Lucy-love. Your first month of life has been sleepy and peaceful and just so full of love. You've been snuggled, kissed, bounced, and almost-smothered-with-too-much-sibling-love.
Official 3.5 Week Stats:
Weight: 8 lbs 11.5 oz (50%)
Length: 21.2 in (74%)
Head Circ: 38 cm (96%)
Unofficial Stats:
Grew out of newborn clothes around 3 weeks. We had a whole pile of newborn things that were never worn, but I managed to get her into the cutest of the outfits a couple of times each and so I'll count that as a win. Her eyes are a dark grey-blue but I don't know yet if they will change.
Some things to remember:
-We had the most peaceful hospital experience. Those few days of bonding with David and our new baby in the hospital are some of my very favorites in my life. From the very beginning, she slept and ate really well. Also from the very beginning, she has strongly disliked her car seat.
-She gets the hiccups all the time. Poor girl, they shake her whole body. It's kind of adorable and also kind of sad. She doesn't seem to mind, but it looks so uncomfortable, I usually try to nurse her until they go away.
-Her siblings absolutely adore her. They are always asking to hold Baby Lucy and are often found as near to her as they can get: laying by her, sitting next to her swing, gathered around her bouncer. She's the perfect little sister for our family and we are so glad she's ours.
-She has tiny, tiny bird legs. She just seems even smaller than what she weighs. 8lbs 11oz is a pretty good size for a baby, but she seems so much smaller than that.
-She's been super sleepy this whole month. Sleepier than our other babies. She basically just sleeps, wakes up to eat, and falls right back to sleep. She sleeps really well in her bassinet and I've tried to avoid putting her in her swing so that she will continue to sleep so well on a flat non-moving surface. I've tried to keep a good balance of holding her while she sleeps and putting her in bed while she sleeps. I want her to be comfortable sleeping in her bed, but I also want to soak up these weeks with her tiny self. Sometimes it's nice (or needful) to put her down and get some other things done but I don't want to miss out on this baby stage.
-I am pro-nurse on demand, not because of any strong scientific reasoning, but because it just works for me. I'm grateful nursing has come so easily to me and my babies. The first two weeks are always incredibly tender, especially during the first latch, but after that it's smooth as silk (mostly). I don't watch a clock or try to time feedings- I just feed her whenever she wants to eat (or honestly, anytime she starts to cry at all). Although, I have had to do a lot of waking her up to feed her during this first month, but even that is just because I'm listening to my body when it tells me that she needs to eat - not particularly looking at a clock.
-An interesting side note: I've never had a strong letdown, one that could be noticeably felt, even though I've been extremely successful (for the most part) at breastfeeding. But this time around I feel a strong letdown and it's been so weird for me, ha. I haven't tried pumping yet, but I'm interested to see if that letdown translates into being able to pump more effectively.
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-From the very beginning, she was only waking up about 2-3 times a night. About 2:30, 4:30, and then 5:30/6:30. The process of waking up, feeding her, and putting her back in her bed before falling back asleep has been a life-saver because it has ensured that the sleep that I'm getting is actually good sleep instead of chair-sleep. At about 3 weeks she started dropping the 2:30 wake time - which basically feels like we're sleeping through the night and it's amazing! She now wakes up about 4/4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 but then falls back to sleep until about 8:30. My neighbor always talks about how much she loved getting up with her babies in the middle of the night, which sounds crazy until you learn that all six of her kids started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. I've definitely felt this feeling though, I'm treasuring those early morning wake-times. She starts stirring and I lay in bed listening to her until her snuffles turn to whimpers, then I get up and lovingly scoop her up and situate ourselves in my grey chair that I've moved into our bedroom (not my big chair). I try to capture the way she feels in my arms, the way she smells, the tiniest hint of sun breaking over the mountains.
And then, of course, sometimes I'm just so tired that I don't think any of those things at all. Scooping her up to feed her, half falling asleep in my chair, then trying to ease the crick in my neck when I wake up enough to put her back in her bed.
It's not all sunshine and rainbows, especially when lack of sleep is involved - but I'm incredibly grateful for how well she is sleeping and I'm doing my best to soak this sweet stage in.
-In the first two weeks, she peed on David while he held her- leaking right out of her diaper, and she peed on me during a diaper change twice! We laughed about it so much ("rookie mistake!") and so I'm recording it here, you know, for future posterity.
-She's doing great with a pacifier which is a huge win!
-She's got a lot of people who love her. Aunt Amy has been down to visit several times. We love her.
