Eating

Norah has decided that nursing is just not for her. As in, she'll eat for 5 minutes and then yell and scream for another 15 until I give up. But then, she'll take a bottle right after because she's still hungry. I have no idea what brought this on, and I have never heard of this happening before (although I'm not exactly a baby expert). The doctor didn't really have any solid idea of what was going on either. Silly Norah. You are way too young for an eating disorder.

So, we are now on a (mostly) bottle-fed routine (she'll still nurse for nighttime feedings when she's too tired to really know the difference). It's not too bad, but I am pumping and pumping is more than a little annoying. My sister recently moved to pumping for her little boy, and I really admire her because she has two other crazies (her word, not mine) calling her mommy, too. It takes so much time, and I find it hard to sit still for 15-30 minutes four times a day. Plus, I usually try to do it while Norah is asleep, so that eats my precious free time. And I don't have any other kids!

Oh well. It's a decent solution to our weird little problem. Norah is eating better, and I'm a lot let less frustrated (as in I don't cry when it's time to feed Norah anymore). Plus, bottles are great when you have places to go, like church. And Rich can feed her, too. It's worth the effort. Just don't know why it's necessary.

I have this list of questions I want to ask in the next life, and this one made the list: "Heavenly Father, why did Norah decide to stop nursing? Not mad or anything, just curious."

And here's a Norah fix for the grandmas out there. She's so dang cute when she's waking up. Okay, she's so dang cute all the time.

Getting Back

I officially weigh less than Rich now. (Rich is a skinny guy, so that's kind of saying something.) This has been my goal since pregnant me passed him up. And it has arrived. Hallelujah!

Getting back in shape after pregnancy is definitely a challenge. I have never been awesome about sticking to a workout routine, just kind of running when I got on an active kick. But I knew once I had a baby, things would need to change if I was ever going to lose my bump.

The one problem with me getting back in shape is shin splints. I want to run. It's the easiest, cheapest, most convenient way I can think of to exercise. Plus, few things can compare to that feeling of a great run, where you just want to go forever and you feel like you can. However, I have always been plagued by awful shin splints, probably because my legs can't keep up with the endurance of the rest of my body. I push myself too hard too fast, and then my legs pay for it until I stop running again. Shin splints are lame.

I took my pregnancy as a time to let my legs completely heal, no lingering pain. And then I have been forcing myself to take it easy once I started running again. It's been hard because I know the rest of my body can go longer and harder than my legs, but then I remind myself how much I hate shin splints, and I'm able to calm myself back down.

I found a running program on Pinterest that's been a big help to me. The creator called it "Running for Beginniners," and, though I hate thinking of myself as a running beginner, I knew I needed to start at the very bottom if I was going to conquer shin splints.

You can find the original source here.

I know - it's extremely basic and is definitely for beginners. But, so far, it's working for me. I have stuck to this like no other exercise plan before (I'm currently on week 7 - go me!). I go 4 times a week, sometimes pushing Norah in the jogging stroller, sometimes on my own (preferred - that jogging stroller is kind of a beast). I try to take a day off after two days in a row, or else I feel my shins start to complain. I also use Nike + iPod to make goals and record my runs, and this has helped me stay accountable. I don't want Nike+ telling me I failed. No way.

I'm still not even close to being "in shape," but this plan (and the calories I use up to nurse) are going to help me get there. I look forward to the day when I can run like I used to. That's going to feel really good.

4 Months Old

Just a short update on little Norah Kate, who is currently trying to kick her way off of my lap, so this will be quick.

We went to the doctor on Thursday for her 4-month checkup, and here are the stats:

Height: 25 1/2" (90th percentile)
Weight: 13 lbs. (30th percentile)
Head circumference: 16 1/4" (75th percentile)

Long and skinny is how she likes it.

Her 30th percentile showing definitely has something to do with the fact that she still hates eating. But I asked the doctor about her situation, and he told me she's perfectly fine. She hasn't dropped too far in percentiles since her 2-month appointment, so he said there's nothing to worry about. I stressed the fact that she won't eat very much, and he reassured me that she's fine. She's just a skinny girl.

I'm still going to try to remedy her non-eating attitude, though. I've been trying to pump and bottlefeed the past few days, and she seems to respond much better to a bottle. I'm pretty sure she eats double what she does nursing if I do a bottle instead. We'll see if we can keep this up.

She's kind of a crummy sleeper again, too. I think it might have something to do with her not getting enough to eat during the day, so she wakes up hungry several times at night. Hopefully, bottlefeeding will help. But if not, at least she can go back to sleep right away still. (I just wish I could say the say thing for myself.)

Norah has also rolled over several times, both ways. She is also kind of figuring the beginning of crawling. She knows how to move her legs, but she can't quite get both her top and bottom ends up at the same time. Is it wrong that I think it's cute to watch how frustrated she gets in this situation? Because it's adorable.

So that's Norah for now. Skinny. And active. Nothing too new for now.

All of a Sudden

I don't know what has changed between now and a week ago, but Norah has become one fantastic sleeper.

Well, I kind of know what has changed. The biggest sized SwaddleMe saved my life and has brought us back to one feeding during the night (and even none sometimes). This baby just needs to be swaddled, or else she startles herself awake too easily. About half the time she is able to work one of her hands up towards her mouth, but it's still swaddled in tightly so it's not a big deal.

But even more amazing is how quickly and well she falls asleep on her own now. We used to have to hold her for about half an hour any time we wanted to put her in her crib. Not anymore! She goes straight into her crib, drowsy but awake, and falls asleep ON HER OWN. I never thought that we would reach this point, but, alas, it gloriously has arrived! She fusses sometimes, but we've never had a fullout cry-it-out session. She has also started taking two great naps most days, too, without much fuss. It's wonderful!

I don't know if the Baby Whisperer's method was the solution. It might have helped, but I wasn't exactly following it religiously. Whatever brought the change, this momma is beyond grateful!

Here's something I have learned about Norah. She will only sleep if you make it quite obvious that is her only option. She never dozes in her bouncy seat. She rarely falls asleep in your arms. She'll fall asleep in the car but wakes up almost as soon as you stop moving. I don't think she'll be one of those kids who falls asleep while eating. (She'll probably be that kid that needs that gets progressively more grumpy until she reaches meltdown point.)

And here are a couple cute pictures for anyone who needs a Norah fix (maybe that's just me).

 

I believe these were taken right before a diaper blowout. And she looks so innocent.

Can you tell she was getting way too big for this SwaddleMe? In the end, it just couldn't contain her.