January 29, 2019

Sweet Baby James | Month 1

sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6899.jpgSweet baby James is 1 month old!! Well, technically he’s 1 month and 10 days, but I’ve come to accept the reality that blog posts are just not going to get up when I intend them to anymore! Holy cow, just answering a simple email can be a struggle sometimes! I think I’ve sat down to write this blog post every day for the last 2 weeks just to get pulled away 2 minutes later. Gotta love that newborn life! 

But I can’t believe it’s already been a month (and change) since our little guy joined the world!! He is growing wayyyy too fast and I’m not sure how I feel about it! It really is true what they say about this newborn stage being so fleeting! This past month has been such a whirlwind. I seriously underestimated how much work this would be. When you’re pregnant, you’re so focused on the pregnancy and delivery. Not so much what comes next. The exhaustion (more so emotionally/mentally than physically, for me) is real! But of course, it also has it’s blissful moments. Where you just want to spend the whole day staring at them. Hence, the lack of work getting done. But here’s a little bit of a recap of how our first month with our sweet boy has gone!

  • For the first maybe 2 weeks, we were just in survival mode. Me trying to recover from delivery while also keep this new baby alive and fed. We were really lucky that Branden actually had 2 weeks off work (more than we expected) to help out. He did 90% of the diaper changes, swaddling, meals, dog care, etc. Allowing me to just focus on breastfeeding and my own recovery. It was a sad sad day when he went back to work.
  • James is the first grandchild for both our families, so needless to say, he has been very spoiled! He’s had lot’s of visitors and snuggling this last month! 
  • I definitely underestimated how messy this newborn phase is. Pee, milk and spit up on everything. Laundry has literally become part of my daily routine- not an exaggeration. With each day, I’m learning to be more content with just allowing myself to be covered in all the fluids rather than changing my clothes 10 times a day. 
  • How’s he sleeping? I think I’d say he’s a pretty good sleeper, but I also don’t have anything to compare him to. He slept in 3-hour stretches pretty consistently the first few weeks. This last week, we’ve been able to push those to 4 and 5 hour stretches. But every night is different. Sometimes he does 2 glorious 5 hour stretches and then the next night he’s back to 3 hour stretches. So it’s a work in progress. We actually did the Taking Cara Babies newborn sleep class before he was born which I think has been a huge help! It has a ton of great tips and tricks to help your baby be a great sleeper! And also gives you a good idea of what to expect!
  • How’s breastfeeding going? Feeding is definitely the most exhausting, frustrating, time-consuming, all-the-above part of this newborn stage. From having to do it so often to trying to manage my achey sandbags, it’s a lot of work! But really, I can’t complain, as it is going pretty well. I’m lucky to have more than enough supply for him, which I know is not the case for everyone. And we haven’t had any eating or latching issues on his end. In the beginning, the biggest struggle was just keeping him awake to eat! But it still has it’s daily struggles. Spitting up, reflux, gas- all the usual things!
  • How’s baby doing? James is doing well, as far as I can tell! I’d say he’s a pretty good baby! Doesn’t cry too much, goes to sleep pretty easily most of the time and seems to be developing and growing well! Maybe too well! He’s already wearing 0-3 month clothes! I will say he’s not much of a snuggler. I see all these moms on social media with their babies sleeping on their chest and he just doesn’t want to do that! Whenever I put him on my chest, he just wants to pick his head up and look all around. Oh well! We’re also still anxiously waiting on him to smile!! Come on bud!
  • How are the dogs adjusting? Honestly, they’re already bored with him. haha! The first few days, they were interested in him. Especially Henry. When he would cry, Henry would get really anxious and whine and follow the baby around. But now they are pretty unphased by him! I think once he gets more mobile and is on the ground more, they’ll take interest in him again! 
  • How’s mom doing? I’d say I’m doing well. Physically, everything is going as it should and healing properly. Chest pain now out weighs my post-delivery pain, which I guess is a good thing! But I can’t lie, it’s been pretty tough. With Branden working 70-80 hours a week, I’m basically doing this on my own. And it’s not even the extra set of hands that I wish I had, it’s more so the emotional support. Just having him there to talk to and bury my head in his chest and cry when I need it would do wonders. I really believe that caring for a baby is something that is meant to be done by both mom and dad, so doing it solo takes it’s toll emotionally. But I know that this, along with other struggles in this phase, are just temporary.
  • How’s dad doing? Like I mentioned above, he’s not home much and doesn’t get much baby time. By the time he gets home from work, we’ll eat dinner, watch a little bit of tv, then start the bedtime process. He might change a diaper or two in there, but that’s really the only baby time he gets as he is either eating or sleeping the rest of the time. So he’s definitely bummed to not get much baby time, but we know that will get better with time once James isn’t always sleeping or eating and is actually awake and able to interact with daddy! 

 

So overall, I’d say things are going well, but it’s hard. My motto is just to take things one day at a time and to do my best to take a step back and soak it all in. It really has been a rollercoaster of emotions. From frustration to joy and everything in between. I definitely have a lot of respect for all the mamas out there! This is so much harder than you guys made it seem! But I still wouldn’t trade it for the world! We are so blessed to have our happy and healthy baby James in our life!

Here’s a little photo journey through the last month! It’s a good thing my phone has 256 GB of storage!

Enjoying a glass of bubbly on our first night at home!
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We’ve loved our Halo bassinet! I love being able to reach him from bed and swivel it around.sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6850.jpg
The most perfect baby boy! sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6851.jpg
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Back when Henry was his guard dog during our first few days at home. sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6853.jpg
Whereas, Charlotte is just jealous!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6854.jpg
First pediatrician appointment! sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6855.jpg
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Baby’s first Christmas!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6857.jpg
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Already protesting pictures!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6860.jpg
So precious!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6861.jpg
I’m convinced that his face on the right is his resting facial expression!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6862.jpg
Branden couldn’t resist taking his little buddy out to shoot some hoops!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6863.jpg1 week old!
sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6897.jpgBaby sneezes are the cutest! sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6898.jpg
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Our sweet friend, Sarah, came to the house to do some newborn photos! sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6865.jpgI’m a tad obsessed with the photos she took! 
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Check out this post to see a tour of the nursery!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6869.jpg
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We’re still waiting on our little guy to flash us a big gummy smile, but I did manage to catch this little one!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6879.jpg
For now, we are entertained by all these faces!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6880.jpg
Having babies the same time as our best friends is such a blessing!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6881.jpg
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Front porch hangs with grandma!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6883.jpg
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Giving the Moby wrap a try! Gonna need to work on it.sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6886.jpg
Proud papa showing off his baby boy at work!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6887.jpg
I haven’t been doing the best job at pulling out my real camera at home. But I’m working on it!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6888.jpg
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Oh, my heart!!! sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6891.jpg
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When we went to Disney last year, it was sort of a babymoon as we figured it would be our last vacation before getting pregnant! So we bought this little Mickey onesie to remember that sentiment. It’s so crazy to see our baby in it a year later! I’m already dreaming of the day we get to take him there!sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6895.jpg
1 week vs 1 month! Growing so fast! sweet-baby-james-month-1-photo_6896.jpg

Check out these posts to read more about our sweet boy! 

Birth Story Part 1

Birth Story Part 2

First Trimester

Gender Reveal

Second Trimester

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  1. […] about this past month had to be nighttime sleep. I’m pretty sure I jinxed myself in my one month post when I said he had been sleeping well. Literally the next day his nighttime sleep became very […]

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