One month came too fast...or not fast enough, just depends on the day! :) There were some days that didn't seem like they would end, and then the next thing you know, it had been a week. As soon as I wanted time to go faster, I would have an immediate feeling of regret, as I know that these days will all go by way too fast and before you know it Remy will actually be able to read these blogs on her own. :(
The first month with our new little girl was amazing. We celebrated my 27th birthday and the next week my very first Mother's Day. Bryant out-did himself on both occasions. For my birthday he & Remy bought me a video camera; and for Mother's Day they gave me a beautiful necklace. I also had breakfast in bed and Bryant grilled for dinner. I am one lucky mama!
At 3 weeks old Remy rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time (okay, okay, so it was just a fluke - it still counts!) and both Bryant & I were able to witness it. We do "tummy-time" every day, but depending upon her mood, sometimes it doesn't last very long. She has great neck strength and can hold her head up for extended periods of time. She loves to do tummy time on her boppy. She especially likes it if I lay on the floor with my face close to hers and entertain her.
At one month old Remy is still sleeping in her Fisher Price Rock 'N Play Sleeper, which I cannot say enough good things about. We keep it in our room, next to my side of the bed. I love having her so close, even though she is a VERY noisy sleeper. She has learned to grunt and will make grunting noises alllll night long. She had a few break-through nights where she slept 6 or 7 hours straight, but normally she sleeps around 4 hours...from around 11pm to 3am. Eventually we will start putting her down earlier, but for now it works for us.
She eats 3 ounces every 2-3 hours during the day. Although she had a growth spurt around 3 weeks old and ate up to 5 ounces at a time sometimes. She was insatiable for about a week and it was hard to keep up with her, as I am still breastfeeding. At around 4 weeks old I started giving her an extra 2 or 3 ounce bottle of formula in the evenings to help fill her up. This gives me a break as she often wants to nurse every hour in the evenings and also lets Bryant get in on some one-on-one feeding time with her.
At around 3 weeks we started getting some "real" smiles. They don't happen very often, but they are definitely intentional happy smiles! The first time I saw Remy smile was while I was changing her diaper and it absolutely melted my heart. The girl loves having her diaper changed, especially if you talk to her in a funny voice while doing it! :)
Remy also enjoys her swing and bouncy chair. I can usually get laundry done or eat quickly while she hangs out in one or the other. She is a great baby and only seems to get fussy when she is bored. She still likes to be held and would sleep all day in my arms if I left her...which I often do. Bad mama! However, if I put her down during the day she seems to wake right up. She still does not "nap" very well.
She LOVES being talked to. If you keep talking she will stare at you forever. She has big blue eyes and is always very alert when she's awake. Depending upon who you ask she looks like me, Bryant, Hannah, Lyla, or my dad. I personally see alot of Hannah in her eyes, but Bryant in her nose. No matter who she looks like, she is absolutely the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. :)
I took her to the health office in Stockton when she turned 4 weeks old to get her height and weight since we didn't have a regular appointment with our pediatrician. At 4 weeks old she weighed in at 8 pounds 10 ounces and was 20.25 inches long. In other words, she is growing perfectly! :) Yay!
She is still wearing Newborn in both clothes and diapers. Occasionally she can fit into a 0-3 onesie, depending upon the brand. We love our headbands and I am going to keep putting them on her until she starts yanking them off! :) She has a nice little round head and hasn't lost any hair, although it is starting to get a little lighter in color.
She LOVES bath time now that her umbilical cord fell off and she can be submerged. She wasn't a big fan of the sponge baths. We love giving her baths as a team and enjoy the time as a family. Bryant entertains her while I bathe and then he is on hair drying duty while I do the lower half and lotion her up! Occasionally he has to hold her pacifier in while we're getting her lotioned and dressed (she doesn't like that part as much!) Side Note: The umbilical cord was not nearly as disgusting as expected. :)
She really likes her pacifier...and I would like to shake the hand of whoever developed the "binky!" If she is ever fussy, just stick in the plug and within minutes she will be sleeping. Magic. There are a few rare occasions where even the binky can't calm her down, and that's where mama steps in. I know how to knock her out in less than a minute! I always wondered what it would feel like to be the one that could comfort the crying baby. Love. Pure love.
I can't believe that my time at home with her is more than half over. I want to get back to work, but can't imagine leaving her at daycare. I am yet to go anywhere without her...and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Love,
Bryant, Danielle, Remy & Belly
P.S. Belly has been VERY well behaved with Remy. He will occasionally stop and sniff her, but most of the time he ignores her. We think he is probably wondering when she is going to go back to where she came from! :) Hopefully one day the two will be able to interact!
