It’s been a dramatic week at our house, between Tommy and Derek getting the stomach flu and me trying to celebrate Susanna’s birthday alone and Elizabeth falling and re-chipping her front tooth Friday and Susie being too sick (mild flu?) to even talk to either set of grandparents who called to wish her a happy birthday. Needless to say, I didn’t get a lot of pictures of the birthday festivities or Janie’s one month milestone. Here’s one picture.
After three nights on the couch, I’m actually a little better than I was at, say, last night at midnight when Derek had a relapse and was so dehydrated I started thinking I was going to have to cart us all to the ER to get him on an IV. That didn’t happen. Instead, I took Janie in for her one month check-up today and got a lot of reassurance from her doctor (and a game plan if I come down with this horrific bug).
Janie’s belly button has healed, and in the past week, a couple of birth marks have developed on her tummy! Pictures when I get my act together.
Her cephalohematoma has gone down a bit and hardened, so no more squishy head. The middle went down more than the edges, so it sortof looks and feels like there’s a crater on her scalp. Dr Vallance said she probably will have that the rest of her life, so it’s a good thing she’s a girl. Hopefully she’ll follow in Susie’s footsteps and not Lizzie’s as far as hair growth is concerned–once she gets a bit more, I think it won’t be noticeable. And of course when I’m tempted to feel bad about it, I have to remember that it’s just a cosmetic concern, and we should be so grateful that she is essentially a happy, healthy baby.
She’s done a five hour stretch of sleep several times, though the past few nights have been rough. She’s mostly just slept in the swing or with me on the couch since Daddy got sick, so we’ll see how she does once we can move back in with Derek and sleep in beds.
She seems to have developed some neck strength and is happier during tummy time than she was at first.
Her stats were reassuring. We didn’t measure Susanna at one month, but Jane seems to be on a bigger trajectory.
Height: 21 3/4 inches (83%) (Lizzie was 20 7/8 inches; Tommy was 22 1/4 inches)
Weight: 9 lbs 7 ounces (53%) (Lizzie was 9 lbs 13 ounces; Tommy was 10 lbs)
Head circumference: 14 3/4 inches (85%)
The bad news is that she had a ton of mucus in her diapers this week and is developing eczema on her face…which Dr. Vallance agreed could be a sign of a dairy allergy/intolerance. I crave dairy like nothing else while nursing (it’s the only time I ever just drink glasses of milk, and I could eat ice cream multiple times a day). Even though I had to go dairy-free while nursing both the big kids, it’s not easy or fun. Super bummer.