As yet unnamed!

Time flies...

when you have a cute baby in the house! I've just not been in much of a blogging mood lately. I do want to keep up with it though as it's a great reference for me to go back and check dates and stuff when I get around to scrapping these photos some day. These two pictures were taken yesterday and Kirk liked the first one and I liked the second one so I decided to share both. Noemie's hair is looking a bit red depending on the light though in real life it's a medium brown. Nothing against red hair (or ginger as they call it here) but as neither of us have red hair it just looks out of place here.

We had a fun weekend with Noemie. Took her for a walk, played with her tons and managed to stay on somewhat of a routine over the weekend so her fussing was minimal compared to last weekend. Totally back to breastmilk again and luckily I am keeping up with her. She still fusses in the late afternoon but nothing like the howling that was going on last week.

We go to the Brompton on Wednesday for a follow up heart scan, first one since we left the hospital so hope nothing has changed in a negative way. She seems to be doing great though so I would be surprised if we say anything bad. She's getting so chubby and looks like a real baby now. Just hope she doesn't get fat though. Will be interesting to see how much weight she has gained as it's will have been 2 weeks since her last weigh in. Hope it's a good gain as her feeding has settled down a bit from what she was like when we first got her home. She has been waking again at 3am for a feed the last few nights but then last night she slept through again until 6am today (8pm-6am) so we're guessing she must be getting enough so we're not forcing feeds on her like we used to. One day if we have another bay and assumming nothing is wrong with it, it will be so weird as we won't know what's "normal".

Must do some other stuff now while she naps.

15 weeks old!

Here's a nice bright cheerful picture taken on a pretty cold and gloomy day! Noemie is 15 weeks old today. She still acts like such a big baby at times though. She woke up at 4:30am this morning howling like she hadn't eaten in days though the reality was about 9 hours. Kirk got up and fed her and she was asleep again until 8am. She didn't eat as much during the day yesterday so I had told Kirk I was sure she would wake up in the middle of the night. She was struggling to feed for some reason, arching her back and crying a lot so I figured she was getting a lot of wind from the formula. Same thing today with a few feeds so I went back to just breastmilk and not only did she stop crying, she also drank about 2oz more in one go. Not sure what to do now as she seemed ok with the 1oz of formula until the last few days. Kirk says we should keep going with the formula but I'm not so sure... I hate seeing her uncomfortable and crying when she is eating and I'm still expressing enough milk to keep up with her so I'm inclined to try the formula again in a months time or something. I'm also the one who is with her all day long where as Kirk gives her a bottle a day at the most. Maybe I'll keep trying tomorrow and if it stil upsets her I will stop.

We went out for 2 walks today. First one was to Starbucks in Parsons Green where I got my mocha frappucino. Noemie humoured the standing in line thing today and even smiled at me the entire time. Nevermind that there was no line but we still had to wait for them to make the drink so that has to count for something. Then this afternoon she was just being so fussy and irritating for some reason so off we went for another walk. She fell asleep moments before we got home so I left her in her carseat in the entrance hall (inside the front door, not out on the street though it was tempting earlier in the day) where she slept for an hour. I then felt a bit bad that I had left her down there so rescued her and she was being extra sweet and happy baby once again.

Her neck control seems to have gotten better overnight. Even when I'm holding her she holds herself upright where as in the past she would rest her head on my chest. Today she nearly fell backwards out of my arms. I also put her down on the floor with a few cushions behind her and she sat for a while. Still a bit floppy but managed to hold her head up while wobbling a bit. I think it would make for a funny video if I played some music as it would look like she was moving to the beat!

Wow...

So, is this a good time to gloat about the 7-1/2 hours of sleep we got last night? Or about how Noemie slept straight for 11 hours? The downside to this night time sleeping of hers though is that she rarely will nap during the day. It's not that bad a thing but she gets tired and does all the sleepy signs so I put her down and she sleeps about 45 minutes (twice yesterday) and then wakes up and is convinced she is hungry so I feed her and she only takes half a bottle and is done and then she ends up eating more often than she would as she isn't having full feeds each time. I guess it's just a learning process for her to adapt to sleeping through the night and stuff and I really shouldn't complain considering the alternative would be to wake up several times a night to feed her.

She's got a lot of new "words" in her vocabulary as well. It used to just be ahhh and gurrr but now it's a who bunch of gobbledegook but she chatters away happily. If you ask her a question she will answer you and change the pitch of her voice and the expression on her face. It's pretty cute. She also reaches out to grab toys and has stopped her musical mobile more times than I care to remember now so I am constantly having to rescue the thing from her grasp. We think she might be left handed as she does most of these things with her left hand. She also reaches out for other toys and rubs her face and stuff with her left hand. Wouldn't be surprising as I was left handed as a baby but my Mom changed me to be right handed. I still tend to do a lot with my left hand though so I guess it's cool as I am pretty ambidextrous. I think we would leave N to be left handed though.