Ticker
Monday, June 18, 2012
The First Two Weeks
I'm clearly behind on blogging...but I definitely have a great (and super cute) excuse! My laptop at home is junk and I have started relying on my iPad, so typing anything over a couple of sentences has been on hold. I will try to play a little bit of catch up now.
Wow! I cannot explain how intense the past 8 weeks of our lives have been. I think I have been through every emotion there is and back again. Remy has certainly changed both Bryant & I. I know I speak for us both when I say that having our sweet little girl has shown us both a new kind of love neither of us could have ever imagined. I am going to back-track and post about the first two weeks of our new life...here we go!
Like I said in my last post, we left the hospital after just 24 hours...this turned out to be a bad idea. Future moms out there, enjoy your hospital stay! Our first night home was somewhat of a disaster that ended in me calling in my own mom for help. :) I don't think either of us will ever forget what the first night of being solely responsible for another human being was like. Terrifying.
I had prepared for everything...well, almost. I had always planned on breastfeeding, but knew there was the potential for needing formula, so I bought a little just in case. After leaving the hospital with the nurses reminding me 31,274,123,804 time that she NEEDED to eat EVERY 4 hours I tried to feed her...didn't work. I waited an hour and tried again. Still didn't work. Again, I tried another hour later, still not eating. Now begin first-time-mom panic attack. I freaked out, hearing the voices of each nurse telling me that she MUST EAT EVERY 4 HOURS! Another few hours later and still no eating I decided that it was time to bring in the troops...my mom. (Keep in mind that this was around midnight) 20 minutes later Grandma Berland arrived ready to help (i.e. calm a hysterical mama down.) My mom then assured me that Remy would not in fact starve to death if she didn't eat every four hours. :) Turned out to be great advice - the kid knows when she wants to eat... Nurses- 0, Grandma- 1!
The next morning we had to return to Hays for a check-up for Remy. Again I was assured by the pediatrician (who I love by the way) that it was completely normal for a brand new baby to be a little tired and not want to eat in the first few days. Damn nurses. We also found out that Remy had only lost around 5% of her birth weight, so we weren't doing so bad after all.
The next few days were a blur. Bryant had to return to work and I began my life as a stay-at-home-mama, albeit temporary. It didn't take long for the exhaustion to kick in or for us to realize that Remy did NOT like her crib. In fact, in the first few weeks she only liked to sleep if she was being held. Uh oh. This realization started a buying frenzy to find ANYTHING that Remy would sleep in...which turned out to be the Fisher Price Rock 'N Play Sleeper. That thing is magic people. Chalk up another point for Grandma!
I'm not going to sugar-coat it...the first two weeks were hard. I mean really hard. I was hit with a wall of hormones, exhaustion, and a fear of not knowing what I was doing. What did I get myself into!?!? I had an awful time trying to breastfeed and an even harder time trying to get a certain little girl to sleep without being held. There were many tears, but oddly enough, even more smiles! Hormones are a crazy thing.
After two weeks it was like a light turned on. Breastfeeding got easier. The Rock 'N Play Sleeper bought me a few hours of sleep. I learned how to eat with one hand (without dropping food all over my baby). I finally started leaving the house again. My body was healing from labor. It was wonderful! Not that I didn't enjoy being a mom in those first few weeks, but being more comfortable definitely made everything more enjoyable.
At Remy's 2 week check-up, we were again reassured that everything was going great.
She was gaining weight like a champ. We also learned that she "shrunk" a half inch. How you ask? Well you see, after 2 LONG HOURS of pushing, Remy had quite the cone head. Turns out her height measurement at birth was not very accurate. :) We also found out that she was not your typical newborn. Most newborns sleep around 18 hours a day in their first month. Remy on the other hand doesn't want to miss a thing and sleeps much less...like around 12 hours a day. On a good day.
Anyways, to wrap up a long blog...those first two weeks were a whirl-wind. Learning to be a mom is such an un-natural, natural thing. If that makes any sense. (Keep in mind that even though she is now almost 8 weeks old I am still completely exhausted and a little crazy!) I guess what I mean is that while many things come naturally, like love and breast milk...there are so many things that we had to learn in that first few weeks that didn't just "come to me" like I expected. Becoming a mom is the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. Learning to care for a helpless newborn is quite the task, both emotionally and physically. I can hardly remember what life was like before...although I am sure it didn't involve text messaging about whether or not Remy pooped that day! :)
I am so in love with this little girl and feel like I spend most of my time trying to memorize her sweet face, as I know it will change again too quickly. Remy Cakes, you are the best thing we've ever done and we couldn't be more in love with you.
