Maggie's 1-Month Checkup

Maggie is perfectly healthy. She made some faces during the exam but only fussed a little once. She weighs 9 lbs., 1.5 oz. (26.4%) and is 21.5 inches long (40.9%). She's gained about half a pound a week, right on track. There's not much more to report about our calm, perfectly healthy baby. Next month she gets her first shots.

Six Weeks: Growing Strong

Yesterday Maggie turned 6 weeks old. She seems to be getting bigger every day. We'll find out exactly how much bigger at her 1-month well baby checkup on Friday. She has outgrown the Gerber newborn sleepers, which were the ones that fit her when she was first born. That brand runs smaller than others. She's still able to wear newborn size in other brands. She's also starting to wear 0-3 month clothes, which are reasonably loose but no longer ridiculous looking.  Other than some scary nose congestion a couple of weeks ago, she's done well. She still sleeps independently and has started sleeping 4+ hours at a time at night. Her growth is being fueled by cluster feeding all afternoon, mostly while Matt is teaching. Maggie is becoming more fun. She's starting to notice and interact with her surroundings. On Sunday Maggie was interested in my tablet while I was taking these pictures and tried to reach for it. On Monday she took interest in Lucy's wooden Melissa & Doug dog. I put the dog beside her while she was lying on Lucy's bed. Her eyes got big, and she began reaching for and touching the dog's face and cooing at it. When Lucy came to reclaim her dog, Maggie protested. Last night we went out in the late evening to enjoy the outdoors before the weather changed. While we were outside, I put her in Lucy's blue baby swing and pushed it gently. She seemed to like it. She held herself up well and looked around. She then fell asleep on my shoulder as the fireflies blinked around us.

Lucy is also getting bigger. She can now climb the Burger King play structure that says it's for ages 4+. The terrible twos seem to have ramped up. She's testing boundaries constantly. And her new-baby regression seems to be putting things in her mouth, eating paper and licking things. She is still very independent and has strong ideas about how things should be. Last week she wanted Matt to help her into the bath, but he was unavailable. She didn't want my help and started undressing herself. She has trouble getting her pants over her bottom, so I nudged them down for her. She spun around and said, "You no help me. Me pull pants back up." And that's just what she did. When she's not being difficult, she's enjoyable and even helpful. She wants to be helpful. I'm not sure what she was doing, but when I found her in her room a few days ago, she told me, "Me being helpful." She stacks the plates and bowls in the bottom rack when we unload the dishwasher. She likes to help with laundry, loading the washer, unloading the dryer, and sorting the clean clothes while I fold. She also wants to do things with me, so I'm trying to do more projects together, such as baking cookies or making breakfast. Lucy turned 2-3/4 last week, so I'm thinking ahead to what she needs to be able to do as a 3 year old, We're working on obedience, listening, answering questions, table manners, sitting still, and entertaining herself at end of meal and other times. Soon I plan to work on scissors skills and hope to work on potty training again.

I, fortunately, am not getting bigger. I'm not shrinking as fast as I'd like, but I'm not trying very hard. I have started going back to the pool with Lucy. I've been careful to take it easy, mostly just walking in the water while Lucy paddles around. If all is OK at my 6-week checkup tomorrow, I'll push myself more, perhaps swimming a few laps. I've also started cooking more. After people stopped bringing us meals, we lived mostly on fast food and frozen food. We're still eating a lot of that, but I'm trying to expand and improve our diets.

Maggie at 3 Weeks

I feel that I haven't said much about Maggie. I didn't say much when she was in utero, and I haven't had many specifics to share since then. Perhaps it just feels that way because Lucy has ALWAYS had a lot of personality. But I want to try to capture some of Maggie's Maggie-ness without comparing her (much) to her siblings.

