Sweet Pea is 2 months old!

As hard as these months have been, time really is flying in the grand scheme of things! But that is usually how time works. The days are long but the years fly by.

Sweet Pea’s name couldn’t be more accurate. She is such a sweet little baby girl.

Eating: Sweet Pea ate three ounces every three hours for most of this month. Around week 7-8 she started eating 3.5 ounces 2 times a day (2pm and 11pm). With her stomach issues it is best for her to eat less more frequently.

Sleeping: If Sweet Pea was not bothered by her tummy, she continued to sleep good this month. Many naps were still interrupted with tummy troubles. But even so, Sweet Pea has developed a very good eat/wake/sleep cycle over the past two months, which is progress no matter how you look at it!

Sweet Pea has continued with 3 to 6 hour stretches during the night, with one 7 hour stretch in there. I know Sweet Pea is going to take longer to reach the milestone of sleeping through the night because of her tummy issues and the fact that she has to eat small amounts more frequently. But, this month she was fed the dream feed around 11pm each night and then she would wake to eat anywhere from 2:30-5:30 and then she would wake again usually in the 7-8am hour.

During her 8th week, she starting going a 5-6 hour stretch in the night!

Wake Time: If I didn’t make Sweet Pea have awake time after her daytime feeds, this baby would probably sleep the day away and party all night! She still continues to be a very sleepy baby, which could be another symptom of withdrawal (sleeping is another way their body processes the drugs).

I brought out the playmate at 8 weeks for her. The first time on it she was a little bewildered, I think, but I know she will grow to love this toy as much as her big sister did.

Her wake time seems to be at about one hour and then she is showing signs of being sleepy. I swaddle her up and then lay her down for a nap. She pretty much requires a paci to fall asleep. She has a pretty strong sucking reflex which is another symptom of withdrawal. I am counting on the paci interfering with sleep in the future, but, right now, she needs the paci and we will deal with sleep issues once the withdrawals are all behind us.

When Sweet Pea is awake and alert, she is the sweetest little thing. She is all smiles and has been smiling on purpose since she was 3 weeks old. She loves for people to talk to her. She enjoys siting in the bouncy seat and in her swing. We even gave the Bumbo a try and she enjoyed it. I have to time that well. If it is too close to a feed, she will spit up in that.

Bath: Sweet Pea continues to enjoy her bath. She really seems to enjoy relaxing in the bathtub. It is so precious to watch. At 8 weeks old, we started doing a bath most every night with the goal of starting a consistent bedtime routine with Sweet Pea. She gets a bath at 8pm (like Little Bug) and then a bottle at 8:30pm. I only use soap on her about 2-3 times a week, or whenever she really needs a good bath because of a bad spit up.

Weight: At 2 months old, Sweet Pea weighs, 10 pounds 4 ounces (30-40%) and is 21.5 inches long (20%)!

Diapers: Sweet Pea is still in Size 1 diapers.

Clothes: Sweet Pea wears mostly 0-3 month clothes. She can still fit into some newborn clothes, but those will probably be packed up soon.

Tummy troubles: After taking Sweet Pea to the GI doctor on September 29th, I feel confident I have done everything I possibly can to learn as much as I can about her tummy troubles and now we just wait until her stomach has time to heal from the drug exposure. It is just going to take time and we will continue to do the things we are doing that seem to bring her the most comfort and keep her spells somewhat in control (Dr. Brown’s bottles, premixed formula, Zantac, Gripe Water, gas drops, the inclined bed, paci, Miracle Blanket and the “comfort hold” on our chests when the spells are bad).

rH factor: Sweet Pea’s blood levels have continued to be monitored by her pediatrician. Her levels were finally at 10 (which is where they should be). She has another check scheduled for about a month from now.

Schedule (weeks 4-8):

8am eat

11am eat

2pm eat

5pm eat

8pm eat

11pm eat

**Starting at around week 7, there was usually one 3.5 hour stretch in there. When Sweet Pea had a hard time settling down for a nap after a feed, I would let her sleep an extra 30 minutes which put her eating on the half hour mark instead of on the hour.

**After the 11pm feed we let her wake on her own to eat. She woke anywhere from 2:30 to 5:30 most days and then again between 7-8am.

**We are trying to work on her having a catnap after the 5pm feed instead of a full 2 hour nap. This way, hopefully she will start going on to bed after her 8pm feed instead of having a long awake time as she has done in the past.

Overall, this month has been very challenging because of Sweet Pea’s tummy troubles. The hardest part is when Sweet Pea is trying to settle for a nap but is not comfortable and I am needing to take care of Little Bug at the same time. Those moments are a balancing act that gets very tiring very quickly because I don’t feel like I am all there for either one. I have to keep reminding myself that this season of our life will soon pass and things will get easier as Sweet Pea gets older and as her tummy troubles improve.

Happy Two Months, Sweet Pea!

- Elaine