Three weeks old
Darling Miranda is three weeks old today. The rash she had seems to have cleared up pretty much entirely. I stopped using the particular lotion that I thought might have triggered it (may try it again later, though, to see if it was the lotion or not). I've found that I can use Nut Butter (cocoa butter and other exotic nut oils, from The Body Shop) on her dry skin and it not only does a nice job, she's getting to where she really likes the massage that comes along with it.
Miranda's starting to look very alert when she's awake. She looks around all the time, taking everything in. I don't know how far a three-week-old baby can see, but she's certainly trying to see everything she can.
I'm also noticing, as the swelling from birth and excess fluids go down, which of her facial features look like (or at least remind me of) which people. Her brow and forehead are definitely mine, but her eyes... at first I thought her eyes were shaped like mine, but now I'm seeing more of Andrew there. Her nose is definitely Andrew's nose, and her mouth, with the very pronounced cupid's bow, is just like his. She's also got a little cleft in her chin, and I wasn't sure at first where that came from, since I haven't seen Andrew's chin in years (he's worn a beard since 1997 or so). However, I found an old picture of him from before he had the beard and, yup, there's that cleft chin, so that mystery is solved. I'm still not sure about the chubby cheeks, though. Andrew's got naturally round jowls/cheeks, as does Zoë (she looks a great deal like Andrew), but Miranda's cheeks are quite round and puffy in a way that doesn't look that much like Andrew to me. I seem to recall that I had a fat little face when I was a baby, though, so maybe that's where it came from (unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of myself when I was a little baby to make comparisons).
Miranda's hair seems to be getting just a little bit lighter. It's still a rich chocolate brown, but it always had a bit of a golden brown undertone, the same color as Andrew's beard.
She seems to be getting closer to sleeping through the night. She still wakes up a couple of times (about every three hours or so), but she doesn't wake completely and she has a very small feed, like it's just a quick snack to help get back to sleep. In a few weeks (I hope), she may be able to give up the middle of the night feed entirely. I'm not going to rush it, nor do I "expect" it, but it does seem like she's heading that way.
Posted on Tuesday, 29 January 2002
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Restless night
Miranda had a restless night last night. Or maybe I should say "this morning", since we were awake until about 2 or 2:30am. I have no idea what was bothering her, but she wouldn't settle. Didn't want to lie down, basically. I tried putting her in the bed between Andrew and myself and I tried putting her in her own bed, but she just cried and cried. The only way she was even remotely content was if I sat up and held her on my shoulder or cuddled her up close to my chest. I wasn't too keen on sitting up (I was pretty tired), but eventually I did get her to settle down by feeding her (an hour after she'd been fed, but what the heck) and swaddling her in a light blanket and then rocking/patting her to sleep in my arms. After that, she was happy to snooze in her own bed for several hours before she woke up wanting another feed.
I wish I could tell what, precisely, is bothering a pre-verbal child when they cry and cry. It always frustrates me to hear them crying and see them in obvious distress and be unable to figure out what's wrong.
Posted on Friday, 25 January 2002
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Two weeks
Miranda is two weeks old today. She's settled into a nice pattern of eating (generally every three hours, but sometimes a bit longer or shorter), and her thrush seems to be clearing up nicely. She's still got a bit of it on her bottom, but it's not too bad.
She's also developed a general body/face rash that seems to be related to the heat. When the weather is hot or just the baby is too warm (such as having a prolonged cuddle), the rash shows up, bright red, with little bumps that look like tiny blisters. I thought at first it might be an allergic reaction to a lotion I was using on her, so I discontinued the lotion, but the rash definitely seems to be related to the heat. Still, I'll wait a while before trying that lotion again, just to be on the safe side.
She also has one or two fussy periods a day, about an hour each. She mostly just whimpers and fusses quietly, no screaming or anything.
Overall, Miranda is a lovely little soul. She's an absolutely delightful baby, and a wonderful little cuddle (she actually snuggles with whomever is holding her). We feel very fortunate to have her, and we wouldn't change anything about her. She's perfect.
Posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2002
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Milk and related matters
Miranda's thrush is clearing up slowly. There are still a couple of spots on the roof of her mouth and some redness on her bottom, but it's all improving. The clearest sign of improvement is that she's finally nursing well, without the previous fussing and crying when I'd try to put her on the breast.
She's also nursing a lot more frequently now. I suspect she's trying to increase my milk supply, since we had a bit of a slow start. She's feeding every 2-3 hours instead of every 3-4, including at night.
In other matters, this little girl likes a bath more than any baby I've ever seen. She gets in the warm water and stretches out her legs and kicks gently and just seems to thoroughly enjoy it. In fact, the day before yesterday, she actually fell asleep in the bath, and protested when we took her out!
Miranda has the sweetest temperament. She's very laid back and relaxed. Her total crying amounts to less than an hour a day (probably less than half an hour), and when she's awake, she's very alert and keen on what's around her, and very quiet.
Of course, this may change as she grows and as she enters new developmental stages, but I do believe that a good portion of our personality is inborn, and Andrew tends to be fairly laid back and easy going, so I imagine she'll keep that basic quality about her.
In any event, I confess that I'm completely besotted with her. She's a wonderful, lovely little baby.
Posted on Thursday, 17 January 2002
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Settling in
Miranda is almost a week old now and we're settling in. She's got the breastfeeding down fairly well, although sometimes she still fusses a lot before she gets down to business. She goes around 3 or 4 hours between feeds, although now and then she wakes up after two hours. In between feeds, she mostly sleeps soundly and quietly, and has several periods a day when she's wide-eyed and alert.
During her alert times, she refuses to be put down. She wants to look around and be cuddled, by gosh, and there's nothing to see inside her bed (which is a lined basket basinette). Last night, she decided that 5am was a good time to be alert and awake. I didn't think it was such a good time, though, so I brought her into bed with us for a cuddle and we all ended up falling asleep there (and sleeping for another four hours, yay!).
Other than wanting to be held when she's awake, Miranda is not a very demanding baby. So long as she's warm (but not hot), fed, and otherwise not terribly uncomfortable, she's content. This is a big contrast with Zoë, who was (and still is, to some extent) a fairly "high need" baby. She fed every two hours, round the clock, and she seemed to need a great deal of holding and cuddling in order to feel safe and secure. She ended up sleeping in our bed with us most of the time, because she didn't settle down well in her own bed. We didn't mind this especially, but it's a pleasant change to have a baby who, once she goes to sleep, is happy to snooze in her own bed for several hours.
At the moment, Miranda has thrush at both ends. I noticed in the hospital the day before we were discharged that she had odd white spots on the top of the roof of her mouth, and I asked one of the midwives on staff. Turns out it's oral thrush. I don't think I've got an infection anywhere, but I'm taking precautions and preventative measures anyway. Miranda's being given oral anti-fungal medicine (in a gel form; she seems to like it) and also topical anti-fungal cream for her little sore bottom. The infection seems to be slowly clearing up and her mouth seems to be less painful, although the spots are still there somewhat, and she does still seem fussy at the breast at first (I think her mouth is sore).
So basically she seems to be doing well, content, etc. Other than the infection (which I know has to be really uncomfortable, poor baby), she seems about as happy as a newborn baby can be.
Posted on Monday, 14 January 2002
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