Calvin, One Month

Dear Calvin (who am I kidding, you still go by Brother about 90% of the time),

This was the fastest month ever! I feel like you've grown so much right before my eyes!

Our first month with you has already been an adventure. You came home from the hospital and were so calm and relaxed, and about 10 days in you realized this is a lot different than the last nine months in the womb. Thankfully, you only gave us a hard time for a few days. :) The last couple of weeks, you're starting to be awake more during the day and just within the last couple of days you've started to become a bit interactive. I've gotten three real smiles out of you this week and you're beginning to track things with your eyes, although you go cross-eyed quite a bit and make the funniest faces!

You are the noisiest baby I know! You grunt like no other, your cry is loud, you fart like a grown man, your burps can be quite powerful and you like to hum when you nurse or when you're relaxed. It cracks me up! One night you were humming so loud while you were nursing, you woke Daddy up. And your farts...ha! Let's just say you fit right in, buddy! :) But sometimes those farts are hard on your little body and you get so angry. You squirm, claw at your face and turn yourself red until it finally comes out. I've started burping you in the middle and at the end of your feedings which seems to have cut back on your gas lately, so that's good. Speaking of clawing at your face though, the first week or so home you scratched yourself several times, even drawing blood a couple times. Thankfully, many of your shirts and PJs have built-in mittens on the sleeves - those have been wonderful. Because you struggle to control those silly hands, swaddling you at bedtime is a must! Luckily you've been good about falling asleep without your paci because you don't hold it in very well. You usually just like it to comfort-suck.

Things you love: cuddling/being held - you love human contact (you're so my child, Daddy's calling you a mama's boy and I'm totally okay with that for now), sleeping on your tummy, being worn in the carrier, nursing

Things you don't love: being gassy, being put down, when my treatments turn off (you fall asleep every time they're going and instantly wake up when I'm done...every time!),  getting your diaper changed, getting clothes on, getting lotion on, your first bath (your second one was a little better - less tears)

This month we've done a lot more than I originally expected when I was pregnant. Although I still worry about germs, we've gone out in public quite a bit. You've been to many stores and you've met lots of people. It hasn't been too bad because you're either in your carseat under a blanket or being worn in the carrier, so your exposure to unknown human contact has been very limited. I appreciate those who have limited their contact because they weren't feeling well or had a family member not feeling well. Technically, it's still flu season, so we are still trying to stay as healthy as possible.

You have been nursing so well! You were born at 7lbs 5.5oz, went home from the hospital at 6lbs 14oz and were back up to 7lbs 1oz at just 4 days old. Now, at a month old, you weigh 9lbs, 7oz and are 21 1/4 inches long! That means you have gained 2lbs and grown almost 2 inches!
Within minutes of you being born, you were rooting around, and you latched on so well the first time that you nursed for an hour! My milk supply came in pretty quickly, Friday night into Saturday. It came in so quickly that I had to pump several times within the first week or two just to not feel so engorged. With all of that pumping, and using my Hakkaa overnight, I have 20+ ounces in the freezer already.
During the day, you typically nurse every two hours. I've been trying to get us to bed between 9:00-10:00 and you've been sleeping til about 1am which has been nice. That's usually your longest stretch, and then they get a bit shorter/closer together as we get closer to the morning.

I've been much more comfortable nursing this time around and it really helped my confidence when you just knew what to do. I've also been more comfortable this time around because while I was pregnant, I came across a clothing line called Latched Mama that makes nursing-friendly clothing. They're super cute, comfortable and make nursing discrete and easy. We've successfully nursed at Menards, Lowes, the library, JC Penny, and Barnes & Nobel thanks to my awesome nursing tops! :) Although I don't look forward to pumping when I head back to work next month, I'm hoping our nursing relationship continues to thrive and lasts a least a year.

