Life with Baby.

The first month of Delaney's life was a myriad of emotions: fun, tiring, trying, amazing, stressful, beautiful, and most of all - blessed. Having this little girl has truly been wonderful, and I am in the daily habit now of thanking God for giving me this beautiful little creature as my very own.

We have all learned a lot this month. Delaney is busy learning about herself, her family, and the world around her, and we are constantly watching her and learning more about her personality as well. It is so fun to see her constantly grow and change! The first few days of constant sleeping and a still, quiet baby seem like a distant memory now. This little girl is changing, growing, and moving all the time. At first "learning the cries" seemed like a daunting task, but now attending to a specific need based on her sounds comes naturally. Maybe the most rewarding feeling is knowing how to comfort her - singing songs, holding her a special way, and bouncing her around the room to cheer her up when she's upset.

Sleep is a wonderful thing. Delaney has slept about 6 hours at night from about her second week home. She is starting to stretch this out a bit now, and I am hoping that continues well into the first year of her life! This makes her a happy baby during the day, and it makes for happy mommy and daddy as well.

During the day we do tummy time, read books, sometimes go run errands or out to lunch, swing, and of course spend some time napping too - not me, just Delaney! We did not have a bedtime routine the first month, but have just started one now. She seems to enjoy the relaxation and special time with us.

The only real trial of the first month was weight gain. Delaney was a big girl at birth (8 lbs. 15 oz.) but she lost a pound waiting for momma's milk to come in, and gained VERY slowly after that point. This meant taking her in every 4-5 days to check in with our pediatrician to make sure all was still well, and she wasn't actually losing any weight. I was fervently determined to nurse her, so we kept on keeping on, and although she was eating well, the weight just wasn't coming on. We finally began supplementing with my milk through pumping, which was very trying. After feeding, pumping, and then giving the pumped milk, it is time for the whole process to start again. It was exhausting, and I knew it would be impossible to keep up once I started back to work.

So, after much researching, praying, and talking with Andrew, we decided to supplement with formula. Delaney is currently getting two meals of formula a day, with the rest of her meals coming from momma's milk. This way, she still gets all of my immunities and all the wonderful things that nursing provides, but she puts some pounds on too.

As of her last check-up, the little one weights 9 lbs. 5 oz. (finally back over birth weight)! We are really pleased with our decision, and feel that Delaney is getting the best nutrition that we can provide her. That is the most important thing!

One thing motherhood has helped me with is making decisions! I am not a good decision maker, and I usually consult my hubby on ever.y.thing. But now that I am a mommy, I am making 24/7 decisions for another person. I talk to her daddy about all the important decisions for sure, but there are a lot that have to be made all day long, and since she doesn't usually provide too much guidance, mommy must come to the rescue! This is just one way of many that I have already changed and grown. I love getting parts of my pre-pregnancy life back, but also seeing the new ways that our family is growing and changing as a result of our precious baby girl.