Indiana's 4 Month Update

26.3.14

14 weeks old
I know I say this every day but I cannot believe how big my baby girl is getting.. 4 months old is just crazy! It seems like yesterday I was screaming in pain haha. This has been a pretty tough month with teething, sleep regression and a HUGE leap which we're still in!


Weight
I got her weighed at last week when she was 16+1 weeks and she weighed a healthy 13lb 2oz (Jack guessed this exactly the day before, so scary!)

Daily
Her routine is becoming much more set now. She wakes up roughly around 7.30 every morning. She has bottles at 8, 12, 4, 7 and then a dreamfeed between 10 and 10.30 everyday. I'm so glad she's settled into a better routine as it means I can prepare bottles and know when she's hungry! Her naps are still irregular but she does have a morning, lunch time, and afternoon nap. But like last month we just play and cuddle inbetween until she gets screechy for her nap!

Bedtime
Our routine is still the same. If it's not broke don't fix it I say haha! What is broken however is her sleep pattern :(! She was sleeping through the night but we are currently suffering the dreaded 4 month sleep regression.. she goes down fine but can be up so many times in the night. Her teeth don't help, so we're suffering with bad sleep deprivation atm.

Eating
Her feeding has become a bit more irregular. She now eats at set times but what she takes varies from one day to the next. She's still on Cow&Gate Comfort (we switched to Reflux formula but that made her constipated), but with size 3 teats instead. We still make 8oz bottles but she takes anything between 5 and 8 ozs.

Sizes
She's now in all 3-6 month clothing, I switched over her wardrobe last week :(. She's in size 3 nappies as well now as little miss has a big bum haha. 

Milestones
  • She is SO close to rolling front to back. She twists onto her side and then just gets frustrated when she can't get over haha.
  • She is a pro at grabbing and holding things now. She even reaches out for the toys on her bouncer.
  • As well as grabbing things she can now shake a rattle!
  • I don't know if it's a milestone but she's learning way more sounds. Her favourite now is screeching.. she does it constantly but seems so happy about it haha!
  • She's learnt how to work her Jumperoo properly now. She jumps up and down an can even start the music herself now.
  • She's back to being a pro at tummy time, she could probably sit there for hours bless her.

That's all I can think of for her 4 month update. Now she's 17 weeks she can start her weaning journey. We're not sure when we're going to start, but it's exciting to know she can have big girl food not just milk!

Enjoying a spring day

15 weeks old

I love her big blues

16 Weeks old
My little Minnie Mouse
What did your little one do at 4 months?

Emily xx

Watch our video update!

Indiana's 3 Month Update

3.3.14

Indiana turned 3 months on the 26th February so this is a little late, but better late than never I always think! She's developed so much over the past few months, so here goes..
10 weeks old
Weight: I got her weighed at exactly 3 months (so technically 13 weeks and 1 day) and she weighed a perfectly normal 12lb 5oz. I dotted it on her growth chart in her red book and she's still following the 25/50th percentile nicely.

Daily: During the day we don't have a specific set routine. She has her bottles roughly the same time every day but naps can vary. Some days she's just more sleepy than others haha. She usually gets up around 7/7.30 I change her bum and then give her a bottle. We have a bit of playtime, but she's usually back down for a nap by 8.30/9ish. She is a cat napper so only really sleeps for 20/30 minutes at a time. Between naps, bum changes and bottles we play, have cuddles and I try and get bits done around the house. She has her other bottles roughly around 11/11.30, 3/3.30, then her bedtime bottle at any time between 6 and 7 after her bath. She's in bed every night by 7.30 and has a dreamfeed at 10ish, she will then sleep through until the morning!

Although she still needs lots of naps I love playing with her in between, she's got such character now and really enjoys her play mat, bouncer and just playing with me. She's learning how to grab her toys herself now so we've just got her a jumperoo to enjoy!
Always has smiles for mummy
My little geek
Bedtime: We have a pretty set routine for bedtime now, which we became more strict on when we moved a few weeks ago. She now sleeps in her cotbed in her own room as her moses basket was getting so small, and we were all waking each other up (yes I know they recommend 6months but we knew she was ready!). She has a bath with Johnsons Bedtim Bath around 6.30. We let her have a good splash about before getting her out and massaged with Johnson's Lotion. She's put into a sleepsuit and then has her last bottle usually around 7. She gets her last cuddles and then is put in bed every night by 7.30 in her grobag with her mobile on. She's usually asleep pretty quick and will then sleep through until the morning with a dreamfeed at 10/10.30.

