This Little Piggy...

Little Miss Elsa has been suffering from what I'm assuming are allergies. Her tiny nostrils are stuffed most of the time and it has resulted in her sounding like a little piglet! She's definitely the cutest piglet I've ever seen, just check out these pictures taken this past month:

Unfortunately, our little piglet isn't eating like one. As mentioned in the previous post, Elsa was born tongue-tied. The hope was that after her tongue was clipped, she would become a pro at eating. We're finding that she is still trying to figure out what to do with her tongue.

We have her on a two-hour feeding schedule, which means that she eats every two hours (counted from start of one feeding to the start of another feeding). This leaves me with about an hour of "free" time between each feeding. It has become physically and emotionally exhausting! But in the end, it's worth it. We're making sure that she is gaining weight while getting the health benefits of breast milk.

Current stats for our "Miss Piggy" from her 2 month appointment:

Weight: 9 lbs 10 oz (12th percentile)
Length: 22.5 inches (50th percentile)
Head: 39 centimeters (just above 50th percentile)

Tongue-tied... My daughter?? No way!!!

Carl and I discovered last week that Miss Elsa was born with a condition known as "tongue-tied". Anyone who knows me may chuckle at this notion as I can be quite the chatterbox given the occasion.

Unfortunately those who are "tongue-tied" not only can develop speech difficulties but it can also cause dental problems and, as what was currently plaguing Elsa, troubles nursing.

If it weren't for a wonderful lactation-consultant-in-training that has been coming to our house on a regular basis, we wouldn't have caught the condition until it had created a much worse problem. The LC has been weighing Elsa at each visit and last week we found that she had only gained 2 ounces over 2 weeks. Babies at this age should be gaining at least 0.5 ounces per day! As you can imagine, Carl and I were instantly concerned. And I, being my typical self, automatically when into worst-case-scenario mode, concocting the worse possible causes for the sudden lack in weight gain.

Thankfully, the LC was able to schedule an appointment with one of her fellow co-workers for the next day. Her co-worker has been working as an LC for quite sometime and automatically was able to diagnose Elsa as being tongue-tied. We scheduled a doctors appointment for the very next day and now Elsa's tongue is free to move about as she pleases.

I'm sure that once Elsa reaches the teenage years, Carl and I will be looking for some reverse-procedure to help control that tongue! But for now, we're happy that our baby is healthy and happy and is starting to gain that baby fat that everyone keeps talking about.

Mama's Got a New Pair of Pants

I recently got the opportunity to try out a new style of jeans from Old Navy (thanks to my account with Crowdtap.com - I recommend you take a second to check them out!). Carl and I have been trying to clamp down on our expenses but I'm not quite at my pre-pregnancy size, so I've been left with very little to wear on the bottom. So, this opportunity was welcomed with open arms.

The pants are part of the new ankle jeans collection. I was a little scared of them at first - they all look like skinny jeans on the Web site and skinny pants should not be seen anywhere within 10 feet of my legs - but I found a style that I really like. Now I have cute pants to wear while I work on losing the baby weight!