Another month has gone by and sweet Lincoln is two months old, and once again, I can’t quite believe it.
He is such a sweet baby— he loves to snuggle and be held and (thank God) just like his sister, he loves to nap during the day.
In the past month, he’s become more alert and has a little more awake time. He also smiles and has even let out a couple of mini “laughs.’ All of that sweetness makes the harder/fussier days a little easier to deal with.
Here are Lincoln’s two month stats:
Weight/Height:
Lincoln is gaining like a champ. He weighs 13 lbs, 13 oz. (78th percentile), is 24.25 inches long (91st percentile) and his head measures 15.55 inches (55th percentile). We make big babies!
Health:
Though I’ve been dairy-free for over six weeks now, Lincoln’s diapers still aren’t what we had hoped they would be by now (still having occasional specks of blood and mucousy consistency). Our pediatrician recommended that I continue nursing since he’s gaining well and doesn’t have any concerning symptoms (eats well, sleeps well, isn’t colicky). I asked her if I should also eliminate soy and she said she wouldn’t because it’s a much more restrictive diet than just eliminating dairy and she’s not worried about anything related to the allergy and his growth and development. In the last few days we seem to have made some progress with his diapers, but they change all the time so it’s hard to tell if they’ll be consistently better.
We are so lucky Lincoln hasn’t been sick yet, especially with Harper in daycare. However, I’m also pretty much a hermit during my maternity leave so that could play a part of it. To be honest, I’m so used to being go-go-go when I’m working with so much to balance, that I love having lazy days at home to just enjoy relaxing, snuggling and organizing (and watching copious amounts of HGTV). With Lincoln being our last baby, I’m not overly eager to get out of the house a ton. I’m content enjoying my time with him in our new home and maybe getting some laundry done (#goals). There will never be another time in my life where I get to snuggle my baby all day and take it easy, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts!
Social:
We don’t get out much, but Lincoln sees his wonderful grandparents a lot and the pediatrician, haha. Soon he will make lots of new friends at daycare!
Nursing:
I’m nursing and pumping, but mostly pumping. I have an oversupply and I’m fine with that in case my supply goes down a little when I start back at work. I have to pump after he nurses to fully empty, so I usually just pump a lot of the feedings so I can feed what I pumped and freeze the rest. I nurse when it’s convenient or the timing is right (I haven’t pumped yet and he is hungry) and also for snacking/comfort between feeds. I’m so used to it that it doesn’t feel like extra work, it just feels like my “normal.”
Having said that, I had an appointment with my OB last week and I had plans to meet with my friends/co-workers at the hospital for lunch and we ended up spending enough time at the hospital that I had to feed Lincoln twice. I nursed him in a room at the Baby Bistro and it was so wonderful to have that convenience and not have to worry about bringing a bottle or going off somewhere to pump. I never had the chance to enjoy the convenience of nursing with Harper, so I think this will make future family outings a lot easier, knowing that I can just nurse while we’re out and about. 
Sleep:
We started to put Lincoln in his crib recently and that has been going well even though the first night we tried it was a total fail. We didn’t move Harper into her nursery until she was 3.5 months, but she slept so much better in her own room that we decided we would try to transition Lincoln a little bit earlier.
It has been going way better than we thought it would. We put blackout curtains in the nursery so it’s nice and dark and he has been sleeping in his crib anywhere from 4-6 hours at a time every night. When he wakes up, we feed him (almost like a dream feed) and he goes right back down for another 3-5 hours. It has been such a relief that he has been sleeping so well in his own room, but I’m not getting too excited because I know that the four-month sleep regression is just around the corner.
Though he’s a good sleeper/napper, he has a nightly “witching hour” where he’s basically ballistic until he passes out (and I mean screaming, tears down the face, red-faced, cries so hard it looks painful, ballistic). It all starts at around 6:30-7 in the evening. As soon as he starts fussing, I’ll usually feed him and then take him right up for a bath. He loves baths and is calm until we take him out of the water. We quickly put a diaper and his sleeper on him and then either I or Kevin will walk/rock him to settle him down. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes sometimes closer to 30 to settle him down. Thank goodness for the glider in the nursery.
Once he passes out, then he’s usually out until midnight or 1. His longest stretch of sleep so far has been six hours.
