Pinch Me

Today was Emily's 1 month birthday. It was also St. Patty's day, which was a neat tribute to her Irish-ness. This first month has been adventuresome, stressful, exciting, fulfilling, and so much more. I thought I would take this opportunity to shower you with pictures, and fill you in on all that has been going on this month.

All Smiles

Well, Emily lost a pound in the hospital, which I think they said was 11% of her body weight. I wasn't too worried about it, because I knew that all babies lost weight at first. The troublesome thing about it was that she had a very hard time gaining it back. We had to take her to the pediatrician for weight checks every 2-3 days, and I think we went 6 time int he first two weeks. We had a difficult time figuring out what the problem was. I went to see a lactation consultant, and we discovered that Emily was not latching on correctly. I immediately decided to start pumping and bottle-feeding breast milk, so that she could gain weight, and we could revisit the latching issues when she was stronger. This helped her a lot, and I discovered how difficult breastfeeding really is.

Then, she got thrush. I guess it could be worse, I don't think it has really caused her any pain, but we have had to give her medicine after each feeding. We are on her 4th bottle of the stuff, and the thrush is not gone. I think the more disappointing thing about the issue is that I can't really try breastfeeding again until it is gone. Well, I guess I can, but it is likely that I would get thrush myself, and I don't really want to add that kind of pain to the whole breastfeeding fiasco. I really can't wait to be able to try it again, it is one of the most amazing things.

Favorite Boppy Poses

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She also got a cold at right around 2 weeks old. I think she got it from Ryan, who was sick in the hospital, and that was a little rough on us as well. I am actually kind of amazed at how well I handled the whole thing; I didn't really freak out at all. I called the nurse and we did all the things she told us to, cleaning out her nose with saline and the aspirator, using a cool mist humidifier, propping her mattress at an angle, small doses of infant Tylenol...and after at least a week, it went away. It really broke my heart to hear her cough the way she did, and to know she was in pain, but I am just so thankful that she didn't get a fever, and that she is all better now.

Well, those are the big updates for her first month. Her umbilical cord stump is still attached, and we are very annoyed with it! Praying that it falls off soon...Also, we just got her dresser in, 2 days ago! Now we have to figure out how to put it together, and I can finally put away her clothes and clean up her nursery. Can't wait!

Today we went to Build-A-Bear. Ryan gave me a gift certificate for my birthday, because he knew I had kind of always wanted to do one, and now was the perfect time. I made a guardian angel bear for Emily, and named her, what else, Angel. I decided that for her monthly photos, I would take a picture of her next to the bear, so you could really see how much she has grown. I think the first pictures came out much much better than I could have ever imagined!

The Most Beautiful Baby in the World

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Happy 1 Month, Emily!