How did that happen?! Our little Austin has been with us an entire month! I can't tell you how much I love this little girl.
Newborns are always fun, but I am always telling people that my favorite is the 3-6 month stage, so I'm usually anxious for my baby to be a little bit bigger. I'm not sure what is different, but I am loving this newborn stage. Austin has already grown so much and for the first time, I've truly been sad about it. Please stay little.
This first month has gone surprisingly smooth. The transition from two to three hasn't caused too much drama yet. The hardest part so far has been grocery shopping. Will and Blake love to get the carts that have the cars so they can sit and drive. But those ones have a smaller basket that can't fit the car seat. So it's been a little trickier going shopping. Mostly I've just been going while Will is at preschool, so at least I have one less kid. Just last week, I was at Smith's and had unloaded a cart full of things. Blake was rolling on the floor and Austin was screaming and would not calm down. Then of course the register broke and we had to move all of my groceries to a different register. I would have walked away, but I really didn't want to have to come back and find all that stuff again. I finally got Austin calmed down and moved to a different register. The manager felt really bad and ended up giving me $6 off. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it makes a difference to us so I was very appreciative.
She failed her hearing test in the hospital and I had to take her back a week later to be tested. She passed with flying colors that next week.
When we were in the hospital, her weight dropped down to around 6 lbs 12 ounces. By her 2 week appointment she was up past her birth weight, which was a really good sign. Newborn diapers are already getting tight and she has grown out of some of her newborn clothes.
Austin is almost exclusively breast feeding. If you've followed my other pregnancies than you know how much of a miracle that is. I was stressing about it before she was born and was considering not even trying breast feeding. I really just wanted to bottle feed right from the beginning and not even try. Suddenly she was here and I still didn't know what I wanted to do, but didn't have much time to think about it, so I just decided to give breast feeding another try. And it worked! It definitely hasn't been easy and there have been some bumps along the way, but we are figuring it out. Luckily she will still take a bottle and not have any problems.
Austin has been a decent sleeper so far. I wouldn't say amazing, but I know it could be so much worse. She generally is up to eat every 3 hours or so during the night. Every couple of nights, she will decide not to go back to sleep at her 2 am feeding. She is a big tease. I'll feed her and have her sound asleep. I'll stay for a bit to make sure she is going to stay asleep, then creep back to my room. Like clockwork, 10 minutes after I lie down (just enough time to start to fall asleep), then I hear her crying. I'll get out of bed and it'll stop. So I'll stand by her door and wait for her to start crying again. Sound asleep. Back to bed. And the crying begins again. Or she'll just decide that she wants to be held and wont sleep without me. I have spent many nights on the couch, trying to get her back to sleep. I need to invest in a more comfortable rocking chair for the nursery. Anyways, she will have a bad night or two and just when I think I wont survive another night, she sleeps great and by morning I feel fine and am ready to tackle the next few nights.
I couldn't decide if she liked to be swaddled or not. The first few days I swaddled her and she slept fairly well. Then she had a few bad nights. So I tried a night with her not swaddled, and she slept great. That would last a few days, then she would have a rough time. Cindy gave me this swaddle blanket that velcros and it is amazing. I have decided to swaddle her and she has been sleeping much better, more consistently.
She had her first bath after the first week. We lost our infant bath, so I just put her in the normal bath with a small amount of water. I forgot to put a warm wash rag over her body to keep her warm, so she screamed the whole time. I bought a used bath and she has been loving them ever since.
Austin tends to flail her arms when she is upset. One of the quickest ways to calm her down is to hold her hands close to her chest. She especially likes when she is wrapped in a blanket and she can feel the blanket on her cheek. Sometimes I'll just sit and rub her cheek with a blanket to help her relax.
Austin was born with a small birthmark on her left eyebrow. The doctor said it is likely to fade over time.
Lately, after being fed and wrapped up in a blanket, it is common to catch a smile from this girl.
I forget how much extra laundry comes with a newborn. Not only do you have an extra person in the house, but if she spits up or has a blow-out, it really starts to pile up. Austin really doesn't spit up very often. In the past month, she has spit up less than 10 times. But those have been massive, projectile spit up that had her and I both completely covered. Fun, right?
She doesn't seem to like being strapped in her car seat very well. The buckle has to be quite tight, and she gets pretty upset when I buckle her in. It makes me think twice about taking her anywhere.
She will take a binky, though she has a hard time keeping it in. Luckily she does not use it to sleep, so I don't have to worry about getting up to put it back in 100 times a night.
Austin is definitely loved by her siblings. Whether or not she returns their feelings is yet to be determined.
The past month passed so quickly. Austin has been so much fun to have around. There is something really sweet and special about her. We are still trying to figure her out, but slowly and surely we are learning what she likes and dislikes. She is a very good baby and I am so blessed to have her.
