Nicknames: Miss Adorable (Bill) , Lilly Bear, Lilly Bean, Lilly Grace (Aunt Terry), Little Monster
From her first few hours we could tell that she was a very alert baby – wide eyes and taking it all in. Our pediatrician has said several times that she is the most alert baby she has every seen.
She smiled on day 1
We were surprised that her hair had a reddish tone (strawberry blonde?)
Lillian makes cute squeaky noises that we call ‘dinosaur noises’.
The first three nights Lillian was awake from about midnight until 5 or 6am. Bill and I both suffered from a lack of sleep but Bill took care of her the most in the evenings since I was recovering from surgery. I couldn’t believe how great Bill immediately was at soothing her. We both felt like she had very fussy periods but could be soothed fairly easily. Her favorite spot, aside from the breast, quickly became Bill’s chest. He would swaddle her up and lay her on her side and she would (and still does) calm down quickly.
After the first few days she fed – fairly consistently – every three hours.
She weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces when we left the hospital, about 8 pounds 1 ounce at 4 weeks, and 8 pounds 9 ounces at one month.
The first few days at home Lillian slept quite well from anywhere between 11 & 1:30 until the morning (7:30-10:30). She was up most of the day.
In the hospital we were visited by Judy (first), Aunt Terry (second), my mom, Bill’s dad, Peggy, Megan Bliss, and Hugh & Corinne. We were discharged on Saturday and Bill’s dad helped us to get home.
When we arrived home we saw that Judy had left a HUGE lily plant in full bloom on our porch – gorgeous! My mom stocked the fridge with groceries and Judy baked us cookies and made a ‘Welcome Home Lilly’ sign.
We placed Lillian’s carrier on the kitchen table when we got home. Roary immediately jumped up and sniffed at her a bit – was interested but did not get too close. Since then she has been pretty absent and is no longer sleeping with us.
The last few weeks Lillian has slept from 9ish until 7 or 8am. I wake her up twice during the night (usually 12 and 4ish) to feed and turn on the lights to ‘wake her up’ at the 7 or 8am feeding.
The first two weeks were very exciting – I started to feel a bit more anxious the third week because I felt like everything needed to be ‘figured out’. I began to relax again at the end of the fourth week.
By week 3 Lillian could push herself onto her side. She seems very strong.
During tummy time (started week 3) she pushes her legs back in a crawling motion. We let her push on our hands and she pushes herself all over the mat.
In the first two weeks Lillian would track my face with her eyes if I was moving gently. On week four I tried to get her to track an object (Mrs. Lion rattle) and with some prompting (shaking the rattle) she would do it.
Since she was breech the pediatrician recommended that we do a hip ultrasound to screen for hip displasia. We went in on 8/13 and some measurements indicated a possible issue. We will follow up on this in two weeks.
Lillian seems to enjoy tummy time. We first place her on her back and let her look at the toys. During week 4 she began to be interested in the mirror and likes staring wide-eyed at her own reflection.
In week 4 I really noticed how much Lillian responded to my face and voice. She gets very animated – especially in the morning. This morning (8/20) she gave me variations of a smile for a full minute(!!!) and made what sounded like it could be a laughing noise!
Lillian has the typical fussy period during dinnertime that lasts until she is put to sleep. Sometimes her cry is so loud that we feel like we need earplugs. The really ‘bad cry’ is when her mouth is open and lower lip is quivering. Swaddling her on Bill’s chest, the football hold, and feeding are the things that seem to soothe her.
During week 4 Lillian became fussy at the breast at certain feedings. She would suck for about a minute, push her legs back, turn bright red and cry while flailing her arms and legs. It was very upsetting (considering what is happening with my milk supply). It normally occurred at the late afternoon and dinner-time feedings.
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