The Hargett's: November 2010

Tomorrow is my first day back to work after a long 13 week maternity leave. It's been so great being home with Stella and I'm so sad to leave her tomorrow. I know she is in good hands, but being her with 24/7 it is really hard to leave her. Especially for 11 hours...that is what my work day will be for the next three days. Luckily I do get Thanksgiving and Black Friday off to be with Stella. Next week and the week after I'll be trying out a schedule of getting off at 3:30 Monday through Friday and I'm hoping it will work out for my boss and that will be my permanent schedule. I would love it because I'd get to see my baby girl a lot more everyday and I'd get to see my husband more as well. I am excited to go back to work to see all my friends and to kinda have some me time, but I will surely miss my baby girl!! She is my world and my everything, I can't imagine my life without her!

So I have a little over a week left on my maternity leave. I have mixed emotions about going back to work. I've loved being home with my sweet little girl and being able to play with her everyday. It will be nice to get out of the house and see my work friends again, but I'm sure going to miss seeing Stella all day! I think I'm most nervous about leaving her with Troy and my mom when she watches her. Only because I'm so used to taking care of her 24/7 and I know what her cries mean and I know her routine and how to calm her down when she is fussy. I do have faith in them both and I know they will do a wonderful job taking care of her without me, but I still have my worries. I just hope Stella doesn't have one of her "firsts" while I'm at work! I'm gonna have to leave the camera and video camera with whoever is watching her in case she does. I would hate to miss her first laugh.

Stella is smiling a lot now and cooing a lot. She is such a happy baby and I love it! Right now she is not liking breast feeding. She prefers a bottle, which is great when I have to go back to work but I love breastfeeding her. We get to have our bonding time when she eats. I feed her from me for every feeding and then I'll give her formula for the rest, I wanna make sure she is eating enough. I'm unable to pump as much as I could a month ago, so she is getting formula. I do have 5 oz packs in the freezer ready for when I go back to work, but I'm sure Stella will be mostly fed formula. Which sucks cuz it's so expensive and I feel passionate about breastfeeding because it's so good for her immune system. Oh well, Stella will like what she likes!

Stella also loves bath time! I've been giving her baths in our kitchen sink since she was born, but she's getting too big and likes to kick her legs and has been close to bonking her head on our sink. So today I'm off to buy a baby bath tub and I'll start bathing her in that. That will be better anyway cuz then she can kick and splash all she wants and I don't have to worry about her hurting herself. Stella has been doing amazing at night...I feel so blessed. We've been out a lot at night so I'm not exactly sure what time I could get her to fall asleep. I want to try 8 or 9 o'clock starting next week to get ready to go back to work. But for now she's been in bed by 10:30 or 11 and will sleep until 7:30 am the next morning. And the best part...she's sleeping in her bassinet all night!! I don't have to bring her in bed with me anymore. She used to only last in her bassinet till 3 am then I'd have to bring her in bed and she'd sleep the rest of the night. I'm so proud of her! I haven't migrated her to her crib yet...I love having her sleep in our room, especially when Troy is at work since he works the graveyard shift. Stella is also holding her head up...I can't believe it! She is so alert and loves to look around and be facing forward when she's held. She loves to watch tv, I think it's cuz of all the bright light and movement. She is getting so big and I'm enjoying every milestone! I love her so much and can't wait for the next milestone in her life :)