Emerson is officially 1 month old and I'm so excited to start doing her monthly updates! I can't believe I am doing these again. I feel like I just finished up Grayson's and now it's Emerson's turn. I have truly loved looking back and reading these monthly updates. I refer to Grayson's all the time because I have already forgotten so much. I'm excited to document Emerson's monthly progress and milestones as well. Emerson Faith is such a sweet little girl! We love her to death and she's the perfect addition to our family. Being a family of 4 is a lot more work, but it's so much fun and filled with joy. Here's a little bit on how our first month with Emerson went:
Weight & Height: Emerson was 5 lbs. 8 oz. at birth, so I was very worried about how her weight gain would go. I am exclusively breastfeeding and hoped that would be enough for our little peanut to gain the weight she needed. Luckily, she eats like a champ and was already up to 8 lb. 1 oz. at her 4 week check-up! As a breastfeeding mama, that was so encouraging to see! You never really know how much they are getting, but now I know she's getting plenty. I really stressed about Emerson's weight gain in the beginning, but she's healthy and starting to chunk up -- she's getting little rolls and I couldn't be happier! :)
Weight & Height: Emerson was 5 lbs. 8 oz. at birth, so I was very worried about how her weight gain would go. I am exclusively breastfeeding and hoped that would be enough for our little peanut to gain the weight she needed. Luckily, she eats like a champ and was already up to 8 lb. 1 oz. at her 4 week check-up! As a breastfeeding mama, that was so encouraging to see! You never really know how much they are getting, but now I know she's getting plenty. I really stressed about Emerson's weight gain in the beginning, but she's healthy and starting to chunk up -- she's getting little rolls and I couldn't be happier! :)
Eating: Like I said, Emerson eats like a champ! She latched right away and has been a really good breastfed baby -- which is a blessing! She eats every 2-3 hours on average, but she will snack throughout the day sometimes as well. Emerson rarely spits up which I know helps with her weight gain. Unfortunately, when she does spit-up, she completely throws up everything she's eaten. It's a little overwhelming. Thankfully that only happens every once in a while! She is quite the gassy baby though. That's really the only reason she cries -- that and if she's hungry. She has much more gas than Grayson ever did and you can tell she's really in pain (it's also very loud, so you know it doesn't feel good for her!). I've been giving her gas drops, working hard to make sure she gets burped well, and doing a lot of bicycle legs. Emerson also goes through the diapers...she poops all day long! I'm constantly changing her only to change her again. We know she won't be getting a boyfriend any time soon with her current bathroom habits! Ha!
Sleep: Emerson is a sleeper! Honestly, she probably slept 22 hours a day for the first 2-3 weeks. She was hardly ever awake. She would wake-up to eat and then go right back to sleep. It was amazing, but also worried me a little. She wakes up more now, but still sleeps most of her days! That being said, she never misses a feeding and always wakes herself up for those. She was waking up every 1.5 - 3 hours at night for the first few weeks and now she wakes up every 3 hours at night. Once in a while, she will go 4 hours, but that's very rare. Emerson is very good about eating and then going right back to sleep though, so that helps a lot! She is usually up for 10-20 minutes and then she's back asleep. I've done a much better job sticking with swaddling this time and that also seems to help. The biggest reason she will wake-up at night, besides being hungry, is being gassy. You can hear her grunt and really struggle throughout the night, so I'm looking forward to when that gets better. Right now she sleeps in the rock 'n' play next to our bed. While I am tired, I know that phase is short-lived and I already see her sleeping better at night, so I know she will get there. Emerson is very aware when she is awake and is just taking it all in. She makes the cutest little expression with wide eyes like the world is a little too much for her and she's nervous as to what's going on! I love it.
Clothes: Emerson is still wearing mostly newborn clothes and diapers. The 0-3 month clothes are slowly starting to fit though and I think we are on our last box of newborn diapers. They are getting too small, so it's on to size 1! Emerson was swimming in all of her newborn clothes when she was first born, so it's really strange to see them all fit well and even starting to get a little small. She's already growing like a weed!
