Eight Weeks Old

The bean is eight weeks old. I'm pretty sure it happened overnight, but that's probably because I haven't slept in eight weeks, so the last two months have been one long night.

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Maybe it's the whole third child thing, or the fact that we've had so much going on, but I've done very little writing about LB thus far. I really want to absorb this peanut and everything she has to offer. But to be honest, I've been exhausted and just surviving most days. Three kids is seriously no joke. I really felt like I had it together with the twins -- even at the very beginning -- but three has sent me reeling.

So I'm going to make a concerted effort to capture her little moments, hopefully as well as I did for her sister and brother. Lauren already has as many (if not more) nicknames as her siblings -- Lola, Lola Bean, Lola Burger (any Nantucketeers reading?), LB, beaner, porkchop, baby Lala, I'm probably forgetting a few.

We are still Sleepless in Saratoga. Seriously this kid has set a new world record for crying at night. I am literally runnin on dunkin. Horrible. We're currently turning to alternative therapies to help her with the screaming fits - Webster chiropractic, cranial sacral therapy and Bowenwork. After we make it through a few appointments I'll share the effects it has had on her disposition, in case our trials and tribulations can be of help to other sleepless sets.

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Scheduling

Given that I am the militant mama, who lived and died by a schedule with the last batch of offspring, I have not done much to schedule her thus far. Much of this has been because we've constantly been in a state of transition since she was born. But it's also because the twins were able to drive their schedule since they were my only children; whereas the bean needs to adapt to the schedule that our family already has.

We moved into the new house last week and her room is finally (somewhat) set up. So I plan on rereading a few chapters out of BabyWise and a few other books that I used with the twins and coming up with a plan for her starting this month.

We have a huge issue with daytime/nighttime confusion and she is still in that super sleepy newborn phase. During the day I wake her up to eat every 2-4 hours (depending on what is going on and where I am with the other kids). After she eats she's usually held while I'm running around, or she's in a carrier, or her car seat, or the swing. This is in huge contrast to what I did for the twins and I hope it  doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. But I'm sure it will.

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Crib Transitioning

Poor peanut hasn't even had a bed. She's either in a swing, a rock and play (not as awesome as people proclaim) or our bed (don't judge until you have three kids). I'm so excited that her crib is finally set up, now I just need to actually find and put bedding on it so that we can use the darn thing. Baby steps, people. My plan is to move her to her own room later this month.

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Colic

Porkchop definitely has colic. I'm 98.4% sure that it's a result of my oversupply, so I have been trying furiously to combat this issue. We've also been giving her chamomile supplements which has helped a ton! Way more than colic calm or gripe water or mylicon. At her 2 month well baby visit (which happened at 7 weeks) our pediatrician said I could steep a chamomile teabag in water, just until the water changes color, and then give her the tea in a bottle. Roughly 3 ounces does the trick. Mommy drinks wine and baby drinks tea, and we all sleep happily ever after.

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Breastfeeding

I'm still plugging right along. I forgot how much I hated nursing until I was nursing again. I will say that this time has been more enjoyable - at times - when the twins are already asleep and I'm not yet asleep. I never got to cuddle a baby and relax while s/he was eating. With the twins it was all business, so it's nice to have that downtime with LB.

Once again I have been dealing with a major oversupply. In the first three weeks the baby was home I banked over 200 ounces of milk and I wasn't pumping to bank milk. All I was doing was pumping off the side that she wasn't eating on. Which, I learned the hard way, was not the way to handle my supply at all. I am blessed to feed her so easily, but it's been hard to balance the discomfort and juggle feeding her and keeping up with her siblings. I have learned that my best recourse is block feeding again. So I  feed in 12 hour blocks and only relieve the other side when necessary. And I'm finally -- after a full week of this -- regulating down to normal. Lola is not coughing or sputtering or drowning and she's been a lot less gassy and fussy. Hallalujah! Cause this momma can't take any more crying.

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Baby Carriers

I bought a Ergo before LB was born and I LOVE it so much more than my Gemini. My friend Rebecca loaned me a sling so that I can wear the baby more easily and even attempt to (gulp) nurse in public, like...really public. I put the baby in the sling and she folded in half. I stopped putting her in the sling until I watch some videos and learn what to do to avoid a baby sandwich again.

I should have been a carrier tester or something. With three kids we've blown through the Moby Wrap, a knockoff Peanut Sling, a Bjorn, a Gemini and now an Ergo. And my friend who loaned me the sling also gave me a Mei Tei and one other carrier to try so I can attempt to nurse on the run without (literally) hanging out there. Maybe I can muster up the energy for a full review on all of them since I've worked my way through eight to find one that works.

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Siblings

Lo loves her brother and sister. When they stick their chubby faces in hers she smiles and coos. Melts my heart. They love her too. Reese and the baby are next to one another in the car, and Reese holds Lola's hand every single time we drive anywhere. They give her hugs and kisses like crazy and try to rock her in her swing or RNP if she's crying. Even though I have siblings, I wasn't close in age with any of them and so our relationships were very different. I love seeing my kids together. It is exactly what I wanted for my life and theirs. And while life is challenging some days, I really can't imagine it any other way.

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Here are Bean's stats through her last well baby. She is leaps and bounds bigger than her brother and sister were at this time. I guess that's what happens when you don't have to share your food?

Birth: 7 lbs 2 oz (37%) | 21.5" (>97%)
Hospital Release: 6 lbs 14 oz (26%)
1 week: 7 lbs 3 oz (30%) | 20.25" (66%)
2 week weight check: 7 lbs 9 oz (28%)
1 month: 9 lbs 3 oz (46%) | 21.5" (58%)
2 months*: 10 lbs 2 oz (53%) | 22.25" (69%)

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* our pedi does the 2 month well baby as close to 6 weeks as possible since that is the earliest that they can vaccinate for whooping cough, so Lola's 2 month stats were taken at 7w, 1d.