Gabriella : Three Months

(Let's pretend this isn't 2 weeks late, k-thanx?)

My girlie....3 months.



And yay! I'm beginning to see some resemblance despite the fact that my children have completely different complexions.



In case you can't tell, Gabriella is sporting blue eyes and reddish blonde hair. I think she's absolutely beautiful but I'm not gonna lie...part of me is mourning the loss of a daughter who is my mini-me :( Everyone says Eli looks like Jim. And now it's the same with Gabriella. And uh, I grew these children so, you know... give credit where credit is due :) [By the way, I think Eli looks like me regardless of what everyone says. Maybe I'll post a photo of me at that age to prove it.]

We're out of the infamous fourth trimester and oh yeah, life is getting a tad easier! Where we once had an infant who basically slept and cried, we now have a happy baby who smiles and coos and makes. my. heart. melt. Seriously. I love nothing more than just hovering over Gabriella on the floor while she imitates the noises I make. She must know I'm her mama as well because she now tracks me with her eyes as I walk around and when I enter a room, she instantly looks my way after hearing my voice. Yes, little lady, it's me!



I feel like I'm finally getting to "know" my daughter too. Those first few weeks were hard because I really couldn't decipher her cries. Was she hungry? Tired? Gassy? But now I'm pretty certain I'm catching on. For instance, I know when she has a modest cry and constantly turns her head to the right, she's tired. And when she cries hysterically, that means FEED ME NOW! If she recently woke up from a nap and has had a good feeding, a fussy baby usually means she needs to be changed. I'm figuring it out, folks :)



Oddly, without any encouragement on my part, Gabriella is falling into a somewhat predictable pattern. About an hour or so after waking up in the morning, she likes to take a nap. Which, surprisingly can last almost two hours. If she happens to be in her swing in the living room though, it tends to be shorter since Eli is the loudest toddler I know and wakes her up. If Jim and I are really lucky, we're able to get both babes down for an afternoon nap. And THAT is fabulous. A mid-afternoon breather? Yes, please :) I like to call that half time; a time to recharge and strategize the rest of the evening.



Gabriella is also showing a lot of similarities to Eli personality-wise. Eli was a pretty independent child for the most part. He didn't need constant nursing or snuggling and I'm beginning to think Gabby might be the same way. It's very rare to camp out on the couch and hold her like a typical newborn. Baby girl needs to be upright and looking around the room. I've learned we can go from content baby to ticked off child in a matter of seconds if she's reclined in any way. Even though it seems way too early, I've already busted out the bumbo seat for Gabriella. She can hang for a couple of minutes but then her poor neck gets tired - or a certain toddler wants to reclaim his chair- and back to the floor we go. In related news, Gabs has occasionally rolled over from belly to back which is a pleasant surprise seeing that I, uh, don't have dedicated tummy time everyday :)



When it comes to sleep, at first glance, things seem to be going exceptionally well. As you may recall, we had Gabriella sleeping in her bouncy seat every night due to suspicion of acid reflux. Well, after a few weeks I was certain Little G wasn't in pain anymore but because she was sleeping so well, I didn't want to make the move to her bassinet or crib. I thought for sure we'd be up every hour on the hour and I was just putting off the inevitable. Well, one night, Jim and I pulled the trigger and put Gabriella in her bassinet next to our bed. I was bracing for the worst, folks, but you know what? She slept through the night and has been ever since. So now I'm breathing a sigh of relief while simultaneously dreading the move to her crib. Call me crazy but I think it's too early to make the move. I feel like we just had her. I can't imagine my munchkin alone in a big cold crib. And the funny thing about that - we put Eli in his crib at three months and looking back I felt like he was in our room for SUCH a LONG time. We'll eventually make the move, but right now I'm content to have her next to me.



So, sleeping through the night is great and dandy right? Well, there's more. Not only does Gabriella fall asleep extremely easy now, but she also actually prefers to be put down awake and doze off on her own [which is a FAR cry from the routine we had just a few short weeks ago when it took the sun, moon and stars to be in perfect alignment in order for her to sleep]. I know so many moms out there try their dang hardest to get their kids to self soothe and fall asleep by themselves but whoa, I feel like we missed like 10 or 20 steps here! Yeah, I'll admit, after a long rough day with two kiddos, getting both of them into bed within 20 minutes of each other is quite the treat. But there's a part of me that still wants to soak in these precious early months and rock my baby girl to slumberland. I know it's early and a lot can change. Maybe as she gets older she'll want some mama time before bed :) One can hope.



The really really bad news about all of this is because Gabriella sleeps 8-10 hours at night [yeah, I know...ridiculous], my milk supply has tanked :( And ugh, if you guys remember my breastfeeding battle with Eli, you know this doesn't make me happy at all. It infuriates me to NO END that a baby who doesn't eat at night somehow has less milk available to her during the day. I don't want to get into the nitty gritty because, believe me, it's ugly and I don't want to bore you with my never ending rants, but man, I really feel like I could be at the end of my rope some days. The good news is I've met with a lactation consultant and all hope is not lost. I'm not at the point of no return and with a lot of extra pumping session and a middle of the night date with that stupid hooter hoover, I should be able to bring my supply back up. My goal is six months [preferably a year but I'm not holding my breath over here] and gosh dang it, I'll down 100 Fenugreek pills a day if that's what it takes.



So yeah, there's definitely pros and cons to a baby who sleeps all night long. I LOVE the uninterrupted rest but I despise the nursing battle that plagues me every waking hour. Prayers, folks. They'd be appreciated.

All in all, I'm falling more in love with my Gabba, Gabby, Gabs...whatever name comes to mind :) At times I honestly can't believe I have my daughter. I know I've mentioned it before, but I always envisioned myself with a daughter and now, here she is...in the flesh. I love, love, love her.



Three months down and charging on to four!