Gemma turned six months Tuesday. I cannot believe it has already been six months, but at the same time, I can't believe that she has only been around for six months. Our transition has been nearly seamless. She fits so naturally into our family that it's like she has always been here.
On Tuesday, we were playing with Foz, the cat, when she leaned forward and sat on her own for 17 seconds! The next day, she spent several minutes sitting up with support from her car toy. Kyran and Karyssa loved this toy too!
She isn't sitting much without a little help, but with help from a toy, she is doing so well!
Unfortunately, she has the cold that has been passed around our family. She has had a couple of small colds before, but this one is rough. We were up twice in the middle of the night, because it seems that nursing her is the only thing that will clear her little nose. All I can think about is that she has no clue why she feels like she does. After having the kids be able to understand me for so long, I forgot how helpless it feels to have a newborn who can't tell you what hurts or understand that it will get better eventually. For all I know, she thinks she will feel like this for the rest of her life. My poor Gemma! I just want to hold her, but she just wants to eat or lie down. She'll cuddle for a few minutes, but then arch her back to tell me she's ready for bed.
Her six-month well check-up was Thursday and, aside from her weight, everything is perfect! She is strong, alert, happy and all-around healthy. She has grown almost 2 inches and her head has grown 2 cm. Her height stayed strong at 9% and her head size dropped from 21% to 13%.
At the last appointment, Dr. B. seemed a little concerned about her weight, as she had dropped to the 8th percentile. I stopped by the store on the way home to get Fenugreek to try to boost my supply. Within a few days, it seemed like I wasn't producing anything. She would eat for 2-3 minutes on each side and then start screaming. But, when I pumped, I was still getting some. I tried supplementing with the pumped milk, but she didn't want it.
I went to see the lactation consultant who said that I was doing everything right, but she put me on Reglan to help my supply and suggested feeding her more often. So, we went to every two hours and I even got up to pump in the middle of the night a couple of times. My supply increased, but there wasn't much change in her eating. For over a month, I was ready to pull my hair out. Then one day, my Fenugreek was gone and all of a sudden, she started eating again. My picky girl just didn't like the taste of the Fenugreek (it makes people smell like maple syrup, so I can imagine it is very sweet). Since then, she has been eating much better and longer.
However, because of the limited food she got, she only gained 1.5 lbs in the last two months, dropping her below the 3% and off the charts. We had decided not to start her on solids until six months, partially because of allergy cautions and partially because I didn't want her to fill up on the food and not be hungry for her next nursing session. So, now we have started solids. She has only had rice cereal so far and is really getting the hang of it! She seems to love to eat. We will introduce green beans and peas this week, and are praying that she likes the taste. We are going back for a weight check in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping that she is gaining more now!
My sweet sick, sitting, six-month-old is crying now, something she rarely does, so I'm going to go comfort her.
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