Harper: Three Months Old

Last month, I said that time was passing by too quickly and I still feel the same way. I can't believe Harper is three months old. This past month was full of so many milestones and I'm just in awe of how she's growing and developing.

I go through phases of thinking she looks huge some days and tiny on others. She is definitely chunking up nicely and this mamma sure is happy about that after all of the weight gain issues she had in the beginning.

I also returned to work last week so that has been an adjustment.  As I mentioned in a previous post, my husband took two weeks vacation to stay home with Harper before she starts daycare.  I think it will be more difficult once she actually starts daycare because I will be doing most of the pickups and drop-offs since daycare is on my way to work, so that will be a whole new routine to get settled into.  Harper starts daycare next week so I'm hoping she loves it and thrives there. 

Right now, I'm just slowly getting back into working.  My first week back wasn't bad at all, in fact, it went much better than expected. I worked a four day week and my bosses have been incredible very understanding, easing us back into our jobs.  I like to be busy at work though, it makes the day go by faster.

It also helps that I'm able to pump at work and have access to a hospital-grade pump a few offices down from where my desk is.  Not having to lug that pump back and forth has been a blessing because it's one less thing to think about when I leave the house.

Here are Harper's three month updates and photos:

Weight: I'm guessing she weighs somewhere around 13-13.5 lbs. She is really filling out those adorable cheeks and she has the chunkiest baby legs. I just love them!

Health: Harper has been healthy, we feel really blessed. I'm sure next month will bring challenges since babies tend to get sick for the first time at daycare.

Sleep:  Harper still sleeps a lot, but her naps are starting to get shorter during the day---though some days they're a little longer if she's really tired. During the day, she has naps between most feeds so we feed her and then we play, usually on her activity mat and then she will get tired and nap for an hour or two.  

At night, she sleeps an average of 7-8.5 hours without interruption. It depends. She was sleeping better when she had her last bottle at around 10 p.m. but then everyone was telling us we needed to start her bedtime earlier so we're trying to get her down earlier and we noticed she doesn't seem to sleep as long.  We usually give her expressed breast milk before bed so it may be that she's digesting it more quickly than formula and is hungrier sooner. Someone told me that she should be sleeping 10-12 hours at this age but that seems long for three month old who gets breast milk---feel free to share your experiences in the comments!

One of my favorites from the set...

 I call this her "WTF mommy" face. LOL.

Social: Since she's been vaccinated, we've enjoyed taking Harper out to run errands and to eat at some of our favorite spots. We are also setting up baby playdates and she will get to meet my friend's twins---our babies are just 10 days apart! Harper's daycare class is six boys and one other girl so I'm sure she will meet some friends there as well.  Fall will be more fun because we can take her to outdoor places and won't have to worry about the blazing heat. I am just about dying of excitement at the thought of taking her to a pumpkin patch. I may pass out from the cuteness of that moment. 

Diet: Harper is getting 90% expressed breast milk. We supplement with formula as needed, but most of the time it's breast milk and more often than not, we're at 100% breast milk. We typically only feed formula either right before bed as a last feed or if she wakes in the middle of the night, which is rare.  I'm pumping about 36 ounces a day, on average. Harper wants to eat all.the.time. She used to get 4 oz every 2 hours and now we feed her 5 ounces every 2.5 hours. She makes it 3 hours once in awhile, but usually around 2.5 hours she is a hungry little bear. This girl likes to eat (she gets that from me!)

Clothes: We skipped right past the newborn sized clothing and pretty much did 0-3 from the very start. She's also fitting into 3 and some 3-6 month clothing. It really depends on the brand. She has fit into a few 6 month items from Target but the Crico brand tends to run small.

Baby Gear Love: I'll have her three month favorites post up very soon.

Crying: Harper cries if she's hungry or if she's overly tired and fighting sleep. She doesn't cry a lot but when she does it's heartbreaking. The other night, Kevin and I were eating dinner and Harper was finally starting to drift into nap after being really fussy for quite awhile and Kevin dropped his fork on the floor and it was so loud it woke her up and she was screaming/shrieking/crying and totally inconsolable.  It was so upsetting that when I picked her up, I started to cry too. Poor Harps was so tired. I definitely gave my husband the death stare, even though it wasn't his fault. Welcome to parenthood, y'all. Emotions run rampant. 

Likes: Harper likes tummy time, her swing, her Lamaze toys and naps. She likes to smile and loves her O-Ball and her Pottery Barn Kids bunny lovie. She loves sleeping on my chest and likes to be held while we walk around so she can look at the world around her. Harper also loves bath time. Sometimes she starts to cry a little when we are getting her out of her clothes and diaper at night because she knows it's coming and she just wants to get IN that bathtub. LOL.

Postpartum: My OB released me a couple of weeks ago and told me I could start to work out again so that was a great milestone in my recovery.  My recovery was delayed for an additional six weeks because of my D&C surgery but I'm feeling good now and I'm just so thankful that I'm healthy.  

Now if only I could find the time and energy to actually work out. I miss having muscles and feeling strong.  I've lost most of my pregnancy weight, save a few pounds, but my body definitely isn't the same as before (and it shouldn't be, seeing as I grew an 8 pound baby and didn't work out for an entire year).  I'm in no rush to get into any kind of crazy workout routine, but I would be lying if I said I was perfectly happy with my body. I think anytime I don't work out I start to feel weak and have less energy and I miss being toned. Since my pre-pregnancy clothes fit me, there hasn't been a lot of motivation on my end to really get into any kind of fitness routine. I also worry about how exercise would impact my milk supply.  I eat constantly and I'm hungry constantly.  I still wake up at about 4 a.m. to pump because that's when I get my highest output.  I go back to sleep after that and wake up so ravenous that I'm nauseous and I have to eat a granola bar before even showering in the morning...so I don't see any kind of diet or super intense fitness routine happening anytime soon. I feel like my body needs all of my energy to make milk right now so that's my priority.

Emotion-wise, I'm all over the place. Some days I feel like I'm doing great and other days I'm so tired that I just want to cry and go to sleep for 12 hours. Even though I get decent stretches of sleep, I feel an extreme lack of energy. I'm also seeing a physiotherapist this week because I messed up my neck from hunching over so much when I pump. More on that another day...

Milestones: Month three has been full of exciting developments. Harper can hold her head up so well now especially during tummy time.  She can also roll over from her tummy to her back (she started this at about 2.5 months) and she has rolled over a few times from her back to her tummy as well, but only on the softer surface of our bed during snuggle time (supervised, of course).  She also babbles a lot now and makes all kinds of fun noises and little shrieks. It's adorable.  She's swatting at and grabbing her toys and she also puts her hands in her mouth constantly...wait until she discovers her feet, ha! Watching her learn so much has been so incredible. I'm looking forward to all of the things she will learn at daycare and the socialization she will get with other babies too!  See Harper rockin' tummy time in this video.

 

 Her "mamma I'm horrified" face...

Thanks for reading and wishing you a great week! :)