Baby Bear's Porridge

3 months post baby and we have found our pocket, our gravy, our BABY BEAR'S PORRIDGE. We are feeling good about things these days. So much happened so fast with be stopping work, Aar getting new job, leaving LA, saying goodbye to dear friends, making new friends, new ward new place, oh and throw in there a BABY!!! It was a lot to take in and 3 months later we are in our groove and it feels great. I am cooking, cleaning, studying, serving in the church, playing, going out on my own, taking Viv with me, traveling etc.

Oh and sleeping....I keep telling myself to knock on wood because all in all Vivian is pretty amazing. I mean no doubt we would love her all the same no matter what but the fact that by 3 months she was and is sleeping 12 hours at night makes her even more of a dream.

I don't know how we got so lucky. We keep waiting for a sickness, teething, or just something to happen to rock our boat. But in the meantime we will enjoy our sleep and rest. I am sure this will all change tonight now that I am feeling it is set, but it is ok because honestly I actually miss Vivian while she sleeps that long. I have even been known to walk into her room during the night just to see her or kiss her or hold her in her sleep. I will cherish those times I spend with my babe in the night when they happen...I loved them when she was first born and will continue to love them in the future.

We are so happy to be in this pocket right now...we are just taking it all in. I think I may squeeze Vivian so hard sometimes...I have to be careful. I love her so much and she is 100% chunk. Already has almost DOUBLED her birthweight and she is not even 4 months yet!!!

I am pretty certain that a baby who is putting on weight is a healthy happy baby. Babies brains need fat to develop, their bodies need nourishment to thrive and grow. I gotta say every time I look at her chunkiness I give myself an AIR HIGH FIVE as it is all momma here giving her her LBS.



She does have reflux which we hear can me super miserable for many which results in babies screaming non stop and no sleep. Thankfully I got right on it as soon as I knew something was up. She always spit up a ton since day 1 and at 2 months all of a sudden my baby who did not cry let out the craziest scream you have ever heard. She turned bright red and just screamed, not a cry. I picked her up and within seconds she spit up the most nasty acid like stuff ever. So I waited a couple days thinking maybe it was a fluke. But it would still happen everyday at least 1x. Always happened during a nap. Of course friends would say "oh let her cry it out", "it's just her sleep cycle, you don't want to rescue her too soon." Blah Blah Blah crap. I know my baby and I knew it was something. So I called the dr and sure enough it was reflux. She had been silently refluxing for the first 2 months then all of a sudden something changed and she started to experience pain. So the doc got her on meds ASAP with the instructions to keep her upright for 30 minutes after eating. So we did just that and things got better. She was still sleeping all night but during the day it would bother her. So off dairy I went, which then turned into off wheat, soy, eggs, caffeine, chocolate plus no dairy. He switched her meds and voila!!! We are working on trying to taper her med down so we will see how it goes in the next few weeks.

She still gets uneasy when she has a burp or needs to spit up and can't get it out by herself but the scream is no longer thankfully and she is not in pain. Just some grunts.

I am so happy I trusted my instincts and that I did not fall into the trap of sticking a binky in her mouth to shut her up or letting her just cry it out. I knew something was up. I love the fact that I know my baby better than anyone or any book out there. I take pride in being good at what I do and while I do know that there will be moments when I feel like I am not doing a good job or when by kids are doing naughty things I may doubt my efforts I am enjoying that for right now I am feeling confident in my abilities to care for the lil babe that she is now. . . . . (to be continued right? my next post could just easily be the complete opposite, and I promise you when I am feeling not so great I will let you know too, cause who likes someone who feels they have it under control all the time?)

I do think what has helped us get into the pocket we are in right now is me trusting my instincts and doing what is right for us and for our baby. A mother is blessed with intuition and I am certain intuition will always beat out any theory or opinion!!!

Practicing sitting up with dad

First time to Disneyland!!!

Oh and did you hear I have 2 new cousins...that's right 2!!!
I look like I am about to stomp on them but I assure I love them and will be super nice to them. I am pretty sure we are going to be the new 3 musketeers!!! Think if mom holds me back a year we could even all go to school together and beat up all the other kids together. OK we wouldn't beat them up but we sure would be a force to be reckoned with.