My Grandma Knowles made this sweet little blanket and sent it to Lucy as per her tradition (she will send a matching pillow for her one-year birthday). I love this about my Grandma. She is always so kind and thoughtful and even though she doesn't live close by, she tries to be involved and show love any chance she can. (I will probably do this same thing for my Great-Grandchildren because I love it so much.)
We got newborn pictures taken of Lucy and they are GORGEOUS!
-There have been several firework shows at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens for their Symphony nights and I have the best spot in the house: sitting and nursing Lucy from my chair and watching out the window.
-Did I mention that these kids love their baby sister? She's called "Baby Lucy" by all three of them - but my favorite version is probably Caleb's which sounds more like "Buh-oo-cee".
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-She really likes being swaddled. She will basically sleep until I unswaddle her so she can eat, then as soon as I swaddle her back up she falls right back to sleep. She likes to be tight and I always laugh a little bit at how much she looks like a burrito - a baby burrito. We are pretty much pro's at the double-blanket swaddle and she loves it. (If she's getting fussy, and I can't calm her just by picking her up - usually I realize that her arms are flailing and then if I swaddle her she calms right back down.)
-She's had a pretty good month of life - a lot of home time, but at about 10 days old we took her to her first parade (just the mini float parade which is only an hour and doesn't have any loud sirens). She's hung out with us a couple of times at the pool, at the park, on a picnic, and several other mini-adventures. She's been an angel and I'm glad that we've been able to get out so much (even though we've kept all of our excursions short because summer finally caught up to us and it is hot!).
-I'm realizing that many of the things that I'm writing starts with "at about 3 weeks" which is interesting... she must have changed a lot during that week - but another one of my notes says that at about three weeks she started to look really long. Her legs stopped being so curled up and she really stretched out. Her feet are pretty long and I have to wonder if she's going to be really tall. Maybe not, but she seems really long already!
-David was able to take most of the first two weeks off of work plus several other days in July and it has been so nice to have him home. He has given ample attention to the other kids and mostly just let me sit and hold Lucy which hasbeen such a blessing for me in so many ways.
-One of the things David said that he wanted to remember from this stage is her favorite way for him to hold her. He holds her tight and snuggles her face half up on his chest, comfy-cozy. She calms right down. He says he wants to remember "Just how sweet she was as a sleepy little baby."
-My labor/delivery recovery has gone pretty well. I feel like it's been an 80/20 balance. I feel like I recovered 80% of the way in the first couple of days. In the beginning, I felt really, really good. My body recovered quickly from the actual delivery and I was doing great. But then I realized that the last 20% of recovery was probably going to take a lot longer than I expected. My body was much more tired and it's taken me longer to get back to full strength than it has in the past. I've been okay with that and have just tried to give myself the time and space to be able to heal and recuperate. A note more for myself than for anyone or anything else: I stopped bleeding for the most part at week 2.5 and just had light spotting until about week 4.
-What life is like when you have older siblings who love stuffed animals almost as much as they love you:
-Also what happens when you are tired and mom won't stop taking pictures of you:
- I love her. She's been such a happy baby. She doesn't cry often, although when she does it comes from out of the blue. She sleeps most of the time, but when she's awake she has such big eyes and I feel like I can get a glimpse of her spirit shining through.
We had a nice 4th of July and Lucy got to spend some time with her family that loves her. She's such a blessed little baby girl to be surrounded by so much love.
We spent the first part of the day at the park with my family
(We saw the Rencher's later that night, but this is where the photo fits)
Then in the afternoon, we went to the Peaden house to visit with Cal and Sue. Bruce played with the kids and Lucy got to snuggle with Grandma Peaden. Cal and Sue are wonderful grandparents and the joy that they find in their grandchildren is worth noting.
-The doctors like to see you get back to your birth weight by 2 weeks and I feel pretty proud that by 3.5 weeks you surpassed that birthweight by almost a whole pound!
-My mom stayed with us for several weeks in the past month. I'm so grateful for her. She's played with kids, held Lucy, done my dishes, given advice, and listened to my thoughts/feelings. Every day I spend as a mother I appreciate her even more. My sister Jenna came back to Utah for a few weeks and she's been doing the same things for me. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful women in my life.
Some more pictures from Lucy's first month:
Oh, Lucy-Goose, life isn't always perfect. We've had our fair share of uncontrollable crying (both from you and from me), blowouts, dirty dishes, unswept (not to mention unmopped) floors, upset siblings, exhausting days and nights, and much much more. But I want you to always know how much I enjoyed this month with you. I can hardly believe that you're ours and I will continue to pray my gratitude every day for you, as well as pray that I can be the mother that you need and deserve. I love you. Your Daddy loves you. Lydia, Austin, and Caleb love you. (There's just a whole lot of love going on here.)
Happy one-month little lady!
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