One Month Old

Time is going WAY too fast...My little bug is 1 month old!

What she loves:
-Eating.  She is definitely an eater.  She will nurse for about 40 minutes each time.  Now I am convinced that all of that time is not actually eating but comfort sucking.  I have tried switching sides in the middle of each feeding, but I think she gets too much then.  She'll stay on the breast for awhile and then spit out the milk with    an episode of spitting up.  These long nursing sessions leave me very tender and sore, that is where my lanolin comes in handy.  I have sporadically started pumping in between sessions and freezing for my return to work in October.  When I started, I didn't get much milk with each session.  I would say about 1-3 oz depending on when I would pump.  I haven't pumped for about a week and have since taken Fenugreek supplements to help my supply.  I must say that I have noticed an incredible difference so I may start pumping again soon.  I have also been playing around with nursing pads.  So far my favorite is Lanisoh, not a fan of Avent.  When I wake up in the morning I am covered in milk.

-Swing/bouncy chair.  She loves both of them.  She will nap in them for hours.  Which is a lifesaver because I can cook, clean, do laundry, work out.

-Car seat/stroller.  I have started taking her out on walks and she loves walks.  She will pass out about half way through.  She also loves car rides.  I think any excuse to be in the car seat she'll take it.

-Attention.  She is her mother's daughter!  She will cry just so she can be held by mom or dad.

-Staring.  I don't know what fascinates her, but I always catch her staring at something...especially the curtains.

What she hates:
-Tummy Time.  She cries with frustration every time.  She is very strong and is good with getting her head up.  She'd rather it on the Boppy then her play mat.

I give up mom.  I'm going to sleep!

-Bath Time.  She is getting better with it...as long as I stay away from her face and hair.  She'll scream her head off.

-Diaper Changes.  Still trying to master quick changes to beat or minimize her screaming.

-Pacifiers.  It's just not the real thing.  She will take it if it is against my chest, but she won't just take it.

Small Milestones:
-She's starting to smirk at us while awake.  She smiles a lot when she sleeps and feeds.  I love it!  I can't wait until she does this when she reacts to us.

-Newborn diapers and some onsies are in the past.  It depends on the brand though.  Some 0-3 clothes are a tad big on her, but she is so long that I can't put her in newborn clothes.

-We've had a couple nights of 5 hour sleeps.  Normally she is 3-4 hours, but we are slowly making strides to sleeping through the night.

Happy One Month Bug and many more.

3 1/2 Weeks Postpartum

Today is about 3 1/2 weeks postpartum and things are going well.  I am down to my prepregnancy weight, so I am down about 23 pounds.  I started doing small exercises last Friday (some abs, squats, etc) and today I started an actual workout.  It went ok.  I had to modify a bit since I am really out of shape and the girls hurt when I jump.  Miss Amaya decided to chime in half way through and felt the need to eat (even though she had just fed not that long ago).  Friday is my first visit back to the OB and hopefully I'll get some exercise clearances.  I decided to buy the Insanity workout DVD midway through my pregnancy, I must have been crazy.  But I am excited to start the workout....and scared.  Most likely I won't be able to start that for another few weeks yet, I still have a few episiotomy sutures left.

Last week I began pumping to start a small stash.  I must say that I'm not a fan of pumping, neither is Amaya, but it must be done.  She tends to sense when I am pumping and starts crying.  So far I have about 16 oz stored in the freezer.  Next task is to start sterilizing a few bottles and pacifiers with introduction of them.

Baby Update

Amaya is doing very well.  She is gaining weight and getting heavy, she really likes to eat.  She returns to the pediatrician next week for her 1 month check and weight check (technically it will be a 5 week follow up).  Around that time frame, I will introduce the bottle and pacifier to her.  This way we can go out without me finding a private place to feed or running to the car.  And it will help when I return to work in October.  Today I decided to test size 1 diapers on her...we had 2 blow outs today.  So far, so good...although I'm not too thrilled about Huggies brand right now.  They don't fit her as well as the Pampers do.  They don't leak or anything...I just don't like how they fit.  I also started putting a few of her newborn onsies away.  She can fit in some of her newborn and a few of the 0-3 outfits.  I'll give her one more week until all of her newborn clothes are away.  

She is a great sleeper at night.  We tend to have 4-5 hour stretches until she wakes up to be changed and fed.  During the day, she is now becoming more alert and awake during the day.  She'll have a stretch during the day and evening of being wide awake.  From the day we brought her home, she loved to nap in her pack-n-play bassinet.  But ever since last week, she will last about 15 minutes until she starts crying.  Now her favorite place is her swing, bouncy chair, and car seat.  I think she may be uncomfortable in the bassinet so I just ordered a quilted sheet from Babies R Us.  Hopefully that will make it a bit more comfortable for her.  I don't really like her sleeping in the swing or chair all the time, it doesn't allow her to stretch out or anything.

The next big thing we need to do yet is figure out her baptism.  Godmother is set, but we still need to figure out the godfather as well as contact the priest.  J will need to do that since I am not Catholic.

Our First 2 Weeks

Our first two weeks with Amaya went better than expected.  However, the first week was rough.  She was great in the hospital.  Woke up when she wanted to feed, had spurts of being awake and alert, was great during baths and medical evaluations.  Her first night home was tough.  I would get paranoid with her in her crib and run to her at every sound she made.  J got frustrated with me because I was so paranoid.  Then Amaya had to go for daily lab draws because of her bilirubin level.  She had jaundice without the apparent signs of it.  The highest her level reached was 17.1.  Her pediatrician placed her on a bili blanket until her levels decreased.  Thank goodness it was only for 1 day.  But for that week, I had to increase her feedings to every 1-2 hours.  As you can imagine, it was very rough at night.

Other than that, she is a really good baby.  If she's napping she wakes up to feed, she sleeps well at night waking every 3-4 hours, and naps well during the day.  Today is day 15 and she is now becoming more alert and staying awake longer during the day.  We can already tell she is becoming more temperamental...she craves attention and loves to be held.