Adjusted

So this pic has nothing to do with my post, but good heavens, I just love this beautiful baby!

Okay, back to the original post...

Ah...those milestones. Every new mama seems to always be obsessed with those, and I am no different.

 I remember back when Rowan was in the NICU, the doctors had mentioned that because she was born six weeks early she may have developmental delays. Basically it meant that she may not be meeting milestones at the same time as her term baby friends. The doctors said we had to use her adjusted age rather than going by her real actual age. What adjusted age means is how old Rowan would have been had she been born on time. For example Rowan is 6.5 months old. Her adjusted age would then be 5 months old. So, that means any big milestones we have to treat her like a 5 monther rather than 6 (I know, monther isn't a word, LOL).

I remember hearing that I just brushed it off. I figured that wouldn't be her case and we would be just fine. At times, even now, I forget that Rowan was a preemie. When I look at her I don't see preemie, I just see my beautiful girl, my little spit fire. She is a fighter and so incredibly strong.  She has had zero problems, and she's even chubbier and bigger than some of her term baby friends. I just figured that 6 weeks really wouldn't make a difference. I just remember feeling and thinking "we're going to prove the doctors wrong". Rowan is going to do everything on time". I remember feeling very smug that before Rowan turned her actual age of 4 months old (only 2.5 months adjusted at the time), she actually rolled over. She was actually quite roly-poly and was rolling for the next few days afterwards. I remember thinking "see I was right!" But then as some days went by she stopped doing it completely altogether. It freaked me out and made me think the doctors may be on to something.

Currently, Rowan rolls around like its going out of style. However, many of her baby friends (many of them 6 months like her) are currently sitting up with no problem, crawling and some are even pulling themselves up. Last week I got an email from baby center about sitting up. In reading the comments, some moms put

"Oh my 4 month old is sitting up" (really!??)
"My 6 month old is sitting up and crawling",
etc, etc, etc.

I see my friends' babies and these comments and I can't help but feel concerned. While Rowan is rolling, holding up her weight through her arms, she isn't sitting up. She sits up for 10-15 before she does a "TIMBER" fall. to the floor. AND certainly, she isn't crawling. I feel a sense of pressure and panic has seem to set in, till I remember....

ALL THESE BABIES WERE BORN AT TERM. MINE WASN'T. THE END.

When I remember that, it gives me a sense of peace. I have to calm the heck down, and realize Rowan will do things when its time, and when her body is ready. It is important to also know that even termies don't always do everything "on time". Despite all of this, it hasn't stopped me from being proactive. For the last 3 months, we have been seeing a physical therapist, to make sure she is developing okay and catching any issues early. In those sessions, the doctor has noticed Rowan has a slight bout of torticollis, which basically a head tilt. Its getting better, but something we for sure need to work on it. In this last session, we noticed she seems to have very slight floppy arms, which means when you pick her up, it feels like she could slip through your fingers. The therapist thinks its minor, and taught us a slew of things we could be doing. She thinks with tummy time and other exercising, she should improve between 1-2 months. On the positive, Rowan is the 95% percentile in meeting milestones as a "5 month old". For her real age, 6.5 months, she is at the 40% percentile for milestones. I heard that number and my heart sank, because as a teacher, 40% isn't good. However, her therapist said that was actually good, considering she is a preemie. With all of that, I left feeling my amazing little girl is on the right track.

All of this said, this is a good reminder to calm the eff down. Rowan is already doing amazing, and will continue to do so. I am so incredibly thankful that her early birth hasn't given way to huge problems. We have a lot to be thankful for. So, I am just going to sit back, continue to work with her, and just enjoy my beautiful girl. Time is flying too fast anyway.


 

A re-do....Happy 5 months Rowan!

So, I demand a redo!

                                                      

Holy crap, I was so rushing on this post I forgot a few things. I like writing a cute, sappy paragraph before all the stats and for some reason, I totally left it out  :( So, here we go:

I can't believe Rowan turned 5 months. I am not very happy about this, her babyhood is FLYING by and I am not a fan. I love babies and I truly am enjoying having my own precious baby. Rowan is seriously the most amazing little human. I look at her and can't believe I made her. Seeing life through her little eyes is amazing. I swear she seems to discover something everyday. It is incredible.  Being a mama isn't always easy. I sometimes wonder if I am up for the task, and if I am even doing it right. I do remind myself that God handpicked me to be the mother of this beautiful girl and I have to keep trusting in him to guide us!

Some updates about my little darling:

Name: Rowan Decaris Potter

Rowan's age: 5 months old, 14 weeks adjusted age

Weight: My chunk-a-munk is 16.5 pounds (this is an updated weight).This girl is quite the tank! She is solid and getting super heavy! She has more than tripled her birth weight in less than 5 months! I just LOVE having a chubby baby! 
Solids?  No solids yet. Her pedi wants us to wait another month, because of her preemie age. Honestly, I am okay with that. However I am so excited to start giving her solids!


Clothing size: definitely 6 month clothing, size 3 diapers and starting to fit in 9 month clothes, eek! I have had to REALLY make sure she wears all of her beautiful outfits. I can't believe how fast she is outgrowing everything!

