Matthew at 1 month (what?!)

I can’t believe it’s time to write this already. Time has truly flown and I’m scared to think of how quickly it will continue to pass. I try to cherish every moment and store them up as I know that these memories are fleeting. I love watching his facial expressions and watching him become more and more alert to his environment. For the first 2 weeks of life, he barely opened his eyes. I started to wonder if he was ok. But then one day, there they were and his periods of being awake and not needing to eat or have a diaper change have increased. I love feeling him asleep against me or watching him while breastfeeding. Milk coma status produces good snuggling opportunities. So far I’ve only captured half a smile on camera, but they are so precious when he does. His personality is still to be seen, but I think we might have a little man prone to theatrics. He gets bright red and scrunches that brow and scream cries at times, like when I force him to get his diaper changed. So horrible. But he also “talks” more instead of just crying. We get coos and squeaks at random times. Overall, it’s crazy how much our world has changed and how much our world can center around our little man and the mundane details of diaper changes and feeding schedules and nap times. It’s crazy how much love you can have for someone. 

Height: 22.25 at 3 weeks

Weight: 10 pounds, 6 oz at 3 weeks

Diaper Size: size 1

Clothing size: 0-3 with some newborn as well

Sleep:  Matthew sleeps great when he is held. We called him our “tree frog” at the beginning for how he would curl into the fetal position against our chest and sleep. He has now already grown out of the tree frog position for the most part. At night he will sleep anywhere from 1-3 hours before waking and has recently started tolerating being rocked back to sleep if he does wake up. When he does wake, it takes between 1-2 ½ hours to fall back asleep with nursing, diaper changes and getting to sleep. If not being held, he tends to sleep better in the rock ‘n’ play, but he does sleep in his bassinet for part of the night. Of course, he is swaddled to achieve this sleep. The Velcro swaddles have been life savers as we still struggle with swaddling him without him getting too much blanket and then being a suffocation risk.  

Milestones: As a proud PT momma, Matthew has great head control for his age. He lifts it up away from you when you’re holding him. The issue has been controlling it back down as he head butts you on the way down.  He also rolled from tummy to back on Friday, 5/30, one time. Not quite a skill yet as it only happened once, but it did happen. So exciting! He had a babysitter for the first time, my mom. Sean and I went on a date night to chick fil a, followed with a trip to the grocery store and finished with a walk with the dog at home, sin el bebe. We were gone for a little over an hour and a half. We also all went out to eat when his grandparents visited. He did great, sleeping the whole time. We’re venturing more and more into the world. 

Challenges: Diaper changes and waking up hungry are still full blown crises for the most part. Sometimes they don’t trigger world war III, but they are not fun experiences. Getting dressed isn’t too high on his list either. We’re still working on our days and nights, but that has gotten better. We’re still figuring out a routine, but for now, any activities during the day are pretty dependent on our nights. 

Successes: We have gotten better with breastfeeding. That was quite a challenge at first. At his 3 week appointment he had gained a total of 1 pound, 13 oz and he has grown 1.75 inches. Matthew and I have also gone on 3 solo outings followed with girls’ night not at our house. The first was to his doctor for a well-visit check-up. The car ride there went well, but sadly that was not the case on the way home. He actually cried himself to sleep and when I went to take him out of the car, I had a sleeping  baby. This broke my heart to think he went to sleep sad. But since that was the only snafu, we ventured the next day for some needed shopping supplies followed with a visit to my mom’s work. Several hours later we ventured to a friend’s house for girls’ night. I’m glad to know that we can go out just the two of us without issue. He also tolerated bath time better when it wasn’t in his bath tub. The first bath was a traumatic experience for the little man, but the second time when he was in the bathroom sink with me holding him with one arm went much better. He looked so cute with his arm propped on the edge of the tub. 

 It's true what they say, you blink and life flies by. I can't believe I no longer have a newborn. But I'm excited for life as a mom to a 1 month old.