Luka Anya ~ 2 months old

Wow another month gone, time seriously does fly by when you have kids :-)

This last month have brought my family and I many ups and downs with Luka.

It really breaks my heart to say it but Luka has been quite a difficult and fussy baby, mainly due to Andrei and I finding out she has colic.
Colic is when a baby's digestive system hasn't fully matured (developed) and they have a hard to time digesting food which causes really bad tummy pain which in turn causes a lot of high pitched, ear pearcing screams and cries which can last 3+hours on bad days.
The worst was last night which lasted from 5pm till 9pm :-(
The only thing that eases it is by laying her and or carrying her on her tummy. She also likes having bath time with her back facing us and her tummy in the water.

But in saying all this we've had some hilarious moments and fun times with Luka when she's not constantly fussing and crying.

Here's how the last month has been...

Day 1
Month 1
Month 2

Pretty girl xx

Sound asleep in mummas arms on the plane :-)

Lokk at those pretty eyes!

Naww so precious!

Loving playtime!

Look who's smiling!

Smiles all around!

Weight: My has Luka grown! She's had two growth spurts since birth and her last weigh in was at 3.5kgs, she now weighs 4.23kgs! Andrei and I are definitely noticing it when were carrying her in the car seat but most importantly she's filling out her clothes and can fit 0000's to almost 000's from premature baby clothes that she easily fitted at birth (6 0'S) :-) Her measurements since birth have increased too. She was 42cm's in length and is now 53cm!

Sleep: It has been rather good despite her having a hard time with colic. She's awake more during the day now, between 3-4hours at a time with maybe a 20min nap? I'm lucky that if she tires herself out too much she will nap for 2hours.
Night times amazing though! She used to be up 2-3times a night for feeding but only wakes up once a night now and that's usually around 3-4 in the morning. She gets about 5-7hours sleep a night (yay!!!), but I'm still not satisfied with her routine in the day and when she goes to bed at night (which is around 9-11 at night) so I've made an appointment to see some baby specialists (Plunket NZ) to get help to settle her into a sturdy routine.
I saw them a few week ago and they gave me a solid routine but that was when Luka was sleeping more and now it has to be adjusted and I have no idea of how to do it with her being so colicky.
I'm seeing them next Thursday as they're quite busy so I'll update on that soon.

Diet: Exclusively breast milk. She still feeds from either 5-20mins depending on the situation.

Crying: Her crying has gotten worse the last two days. She was easing off but at around 2months old colic is at it's peak and then dies down between 3-4months old. Poor Luka. I'm going to see a chiropractor tomorrow to see if it might be her nervous system is out of alignment. You can read about chiropractic help for colicky babies HERE if you're having trouble with you're little one; so far I've heard nothing but good things and I'm hoping, praying that it might help her.
Otherwise she still normally cries when she's being changed clothes and diaper wise. I've found that giving her a feed before both though she doesn't cry and is happily looking around at everything :-)

Social: Luka is very good in new environments but does get bored easily and doesn't mind being held by strangers :-) She's more aware of her surroundings now and loves to be out and about and looking at everything. When were out in the garden I lay her on a blanket and give her leaves and flowers to touch and hold her up and put her feet on the grass, she loves it!

Milestones: Her eyesight a gotten better and she's more aware of her surroundings and is starting to know who Andrei and I are :-) Plus she has the prettiest blue eyes. They're like the colour of the deepest part of the ocean with a hint of violet, it's gorgeous!

She's almost smiling as well! She's given some neat smiles per the pics above but isn't full on smiling yet, I think her tummy aches are getting in the way of it. She gives her toys smiles at playtime and talks to them with cute little coos and gurgles :-)

She's communicating more with her cooing and gurgling, Andrei and I always respond to her doing it to start teaching her communication skills.
She's a great little traveller! When we went down to Dunedin the other week she slept through the whole plane ride and wasn't phased by the air pressure. Although on the way back home it was different as it had been quite a big trip for her (and us) and she was quite restless but still managed the trip home well.

Like I mentioned in my last post too, Luka can hold her head up for a long amount of time while on tummy time or being held, she's such a strong wee thing! The longest she's held her head up has been just over a minute and she's also shuffling and kicking around a lot too and can move her way from one end of her play mat to the next!
I have no doubt in my mind that she'll be crawling by 3-4months :-)

Postpartum: My stitches have completely healed and I've started to slowly ease back into exercising by starting kettle bell workouts which are AMAZING! Although It's been hard to do the workout a recommended 3-4times a week, I still manage to fit it in twice and try to get out and do laps around the block with Luka. Oh yeah and when I do, I run up hills which feels so good to say that I'm running again (kinda), it's the one thing I truly missed while pregnant.
I'm going to aim to lose half of my baby weight gained by the time Luka's 6 months and manage to have lost all of it (if not a few extra kgs) by one year. It's going to be hard, and I haven't weighed myself since last time, but I'll give it my best and I know I can do it. Perseverance is key!

XOXOX