one month young

Charlotte is now one month and one day old. That sounds so weird. She's had kind of a tough month. She...

- was born with inhaled meconium and had the NICU team work on her

- lost a ton of weight in the first few days

- had a 'tongue tied' problem and had her frenulum snipped (which didn't help her eating)

- also has a high arch in her palette which makes it impossible to latch on when breast feeding (so lucky Mom gets to pump...yay...)

- has a milk protein allergy so Mom doesn't get to drink milk for a few months and she gets really expensive formula to drink when I need to supplement

BUT...

- she hasn't had any lasting effects of inhaling meconium

- is gaining weight nicely

- is getting all the nutrients she needs from me pumping and bottle feeding

-and there's really nothing positive to say about me not getting to drink milk =( or having to buy really expensive formula every few weeks, but at least she's not pooping blood from her milk protein allergy anymore

We had our one month check up today and she's doing great. We can finally give her full on baths (so we did as soon as we got home). She weighed 9 lbs 5 oz (51st percentile) and was 21 1/2 inches long (71st percentile). Her weight to height ratio was only in the 20th or so percentile so she's a bit of a lanky one.

Her first bath! Once she got used to the water she liked it. Whenever a part of her was out of the water she wailed.

AND she's finally taking her binky once in awhile (usually times when she needs to chill out a little bit)

She was so calm at the doctor's office today.

Her first ride on the L train in her spaceship. We went post-Christmas shopping downtown.

Being cuddly.

Crossing her little feet while sleeping on Dad.

She's a bit of a snorer.

I can't believe one month has already come and gone. The first few weeks were doozies - definitely the hardest ones of my life! So much to get used to and figure out along with the problems that she encountered made it one tough month. Now we're getting things all worked out and I'm getting into a groove. She still sleeps a lot but has a lot of awake time where she is starting to smile and stares straight at you while you talk to her. She sleeps in (after waking up twice or so) until 9 or 10 most mornings. She's starting to sleep alone unless Ben misses her and grabs her to cuddle with (which happens quite a lot). She's starting to love her binky and is instantly soothed when bounced (sometimes aggressively) in front of you. Her hair is sticking around and is still pretty dark with some red hues to it. It sticks straight up after a bath. She snores like a truck driver. She holds her head up easily. She's finally fitting into 0 - 3 month clothes but still fits into newborn (although they seem a little short on her). She loves to cuddle and is the cutest thing we've ever seen.

Happy one month, Charlotte, we love you!

an anniversary and a blessing

this little bug was blessed today

it also happened to be our four year anniversary - a wonderful way to celebrate!

week 4

I can't believe that next week she'll be a MONTH old! I definitely don't want time to fly by. She looks so big to us which is sad, but also nice that the teeny tiny survival stage of the first few weeks is over. We are definitely falling more in love with her. How can you not? She's flippin adorable!

'O Christmas Tree'... once again we went to our local grocery store and bought this tree for $14.99

she was ticked when we were taking her picture in her adorable cardigan and pea coat

this is her ghetto outfit - LOVE the onesie and the doo rag hat is horrible but funny

I got her to sleep alone today for a nap on her boppy - I thought I'd take a nap or clean... but all I did was watch 'Little People Big World' and debating on whether or not I wanted to pick her up and cuddle...

we have WAY too many hats for her

and just being sickly cute after her tummy was full

our little Lotte Bug

she's not a big fan of the binkie - she'll take it if she's extremely tired or riding in her stroller like above - but she's not easily fooled by it

taking a break during tummy time

our first outing in the spaceship - this was right before she was zipped in with a plastic protector over her

trying out the bumbo a little too early...

this little pumpkin had to have her fraenulum snipped (the little piece of stringy skin that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth) =( it was really tight and far forward in her mouth which has been affecting her nursing - unfortunately it hasn't helped the nursing so we'll see what happens. Here, we had just gotten home from the doctor's, the white part under her tongue is where they snipped it and unfortunately it started hurting her as the pain meds wore off =( Luckily Ben came and held onto her and kissed her while they did their business - I was a baby and couldn't watch.

right after we calmed her down and fed her - she's such a good baby

Week 3

I can't believe we're already in week three of Charlotte's life. She's definitely starting to grow little by little. She slept for five hours straight last night! I was in heaven! But there are still some things that are tough to get used to (like my sore you know whats). We're starting to figure out her eating routine even though she's definitely starting to eat more now and is as cranky as can be until her tummy is plump full.

we're desperately trying to get her to sit/lay/sleep/chill in anything other than our arms or chest - any suggestions on how to do that?

"what choo lookin' at?!"

these are definitely the first smiles she's ever given me that weren't associated with gas

and falling back to sleep...

dr. check up

Charlotte had some weight gain issues last week so we had to go to the doctor every few days to check. Yesterday she went and had gained 10 ounces in six days! Yay! She's now past her birth weight and not yet two weeks old. The bottom picture is her typical facial expression after a full belly (if she's not asleep).

not too thrilled about lying on the cold scale

almost 8 pounds!

Week 2

I knew the first few weeks were going to be tough and quite the adjustment. I never knew HOW tough it is. Holy cow! The breast feeding alone takes the cake - ouch! Then there are the hormones.. I've never cried randomly at so many things in my life! BUT things do get better little by little every day. The past few nights she's been sleeping for 4 straight hours (cuddling with Ben) feeding and then sleeping for another 3 straight. Maybe that's not very good, but to me it seems great! She's definitely been gaining weight since our doctor's appointment last Friday, we have another one today. She FINALLY fits perfectly into her newborn sized outfits. Yay! Last week she was swimming in them. Here are a few more pictures of the little sweet pea.

She pulls this face anytime we get her attention and whip out the camera.

Our little elf (Ben's ears!). Oh, and there's our Christmas tree in the background!

She just had a bath so her hair is fluffy and sticking straight up - love it!

more pictures of the little bug

Things are definitely getting better in our house. My milk finally came in (sorry if that's too much info) so she is finally getting full and happy. She lost quite a lot of weight when she came home from the hospital so we had a second dr's appointment two days after the first to check her weight and she gained 4 oz! Yay! Gosh, I felt so horrible after the first visit, but she's starting to eat regularly and gain a little weight.

She hated her first "bath."

My mom getting in on some cuddling.

Mmmm... milk.

Ben helps so much. This was early one morning - he gave her a bit of a bottle and snuggled for a few hours with her so I could sleep.

Scrumptious.

Her second (and much better) dr's visit.

She swims in her newborn sized clothes. Here she's ready for her next outing: dr's office and Walgreens - very exciting...