I wish someone would have told me that the first few weeks are REALLY hard. Had I not had my Mom with us, I think I would have had a minor breakdown. I thought Carly was just going to sleep all the time. I didn't realize that babies are fussy and I certainly didn't realize I wouldn't know why the heck she was crying! I was so thankful that when I was just staring at her wondering what was wrong that my Mom would swoop her up and calm her down. I also didn't realize feeding her would be SO hard. It took my milk a good week to come in, so after 5 days of only getting colostrum, Carly was ready to have some milk. She got pretty fussy waiting for her tummy to get full. My nipples hurt, I was incredibly emotional and I had much anxiety that it would never come in. I had wanted to nurse my entire life and was heart broken thinking it might not happen. I wanted to give up as she would just fight with me...working herself up to the point that she wouldn't be able to latch. It was so stressful. My Mom made me promise I'd give it two weeks, and had I not had her to encourage me on an hourly basis I just might have switched to formula. But, my milk did come in and EVERYDAY she got better at eating it. :) By the time she was one month old she was doing great!
My Dad arrived a week after she was born and both him and Mom helped out a lot with Carly. They would keep her up late while I went to bed then I would get up with her all night (she knew her days and nights right away but would wake up a lot...sometimes every hour) and they would take her again in the morning. After they left we had 9 days just the three of us. I was hoping to get her on this perfect schedule that I had been reading would work and was frustrated when it didn't! I wanted her to eat, play, sleep on a 3 hour schedule around the clock. It just wasn't working and I was very hard on myself. Then a friend told me I needed to focus on one thing at a time. It was great advice! I just needed to focus on getting full feedings. It didn't matter when she slept and played, but each time she ate I needed to make sure her belly was full. I could do that...it was manageable.
After two weeks I thought things were going great. My mother was correct in that it gets much easier after two weeks. I was beginning to learn the difference in Carly's cries, and was becoming quite the pro at soothing her. She was latching wonderfully and would get herself in a great rhythm. However, we had her two week check-up and she had gone from 7 pounds 12 ounces to 6 pounds 14 ounces. I began to cry as we left the doctor's office and sat down in the car. I was failing. My milk was failing. Carly wasn't gaining weight. That week was extremely stressful but thanks to a great doctor I didn't feel the need to supplement with formula quite yet. Once you start to supplement with formula, it's hard to stop because your baby is relying on that and not forcing her mother's milk to give her what she needs. The doctor recommended I start a VERY strict feeding schedule. So that's what I did. She nursed every 2 and a half hours all day long. It didn't matter if she was in a deep sleep, I needed to wake her up and put calories in her. Our appointment was on a Thursday and I went to a lactation consultant the following Monday. We weighed her before she ate and after to see how much she was pulling out. Sadly, the pre-weigh she still weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces; which meant that she had not gained any weight the past 4 days. But, at least she wasn't losing anymore! Post-feeding she had pulled out 2.5 ounces. The nurses said that was exactly how much she was suppose to be getting and encouraged me to stay with it! When we went back to the doctor three days later she had gone from 6-14 to 7-6! She had gained half a pound in 3 weeks!! The stress was immediately lifted and I knew we could keep gaining if I kept her on the schedule! It was a lot of work. She fed for an hour, played for 30-45 minutes and slept for 45 minutes. Sometimes she would play longer and only get 20 minutes of nap in before I was tickling her toes to wake her up again! Sometimes I just wanted to let her sleep, but couldn't bare the thought of more weight loss.
Week three Brian's folks and brother arrived to meet their second granddaughter. We took Carly to EPCOT for the second time and she, of, course, loved it. ;) At the end of their trip, they literally handed her off to my Dad, who had returned with my Grandma, brother and sister (along with me Uncle's family), before heading to the airport. So that meant I got 5 more days of visitors. Fortunately they stayed at a resort, so we didn't have to have back to back people in the house. Don't get me wrong, I love it when people come and visit, but that doesn't mean it's not stressful. Even having our own parents in the house is chaotic merely because it takes away from our normal life. When we have people here Brian and I sometimes go days without having a real conversation. I was so happy to see our families so much her first month of life, but I was ready for everyone to be gone so I could have some alone time with my baby before heading to Iowa just 10 days later. In Carly's first 7 weeks of life, I got a total of 7 days alone with her, just me an her!
That about covers the first month! I didn't focus much on the details...like the first time she grabbed my finger (5 days old), the day her cord fell out (9 days old), her first smile (4 weeks old) or the first time she rolled over (yes...she actually rolled over at one month old...she was on a pillow having some tummy time and then just flipped! I was shocked...but have a video to prove it). I'll leave you with a photo of her second smile and the second time she rolled over! Fortunately I had the camera close because she had her "seconds" shortly after her "firsts." :)
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