4 Months and Counting

Shasta had her 4 month appointment and her doctor had nothing, but good things to say about her. He said it’s hard to know when a premie baby will start doing things, but to expect her to be 2 months behind.

He said she was an All Star for strength since she can roll from tummy to back, but under average for her motor skills for a 4 month old (average for a premie). Then when I told him she knows the sign for milk he changed his mind and said she’s a super All Star for motor skills!

But realistically, he said she’s at about a 3 month level when it comes to grabbing things and being interested in toys. In my book that says she’s behind for a 4 month old, but ahead for a 2 month old which is where she should be.

I was really surprised when her doctor told us we could start her on rice cereal. When she was in the NICU he said not to expect to start feeding her solids until 6-8 months.

He’s really impressed with her progress and thinks she’s ready for rice cereal. He said we could give her as much as we want and as often as we want. It’s completely up to us. However, I think we might wait a little while before we start. One thing he said was as long as she can hold her head up good and strong then she’s ready.

Well, the Bumbo supports her head so she does just fine, but when she’s just being held she’s still a little floppy. Another reason I want to wait a little bit is because she still chokes a lot. She chokes when she nurses and she chokes when she’s just chillin’ by herself.

It’s like she inhales with milk or spit in her mouth and then starts coughing it back up. Most of the time it isn’t a big deal, but plenty of times her face turns red, she wheezes, or her lips turn purple. She usually panics for a moment after and then she’s good to go, but it worries me to feed her anything more than milk. My last reason for wanting to hold off for another month is because I simply love nursing her. She’s growing plenty with just nursing so I don’t think we need to change anything for now.

Weight: 10 lbs 12.6 oz (4th %ile)

Length: 22.75 inches (7th %ile)

Head: 15.8 inches (26th %ile)

Things she’s doing by 4 months:

*Rolls from tummy to back
* Knows the sign for milk
* Is scared to be carried down or up the stairs facing forward. (Lesson Learned #2 at UofP for why there's no picture. Stay tuned)

*Anytime she’s scared she makes the same face (again, wait for Lesson Learned #2 at UofP). Her whole body tenses up, her face turns red because she stops breathing, her eyes get really wide, she stiffens her arms straight out, and sometimes she starts to fuss.
*Occasionally sleeps 5 to 6 hours at night.
*Started sleeping in her own room (about a week before her 4 month mark). Oddly enough once she was moved to her own room she started sleeping 7 to 8 hours at night.
*Smiles more and more

*Went to Willow Park Zoo with two of my sisters and two and a half of her cousins (my sister's pregnant)
*Loves taking Wedge for walks and cries when we come back in the house
*Still sleeps a lot throughout the day, but her doctor doesn’t think she’s anemic. He says it could just be that she’s still little.
*Kicks and kicks to no end.
*Always wants to look around when she’s being held

I know everybody feels this way about their kids, but I really do feel like the luckiest mom in the world! She’s a really easy baby which I’m grateful for. She’s perfectly content to lie on the floor and kick her legs while I get other things done.

She’s mellow and hardly ever cries. There are times when I’ll pick her up to feed her and realize I need to get something and set her down for a second and she’ll cry in a tantrum sort of way because she thinks she’s so hungry she could die. I secretly love it when she does that because it makes me feel needed. She fusses sometimes, but it’s rare that she full on cries. She’s such a good baby and I’m so glad she’s done so well since the day she was born. If being sick for 9 months straight (or in Shasta’s case 7 months straight) means I get to have a good, easy baby I think I’ll take it. Nine months of hard pregnancy sounds much easier than a life time of rotten kids! :)