By ALTHEA PETERSON Staff Writer on Mar 18, 2013, at 7:05 AM Updated on 3/08 at 3:21 PM
This was one of my favorite drawings since the blog began and I still use it has my twitter avatar. I still do this juggling act on a regular basis, but no longer carry breastpump stuff (I only nurse at nights now). She's much heavier now to make up the difference. (Drawn by Althea Peterson)
BECAUSE I SAID SO
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Happy first birthday, baby.
While we're out of state visiting her grandparents for her birthday, I thought I'd give a recap of her first year to help any soon-to-be or current parents of infants.
The illnesses:
Fever: We fortunately avoided this during the early months, but in general, 100.5 will send her home from daycare, and anything above 103 is cause for concern (and possibly a trip to the emergency room)
First: 4 months
Worst: 104, with pneumoniaCold: Nothing stays awake like a coughing, congested baby. You have my sympathies if you turn into a zombie parent like we did during this first bout. Check out sleep and soothe tips here.
First: Five months Strep throat: You're bound to catch this right after your kid, so if your kid shows prolonged and moderately high (101-102 range) fevers and lack of energy, get them to the doctor and on antibiotics. This was sadly what caused me to end full-time nursing. I just couldn't keep up with her appetite when I was this sick.
First: Six monthsRSV/pneumonia: I'm putting these together because RSV led to pneumonia for our daughter. Her fever turned a scary-high 104 after initially showing improvement from RSV. It suprised and scared us. More on this here.
First: 10 monthsPink eye: They'll make your child stay home from daycare since it can be contagious, but a week of eyedrops (which our baby hates) will clear it easily, with your child being able to go back to daycare only after a day of them. Other than some eye discharge (it's not scary, it's like mucus), your baby should be as active and happy as ever.
First: Five months
Second: 11 monthsSleeping
Newborn: About the only time I remember her being awake was when she was being fed or changed. However, you needed to feed her every three hours, nights includedOne month: Rejoice in the lengthening periods of sleep initially at night. You might even get the first 5-6 hours a few nights. Or, your baby might continue demanding to see you every three. Two months: You should start to see some all-night sleeping around this time. But, it wasn't consistent for us. Nine months: Still don't have a nighttime sleeper? This was when we finally hit our breaking point and asked our pediatrician for help. "Cry it out" was suggested. After a few nights, it worked. Admittedly, they were awful nights.Feeding:
Nursing: I ran down all of the reasons why people decide to give up on breastfeeding here. By the time we left the hospital, we could see that all of the other parents had raided their formula supply.
We stuck with it for her first 6-7 months before strep throat caused us to substitute in formula gradually.
It will require mommy sacrifice of time, sleep and more, but it doesn't last forever.Rice/oatmeal: We first started mixing breastmilk and formula with rice and oatmeal at about 5-6 months. Until your child is used to formula's taste, she will probably not want to eat it, even if mixed with rice/oatmeal.Fruit/veggies, sans citric acid: Introducing a new one each week after she turned 6 months, our baby tried out everything from sweet potatoes to pears. She started with about 2 oz servings, but now at a year old will easily eat two 3.5 oz tubs per meal (usually one fruit, one vegetable).Table scraps: Not just for pets anymore, our baby has loved trying new tastes off of adult dinner plates during the past several months. We usually don't give her too much, since non-baby food tends to have artificial everything in it, but it gets her used to more foods.Happy first birthday, baby girl. I love you.
--Althea Peterson
Baby bit: When taking baby to the (adult) doctor late one day after pink eye suspicions, she was introduced to the wonderful mystery of... automatic doors. Springing to life without notice, these moving windows of magnificence made her giggle and coo happily. She walked straight through two of them to the parking lot, when I decided to give her a new source of facination: A big line of empty (baby drums) waiting room chairs.
This week, my baby is flying: And due to this, we decided to actually have her real birth certificate on-hand this time, so on her pink eye day off, we went to the Tulsa Health Department. The wait was nearly two hours from the moment I drew No. 28. If you need a birth certificate for your child or anyone else, I highly recommend applying by mail, not in person.
Althea Peterson is the proud mother of a ONE YEAR old girl. Baby advice, baby questions or baby words of encouragement can be sent to althea.peterson@tulsaworld.com. Also, follow Althea and other parents on Twitter at twitter.com/twbecauseisaid. You can also follow Althea at twitter at twitter.com/a1a4ou.
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