We've had a few more visitors since last week, though things have been relatively quiet. On Saturday our friend Rebecca came by to visit. She was one of the first people to actually see baby Meri outside the hospital since she was the wonderful person who watched our first baby girl (our dog Jada) while the three of us were in the hospital. It was nice to see her again and to properly introduce Miss Meri to her.
On Sunday we took the day easy and I was even able to leave the house sans Meredith to run a few errands. I had just fed our little piggy and she was sound asleep, so I took the opportunity to run to Babies R Us, Target and Baby on Grand. I came home in less than the 3 hours between feedings and our little angel was still asleep - what a good girl. It was a little difficult to be away, even for a few hours - but I have to admit, it felt really good too!
On Monday morning we had our Newborn Photos taken. We had been recommended a photographer, Wendy, from Mankato. She came up to our home with lots of cute props to take pictures of Meredith. She cooperated for the most part -she was awake and took very cute pics with her eyes open - but when it came to trying to get her to sleep and take pics - that didn't go so well. Meri was determined to stay awake. We even tried to take a few barenaked photos and Miss Meri proceeded to poo a little on our photographer's white blanket. I felt really bad, but Wendy reassured us that had happened before and to not worry. I really look forward to seeing and sharing the pictures!
That evening we also had a little bit of a surprise visit from Jon's step-sister, who lives in San Francisco. She just happened to be in Minneapolis for work and staying at a hotel by the MOA - so we went and picked her up and took our chances with Meri and went out for our first sit down dinner out. We went to our local sushi restaurant, Bagu. I, of course, fed Miss Meri and then we put her in her car seat. After taking the "long" way to the restaurant - she fell asleep and proceeded to sleep until the sushi arrived. With a little extra attention she behaved for the rest of our meal. I will chalk that one up as a success.
Monday night, Meri had one of the best nights on record. She slept, awoke every 3 to 4 hours to eat and then fell right back to sleep. I felt like we were turning a corner. The next day Meri continued to be great and I was even able to get a nice long bath and a little housework done.
However, that evening, and for the next nearly 24 hours - our little angel was NOT happy. Starting about 11pm on Tuesday night, Meri was just fussy. She'd eat, then fall asleep, but within 10 minutes she was crying inconsolably. We tried everything, the vibrating chair, the swing, walking around and bouncing, the Baby Bjorn, the Moby wrap, burping, changing, more feeding. This went on, more or less until last night. She actually did sleep a few hours here and there in that 24 hours, but she was always restless and noisy. I was on full alert, just waiting for the next bit of wailing. Thankfully, Jon had stayed home an extra day because we also had a Dr's appt yesterday for Meredith's frenulectomy. Jon and I did our best to calm Miss Meri -but both Meri and I were overtired. Finally, yesterday evening I broke down and introduced a pacifier. And guess what - it did calm her down, at least when it was in her mouth. I think she was overtired and I definitely don't think she need to be fed every hour, so this worked. She didn't keep the paci in her mouth all night, but it helped her calm down enough to fall asleep. So, it is now 11am on Thursday and she is being just a cute little, appropriately happy and sleepy baby. I'm happy the night and, so far, this morning are going well since this is our first day without daddy's help! We both miss him and hope he can come home early today!!
So, now that I've given the day by day run down I'm just going to give an update on a few other things. Yesterday we had a Dr's appointment to give Meredith a frenulectomy. As I mentioned in earlier posts Meri was a little "tongue-tied". So, yesterday the Dr. used a small sterile scissors and cut a little bit of Meri's frenulum under her tongue so that her tongue is more mobile. This will hopefully eventually help her latch on better and will allow her speech and feeding to develop normally. She cried during the procedure - but immedietly was comforted by being swaddled. There was minimal blood and all in all - everything went well. Something else we learned at this appointment is that our little piggy now weighs 8 pounds 1 ounce. This means in two weeks Meri has not only regained her birth weight (7 lb 1 oz), but has gained a whole extra pound since birth. So, basically, she is getting plenty of breast milk, which is another reason I didn't feel bad introducing the pacifier last night.
On the same note, we are still using a nipple shield. Which really isn't a big deal, but is cumbersome and a little messy. I have been trying to get her to latch on without it, with minimal success. So, finally on Monday I called several people to discuss teaching Meredith how to latch on properly. Everyone I spoke with, a women from La Leche League, someone from Fairview Lactation Consultants, and a woman from Abbott Northwestern Lactation Consultants, was very reassuring and encouraging. And I actually have made an appointment for tomorrow. I feel a lot better knowing that I will have a professional helping with this issue and I hope that in the next 4 to 6 weeks, at the most, we can kick the nipple shield habit.
Thanks to everyone for Facebook comments and emails. It feels great knowing that I have such wonderful people in my life who care about how I am doing and feeling! And once again, I know this is a rambling long post and maybe when we get on a more regular schedule I can update the blog more frequently! Until then...... xoxo Mandra, Jonathan and Meredith
Visit from Rebecca. Thanks again for watching Jada!
Daddy goes on a walk with Meredith in the Baby Bjorn (thanks to Rina for the gift!)
Her shirt says "Does this Diaper Make My Butt Look Big?" courtesy of Gma Lacher
Visit from Natalia! All the way from San Francisco!
Dinner out at Bagu Sushi
Daddy calming Miss Meri Claire - don't move, she's finally asleep!
Meri's "fish lips", don't exactly know why she does this, but it's cute!
2 week (and 1 day) old picture, she's already changed so much!
Look what's not there! Yep, her umbilical cord.
She lost most of it a week ago, but the final little part disappeared, today!!
A full body shot, sans umbilical cord - after the 2nd diaper change in 5 minutes, she's good at holding out one more poo until the clean diaper is already on!
First attempt at tummy time!
She tries and tries, but that darn head is still pretty big!
Have I created a monster (b/c of the pacifier)?
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