Rowan milestones (for her adjusted age):
-Rowan is a pro at tummy time. She actually really enjoys it now, but sometimes gets tired after awhile. She does this crazy thing where she scoots and pushes her legs under with a lot of force. She was doing it last month but seems like she is getting even better at it.  It seems like the makings of potential crawling!

-That said...this crazy girl refuses to roll over from tummy to back. SIGH. What bugs me is that she was totally doing it a few weeks ago. When she DID it a few weeks back, she was super rolly polly and now she's stopped. OH THIS GIRL. I have been told with ALL babies this can happen. However, Miss stubborn pants tries with all her might to roll over from BACK to tummy and is getting pretty dang close to mastering it. What cracks me up is that this is way harder to do than rolling from tummy to back! Oh Rowan! And remember, this is all for her adjusted age. Anything milestone wise, we have to treat her like a 3.5 month old (that's her adjusted age) rather than her actual age. I have to always remind myself of that too.

-Rowan is starting to put EVERYTHING in her mouth and is still super "grabby" with everything. she loves to pull on toys, swat and hit. She will grab anything that is within her reach with no problem.

-Rowan isn't sitting up completely on her own, but she can stay "up" for at least 3-5 seconds before plopping over, lol!

-Rowan is SUPER CHATTY. She was always cooing before, but now she comes up with all kinds of different noises. Sometimes when she is crying she will do a "mummma mumumummum" sound, lol! I feel like she definitely "found" her voice and is super loud about it. I think its precious but in the middle of church it can be distracting, LOL!

-I think we MIGHT  have a teether. Most docs and mamas will tell you 4 months is TOO YOUNG to be cutting teeth. I agree. However, she is so insanely drooly, and will soak your shoulder more quickly than you can wipe her mouth. She will bite hard on anything, especially if it's hard.

Rowan loves:
-her food! She is eating about 6 oz most bottles, 8 oz at bedtime.
-is starting to have favorites with certain toys
-WATER. This makes my heart happy, as hubby and I were swimmers and water polo players. She loves baths now. She will kick so hard (potential breast stroke swimmer?) and splash the water with her little hands. So sweet!
-CHEWING, especially burp cloths!


Rowan doesn't like: sitting. She is getting to the point where she is moving in that direction but she really doesn't like to sit. OH THIS GIRL. Already she is showing her Potter stubbornness!! I know she will like it eventually.

New things we did this month:

-Towards the end of her 3rd, practically 4 month, we FINALLY went back to church and it was awesome. We kept her away because I was so nervous about the whooping cough epidemic and because of her being a preemie, her doctor wanted us to wait 6 months, but that I couldn't handle. Rowan does decently well, but she gets VERY CHATTY right when pastor is preaching. People will turn and smile, but I feel terrible I have a noisy baby. I am not ready to send her to nursery, so we sometimes watch the service in the cafe when she decides to be loud. I am loving it though. I am so excited to raise my little in the church!

-Birthday parties! My little girl's social calendar was quite busy with many invites to birthday parties! We couldn't go to all, but the ones we made it to, they were so much fun! Of course Rowan couldn't do a whole lot, but it was nice to be around friends and other little humans. 

- we tried "swimming" (or at least a modified version). Here in good ol' California it is still stupid hot, which makes me angry. Hello, where are you cold fall weather? We were invited to a pool birthday party, but I didn't plan for her to swim. Rowan has uber sensitive skin, and I was nervous putting her in chlorine. However, my poor babe got so hot! So, we borrowed a swim diaper, put her in those big baby bath tubs, and filled it with cold hose water (it was SO HOT outside). I thought she would scream because of the cold water, but she LOVED IT. She squealed, kicked with all her might and splashed. I had so much fun watching her! She looked so funny in her swim diaper! Oh this girl:

How is Rowan's spit up?: Still so much better! Thank you Jesus!

Sleep: I'm terrified to say anything because I am CERTAIN I will jinx it! Well, this month was big in regards to sleep. Rowan used to start off the night on her tummy, and after her 11 pm bottle we would move her to the rock and play. She didn't like being flat on her back. It bugged me that we did that, because I just wished she could just stay in her crib. I also wanted to stop tummy sleeping because we had a bit of a scare. Her snuza (which is a breathing alarm) went off while she was on her tummy. She woke up immediately (after we ran like the wind and picked her up) and to be honest, I think it was a false alarm. Anyway, it was enough to scare me. AND YES, I know once she starts rolling like a pro she may end up on her tummy. Anywho, we began "training" her on her back. It was hard in the beginning, but surprisingly, she has been back sleeping for almost a month now! Again, terrified I will jinx it, but after her 11 pm bottle she basically sleeps till 5. She will squeak and cry in her sleep at times, usually around 3 am. She isn't awake and normally if you put in her paci, she will fall back to sleep. Oh geeze, I bet I just jinxed it all, LOL!

Naps?Well...she has big time regressed. Now that she is on her back, she doesn't stay asleep very long. Sigh. She will take a super short nap, a decent one in the middle, and sometimes an okay one in the afternoon. 

Rowan's personality so far: This girl is quite the child. She is very stubborn about things but this girl is so insanely cute and snuggly. She makes quite the faces, but LOVES to smile. She LOVES attention too. We get so many comments while we are out,  and boy, does she know it! She will smile and coo. Oh Rowan! People always comment how deliciously chubby she is, or how beautiful she is. It makes my heart want to burst!

Here is our monthly photo dump: