One Month Update

At one month I would venture to guess that Chloe has passed the 9 pound mark. She feels a lot heftier now and is much easier to handle. As I lug her around I find myself thanking God for blessing us with an early baby. I think the three extra pounds would have made a world of difference.





I have been struggling to find time to post an update. For a couple of weeks Chloe's naughtiest time was from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm when Paul was gone at work. In the rare case that she was sleeping peacefully in this time period I was dedicating my potential moments of sanity toward my job that continues to haunt me even during maternity leave. I have solved this problem by *gasp* putting Chloe down for naps on her tummy. I figure that since I am watching her she is probably fine to sleep on her tummy and Griffin and I rejoice in the silence. Yesterday I was able to do a quick workout and dust our entire house! Still, her favorite place to nap is in her Moby Wrap which has paid for itself ten times over. If I were keeping score it would be something like Chloe 2 and Moby Wrap 30. The weeks prior to the tummy naps were a struggle. Chloe would spend most of the day wailing so much so that I thought she had Colic. She would end up taking five to ten minute naps and would get overtired.

At night Chloe is still sleeping in her swing next to our bed. We didn't want to spend the $150 for a bassinet and she feels comfortable in the swing so it works for us. Generally speaking, Chloe sleeps through the night, but wakes up every four hours to eat, and I couldn't be happier. She absolutely must be swaddled at night because she is the squirmiest baby around. I'm not kidding either. You may think your baby is squirmy until you meet this girl. I think it is because she is so gassy. I think that I have discovered Chloe's gas was from the citrus in my diet. It was either that or dairy. I have quit drinking my morning glass of OJ and she farts for five minutes a day instead of an hour :o) Oh the riveting life of a new mother. Chlo's gas has crowned her the king of toots around this house (a momentous feat) and we have dubbed her Tootsie for now.

At one month Chloe is a very nosy baby. When she is awake she is very alert and she seems to study everything. She is also superwoman strong. She holds her head up for over thirty seconds and is getting less and less bobbley by the day. She also has the classic baby death grip for things that should not be death gripped like hair and necklaces.

We are completely smitten with our new baby girl and I have been enjoying every minute at home with her. Pretty soon, though, the money will run out and I will have to return to work. I spent some time looking for daycare prior to Chloe's arrival, but we only visited two places. Originally I wanted someone to come to our home while I worked from home, but I became increasingly frightened by this option after hearing a horror story about a shaken baby. The more I read about hiring a nanny the more I stressed about it. They should have a clear driving and criminal record, they should be CPR certified, they should have good references, etc. Really the most important interview question for a nanny is "Do you shake babies" and who is really going to say "You bet"? We are meeting with a lady today who has glowing references and runs a small daycare out of her home. She sounded angelic on the phone and she thinks she has space for a newborn. I look forward to meeting her. My mom has agreed to watch Chloe on Thursdays and Fridays, while Bobby Kay agreed to watch her once per week as well. We feel very blessed to have them come watch Chloe. Not only will it save us a boatload of money, but Chloe will get to spend a lot of time with her grandmas and will receive the best possible care!

Photo Shoot

Chloe had her first photo shoot on Friday. Here are some of my favorites!

The First Two Weeks

Paul called my parents right when we were admitted to the hospital. They made it to the hospital about 15 minutes after Chloe was born. Unfortunately, Grandma and Grandma T were still visiting Henry in Texas and they weren't able to meet Chloe until February 2. My mom held Chloe from about 3:00 am until about 6:00 am on Sunday morning before she left to get some sleep. When we woke up Aunt Kendra was the first to arrive. After that, the visitors kept rolling in. We were so exhausted, but were so excited to share Chloe with our closest friends and family. The hospital stay was nice. I elected to stay the additional night because I quite enjoyed being catered to by nurses and having the world's most qualified babysitters watch Chloe at night. We left the hospital on Tuesday around 11:30 am. We got Chloe all dressed up in her cute going home outfit, which she yakked on shortly afterwards. I sat in the back seat with her on the way home even though I said I wouldn't.







