Rolling Over…

So, I’m not really up-to-date on developmental milestones.  I have not read “What to Expect in the First Year” cover to cover and have only glanced at the multiple parenting books I own.  Basically we’ve just been taking it one day at a time, like, “What should Caroline be doing right now?” (answer: eating, sleeping, pooping) rather than “When will Caroline be able to [fill in the blank]?”

So I’m not entirely sure when babies are supposed to be able to roll over, but I know it wasn’t in my “Your Two-Week Old” email from babycenter.com this week.  And yet this morning, while Steven and I were eating breakfast in the living room and Caroline was enjoying some tummy time on the couch, we looked over and she was literally teetering right on the edge of the cushion about to topple off.  To get a visual, think back to those Roadrunner and Coyote cartoons where the giant boulder kind of pauses on the edge of the cliff before it tumbles down to squash the Coyote.  Luckily, Steven got to Caroline right before she toppled off the cliff…I mean, couch.  Sheesh.  We gotta keep a close eye on this one…  [I’m not sure if she can roll from her back to her belly, but we now have clear evidence that she can roll from her belly to her back, even though neither of us actually witnessed said rolling.]

In other news, we started C on a pacifier this week so we can save our fingers/thumbs.  Up to this point, when C has wanted to suck between feedings we have simply stuck a finger in her mouth so she didn’t suffer from the “nipple confusion” that we’ve been warned against (apparently if you give a baby a pacifier or a bottle too early, they may not breastfeed as well…).  But we got the go-ahead from the pediatrician to use the pacifier, so we started that a couple of days ago.  I thought it was going to offer me a ton of free time/hands, since I could actually put her down with a pacifier now and then without her screaming instead of having to hold her and put a finger in her mouth (which drastically limits what else one can do while caring for baby).  What I didn’t realize was that while Caroline enjoys the pacifier and takes it pretty well, she doesn’t know how to hold on to it yet, which means I only get that freedom I was dreaming of for about 20 seconds at a time, after which the pacifier must be replaced in the baby’s mouth.  Something else to work on, I suppose.

I also got my wedding rings back on the appropriate finger today for the first time in months (without cutting off the circulation!).  You really must celebrate the small victories. :)

Feeding continues to be a bit of a struggle.  In addition to waking Caroline up every three hours to breastfeed her, we now have to offer her a bottle of formula after each feeding, and then I have to pump for 15 minutes to try to increase supply before playing with her (during the day) or putting her back to sleep (at night)… which means each feeding can take 75 to 90 minutes – or more.  Since we’re repeating every three hours (with one glorious 4-hour stretch during the night), it means I’m getting basically zero sleep and feeling somewhat imprisoned by the whole process, since I don’t have enough time to actually leave the house for anything.  Please pray for us, as it’s a tricky issue.  My logical brain is telling me to ditch breastfeeding and chalk it up to one of those things that we tried but that just didn’t really work out for us.  But when every parenting/childcare book in the world suggests that my child will be fat and sickly and never reach her intellectual potential if she doesn’t have breast milk for a minimum of six months, it can make a new mom feel awfully guilty and selfish for wanting to use formula (even though I never had any breast milk myself and I seem to have turned out okay).

In happier news, we got our photos from Caroline’s photo shoot with our friend Josie!  They are fantastic.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Family Portrait

Such cuteness is exhausting...

Tired old lady pose...

Cuddling with Mom

One eye on you

Just relaxing

Sweet cheeks

Reality

Stretched out in my crib

With Mom in my room

Hanging out with Dad