Well, I have fallen off the blog wagon again...Sierra has been here for almost seven months now, and I haven't really written about her.
Sierra was finally able to come home on February 22, after I initially received the placement call on February 5, thinking she would be released on Feb 7 or 8. Thankfully I was able to go visit with her periodically during that 2 1/2 weeks.
Her sleeping has always been difficult. Initially she was in my room in a bassinet because I didn't want her waking Elmer in the middle of the night, but I quickly moved her to another room because she kept me up pretty much all night. She would grunt and lightly/briefly fuss and move, often making me think that she was waking up and wanting to eat. I soon realized that she was just a very restless sleeper and I couldn't sleep well with that. Now at eight months, she continues to wake 1-3 times a night for comfort; and to eat somewhere between 3:15 and 5:30.
She also has had some eating issues. Initially something was definitely not typical with her eating. She would not continue eating a bottle consistently - would stop often and would seem to struggle at times. If she was eating well and I would stop to burp her, then she would have lost interest when I tried to feed her again. Sometimes she would only eat two ounces at once.
She had RSV shortly after coming to me, which affected her desire to eat as well. The doctor was concerned about her weight gain, so I had to take her in for a weight check a few weeks after her two month checkup. (Now she is probably 20 pounds and has sumo thighs - no concern about weight now!)
When I tried to start cereal at around 4 1/2 months, she gagged on it. I pursued because some babies have a hard time at first, but she never got it. Then I tried squash and bananas, and she gagged on those, too. I talked with my friend who is a feeding therapist and she gave me some suggestions to have her gnaw on carrot sticks, celery sticks, and/or hard pizza crust to bring her gag reflex farther back in her mouth. From there, I basically took a path of using baby-led weaning, and Sierra quickly began eating most table foods (except some fruits). Now she eats better than Elmer some nights!
She has had many ear infections, and finally got ear tubes a few weeks ago. They are still draining so I think she still has some pain with them, which may be at least part of the reason she still wakes in the night. (She also has four teeth now, so I think teething is some of the reason, too).
She has met her milestones ahead of schedule - she rolled back to stomach at almost 4 months, got up on hands and knees at almost 6 months, started crawling at 7 1/2 months and is now pulling up to standing at everything. She went to the NICU follow-up clinic when she was 5 months old and they had no concerns except the possible feeding issues.
Currently she is a very happy baby. She pretty much never cries if she is being held. (Of course, I can't hold her just anytime she wants to since I have a 2 year old to take care of, too!) She thinks Elmer is the best and just laughs with him! Recently he has started "wrestling" with her - sometimes I think it's too rough and try to tell him to be gentle, but she is pretty much telling him it's okay because she is cracking up, so my words don't sink in.
We have had some legal steps happen, but I think this is enough for one post, so I will make another post about all those things! Also things happening with Elmer which I need to post about!
