Our first month went so much better than I had hoped! I had absolutely zero baby experience so I wasn't sure how things were going to go! I was nervous that Kayla was the first baby that I was ever going to be alone with! But I did do a lot of research ahead of time which made me feel more prepared. Aunt Becky bought we a program called "Taking Cara Babies" which ultimately made me feel much more confident about how to put her to sleep and how to calm her down.
Our breast feeding journey has been incredible, loving, overwhelming, tiring, self-doubting, and one of the best things ever all rolled into one! The first two weeks, I was waking up every couple of hours to feed the baby. And at first she was having trouble gaining weight. This caused us to have to go to the doctors a bunch of times to get weighed in the first two weeks. This also caused us to supplement with formula a bottle or two a day. Breastfeeding is hard work... It is SO hard to be sure of yourself and know that you are giving the baby everything that they need. Especially, because once or twice a day, Kayla would just start screaming and wailing in the middle of nursing. I was honestly at a loss as to why too. I wasn't sure if I had too little milk... too much milk... or if she was just gassy. Cody and I think that it's gas that is upsetting her and not my milk supply... but gee it's tough having a baby screaming and crying and not knowing what to do. It really made me question if I was giving her what she needed or not.
However, I love her satisfied face and snuggles after we nurse and she is happy. It's my absolute favorite! I love being able to instantly calm and soothe her when she's upset. This first month, we've probably spent about 10 hours or more a day nursing with each other.
When the baby is hungry she opens and closes her mouth then starts "pecking" at us like a baby bird. So this has gotten her the nick name "Birdy Bird." When we are getting ready to fed, I tell her to come here my little Birdy Bird. Or Birdy Bird's hungry, aren't you baby girl?
Baby girl loves cuddling on her daddy's chest. She also likes to grab daddy's chest hairs too! Baby tends to get fussy if mommy tries to cuddle with her like this (I think she can smell the milk on me, because she instantly becomes hungry when I try to lay with her).
This is Kayla's favorite position. We call it "Daddy's Bounce House." She loves to be on our right shoulders and bounced. Whenever she is fussy this pretty much is the only thing that calms her down (unless I nurse her). We think she likes the pressure on her tummy. She could be held like this for hours and be happy. Cody walks around with her and calls himself the "One Armed Bandit" because he walks around with her in one arm, and then he has one arm left to do things.
Kayla was all dressed up for her first North Carolina/Duke game.
Against the odds, North Carolina was actually playing very well against Duke (their team was probably one of the worst UNC teams ever this year). Whenever Kayla was in her North Carolina gear or daddy was holding her, North Carolina was winning/doing good. However, baby needed to eat and once she came to mommy they started to lose.
Cosmo was instantly ok with Kayla. He's pretty chill about her, and doesn't really mind her crying. He has changed though, by always laying on the couch. He used to lay on the ground or in his cat bed a lot. Now, he's around us a lot more.
It took Dex about 3-4 weeks to really warm up and feel comfortable around the baby. At first any little peep she made and he'd zoom off. Now he's more around and starting to get more like his old self.
Tummy time is not a fun time for us yet. She does not like being on her tummy and it's a struggle every time we do it. We know how beneficial it is though so we are trying to make sure that we do it daily.
Pacifiers are hit and miss with her right now. Sometimes we'll try to give it to her, and she'll suck for a suck or two and then she makes a "yuck" look and spits it out. I secretly like that she prefers me over the plastic! I get secretly happy whenever she gives her yuck look to the pacifier, because mommy is ultimately her favorite pacifier. However, there are times when it's nice for her to take it and relax with it.
Her swing is also hit and miss. Sometimes, she'll go in and sleep for an hour or two in it. Other times she wails as soon as she goes into it. It really depends on her mood.
Luckily for us... her car seat is something that she likes. She was well behaved in all of our car rides and the one nice day when we were able to walk outside.
The last week, Kayla has started to become more aware and active. She is more interested in her jungle gym now, and she likes when we rattle and shake things.
Kayla loves being held, cuddled, and bounced. She also likes to lay flat on the couch and have mommy and daddy talk to her. She has started to coo and look at us a little bit more. However, she doesn't really respond very much when mommy sings or reads to her.