He used to hate being swaddled, but he fidgets so much as he’s settling down (only at night, oddly) and kicks his legs and moves his arms a ton so I finally put him in the Woombie and he’s slept much more soundly since. Thank goodness for the Woombie— it worked like a charm with Harper too.
Likes:
Snuggling, eating, being carried around so he can look at things around the house, sleeping on us, sleeping in his swing, laying on his back on his play mat. He also loves to hold and pull my hair. A lot.
Dislikes:
Being hangry, gas, 7-8 p.m. every night. Longer than a few minutes of tummy time.
Clothes:
Lincoln is wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. Everywhere we go people are like “that is one big baby!!” I tell them I feed him Oreos, haha.
Crying:
I wouldn’t say he cries excessively, but he cries just like any other baby. When he’s hungry, over-tired, gassy, doing tummy time for too long and sometimes for no reason at all. He has good days and bad days. Days where he’s fussy and I have to really work to settle him and days where he’s pretty relaxed and doesn’t cry a ton (except for at night—his witching hour have never escaped us).
Milestones:
This isn’t a real milestone, but all of his hair that fell out is growing back in! I’ve even noticed his eyelashes are getting longer. His hair grew back in a light brown color and when the sun shines on it, it almost looks like a dirty blonde. He’s also smiling and overall has better head control and is tracking things with his eyes more. He’s also started swatting at his toys.
Postpartum:
I had an appointment with my OB last week as a post-surgical follow-up. The pathology results came back and it was a placenta accreta again. To be honest I was a little bit surprised. Even though I had had it before, I thought it may just be some retained placenta since I had a C-section this time. The doctors can’t figure out why my uterus tends to “hold on” to the placenta in that way since I have no risk factors for accreta. In any case, I’m incredibly thankful they were able to get it all out of me without additional hemorrhaging and the need for a transfusion (hearing that they were still waiting on the blood for my surgery when I was in the hospital was a really scary moment for me).
I’m so grateful for the two beautiful, healthy children we have and though there were bumps in the road and some very frightening moments, I realize I’m very very lucky that my accretas were not on the severe end of the spectrum and that my body handled them the way that it did. You can read more about the condition here.
Thank you again so much to all of you who were praying for me and keeping me in your thoughts as our family went through this again.
Thank you for reading!
We had the “witching hour” with my son Henry too. He was (and still is) the sweetest, most even-tempered kid, but right around 7pm nothing could make him happy and he would just scream until he was all red in the face. My husband used to say, “uh oh, he’s turning into Mr. Cherry Head” like a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde type of situation. At least the silly name made me laugh, haha.
How long did it last for? Harper had it too but it was only for about a two week period…Lincoln looks like he will be doing this…indefinitely, ha.
It was a few months. I thought it would last forever but I think he stopped around 4 months. I hope Lincoln doesn’t do it for too much longer! 🙂
I am crossing my fingers! 🙂
Loved the update Veronika! I cannot believe it has already been 2 months! Those pictures of him in the santa hat and PJ’s are just too cute – he is absolutely adorable! I’m so happy for you and your family that you are feeling better and have healed well! I am due in 3 weeks and will be trying for a VBAC after my C-section 1 1/2 years ago – so we’ll see! Happy Holidays beautiful!
xoxo http://www.touchofcurl.com
I wish you the best of luck and hope your VBAC works out! 🙂
Hi so glad you are doing good. Our little girls are same age even born on same day so wondering if Harper has been going through any sleep regression lately?
YUP. She will not nap at home anymore. A week ago she was still taking 2-3 hour afternoon naps and now she refuses. She’s also harder to get down at night BUT she does sleep through the night consistently until morning (around 6:30-7 a.m.) so we can’t complain. She does still nap at daycare though.
The Woombie was a lifesaver for us and once we started using it we ALL slept good! I don’t miss the witching hour at all. It was every single night like clockwork and was stressful to deal with because not much would help to calm her. She eventually outgrew it though and got on a good nighttime routine that she is still sticking with at almost 9mo’s now.
The Woombie is amazing. I honestly don’t understand why any other swaddles need to be purchased if you have a Woombie! It’s the ONLY one they cannot get out of and it’s a nice stretchy fabric so baby isn’t totally restricted. We just love it!
