Samantha's 1 Month Update!

Height/Weight: At her 2 week appointment, she was 7lbs 3oz (40%) (gained 14oz since her appointment at 5 days old!!), 19.75 in long (63%) and her head circumference was 35.5cm (69%). We went to a breastfeeding group meet up at the hospital in Odessa about a week ago and she was 8lbs 1oz! :)

Daily: Everything is pretty much the same as it was at a week old; she is awake and alert quite a bit, during which we do tummy time and I have her lie on her back to check out her toys and watch her brother play. She has a lot more patience with tummy time than Vincent did, but it's all about timing. It's best to do 20-30 minutes after she has eaten and had a good burp! I try to get my snuggles as much as possible, but it's definitely more difficult than it was with Vince, since I have him to take care of as well! He is still so, so sweet and gentle with her and when she is in the swing or being held, he will come up and say "A kiss? A kiss?" <3 She doesn't seem to mind kisses from big brother at all. He also likes to hold her hand a lot. Unless colicky, she is a very content little miss! :) The pediatrician mentioned how incredibly alert she was; wide-eyed and looking around the room! Like Vincent did, she loves to stare at lamps or look out the window. 

Sleep: She has good nights and bad nights; it always depends on the gassiness! I can tell that's what's bothering her, because she will arch her back and let out the most pitiful, painful cry. :( It breaks my heart and there's only so much I can do to help relieve it! On a good night, she will eat every 3-4 hours, burp after and I'll change her, then rock her for a few minutes and she crashes right back out. On bad nights, she will want to eat every 2 hours or so and wake up a lot in between with gas pain; it's on those nights that it's particularly hard to get her to burp! During the day, I've noticed she will often follow an eat, awake time, eat, sleep, repeat pattern. She stays awake for pretty decent stretches! I've been tracking her sleep lately, to learn her patterns a little better and see what schedule and routine would work best for her.
She still sleeps through noise pretty well, but definitely less so than she did in the beginning. But once she is in deep sleep, noise really doesn't phase her. She naps out in the living area during the day for the most part and I've been putting her down in her bassinet in our bedroom when Vincent naps. She not very picky about where she sleeps, other than when she is colicky and wants to be held. She likes the bassinet, the swing and the bouncy seat pretty well! She has also slept on that fluffy owl nap mat on the couch next to me a few times. :) 

Eating: Breastfeeding is going great - she gained a good amount of weight and that makes me soooo happy! It's always so nerve wracking when they aren't gaining weight the way they "should". The pediatrician was very encouraging and sweet and I felt so relieved after she was weighed! She does still have an issue sucking too much air. The pediatrician confirmed my suspicion that she has got a bit of a lip tie and recommended a lactation consultant to get in touch with, to see if we could work on her latch a bit more. When I met with the lactation consultant at the breastfeeding meet up, she said that it's not so much the lip tie that is causing the issue, but instead, her shallow latch. She doesn't open her mouth very wide, so she doesn't latch as deeply as she should, which causes her to swallow so much air. Vincent never had this issue, so it has been hard and I've often wondered if there's something I am doing wrong. But I am doing everything I can to work on her latch and plan on continuing to go to breastfeeding meet ups! :) I have to take breaks every couple minutes during the feeding to burp her, otherwise she will end up super gassy and/or projectile vomit. The longer I wait to burp her, the harder it is to get her to do it! It means that nursing her to sleep or in the side-lying position is pretty much impossible, but I'm certain once she gets a bit older and grows out of it, we will be able to! :) As I mentioned above, she eats anywhere from every 2-4 hours with 3 being the norm at night and every 2-3 during the day, unless she is clusterfeeding. However, I've stopped setting alarms at night for her to eat, because she generally won't go past the 4 hour mark anyway and she is obviously doing fine with the weight gain! :)

Sizes: Still in newborn and likely will be for a few more weeks. (Is it weird that I am happy about this? I am nowhere near ready to put up the newborn clothing!!) She is also still in newborn diapers; we had to go buy more the other day, because we ran out! I like to keep my kids in a smaller diaper for as long as possible, because the smaller the size, the more you get in a pack or box! ;) Newborn socks still slide right off her feet, unless I tuck them into the legs of her pants and I haven't even bothered with shoes yet! xD <3

Milestones:

• First Easter! <3 Also met the Easter Bunny for the first time! :)

• First photo shoot! It amazed me how easy it ended up being to take the photos by myself at home! I fed her and burped beforehand, to make sure she'd be super sleepy, then used a heating pad on a low setting and she CRASHED out. I mean, I was able to pose her and dress her a couple times without her waking up! It was a total success. I wish I had taken the time to do the same for Vincent!

• First doctor appointment!

• First size 5 diaper! Hahaha - this is what happens when you haven't gotten enough sleep, are in a rush to get out the door and remember to pack the toddler's diapers, but NOT the newborn's! Thank goodness it wasn't the other way around! xD

• First bath in the tub! Much like her brother, she likes the bath itself, but HATES getting out!

• First time at the park :)

• First time shopping (disclaimer: straps were loosened slightly just while we were in the store)