Week 125 Motherhood – Baby’s Best Sleep, sleeping in bassinet, witching hour before bed, first stroller walk

Craved cupcakes, so the husband got me two boxes plus some muffins :9

Week 125 motherhood:

Feb 3: Yesterday, I finally finished reading up on the sleeping guide for babies thanks to my friend M on Baby’s Best Sleep. I don’t know how I put off on reading it for a few days knowing that it would help the baby sleep better by herself and allow us to have more free time.. procrastination? Either way, I implemented it right away for her first nap of the day. She slept for about 10 mins the first time before waking up. I used the Pick Up Put Down strategy again for a second time and she slept a tad longer this time, maybe around 15 to 20 minutes. I wasn’t timing it; I should have – to get an idea of how long she slept. Oh well.
I didn’t use the strategy for when she woke up the fourth time since I wanted her to get in some longer deeper sleep. I didn’t want her to be sleep deprived on behalf of the strategy. Plus, the guide taught us not to rush and to let the baby take time too.
It’s such a simple strategy and I hope it works. I know it should.
We used it again for nighttime while I took a nice long shower and she actually slept by herself for a good 50 to 70 minutes..
I felt a smidgen sad that we are “sleep training” her already. I actually don’t mind the contact naps much.. she’s this small only once and if she needs me for comfort, I don’t mind providing it to her 24/7. But at the same time, it would be nice to get away physically from her for a break too. I’m so glad and thankful that I have help at home and I have no obligations to rush back to work.
I can’t believe she’s 10lbs+ and getting taller by the day and heavier too.
She’s much more alert and focused now on people than before. Her wake hours definitely have been growing.
Love how she nurses so noisily sometimes or roots for the nipple. So many little guttural sounds. I’ll definitely miss this stage of her life. I’m also so glad she nurses so well and there’s been no latching problems.
The latch-on pain has disappeared completely even as of last week. Incredible how that happens and then is resolved by 6 weeks postpartum. Glad I didn’t have to invest in the silverettes either.
My head was clearer and I felt more rested so I had more time and focused attention on the toddler and I think she felt it too. She didn’t seem to act out as much and didn’t seem as lofty as before with as many absent-minded comments.
The other night, we had taco night and the toddler ate two taco shells and a tortilla skin by itself — no other toppings. Hey, whatever she wants to eat, I let her because otherwise she picks through the offerings and doesn’t end up ingesting much and I always get worried she’s not eating enough. DH said she’s slimmed down a little lately due to eating less.
She enjoys the Mommy Loves Me and Near and Far books again. She also likes us reading the Dr. Susess’s ABC book to her. She is practising how to turn loose-leaf pages of a book which is more difficult and delicate than a board book.
Whenever she sees me dozing off on the couch or downright sleeping, she is so sweet and hands me her stuffed dinosaur to hug and hold onto. That dino toy is really so soft and squishy too to hold.
When she saw that her younger sister had her eyes closed, she also gave the dino to her to hold onto. So sweet and observant!
I’m mostly all recovered from the cold I caught a few days ago. Hurray!! This was a mild cold strain and didn’t even give me a sore throat. Most colds do. 😁 (Although then it was DH’s turn to get the cold with some mild sniffles.)
When I look into the bassinet, I can basically see DH’s face in the baby’s face. It’s so wild.
The baby has a rounder head so doesn’t look like how her sister did as an infant as much anymore. The mannerisms like the post-sleep stretches and grunts are still the same though 😁.
We finished all the Chinese buns and pastries from TGTG so I asked DH to get me some chocolate cupcakes from their Walmart trip. It’s amazing how many varieties of cupcakes and muffins there are at the store. It always reminds me of the bewilderment like what the character in the Hatchet book felt like upon being rescued and visiting a grocery store again.
