Well we have been parents for a month! I love being a
mother even though my sleep has become fragmented. It is amazing how
instantly I have fallen in love with Carly, even before she was born I loved
her and felt connected. I would do anything for Carly (I actually killed
a bug with my bare hands the other day for her ...it was a little gnat)!
Nick is loving being a daddy! He is so protective of her and also
very helpful especially with changing diapers. I didn't even change one
diaper until she was 4 days old! She has made a few messes with him and one
day with me during three diaper changes she peed during the middle of it! It traveled up the mat to her hair which
wouldn’t be such a big deal to bathe her but since her cord hadn’t fallen off
yet it’s a bit trickier. She is still as cute as can be though!
These first few pictures were taken by my sister Rachel (she did an awesome job) on a little American Girl Doll bed when Carly was three weeks old. So cute! Thanks!
My mom was in California
at my sister's when I had Carly so she didn't get to our place until day two
from coming home from the hospital. That first night home with Carly was
really hard (we couldn’t figure out what she wanted) so we were very grateful
when my mom arrived. The fragmented sleep was hard but getting in and out
of bed so much when trying to heal down there is what was the hardest.
Well my mom came to the rescue and was an enormous help! She cooked
us meals/desserts (so delicious!), cleaned up the apartment, and taught us how
to take care of Carly and get her to sleep (she has quite a few tricks up her
sleeve). She would also get up with me in the night so that after I
finished nursing I could go right back to sleep while she burped Carly, changed
her diaper, and got her to fall back asleep. She stayed with us from the
4th-8th and then came back after the weekend and stayed from the 10th to 14th.
Those 10 days were so much easier with her here and it was fun to spend
so much time with my mom talking and having her teach me how to take care of a
newborn. I love my mom and am so grateful for her (Carly is too)!
After my mom left Nick's
mom (Cathy) came in town to see Carly. She was Carly's first babysitter!
Nick and I went to a birthday dinner for a friend and left Carly with
Cathy and our niece Alexis. Carly did great for them and Nick and I had a
fun time with our friends. It was nice to get out for a bit but I did
worry about Carly getting hungry or crying too much for them (she was actually
a perfect little angel).
We survived our first
couple of weeks on our own but it was hard! There were some bad nights
but Carly is getting better and I'm taking more naps. Nick got sick
(probably from lack of sleep) so we were a little worried Carly would get sick
but she is holding strong (I transferred some good antibodies to her! Go
breastfeeding!). It is crazy how time consuming caring for a newborn is.
I don't know how the heck women take care of multiple children!
Good thing they come one at a time (usually)! I really hope I don't
have twins (props to all the mothers of twins).
A few things about Carly:
-She loves to sleep and can go 4 hour stretches at night
-she likes to fall asleep while nursing so I have to tickle her feet or under her chin to get her to keep eating
-She falls asleep on my shoulder after burping and slides down and will sleep on my chest
(2 weeks old)
-She like to be swaddled tight and suck on her binky (we have to roll up a burp rag and prop up the binky to keep it from falling out and having to keep sticking it back in)
-For some reason at night she won't sleep unless she is in the vibrating chair.
-One trick to get her to fall asleep is to lay her on our lap with her head at my knees and then move my knees side to side for a rocking motion. My mom taught me this one and it is great especially when exhausted because it doesn't require a lot of energy.
-when she stretches she puts just one arm up above her head with her hand still in a fist. It reminds me of the "black power" sign. haha!
-She can mimic our faces: sticks tongue out, lips in the shape of an 'O' (our favorite)
-Carly didn't have her first real bath until she was a little over 3 weeks old because her cord would just not fall off. She really liked it until the end.
More pictures:
These were taken her first week. I love her!
Nick is so sweet to little Carly and loves to hold and play with her. She is going to be a daddy's girl.
