Lauren is a month old. She is growing so fast. She's been gaining almost a pound a week since she's been born. Well, the first week was spent getting back to her birth weight after the typical dip, but since then, it has been just about a pound a week. At her doctor's appointment, she weighed 9 lbs, 12 oz and was 22 inches long. Our doctor said she's doing great and doesn't seem to be having any problem gaining weight, despite what seems to us like an awful lot of spitting up. Our current goal is to introduce the bottle and get her to take it. We've tried once and were unsuccessful and we were told that 4-6 weeks is the time that we need to do it to help make my life a little easier (even if I still pump the milk, at least I can leave her for time away from the house).
I was really disappointed with her hospital footprints from a scrapbooking perspective because they use this new inkless scanner system that prints them out on stickers. The stickers are ugly, with a blue border, and only one footprint is on each sticker. So, I figured I'd do a set at home, but the month got away from me and I still hadn't done it. So, I tried to do my own on some scrapbook paper using an inkpad that I had that was non-toxic. Unfortunately, it didn't work -- the ink wasn't dark enough and I didn't think to try it on scrap paper first. I want to get this done before she gets much bigger, but we'll see. I have a wall display with Hannah's footprints, newborn picture, and first diaper (preemie extra-small) and want to do a matching one for Lauren.
Chubby cheeks!
Lauren and I both had doctor's appointments, so I did manage to get a picture of her with my OB, Dr. Ruedrich. He's used to these pictures being in the hospital and with a newborn, so it was fun to do one at the office. He chose the location of the picture because it is artwork made from a picture of his two daughters at the beach!
Dr. Ruedrich told me that if we have more children, we'll adjust what I think of as "labor" so we make it to the hospital next time. He also said that "it shows what [he] know[s]" about the labor process since he thought I would go longer than with Hannah. However, he said that he's glad that it went well and at least I saved the OB fee! I've been really pleased with the care he gave me, and when he got back in town from his trip and found out about my delivery, he called my cell phone multiple times (I'd left it in my bag, the battery died, and I didn't check it for 2 days) to check in on me and hear the "full story" of what happened from me. [His first voicemail started "Hi Julie, this is Dave Ruedrich. I heard you had an exciting weekend...."]
So far our first month with Lauren has consisted of changing LOTS of diapers (I'd forgotten how breastmilk just goes right through babies), lots of nursing, and very little sleep for me. Jon is sleeping in the guest room because he is such a light sleeper that Lauren's baby noises would wake him up. I've learned how to change diapers and nurse from a nightlight so I don't turn on any lights in our bedroom and am working on getting Lauren to sleep in her co-sleeper and not nestled in my arms or on my chest (her two favorite positions). Lauren doesn't take a pacifier, so she uses me as her source of comfort...which often leads to her taking too much milk and spitting up everywhere. I am also doing a lot of laundry. It is amazing how one more person adds to the amount of laundry I'm done every week. Other than wanting to eat all of the time, Lauren is a pretty content baby. It seems like her hair is getting a little lighter with each of the weekly baths that she's been getting, but we'll see. Jon is looking forward to her smiling at him in the coming weeks. We have no idea who she looks like. Some people have said Jon, some have said me, and my mom told me she looked like Josh! I don't think she looks like Hannah's baby pictures, but it's hard to tell. It will be interesting to see how she changes in the coming months.
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