Nia Smiles
I took these this morning, right after she woke up. She's checking out her mobile & the skylight.
7 Weeks: 2 Feet Long!
Nia is in her 7th week now... Wow, over 45 days old already! She's been growing like crazy. I measured her this morning and she's grown 4" since her birth! It's no surprise, really, as she's already in the 3-month clothes and her feet are hitting the bottoms of her footy pajamas. Maybe she's going to be a tall one. Most people say she looks like her Uncle Dale when they first meet her, maybe she plans on being over 6' like him, too!
In addition to growing inches, she also grew some eyebrows. Upon seeing her after being in Tahoe for a week, Phil said she looks more like a little kid now. Our midwife said the same thing. She said, "I hope you won't be offended by this, but she's lost the newborn look." We're not offended. :)
She a master at holding her head up now. She's always impressed us with her crazy neck strength since birth but now it is really here. She holds her head high and checks out everything -- faces, windows, lights, trees.
She's got lots of smiles now, too. In the last couple of days, most of her smiles have been for her second cousin, Tiger -- she adores him and is always watching him, especially when he's talking. Tiger is visiting for a week from northern CA. She also smiles each morning at the crane mobile we have above our bed. She loves watching the paper cranes move around, especially when Joe blows on them.
With all these physical and developmental changes have come some challenges for Joe and I, too. Week 6 and into week 7 were hard ones for us as she became more sensitive than she had been before. Our girl who never cried was suddenly showing us a very short fuse. It was really hard not knowing how to comfort her when she got so worked up. But we're figuring it out now, I think. We've got her fussing boiled down to mainly two things: She fights going to sleep during the day and so she cries as she gets more and more tired. Secondly, I think she was having some pretty bad gas bubbles in her belly. So we have tried to adapt our parenting to fit these things. I'm trying to eliminate eggs, cheese, milk, gas-causing veggies, and wheat from my diet for awhile to see if that has any effect on her. And we are trying to pay closer attention to her patterns during the day and create an environment that is conducive for sleep and not too stimulating around when we expect her to start getting sleepy. She's needing sleep for all this growing! Right now her daytime pattern is nap for 1 hour, then awake (nursing, diaper change, playing, quieting down again) for 2 hours.
Everyone wants to know how breastfeeding and night sleeping are going. Both are going really well. During week 6 Nia and I mastered nursing in bed (lying side by side) and it has become our favorite place to nurse, both at night and during the day. At night she sleeps great. She usually sleeps one long stretch for 4 to 5 hours starting anywhere from 8:30 to midnight (though usually between 9 and 10 lately). Then she'll nurse and go back to sleep for approximately another 3 hours. Then she might sleep another 2 hours again after nursing. This has been working out pretty well for me. Sometimes if it seems like she is going to stay up past 11, I'll go to bed and Joe will put her down when she falls asleep. This might happen more after I have to get back into my work routine.
So, all is well. Nia is growing in all kinds of different ways and Joe and I are trying to keep up and adapt as she does. ("Don't let her see you sweat," Phil said.) This morning I read a really great passage in The Parent's Tao Te Ching that I've been carrying with me all day:
Don't make parenting harder than it needs to be.
It only requires focus.
Worry is not focus.
Attempting to control is not focus.
Distracting is not focus.
Relaxed, non-fretful attention
to what is in front of you
right now
is focus.
What is in front of you right now?
Only my sweet, innocent, delightful, delicious Nia.
Big Insurance Surprise
Today we got a reimbursement check from Blue Shield for a portion of our home birth costs! They ended up covering about $1500 of the $4000 birth. This was a very pleasant surprise as I didn't expect them to cover any of the prenatal/birth costs. So, anyone out there thinking of having a home birth but don't think insurance will contribute -- go ahead and submit your bills!
Almost 6 Weeks Old!
This week -- Nia's 5th "on the outside" -- was a big one: She had her second bath (this time in our big bathtub -- I hopped in, too), she and I took our first solo car ride together to a La Leche League meeting, she started smiling at us while awake, we met baby Naomi who lives a few doors down and was also born at home just 2 days after Nia, Joe went to work and band practice on Thursday so we had our first home-alone day (though Phil and Pam were right up stairs and we spent 4 or 5 hours hanging out with them in the evening), and we ate dinner at Vivi's house -- Nia's first out-of-the-home dinner party.
1 Month Old!
Tomorrow Nia will be 1 month old. I can't believe it has already been 30 days since she was born! Our sweetie has been growing and changing right before our eyes. Here are some photos from the last week or so...
I've recently uploaded all my favorite Nia photos to my SmugMug site for easy group viewing. This is also a great place to order prints from for your fridge, your office, what have you. Maybe you want Nia coasters for your coffee table, or a Nia apron for BBQing. :)
Bathing in the Sink
Yesterday we took advantage of the warm weather to give Nia her first real bath. She had one prior to this -- she and I were in the tub together in about 6 inches of water, but really she just nursed and got a very brief sponge bath, which she didn't care for (in retrospect, she probably didn't like it because she got cold -- doh!).
Going for a Walk
The last couple of days, Nia, Pam & I have gone on hour-long walks near home -- in the Gulch and through the harbor. It has felt so good to be out in the sun! But Nia's not a fan of sun on her face... yet.
17 Days Old Now
Wow, I can't believe Nia is already two and a half weeks old! She's doing absolutely fantastically. This last week her cord stump finally fell off and now she has the cutest "outtie" belly button. At first it was really poking out but now it is more normal looking. Nursing is going well -- she's a big milk enthusiast now! And she's legal now. Yesterday we took our biggest outing yet and drove down to Watsonville to get her a birth certificate from the county health and human services offices. She's officially "Nia Beju" now. We debated making Nia a nickname and giving her a more formal first name and possibly a second middle name, but at the last second (literally!) we decided to keep her name short and sweet but we'll write down the other names for her to know. They are like her secret names. What else happened this week? We've had many wonderful visitors and many wonderful meals brought to us. We are so grateful for the food tree! To not have to worry about making dinner has been huge! Thanks to Pam, too, for the cooking she's done for us. This postpartum period has been a time spent in a true "baby bubble." Oh, one last thing to report: Last week we buried Nia's placenta in the front yard, under the fig tree. It is a shame that placentas get thrown out in the medical waste so often. Other cultures believe the placenta is the physical form of the baby's guardian angel. I'm so glad we'll be able to tell Nia where her's is.
A Family Picture
I'll try to get some more pictures of Nia and I taken and posted!
