Remember how I said that going back to work was going to kick my butt? Well, it did. The lack of posting on this blog is one clear sign of it. Other signs include the condition of my home most days, the lack of reading and television I have been able to keep up with, and the lack of time I have had to talk to or hang out with friends. A working mom doesn't get to enjoy as many outside interests as others. This is my life right now, so I try not to mourn it. I try to make the most of it. There will be time for reading, watching, friending and blogging one day. I will steal a few minutes for these things when I can. For now, I have to spend most of my nights caring for Bridgette and Chris and, you guessed it, preparing for the next workday.
So, now I will attempt to remember back to almost two months ago to tell about Bridgette's fourth month! Her last doctor's appointment was her four month appointment on October 1. She was 24" long, 14 pounds and 1 oz. Her head was 40.75 cm. That's the 27th percentile for length and 65th percentile for weight according to her doctor.
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| Mom, why did you let them do that to me again? |
As you can see from the photo above, Bridgette did not enjoy her four month immunizations. She cried for a few minutes, but I was able to calm her down before we even got to the car. The rest of the day she was a little fussy, but after an infant dose of Tylenol, she seemed to handle it really well. They said she took a long nap at day care that day.
Later on that week, during Chris' fall break, Bridgette took her first airplane ride to Los Angeles, California to meet her great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a wonderful trip, but it was quick. We left on a Thursday very early in the morning. We got back on Sunday late in the evening. This allowed me to go while only taking two vacation days. I had pretty much wiped out all my vacation time being on maternity leave this summer. Chris and I hadn't been out to California to see his family since the first year we were married, so it had been well over four years. It was really good to get to see everyone again.
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| Bath in grandma's sink is a tradition! |
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| Guelito, Becky and Samantha checking B out! |
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| Guelita and her great-grandbaby |
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| Meeting Guelito |
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| Green Oranges |
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| Ruben with B! |
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| Samantha with B |
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| Happy to be in Cali! |
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| Tina and Olivia |
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| Chapped cheeks |
I was really nervous about taking a baby on an airplane. I was worried about her ears hurting and about what I would do if she were to start crying. We brought ear plugs for the other passengers just in case she screamed, but we didn't need them! She did great! She fussed a little bit on the flight on the way there for just a couple of minutes like she often does when she gets tired and fights a nap, but she quickly gave in and fell asleep. It was such a long flight that I did end up having to nurse her on each trip. It was a direct flight both ways, thank goodness! I was worried that people would stare at me or that I would make people uncomfortable, but I don't think anyone even noticed us. I had my nursing cover, and I don't think anyone even looked our direction the entire time. Luckily, no one else was in our row of three. I took the window seat so we would have the most privacy possible. By then, Bridgette had gotten so fast at eating that it was a relatively quick thing. On the flight back, it was completely dark. We were in the very back of the plane, so we had quite a bit of privacy except from people getting up to use the bathroom. On that flight, I actually had to wake her up to feed her because she hadn't eaten in four or five hours. I was worried over nothing because she was a really good baby on the airplane.
By four months, Bridgette was still on a pretty good schedule due to daycare, and she continued to improve her sleep through the night.
- She was still waking somewhere around 4 or 5 a.m. to nurse and go back down to sleep (Did I mention I was still really, really hoping she'd completely drop this feeding?)
- 6:30 a.m. nurse before we leave for work/day care
- 9:30 a.m. bottle at day care
- 12:30 p.m. I leave work to nurse at day care on my lunch break
- 3:30 p.m. bottle at day care
- Sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. nurse
- After 6:30 p.m. or 7:00 she would fall asleep for the evening until I would wake her up to nurse one more time and get her ready for bed
- Sometime between 8:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. nurse for the last time of the day
- 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. get ready for bed, read with Daddy, bed for the night!
Some special memories for the fourth month were:
- Meeting her great-grandparents, Guelito and Guelita and family in Cali!
- Riding on an airplane!
- Escaping out of her car seat at the great-grandparents while we were not watching her closely (We sat her in it to rest/nap, and she wiggled out. First, we were confused about why she was in the middle of the living room floor. Then, we were amazed at how she had gotten out by herself. We asked around to make sure no one had gotten her out and put her there. They hadn't. She was mobile! Yes, we are bad parents for leaving her unattended. We were technically still in the same room though. The house has an open floor plan!)
- Got really interested in her surroundings at this point including motion, noises, etc.
- Began to learn how to roll from back to belly
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| Sweet baby girl is growing so fast. |
