One Month

    We can’t believe our little lovebug is already a month old!  Time is already flying by too quickly.  At her one month check-up, Haidyn weighed 8 lbs.  That means she gained 2 lbs. 2 oz. during her first month.  We are so proud of her!  She must be my daughter – she loves to eat!  Here are her stats, for those of you who keep up with these things:

Weight:  8 lbs. (20th percentile)

Length:  21 in. (45th percentile)

Head:  36 cm (25th percentile)

This first month has been amazing, overwhelming, wonderful, trying, tiring, and the best month I’ve ever had in my life.  I honestly didn’t know that it was possible to love someone as much as I love Haidyn.  I also didn’t know it was possible for me to survive on 2-3 hour spurts of sleep.  (I am quite the lover of sleep!)  And I had no idea how incredibly hard it can be to be a parent.  I have a whole new respect for my parents, especially my mom.  I wish she was here so I could tell her how much I appreciate everything she did for me…but I’m so grateful that someday I’ll get that chance. 

Some highlights of our month: 

*Mastitis.  I got this lovely infection about 10 days ago – for those of you who’ve experienced this, you feel my pain, I’m sure!  I had a fever of 101.1 and felt like I had the flu.  Chills, hot flashes, aches ALL over my body, not to mention issues with nursing.  Luckily for me it happened while my sister was in town for the weekend, so we had lots of extra help.  (It obviously wasn’t lucky for her…but she is incredible and I don’t know what I’d do without her!!)  I had to be put on an antibiotic which has upset my stomach and I’m sure is upsetting Haidyn’s as well.   

*Holy laundry, Batman!  Haidyn has reflux issues.  They don’t seem to bother her too much, but I have done more loads of laundry than I ever imagined.  I don’t mind doing laundry – it’s really not a big deal – but I just can’t get over how someone so tiny can create so much dirtiness!

*Colic.  Or so the doctor says.  Our pediatrician told us that she thinks Haidyn is “colicky.”  I mean, just because she screamed her head off through her entire appointment, does that really make her colicky?!? :)  After she told us that, I spent an entire day feeling sorry for myself.  What a waste of a day!  Plus I don’t completely agree with her assessment of the situation.  Sure, she gets fussy now and then.  And I’m learning that she’s a bit prone to overstimulation and needs help calming herself down to go to sleep.  But from everything I’ve read about colic, she doesn’t fit the bill.  Moving on…

*Cuddles.  We’ve enjoyed cuddling and loving on her, as well as learning about her personality and what she likes and doesn’t like.  Among her favorite things is bath time.  Seriously, the kid calms down immediately when she hears the bath water running.  It’s a fun and relaxing way to end our days together! 

*Smiles.  She is just beginning to smile at us, and oh my – it just melts my heart.  She’s also starting to track us and turns her head when she hears Jonathan or me talking.  I was holding her the other night, and she totally craned her neck around to look at Jonathan while he was talking.  So cute!   

*Bilingual.  Haidyn speaks two languages that we know of so far.  Dolphin – which sounds like high-pitched squeals – and Gorilla – deep throated grunting.  And they say babies can’t talk…

*Sleeping.  Haidyn is sleeping in her crib in her own room at night.  I honestly thought she’d stay in our room for months, but after 2 1/2 weeks we decided to try her own room.  It has worked out wonderfully!  She sleeps great, and so do we.  During the night, she wakes up to eat and then goes right back down.  It’s amazing.  I do have to give credit where credit is due: I read Babywise.  I’d heard some bad press about it, but it’s worked really well for us.