Miss Maggie Shea

Miss Maggie Shea graced us late on November 18th. She was my biggest in weight but my smallest in length. 7 lbs 12 oz and 19 inches long at 9:50 pm She is growing up so fast. With this being my last baby, it's made me want to baby her more. lol. I get a little concerned about her weight at times but take comfort in the fact that her doctor is wonderful and is keeping an eye on her. It took a while to get her back up to her birth weight though. When we left the hospital she was 7lbs 7oz (Saturday) and when I took her on Monday to be checked out she was 7lbs 4oz. When I took her for her one month check up she was up to 8lbs 4oz. I thought this was great news! My baby was being breastfed 24/7 and was gaining weight. I felt so accomplished, mostly because I was unable to breastfeed my boys. At 2 months she was at 9lbs 4 oz. I thought this was odd. I mean, my boys always gained more than just one pound a month. I brought this up to the doctor and she assured me that we would keep an eye on her weight. So, I took her this past Monday to be checked out. She weighed 10lbs 1oz. NOT EVEN A POUND GAINED. close. but close isnt enough. The doctor once again assured me that she was still in the 10th to 25th percentile in weight for her age. (she's in the 75th percentile for height). Maybe my baby girl is just going to be tall and skinny. I guess the reason i was SO concerned was because since having surgery, my milk has dried up and she's been on formula since Jan. 29th. I thought that surely she would be GAINING weight because I was keeping an eye on how much she ate and putting some oatmeal in her night time feeding. Now I'm not exactly sure WHEN babies should be hitting milestones, but my little girl is kind of impressive! lol. to me anyway! She just stares and stares at everything around her. Taking it all in. She can grasp things with her hands. The other day she picked up the TV remote. lol. She laughs! She has the sweetest smile ever. And those BIG blue eyes! ugh, i could just eat her up. Funny enough, while I am typing, she is laying in the floor staring at herself in the mirror on her toy. She has turned herself in a complete circle. Earlier today I sat her in between my legs and noticed that she is starting to try to sit up on her own. It's good that she's working on her balance. I'm just so excited to watch her grow, and watch my boys with her. My boys are so sweet to their baby sister. They love dancing around and making her laugh. It's exciting being a mom! I guess I should not worry and just wait until her 4 month check up. There is nothing I can do really. I don't want to feed her MORE or make her eat when she's not hungry. I want a good and healthy baby. So far, that's what she is. I'll just keep praying that she stays that way.

Last night was a tough one for this momma. I usually swaddle my baby girl and rock her to sleep. That has stopped as of last night. I put her down with just her pacifier. She fussed and my wonderful hubby went back there to just talk to her. Then he went back again. Finally she did her "momma" cry (and yes she has a daddy cry too) and so i walked back there. Without saying a word I turned her on her side and put her pacifier in her mouth and covered her back up...she was sleeping by 9:30. She slept until 3:30 this morning. I woke to her crying so i went in there (in the dark) and gave her back her paci. She went to sleep until about 5:30 and again, i gave her back her paci. Now we've been up since 6:15. Well I've been up since then. She's obviously had a couple naps! lol. I hate to hear her cry but I wont always be able to rock her. I want her to be able to fall asleep on her own and be able to soothe herself if she wakes in the night. I mean, i'm not going to be able to go to college with her and rock her to sleep. lol. I just hope that the time I spend with her (and each of my children) is precious and that they remember it. It's not always about the quantity of time spend. It's more about the quality. I'm just trying to be the best mother I possible can be....and I think I'm doing alright.