4 Weeks Old

Now that Marissa is almost 5 weeks, I'm finally getting around to posting these pictures I took last week. I have a feeling I'm not going to be the most avid blogger anymore. Between a new baby, YW stuff and preparing myself for this home schooling adventure, I feel like I'm always helping someone, refereeing kid fights, cleaning something, nursing, feeding kids or reading. I'm excited to get into a schedule though. I think routine is going to be good for everyone in our family, which is why I decided to wait until the neighborhood kids were in school to "officially" start school. It's hard to have more of a routine in the summer when everyone is cramming in everything and going everywhere. Too many "fun" activities to be super structured.

Anyway, Marissa is doing great! She stopped breathing again the other night, which is good and bad. Good because now I recognize a bit of a pattern. Both times she'd been screaming and really fussy for quite awhile, both times I fed her and then she fell asleep in my arms and her breathing slowed and then stopped. So whether she was just completely exhausted or what, at least I recognize when and why it might happen. It's bad because now it's even scarier and harder to know how long we should monitor her (especially at night). It's also good because even though she seems to stop and not start again, if you can startle her enough, she wakes up and starts crying. I pinched her pretty hard a few times and that finally did the trick. It still scared me quite a bit, but I was much more prepared to deal with it I suppose.

I don't have any stats to post because she hasn't been to the doctor since she was 2 weeks. At 2 weeks, she was just barely over her birth weight at 9 lbs 2 oz, but her doctor told me she was long and lean. Funny! My baby who was bot at 9 lbs is long and lean. It's just because we seem to make such tall children. She is a really good baby though. It's weird how you just feel like they're a part of your family and were meant to be - even when you're getting used to having another child around. She has started sleeping more at night and will go 5-6 hours the first span of the night and then 4 the next. It's been nice not to have to get up 3 times a night anymore. Usually just 1-2 depending on when she starts her "night." She eats and goes right back to sleep too, which is great. I've been lazier with her than I was with the boys though and find myself waking up next to her wondering how long she ate and if I fed her on both sides or not. Then I realize I started feeding her over an hour before so both of us must have dozed off. Oh well. When you're tired, you're tired. :) Here are a few pictures I took the day she turned 4 weeks (last Friday).