First-Time-Mama Love,
Remy's Mama
Wow! I cannot explain how intense the past 8 weeks of our lives have been. I think I have been through every emotion there is and back again. Remy has certainly changed both Bryant & I. I know I speak for us both when I say that having our sweet little girl has shown us both a new kind of love neither of us could have ever imagined. I am going to back-track and post about the first two weeks of our new life...here we go!
Like I said in my last post, we left the hospital after just 24 hours...this turned out to be a bad idea. Future moms out there, enjoy your hospital stay! Our first night home was somewhat of a disaster that ended in me calling in my own mom for help. :) I don't think either of us will ever forget what the first night of being solely responsible for another human being was like. Terrifying.
I had prepared for everything...well, almost. I had always planned on breastfeeding, but knew there was the potential for needing formula, so I bought a little just in case. After leaving the hospital with the nurses reminding me 31,274,123,804 time that she NEEDED to eat EVERY 4 hours I tried to feed her...didn't work. I waited an hour and tried again. Still didn't work. Again, I tried another hour later, still not eating. Now begin first-time-mom panic attack. I freaked out, hearing the voices of each nurse telling me that she MUST EAT EVERY 4 HOURS! Another few hours later and still no eating I decided that it was time to bring in the troops...my mom. (Keep in mind that this was around midnight) 20 minutes later Grandma Berland arrived ready to help (i.e. calm a hysterical mama down.) My mom then assured me that Remy would not in fact starve to death if she didn't eat every four hours. :) Turned out to be great advice - the kid knows when she wants to eat... Nurses- 0, Grandma- 1!
The next morning we had to return to Hays for a check-up for Remy. Again I was assured by the pediatrician (who I love by the way) that it was completely normal for a brand new baby to be a little tired and not want to eat in the first few days. Damn nurses. We also found out that Remy had only lost around 5% of her birth weight, so we weren't doing so bad after all.
The next few days were a blur. Bryant had to return to work and I began my life as a stay-at-home-mama, albeit temporary. It didn't take long for the exhaustion to kick in or for us to realize that Remy did NOT like her crib. In fact, in the first few weeks she only liked to sleep if she was being held. Uh oh. This realization started a buying frenzy to find ANYTHING that Remy would sleep in...which turned out to be the Fisher Price Rock 'N Play Sleeper. That thing is magic people. Chalk up another point for Grandma!
I'm not going to sugar-coat it...the first two weeks were hard. I mean really hard. I was hit with a wall of hormones, exhaustion, and a fear of not knowing what I was doing. What did I get myself into!?!? I had an awful time trying to breastfeed and an even harder time trying to get a certain little girl to sleep without being held. There were many tears, but oddly enough, even more smiles! Hormones are a crazy thing.
After two weeks it was like a light turned on. Breastfeeding got easier. The Rock 'N Play Sleeper bought me a few hours of sleep. I learned how to eat with one hand (without dropping food all over my baby). I finally started leaving the house again. My body was healing from labor. It was wonderful! Not that I didn't enjoy being a mom in those first few weeks, but being more comfortable definitely made everything more enjoyable.
At Remy's 2 week check-up, we were again reassured that everything was going great.
She was gaining weight like a champ. We also learned that she "shrunk" a half inch. How you ask? Well you see, after 2 LONG HOURS of pushing, Remy had quite the cone head. Turns out her height measurement at birth was not very accurate. :) We also found out that she was not your typical newborn. Most newborns sleep around 18 hours a day in their first month. Remy on the other hand doesn't want to miss a thing and sleeps much less...like around 12 hours a day. On a good day.
Anyways, to wrap up a long blog...those first two weeks were a whirl-wind. Learning to be a mom is such an un-natural, natural thing. If that makes any sense. (Keep in mind that even though she is now almost 8 weeks old I am still completely exhausted and a little crazy!) I guess what I mean is that while many things come naturally, like love and breast milk...there are so many things that we had to learn in that first few weeks that didn't just "come to me" like I expected. Becoming a mom is the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. Learning to care for a helpless newborn is quite the task, both emotionally and physically. I can hardly remember what life was like before...although I am sure it didn't involve text messaging about whether or not Remy pooped that day! :)
I am so in love with this little girl and feel like I spend most of my time trying to memorize her sweet face, as I know it will change again too quickly. Remy Cakes, you are the best thing we've ever done and we couldn't be more in love with you.
First-Time-Mama Love,
Remy's Mama
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