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!