Eating: Indiana's been bottle fed from birth due to personal choice. She's on cow and gate formula (the comfort version atm), and we use Tommee Tippee bottles with size 2 teats. She's a greedy monkey and has 4 8oz bottles during the day and then a 5oz bottle at her dreamfeed. She doesn't always finish them but usually has 6/7oz at each feed. She goes 4 hours between bottles but sometimes she only lasts 3, I think this depends on how much she had in her previous feed.

Sizes: Indie's a small baby so has been slowly progressing through sizes haha. She was still in newborn at 8 weeks which I loved. She's now fully in 0-3 but even some of her sleepsuits are too big now! I've tried her in 3-6 but she's too dinky for them bless her. She's in size 2 nappies but I know these are becoming a bit small now. We use a range of nappies from Pampers to Tesco Cheeky Bots, but Asda Little Angels are by far my favourite.

Milestones:
  • She learnt to roll from front to back at 12 weeks! She hasn't done it since but it was such a proud moment :)
  • Giggling! It melts my heart every tie she does it. She used to only do it when being tickled but now laughs at lots of thing, including her cousin Freddie.
  • Grabbing. This week she learnt to grab her toys. I was playing with her and her Sophie La Giraffe toy and she opened her hand and took it! She's only been taking things with her left hand so I'm hopeful she's a lefty like her mummy 
  • Teething. Yup we're pretty certain our little lady has started her teething journey poor thing :(. She's chewing absolutely everything, especially her whole fists, which she loves to shove in her mouth haha. She enjoys eating my fingers too which is so so cute.
  • 'Talking'. We have such a chatter box! She will happily wake up in the morning and talk to herself before we get to her. She also will babble away to herself, her toys or you which is adorable.
  • Sitting up! Yup that's right, our 13 week old sat up unaided. It's most likely a fluke but it happened. She was sat on lap and I let go of her hands (and yes I was ready to catch her if she wobbled) but she just stayed there for a good few minutes. Clever baby :)
Holding her Sophie
Chewing mummy's finger
So that's about it for her 3 month update. She's far too grown up for my liking haha, but still my little baby. I cannot wait to see what she learns over the next month!

Emily xx

My Labour and Delivery Story | Indiana Rose

1.3.14

I was due the 24th November 2013 and after everyone telling me my little lady would be early, I was still pregnant when my due date came around. So I got on my hands and knees, scrubbed the bathroom then went on a long walk with Jack around some local shops. After a well needed Costa break (this will be a recurring theme in my blogs as it's our favourite place haha) we headed home.

It got to dinner time and I'd given up home of a due date baby when all of a sudden I started getting back pain on and off. By 7.30pm they were coming every 10/15 minutes and I was having to squeeze Jack's hand as it was pretty intense. It was at this point we started roughly timing them and they were becoming more 5-10 minutes apart. We got in bed to try and get some rest but the pains were getting stronger so I got zero sleep (Jack was snoring away much to my annoyance haha).

By midnight the pains were around 5 minutes apart and much stronger. I felt and odd 'pop' sensation so got up to check. I had finally lost my mucus plug! It was then Jack got up to go to the loo that my waters broke. We had spent my whole pregnancy saying how waters breaking weren't like in the movies, but boy were we wrong. They gushed out all over our bedroom floor with a massive splash! Jack didn't even realise they were my waters bless him. It was after this the pain got 10x worse and we called triage for the first time. We were adviced to go on so at 1am off we went.

On arriving I was checked and told I was only 2cm dilated :(. I was given co-coda mol as paracetamol was useless (so was this but worth a try ay?). I was given a sweep and sent on our way much to my disappointment. So home we went and we got back in bed and watched Bedtimes Stories. I say we but Jack was snoring away from the second his head hit the pillow. The film ended and the pain was getting worse so I woke Jack up and we called triage again. They suggested a bath to ease the pain.

Baths have never helped me with any pain yet I thought I'd give it a go. The midwife said he water had to be covering my bump for it to work, but I'm sorry this is impossible! My bump was pretty average and there was no way it was going to be covered. I had to lie a sideways angle to keep my bump under, all that's while Jack fed me gingernuts biscuits as I was starving!

No surprise to me the bath didn't help so triage was called again and we went back in. Checked again and I was STILL only 2cm dilated. I was so upset, I was in agony and for no reason! I was given another sweep and sent home again. My waters were still leaking too; luckily Jack had a mat in his car to protect the seats haha.

By now it was around 7am and the pain was excruciating. My sister Laura came over as she was my other birth partner. She was so helpful as I was becoming so distressed and upset with the pain and lack of progress. Wherever I was or however I positioned myself the pain was no better. I remember kneeling on the floor with my head in Jack's lap rocking. I needed more pain relief badly! By 10am I couldn't take it anymore. I was crying in pain through being so tired and from the pain. So we went back to triage to see where we were.