Mood: Emerson has the sweetest and most calm temperament. Like I said, she is asleep most of the time and sleeps through anything! She rarely cries and is just so relaxed. I never realized how much Grayson cried until I realize how little she cries (Sorry Gray, you were my challenging one!). She is great about going with the flow and is usually very calm. She won't take a pacifier, but that hasn't really mattered since she is so even-tempered. I will say she's been a little more fussy in the past week now that she's waking up a little more, but still, Emerson has the sweetest demeanor! She is much better about not being held all the time than Grayson was. She does like to be held, but also does really well not being held which helps me out! I'm also kind of forcing her to be a little more laid back. With Grayson, every cry was tended to immediately. But with two young children, it just doesn't work like that! There are times where she just has to cry a little bit while I'm dealing with Grayson, so she's probably learning to be even more chill when that happens. Second child problems! ;)
Loves: being held and cuddling, sleeping in her rock 'n' play, being swaddled, big brother Grayson -- I swear she smiles at him!, movement and being bounced, bath time, car rides, taking naps with her daddy, and sleeping in mom and dad's bed (very rare treat).
Doesn’t like: Really the only time she cries is if she's hungry or has gas! She will also fuss when getting her bows put on, getting her outfit changed, and if Grayson pokes at her too much!
Milestones: Emerson has awesome head control and does really well during tummy time! She hasn't smiled at anything specific yet, but she constantly makes smiley expressions which I love.
How Mommy Is Doing: I could probably do a whole post on this, but I will try to keep it short! **Okay, I failed at keeping it short, but here's an honest look at how everything postpartum went for me! Overall, I feel great! Physically, I recovered much faster this time. I didn't have any stitches which helped a lot and because I have a toddler, life went back to "normal" very quickly. Emotionally, I did struggle a little more this time. It was really only the first week or two, but I felt a lot of anxiety after Emerson's birth. My pregnancy with her was so stressful that I feared something being wrong with her after she was born. I was very on edge about her health, but she is just fine! She's healthy and I finally had to accept that and let the worrying go. I also struggled a little bit with the adjustment from 1 to 2 emotionally. The first few days home felt really strange. I cried a one point thinking that the chapter with just Grayson was over and then I also felt guilty because I wasn't able to give them both my undivided attention. It was and still is so strange to go from giving one child your 100% attention all the time to learning to multi-task and pay attention to both of them. I felt sad knowing I would miss things that they would do because I couldn't pay attention to both of them at once. And of course, I felt scared that I wouldn't love Emerson as much as I love Grayson (obviously not true). The time in the hospital this time around was also very different. I felt so happy after I had Grayson because we were all there together and my family felt complete. This time being in the hospital was very bittersweet. I was so happy to be with Emerson, but I really missed Grayson. A part of me felt like I couldn't be fully happy because not everyone in our family was there -- we were missing someone important and it hurt my heart. Grayson spent two nights away from us which he had never done before and I really struggled with missing him. Thankfully, we got discharged from the hospital after a day and a half, so we were all able to be together again and my heart was so happy! All of that to say that I feel so much better than I did those first few days, as far as, my emotions and anxiety go. I feel like I'm slowly adjusting to life as a family of 4. It's definitely a work in progress though! Being a mom of 2 under 2 is HARD, but I really do love it. I've tried really hard to get things "back to normal" a lot quicker this time. I feel like that happens when you already have a toddler that's on a schedule and requires a busy day to burn his never-ending energy. We've done well at getting out and about. I'm learning how to go in public with both of my children and while it isn't always pretty, I'm doing it! I also feel much calmer this time around. I don't panic nearly as much when Emerson cries and I know that she's going to be just fine no matter what's going on with her. (I feel like I panicked much more often when Grayson was crying as a newborn!) I'm still learning how to balance everything and figure out when in the world I'm supposed to do things like shower, clean the house, and put on my make-up, but life has gone on and we are all surviving! I'm looking forward to time going on and getting into more of a routine, but I'm also enjoying where we are now. I know I'll miss this time when it's gone!
