One Month!

As fast as I thought pregnancy flew by, this first month with Isabella has gone even faster!  I can't believe that she has been here with us for 4+ weeks already! *As a side note, is it not weird to anyone else that 4 weeks is not the same as one month!?* 

 

Despite the delerious tiredness and incredibly painful nipples (yes, two joys I've come to know over the past 4 weeks) that accompanies newborns, I am savoring every single minute, because I know just as pregnancy ended all too quickly, Isabella will not be a newborn forever. 

 

But before I get way ahead of myself to a time where she is already toddling & talking, let's focus on where we are today:

 

Happy ONE Month Isabella!

 

 

First Month Highlights:

• Papa, Mimi, Tia Ja & Uncle G came to meet you the day you were born.  Uncle G and Papa stayed for a week, but Mimi and Tia Ja just couldn't leave your sweet face that soon.  Certainly your daddy and I couldn't have made it through the first 3 weeks without the two of them.  They kept the house clean, cooked our every meal, rocked you to sleep when you were "fussy" (which is like never), and waited on mama hand and foot, especially when she could barely move recovering from the c-section.  With daddy having to work ridiculous overtime and a lot of night shifts, their help was invaluable!  
  
  

  

  
  

  

• The first few nights home from the hospital seem like a blur, mostly because they were spent in a constant half awake, but trying to sleep state.  Over the past 3 weeks though you have gotten more into a sleeping groove and wake to eat about every 3 hours.  Occasionally (ok, only twice, but still!) you'll surprise us and go for a four hour stretch at night. That is heavenly!  But either way, you are the most precious little thing I've ever seen when you are sleeping!  I can't help but stare at you in the middle of the night after you've finished eating because you sleep so soundly. 





• We go on walks pretty much every day, partly because you love it and sleep so well, and partly for Mama's sanity. Fresh air is good for everyone.  We take lots of walks in our neighborhood, but have also gone to downtown Naperville and a few parks and forest preserves.
   
  

• You absolutely hated your first bath at home. You pretty much screamed from the time we started taking off your clothes until the time we bundled you in your towel.
  
  
  

  

  She looks calm now, but as soon as the blanket came off, it was not so peaceful!

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

   
• You celebrated your first 4th of July! We had a barbeque lunch outside, and then we all went with Mimi, Tia Ja and the Burks to a park in Oswego to watch fireworks and enjoy a Portillo's picnic.  You loved it so much you slept through the entire thing! 

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  Premie onesie fits...newborn pants don't!  The socks you're wearing were Mama's when she was a baby!!

• Your cry has certainly changed over the last month.  In the beginning you sounded like a sweet, soft lamb.  Then around week 2 it became slightly louder but still lamb like.  Week 3 again a little louder, but still relatively soft.  And just before 4 weeks, you let out a good solid wail (during bathtime of course!)...once!  But overall you still cry far less than most babies, and when you do it's just precious. 

Breastfeeding:
-->The Easy- Breastfeeding started out super easy from the get-go using the Nipple Shield which was surprising. I had heard so many horror stories, and while I did have some minor cracking and bleeding, it was not as bad as I thought. Bella would quickly empty one side in about ten minutes and be satisfied until the next feed.
-->The Super Hard- Around 2.5 weeks the shield got really obnoxious and hard to use in public, and more painful, so we tried without. After a night filled with you screaming in frustration, mama crying in pain, and daddy just beside himself with his two girls so upset, we went back to the shield. Around 3.5 weeks we tried again, and had success during the day. At night we used the shiled for about 2 more days, and then ditched it all together.
-->The Getting Better- It's definitely not a walk in the park. At times it's like a grueling, painful hike. BUT, it's getting better. And I know with patience and persistence Bella and I are going to get this thing and be successful.

Isabella Loves:

 -Taking baths in the kitchen sink under the waterfall faucet
-Going on walks or just being outside when its warm
-Car rides
-Being snuggled and held
-Moo-cow pacifier
-Being tightly swaddled
-Being rocked and sung to sleep
-Favorite songs: You are My Sunshine, Don't Shut the Door Tight, & Goodnight Sweetheart
-Daddy holding her in the football hold
-Swinging
 

Isabella Hates:
-Baths in the infant bath sling
-Having her diaper changed
-Getting buckled into her carseat
-Having her temperature

Stats:
*From 2.5 week appointment- 5 lbs 10 oz, 19 in long, 12.5 in head circumference which puts you in the <5th percentile for weight and head circ, and 25th percentile for height (we can't wait to see what you are at your one month appointment tomorrow!)

-->UPDATE (7/14): We had Isabella's one month MD appointment today and she was 7lb 4 oz and 19.5 in long which puts her at 5th% for weight and 10th% for height. Her head circ was also in the 5th%.  The doctor said she "looks perfect!" She does have a bit of breastfeeding jaundice that he is not concerned about and should go away in the next couple of weeks. She also has a small (about 1 in) reducible umbilical hernia that he said most newborns are born with and should go away on its own. 

*You are wearing premie diapers and have quickly proven you are a Pampers gal.  You blew through every single Huggies that we put on you...yuck!

*You fit great in premie clothes, but we don't have that many.  So we make do with the newborn clothes that we have.  You are definitely a tiny little peanut, and I want to keep you this way for a long, long, time! I love it!

Isabella's FIRSTS This Month:
-First bath at home 6/20/14
-First cry with real tears (during a bath, of course) 6/27/14
-First time to shoot poop all over daddy's forehead, glasses, wall, changing table and carpet during a 3 am diaper change 7/12/14 (SO wishing I was awake enough to take a picture!)

And if that wasn't enough pictures, here are just a few more!

One month

4 weeks

3 weeks



2 weeks

1.5 weeks

1 week