9.08.2016

Ingrid: 1 month


How does time still manage to take me by surprise after all these years? Ingrid is one month old. Wasn't I just dreaming of having a second baby yesterday? Ingrid is the type of baby that makes a mom say "maybe we'll have more" while taking care of a newborn. Can't comprehend that? I couldn't with Owen, either. Ingrid is a DREAM baby. She's six weeks as I write this post, and I have enjoyed her so much. I rarely let her go during her first week of life. I remember one night that week I made myself lay her down in her bouncy seat while we ate dinner, in an attempt to make things "normal" for Owen, and I immediately had to run to my bedroom and cry because it was so hard for me to lay her down. Since that first week, I haven't been able to hold her as much because 1) it's best for Owen that I don't, and 2) I am a freak about good/bad habits, such as holding to sleep. It was fun while it lasted though. :)
 
Ingy loves to eat and sleep. She also loves to take baths; she has never cried during a bath! I remember googling "how to make my baby like the bath" when Owen was younger. ha. She is not a fussy baby at all. She has already changed so much. I swear I'll never forget a single moment, but I also know my present memories will soon fade to make way for new ones, so here I am, documenting her life as backup version of my mind. I don't want to forget the fullness of her cheeks, chins, and necks--my bulldog. I don't want to forget the way she puts her hands by her face when she's nursing. The way she bangs her head on my shoulder when she's wanting to eat. The way she makes a crying face for several seconds before any sound comes out. The way she looks around for Owen every time she hears him (which is basically every second of the day). The way I loved her instantly.

I have her on the eat-wake-sleep routine (Babywise), or the EASY routine (Baby Whisperer) just like I did with Owen. It was my lifeline with him, so I assumed with two kids it would be even more important for my sanity. At this point with Owen, we were on a schedule. His eating and napping times were the same each day. With Ingrid, I haven't done that...yet. I have a note on my phone that I started when she was three days old where I have kept record of her feedings and naps and wake times, all day every day, and it's still going. Yes, I am an insane person. I was intending to track her habits so I could make a schedule, but I haven't done that because what we have going on right now is working really well for all four of us. She typically eats every 3 hours during the day, but sometimes she'll go only 2 hours instead. On the three hour days, she's usually awake for one hour, then asleep for two. I do our bedtime routine and feed her usually between 7:30 and 8:30pm, and then lay her down for the night. I've done this since she was two days old. I'm almost always able to lay her down awake. She has always gone a long stretch at night. The first couple of weeks it varied from 4-6 hours, but now it usually varies between 6 and 9 hours. No, that's not a typo. Refer back to my "DREAM baby" comment. She'll usually wake once in the night to eat for 10 minutes, then go right back to sleep until sometime between 7:30-8:30am. I was scared to tell her doctor at her one month appointment, fearing reprimand or something, but he was impressed and made no mention of needing to do anything differently.

Speaking of the doctor, around week 3, Ingrid broke out all over the place with severe baby acne. It got so bad that I thought for certain it must be something else, but her doctor feels confident it's just acne, and encouraged me to wait it out. Now that she's 6 weeks old (today), it is improving, but still there.  She's starting to outgrow her newborn clothes and diapers. She's wearing a mix of newborn and 0-3 month, as well as a mix of newborn and size 1 diapers. At one month, she weighed 9 lbs 7 oz, and was 21 & 1/4 inches long. She basically grew 3 lbs and 3 inches since we brought her home from the hospital. I'm sure she's added more than that by now, but I will update her stats in her two month post.

Ingrid, you're perfect, darling. I am thankful to be your mama.












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