLY long post - but I wanted to update you all on the first exciting month! Perhaps she will let me have some more "hands free" time in the coming weeks! (One can only dream!)
