One Month Old

I can't believe that my precious baby girl is one month old today! It doesn't seem like she has been here that long already!

I thought I would try to give updates every month on what is going on in Audrey's world, and how she is growing and changing. I am planning to take monthly pictures as well with a stuffed animal my dad got for her-it's a Clifford the Big Red Dog and right now it's about her size!

It has been a big adjustment to go from being pregnant to having Audrey here to love on! I am still working on getting her birth story ready to share here, so for now I will just say that our birth and hospital experience was really wonderful. We had great care and we love our doctor, so everything went great with the delivery and stay afterwards. We came home 2 days after Audrey's birth, with lots of help here at home from my family. It's really a blessing to have your loved ones' support during all of this!

Landon got 2 weeks off from work and my mom stayed with us through the first week, then it was just Landon and me his 2nd week at home. My mom came back for one more week after Landon went back to work, and now that we're one month into parenting, I still feel like I can hardly get anything done, haha! The house stays semi-picked up but I have yet to cook a meal for us myself since Audrey has been here. Landon has been amazing and really helps me keep things cleaned up, and has done some cooking for us, plus gone to the store several times too. I know I'll get used to doing things on a different schedule, but for now it's sometimes just a happy kind of chaos. :)

Audrey had her newborn checkup this month. She was 6 lbs. 9 oz. at birth and was 6, 5 when we left the hospital. At her appointment a week later she was up to 6, 10. I'm sure she is over 7 lbs. by now, but not sure how much. Everything else looked great, her pediatrician said. She is still in newborn sized diapers and clothes; the only newborn things that don't fit her is socks! The teeny ones are way too small for her big feet-I wanted her to get her Daddy's long feet and toes and she did! :)

Audrey has also had a few outings-only 1 that I've taken her all by myself though, and because of 2 diaper blow-outs I was late meeting Landon! I was able to laugh at the situation though, and I know it will not be the last time something like that happens! I just have to allow more time for things from now on. We took Audrey to church for the first time, though she stayed with Mommy and Daddy in our class-I'm not ready for the nursery just yet! We have gone to a few public places so far, and in a few days we will take her to her Marmee and Papa's (my parents) house for the first time.

Audrey loves her baths and getting her hair washed. She's ok for a minute or two straight out of the bath, but then she gets upset being undressed, no matter how quickly I try to get her clothes back on. She is usually pretty good about letting me change her clothes though-she is so cute looking around and waving her little arms while I'm getting her ready! She still keeps her teeny hands clenched into fists most of the time, but I do leave mitts on her almost always because she does scratch herself a lot if I don't, and her nails are SO long! I've already cut them 3 times this month and even when they are shorter she still makes marks on her face.

Her fine little newborn hair has started falling out on top of her head these last few days. She had quite a bit at birth, but now has a few bald spots plus a bit of cradle cap. I keep a little pink bow in her hair most of the time. It's just so cute! Still lots of hair in back and staying there for now! Audrey has VERY dry skin-something she got from me-and it was very peely (like after a sunburn) for the first 2 weeks. The third week it was looking much better but still had dry patches and now it's almost completely that really soft baby skin.

Audrey has discovered the mobile in her pack 'n play! (We use it as her bassinet) She likes to look at it spin around and also likes to watch when we hold up one of her rattles and shake and move it. She usually moves her head to watch but sometimes will follow with just her eyes. It's so cute to watch!

Oh, her eyes! They looked blue/grey to me at birth, but have already started changing. You can't really tell yet what their final color is going to be, but they are definitely two-toned. Landon and I both have hazel eyes; his are blue-green and mine are brown-green. We think hers look more blue-green right now.

I'm still waiting for those first real smiles where she knows what she's doing. She does smile a lot-at things off in the distance, haha. And after she has eaten (I am breastfeeding and she's doing great with it) and kinda falling asleep on my arm, she smiles SO big that it fills up her entire tiny face-and she even got my dimples! It's so precious and I can't wait to see one that's for me!

