Three weeks.

We’re almost at a month; wow! I hope that we’ve learned some things? Maybe, just like I was going to make a list of things I loved about being pregnant, I’ll try to make a list of things we’ve learned next week. But, let’s see what’s on this week’s radar.

Looking a lot like last week. That red birthmark/spot on her left cheek is fading now.

How old: 3 weeks old

Weight: Despite some odd eating and much worrying on her mother’s part, Hanna Lu is up to ten pounds six ounces…she gained two ounces in one feeding this morning at our twice-weekly breastfeeding/new mom support group at the birth center which was exciting.

Likes:

·      Sleeping on her mom during the day.

·      Warm baths.

·      Staring at lights/windows.

·      Not being gassy.

Dislikes:

·      Nursing on my left side…see below.

·      Having an unclean diaper.

·      Her swaddle when she’s ready to wake up in the morning…when we first unwrap those little arms go straight up in the air and it’s adorable.

·      Letting her parents eat dinner together or go to bed at the same time; Michael will usually take the ten to whenever fussy time while I get to sleep first {thank you thank you thank you dear sweet husband}.

Milestones:

·      Little girl is gaining some good weight, finally, though being her size to begin with it wasn’t a concern.

·      Hanna Lu went to her first soccer game to see her daddy play. We walked around the track in the stroller twice and then went home. She screamed for one of the laps but it was because of a diaper issue not anything soccer related.

·      Our daughter also met lots of new people this weekend, school friends of her father and some of his Peace Corps friends as well.

·      We had our first “play-date” yesterday; a friend with a three-month-old baby came over and spoiled us rotten with lunch, dinner, and gifts; it was glorious and we feel so blessed. No playing actually happened, both babies let their moms eat and then they themselves ate. It was pretty hilarious now that I think about it.

·      I drove just the two of us for the first time last week.

·      We tried the Moby wrap, a long piece of fabric that lets an adult wrap a baby to him/herself. Hanna Lu liked it the first time, and hasn’t liked it the subsequent two times I tried, but we’ll keep on keeping on because people swear by these things and it would be very helpful to try and get things done.

·      We had our first and second story times; we liked the first and cried during the second.

Sleep and eat:

·      The little one eats every two to three hours for five to 20 minutes at a time. She tends to eat for less time on my left side {see below} and doesn’t always burp.

·      I found out that I create a forceful release of milk sometimes which causes  the babe to act angry while she’s feeding – pulling back, re-latching, letting out some annoyed sounds, trying it all over again. The trick will be to get rid of some of that milk by hand expressing it before I feed her. I’ve also tried another trick, making sure that the milk flow is working against gravity. Hopefully this helps her enjoy the experience more. I think that some babies who have mothers with this condition adjust to the flow or just learn to be really efficient eaters {which our child seems to be already} and not love nursing for comfort. I’m hoping for the former.

·      The baby still sleeps for several hours at a time over night, though she can have a wicked crying time for several hours before finally giving in to sleep {like last night} – Michael usually takes this shift which is very kind of him since crying can be so hard to hear continuously.

·      In her last sleeping shift of the night, she kind of fusses for the last hour and sounds like the Hulk trying to break free of her swaddle.

·      Daytime naps happen best and longest on my chest. I just recently tried swaddling her during the day…I was under the impression that a bit lighter/less sleep during the day may encourage better/longer night time sleeping, though I’ve since read otherwise. I still think if she sleeps away the day the night time sleep stars later {again, yesterday} but a good deep sleep is important because it can prevent her from being over tired. During the day if she’s in the bassinet/Moses basket, Hanna Lu sleeps maybe an hour…on my chest, it could be two to three. I love those naps together but I don’t need that much rest at one time and it feels good to have a bit of autonomy so I’d like to see her nap better on her own.

·      We’ve tried the white noise machine and she just doesn’t seem to love it. We’ll keep plugging along with it though, trying it in different ways.

Miscellaneous:

·      Are all three-week olds this ____________________________? I find myself asking this question to myself several times a day; I wish we had our own private baby expert other than Dr. Google!! It’s so helpful to go to the birth center twice a week since the lactation consultant who runs the program knows so much and there’s usually a pediatrician type person roaming around. Currently, are they fussy for a lot of time when they’re awake? Or, rather, do we have a fussy baby or does she just need/want more/less stimulation? I suppose I could go nuts playing this game so I’ll just enjoy the beautiful baby that we have.

 xoxo, natty ♥