The toddler has been doing this since last week at least: we’ll be eating something and she’ll say “I want it too” (aw yau yui) followed right away with “What is it?” (mei lei ga?). She’ll want something without knowing what it is for the sake of it. It’s annoying if you treat her seriously every time but hilarious if you don’t. She does this allll the time at every snack and meal.
Haven’t been sleeping well enough for dreams or remembering what they are upon waking up. A dream I did remember just now is eating AYCE sushi in a converted sushi restaurant that I used to frequent, but each sushi roll was made with too much rice. Also dreamt I was breastfeeding in front of other people and fine with it.
Feb 7: So we’ve been loosely training the baby with the sleep method for the past few days and it’s working. She’s been sleeping on her own in the Fisher Price bassinet (we moved it right next to my side of the bed) and staying asleep for 2 to 4 hours at a time. I notice she can sleep for about 4 hours by herself for the first stretch, and then 3, and then 2 as morning breaks and the light shines in the room. This has meant I’ve been able to sleep in the bed finally too. Yay! I still sleep on my back because if I sleep on my side, I have pain in my pelvis when I get up (it subsides after I squat and bend around but I’d rather not experience it so I just force myself to stay asleep on my back. My preferred side of sleeping is on my right and I always fall asleep so quickly too.. oh well. Gotta let the pelvis keep healing). The pelvic pain continues to lessen but oh so slowly.
Discovered yesterday that she can nap by herself quite well when I place her on the play mat. During the day, we tried to put her down to nap in the pack and play or bassinet and she’d wake up. But she continued sleeping while on the floor! I guess it’s because it’s flat and solid and doesn’t move around when she moves?
I love her little squeals and elephant-sounding trumps and grunts still. The way she holds her hands up and grimaces and moves her head from left to right when being stirred from her slumber. It’s so precious.
She is getting chunkier and heavier. We don’t know the exact volume of milk that she intakes per feed but it must be a lot, probably more than 50ml each time. I collect usually 50 to 70ml on the haakaa if I put it back on mid-feed for more suction. Otherwise, if I let the suction go by itself, the haakaa collects 30ml.
The toddler has been drinking all my excess milk! She loves it so much and says my milk is sweeter than cow’s milk (mama gei lai teem gor ow lai).
When my right breast gets too full and the baby feeds on it, she cries and chokes on the flow and literally complains. She’ll suck and then not be able to swallow in time and then cry a thunderous wail. It’s obvious to anyone listening in that she is verbally complaining. The cry is very distinct. I love how we are able to read her so easily and understand her. She continues to cry “nai” when hungry too, so it’s clear that she wants to be fed when crying this way. Any other cry means it’s time for a diaper change or she’s fussy and tired and needs to sleep (but unable to fall asleep).
I switched to panty liners finally this week.
The toddler has stopped acting out. I think being fully rested, I was able to pay attention to her more (and the baby was cluster feeding less) so she felt the focused love and care. It is a big difference.
Been drinking water day and night (I bring 2 smaller thermos and 1 taller one of hot water by the rocking chair to drink throughout the night and finish it) but yet my stools aren’t easy nor daily anymore.. what gives. Now that the postpartum meals have stopped, I haven’t had daily soups and postpartum teas anymore — that could be why.
It was so amusing when the baby was lying on the play mat during dinnertime that the 2yo went down to lie beside her, kind of mirroring and copying her. And then I watched as she held her hand out to touch her hand and talk to her. It was really cute. It didn’t last long but it shows that she’s gentle and cautious with her younger sibling.
The 2 yo remains fixated on certain things like asking us where my bee pajamas are or where her dad’s bee sweater is, where the Christmas turtle ornament is, etc. She likes to ask the same questions and hear the same answers. If I answer differently or incorrectly, she tells me the correct original answer instead.
The 2yo has been sleeping through the night 6 times out of 7 again. So glad.
Also glad that when the baby wakes up at night for a feed that she doesn’t wake up the older sibling with her cries. The baby wakes up 3 times currently at night.
Resumed diary-writing the other night. Yay! So much to spill from my head and to keep my mental state fresh.