Audrey is sleeping pretty well for us. During the day she will have a few times after eating that she is awake for 1-2 hours. She usually goes anywhere from 2-4 hours between feedings and at night she goes about 5 hours on average between feedings. The last two nights she has gone about 7 hours after her last night feeding (about 10:30-11:00) but I'm not expecting that to be the norm just yet! It has been nice to catch up on sleep a little bit this week though!

She is still doing all those little newborn baby things that are so cute-hiccuping a lot, making lots of little noises when she is falling asleep/waking up/eating, squeaking a lot. She's still doing the sweet little newborn cry, and it still makes me cry with her sometimes when she's really sad! She still gets startled pretty easily and flails her teeny arms and legs.

I am really trying to soak up everything about her each day, and enjoy every little stage and development about my sweet baby. This first month has already gone by quickly and I don't want to miss anything! I love being Audrey's mommy and I'm so thankful for being able to stay home with her all the time. God is good and we are definitely blessed!!

Breakfast

I absolutely love breastfeeding my daughter! (Yes, it still hurts some right now, but it will get better soon.) I just love that God thought this up-my body is able to produce nourishment for my child! As much as she needs, when she needs it, it's there!

I love looking at her while she eats. Sometimes she is sleepy, sometimes very alert. Sometimes there's a smile but she doesn't quit eating. Her miniature lips, chin and throat fascinate me and the precious little grunts and breathing noises melt my heart.

This is such a sweet and special time with Audrey, and one I truly cherish. Just like during my pregnancy, she grows every day. I am so glad that I treasured all the seemingly small things about pregnancy, along with the big milestones. These times can never be replaced and I want to always be able to look back and really remember all the wonderful moments this journey has given us.

Children truly are a gift from the Lord, and I am so thankful that He answered our prayers for Audrey's conception and birth. Bless Your name, Daddy God! You have given me a beautiful gift to take care of!

Just Us Three

Well, my beautiful baby girl arrived on Monday, August 29th! I couldn't be more thrilled and have a series of posts planned to tell my birth story. 

Tonight is the first night that Landon and I will be here alone with Audrey as a family of three! I've had the wonderful help of my mom since we got home on Wednesday, but now it will be just us until Landon goes back to work on the 13th. (My mom will then come for another week just to help me ease into things getting back to normal slowly.)

So tonight I've been thinking back on my pregnancy; actually I've been thinking about it since Audrey was born. I can't believe my daughter is finally here and has been for a week already! It did seem like I was pregnant with her for quite a while (it was 40 weeks, which is technically 10 months) so it's still very surreal that she is in my arms instead of in my belly anymore. I really miss her being inside me!! It might seem silly, but I just loved feeling her every little jab and poke and she was always right under my heart and with me everywhere I went. It just feels like a huge adjustment to not have a pregnant belly anymore. I really do miss pregnancy, even with the indigestion, leg cramps and having difficulty sleeping or bending down. 

I had a wonderful pregnancy and absolutely LOVED it! I loved my belly and taking pictures of myself pregnant. I loved resting my hands there and feeling sweet Audrey moving all over! I loved it when Landon would touch my tummy and laugh at what she was doing in there! I loved all our doctor visits, and Dr. C. is the best. It just seems strange to not need to go back so often now.

I do feel a little better writing this out-I felt quite emotional over it earlier. (I cry easier now than I did when I was pregnant, I think!) When we're ready, I will thoroughly enjoy being pregnant again, but I'm not ready for another baby any time soon because I want to soak up my little girl that I've been waiting so long for!! She truly is an incredible miracle and everything I hoped and prayed for-plus so much more. I can't believe how much I love her and want to protect her. 

Oh Jesus, You are so good!! Thank you for blessing me and Landon with this amazing gift of a child, a precious little girl that you allowed us to create in love. I continue to pray for guidance as we care for her and raise her up to be a God lover.

She really is amazing. My heart overflows with gratitude, love and peace.

Power Outage

I really can't remember the last time the power went out at my house for more than a few minutes at a time. Today there has been some bad storming and it's been about 45 minutes of me sitting in the dark with my little scented candles. I don't have any plain old candles, so it smells rather Christmasy and flowery at the same time (not too bad, actually)!

Some protector Giselle has been-she kept going in empty rooms and just standing there looking freaked until I made her come in the living room with me! I always say I wish she wasn't such a wimp about thunder; it seems the big dogs are the worst and act like the biggest babies!

