Sunday, April 11, 2010

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I had every intention of doing an awesome newborn photo shoot with Daisy long before she was born. Since she has been born I have struggled to remember to even comb my hair let alone pull out a camera to capture cute memories. Shame on me eh. I'm bummed because I know I have passed the time frame that photographers generally do newborn photo shoots but, if I have a good energy day maybe I will still go for it...or I should say, if Daisy has a good day of solid sleep then maybe I will go for it:). These are my favorite pictures that I snapped over Daisy's first week home with us. I'm still trying to get a picture that shows how dark and gray her eyes are. We are really curious what color her eyes will end up being but, we are guessing either hazel like mine or brown like Joey. We shall see:). Joey's sister kindly snapped a few pictures of the 3 of us while she visited this week. Daisy fussed the entire time and I would have posted the rest of the series of pictures to crack you up but, that would have been a lot of pictures:).


Daisy went close to 3 nights without sleeping this week and as a result I had my first day of, "mom's are entitled to at least 3 million unexplained breakdowns" yesterday. My goal all day yesterday was to nap when Daisy napped but, she never napped more than 20 minutes and as soon as my head hit the pillow or the floor:) she was crying (loud) and my window of opportunity was gone. Daisy has been so fussy the past week or so and generally it is because she is hungry again and again and AGAIN. She LOVES to eat and has a huge appetite. Right now she is drinking a bottle that has the amount of milk that is suggested for most one month olds and I wouldn't be surprised if she wants more when it's gone. I'm going to have a cute chunky baby on my hands here pretty soon! lol. Anyways, her fussiness is also making sleep an impossibility at night and Friday night was horrible. I have tried so many different things that people have suggested but, nothing is working with Daisy. She fights sleep tooth and nail and then when she gets past her exhaustion point it seems she cannot return from that cranky place. So, last night I decided to try out a swaddling blanket that even has a couple velcro pieces to keep the baby from squirming out. Sounds awful but, I do think babies enjoy the security of being swaddled after months of being in the close quarters of the womb. I have loosely swaddled Daisy up to this point but, she never seemed to like having her arms pinned down and would scream in anger at me to release her. That being said I was quite nervous about trying out the baby straight jacket last night. Much to my surprise around 8:20 last night Daisy conked out in my arms while I was eating sushi...(yes, my first sushi dinner in almost 10 months!!!!) takeout. I seized the opportunity to swaddle her while she was TKO'd and she slept her first solid 4 hours in her bed without needing to be fed, adjusted, recovered, comforted etc. I slept while she slept and it was HEAVENLY!!! I fed her each time she woke up and then re-swaddled her which she didn't like when she was awake but, it does seem that we will get more solid sleep and so will Daisy when she is more securely swaddled. I will keep you posted on that.

8 comments:

  1. These pictures are awesome! Daisy is SO adorable!!! I can't wait to see her when I get back to NC!

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  2. smart woman to swaddle when she is asleep! You know us and the "burrito"...big fans! Always trial and error and just figuring out what works! So glad you guys had sushi! HA! The pictures are so gorgeous and I can see you in some pictures and Joe in another...she looks so soft and so peaceful! The one with the hands up is priceless! Beautiful little girl!

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  3. Casey, Jacob also acts like he dosen't like getting in the predone swaddles, but it is the best thing. Jacob is now sleeping close to 7 hours at night (not always). During the day when I put him down for naps I don't swaddle him and he only goes down for about 20 min max because he moves and wakes himself up. The swaddle is the best!! -Steph, Adam and Jacob

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  4. I'm a huge burrito fan. In fact, it was hard to break Brayden of the burrito and I finally had to around 10 months (wouldnt suggest doing it that long) but for us it was the KEY to get Brayden to sleep hard and long. They really do love that womb-ness. REALLY praying for you. The sleep loss, and complete loss of any care about my looks at all was me for at least the first 8-12 weeks!

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  5. I LOVE these pictures!!! She is so stinkin cute!! I definitely see both you and Joey in Daisy. I love her little bracelet too. As for the sleeping, I know that they say you shouldn't put babies on their tummy, but that's what worked for both my girls. Claire and Emily both love to suck their hands and when they are on their backs, it's hard for them to do that (well not for Claire anymore, but for Emily :-) ) Emily also hated to be swaddled because she wanted her hands near her mouth. I tried everything and one day just said, "I need my sleep. you're going on your tummy." and since then that's the only way she will sleep. That's just my two cents. :-) As for the feeding, just keep feeding her. I know it's exhausting and frustrating especially since you have a million other things you want/need to get done, but it is so important to feed in this first month so that you have enough milk...also, they nurse a lot when they have growth spurts...which is like every other day at this age. :-) There, that was another two cents...at the rate I'm going, you won't need to go back to work. :-)

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  6. Those pictures are sooo great! I would call that a professional photo shoot! You have a great camera and a perfect little model! When her eyes are open I see more of Casey. She is just so precious! And you could never post too many pics, so no worries:)! I hope she gets the sleep thing down soon! It is SOOO hard to not sleep! SO HARD! I know. I feel for you! Is Joey back to work? Is your mom or mother in law there to help you? Hang in there! Good thing she is the cutest thing ever!!

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  7. Yay for sleep and sushi!!!! Love these pictures too - I love that she's covering her ears up in so many of the pictures...cute!! Praying for the three of you and more good nights of sleep!

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  8. ....My favorite picture is the black and white one. I know it doesn't show Daisy's face, but I just looked at it and...loved it. haha. I love you guys so much.

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