3 Month Update

You can tell by my lack of posts in the last month that I've been busy. It has definitely been a challenge juggling two little ones, work, and house keeping. Updating the blog has been on my mind, but is a lower priority right now. Also, being connected to so many friends and family on Facebook makes it easy to share photos and news there rather than here. (So if you aren't on Facebook and want to see new pictures more often, sign up and find me! Yes, Thom's family, I mean you.)

It's hard to believe Audrey is already 3 months. She is growing so fast and time is flying by. She is smiling more and more, as you can see in her post-bath picture above. And in the pictures below, I tried to catch her smiles on camera as we played with a toy mirror that she seems to enjoy as much as her brother did.

We continue to find that the second baby is easier. So much less stressful which allows us to enjoy her more.

But Audrey is also a little more challenging than Aaron is some respects. She has reflux and also seems to be sensitive to things in my diet, sometimes getting painful gas. I eliminated dairy 2 months ago, but do have a little here and there, mostly butter in baked goods and lately I've had a little eggnog in my coffee. I've started to suspect that she is sensitive to something else though, maybe eggs, after she has been very fussy on days that I've not had any dairy. So I've started to keep a food diary, along with noting the times I feed her and any symptoms out of the ordinary. I couldn't stand eggs while I was pregnant and only recently have been eating them again now that my appetite is returning. So it almost would make sense if she had a sensitivity to eggs, not having much exposure to them in the womb.

I'm not sure how much my diet affects the reflux. Aaron used to spit up quite a bit, but with Audrey, I've noticed that if I set her down too soon after a feeding, even in her bouncy seat which has a slight incline, she'll wake up struggling and sounding gurgley. And sometimes she'll spit up 1-2 hours after eating, which I've read can be a sign of reflux. I mentioned it at her 2 month check up, and the doctor agreed that it sounds like reflux, but since she's gaining weight, they don't treat it. Although she did recommend giving her some cooled chamomile tea in a bottle. She should outgrow the reflux and any food sensitivities in time.

Like Aaron, Audrey has had a fussy time in the evenings, which they like to call colic, meaning "fussiness we can't explain". We've spent many an hour walking her around, which is sometimes the only way to quiet her - and even then, it doesn't always work. But I've noticed in the past week or so that she is doing better in the evenings. And 3 months is supposedly the magic age when they start to outgrow colic, so maybe we are over the worst of it.

The other minor challenges with Audrey, aside from reflux and food sensitivity, is her refusal to be swaddled or take a pacifier. Aaron didn't like to be swaddled at first, but we persisted and as I recall, he only ever struggled when we were swaddling him. Once he was restrained, he calmed down and he slept better and longer. Audrey doesn't struggle when we swaddle her, but even if she is initially calm, she won't go to sleep. She will just struggle and struggle to get her arms out, grunting and crying if she can't. So I've given up. I wrap her in a blanket with her arms out.

Aaron also didn't take a pacifier at first and I almost gave up. I waited until he was 4-5 weeks old to make sure it didn't interfere with breastfeeding. It was my mom who finally got him to take it. And once he took it from her, I don't remember having a hard time with it after that. But we've attempted to get Audrey to take a pacifier many, many times. Kim got her to take one once and she had it in for an hour or so while she slept. Kim kept tapping on it while it was in her mouth. There have been a handful of times someone has gotten her to suck on a pacifier for a few minutes, but mostly my experience is that she wants to suck on her hand or is rooting despite having just been fed, but when I offer her a pacifier, she'll either chew on it, gag, make a face, or reject it, or all of the above. I've tried at least 5 kinds of pacifiers. I don't remember Aaron ever gagging on one, so maybe she has a stronger gag reflex. My friend Heidi said her first daughter was 3 months old before she took a pacifier, so I still hold out hope. There are definitely times when I think it would be helpful. (Especially in the car. She often cries unless the car is moving. So at stop lights, I'm often tapping the break to keep the car rocking a little. When Aaron was little, I gave him a pacifier in the car and that kept him quiet.)

On the plus side, she is growing well, starting to grow out of her 0-3 month outfits. She is only eating about 7 times a day and is going long stretches at night, usually just eating once sometime between 2-5am. She has already recovered from her first cold (which was a little scary for us since she was only 2 months when she got sick). And now that she is smiling, she is so much fun!

Despite some of the challenges, she is such a little cutie and we are really enjoying her!