Enter the cliché ‘I can’t believe a month has passed’ sentiment right here. Except I prefer to say 4 weeks because 1 month sounds so long and like I should have my act together by now. HA!

Let’s start with the basics.

EAT.

Kaitlyn nurses about 7 times days a day. Right now a rough estimate is 2:00am, 6:30am, 11:15am, 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:00pm and occasionally she will take an ounce of two from the bottle around 9:30pm. She typically nurses on both sides for a total of 20ish minutes.

She took her first bottle on day 14 and did great with it.

I’m trying to keep up the habit of offering her a bottle once a day. After I feed her around 7:00pm, I pump and get anywhere from 1-3 ounces which I offer her around 9:30/10 that night as a dreamfeed.

SLEEP.

Sleep is going OK overall. Kaitlyn spends her nights in the Moses basket beside our bed. We are trying to put her down between 7:00pm-8:00pm. From there she wakes up around 2:00am and again at 6:15am. However, she isn’t really up for the day then. She has a ‘snack’ and usually a decent diaper, plays for 30 minutes and goes back to sleep for a cat nap.

I can usually count on one great morning nap from about 9:00-11:00. We are usually out and about so she takes this in her car seat or in the Ergo. At home she naps in her Moses basket, in the boppy lounger or occasionally the swing.

Sometimes she smiles in her sleep and when she’s really out, her mouth hangs wide open. Love her.

Afternoon naps are hit or miss. I know she needs them because if she doesn’t nap she I quite fussy, but if she falls asleep, it’s always short and choppy.

We swaddle for night time and sometimes for naps, and the white noise app on my phone is fabulous for helping her finally pass out.

PLAY.

Hm, what kind of play is there right now at 4 weeks? Well for one, the girl wants to roll! I already don’t feel safe leaving her alone.

She’s going to be a busy one!

She does not like to be held ‘like a baby.’ She prefers to be sitting or standing or stretched out so she can wiggle.

She took her first bath on day 11 and really enjoyed it.

Her eyes stayed wide the whole time as if to say ‘woah… what is this? I like!’ And afterwards she was quite sleepy.

She started giving small smiles at 3 weeks and has coo’d a couple times though it’s clear she doesn’t know she is doing it. I’ll coo back and she looks at me like what are you doing??

Other facts: she loves having her head cocked back, being patted on the bottom, her eyelashes are starting to get long, she’s super happy in the mornings, I started trying to force a paci at 3 weeks and 2 days and her clogged duct cleared up around 3.5 weeks after I continuously squirted breast milk in her eye.

According to my unofficial measurement (bathroom scale), she is around 8lbs right now. We’ll know more at the doc appointment next week. She is wearing newborn diapers and clothes.

MOM.

So how am I doing? Depends on when you ask me!

Right now as I’m typing with Kailtyn snoozing beside me, I say, ‘really great!’ Ask me around 4:30 most afternoons and I’ll say ‘I’m so exhausted.’ I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and I love my girls SO much, but it’s a hectic time right now. I feel like I am ‘on’ from 6am until 9:30pm without so much as a breather. It’s really important to me to keep Hailey active so we have been hitting up splash pads, play dates and getting out of the house for errands. I took my first solo outing with both girls to the farmers market on day 7- so much sooner than I was out and about after having Hailey, but I feel like I had no choice but to get back to life, so I’m just going for it.  I’ve done bath and bed by myself and am OK knowing that though it may not look graceful, I can handle two on my own.

I am still behind on thank you notes, calling friends back and anything else that isn’t related to feeding the fam or keeping the house running. I really try not to use TV and read a lot of books and do a lot if stickers while nursing, but Hailey is consistently watching one Dora a day before nap and sometimes an extra one.  On random rainy afternoons, sometimes we watch movies. Frozen is a current favorite. I survived the grocery store yesterday with both girls for the first time, though, so that made me feel pretty awesome.

My emotions range from, please let them stay these ages forever! to think of all the fun that’s to come when they get a little bit bigger. I am fighting to get a little bit of me back too, but telling myself to be patient, it will come. We’ve made it to the gym once.

Hailey was so excited to show off ‘her baby’ and had a great time playing while I walked with Kaitlyn in the stroller outside. I’m still not feeling quite right for exercise, but more about that in my post baby body post later this week.

So overall, we’re doing OK. I have so much credit to give to family and friends that have helped out with Hailey, meals and emotional support this first month. It’s been a whirlwind, but I truly couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I love my little family so much!

I’m sure with this long, rambling post I provided more detail than you ever cared to know, but if I missed anything, feel free to ask away!