Emma is one month old. I think that both Eric and I would chuckle and once again say that the first month feels like the longest month of our lives. I am sure part of it is the sleep deprivation. The other part is dealing with the demands of a newborn. The first few weeks, while being hard, are also so sweet. Never again will she look so scrunchy and small as she sleeps on our chests. We love the little baby smiles that she makes as she falls asleep and all of the crazy faces she makes when she tries to wake up. We are trying to soak up as much of her as we can since this, barring any surprises from God, will be our last child.
 |
| 1 month old |
Besides the addition of Emma, this month has been extremely uneventful as far as activities. We have had visits from friends. Our dear friend Melanie has graciously taken Clara with her and her son Sammy to the zoo and COSI. We have also been blessed with a bunch of meals. I have also had girlfriends come over to pray with me since my first few weeks postpartum were sort of a wreck of emotions and filled with a lot of feelings of anxiety. Luckily, God has chosen to lift many of those postpartum emotions and I am feeling much more like myself, despite the sleep deprivation.
Our days are mostly filled with dropping Edmund off at the bus stop, going on walks and entertaining Clara, lots of feeding of the baby, picking up Nathaniel from school, feeding of the other children, naps, picking up Edmund from the most stop, putting together dinner, and hanging out in the evenings with dad.
Emma has surprised us with her looks. Her hair is strawberry blonde and is on the reddish side. Never in my life would I have imagined one of my children having red hair. We will see if it changes over time. She has fair skin that has been on the reddish side, but is losing some of it's redness. It looks a lot like mine. She has had some baby acne on her cheeks and her hands and legs are peeling less. She has blue gray eyes, which I think will end up turning hazel like mine. We aren't really sure who she looks like. Eric says she looks like my mom, but I think it is just because of the coloring. As with most things, time will tell!
 |
| sweet girl |
Emma is growing like a weed. She has her one month appointment next week, so it will be interesting to see how much longer she is. Already, I can't believe that she used to fit inside of my tummy. She loves being held and likes to fall asleep in the carrier. It seemed the first couple of weeks if she was awake, she was eating or crying because she wanted to be fed. The past week she has had more periods of wakefulness and seems to be more content. She enjoys looking at people's faces and playing in her play gym.
 |
| snoozing in the moby |
As far as sleep, she loves to sleep on mom's chest. It's her favorite. She doesn't do well with sleeping in the pack and play yet, but she loves sleeping in her swing and sometimes in her bouncy seat. We are still trying to work on the pack and play so that mom doesn't have to hold her all night. She sleeps up to 3 1/2 hours at night, which means that mom is pretty tired. She currently eats every 2-3 hours, closer to 2.
 |
| snuggling with dad |
I have had issues with nursing again for the fourth time. It is not like it was a surprise. I have always had milk supply issues. This time, it seemed worse. Emma is just an okay nurser, but I am working on it. She seems to like the flow of the bottle better and since I need to supplement with formula, there is not much that can be done. At least she takes a bottle well. I have also been pumping as much as possible to get my supply up. It will still not be enough, but I am grateful for the milk I produce. At a week, my milk had not come in yet and I was thinking that I wasn't going to get any in. I was beyond rational about it and extremely upset. Luckily, I had so many wonderful women and moms rally around me to encourage me either way. I was reminded that fed is best and she is eating well and growing well.
Now that Emma's belly button is all healed, she has transitioned from sponge baths to baths in her tub. She cried when I first put her in, but quickly relaxed once she realized the bath felt nice. That was, until I started trying to scrub between her creases. She did not like me cleaning her neck or her arm pits.
 |
| first bath |
The highlight of the month was a visit from Grammy and Grandpa. It was a quick visit as they were only here for about 24 hours. The enjoyed holding Emma and giving her extra cuddles. An extra bonus is that they got to celebrate Eric's birthday with us since his birthday was the following Monday.
 |
| grammy and grandpa and the girls |
Emma is lucky to have so many siblings who adore her. Sometimes, they love her a little too much. They are always fighting over holding her, although for most of them the actual amount of time holding her is brief. They love playing with her the in play gym, looking at her, and trying to give her toys, hugs, and kisses. One of the most annoying things, though, is they often want to talk and play with her while she is sleeping and wake her up. This has a tendency to make me feel frustrated so I am often found saying for them to leave her alone since she is sleeping!
 |
| sisters |
This has been a great first month and we are looking forward to enjoying fall with our littlest pumpkin.
-Eric & Anna