My parents stayed at our house Tuesday night through Thursday night. My parents were amazing. My mom cleaned my house and did the laundry that was piling up in the basement and my dad cooked us dinner each night. I never had a chance to "nest" and so the help was greatly needed and appreciated. The first few nights with Chloe at home were a struggle. She screamed bloody murder and refused to sleep in her crib. We played musical chairs sticking her in her crib, swing, bouncy seat, and back to her crib. Ultimately, she just wanted to be held. I was a nervous wreck and was terrified to let her sleep alone. Each time we sat her in her crib I found myself staring at the monitor with my eyes glazed over in a cold sweat. She is just the world's loudest sleeper. She grunts and makes choking noises and it is just enough to drive a new parent bonkers. When morning came, Chloe fell asleep nicely and remained a peaceful little angel until nightfall.

We struggled a lot with breastfeeding the minute we brought her home. Because the books say to do so I was trying to feed Chloe every 2-3 hours. This resulted in her again screaming bloody murder. When she slept she would make sad faces and I think she was having nightmares of me sticking my big boob in her face when she wasn't even hungry! Once I figured out that she wanted to eat every four hours and the world didn't stop turning and my baby didn't in fact die from doing so, the struggles of breastfeeding eventually worked themselves out. I can see how so many women give up breastfeeding in the early weeks of infancy. It's just downright hard. But in the end I believe the benefits outweigh the struggles. While I'm not one of those crazy advocates of breastfeeding, I do think you'd be hard pressed to find a doctor that didn't agree that "breast is best," and who doesn't want to give their child every possible chance to be the healthiest and smartest baby she can be? I can tell you one thing, though. I don't think we will end up saving one dollar from breastfeeding. This kid poops about every hour and we have gone through more diapers than I could have ever imagined!

I would like to note here that I did have a postpartum day the Wednesday after we brought Chloe home. I didn't cry or do anything too crazy, but I snapped on Paul a good four or five times. He'd say something as innocent as "Hey Cass" and I would respond with a "WHAT PAUL?@?!@?" Something like that. In my mind I remember thinking "okaaay psycho!" but I just couldn't help it. Thankfully, it was business as usual by the next day!

After my parents left, Paul and I decided to have Chloe sleep in the bassinet in her Pack n' Play. We have it set up downstairs because it has a changing table and bassinet. It is a nice to have a little work station downstairs when the stitches in your girl parts make it particularly unfortunate feeling to go up and down the stairs. As a result, we ended up sleeping on the couch for the first two weeks of Chloe's life. It turns out that you don't care where you sleep when your newborn baby is sleeping four hours in a row (yes, that includes letting her sleep on your chest despite the warnings). The past two nights, however, Paul and I have graduated to our bed. Chlo is sleeping in her swing and she had one good night and one bad night. If she sleeps all day you can pretty much guarantee that she is going to be up all night. But sometimes she is fussy during the day and we reap the rewards at night.

Chloe got her first sponge bath the Thursday we brought her home. She HATED it! She screamed the entire time and I felt pretty bad for her. She had her first real bath on Monday and I had to laugh at how much she LOVED it. She just sat there in the water all spread eagle with her body completely limp and relaxed. She could have bathed all day.

For those of you wondering how our first born is handling our new addition, Griffin seems pretty indifferent. It was almost like he expected us to come home with Chloe. He likes to sit on the same couch as her and be near her, and he likes to check that she is still in her bassinet. But other than that it is pretty much business as usual. He has only been jealous so far of my dad holding Chloe because my dad is Griffin's favorite human being in the world. He does get a little annoyed when she refuses to sleep at night, but who can blame him?



Paul has been home for two weeks and is going back to work starting tomorrow. I'm not sure how single mothers come home alone and take care of a baby. I could barely get off of the couch for the first week. So far we have been just enjoying our time together as a family. We spend most of our time downstairs just napping, watching TV, and playing Call of Duty while the baby sleeps. It sounds rough, I know, but we need the relaxing days to balance out the stressful nights. I have loved these past two weeks and I'm sad that Paul has to go back to work.