Below... Catherine at around 2 weeks old
To begin, I must thank my friend Margaret for inspiring the new blog name. When I decided that I wanted to start a different blog, I was having a hard time coming up with a good name. Sweet Caroline, of course, was named for the song, but there aren't any well-known songs with Catherine in the title that I could use alongside. I considered Curtis Girls or something to do with the initials C.C., but those seemed boring. Last weekend, our friends Richard and Margaret stopped by on their way through town to drop off a book for the girls. The book is a counting book called 1 is for One. It begins "1 is for one duckling swimming in a dish, 2 is two sisters making a wish." On the card, Margaret wrote "Caroline and Catherine, 2 Sweet Sisters". And it hit me-- the perfect name for the blog.
I haven't written much about Catherine, so that's where I'll start. She was the "typical" sleepy baby for the first 2 weeks. In the hospital, much to my delight, she would sleep well in the bassinet. This is in much contrast to Caroline, who from the first night of her life, refused to sleep anywhere unless she was being held. Catherine's sleep habits continued to be much easier than with Caroline once we got home. She slept in the swing, the co-sleeper and at night, in her Baby Papasan chair in the bed between Chris and I (actually, she still sleeps there now). She had (and still has) a bit of reflux and putting her flat on her back makes her gurgle and choke. Nursing also got off to a good start-- she nursed right away in the hospital and fed about every 3 hours for the first 2 weeks. There were actually times that I had to wake her up during the day, so that she wouldn't go more than 3 hours between feedings.
At her 2 week doctor's appointment, she weighed 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21 3/4 in. She and Caroline were the exact same weight at this age.
Around 3 weeks, Catherine developed her fussy period in the evenings, lasting from around 7 pm until 10 pm off and on. She also began to nurse a bit more frequently, every 2.5-3 hours during the day, but going 3.5-4 hour stretches at night.
She blessed us with her first smile on 6/29 at 4 weeks old (same age Caroline first smiled).
At 6 weeks, daytime nursing sessions were every 3-3.5 hours and going 5-6 hours betwwen feeds at night. I tried and tried to get Catherine to take a paci, and, finally, she did at 6 weeks.
I also took her for a professional photo session on her 6 week birthday. On the drive to the studio, I heard Catherine spit up. It sounded like a lot came up, but I couldn't see in the mirror very well. When we arrived and I opened the door, Catherine, the car seat and the actual seat back of the car was covered in spit up. What I was hearing was her projectile spit up hitting the seat of the car behind her. It was a huge mess, and I practically had to give her a bath at the photographer's studio. Fortunately, the studio had a shower and tub and they had towels for me to use. So we got cleaned up and started the session. I quickly realized that the 2 extra diapers I brought with me were not going to be enough. I had changed her when we got there, so I only had one left to put back on her to go home. We were doing naked pictures and when I took the first extra diaper off, she had already pooped a little bit. During the session, I needed to put the diaper back on her in between poses and it was making a real mess. I didn't want to use my last diaper yet because I needed it for the trip home. After putting the dirty diaper back on her 3 or 4 times and covering her bottom in poop, then having to wipe her down each time we removed it for pictures, I gave up and left the diaper off. And, of course, we ended up with poop all over the beautiful hand-crocheted white blanket I had brought. We were about an hour into the session and Catherine started to get fussy and needed to nurse, so we decided to take a break. The photographer said to me, "Would you like me to run out and get some diapers while you nurse?" I was so embarassed. You would think as a second time mom I would know to bring more diapers, but, in all honesty, I was judging from Caroline's session which took 30 minutes and only one diaper change. Anyway, I hung my head and told him I would be very grateful if he would get more diapers and off he went to the store while Catherine nursed. He seemed to be completely unphased by having to do this-- I guess it wasn't the first time. We restarted the session and tried to do some tummy pictures. Catherine was not happy about it, fussing and wiggling. And then.... spits up, pees and poops all at the same time, all over the photographer's black drape. At this point, I am ready to call it quits... hot, sweating and covered in poop and spit up myself. But, then Catherine fell sound asleep, and we managed to get some fantastic pictures. In the end, it was all worth it!
A few other things of note....
Catherine responds very well to swaddling. Most of the time, it helps to calm her down immediatley. We have been swaddling her for most naps and throughout the entire night.
As far as sleeping, as I mentioned earlier, she sleeps in the Papasan chair in our bed at night. During the day, most of her naps happen in the swing because she tends to sleep longer that way. We have tried the co-sleeper some during the day, and she usually wakes up after 30 minutes or so and then requires some soothing and persuading to go back to sleep. We haven't established any kind of regular nap schedule, but generally, she nurses and then is awake for 45 minutes to an hour and a half and then sleeps for an hour or sometimes even two.
She also sleeps in her carseat quite a bit on outings, especially when we take Caroline to the pool. One of us sits at a table with Catherine, while she thankfully sleeps most of the time, and the other swims with Caroline. And speaking of the carseat, Catherine has proven to be a much better car rider than Caroline. When she was a baby, Caroline would cry without fail anytime she was in the car, pretty much the enitre duration of the drive. However, Catherine almost always goes to sleep the minute the car starts moving. She also tends to sleep well in the stroller. The catch is that the car and the stroller have to keep moving. Once we get home, I have tried leaving her in the car or stroller sleeping, and she always wakes up within 10 minutes or so. Even if I bring the carseat inside, she rarely continues to sleep in it.
At her 2 month check up, Catherine weighed 11 lbs 15 oz and was 23 in., which puts her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. At the same age, Caroline was 12 lbs 11 oz and 23 1/4 in. Interesting, considering Catherine weighed a half a pound more at birth.
So, now at 9 weeks, Catherine is nursing every 3-3.5 hours during the day and going 5-7 hours between feeds at night. Those 7 hour stretches have been really nice! Her temperment is much like Caroline's was as a baby-- she goes from 0-90 in about 2 seconds. When she wants something, she wants it NOW and lets you know very loudly. On the other hand, she is smiling a lot more now, which is so much fun. And even Caroline has joined in the fun saying "Baby smile again" meaning she wants Catherine to smile. So, we have been telling her to laugh and smile at Catherine, and that maybe she will smile back. Caroline doesn't usually get close enough to Catherine's face for her to see, but sometimes, Catherine will smile at the sound of Caroline's voice or laugh. It is really nice to see the interaction between them. I think Catherine starting to smile has helped to spark Caroline's interest in her.... and maybe even enjoy her sister's company a little bit.