The baby continues to be a sleepy baby and sleep most of the day. She is soo easy to care for compared to the older one.
DH took the 2yo to the family new year celebration get-together on Sunday and said she was quite apprehensive of others and didn’t eat much. She wanted to play with her older boy cousin and kept looking to his table but couldn’t reach him. Because he had to hold her, DH barely ate as well.
When DH brought the 2yo to FMP to pick up my Too Good To Go goods, the 2 yo insisted on holding the two bags of stuff in either hands. She looked so funny like a see lai going on a grocery run. 😂😂
It’s nice when DH takes her to the park or run errands so I only have the baby to oversee. I was able to take photos of some unneeded items and post them on marketplace too. Hoping for more sales this year and less clutter at home.
I realized that last year, I was content with taking care of the singleton and taking on reporting work and blogging. This year while on “mat leave”, I’m very motivated again to declutter the house and post things on marketplace to sell. Unfortunately, FB marketplace seems so saturated now that I barely get regular consistent sales like I used to during the pandemic. But also, it could be that now the pandemic is slowly ending that less people are buying on marketplace too (for contactless purchases). I’ve noticed more Middle Eastern buyers than before.
I’m more hungry this time breastfeeding than last time. She really does intake more directly from the breast than an electric pump.
The toddler lets me trim her nails so easily now. No more struggles or negotiations like back in the day. She preferred me to trim them and not her dad. I wish she was this easy with her teeth brushing routine…
She’s been preferring me to do things for her more lately — probably because she wants the extra attention from me. She never used to say “mm bay baba, ha baba”. (Not letting dad. Bullying dad.)
When I’m sleeping on my back, my tummy is so squishy and soft. It never felt like this after the birth of the first child. I also have much more loose skin on my belly than before. I find it fun sometimes to roll it between my fingers for fun 😂. I guess my belly has shrank more this time so there’s more loose skin and/or that my pregnant belly was bigger this time around so there’s even more saggy skin now too.
We went out today as a family of 4 to go out on a 40-minute walk! It was apparently 6 degrees outside today so worth the outdoor venturing — also my first time outdoors on a walk since giving birth.
Feb 8: The baby finally pooped after 3.5 days!! It was a big mushy mustard yellow mess haha.
Many times after a feed and she is falling asleep or already asleep, I’m on my phone (surfing or checking TGTG or replying to messages) and she’ll randomly throw her hand up and knocks my phone. She’s strong enough to accidentally bat it away sometimes. It’s funny.
The 2 yo covers her nose and says something is “suen” (sour) when she means smelly. A couple times, she did this next to the baby and it was correct because the baby had had a bowel movement! Good strong nose.
She sleeps on her dinosaur stuffed animal at night like a pillow. She loves this animal.
She sleeps in the large sleep sack I got her a while back now. Finally. It took her a while but I’m glad because this one is so much warmer.
She’s been experiencing some kind of witching hour right before bedtime. Around 9:30 to 10pm, she gets really fussy and keeps asking for milk even after I’ve fed her like 30 minutes ago. She gets frustrated and roots continually for the nipple even though it is right there in front of her. Or she has been latched on for a while but then unlatches and keeps crying for milk. It’s kind of comical because you’ll see me trying to latch her and telling her the milk is right there. Meanwhile, she’s rooting and crying for milk. This goes on for a few minutes before either DH comes in and takes her for a rock and sway or I get the nipple close enough for her to suck and keep sucking. This whole dance repeats itself for 2 or 3 times before she finally passes out for good and then we transfer her to the bassinet after she’s in deep sleep. It’s just interesting that this started to happen this past week out of the blue.
When she’s in the bouncer, she likes to look at the black and white zebra animal. She’s even tried to take a swing at it a few times and has touched it. Not sure if this was intentional or not, but it’s an early milestone if so.
This little one sneezes so, so often all the time. Is she allergic to something in our house or in the air? 🤔