Gibbens Family: In the Swing of Things

So much has improved over the past week in our new life with our baby girl! Don't get me wrong, it is still extremely challenging, but almost manageable. I'm still amazed at how I have absolutely no time for anything. But I am really enjoying focusing all of my attention on getting to know this wonderful little person.

Breastfeeding is going much better, even though I found out on Thursday that I have mastitis (infection in the breast tissue) that's been there for about two weeks. Antibiotics have worked wonders for not only our breastfeeding relationship, but also for my ability to function. I thought I was just recovering from the birth and suffering from exhaustion, despite the fact that she was sleeping fairly well. But on Friday morning after only one dose of antibiotics, I felt like a new person and realized that I was likely sick, not jst adjusting. I had energy, my two-week long headache was gone, and Grace's screaming when I tried to feed her suddenly got a little better (turns out, the milk was affected and it was a really gross texture for her, although it wouldn't hurt her. She was miserable when eating and I didn't know why).

Yesterday, at 3 1/2 weeks, she had her first bottle. Yeah, that's the age that is recommended to introduce the bottle if all is going well. While things still have room to improve, I thought she could handle switching between the two because she is latching well and most of the issues are on my side of the equation. We are offering a bottle just once a day, a few times a week to get her used to it in case I'm not around for a feeding or two and of course for when I return to work. I was right, she did so well and Ryan enjoyed being able to feed her.

We've been slowly working toward independent sleeping as well. She's been doing well in the middle of the night going back into her bassinett after each feeding, but the initial laying down was rough. She insisted that we walk her around the house and quietly lay her down once she was asleep. I finally realized that we were overstimulating her while trying to put her to sleep. So the slow and painful transition finally paid off! This evening, we completed the final piece of a routine we've been working on of a relaxing bath at 7:30pm (which we know she likes), then a bottle in the dark (which went well yesterday), a story and a song, and then straight to bed while she is still awake. To our surprise, she did not fuss and was asleep within 10 minutes (no rocking, no bouncing, no singing, no walking around for 30 minutes). Who knows how long it will last or if it will work again tomorrow, but she's been in bed for about an hour. In life with a new baby, that's a huge accomplishment...it means I get to sit down and post something on the blog and spend a little time with Ryan. Yay!

Gracie is starting to show us her personality too. She is so pleasant, patient and funny (making faces and listening intently when we sing, making sounds as if she's trying to sing along). She is also starting to react to our voices and make her own little sounds in general. She really is the sweetest little thing, very busily growing and learning. We are so blessed!

Here are some newer pictures of her....