So here we are, almost 2 months after Alice was born, and I'm just now posting about her first month of life. She is truly the sweetest baby, and a very dangerous baby to have around, as she is tempting me to want more sweet babies! She sleeps well, eats well, and goes with the flow.
In her first month of life she was a very sleepy newborn, almost to the point where I wondered if there was something wrong. But she is now awake and alert, cooing, smiling, and singing like the sweetest little thing. She has been a bit cranky these last 2 days, but I am blaming that on the cold she inherited from her brother. Alice, I too am cranky when I can't breathe.
But back to her first month. Our pediatrician scheduled Alice's first checkup for 2 days after she was born. At that appointment I was reminded of all the stressful things that come with breastfeeding a newborn. When we walked into the clinic, the Enfamil representative was dropping off formula samples and catered lunch. When we were escorted back to the examine room, we discovered Alice lost 9% of her birth weight. The doctor made this seem dangerous and handed us a shit-ton of formula, saying we had to supplement after every nursing session. Having been through this before, I nodded and smiled. The Enfamil rep beamed when she saw us leaving with our hands full. But now we know that supplementing AT ALL in the beginning of a baby's life is the best way to ensure your baby will not want to nurse. We immediately gave the formula away after the appointment. This happened on a Friday, and the doctor told us to come back Monday.
Over that weekend we nursed, and nursed, then nursed some more. We opened up all the blinds and sat in the sunshine. My milk came in. We snuggled. We slept.
By our checkup that Monday, she was back to her birth weight. Because nature is badass.The doctor asked how much we supplemented, and I answered, "Well, to be honest, we thought that 2 days after she was born was a little early to be concerned about my milk not coming in, so we decided to wait it out." She was a little taken aback, but someone has to stick up for breastfeeding! We love our pediatrician, but MAN they have the worst advice for breastfeeding moms.
At her 1 month checkup her stats were -
Height: 21.5 inches (75%)
Weight: 8 lbs 9 oz (50%)
Head: 36 (50%)
Nursing: about 9 times a day, every 2-3 hours during the day, and she averaged 4 hours between feedings every night, which was very doable.
Sleep: she would only sleep on my chest for the first 3 weeks, which I didn't mind because I loved cuddling with her. In fact, my body had a hard time adjusting to her being outside, so she helped regulate my temperature a bit. At night I would prop myself up with pillows and create barriers around myself so I wouldn't roll over while she snuggled on my chest.
Clothes: she fits mostly newborn and some 3 month outfits by the end of the month.
We finally got her to lay down for naps/bedtime...on her tummy. I know it's bad! She would sleep for 4 hours straight on her tummy, compared to 20 minutes on her back. Every time we put her on her back she started acting like she was drowning. I kept a close eye on her when she was on her tummy though.
She didn't cry often, but when she did her little newborn cry sounded just like a goose.
Her eyes still haven't decided what color they want to be. They are a deep emerald blue like my mom's, but they have a dark shade. I think they will end up brown, but not quite as dark as Everett's.
Speaking of Everett, he is an amazing big brother. He shows off his little sister to everyone (including the drive thru worker at Starbucks earlier today). He especially likes to show her off to his friends at school: "Come on everyone! Come see my baby sister! Come say 'Hi' to her!" I honestly think that becoming a big brother has given him more confidence. He has a great intuition, and can truly anticipate her needs.
Everett likes to snuggle with Alice before he goes to bed, and always gives her a hug and kiss when he leaves for school. Today, he wanted to sit in the shopping cart so he could hold her hand. Sometimes his love is a little inconvenient (like when he holds her hand in the shopping cart and wakes her up), but I try not to get frustrated because I don't want him to feel any negativity when he is loving toward her. When he asks if he can hold her, I always say yes, even if the timing doesn't seem right.
I pinch myself every day and wonder how I got so lucky. Seriously, what did I do in a past life to have such a wonderful one now?
