Roya - Four months

Well, we've had another interesting and adventuresome month with Roya, otherwaise known by some as Baby Rae :) (RAE - her anitials). She is captivating and beautiful and terribly smart. Poeple are always commenting on her intensity as she stares them down and studies their every move. Inwardly she's deciding whether or not she'll reward their silly banters with her glorious smile, or blow them off 'till she's more in the modd :) Her playful times are amazingly fun as she flirts and giggles, and makes the most hysterical faces. She's getting good at imitating our expressions and we have a blast just sitting there making faces at one another :)

Her routine at this point goes something like this... Wake sometime around 6:00 AM, nurse with Mama in bed. Finish nursing and snuggle with Daddy for a few minutes until she gets wrestless and Dad gives Mama a beautiful gift by taking Roya dowstairs so Mama can keep sleeping, or at least laying :) Sometimes, during this waketime, she gets to shower with Daddy. It isn't long, though, before Roya is sleepy again and ready to go back to bed. Well... and that is about the only somewhat consistent part of our day!!! :) She nurses ~ every three hours and usually gets fussy/tired after two hours of being awake. Whether or not she'll sleep, however, is what determines the rest of the day...

At our four month doctor's apt, we discovered a few very important factors to Roya's fussiness...

1) She has acid reflux, which I also had as a baby and young adult. Apparently, this is the cause of many babies' colick. It was discovered by her random "fake" coughs, almost like clearing one's throat.

2) She has not gained any weight since her 3 month apt. This is obviously a concern, but not a surprise. With the reflux, she was refusing to sleep. Because she was so tired, she wasn't nursing efecively and always falling asleep. She still had wet and dirty diapers, because she was eating; but the problem is that she was not eating long enough and strong enough to draw out the "hind milk" which is the rich, fatty part of the milk that puts the weight on. Nursing also disturbed the reflux, which caused a lessened appetite.

3) In the midst of it all, she has cut her two bottom teeth and still has at least two (the "fangs") moving through the upper gums.

So the poor thing has been quite disturbed. Not to mention, Mama has been "under the weather" herself which may have affected her milk supply. My blood pressure has not yet risen above 90/40, which poses some challenges, but isn't overall very serious. Thankfully, Lynn has taken over supper duty, which allows Mama to focus on other things.

So right now, the primary focus is helping Roya gain some weight!! She is taking some Nexium for the reflux, which will hopefully help her sleep better, then hopefully she'll nurse better. Life continues to revolve around long nursing periods, pumping, etc. :)

Well, be blessed friends and family!!!