Winter’s 1 Month Update

BABY WINTER’S MONTHLY UPDATE: 1 month old

**(I’m a bit delayed in this post since Winter is currently 6 weeks old, but this post is written with her stats for when she was a month old, which she turned on November 10, 2013.)

Baby’s Age: 1 month old

Height: 20 inches

Weight: 8 pounds 8 ounces

Head: Not sure

**Note: Getting Winter’s photo with the chalkboard was nearly impossible for this update!  First she was fussy….then she had a poopy diaper that went through her clothes, so I had to change her outfit.  Fail number 1.  Then after I changed her diaper and clothes (and fed her), we had another serious fail: spit up!  She literally spit up all over the chalkboard!  It was projectile launched straight on to the chalkboard.  Hope her 2 month picture is a bit better!! 🙂

Photo attempt number 1 (fail number 1) — fussy and then she had a diaper blowout!

Photo attempt number 2 (epic fail number 2).  She projectile vomited all over the chalkboard!

Milestones: Winter is getting really good at holding her head up!  She also has started to give little smiles now and then.

Sleep: She is such a great baby.  Up until this one-month-old mark, I have been setting alarms for every 2.5 to 3 hours for feedings, even during the night.  We aren’t getting a lot of sleep!!  Because Eric has to go to work, I do the night shift on my own and let him sleep.  He has been gone a lot on business trips lately too, so I’m on my own anyway.  There have been a couple of times where I’ve slept through the alarms, and she woke me up at the 4 hour mark.  (I’ve since stopped using alarms and she is sleeping a bit longer!)

Best Moment: There are so many best moments.  But if I can narrow it down to one thing, it is this: when Winter smiles at me, it’s as if she is telling me she loves me.  That makes every little thing worth it!  I absolutely love her smiles.

Worst Moment: Unfortunately, there have many worst moments because of some breast-related issues…so I’ll narrow it down to one thing: finding out at 3 weeks old that she STILL wasn’t gaining weight.  We went to a specialist at Children’s Hospital to see if she had a tongue-tie issue (no, she doesn’t), saw the lactation consultant frequently, and finally found a system that works for us to get her to gain weight.  From that day forward (at 3 weeks old), I started pumping every 2 hours and feeding her the bottles.  This worked fabulously as she started gaining weight QUICKLY.  We have since modified this routine (I do 25% breastfeeding and 75% pumping at 2.5 to 3 hour intervals), but I’ll save those details for a an upcoming breastfeeding-related post.  I’m just glad Winter is healthy and gaining.

Health:  I mentioned her weight gaining issues.  Thankfully at one month old, her weight was up to 8 pounds, 8 ounces (she was 7 pounds 2.5 ounces at birth).  At 3 weeks old, she was weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces, so she made a very rapid improvement once we figured out a system that works for us.  She is a very healthy, happy baby girl!  We currently have no health concerns.

At one month old, Winter’s official weight was 8 pounds, 8 ounces!  What an improvement!

Eating: I read Babywise (so did Eric) while I was pregnant, and skimmed through it again after Winter was born.  We are trying to follow the 2.5 to 3 hour feeding routine that the book suggests.  I have her on a somewhat regular schedule where she eats 8-9 times per day.  She is super versatile because she will eat in any form I give her.  She breastfeeds fabulously now (she had some sucking issues previously) but she will also take bottles of pumped breastmilk fabulously too.  Some babies will only do one or the other and refuse if you try to switch, so we feel very lucky/blessed.  She also will take breastmilk bottles at body temperature, warm, or cold from the fridge.  She really is not picky in the slightest.  GREAT BABY!  She has never been given any formula, and I hope she never has to since I seem to have plenty of milk to go around.

Likes: She likes Frederick, her Wabbanub frog (a soothie pacifier attached to a toy frog).  Yes, we named her pacifier “Frederick the frog!”  She loves the soothie pacifiers, so we have a number of those around.  She originally didn’t like anything but the soothie paci, but we haven’t tried the nuk kind recently.  She also likes mommy to hold her.  Sometimes she will get fussy, and I think it’s simply because she wants to be in my arms.  She is comforted by me.  She loves her daddy, but there’s nothing like momma!

Dislikes: She doesn’t like her carseat very much.  I have realized it’s best to put her in the carseat to go somewhere (or running or on a walk) as soon as she has a full belly.  This reduces/eliminates her crying in the car.  She has gotten much more content about her carseat though recently.  The other thing she hates is bathtime.  She hates being naked and cold…doesn’t matter how warm the water is, she just screams the whole bath!  In general though, she is a very content little girl.  We really can’t complain!

Things I want to remember: 

–Winter loves to play Patty Cake.  She is so alert and loves to play/flirt with us.

–She is learning to like her carseat.  I have a lullaby CD that I keep in my car (Scripture Lullabies – “Hidden in my Heart” which I highly recommend).  When she cries in her carseat, I turn the CD up really loudly and it usually soothes her.  She loves that CD.  So I love it too:)

–Winter always sneezes at least 3-4 times in a row.  Never just once or twice, but always at least 3 times.  It’s so cute!