Oh well, maybe it won't last much longer. The rain and lightening have stopped, but there's still some thunder hanging around. I just hope I can still make our dinner later!

30 Weeks!!

I am in the third trimester now, and still feeling pretty good most of the time! It has gone by kind of fast-at least at times, haha! I am now at the point where I go to the doctor every 2 weeks, so it's feeling especially close to the time we will get to meet our little girl. My due date is 10 weeks away.

We decided to take some pictures yesterday, on Father's Day, since we hadn't done very many lately. Audrey has finally popped out enough to where I'm showing more-even strangers can usually tell that I'm pregnant now, though not always, haha! I have of course noticed a difference for a long time, but it's really been in the last few weeks that it's become more noticeable. Here are a few of my favorite ones that we took. Landon is such a good photographer!

In other preggie news, Landon and I have completed our childbirth classes! We took one that met once a week for 5 weeks, and got to take a tour of the hospital-which is very nice, by the way. We also did our baby registry several weeks back, after trying to do as much research as possible to make sure of what we would need! It was fun, but you need more than you realize and there are so many options for strollers, carseats, monitors, bottles, diapers and EVERYTHING. I feel that we are mostly prepared though, and we have a great support team around us!

As for Little Miss herself, she is a very active little girl! I just began noticing her hiccups the last few weeks and they always make me smile! Sometimes they last for a half hour or so and it makes me feel kind of sorry for her, but I've heard hiccups are a good sign because it means she's practicing her breathing movements in there. I have really felt an increase in her movements the last few weeks too; especially at night and when I'm laying down. She still has never woken me up with all her squirming though; but if-I mean when, haha-I have to get up for the restroom, she's just kicking away when I lay down again so I wonder if she keeps it up most of the night and I just sleep through it!

As for Audrey's room, it is mostly finished, and I will at some point add pics here! I need to take a few more but keep forgetting. We are planning a few more things to hang on the walls, including a few photos and cross stitched items that need framed. I'm making her a birth sampler that I'm really excited about; my mom made one for me and I always wanted to make sure that I did one for any of my kids too.

I guess that is all the updates for now-we are doing very well and all our doctor visits are going great! To end I thought I would share some "preggie-isms".

You know you are pregnant when:

*you're watching an action movie of your husband's choosing (which did turn out to be a good one btw) and you cry when the lead character's dog gets hurt defending his master, then said dog ends up being fine but still limps along holding his little paw up


*you inadvertently make some kind of grunting noise nearly every time you get up from sitting or laying down


*you cry out of frustration more often than necessary. Sad but true; I cried the other day because Landon was on the phone with me telling me where something was and I couldn't find it even though it was right where he said it was and I had looked there. It was just one of those "oh, I should have seen that" type of moments, but I felt so dumb it made me cry. I kind of think it's funny now though!


*you're REALLY hungry a lot of the time, but can't find anything that sounds good to eat! Then when you think something will be good, it isn't. Or you really want a certain thing and almost cry if you can't get it (i.e. the place that serves it is too busy or closed, or your very understanding husband is so sick of the place that he doesn't want to eat there with you again-Chick-fil-A, anyone? haha)


*you're REALLY hungry and you do get something that tastes amazing, but get full after barely eating half (has happened more to me in the last couple of months than in the beginning), then you're hungry in an hour or two


*you get random foot and/or leg cramps


*your husband who is usually more hot natured than you are needs more covers at night than you do

*you sometimes have to pee again after having just peed 5 minutes before, haha

*you have to check your belly after eating to make sure you brushed all the crumbs off; you can't get as close to your food now!


*you cry whenever a tv or movie character has a baby (I kind of already did that prior to pregnancy, but it's worse now!)


These are just some little "isms" that have happened to me-I'm not complaining because I've truly enjoyed this time and I love being pregnant! I honestly have had it pretty easy and really only have a couple of discomforts that bother me more since I'm further along. It is all worth it to be able to meet our little Audrey soon! I am honestly more excited than I can describe and I can't wait to see what my daughter looks like. She is already a blessing and I just can't wait for her to get here!