Wow. It is hard to believe that Laurel is already one month old. I can still remember vividly when my contractions started and the excitement that ensued as we left for the hospital. We were very anxious to add a new member to our family and see how our lives would be forever changed.
As I look back on my post from when Laurel was 1 week old, it’s funny to see how some things have changed and some things remain the same. One thing that has not changed is my constant worrying about her and addiction to various baby and parenting internet sites. There are actually some really good resources out there like kellymom.com and babycenter.com. It is also interesting to read message boards to see the kinds of issues other new moms are going through, some of which are the same as mine and some of which I am praising the Lord I am not experiencing (i.e. a baby with colic who is crying for 3 hours straight). Each day I do feel as though I am feeling a little more relaxed, but I am still adjusting.
One good thing that I was worried about that is no longer a concern for me is Laurel’s eating and weight gain. By her 2 week appointment, she was back up to her birth weight (actually.. over by one oz at 7 lbs, 6 oz.) and at her one month appointment yesterday, she was at 8 lbs, 14 oz! She jumped from the 22nd percentile to the 41st percentile. She also grew one inch. I cannot believe how much she has grown, but it did seem like she has been going through a growth spurt this past week (eating more), so I guess I should not be that surprised. She still sleeps a good amount of time for her age, but not as much as she was sleeping before and it takes her longer to put her back to sleep at night when she wakes up. I am not sure if she has her days and nights mixed up or this is just a phase. Hopefully it’s the later.
She still dislikes diaper changes, and speaking of diapers, she has already graduated from newborn to size 1 diapers. I was wondering why we had a few leaking accidents with her newborn diapers that are supposed to be for babies up to 8 lbs. I guess when your baby is almost 9 lbs, you really do need the next size, but I had no idea she was that big already. She is also still working her way out of swaddles, but I have not given up yet.
So as I am sure you have deduced, I am breastfeeding, which has been a lot more challenging than I thought, but I am sticking with it. It has gotten a bit easier, but still not as smooth as I would like it to be. Since I will be returning to work in mid October, I wanted to begin introducing Laurel to the bottle, which they say to do between 4 and 6 weeks, so tonight, William fed Laurel her first bottle! I am not sure who enjoyed it more, but I will put my money on William. It was a very cute father/daughter bonding time. Don’t worry… I will be sure to post the picture later.
Well… Laurel is waking up, so I have to run… more to come later…
