1 MONTH'

Elle started smiling at about 3 weeks old. She mostly does it randomly, almost as if by accident but will do it every now and then when stimulated too.
She had her first unscheduled doctor appointment at 4 weeks, one day shy of her 2nd month, due to fussiness and lots of straining. For two nights in a row she stayed up almost all day long and I stayed up with her. But by the second day I couldn't take the thought that she was comfortable so I Barry took the morning off, let me sleep awhile while he watched and fed Elle for me, and then we headed to the Doctors office.  They said the fussiness is common every now and then and that the straining is because she doesn't have the abdominal muscles like adults have which makes it difficult for babies to have bowel movements. They really have to try to have one so they stain but it doesn't mean the are in pain, as long as the poop is soft everything is okay and normal. Babies are just really animated about it. I'm hoping the grunting stops soon though. It breaks my heart!
Breastfeeding is going really well. I still sometimes have my days of panic when she wants to nurse all day or all night and I let myself start to believe shes isn't getting enough to eat and then panic that I'm not making enough and I'm going to fail at breastfeeding but judging by her last weight of 8lbs  which was up 2 pounds from birth, she's getting plenty to eat!
Burping she eats is now a regular thing as it not only prevents her from spitting up later but also prevents air from reaching her intestines all together which creates the gassiness which creates the straining which creates the fussiness!We also have to keep her upright for about 20 minutes after every meal to keep her from spitting up. The last few days have been really great as far as her mood and sleep patterns go and she has been much less grunty both while awake and asleep which  I believe is due to the post eating protocol we've adopted.
I'm still sleeping on the couch with her as the one and only time I tried to crib her last week, she was having one of her grunty nights and shes would have kept Barry awake all night through the baby monitor. I was sleeping in our bed with her after the couple of weeks of initially keeping her in the rock n play ended due to the grunting but then she began to grunt in the bed with me too so now I sleep on the couch with her every night and Barry takes the bed. i figure its only fair that he gets a good night sleep since he has to wake up and go to work every day.
My self diagnosed PPD is much better now too since I've finally made arrangements for Elle when I return to work. My grandma will watch her Thursday and and Friday morning and my Mom will keep her Friday afternoon until I get off and pick her up. And Mercury had allowed me to work from home part time Mon-Wed. My PPD is night and day now compared to how it's been. I was crying almost all day every single day for the first 2 weeks. Then 2-3 times a day during week 3 and 4 and now I'm basically care free. except for when Elle does something adorable. Or when something scary happens. Or when I get lost in a magical, happy Elle/pregnancy related thought. :) I'm so thankful for her!