Anyone who has experienced labour will understand just how bad contractions are. But contractions in a car are by far the worst. You're stuck sitting with no way of moving, and where my pain was all in my lower back sitting was so so painful. We then had to park ridiculously far from the entrance as I didn't want to be left alone during my contractions. Crying in pain I walked back to triage.

I WAS STILL ONLY 2CM! Hearing this news made me break down again. I felt like I was doing something wrong. I also had the most horrible midwife who basically told me to take some more co-coda mol and go home. She even gave me a sweep during a contraction which was awful! Jack also became upset as he felt useless and hated seeing me in so much pain. So we left again, but decided to go to my mums for more support and change of scenery.

My mum had run me a bath and made us lunch while we were there. She was literally the most amazing person at this point, I'm so glad we went. She helped me to breath through the pain and never left my side. The bath helped a bit more this time and I had lots of company while I was in there for over an hour. I got out and we started to time my contractions again. By 3pm they were less than 5 minutes apart lasting about a minute and so painful. So we tried our luck and went back to our second home, triage.

From this point on I had the most amazingly lovely midwives and care. I was given the best news that I was finally 4cm and allowed to stay! Yay! I was taken straight to the delivery suite and given my best friend gas and air. I loved the stuff and it was such good pain relief. I was more in control and my normal self between contractions now! I had asked for an epidural but while being set up for it I told my midwife Claire that I felt pressure. She checked me again and by 6pm I was 8cm dilated - how the hell did this happen haha!? It was this point I decided I'd try with just gas and air as things progressed so quickly.



I was laughing and giggling on my gas and air. I remember telling Jack and Laura I wanted to watch Friends Witg Benefits and even had a giggling fit but for no reason at all haha. This didn't last however as it got to 8pm and the pain was getting worse again, and after being checked I was only 9cm. This is where things took a downward spiral again.

I was in so much pain and had stopped making progress again. So I gave in and got my epidural at around 9/10ish. The first attempt hit blood so it had to be done twice. But omg it was amazing. Yeah having a catheter and canular wasn't nice (this was actually more painful than the epidural) but hey it was worth it. I was also put on a hormone drip at this point to get me progressing again. Soon enough I was 10cm but was told to get some rest before pushing to let her drop into the right place more.



After a blissful 2 hour nap I was woken and told it was time to push! Not the best wake up call but I was so excited to finally meet my baby girl. Pushing is so hard! My epidural was wearing off too so I felt everything and this was definitely the worst pain yet. My bum felt like it was going to explode haha. Sorry tmi but hey I think it's best to be honest! As I had my epidural I found pushing harder so I had my legs in stirrups with Laura and Jack holding a leg each. By this point the midwives had switched and I had a lovely midwife as well as a student midwife (I was always against having one but she was amazing and I'd definitely recommend them as they're very supportive!).

I was pushing for over an hour with not much progress. I was literally exhausted, after being awake for over a whole day now I was running out of steam. Labour really does mean what it says! The pain was awful and I remember screaming at Jack telling him to make it stop and saying I couldn't do it haha, cringe! A doctor was called in to give me a hand. Within a few seconds the bottom of the bed was whisked away and he had given me an episiotomy! I had asked at my antenatal classes if I'd be told and was reassured I would - this was not the case at all! However he gave me a hand with a ventouse and out came her head, followed seconds later by the rest of her at 2.12am on the 26th November!





We were in complete shock, our baby girl was finally here.. And she had hair haha! She was placed straight onto my chest and I couldn't believe how big she was (Jack was of crying again bless him, he's so emotional it's cute). I had some skin to skin time with her until she was taken away to be cleaned up. I was upset to learn the doctor cut the cord and not Jack, but I guess it had to happen! She had her checks which she passed with flying colour, and we discovered she weighed a chunky 8lb 4oz!

I was stitched up while Jack and Laura had cuddles with our little girl, who we had decided to name Indiana Rose. It wasn't until I read my notes that I discovered I had lost 1000ml of blood. This is considered a post partum hemorrhage. This explains a lot as to why I was now anemic and felt awful for the first few weeks post partum!

I was taken up to my room around 4/5ish which was a private room with our own bathroom and tv. We were given a sandwich each and left to bond with our baby. I couldn't even sleep despite being knackered as I just couldn't stop staring at her she was perfect.

We were allowed to go home on Wednesday around lunch time. We would have gone earlier but I had a high pulse and had to have extra checks. I now know it's because of my blood loss, but obviously at the time I just wanted to go home and rest with Jack and Indiana, not stay in a stuffy hospital (Jack agreed as he had to sleep on the floor for two nights haha).



So that's it, that's my very long story! You wouldn't believe I left bits out haha, but I tried to be as thorough as possible. I hope you enjoyed and look forward to reading others stories as I love seeing what other people went through to get their babies!