I thought about titling this blog post: 5 months--the real honeymoon period. Because in the last few weeks our sweet baby girl has come into her own and with a better routine (notice I did not say schedule cause she is still super unpredictable), bubbly personality, better sleep habits and the ability to start communicating, it has made this whole mom thing a delight (most of the time). We have made a few changes in the last month that has helped this too, but I think it is mostly due to Olivia becoming more independent, thus easier to put down for play time and more interactive as well. Either that, or I am just finally nailing this whole mom thing--hahaha!
I did a comparison of her monthly pictures below, it is fun to see how much she has grown. Obviously we do not have month 1 cause we were not able to bring her stuffed animal into the NICU, but its still amazing to see:
Olivia is a girl of many faces and personality, in a matter of minutes, I captured the following 4 pictures:
It makes me laugh, cause I feel like looking at those you could think it was at least 2 maybe 3 different babies, but nope it is all our sweet baby girl.
A few milestones we met this month:
* Began talking in coos
* While doing tummy time, she pushes up on her arms and holds her head up
* Started grabbing at things other than my finger
* Recognizes mommy and daddy with a smile usually
* Sucks on her thumb (or her whole fist as her mood allows)
* Tracks us with her eyes as we move
* Blows bubbles with her spit
* Moves her head to different sounds
* Started teaching simply sign language
* Slept for over 6/7 a few nights--this is only in the last week so I am not holding my breath
* Olivia is now supporting her head most of the time, so we have been doing some time in her "Sit me up"
We have also been enjoying the beautiful weather much much more with nightly walks and cute summery outfits!
Auntie Tiffany finally got down to meet her sweet niece and I think they are pretty smitten with each other! She told me she is looking forward to more snuggles soon, Auntie Tiffie!
She continues to amaze us with her growth! She still loooooves to eat and is now taking in about 28 ounces a day of breast milk. She has now officially surpassed what I make in a day, luckily we have a deep freezer full from her time in the NICU when she was taking just milliliters, so we just thaw a bag or two a day. (This of course gives me anxiety as I want to hopefully make it to a year on breast milk, but Marc assures me that once we starts eating solid foods, she wont need as much milk), I definitely still struggle every time a bag leaves the freezer. But I hope we will manage okay. As with most NICU babies things work on adjusted time, so we wont know for another month if we can try solid foods at 6 months or if we will need to wait closer to 8 or 9 months for her.
We met with her early intervention case worker who suggested a few things we can work on with her. Apparently Olivia is pretty rigid throughout her torso and prefers not to bend at the waist, so we are working on some stretching for the time being but may eventually need to look into PT/OT services (this is totally normal for preemies). At her last Doctor's appointment, she weighed in at 12 lbs 3 oz and 24 inches long. This officiailly puts her on the chart in all categories (head circumference, weight and height) for a full term baby. She may only be in the lowest bracket but she is catching up and fast! So we are pleased with that movement. Also a milestone as she is now almost 10 pounds and 10 inches more than her birth weight/length.
Upcoming appointments:
* She will have another RSV shot the week of May 21st, followed by...
* Her 6 month shots on May 25th--pray for me as I hate taking her to the doctors twice in one week for shots--it breaks my heart but they said they would prefer to not do them all on the same day.
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