3 Month Update
I know it’s cliche to start off this blog post by saying “I can’t believe my baby is three months,” but that’s how I’m going to start off anyway. I can’t believe my baby is three months! It has all gone so much smoother than I thought possible! He is such a sweet easy baby that I am possibly opening up the door for a third. Just maybe, because pregnancy really is not my favorite.
How is Monroe doing!? Great! As I just mentioned he is a sweet easy baby. He responds to your smiles with a smile, has given us some early giggles, especially his dad. He loves being held, but has taken to his gym a little more lately. He usually likes tummy time and can roll over from his back and from his front and he looks ready to start scooting as soon as he gets a little stronger!
I have been mostly, but not exclusively been breast feeding Monroe. When Oliver was a baby, he was exclusively breast fed, but was not gaining weight as he should have been. Turns out I wasn’t producing enough, so it made the first few months a real challenge. I vowed to be flexible and listen to my body and my baby this time around. Monroe is breast fed about every three hours, and when home with just dad or at daycare he gets a formula bottle during the day and sometimes one at night as well. Mama is not into pumping, so I only do it when I’m away working, currently going into the office twice a week and pump once each day. Monroe is night and day different from Oliver was at this age. He is so much less fussy and sleeps a whole lot better.
Speaking of sleep, he slept 5 hours straight the night he was born and he continues to be a pretty good sleeper. He usually wakes once a night. on a bad night, twice, and on a good night (we’ve had a handful) he’ll sleep through the night. I think that seems pretty on par with a 3 month old, but the best part is that he is able to fall right back asleep after I feed him. Oliver took a lot of rocking and calming back to sleep after a night feeding. Monroe is still sleeping in the bassinet next to the bed which is working for now and will probably continue for another month or so, then he’ll be getting too big and we’ll start transitioning him upstairs, which seems like a perfect time to start sleep training.
Monroe was right in the meaty part of the curve for height and weight at his 2 month appointment. And sadly has caught his first little bug. He started daycare at the beginning of December and almost immediately came down with a runny nose and a cough. Thankfully no fever though and is still in good spirits.
Monroe’s big brother Oliver is still in love. He asks to hold him at least once a day and is still being super helpful for mom and dad, fetching things and trying to make him smile when we have to leave the room. Oliver said the other say, “Having a little brother is even more fun than I thought it would be.” My heart burst, I know this is going to be a beautiful friendship.
How am I doing? Great! While pregnancy the second time around was pretty similar, post pregnancy and maternity leave was 180 degrees different. I took about a month off, except for a dinner party I styled two weeks after Monroe was born. I’d like to say I spent the month staring at my baby, holding and napping with him, but the truth is, I remodeled my basement in the two months after giving birth. After I had Oliver I had three months of paid maternity leave. This time I am living the freelance hustle life, and didn’t have the luxury I did five years ago. One month after Monroe was born, I started back at KLH, working from home two days a week. I went back into the office the same two days at two months. I also coordinated a wedding at the 6 week mark. I have been feeling good and for the most part well rested. While some mornings are trickier than others, I am back to a workout routine on the weekends and days I work from home and have let go of trying to work out on the days I need to be in the office at a certain time. I am proud that I ran over four miles last week, 13 weeks postpartum and five weeks after the green light to work out again. I have made it a goal to run a half marathon next spring!
Stay tuned, later this week I will share all the postpartum wear tricks and tips I’ve learned this time around.