6 week update...

Callie is 6 weeks old today... how can that be!?! We've been told countless times, "enjoy every minute with them because they grow up SO quickly!" And though I've smiled and nodded at these cliche comments, it is actually hitting me now, just how true that statement is. She literally changes every single day and when I think back to the day she was born, the memories are already becoming a bit hazy. (Which, in the way of labour/delivery, I would say is a good thing ;))
The biggest highlight over the last few weeks has been Callie's constant smiling. She is such a content & happy baby and has started to smile for just about anyone that will try to get a grin out of her. I've tried really hard to get it on camera and finally had some success today. I also managed to catch a quick one on video too. If you watch the clip below, you'll see her face light up when I scan back to her after showing you her "horsie." We have some stuffed animal puppets up on the shelves above her change table and she goes crazy over this particular horse. Just yesterday, she was entertained by him for over 20 minutes. Her legs kick in excitement and she smiles and cooes at him every time we put her on the table.

(** Sorry, but blogger won't let me upload the video right now... I'll add it as soon as I can.)

The last time we were at the doctor (which was just over a week & 1/2 ago), she was 9 lbs. 5 oz. and with the way she feeds, I'm sure she's pretty close to 10 lbs. by now :) They didn't measure her but the time before that, she was in the 90th percentile for height and she has continued to grow a lot in length over the last few weeks.
As for sleeping, I honestly couldn't ask for a better baby. She only wakes once in the night to feed, and often even sleeps right through. Last week, she slept from 10:30pm- 6:30am. And just last night, I put her down at around 8:30pm and she slept until 3:00am. She ate, was back into bed by 3:20am and didn't wake again until 7:00am. I feel so blessed! I know that things can change quickly but I'm definitely getting a lot more rest than I thought I would and am taking full advantage of it while I can.
I've felt especially blessed by Callie's easy-going & sweet nature because the last few weeks have been quite rough for me. Nursing was a challenge right from the beginning and after finally getting her to latch without the help of a "shield" (at around the 3 week mark), the pain of it quickly became UNBEARABLE. I knew that something was wrong and soon discovered, with the help of my doctor & a nurse at the health unit, that I had a bad case of thrush. So, they gave me a prescription cream to apply and recommended that in order for me to heal a bit, I should pump for a weekend and just bottle feed her. So I did that and hated every minute of it. It was SO time-consuming because I had to sterilize everything, every single time I used it due to the thrush infection. Thankfully, she took a bottle like a champ!
But then, after finally getting her back to breastfeeding early that week, by Friday I had developed mastitis as well (on our anniversary of all things). Fortunately, I caught the mastitis early enough and they got me on antibiotics before I got too sick. On top of all of this, I re-tore a bit and have been waiting for that to heal up. My doctor doesn't think it needs to be re-stitched just yet and is hoping it will heal on its own. But I've now had an open wound for the last 3 weeks and am growing frustrated with the fact that its summer time, and I probably won't be able to swim at all, due to the risk of infection. Needless to say, its been a rough few weeks and I'm continuing to pray for healing and patience for it to happen. If you think of it, I'd totally appreciate your prayers too.
On a completely different subject, Jon and I are getting super excited for this weekend to arrive. We leave for holidays on Saturday and are going to be spending an entire week (Saturday to the following Saturday) at a lake up north. We haven't had a "true holiday" like this in a long time. Jon's Great-Aunt & Uncle own a cabin and are graciously letting us use it for the week. We're SO looking forward to having some time, just the 3 of us, and spending some time away from the hustle and bustle of life. Especially after the crazy month we've had. I'll be sure to post pictures of our little get-away when we get back.