One Month!

Boy, is it ever crazy that a month has already gone by since Clara was born!  I'm sure it feels especially weird since this past month has been a bit of a whirlwind as we've learned to cope with the changes and get our feet settled on the ground.  I realized during those first several weeks that I really just hate the newborn stage.  Maybe that sounds bad (and I obviously don't mean I hate my baby), but it's just so doggone hard!   Being up most of the night, never-ending diaper changes, uncontrollable crying (or with this little one, screaming), and just really having no idea why your baby does what she does and what more you can do when you're already strung out as thin as can be.  So much of the time in the beginning weeks I just felt like I wasn't cut out to handle newborns.  They take so much patience and calmness and I just felt so lacking.  And the fact that Clara screamed so much just about did me in.  Thankfully I feel like things are going better, Clara has settled down more, and maybe the worst is behind us!  (For now... : )

At her first check-up at six days old, the doctor was so pleased with her weight gain that we didn't have to come in for her 2-week check.  (Score!)  Golly, it is SUCH a tremendous relief not to have to worry about her weight, like I did with Eli.  Here are Clara's stats, from birth til now:

Birth: 7 lbs. 6 oz.

21 1/4 in.

6 days old: 7 lbs. 11 oz.

20 1/2 in.

One month: 10 lbs. 1 oz. (75th%)

22 in. (90th%)

Head: 37.7 cm (80th%)

She had her first shot at her one-month check and did really well.  Cried hard, but once I got her home and fed, she slept most of the afternoon.

Eli thinks Clara's pretty great.  He's such a big helper and thinks it's fun to "play" with Clara, as you can see from the pictures below.

Here's some more info on Clara--

Clothes size: 0-3 Months.  I'm at least glad I got a month out of her newborn clothes!

Diapers: Newborn

Feeding: At night now Clara is a very light eater.  She usually just eats for a few minutes before she's fallen asleep again.  Before I would be up with her for a full hour at a time, multiple times a night.  So it's definitely so much better!  And while before I would sometimes have to get up with her every 1 1/2 hours, now she can even stretch 4 or 5 hours of sleep before she wakes to eat again.  Often she sleeps really well until 5 am or so, then after that feeding she's quite a noisy and unsettled sleeper.  During the day I still feed her every 2-3 hours.  She always just nurses on one side only during a feeding.  She usually spits up, and it's most often a fountain, not a little drip down her chin.  She chokes and coughs sometimes during my letdown.  She'll pull off sometimes (especially if she's too tired to eat so she's just mad or falls asleep) and my milk sprays.

Sleep: She is a girl who definitely needs her sleep!  And she will fight it so hard.  For the first week or so she seemed able to sleep anywhere, anytime, no problem.  After that it became so much harder for her to sleep, and she was beyond fussy.  I thought she must have colic or something wrong with her!  Finally I realized she's just overtired and needs help getting to sleep.  One problem was that she started twitching and waking herself up, so I started swaddling her.  It works exceptionally well.  I know at her age she can only handle a 1-2 hour period of wakefulness before needing to sleep again.  (For Clara, it's closer to the 1-hour.)  So I watch the time, and watch for her signs of fussy/sleepiness, and then I quickly swaddle her and that helps calm her down so much faster.  She mostly sleeps on the boppy on our bed, (sometimes in the swing now that she will tolerate it), and sometimes in the bassinet if I can get her to just sleep and not cry in there.  She can be put to sleep in the car, but doesn't sleep soundly, and wakes up quite often during our morning outings.  To be able to handle the night-wakings and not napping during the day (though I can usually fit in a short one), I make sure to get to bed as close to 10:00 as possible.  This is a huge accomplishment for me, as I've always been a night-owl.  Maybe I've finally "grown up!"  : )  It's amazing how fast I fall asleep, even with David studying with the light on.  I'm grateful for my smart behavior, even though I miss not having as much time for myself in the evenings.

Temperament: As I've mentioned, Clara is a screamer.  For the first 4 weeks or so, if she was awake and not eating, she was unhappy.  And when she'd wake up she'd immediately just start screaming, giving you no warning whatsoever.  This past week I've noticed her calming down more.  We've shared several precious moments together, and I like her so much more now!  : ) 

Even though Clara fusses and screams a lot, one good thing is that she's always enjoyed bath time!  She's always very quiet and seems quite cozy in the warm water.  She also has never minded diaper changes (as long as she's not really ready to eat).  But one thing she just HATES is getting the hiccups, and of course she gets them quite often (although they seem to be a bit less often now).  I always have to hold her and try to pat/bounce them out.

Clara and I attended church for the first time last week.  I really enjoyed the two Sundays I had "off," with just Clara and I at home (the 3rd Sunday I stayed home with the kids while David went to Stake Conference).  I was able to read, play piano  (Eli never lets me play), blog, and just quietly enjoy my Sabbath.  Our first day at church was definitely a lesson to me!  Sacrament meeting went really well.  Eli was so good and I was able to listen to the first two talks.  By the third talk Clara was ready to eat.  During a pause in our feeding session (in the mother's lounge) she pooped.  And it turned out to be a blow-out.  : /  All over her pretty dress, all over the blanket on my lap, leaked all over the front of my white skirt.  And of course new-mom me did NOT bring any extra clothes or another blanket!  Oh my goodness, I felt so foolish and embarrassed.  Thank goodness for another mom friend in the room who loaned me an extra onesie.  Never again will I be so unprepared!  (I hope.)

Clara at One Month--

Getting impatient!

Clara had a terrible case of baby acne from weeks 2-4.  I felt so bad for her!  It really made you not want to look at her, and I certainly didn't want to show her off to anyone during that time, either!  Her skin still isn't clear yet, but it's looking so much better.  She also has some cradle cap in her eyebrows.

I had read that babies start giving their first smile at 5 weeks, and sure enough, Clara did!  I was holding her and talking to her after she woke up from her first morning feed, and she rewarded me with a sweet little smile!  Love it.  It's amazing how much more pleasant and fun your baby becomes to you once they start making eye contact and giving you smiles and coos.  David has still yet to receive a smile, but I'm sure it'll come soon when he gets more time with her awake.

The other evening during tummy time Clara rolled over from her belly to her back!  I couldn't believe it!  I didn't even know it was possible to roll over at one month!  It was fun to see, but boy I hope she won't be early with every milestone!

I am anxious to see how much Clara will continue to change and develop through this next month, and how many more "firsts" she will have!