6 Weeks

September 16th

Reese, you change so much each week, it just amazes me!  I can't believe how fast its all going.  Today I was looking at you laying on the changing table, just in your diaper and I realized you are getting so big.  You no longer look like a tiny newborn to me anymore.  I guess this makes sense since you are gaining weight, but even your facial expressions and the way you move around.  Its amazing, but to be honest I'm a little sad it all happened so quickly!  While at the time things seemed so crazy and a complete fog, now I look back on your tiny newborn days and truly miss them.  Now I understand what people mean when they say the second time around you appreciate things more as you have perspective.

You are now starting to fall into a schedule where I feel like things are much more predictable.  You are giving me a solid 5 hours most night for the first stretch then 4 hours, then I will wake you again in another 3.  (I still wake you every 3 hours to eat during the day because I guess I think thats what I should be doing...maybe its not needed?) 

Our days look like this now for the most part.  Wake up for the day and to eat at 9:30, then we'll go for a walk and do other things and you will typically nap in your swing or my arms for around an hour before you eat again at 12:30.  Then I will lay you down in your crib for a real nap until you eat again at 3:30.  Then we'll do tummy time and play and you will nap for around another hour or so in the carrier or swing until you eat again at 6:30.  Then we'll play more with daddy and every third day we give you a bath in the evening, then you are ready for another hour nap in your swing.  Finally you wake again to eat at 9:30 then we put you down to bed in your crib for the night.  You will typically go until 2:30 am (sometimes 2) before you wake to eat.  Sometimes you will start making noise in your sleep and I will go check on you before then, but you are still asleep so I will stick in your paci and you fall back into deep sleep again until its time to eat around 2:30.  You will then go until 6:30 and wake up to eat again, then go back down in your crib again unitl 9:30 which will start the day over.  This last stretch is hit or miss, most days you will sleep through, but every once in a while you are up and need soothed back to sleep or want to just get up for the day.

Last week I was talking with some friends about being a little frustrated with trying to get you to go back to sleep in the middle of the night.  I was feeding you first, then changing your diaper, then swaddling you and rocking you back to sleep and you would take at least 30 minutes most nights to go back to sleep after swaddling.  They suggested that I change your diaper first that way it didn't fully wake you up again after you had a full belly.  They also said with their next child they would start putting them down in the crib awake much earlier so they didn't have to break the habit of rocking the baby to sleep months down the road.  I hadn't thought of this yet.  So I decided to give it a shot and you are doing great!  Some times you fall asleep the first try and some times you need me to come back in to pop back in your paci three times.  I never let you "cry it out" because I don't think you are old enough for this yet, but I will let you grunt and stir for just a minute until you either fall asleep or get upset and I go back in.  I think I've only had to pick you back up and rock you for a minute maybe once or twice because you've been too upset, the rest of the time you are satisfied to get your paci and will fall asleep then.  I'm glad you are learning to self soothe just a bit and hopefully this will help down the road.  The doctor said you should start extending these stretches soon, and I'm hopeful you will after seeing what a difference the past two weeks have brought.

You are still eating great!  I went to one of the breastfeeding support groups last week and you ate 4 ounces while we were there!  I was curious to see how much you would take because you have gotten so fast with your feedings that I wanted to make sure you were getting enough.  I was glad to see that you took that much in the quick 15 minutes total you ate (from both sides)!  I was also glad to find out since I had been only giving you 2 oz from a bottle (when we have to be away) and clearly you want more than that!  I am still so so glad breastfeeding has worked out for us.  I truly love feeding you and I really do feel the bonding that it creates.  I just feel so close with you and love that I am able to provide for you just what you need.

Here are some more pictures of probably the last 4 weeks since the last time I shared was 2 weeks old!  These are not in order of when they were taken since some are from my phone and some from our camera.

look at that belly!

getting chunky!

i can't even handle the cuteness

i am trying to soak up these snuggles because i know they won't last forever!

one of my first little dresses!

This one is from the first week i think!

first sponge bath!

she had a nice little tan going on at this point, poor baby

tummy time is so tough!

first time on my play mat, loving it!





first real bath

Reese's Newborn Photos

Our wonderful friend Heather took some pictures for us both at the hospital and when Reese was one week old.  She did so great and I couldn't have asked for better pictures!  I am so glad she captured some sweet pictures of our precious girl as a tiny newborn and some of our family of three in the very early days!

One month

I can't believe she's one month already!  The time has flown by, but at the same time I really have a hard time remembering what it felt like to be pregnant, haha!  Some things I want to remember from her first month as our sweet little newborn:

the sweet sounds she makes: sighs, shrieks, squeaks, grunts

her breathing, so fast sometimes, so sweet

how she grabs things with her hands, like my tank strap while she's nursing, or she has her hands in tight little fists or up by her face

how in the beginning of the month she would daze off cross eyed, so silly, but now she's starting to focus more

her sweet little baby smell, even if she's due for a bath, she just smells like my baby

her little rolls down her back when she's curled up, but how tiny she looks at the same time

how soft her skin and hair is, precious


Her stats (on September 11, almost a month and a week):
10 pounds 4 ounces
22.5 inches

We finally gave you a pacifier and at first you couldn't decide if you liked it, but now you love it.  It really soothes you when you're upset.  You are nursing so great!  I can't believe the difference from the first week of your life.  Now you have it down for the most part!  You eat pretty quick, and you latch so much quicker than before.  Every once in a while when you are upset and don't want to latch, I'll give you your paci until you calm down, get you into position, then pull it out and you latch much easier. 

You normally sleep anywhere from 3 to 4.5 hour stretches from wake up to wake up, except for a rare couple 5 hour stretches.  During the day you go anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, normally 3, and I don't let you go longer than that, but I don't think you would anyway.  I'm starting to wonder when I should try getting you on a schedule, but sort of think you'll get yourself on one when its time.  I'm starting to figure out that you are generally more happy in the morning and sometimes fussy at night, but it just depends on the day. 

I am already getting emotional thinking about how much you are going to change in the next month!  I wish you could stay little forever, but at the same time, I can't wait to see all you are going to do!

This month Corey and I had our first couple nights out without you.  My mom stayed with you one night and we went to a rehearsal dinner for our good friends Stefan and Jessie and I was gone long enough to have to pump once while there, about 4.5 hours.  Then, the next night we had the wedding.  Corey's parents stayed with you at the hotel where the wedding and reception was.  That way I could run upstairs to feed you once, then I had to pump and dump twice since I enjoyed a few cocktails!  We stayed at the hotel after and had a pretty horrible nights sleep.  We moved you to your crib around 3 weeks and you have done great!  Since you slept in the bassinet again at the hotel you just didn't sleep soundly all night.  You were then really fussy the next day.  I think it was a combo of not sleeping well, me being away from you for so much those two days, and just a lot of over-stimulation in general and change from our normal routine!

I didn't have a whole lot of questions for the doctor this month.  I asked her about fussiness since it seems like you've been a little more lately, especially at night, but she said that's normal around this age.  She said its due to you pooping much less (around once a day now) causing you to be a little gassy and also just becoming more aware of your surroundings and being overstimulated by the end of the day.  I asked her about spitting up, since you do almost every time you eat, but I guess this is normal in around half of babies as long as its not a ton and you don't seem to be really uncomfortable.  She said you should start sleeping 6-8 hours straight a night in the next month hopefully, whoo hoo!

Here are some more pictures from our one month photo shoot!