12 weeks

All right so to be honest I thought the newborn phase lasted 4-6 weeks. I thought after this they are just considered a baby. I learned though that the newborn phase is the first 3 months. 12 whole weeks. I was saddened because I was really looking forward to Audra not being a newborn anymore. For some reason I had it in my head that it would be a whole lot easier at 12 weeks. Now that we are here I can't say it's as easy as I thought it would be but it's most definitely easier than 6 weeks or heck, even 11 weeks ago. I know I was wishing that time away but I just assumed it would be so much easier when she grew out of the newborn stage. I now look at moms who just gave birth and think "oh goodness look how tiny, I miss those snuggles". But at the same time I have still been counting down until Audra hit 12 weeks and before I knew it she's hit that mark. We are officially out of the newborn phase. Hello.

This face....

The biggest thing I've noticed is that her cry has changed. It's no longer that newborn sounding wail but it's got more meaning behind it and I can more easily tell why she is crying. But I don't want to focus on things that have gone away with this 12 week mark but instead focus on the gains. It's all about the victories in this mother role. 

Audra smiles all the time and even started to giggle a little. It makes being a mother much more rewarding when you can see the smile on their face and know that they are happy. She has even started grabbing toys (without really knowing it) but she looks at the toys and you can just tell in her eyes she's thinking "man that looks good enough to grab". Another thing that we've gained is sleep. She goes back and forth but for the most part her initial stretch of sleep is 5 hours. After I feed her she is also falling asleep faster. I used to have to wait at least a half hour before I could put her down. Now I can put her back to bed in about 15-20 minutes. Progress!

Progress has also been made in the breastfeeding and burping department as well. I haven't given Audra gas drops in a week and we haven't had a tough burping session in almost as long. Audra is now burping on her own more and burping easier. Sometimes she doesn't even burp at all which gave me anxiety at first but she never fussed from a gas bubble so turns out she didn't need to burp after all. This alone makes my heart soar. I guess 12 weeks IS a magical stepping stone in the breastfeeding department. I still have a tough time nursing her on my right side but that aside it's so much easier than a month ago!

She naps more. As you read in my last post she naps 3 or 4 times a day. This is a big change from a few weeks ago when she barely napped during the day. Maybe because she's more active and that means she needs more sleep. Not sure if that is true but I'm really not complaining about the fact that she naps more than she used to. I truly hope she gets her daddy's sleeping habits. He can sleep anywhere and through anything! Must be nice!

She finally rolled over again. She hasn't done that since she was 6-7 weeks old. We are also practicing her rolling from back to stomach and standing/squatting. I cannot wait to get her a "Johnny Jump Up" and see how she does with it.

We are also working on her falling asleep on her own without the pacifier. Sometimes it works but for the most part she still relies heavily on it. I did read an article that encouraged pacifiers for babies of mothers who have an overactive letdown. Babies that are fast eaters and usually nurse for 5-10 minutes need the pacifier to exercise their sucking reflex. This makes me feel better about giving it her. I do note that she only gets the pacifier during her naps. She only gets it at "night" when she wakes up at 6am and she is not hungry but needs the sucking reflex to lull her back to sleep.

So in conclusion I cannot believe we survived the first 12 weeks. I cannot believe that Spring is here and the weather is continuing to get warmer. I cannot believe that everything this baby has learned so far is because of my and my husband's time with her. These past weeks have been crazy hard but it's getting easier. I finally believe all of you who have told me that over and over. It gets a little easier everyday!

P.S Let the handstanding commence!