Busy Week for Nora

This week was a busy one for Baby Nora. Andy was gone for the week, so Nora had to hang out with Mom all week. She seems to be changing quickly. Her sleep schedule is becoming more routine and predictable with longer naps during the day. Her feeding schedule is also a little less out of control. It seemed like she was eating 24/7 a few weeks ago and now she seems to be more efficient and consolidates her feeding into 5 or 6 sessions per day.

On Wednesday, the special ed teacher from Early On visited. More paperwork and more talking. At the end of the month, the teacher and therapist will give us their recommendations for the services she qualifies for. By the time this program gets moving, she will be 6 months old. I am glad we have just started her in private physical therapy rather than wait for the government bureaucracy to get rolling. In the afternoon, she visited Grandma & Grandpa Forester's house while I went to the salon for some much needed hair maintenance. Thursday morning Maureen came to watch her while I went to the dentist.

Yesterday Nora got her RSV vaccine. Poor Baby. She was all smiles as the nurse weighed her and measured her and took her temp. Then the shot in the leg and she howled at the top of her lungs. She slept good that afternoon. The nurse came to our house to give her the injection which was nice. I went through all kinds of hoops with the insurance company to get her approved for the vaccine since it is very expensive. I still had to pay $150, but that is a bargain since I think the full cost is $1500!

She weighs 9 lbs 14 oz and is 21.5 inches long, which is right on target for her adjusted age of 5 weeks.

Smile!

Nora gave me her first smile yesterday! She did it on Tuesday for Andy and on the weekend for Grandma, but today was the first one she did for me. I managed to capture part of one for the camera.

She met with the Occupational Therapist from KRESA (Kalamazoo schools) on Monday. She played with her on the floor and had nothing but good things to say about her progress. She will meet with a Special Education teacher next, then we will draw up her plan for what services she qualifies for.

The other night I had quite a scare. I almost don't want to write it in the Blog because I am feeling very guilty and it will definitely take me out of the running for the best Mom award. I was up at 1:45 am feeding Nora in my bed. I needed to run down to the kitchen to make her a bottle because after 30+ minutes of nursing she was still hungary and I was getting tired and wanted us both to go back to bed. I set her on my pillow on the bed while I went downstairs. Once I was in the kitchen, I heard a thump and a cry and ran back up to the bedroom. Sure enough, Nora was on the floor screaming! She fell from the bed! I scooped her up and did a quick check and she appeared ok and stopped crying in a couple of minutes and was ready for her bottle. Nevertheless, I took her to the ER to get her checked out by a pro. We were home by 5 am with some instructions of things to watch for the next day; but Nora was ok besides being exhausted from the long night. I guess I learned my lesson with that. The only place I set her down yesterday was where she could be buckled, strapped or contained!

Today Nora went to Physical Therapy. Her therapist is a very flexible young lady named Katie. Katie sits on the floor practically in the splits and plays with Nora moving her arms, legs and neck. We are working on her head control and tracking objects. It is fun. The session is 45 minutes though and I think that is a little long for Nora. She is ready for a nap afterwards for sure! After PT, I worked out at the gym. The PT office is in the same building as the gym. I left Nora at the Child Care Center. This worked out great. She slept the entire time in the Child Care Center and I got in a good hour workout. I have 11.5 lbs to go to get to pre-baby weight. My goal is to have it gone by the time I am back to work in April.

2 months!

Nora got her 2 month vaccinations today. She was a brave little girl. Screamed for a second, then slept it off.



She was 9 lbs 6 oz. Just about double the size she was at birth!



This has been a busy week for her. Yesterday she took her first trip to the mall. Slept in the baby sling. That thing is great but it should come with a certificate for a chiropracter visit for the mom.



Andy has been gone this week and Nora has graciously decided to wake only once per night for me! She goes to bed around 9 or 10. We get up around 3 then get up for the day around 8.



Next week Nora starts physical therapy sessions. Should be fun. Lots of toys and the therapists are nice. She is working on moving her head from side to side and the therapists are checking her muscle tone in her arms and legs. Andy and I should learn a lot too.



She also has her initial evaluation with the Early On program. I am hopeful that she will qualify for some services from them.

8 weeks old!

Nora is 8 weeks old today. Hard to believe that much time has gone by.

She is really growning. Nearly 9 lbs. She just started wearing all of her cute 0-3 month clothes since she has really outgrown the Newborn size. She has doubled her weight in 8 weeks and I am trying to cut my weight by 25%! Here is a picture of her after a satisfying meal:

Things have slowed down a bit. I have been getting to the gym a couple times a week with Maureen and hitting the treadmill at home. We finally got our new washing machine delivered and I have been just enjoying playing house for a while.