Samantha at 20 Weeks

At the end of my last post, I wrote about how much trouble Samantha was having with sleeping.  We were hoping it was just a phase, as we were so tired during the week, it was hard to function during the day when we weren't getting very much sleep at night.  Well, last Wednesday she went back to normal again, just like that.  We didn't do anything different, she just went back to going to sleep like normal and staying asleep until around 4 a.m. at which time I would nurse her again and put her back to sleep until morning.  Ahh, it's amazing how much more sleep will help you feel better!


Also, last week Samantha had her four month appointment, and she had to get her second round of shots.  They weighed her and measured her and did a general checkup.  Samantha weighed 17 pounds, 2 ounces, and was in the 95th percentile.  She was 25 1/4 inches long and in the 95th percentile there too.  Her head circumference was 42.5 centimeters which is is the 50-75th percentile range.  She checked out great and was her usual happy go-lucky, smilely self at the doctor's office as well.  The only thing the nurse said we need to keep an eye on is the fontanel (or soft spot) on Samantha's head.  She said it seems on the small side, so we just need to make sure that it is growing and allowing her brain to expand and grow as well.  The nurse said it's not a big deal, but just something to keep an eye on.  However, after her checkup I had a "crazy mom" dream of Samantha being a grown adult, but still having a tiny head because her skull never grew as the rest of her body grew!  Strange dreams of the irrational fears of a mother!


Now, we didn't know quite what to expect with how she would react to her shots.  After the shots at two months, Samantha just cried and cried in the office afterwards, and then fell asleep in the car on the way home, but other than that she had no adverse reactions or symptoms.  Since Samantha is a lot more wiggly now, the nurse had to kind of brace her legs down by hanging them off the edge of the table and then leaning against them with her legs, so that Samantha would not kick her feet and knock the nurse's hands while she was giving her shots.  Samantha didn't cry as much as she did last time.  It was mostly crying due to the shock and pain of having the needle stuck into her thigh.  As soon as Ben picked her up and held her she quieted down fairly quickly.  She seemed to do fine that evening too, however, the next day she started to get a bit fussy.  It seemed like her legs were sensitive when they were moved around or touched in certain ways, so diaper changes weren't her favorite activity of the day.  Friday night we drove to Indianapolis to meet Ben's parents for dinner since they were in town for a conference, and while we were driving there Samantha developed a fever.  We gave her some Tylenol as soon as we got to the restaurant, but it took a little while to kick in.  She was such a sad little girl because she was warm and wasn't feeling well.  We had never seen her feeling sick like that before, and I felt so bad for her.  However, once the Tylenol kicked in and Grandma Toll rocked her to sleep, her fever broke and then she felt much better and was more back to her social self.


Since Grandma and Grandpa Toll were staying in Indianapolis for the night due to the conference, we were able to go over to their hotel and take Samantha swimming for the first time!  It was getting to be later in the evening, approaching her bedtime, so she got cranky a little faster than normal, but I think overall she really enjoyed it.  She wasn't so sure when we first took her in, but once she got used to the water, she seemed to be just looking around taking everything in.  We held her in various positions so she could feel the water flowing around her, and we pulled her around the pool to make sure she was staying warm enough.  I think Samantha will really like being in water once she can sit up and have a little more control over her body.  It was a good first swimming experience for her, and she looked absolutely adorable in the the little bathing suit that Aunt Christy got for her!

On Saturday, Ben went to the IU football game, and Samantha and I decided to go with friends from our small group to an apple orchard.  It was a perfect fall day.  The weather was brisk, with a bit of a chill in the air, but the sun was out all day.  I carried Samantha around in the baby carrier, and we picked apples and walked around the apple orchard with our friends.  Samantha enjoyed being outside and watching Elam, Jude, and Thomas run around and play.  She likes getting attention from these boys!  This first picture is so cute of Samantha in her apple hat.  Andrea from our small group got this for her, and we thought it would be the perfect hat for her to wear at the apple orchard.

 Here is Samantha sitting in the pumpkin patch.  It took many shots to try to get a picture where she is sort of looking up.  She was too interested in playing with the grass with her right hand.

 Here is Elijah and Samantha sitting in the pumpkin patch together.  He is almost a year old and is the son of Melanie, the lady that babysits Samantha for us during the week.

Here is a picture of Samantha and me sitting in the pumpkin patch:

Besides for all these fun activities that Samantha has experienced over the last week, she has been doing a few things developmentally as well.  She has completely given up taking a pacifier lately.  We used to be able to use it to soothe her when we were trying to get her to sleep or when she was upset and fussy, but now she won't even take it into her mouth.  She just pulls it out and plays with it, or sucks the bottom part into her mouth rather than sucking on it.  I guess that's both a blessing and a curse in some ways because we won't have to worry about breaking her of the pacifier, but at the same time, we have no tool to use for those certain occasions to calm her down.  She hasn't completely taken to sucking her thumb, but she is definitely working on it.  It used to be that she would try to stick her whole fist in her mouth, then it progressed to just her fingers, and now, more and more, she is just sucking on her thumb.  We'll see if this sticks and if she uses this to soothe herself in the future.


Samantha is also batting at toys a lot more.  We even noticed her batting at the toys that are hanging from the handle bar of her car seat the other day.  That was the first time we had noticed her doing that.  She will also bat at the toys hanging from the bar on her vibrating chair and on her floor gym.  Her movements are much more intentional now, and she is able to reach out and grab a toy that she is interested in playing with.  


Things always change with what babies like and what works for them.  We used to have a so-called "magic position" that would always work to get her to fall asleep.  We would hold her on her side facing towards our stomach, and we'd use our body to help hold the pacifier in her mouth.  It would be kind of like a nursing position.  Well, when we would do this and rock her or walk around with her she would almost always fall asleep.  Lately, however, this has not really worked.  It is no longer a "magic position."  The position I have found she likes the best lately is just being held straight up with her head resting on my shoulder.  She is liking to snuggle that way a lot more, when for a while she didn't seem to like being held like that anymore.  I have to admit that I enjoy the snuggling, feeling her tiny breaths on my neck, feeling her small hands grasp my shirt or my hair, and then watching her hands fall lifelessly as she passes into deep sleep.  I like to just watch her sleep sometimes.  She is so peaceful and calm.  I often wonder what she thinks about and what she dreams.  As I rock my baby to sleep, I dream about the future, I wonder what she will be when she grows up, I wonder what kind of a personality she will have.  The future is full of endless possibilities for this little girl, this little blessing from God, and I can't wait to see what God's plans are for her little life.