My friend Tamsin came over yesterday and met Noemie and got lots of smiles. We have a really social baby here which is nice. My folks are coming down today for lunch so it means I get a decent meal for a change.

You Tube about Heart Babies

Bit of a heavy subject...

This was posted on the heart forum today. It's not a short clip (9-1/2 minutes) but it's very powerful. Made me realise again how lucky we were that Noemie was diagnosed so quickly, that they did an echo on her within a few hours, that she doesn't need a heart transplant, that her problem was most likely a one time operation... gosh the list goes on. Though this clip is US based, the figures are the same for the UK. 1 in 100 babies are born with a Congenital Heart Defect, can look perfectly healthy at birth or even for months/years and then suddenly show signs of a problem. Despite this, an echo isn't routinely performed at birth. It's not invasive, it's just a scan much like what Mom gets during her pregnancy yet it could potentially save a child's life. Hopefully with more awareness things will be different one day. I certainly had no idea about CHDs or any of this stuff until we had to face it with Noemie and would bet that the majority of people are the same way unless forced into the situation. Time for more people to be aware I think!

What a good sleeper!

Been a busy few days so the old blog got a bit neglected! This photo was taken about 10 minutes ago before Kirk and Noemie went out for an afternoon walk together. He had gone upstairs to change her diaper after an incident and I was wondering what was taking them so long. Well, turns out he was getting her dressed to go out. The dress is part of a gift from Paula Sealey though Kirk didn't realise there was a matching t-shirt. Noemie seems to like dresses which is a good thing as we have a few in her closet that she needs to wear in the next few months.

On Thursday we went out for a walk with two next door neighbors who have a kid each. One is a 6 month old boy and the other is an 8 month old girl. We walked to the baby shop and then went to Starbucks where my little superstar not only calmly sat in her stroller and looked around but she eventually fell asleep!!! Yes, this means I got to not only order and pay for a frappucino (granted there was no line to stand in) but I also got to sit down AT Starbucks and consume the entire thing! The little boy sat in his stroller and was pretty mellow but the little girl was a bit active and was pretending to be a mop from the way she was all over the floor. I'm sure Noemie will get to the stage where she is that active but I don't think I could deal with her crawling all over the floor of a public coffee shop and then have her put her hands in her mouth. I'm all for building her immune system but not so hot on the idea of her in essence licking the floor. We all had a nice time though and Noemie was totally relaxed long after we got home and napped really well! Friday was pretty much a washout with a ton of rain so we just played around the house.

The past two nights she has taken to sleeping through the night (9 hours!!!) which means 3 times this week she has let us get some good unbroken sleep. The good thing is she also goes back to sleep for an hour or two after she has the early morning bottle at around 6am. Hopefully it's not just a lucky week and she'll continue to be a good sleeper but in any case we've enjoyed the extra sleep. I have my friend Tamsin coming over tomorrow to meet Noemie and then my folks are coming for lunch on Tuesday. Hopefully the weather is good at least part of the day as Noemie seems to be a happy baby when we go out for a walk. Just need to get the seat set up on the Bugaboo so she isn't constantly in her carseat!

Our little darling

Have I mentioned how sweet Noemie has been this week? Oh yeah, I said that on Monday and am pleased to report she's continued to be super sweet. We had a good day yesterday where she had lots of fun play time and I knitted while hanging out in her room with her. I looked up and she was talking to herself and touching the baby in the mirror on her play gym so I grabbed the camera and laid down on the floor and snapped away. It was so cute, she was babbling and would touch and go all quiet then burst into laughter and did it over and over. Later in the day she was settling for a nap and I was as always, sitting in the nursing chair and it was quiet so I looked up to see if she was asleep and instead, found her staring at me. I am sure she wonders what Mommy is doing all the time with the two wooden sticks and colorful string.

Last night she actually slept through the night from 11pm-6am. We both woke up this morning and were stunned and had she not been squirming around in her cot at the foot of our bed we would've probably jumped up and started poking her. At least she hadn't squirmed herself diagonal as she usually does. One morning she had an indent on her forehead from where she had pressed her face against the cot railings. She woke up at 10pm last night for a bottle of milk so that's probably what did the trick and then rather than leave her in her room until the 2/3am feed as we usually do, we settled her in our bedroom so wonder if that made a difference as well. Hopefully tonight she'll wake again before we go to bed to have another bottle.

I took her to the health center this morning to get her weighed and am pleased to report she gained 260 grams in the past 9 days, making her 4.86kg or 10lbs 10oz. Next weigh in will be on August 1 at the Brompton when we go for a heart scan. She's doing really well on the formula and it hasn't constipated her like the other brand did... but much to my chagrin she didn't manage to save the explosion for Daddy as she has done the past 3 times. I'm just glad she's ok on the formula so far so if it continues to go well we will increase her to 2oz next week and then make up the difference in breastmilk. I've managed to freeze about 1/2 a liter in the past 3 days as well so that's cool.

She's down for a nap at the moment so I'm going to get a few things done before it's feed time and play time again.

