friday.

milestones and 3 months postpartum.

Ah, developmental milestones. More stuff for parents to stress out about. While Luka does seem "normal" as far as I know, there is always a risk of issues down the road because of his rough beginning. They just kept telling us, "make sure he meets his milestones" whenever I would ask how likely it will be for him to be delayed or challenged in some way. But the thing about milestones is that every baby is different, and they are just basic guidelines for development. Still, it's hard not to take it seriously when Lu went for his two month well visit and the nurse asked if he was smiling at us yet. He wasn't really then, but at three months he's been smiling up a storm!



And several times now we have put him to sleep on his back (per usual), only to find him on his side a little later. Little boy doing big boy things!



He's holding his neck up really strong now, and occasionally popping me in the mouth with his forehead. Overall, we are happy with his milestones so far. A little slow with some, faster with others. I'm sure it will all even out.

Since this started out as a pregnancy blog, I should probably mention how things are now at three months postpartum. For the most part, it's like nothing even happened. The c-section pain has been completely gone since about 6-8 weeks after the surgery. The hip pain and carpal tunnel pain I had while pregnant went away almost immediately after giving birth. My blood sugar went back to normal within only a few days after the birth, too. The lochia lasted almost a full six weeks, gross. But I haven't had a normal cycle yet, interestingly. I'm still about nine pounds heavier than I was before the pregnancy, which isn't too bad I guess. But my abdomen muscles are loose and flabbier than before, so that's unsightly and annoying. and I didn't really get any stretch marks until a few weeks after giving birth. No fair! I'm sure they happened because of the loose belly all flopping around when walking. I should have bought one of those abdominal support bands way sooner than I did. Not only did it help the c-section pain tremendously, I bet it would have cut down on the stretch marks, too. I didn't get one until about four weeks after the surgery. If you ever have a c-section or any other abdominal surgery, get yourself one of these! It really helped so much.

My self esteem isn't at it's highest right now, like many new moms, I guess. I don't have many pictures of me and the boy yet because I just feel like I look like shit. Still kind of heavy, barely showered with spit up stains on all my shirts. And I'm in desperate need of a haircut! With all the medical bills piling up, I can't even afford a haircut or color. Not that hair maintenance is important in the grand scheme of things, but yeah, BLAH.
My friend Malia took a picture of me and General Fussypants that I don't totally hate:

3 months.

12 weeks old, and the little dude is doing great. He's nine and a half pounds now, and getting a little heavy for holding in just one hand. I had to pack away his first few sets of newborn onesies, because they are too small now. This kind of made me sad! But of course it's exciting to see him grow and develop. Plus, we still have a ton of newborn clothes that are too big for him. Baby clothes are all cut so different, it's weird. There are some really cute clothes he's been gifted that I can't wait until he fits in.

At Lu's 2 month checkup, his doc told us that once he gained another pound, we could start trying him with sleeping through the night. Of course "sleeping through the night" with a 3 month old is really only about five hours. So rather than wake him for his 2am feeding, we have been letting him sleep through. Several times this has worked well, with him waking up closer to his 5am feeding time. Other nights he has woken up at 2am like clockwork. We have been asking parents we know how they transitioned their infant to sleep through the night. If you have a story to share, we would love to read about it. Any advice is much appreciated! I have a strong opinion against using the "crying it out" method with Luka that some people use for sleeping through the night. My maternal instincts just can't handle the thought of a 3 month old baby crying and needing to be held or fed, then going all night with his cries unanswered. But all feedback is welcome on this, really. I'm not gonna judge you if you did get good results from crying it out (I just don't think it's right for Lu at this age). A full spectrum of opinions is always helpful. Ken and I are new at this parenting thing, and we want to make sure the kid is on the right track to healthy, happy sleep.

Lu has been getting into somewhat of a routine during the day, with me taking him to work. He's awake and generally fussy until his 11am feeding, then I bundle him up for a nap. He usually naps for 2-3 hours, then he eats again at 2pm. After that he's alert and ready to play for a while, so I walk him around the store and show him things. His favorite things to do at work are to go to the warehouse and stare at the overhead lights, and play tickle monster in the lobby chair. He will occasionally flash me a gummy smile. He's still a little stingy with the smiles, but they are happening! Sometimes I put him in his lamb chair on the big push cart we have, and I push him around the showroom. Then he fusses until I hold him. Around 3-4pm, he's ready for another little nap which is never long enough. So we head home, where he likes to stare at his mobile until he eats again at 5pm. From there, it's a fight to get him to nap (though he's clearly sleepy) so I can make dinner.

The more alert times during the day are pretty fun. I love watching him look around so intently, taking in everything he sees. Like he's filing it all away in his brain for future use. It's also nice that he isn't crying the whole time he's awake anymore, though he cries more than I would like! We take care of all his needs, so I think he just likes being fussy at times. He is usually pretty good in public places, though. So far, anyway.

He has a 3 month checkup next week, so we get to see how long he is now. I think he's longer than before, because I need to adjust his car seat straps again!