6 Weeks

It blows my mind how much Allison changes.  At first, I didn't notice it much, which seems crazy since all she's been doing is changing every day.  But yesterday, on August 23rd, Allison started smiling at everything!

At 6 weeks old, Allison:
-has a wicked case of baby acne
-coos and smiles at us when she wakes up from her naps
-sleeps a lot better when we swaddle her (which we haven't done since she was a few days old.  we're either better swaddlers, or she fights her way out of it less now)
-still likes facing out, but looks up at me when we walk around
-is getting longer and darker eyelashes
-started smiling for realsies
-makes the cutest sounds like 'heh' and 'ooh'
-usually sleeps between 8-12 every morning. Other than that, nothing is constant with sleep

After 6 weeks, I:
-had my 6 week checkup and the doctor said my uterus is still big
-have bruises all over my body that my doctor says is from the extra hormones that are still sticking around

Currently...

At 5 weeks old, Allison:

-has finally started to overwhelm me (what's sleep?)
-hates the pacifier
-still has a couple of chins
-grabs onto my hair and won't let go
-follows her reflection in the mirror
-still has blue eyes and reddish hair
-looks more and more like Carson every day
-prefers to be held facing out
-lifts her head during tummy time when I ask her to (or is that just in my head?)

After 5 weeks, I:

-use Visene daily
-went back to the gym and it felt great
-was finally able to shove my engagement ring back on my finger (still waiting for the Aggie ring to fit again)
-am SICK of social media (what else is there to do while breastfeeding?)
-get so happy when she smiles, and get so sad when she frowns (she's mastered both)
-still think that breastfeeding is hard sometimes but wouldn't dream of doing it any differently
-can't imagine how parents survived without Google

one month

Weight:  She was 9 lbs 7 oz at her 4 week check up.
Health: We had a minor scare when she was 2 days old that sent us to the Pedi-Center but she was totally fine and we haven't had any issues at all since.  Her umbilical cord stump fell off 6 days after she was born.
Sleep:  We've kind of gotten into a routine for night time that's working pretty well for us.  We'll bathe her and I'll feed her before putting her to bed between 9:30-10:30.  She wakes up between 2:30-3:30 to eat and then will typically sleep until 6 or so.  Carson takes the first shift until 1 if she won't sleep and I take over from there.  I just bought some books on sleeptraining and once she's 2 months old, we might start working with her on getting her on a better schedule.

Diet:  She's exclusively breastfed but she has taken breastmilk in a bottle twice now.  I saw pictures of the first time and it made me cry a little.  I try not to think about her eating like that.  But I started a new bible study group Monday night and soon I'll be helping out with AWANA again so she needs to get used to it, I guess.  I'm still not 100% on board with that thought.
Clothes:  A couple of days ago we ran out of NB diapers and just upgraded her to size 1. She's still wearing  Newborn sized clothes.
Baby Gear Love:  I love carrying her in the bjorn!  It's SO convenient not having to lug the stroller and carseat around.  (On that note, I HATE the carseat!  So awkward and heavy to carry!)

Social:  In her first month of life, Allison has met her Gran and Poppy (Carson's parents), my mom, and my aunt and uncle.  We've taken her to church with us for the past 3 weeks.
Crying:  She cries when she's hungry mostly or if she needs to burp.  Overall, I'd say she's very easy going.
Likes:  It took us a while to figure it out, but now that we get the bath water hot enough, she loves baths.  She also loves when we sing to her and loves being held.
Dislikes:  Carson is determined to get her to like the pacifier (no luck yet).
Postpartum:  I've felt great for a while now.  I'm so ready to be able to start working out again.  I've been walking since a couple of days after she was born, but I'm definitely ready to run again.  I'm having some issues still with my hands and wrists.  I wake up in the morning and I can't close my left hand.  It makes writing pretty difficult and I still can't fit my engagement or Aggie rings on.  I'm really hoping everything will go back to normal eventually.
Milestones:  We went out of town for the first time last weekend and she did great.  We went to San Luis Obispo and happened to walk into a couple of baby stores that actually had Nursing Stations set up.  I was able to feed Allison when I needed to in public and felt totally comfortable.  (Probably more of a milestone for me than her!)

 

1st Month Lifesavers!

If you read any baby blogs, you'll know that these kinds of posts are really common.  Some things are pretty similar to other people recommendations but every baby and mom is different so I wanted to share what has been helpful to us the past 4 weeks.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - I highly recommend this book if you plan to breastfeed!  This has been my go-to for all things baby and breastfeeding.  I started reading it while I was pregnant and I have about 20 marked pages that I refer to all the time.  There hasn't been a problem that I've faced that I haven't found something in this book to put me at ease.  I also think it helped prepare me for a natural birth because I ultimately wanted to be successful at breastfeeding.  

Soothies Gel Pads - The first week of breastfeeding was rough.  I wore these 24/7, which you're probably not supposed to do. 

Natural Nipple Butter - This stuff worked great and I loved that I didn't have to wipe it off before feeding.  I'm not using it that often now but it was a lifesaver in the beginning.  

Rock 'N Play - This was the one thing that I told Carson we HAD to get before the baby was born.  I had read all over the internet how many people loved it and swore by it.  Carson now calls it the 'Miracle Baby Sleeper'. Allison will sleep for 5-6 hours straight in this thing if we let her.  It's really easy to move around.  If Allison's sleeping, I just pick it up and move her around from room to room and we actually used it last weekend when we stayed in a hotel for a night.

BabyBjorn - Once I was confident that Allison was over 8 pounds, we tried this out and it worked great!  I love not having to lug the stroller around (I hate the stroller) and Allison sleeps so well in it.  It's also great for when I need both hands to get some things done around the house.  When she's awake, she likes to push herself back so she can look around.  It's pretty adorable to see how curious she is.

Gerber Onesies - We picked these up on a whim a couple of days before I gave birth.  They aren't the best quality but we got them for Allie to wear around the house and we're so glad we did.  If she has a blowout, it's not a huge deal if these get ruined.  They stretch out a good bit, which has actually been helpful to us as we get used to dressing her.  We like to stretch out the neck as wide as it will go before attempting to put it over her head.  Carson's much better at dressing her than I am.

Pampers Swaddlers - We love love love the wetness indicator on these diapers.  We're new at this so it's nice to just be able to look at her and know that she needs to be changed.  So far we've had a few blowouts but they very well could have been because we're amateur diaperers.  


Things we haven't used nearly as much as we thought we would:

Playard -I imagine this will come in handy when Allie gets a little older and we travel with her.  We thought she would sleep in this in our room but we're currently just using it as a changing table for now.
Boppy -I have a love/hate relationship with this thing.  Sometimes I like using it, but 95% of the time, I find it easier to nurse without it.  Maybe we'll use it more once Allie is older.