Oh my goodness…what an adorable roly poly little man! My daughter (3.5) was/is so long and thin that when I had my son (12 Months), it was heaven to have such a chunky baby! Love it 🙂 Glad to hear you’re recovering from your D&C as well 🙂 Oh yes, and I’m the one who messaged you on Snapchat about the baby monitor issues…hope that helped!
Have you talked with your doctor about an egg or peanut allergy? It’s so hard to know but man it’s nice to figure it out and solve the problem. I am so glad he is gaining weight well though.
Yup! She doesn’t want me to cut anything else right now— I have noticed some improvement in his diapers and I *think* we are turning a corner…I hope! I am willing to cut more if I need to, but she just said because there aren’t any weight gain issues, to just contiue to keep dairy out.
PS- I should also mention that I did cut out eggs as well 🙂 I didn’t have to but I just did when I cut out dairy in case they were a trigger.
Congrats on the second baby! My first is a year and honestly I can’t imagine a second just yet! But this post makes me feel like it is all possible! Regarding your oversupply – have you tried NOT pumping after you nurse? When you pump after you nurse you are just telling your body to keep making more milk – like you are nursing twins! So if you don’t pump your body will just say, “She doesn’t need that much, so we can just make what the baby needs.” I also had an oversupply and my lactation consultant/night doula said I had to be careful with pumping because it made me make a ton of milk. So before I went back to work I only pumped instead of nursing (not in addition) and I didn’t pump until I was empty – just want the baby would likely take.
I guess it’s because I prefer to have an oversupply since I mostly pump and nurse only for convenience and snacking. If I stayed at home I would probably try to nurse more or exclusively but I worry about my supply going down and thus I always like to fully empty. I know that sounds a little silly but having a bit of an oversupply makes me feel more at ease knowing that even if it goes down a bit when I return to work I will make enough to feed him! Plus, it’s painful if he only eats from one side and is full and then the other breast is so engorged. But I get what you’re saying— makes total sense!
I hear you! Although the oversupply was a pain in the beginning, I was very grateful for it When I went back to work! Enjoy maternity leave!
Hello, Veronika! I have few questions about your pumping. I couldn’t nurse my first son and pumping didn’t go so well, and this time ( I am 21 weeks pregnant now) I hope I can at least pump properly. So, what’s your pumping schedule and how do you do it, before the eating time or after and keep it for next meal? In the hospital, how soon after surgery had you pump? At night, how often do you do it? And what pump do you use? Thank you!
Excuse my spelling or grammar mistakes, I am not a native english speacker!
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Right now I pump on average about 6 times per day, every 3-4 hours during the day, before I go to sleep and also in the middle of the night. I also nurse sometimes. I pump after feeding since I have a slight oversupply, but I don’t nurse all the time.
I use a Medela PISA and love it. I recommend you take a breastfeeding class if it’s offered at the hospital where you will deliver or consult a lactation consultant right after you give birth. Every woman’s experience is so different that what might work for me may not work for someone else. Good luck 🙂
Our son had the “witching hour” as well! It probably lasted until he was about 3 months old–we would pop him in the Baby Bjorn and do laps around the house–our first floor is a big circle basically. He turned a corner on most things at about 3 months–sleeping better, stretching out his feedings, less crying. My husband & I joked that we should have worn a pedometer for all of that walking. We can look back on it now and smile, but being in it was so, so, so difficult. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t last too long for you!
Thank you SO much for commenting 🙂 he has had a pretty fussy/awful week so it’s comforting to know things get better. I am going back to work soon so I hope he starts to get less fussy. He is sleeping well at night but still wants to be carried constantly during the day between naps. One day he is fine and the next he is really fussy. Poor baby. I know it gets better because Harper went through a fussy period but it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes. Wishing you a great week!
Ohhh goodness….he is so so so wonderful and utterly adorable!!!!!! 😀 I can’t quite tell who he looks more like. Maybe you? Although Harper started to GROW into looking like you as she got older. And hang in there Veronika, remember how endlessly tiring those first few months were with Harper? The hardship will be over soon. Until the terrible 2s come in, ahah! 🙂