Gemma's 9 Month Update

The past month has been BIG for little miss Gemma!

She got 4 more teeth, so now she has 6! It's making her look so much less like a baby. :(

She started wanting to eat regular food instead of baby food. She will legit get mad at me if I'm trying to feed her baby food but eating something else. She wants it!

She was pretty much sleeping through the night but for about two weeks now has been getting up at least twice. I'm thinking it's teething related.

She can drink from a straw/sippy!

She learned how to clap and does it all the time now.

Not walking yet but she crawls super fast. Everywhere. All.the.time. Haha and stands up next to
everything.

2 naps a day.

Her favorite things are : Bubble Guppies, trying to get in to the dog food/water, anything Elsie has, a very specific pacifier that has little bumps on it for teething, shoes of all sizes, and food.

Gemma's 1 Month Update

I can't believe how fast 4 weeks have gone by! So much has happened in this first month.

Gemma lost her umbilical cord stump at 7 days and had her first bath.
She smiles when she's awake but only when she wants to.
She has had awesome head control since she was born and pretty much holds it up on her own.
Her eyes are blue and getting lighter by the day.
She eats every 1-3 hours and I'm still breastfeeding. We made it to a month yay! It was rough to start and pretty painful. She has a shallow latch. But it doesn't really hurt anymore unless she cluster feeds and it really did get better right around 2-3 weeks like everyone says.
She's mostly a really great sleeper. We cosleep (because you gotta do what works when you have to be able to function the next day) and she mostly sleeps all night with about 3 feedings. Sometimes she has a bad night if she's gassy.
She really is a calm baby which I wasn't expecting at all since she was always moving and kicking me when I was pregnant.

Gemma was born with a very mild case of clubfoot on both feet. The doctor right after she was born said she only needed stretches and physical therapy. Then at her first week checkup on post, her doctor said it wasn't clubfoot just tight ligaments and recommended the same thing and referred us to a physical therapist. However, the physical therapists recommended we see a pediatric orthopedic specialist to get her feet casted, that they thought she'd need that and not just stretches or even splints.

So when she was 3 weeks old we quickly got a referral to the specialist and got her in to see him that same week. I was sort of thinking/hoping the specialist would say she didn't need casts, but that wasn't the case. He said it was clubfoot and that she needed casts right away (probably should have already been done) for at least 4 weeks and then special shoes/brace after that. So on Thursday she got her first cast which will be changed weekly.

Since we are moving so soon, there are added difficulties with finding a doctor stateside to immediately continue treatment. We can't finish before we leave and she can't have much of a gap between castings and what not. Fingers crossed/ prayers that it all goes smoothly. It's really stressful on top of everything else with moving but we know it's what's best for her so she hopefully doesn't have any delays in walking.

40 Weeks 4 Days Bumpdate

Yep. Still pregnant.

Baby girl seems to just be extra comfy in there. She measured about 3kg or just over 6 pounds last weekend. 

Huge.

I'm 2.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced. The doctor says she just needs to come down a bit and I'll have her. I've pretty much tried everything to have her pineapple, walking, bouncing on a yoga ball, hip circles, sex, red raspberry leaf tea, crawling around the living room, walking stairs, you name it I've tried it. I just refuse to drink any gross oils haha. 

I go to the doctor every other day now, and after today I actually start going to the hospital to get monitored to check on baby. They don't induce using Pitocin here until I am at least 10 days overdue as long as the baby is doing well. The doctor doesn't think I'll go that long though. 

We did have one trip to the hospital last weekend that ended up being false labor. Whomp whomp. It was really frustrating to say the least. The midwife there seemed to think I would be back that day or within a few days but here we are 4 days later, ugh. It really hard to go in to l&d thinking you'll come out with your baby and instead leaving without her. 

Prayers and happy baby having vibes please. It is really hard to be over due. Trying to stay patient. 

23 Week Bumpdate!

Had my doctors appointment today! I'm 23 weeks 2 days. We got some great 4d pictures and a profile picture of Gemma. She looks a lot like Elsie I think. I go back in 2 weeks. No more waiting 4 weeks between appointments!

How big is baby:

The size of a chinchilla or just over 12 inches long and about 1lb 5oz

Gender:

Girl!

Maternity Clothes:

yes! I feel like I've really popped these past few weeks. 

Weight:

Around 12 lbs I think

Movement:

So much movement! I feel her move randomly throughout the day and she usually moves a ton in the evening. 

Stretch marks: 

Nope

Belly button in or out: 

In 

Food Cravings:

Desserts for sure! Brownies and ice cream. 

Symptoms:

Hip pain when I walk a lot.

What do I miss:

Feeling comfortable in clothes but nothing else really.

Best moment of the week:

Getting to see our baby girl! We got so many good pictures!

What am I looking forward to:

Baby shower this weekend!