THE BLAND FAMILY: Week 6

I can't believe my baby girl will be 6 weeks old tomorrow....well today actually (since it's after midnight!). That means that I only have 4 more weeks of maternity leave and that literally makes my stomach turn......but I won't focus on that now. This week, Avery does that adorable laugh/smile thing in her sleep. I keep waiting for that first "real" smile. My mom is convinced I got on on the 11th, but I'm not so sure we can count it. Hopefully I'll get one soon. :) She has much better head control. She looks around all over when I have her up to burp her. She's not so great at tummy time yet - we tried a couple of times this week and she just lays there w/ her face in the mat. :( But I think overall, she's got really good control already. She recognizes my voice! I love that. She kind of follows my voice when I move around the room. Love that she knows her mommy! She's still sleeping pretty well. We kind of started a very loose bedtime routine. We really just are giving her a bath every night (we just don't do soap each time so her skin doesn't dry out too much). It seems to relax her a bit - either because she enjoys it or she's tired from crying all the way through it! Depends on her mood. :) I try to feed her right after and hope for the best. Some nights, she falls asleep between 10 and 11. Others, she's fussed/nursed until 1 or so and then gone down. When she finally goes, she sleeps hard. But she's not real consistent yet as to when she wants to go down. I keep hearing about another growth spurt at 6 weeks, so I'm trying to prepare. :)

Let's see what else.....she had her first blowout this week. :) I did NOT get a picture of that one. Wow - I didn't miss those. She actually had a few this week. One led to just tossing the nightgown out altogether. :) We got our other activity mat out this week. She seems to like that one. It has lights and music. And of course Carson really loves it....ha. We've had a few slight signs of jealousy. He just wants to play with her stuff and wants to do things like her (I change her a lot on the couch so now he wants his diaper changed on the couch sometimes). Overall though, he's done such a good job adjusting to her! He's really been wonderful overall.

We had another doctor's appointment this week. It's seriously been every week. It's getting ridiculous. I am so over this stupid incision/infection!! She put me on my THIRD round of antibiotics. Ugh. It just won't close up completely and stop bleeding. :( She still thinks that it was a blood clot that they missed or whatever when closing me up. That can lead to an infection internally which then tries to force itself out through the weakest part of the incision. Sorry - gross. :( But it's been FOUR weeks now. It's much better for sure! But it's still tender and still bleeding a bit. She doesn't know why it's just not healing completely. She doesn't think it's infected anymore but put me on one more round of antibiotics to be safe. I go back in 2 weeks for my 6 week checkup, so I'm praying it's healed by then. I'm just tired of dealing with it. It's really put a damper on my time w/ her and just overall recovery. I know it was major surgery but I was hoping to feel better faster. Hoping to feel like doing more things out of the house, etc. It started out SO WELL! It's getting better though so I guess I'll just focus on that. Nothing I can do to change it! At least it hasn't affected my nursing as I thought it could. They at first told me that my antibiotic was safe for breastfeeding, but then my pediatrician said it wasn't. They said I'd have to pump and dump for 6 days and feed her formula. I was seriously so upset at the thought! At the time, she hadn't had a bottle period, let alone formula. I just cried and cried when they told me. But our pediatrician did some more research and they determined that the risk is jaundice (in Avery) so I could take it as long as I kept an eye on her coloring. Round 2 finished and she's still pink! :) Anyway, I'll be glad to have outings to somewhere other than the OB.

This week, we had a visit from Aunt Allie! I haven't seen her forever! Miss her so much. It was so nice to see her!

We also had a girls day! Brooke, Susie and Kristin (and kids!) all came over Saturday for a visit. So nice to catch up w/ them. Carson and Tyler got along so well! He kept yelling "I having fun!" as they jumped in the jump house. Too cute!