–For whatever reason, she likes to turn her head to her right side.  She isn’t doing this as much now that she has more control of her head though.

–She loves the space heater.  We actually bought it for her.  Sometimes when she is having a difficult time falling asleep before bed, I will sit on the floor right in front of the space heater and she falls asleep super fast.  She loves the heat!

–We use the Moby Wrap a lot and have only used our Ergo Baby carrier a couple of times.  I think this ratio will change once she gets bigger and older.  But in general, she does such a great job when she is being worn.

How Mommy is recovering: I feel like my recovery has gone extremely well.  I’ve only had one hiccup (which I’ll address in a moment) related to a breast infection, but otherwise I feel so blessed and lucky.  I REALLY think my fit and healthy lifestyle during pregnancy made this quick recovery possible!

At one-month postpartum, I’m hovering at 2-3 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight (I gained a total of 23 pounds).  I started my pregnancy at a higher weight than I’d have liked, so I’d like to lose a bit more…but I’m so excited to see the numbers on the scale decreasing.   My body is definitely DIFFERENT….I have a ways to go in my midsection.  I am used to strong, tight abs….and it’s tough to see my belly like this: flabby and loose.  Hard work will get be back to where I want to be!  I started exercising at 2 weeks postpartum, but haven’t been working out at the frequency I’d like.  I usually run 3 times per week and walk on the other days.  (Currently at 6 weeks postpartum, I’ve made my return to the gym now!)

I’ve had quite a few complications with my breasts that have put me back in the doctor’s office for a number of visits.  Up to this point, I have been on 3 rounds of antibiotics (taking 4 pills per day for nearly 4 weeks!) for an infection that just won’t go away.  A week after birth, I got an infection in both nipples and I also had high fevers for 4 days straight.  Thankfully the antibiotics cleared up the fevers, but the infection has been persistent and STILL to this day has not gotten any better.  At this point, my doctors don’t know how to help me anymore, so I’m just living with it.  Honestly, this nipple infection has been such a nightmare for me…but I’m SO OVER IT, I don’t have energy to worry so much about it anymore!  Thankfully I can use a nipple shield to protect my painful nipples so that I can still breastfeed.  Hopefully eventually I will see improvement, but my hopes are not up.

Overall, I feel that my recovery is going great (minus my infection).  I feel like my healthy lifestyle during pregnancy helped my postpartum recovery to be fantastic!!

Things we are using a lot: We couldn’t live without the following items:

— BOB stroller. The BOB gets a lot of use, whether for daily walks or running.  It’s the best stroller on the market for what we need (running and walking on sometimes rough terrain).

— Dr. Browns bottles.  Since I pump 75% of the time and only breastfeed 25% of the time, this requires a lot of bottle use.  We use Dr. Browns bottles and boy do they get a lot of use.  They help less air get into baby’s tummy.  We love them!

–Medela breast pump.  This thing is wonderful!!  We actually started out with a Hygia Enjoye breast pump that ended up breaking very quickly (still upset that a brand new device could malfunction so quickly–I need to call and get my money back!).  We were recommended to get the Medela Pump and Go…and it’s amazing!  I love this pump.  It is built into a small backpack.  I pump MANY times per day, so this thing gets uses A LOT.

–Soothie pacifiers.  This is the only kind of pacifier she will take.

–Wabbanub.  This is a soothie pacifier with a stuffed animal attached to it.  It helps the pacifier stay close to her mouth.  It’s just great for use in the carseat when I can’t reach her.

–Moby Wrap. I love this thing!  It is much easier to wear at this age than the Ergo Baby carrier we have.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the Ergo too, but I think I’ll enjoy it more for when she is a bit bigger.  The Moby Wrap is perfect for a newborn size.

Photos of Winter and Our Family:

Mommy and Winter at the pediatrician for her 2-week-checkup.

Our little lady bug!

Daddy had just gotten back from a business trip, and Winter wouldn’t stop staring at him!  So cute!

Winter loves her daddy!

The Moby Wrap gets a lot of use!

On a walk with my sister Maggie and nephew Silas.  It was fun when family visited.

We went on a tour of the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO when Winter was about 2 weeks old.

2.5 week old Winter inside the belly cast I made.  She fit!

About 3 weeks old here.

Mommy loves baby girl!

Koda was included in this family picture 🙂

Our precious girl is an angel!

On her one-month birthday!

This family picture was taken on November 10, 2013 — her 1 month birthday!

1 month old today with momma!  We didn’t even plan to match (Daddy dressed her).

What a big girl!

These two sleepyheads are so adorable.

Winter goes on runs in the BOB stroller with mommy…here we are post-run one day.

We are loving being parents to our sweet Winter!

One perk of pumping is that Daddy gets to have that bonding experience with Winter sometimes! Plus, I really appreciate his helping hands. 

Well, that completes Winter’s 1-month-old baby update.  I plan to do a monthly update, and hopefully the next one isn’t as late as this one was.  We are just so incredibly blessed to be parents to such a wonderfully amazing baby girl.  We are so filled with love for her.  I just can’t wait to see what happens next.  She is growing and changing every day!

Much love, Katy