Finally she slept through the night...

...well, pretty damn close! Bella had her last feed at 11.30pm last night and didn't wake until 6.45am. I know it's not technically the whole night but good enough for me! I managed a 6 hour stretch myself which is unheard of. She did stir at about 5am and I was about to feed her but she drifted back off to sleep. She woke and had a full feed and went back off to sleep until 9.45am. The last block of sleep was a bit of a restless one but it looks like we're making some progress. I guess we'll see what tonight brings. As long as it's not back to the 3 hourly feeds I'll be happy.

We're off to baby massage class tomorrow morning so hoping I'll get some good tips for helping her sleep better.

Loving her baby nest

I don't have too much to update on at the moment so thought I'd just post a couple of photos of Bella in her inflatable baby nest. She loves chilling out in there and it's a great way to pull her up to sitting position and back down again. She is getting really good with her head control now and loves sitting upright. She's obviously wobbly still but gradually she's sitting with minimal support and loves the change of perspective on things as she's sitting. She's also grasping her toys in the nest but doesn't do much with them yet.

2 month check up and jabs

Yesterday Isabella went for her 2 month check up and vaccinations. She passed the check up with flying colours! She is very healthy with no problems whatsoever. She now weighs 11lb 9oz and has grown 1 and a half centimeters. The doctor was very happy with her progress and said she is doing exceptionally well. She was full of smiles for the doctor and more than happy to be checked over.

The vaccinations were a different matter though. She had to have 3, two in one leg and one in the other and an oral dose. The oral dose was no problem as she'll eat anything, but she cried her little heart out with the needles. It was a very distressed cry and I had tears in my eyes myself as I hate seeing her like that. She recovered quickly though and fed straight after. We waited around for half an hour afterwards just in case she had a reaction to the jabs, but all was well. Later in the afternoon she started to get distressed again and it was because she'd had a small reaction at the site of one of the vaccinations. We had to apply a cold compress to take the inflammation and swelling down and give her a dose of baby paracetemol to ease the discomfort and pain. She calmed down about half an hour later but was very teary on and off throughout the day and night. Her temperature was normal so no signs of fever. She did have a touch of a tummy upset though but continued to eat well. So yesterday was a day of lots of comfort and cuddles. We finally got her to go off to sleep at 11pm but she was unsettled still. She did get 4 hours quality sleep between 2.30 and 6.30am and some more restless sleep after a feed until 9.30am. She seems much happier in herself today and her temperature is still normal so I'm hoping that today she feels more like herself again. I've had lots of smiles and giggles from her this morning so trust that's a good sign!

Wind....

....the baby not me! It seems as though Isabella is suffering with trapped wind at the moment. I think this is why she is splitting her feeds into two parts. She's been kicking her legs out quite vigorously during feeds and grunting a lot. Sometimes after a feed she cries until the wind is passed. I've tried tummy massages and warm compresses on her abdomen but they've not really helped. So, we bought Spains equivalent to gripe water yesterday to try and help her out. It's a herbal type infusion to calm down and relax the digestive system so the wind can pass out. It smells a bit like aniseed and I was expecting her to spit it back out, but she downed it and then refused her milk as I think the taste didn't quite compare! We ended up bathing her and waiting an hour and then trying again with the milk which she eventually took. Not wanting to have a repeat performance today, I gave her the infusion after her feed. She downed her milk and then pulled a face at the infusion, like I was giving her something terrible. I guess she doesn't like a change of flavour although I did manage to get her to drink it. Anyway, it seems as though it's helping as she tooted a lot this morning so I think it must have shifted the gas a bit overnight. I'm giving her another dose midday so we split them 12 hours apart and see how she gets on with that. She seems more content today and not kicking her legs out quite so much so hopefully it will work. I wish I could get hold of products here like gripe water or colief like in the UK. We're seeing the paedetrician on Monday for her 2 month check up so will see if she has any other suggestions if she still seems to be suffering.

Broken sleep again :(

Just when I thought Isabella was getting the hang of night time sleeping we seem to be going backwards. Rather than the usual 5-6 hours overnight she has only been managing 4 for the last few nights. Last night was particularly disturbed. She fed at midnight, 4am, 6am and again at 9am. I'm wondering if it's another growth spurt coming on? She also seems to be splitting her day time feeds up again. Rather than going the usual 3 hours between feeds she's back to doing every hour and a half. While I don't mind the regular feeding during normal waking hours, I'm not so thrilled by the night time ones! While she manages to drop straight back to sleep after her feed, it will take me up to half and hour or more to sleep again, only to be woken an hour later for more food. I'm hoping it's just a phase and we'll be back to longer sleeps again soon...please! I'm still toying with the idea of giving her a bottle of formula food before bed to see if that helps her sleep longer, but I'm still a bit loathed to do it.

Two months old today

I don't know where the time has gone and find it hard to believe that Isabella is already two months old. I felt a little sad the other day when I was folding up and putting away all her 0-3 month vests, that she's growing so fast. She actually fills out the 3-6 month ones pretty well, especially in the body length. She's off to have her jabs next Monday and 2 month checkup so it will be interesting to see how much weight she's gained and how long she is now.

Sunshine!

At last the weather has cleared up and we have beautiful sunshine. We've just been down to a local restaurant for Sunday lunch and sat on the terrace soaking up the rays. Long may the good weather continue! Isabella has been a total angel all afternoon, waking once for a feed and going straight back to sleep so mummy and daddy could eat lunch. She doesn't fail to get attention wherever we go. Everybody comments on how beautiful she is, but hey, we already knew that!

Here are a couple of pictures just to show how truly beautiful she is......

Look at the length of her eyelashes now!

I love this one of her chilling in her bouncy chair.

Pimp my diaper!

Here are a few pictures of Isabella wearing one of her custom made Weenotions diapers. It's a gorgeous cuddlesoft material which you just can't stop stroking. It's so soft on the inside next to her skin too with a pale pink microfleece fabric. We have a few custom mades and are also using Bum Genius and Swaddlebees. We're loving the cloth diapers, she is one luxury baby especially with her 300 thread cound egyptian cotton bum wipes. Nothing is to good for her ;)

Test driving the "Tinokis"

Chris bought us a sling when Isabella was first born which we haven't got round to using before now as I was a little phased by all the yards and yards of fabric! We'd been using a mothercare front carrier up until today but Isabella is getting a little large for it and feels very heavy when carrying so not very good for the back. Today I thought I'd give it a go with the Tinokis and have to say it was very easy to use and so comfortable. She was so snug and well protected in it and the weight is spread well due to the width of the fabric.

Here are a few photos I took before we went out walking the dog.

I think you have to agree she looks totally snug. The next two pictures are when we got back and I got her out. Totally relaxed!

We're wide awake!

Finally Isabella seems to be getting the hang of this day and night thing. After waking at 9am she has been up until her last feed at 3pm and is now having a nap on me. Six hours awake in a row is something of a record for her! We've played in jungle gym, rocked out to Amy Winehouse (her choice not mine :) and sang a few songs. Hopefully this means another good nights sleep for her. Oops, 4pm and wide awake again..!

Progress at night.....finally!

Not wanting to jinx myself, but....Isabella finally seems to be getting the hang of night time. She took her last feed no problem where as normally she is very fussy and it takes ages to get the feed into her. We then laid her down and turned the light off again and she was asleep pretty soon after. She slept from 2am until 7am, woke for a feed and was up for about an hour, then went back off to sleep until 11am! I actually got around 7 hours sleep myself, all be it broken sleep but can't complain. I just hope she keeps it up!