Brother, you were a long awaited addition to our family. Everything about you being here is right. I can't wait to watch you and Anna grow up together. <3 p="">
Love,
Mommy

One Month Old

 

Dear Anna (aka: pumpkin, peanut, baby, baby girl, sweetie, big girl, etc),
I cannot believe you are already one month old! This has been the fastest month of our lives, and the absolute best one! Daddy and I feel like you were just born, but at the same time, like you've been with us forever. Parenting has come so natural to both of us and we couldn't be happier. So many people told us, before you were born, how crazy our life was going to be once you arrived, but "crazy" is definitely not a word I would use to describe the last month. I'd use words like: amazing, fulfilling, calm...it just feels right. You are the perfect fit to our little family.

 

Over the last couple of weeks, you've found you voice...and by that, I mean your cry. Thankfully you still don't cry very often, but you've let out some hardy screams a few times...especially when you're getting lotion on after a bath and when you've absolutely had enough tummy time. :) It's been fascinating watching you grow and become more alert each day. You definitely recognize Mommy and Daddy's voices and give us the most beautiful gummy grins when we talk to you. You're now able to focus on people and objects and track them with your head and eyes. You've started watching your toys that hang above you on your play mat, and you love to stare at the pictures in books when I read to you.

You're growing so big and strong! You've taken to breastfeeding like a champ and I often call you a 'little piggy' as you're quickly gulping like we're starving you... I promise, I feed you every two hours! Your first three weeks, you were an excellent sleeper which is why I think your Dad and I haven't felt 'crazy' because we've been able to get decent sleep, too. Typically you nursed between 9-10pm and sleep until 2-2:30 when you grunt away in your Rock and Play until I lift you out. Then after you're changed and fed, you usually slept until 5:30-6, where you'd wake again just by grunting and squirming. Once that feeding is done, sometimes you'll stay awake, but sometimes you'll go right back to sleep which is when I'm able to do treatments, shower and eat before you need to eat again in two hours.
At three weeks old, we gave you your second bottle (first was during your first week and it was a disaster) and you did so well! We've been trying to give you a bottle every couple days, just so you'll get used to it for when you go to Grandma's.

Then at about 3.5 weeks, you decided to switch up your eating and sleeping routine...I'm guessing you were going through a growth spurt. You started nursing for longer (20 minutes) and waking more often during the night. You started getting a little fussy in the evenings and fighting sleep. Now, right at 4 weeks, you're back to nursing for 10-15 minutes, but you're still getting up every two-three hours during the night, and it takes a bit more cuddles and rocking (and a pacifier) before you'll finally give in to sleep.

8.30.14 - Aunt Elise holding Alayna and Nana holding you

Daddy and I also survived your first projectile vomit episode, Friday night (4 weeks). You finished eating and were sleeping propped up in the crook of my arm for a while, when out of no where (no warning, no sound) you projectiled everywhere! All over you, me and the couch. I just sat there frozen, stunned - I had no idea what to do! Then you let out a second round! Finally, I looked at your Dad and said, "Can you help me?!" We were both just sitting there waiting for the other to do something. So Daddy grabbed you and cleaned you up while I went to change my clothes. Of course you had no idea what happened and went straight back to sleep when Daddy was changing you!
I was very concerned. I got out the thermometer and we took your temperature, but of course it was normal. I had no idea why you just threw up everywhere, so I asked a few of my fellow CF mommy friends who all reassured me it was normal for babies to do that once in a while and gave me a couple pointers. A little while later you woke up starving and ate really well. I was worried about putting you down and probably burped you a little too much over the next couple feedings, but you kept everything down aside from a couple little normal spits. Thankfully you haven't done that since, and now you're back to eating for only 10-15mins. My guess is that you over-ate because we were used to doing 20min feedings the days prior. Now if we can only go back to sleeping longer at night...

Archie and Ozzie are starting to get used to you, too. To my surprise, over the last week, Ozzie has really become interested in you. Whenever you fuss or cry if we're not holding you, Ozzie will run over to you and just stare. I think he's going to become quite protective of you. Archie still isn't completely comfortable with you and usually keeps his distance, but every once in a while he'll come sniff you while we're holding you.