Before she was born, we saw Maggie a lot in ultrasounds, but she didn't do much. Because she was so low in my pelvis, we didn't get a good profile picture or see her suck her fist or yawn or wave her hair in the amniotic fluid. She did make it hard on the ultrasound tech who was trying to see her genitals and her heart at 20 weeks. She kept crossing her ankles under her bottom and then putting her feet over her head to cover whatever the tech was scanning. We thought she might be another acrobat. We already marvel at her physical abilities, and the pediatrician commented on how strong she was at her first appointment. Maggie holds her head up well. She doesn't mind tummy time and even makes good attempts at rolling over. She hasn't tried to push up on the hands, but her feet move as if she's trying to crawl. I don't expect her to crawl soon, but she already acts like she wants to be up and about.

Another thing we knew about Maggie before she was born was that she wasn't highly reactive. That's why we kept having to stay late for NSTs. For her first week or so, Maggie just didn't cry much. She is gradually becoming more vocal. Now she protests at some diaper changes and when she's really hungry. Occasionally, she sounds downright angry at having to wait to eat. And sometimes she's got enough pressure behind her bowel movements that they're painful, and she cries about that while it's happening. Despite the pressure, we've never had a diaper blow out. She's flooded a couple of diapers with pee, but that's my fault for not thinking to change her enough. She doesn't cry about having a wet or dirty diaper. Like Lucy, she doesn't seem to care. Maggie also has started fussing and batting at the NoseFrida while I suction her congested nose. But she quits fussing as soon as the irritant is removed. She doesn't seem to hold onto hurt the way Lucy always has. Maggie is normally pretty content. And she smiles in her sleep all the time.

She eats well. We haven't had any latch issues. She doesn't play around or really comfort nurse. She gets down to business and eats until she passes out or even continues to eat while sleeping (swallowing and not just sucking). If I don't sit her up ASAP to burp, she can become a milk fountain. One morning she seemed to spit up an entire feeding or more. That was pretty sad. She tends to burp easily, which is good because I'm not a patient burper. Fortunately, she has never regurgitated while burping. I have learned that if she's laying down and I hear her swallowing her hard, I should sit her up so that gravity can help her keep the milk down.

Maggie likes to snuggle. I've started strapping her to myself in the Moby wrap while I prepare breakfast and lunch. She's very content to be snugly curled up against my chest while I work. She prefers skin-to-skin contact. She rests her hand on my chest during and after feeding. She didn't like feeding while I was wearing a pumping camisole that covered most of my breast. The camisole didn't change latch or position, but she didn't like having fabric between her and mama while nursing. I hope she eventually leans to be OK with the camisole. It really expands my nursing-friendly wardrobe, and I wore them all the time with Lucy.

Even though she likes to snuggle, Maggie can also sleep by herself. To make it easy on myself, she naps on me when I'm resting in the chair. It's easy to deal with cluster feeding when I don't have to keep getting up to get her and lay her down again several times an hour. However, when I need to be up and doing things around the house, she is willing to sleep in her cradle or hang out in a bouncy seat. A couple of days ago I put her in the cradle awake, and she went to sleep on her own. I was thrilled. I'd read about such things but never had it happen before.

Maggie likes her daddy and sister. (Mom--a.k.a. Milk Lady--is obviously OK with her, too.) Matt has gotten her to follow toys held in front of her. Even if she's hungry, she'll often settle for daddy and a pacifier for a little while. And she likes when Matt reads books to her and Lucy at bedtime. She likes to see and listen to both Matt and Lucy. Lucy's hugs are sometimes too much for Maggie, but she puts up with most of the exuberant affection. Recently, Lucy has mastered removing her clothes and decided that she doesn't want to wear anything, even an Elmo diaper. We haven't had time to deal with extra messes, so I figured out how to get her back into a diaper--sister diaper changes. Now a couple times a day Maggie and Lucy lay side by side on Lucy's mattress on the floor to have diapers and clothes changed. They both seem to like lying together. I think Maggie tolerates diaper changes better while Lucy is beside her.

So far Maggie is easy going and sweet. She's not demanding or messy. I still feel like I can tell more about what she is not than what she is. I look forward to getting to know her better as she learns to express herself. Until then I'll just keep enjoying the snuggles and hope that's one of the things she'll continue to like.