Happy Baby

Noemie was in the best mood today, all giggly and just cheerful. We had a really great day starting at 5:45am! She had some milk and fell asleep again until 7:15 so it gave me time to shower, express, eat and sterilise before I woke Kirk up to get ready for work. She napped well all day, ate well at 3 hourly intervals rather than 2 hourly and played on her own quite a bit. She will cry if I leave the room during play time for more than 5 minutes but if I sit on the chair and knit she is happy to play on her own. As she napped so well I got tons done today. Vacuumed both bedrooms, decluttered the bookshelf, put away the moses basket and reclaimed the space next to my side of the bed, 2 loads of laundry, about an hour or more of knitting and I even got to eat lunch and a few snacks. It was a dream day so I hope tomorrow isn't going to be a nightmare. She went down easy tonight as well so hope she only wakes once tonight. I started her on a different formula today, only 1oz added to her 4oz bottle but she did really well and drank everything. In the past with different formula she would always leave about 1oz out of her usual size bottle which she would otherwise finish if it was only breastmilk. Hopefully she likes this formula so I can increase the mix and can start freezing some more breastmilk and stop expressing in the next month or so. Ironically, I felt a bit bad giving her formula today despite the fact she was meant to have 100% formula to begin with. It must be ok though as she has had breastmilk for 14 weeks now!

I have an hour of "me" time so am going to go do something like scrap...or knit!

The Couch Slide

We bought this outfit while Noemie was in her heart surgery thinking she could wear it home. Well, it was miserable and cold the day we came home so we tried it on her yesterday and good job as it's nearly too small for her! She has suddenly grown and most 0-3 months stuff seems to be too small. We put her on the couch to take a photo and while waiting for her to look up she slowly started sliding sideways which made for even better photos! She has this thing about licking stuff, especially fabric, so she is licking the couch. Usually it's my shirt when I'm holding her so this makes a change.

Happier Photos

I hung Noemie's cardigan (not one I made) on her doorknob and Kirk saw it and said "that would make a cute photo". I think it turned out well, maybe I'll use it for the photo in the album cover of her first scrapbook that is already full! Yesterday we propped her up on the couch and other than sliding down onto her back a few times from wriggling too much, she seemed to like it. Then the last picture was after Kirk and I played dress up with Noemie and made her try on a few outfits that I had knitted for her. I found this cardigan in my knitting bag, finished other than assembly and it looked like it might nearly fit her so I quickly finished it off yesterday. It's still a bit big but in a few weeks it will make a good summer cardigan as it is cotton.

Had a good last few days with her as she seems to be settling down and driving me less crazy. We went out for about 4 hours on Friday and went to the baby shop on New Kings Road and I got her a cute pink cotton romper to wear later this Summer/early Fall. Afterwards, I stopped by our neighbor's house as they have a 6 month old son and we chatted for about an hour and then I came home. The weekend has been great as Kirk is home so he's been taking care of Noemie a lot and I've had a bit of a break. I can almost face this coming week now that I've had a break so hopefully it just gets easier with time. Yesterday when we had her on the floor she was raising both legs up towards her chest and managed to roll nearly on her side a few times. I grabbed the camera in case she rolled over but she hasn't yet. I'll have to keep the camera nearby to capture the first roll over. She has been an excellent sleeper, only got up once on Friday night at 3am and slept until 7am after that. Last night wasn't bad either with a 2:30 wake up and then up again at 6 this morning for a bottle and then she passed out again for an hour. She is such a happy baby and when you go to her in the morning she is just feel of smiles and giggles. She's been laughing out loud for a while now and it's the cutest thing to see. Also is doing really well settling herself for naps and even when she wakes up she will often just lay in her cot and look around and entertain herself. Not too bad for a 3 month old baby huh?

I'm going to Peter Jones shortly as I want to get some cotton yarn to make her some building blocks. I saw some in a book and they looked so easy to make so I figure it will be a nice mindless thing to do during the week.

Surgery Photos

OK, I've decided to share these as they are a part of Noemie's life. The first one is a bit gruesome I guess for lack of a better word. It was taken the morning after her surgery when she was still hooked up to everything. I wanted to have this photo so that each day when they took out another tube or needle, we would be able to see the progress. The hardest thing for me was not all the tubes and stuff but the fact that her face was so swollen, especially her eyes so even when she tried to open them, she couldn't. The next photo was taken 4 days post op when the swelling on her face had gone down, and just about everything had been removed except the feeding tube, cannula in her hand and then just the monitoring wires. Major improvement huh? The third photo was taken on July 8th, so 17 days post surgery and her scar is already looking much better and healing nicely, just a few scabs to go. The last photo was taken this morning and the scar, though of course still there, is healed. Today is 24 days post op. Amazing how she has done in less than 4 weeks since major surgery huh? We can carry her chest to chest and she doesn't seem to feel any discomfort so hopefully she can have tummy time soon. We have a follow up appointment for an echo in 2-1/2 weeks time so hopefully all is well :)