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Today was not a fun one for us. A had an ultrasound and the doctor (different one to last week) said the right hip was almost normal but the left was still really bad. So yeah, I cried again : ( It's so hard when your baby is crying from a procedure AND you get bad news though. But this doctor annoyed me, because he thought she'd been in the harness four weeks (it's only been two!!!) so was basically telling us it wouldn't work. If you're going to upset parents like that, I think you should get your facts right. He says they'll decide next week and I'm so scared about Friday now. I'm going to ask them to give her an extra week after that, just in case.

After that it was on to her two month checkup and she was so lovely and smiled at every doctor and nurse, bless her. She screamed at her shots but literally for ten seconds. Not a nice day all in all. Hopefully next Friday will be better!

@travelgirl1: aw don't let that crappy doctor upset you! Two weeks is such a short time to expect a significant improvement. I agree you should make sure to ask for at least four weeks before you make a final decision on what to do. Good luck!!

How's everyone doing lately?

Charlotte is still sleeping 12 hours a night. She feeds a lot during the day, but that is totally fine with me. She's really noticing the world around her a lot more and developing more each day. I love it!

@kml636: naps are short, 45 mins tops, except for maybe one long one

Little girl is doing great. She's been sleeping really well at night. Only one night waking to eat and she usually goes back down easily. But I will say we can't put her down drowsy. We have to snuggle her to sleep. But I'm not pushing it until we sort out her food allergies. I know her tummy bothers her a lot and if we try to put her down awake she squirms and fusses and usually ends up doing a massive spit up all over herself

We had her two month appointment this morning. At two weeks she was in the 25th percentile for height/weight and at this appointment she was in the 75th percentile for both! My little chunky monkey. She definitely screamed when they gave her the shots but I nursed her right away and she was fine. We tried to give her Tylenol but she spit most of it back out. She doesn't seem to need it though (she's been asleep for the past 2.5 hours since we got home).

@travelgirl1: my LO usually eats six times a day. She averages 20-25 minutes all on one side.

@travelgirl1: Baby giggles really are the best, aren't they?! My favorite time of day is when she first gets up in the morning and is all smiles. Still doing much better with the bottles. She doesn't love them, but is at least starting to tolerate them. We also tried the Momma last night for the first time and she did okay with that one as well. My husband thought that because of the way the nipple was shaped she couldn't push it around in her mouth as easily. We're going to give it another week or so of using both before we commit to one and order more. The other thing we found is that they have to be quite warm.

As for our feedings, we've been averaging about 8 per day (one being a bottle). We have one middle of the night feeding and 7 the remainder of the day, usually every two hours apart. Baby Connect shows that we average 7 minutes per session, but this ranges from as little as 4 minutes to the occasional 12-15 minutes (part of which I think gets to be drowsy comfort nursing). She eats often, but all in all, it's usually less than an hour per day.

If A is still gaining weight and is within a good range, I'd try not to stress too much about a 1 percentile change in weight. (I think we went down one as well.) I know that's much easier said than done though. Perhaps she's getting to be a more efficient eater and/or you have a pretty fast flow? If an LC doesn't have tips for BF'g positions, would the specialist you are seeing weekly be able to offer any suggestions?

@MamaMoose: Thank you!

@SLR: That makes me feel so much better, she can be about seven minutes sometimes and I was panicking but it's good to know it's not uncommon. Do you offer one or both sides per feeding? Oh Ariela had the same head/neck problem and we were doing everything you're doing, but we mentioned it to the ortho dr the other week and they got the physio to come in and she told me to try carry her on my right shoulder and then that would coax her to turn her head the other way sometimes - I always carry her on my left and she turns to the right,. Another thing we do is get her to track toys, so start it on the right side and get her attention then move it over to the left gradually so she has to turn. All that has been working, and her crib is pushed up to our bed so I am on her left side and I've noticed she has been sleeping facing me more often. The physio also showed us some exercises to do with her but they made her scream and we're too chicken to try it unless she really needs it. It's great you're aware of it though, you're on to it really quickly!

love reading everyone's updates! LO is doing well. she started spending less time feeding during the day in the last week, which really stressed me out. i thought something might be wrong, so i took her to the ped. ped said she looked perfectly healthy, but maybe was getting distracted...which i had noticed starting last saturday. i was nursing LO and said something to DH who was in the other room and she unlatched and looked in the direction i was yelling. and she is usually oblivious to whatever is going on while nursing. it really coincided with wonder week 12, btw. so i have resorted to covering her head with a blanket and sitting in her nursery to nurse, where its quiet and she can focus. she still spends a lot less time on the boob than a couple weeks ago, but my LC said she will eat as much as she needs to and not to worry. we still continue to struggle with the bottle. she screams anywhere from 10 mins to an hour before she drinks it. @travelgirl1: LO has 5-6 feeding sessions per day. i try to do every 3 hours, but sometimes add in a session at the end of the day. she spends 7-10 mins per side usually, 10-12 mins if she is really hungry and 20+ mins if she falls asleep and then i have multiple let downs. i used to do both sides in a session, but since she eats less now, sometimes i only do 1 side. i think the LC is right...she will eat when she needs to and if she is hungry, she will let you know.

