1 Month

Well, I'm a bit late with this, but better late than never...

Charlotte Noelle turned one month old on January 23rd. 

I mean, seriously...what's cuter than a little baby tushie and chubby legs?  :)

I feel like we kind of lost out on that first month with MJ.  Of course we were with him, but it was just different.  In the hospital, we were rather restricted, especially in the beginning, with how much we were able to hold and cuddle him.  Feedings were out of our control, and we felt rather helpless overall.  We were really fortunate to be able to bring Charlotte home right away and experience all those newborn things from the start.  It made us feel like new parents all over again though, because although we really longed to be with MJ from day 1, we never really had to experience those first couple weeks of constant feedings, up around the clock, etc.  It was like learning something new this time, and in all honesty it was tough. 

Because Charlotte lost a pretty decent amount of her birth weight, we were having to be sure that she was eating every 2-3 hours around the clock.  Also, even though we started off really well with nursing straight after birth, I began to have issues before leaving the hospital and they only got worse and worse over the first week or two.  It was hard, and there were quite a few moments I wanted to throw in the towel, but luckily some perseverance and great support from the lactation consultants, and we finally crossed that hurdle.  Then, just as I was feeling more comfortable with it all, it was becoming apparent to us that Charlotte was really in a lot of pain after eating most times.  It seemed like more than normal baby gas and spit up.  She would scream in pain, arch her back, straighten her legs, spit up through her nose, and just generally seem very uncomfortable.  Again, feeling very desperate, the lactation consultants were helpful and supportive, and between their advice and my research, we did some tweaking to my diet by eliminating all dairy products.  I've been dairy free a little over two weeks now, and it seems to have made a huge difference!!  This means that Charlotte most likely has a milk protein allergy.  The good news is that it's something she should outgrow. 

Charlotte is gaining weight well (11.6 pounds at 6 weeks) and thriving, and she generally seems much more comfortable now.  She still sleeps a lot, and when she's not sleeping she prefers to be held.  She's not a huge fan of just being parked in her bouncy seat or swing.  She enjoys being in the wrap snuggled up next to mommy.  She's definitely a mommy's girl for now.  That's another difference we've noticed with her and MJ.  With MJ, once we were allowed to begin feeding him, it was with a syringe or bottle, so we took turns.  We also got to begin holding him at the same time, etc.  With her, I began breastfeeding from day 1, so she was automatically with me a lot more, and I think it began the bonding process much more quickly for her and I, than it did with her and Mat.  Also, during those first few weeks, I tended to be in charge of Charlotte's needs while Mat was in charge mostly of MJ's needs. It's only to be expected I guess, but now we're realizing we need to have more time for Mat to snuggle with her and hopefully begin to bottle feed her a bit soon as well. 

Charlotte has begun giving us purposeful smiles.  She'll respond to our voice and often has big smiles after waking up in the morning.  I caught her first smile as she was lying in her crib watching and listening to her mobile.  I think she saves the biggest smiles for her big brother!  It's really cute to watch how they interact already and how she responds to him.  When she fusses, MJ will sing her songs or get down and pat her and say "you, okay baby".  He has quite the calming effect on her.  It's just amazing to me how incredibly sweet he is with her.  Not once have I seen him get frustrated or even jealous of her.  Counting these blessings while they last! 

I've been so impressed with Charlotte's sleep schedule lately!  I imagine it's due to her growth as well as her tummy feeling better, but she's now going for a 7-8 hour stretch at night in between feedings.  She'll eat, then sleep for a long stretch, wake up to eat, sleep about a 3 hour stretch, eat again (between 6 and 7AM usually), and then doze off and on in the early morning hours.  No complaints here at all!!!  The challenging part has been getting her to sleep at night.  If I could get her to sleep easily after she eats, then I could get to bed early and capitalize on that long stretch of hers, but often it's taking me 2+ hours to get her to sleep.  Just in the last few days we've been trying some new approaches, and they seem to be working, so hopefully we're on the right track. 

Overall, I am just so incredibly happy to be this little girl's mommy.  How in the world did I get so lucky?  It has it's rough moments, of course, but I truly am enjoying this time SO much.  Remember how I was so worried that I wouldn't have enough love to go around...how could I ever love another child the way I love MJ?  Well, it's miraculous the way the heart grows and expands I suppose, because I am absolutely in love.  Charlee and MJ were made for me, and I was made to be their mommy.