Little Lermas!: Aubrey Lynn 1 Month!

HAPPY 1 MONTH AUBREY LYNN!!!

I learned my lesson with Isabella...time absolutely flies with kids! I am not an emotional woman at all, and yet find myself feeling so emotional many times when I think about how quickly Bella is growing up.

So, with Aubrey I feel like I get a bit of a "do-over" and have been enjoying this newborn phase much, much more than I thought I would, or was able to do with Bella (although that was in part to the hard c-section recovery and the fact that we moved states when she was 6 weeks old, and then again when she was 5 months old!).

That's not to say that many parts of the first month suck. Yes, it's true. Most moms won't say that out loud, but it's no lie. The sleep deprivation is at it's finest, just at a time when your body wants more sleep to recover! You feel like you constantly have something attached to your boob (or gnawing it off!). And recovery in and of itself is happening which completely disrupts any normalcy you may have previously had.

But that being said, even though there are things that stink in that first month, there is SO much to love and enjoy. If that weren't the case, women wouldn't continue to have kids. And that is why so many moms say that the first month is a complete blur, or they just don't really remember it at all. I'm positive that's a protective mechanism for future little ones!

But back to time flying...How are we already at a 1 month post!?!? Without further ado...

1 MONTH HIGHLIGHTS:

-This month really felt a lot like eat, poop, sleep, repeat, with lots and lots of snuggles in there. But I suppose that is the life of a newborn! And I certainly enjoyed it all...especially b/c Daddy changed most of those nighttime poopy diapers this month!

Milk druink : )

-We kept things pretty low key as we were transitioning to a family of 4, especially in the first 3 weeks. Aside from running a few quick errands, we took a couple walks at the park, enjoyed the nice warm 70-some degree & sunny December weather by sitting on the front porch a bunch so Bella could run around in the front yard, went to the library on colder days just to get out of the house, and just soaked up a ton of snuggles and cuddles. Daddy had 2.5 weeks off work which meant a lot of great family time.

Taking a walk at Sims Lake Park on a 72 and sunny December day! Aubrey 12 days old.

-We had a "cookie decorating party" that involved Mimi cooking the cookies at the 11th hour and not actually getting around to the decorating part before the 2 "big girls" needed to go to bed, and both Mama's were just plain exhausted! Either way, Aubrey slept through or ate through the entire party anyways : ) Oh well, perhaps next year with the 3 girls being a bit older it won't be such organized chaos!

-You celebrated your first Christmas which was a nice, relaxing day spent with family at home. We stayed in jammies most of the day, ate some good food and watched Christmas shows. A perfect low-key way to celebrate the holiday with a 3.5 week old, a 13 month old, and an 18 month old!!

-You have a lambie paci which you love to hold onto when you have it in your mouth. It's cute to see you clutch it with both hands. You don't need or love the paci as much as Bella did, but it certainly helps to calm you down when you are really mad. I love that we use it to help you fall asleep, but as soon as you are really ready to sleep, you push it out of your mouth, purse your lips, and go to sleep without it, as if having it in your mouth is affecting your ability to sleep. Hopefully that will alleviate the problems we had with Bella wanting her paci put back in her mouth about 5000 times a night when she was 2-5 months old!

-You have a pretty feisty cry when you are really mad which we think is just adorable. You don't use it all that often (mostly when you are forced to stop eating b/c you are choking from a forceful letdown, or are getting strapped into your carseat). On Christmas you got mad when we were taking pictures which led me to say "She's an angry elf" and it has kinda stuck. We find ourselves saying that a lot during night feeds which helps to lighten up the mood as you choke, scream, repeat : )

SLEEPING: As most newborns, you sleep a ton. Some days you sleep rock hard and don't "need" to be held a lot. You are content in your portable bed (for the first 2 weeks), pack-n-play or bouncy seat/swing. Other days, its like you just can't get settled despite being clean, dry and well fed, and so you are swaddled and cuddled a lot more. I have to say I don't mind these days at all : )

At night, we typically put you in the bed (pack-n-play in our room) with the sound machine on after your 6:30/7pm-ish feed, and consider this your "bedtime" for now. You wake up anywhere from every 1.5 hours to 3.5 hours. One time shortly after you turned 2 weeks you went 4 hours between a feed which was glorious, but that hasn't happened since. Around 3 weeks, you typically went 3 to 3.5 hours between your first feed, then the stretch gradually got shorter until you were wanting to eat every 2 hours for your morning feeds. So night feedings at 3 and 4 weeks are typically 6:30 pm, 8:30 or 9pm (I use this as a "dream feed"), 12:30am, 3:30 am, 6:30am (and then every 2 hours after that).

***I can't stop taking pictures of you sleeping, particularly after we breastfeed! You are just too sweet!!!***

This one cracks me up b/c Bella was running around squealing, and this is how you fell asleep!

BREASTFEEDING: You are a champion eater! You eat every 2 hours during the day, although I will say most days I have to wake you up multiple times to achieve this. Twice I tried just doing demand feeding during the day, although would wake you up at the 3 hour mark if you weren't ready on your own, and both of those nights you were up every 1.5 to 2 hours. So no more of that. Eating every 2 hours during the day helps for slightly longer stretches at night...and a happier mama!

Breastfeeding hasn't been nearly as painful or difficult this time around, and I think partly due in fact that I have done this before (oh so recently!), and partly because you are just a better eater and have a better latch than Isabella did. You came out of the womb ready to eat, and have been willing to keep on eating anytime I put you to the breast!

I did have cracked, bleeding and scabbing nipples by day 3 but with daily help from the Lactation consultants in the hospital, and persistence, by about 2.5 weeks things were healed and going much smoother. Despite every LC telling me I wouldn't need the nipple shield for feedings, I did end up using it here and there once we got home just to help with the pain and healing. I didn't use it for every feed, and was using it on the right breast more than the left in the beginning. Once you were about 2 weeks, things got better and you really just had a hard time latching overnight, so would occasionally use it then. By 3 weeks, we didn't have to use it at all...hallelujah. *Although, I will say, I didn't hate it as much this time around as I did with Bella!*

During the day, I wear shields that catch leakage (and let me tell you I get about 3-4 oz daily from those things...boo ya!), and at night I wear the gel soothies, partly b/c they feel great, and partly b/c they stop leakage since I can't wear the shields overnight.

I have been pumping once in the morning after your 8:30/9 am feed, and between what I catch in the shield and what I pump, I've been getting about 10 oz daily. Just trying to build up a stash for when I go to work, or if the supply takes a dip in the future.

AUBREY LOVES:

-Being cuddled and held

-Being swaddled

-Lambie paci (at times...other times she gags or can't seem to figure it out!)
-Daddy's football hold...a surefire way to calm her even at her maddest!

AUBREY HATES:

-Changing her diaper
-Getting dressed with clothes going over her head
-Getting strapped into her carseat!

Looking SO tiny in her car seat and oversized newborn hat!

STATS:

Height: 19.5 in (10th percentile) (I am convinced the hospital measured her wrong b/c she was measured within 1 week at 3 separate MD offices and got 3 different measurements from 18.5 to 19 to 19.5!).