sleep has been pretty good. she goes down easily between 7:30-8pm and does anywhere from 8-11 hours stretches, but it is kind of inconsistent. having the monitor in our bedroom is killing my sleep. any peep and i'm wide awake and can't go back to sleep. i am going back to work next week part-time, but i think i'll be able to survive with some caffeine in me. her naps are ok - i can get her to nap for 40 minutes in her crib, or 1.5-2 hours in the stroller or just on the couch when i'm watching tv. i spent a week neurotically tracking her sleep patterns with a spreadsheet. looks like she starts to get sleepy about 70-90 minutes after her last wake up, so i try to put her down at those intervals.

she has rolled over from front to back a bunch of times. her huge head really helps propel her over, its so cute. she hasn't really giggled yet...just smiles so far! waiting for a big giggle. i hope i don't miss her first one.

i am stressing out about going back to work, which was making me stressed out about her sleeping and eating habits...and i felt like i wasn't enjoying her as much as i should. i feel so guilty about it. so this week, i'm going to relax and not stress out about her habits and just love on her as much as i can.

@SLR: my LO has a pref for turning her head to the right too! there is def a flat spot, so i'm going to ask the ped about it on friday when we go to her 3-month checkup. re: tummy time, LO used to hate it but now has a much stronger neck and can hold her head up so she doesn't mind it as much anymore. she hated it when her face was mushed into the mat.

@JessLC: we have that same activity mat and love it! Cute pic!

We had our shots today too poor guy seemed more mad at the tongue depressor though. Up to 13.5 lbs so close to double his birth weight at nine weeks eek and grown 4 inches.

We unswaddled after he rolled last week and so far its not been as awful as I feared!

@JessLC: so sweet! We have the same play mat.

@travelgirl1: ugh, so sorry you are struggling! I dont think its too serious to drop a percentile, but i hope she takes a bottle soon! Lily feeds every three hours during the day, but she's gotten really fast... 10 mins a side and or if longer sometimes only one side. She is 12 lbs and gaining well so I guess she's fine eating faster.

@JessLC: @SLR: My little guy also prefers to turn his head to the right! He will sometimes sleep with it to the left for part of the time and will vary it with naps. I know that he can turn it to the left, especially during tummy time.

Sleep is still inconsistent in our house, but has been anywhere from 7-10 hours. If he only sleeps 7 hours for the first stretch, then I put him back down and he will sleep another 3-4 hours. He's only made it to 10 hours a couple of times and I just figured that it was long enough and got our day started.

Since many of you were talking about feedings: we usually get in about 6 per day that are about 20-30 minutes. He's definitely more distracted and doesn't like me to talk to anyone (like my husband) while he's nursing. Although today when we were out at a breastfeeding support group and I had to nurse him he kept stopping to smile and "talk" to me. Sometimes he tries to "talk" while nursing with my boob still in his mouth. His weight gain has been fine, but not as rapid as it was in the beginning. During the day he sometimes goes 4 hours between feedings, but that is usually because he's napping and I don't want to wake him up.

@SLR: Ya we figured we'd have to eventually, so why delay. So far so good!.

@highwire Yay! I have a big head too - I firmly believe big head = big brain

Starting to get ready for the transition to daycare. Going to visit on Thursday with my mom so she can see the place and I can turn in paperwork. I found out the facility provides diapers, wipes, and formula!! Going to get samples of all of then to try out before she starts. Also planning on sending her part time during my last week of leave to practice drop off, pumping, etc. Going to use the free time to label all her clothes, shop for new work attire, and adjust myself.

How are you ladies preparing for back to work if you are going back?

@kml636: uh oh! Hope it gets worked out soon. When do you go back?

@JessLC: ha! yes - my husband is a foot taller than me and my head is like twice as big. i rode horses in high school and whenever i went to buy a new helmet the shop folks were always aghast.

@mrsjyw: i read that 6 hours is considered STTN. BUT, i felt like it should be 8 hours, because thats what normal adults function on! and yes, love the baby "talk"! she usually just smiles a lot with her mouth wide open, but she actually laughed for the first time last night, when i was bouncing her on my leg and singing the song from bonanza. it was so funny! that is awesome about your job! i think i'm going to do one day from home a week...thats the most i can swing since i have to be in meetings a lot for my job.

@mrsjyw: That's awesome about your work arrangements. I wish I could swing that, but I my boss won't go for it and I'm sure it would piss my employees off b/c they wouldn't get the same benefit. Management at my work is male dominated (I'm the only woman in mgmt in my dept.), so I'm really afraid of how understanding they'll be about the need to pump at work, juggle hours, and miss some work because she's sick and can't be @ daycare.

@kml636: Do you go back to work soon? Or can you keep shopping around for a nanny?

We had our first 8 hour night of sleep last night! She was so overtired and was hard to put down, but we finally got her to sleep around 8:40 and she slept til around 5am. It was good timing because I could just get up and start my day then. Workout is done, laundry is going, and I am enjoying a cup of coffee before she wakes back up in a few minutes.