Our darling girl is one month old today, we’ve had four whole weeks as a family of four and I think we’ve settled into it pretty well.
Amelia is an amazing big sister, she’s so gentle and caring. Wanting to give Taya all her teddies when she cries and giving her soft kisses on her head before she goes to bed. I’ve been so incredibly proud of how Amelia has adjusted to having Taya around, so far it’s been better than I could have ever hoped for.
I love seeing other people’s monthly updates so I’m going to try my best to do one for Taya every month so I can look back and see how she has changed and grown over the year.
Taya
This girl is a dream, she’s calm and spends most of her time asleep or on the boob.
She’s an absolute boob monster at the moment and currently weighs 8lb 15oz. She was weighed by the midwife at our discharge appointment and had gained 1lb in 11 days which is a pretty hefty gain for a one-month-old.
Before this, her weight had dropped from 7lb 15oz at birth down to 7lb 1oz in the first week. After 2 weeks she was back to her birth weight and is now following the 50th percentile on her growth chart.
She’s a tall baby, insanely tall in fact. She was measured 54cm by the health visitor (who pointed out that the longest baby she’d ever recorded was 57cm so we weren’t that far off). She’s so long that none of her newborn grows fit her anymore and some she never even got to wear. She’s fitting really well into her 0-3 month baby grows but is already filling out the legs and feet so I’m not sure they’re going to last as long as they should.
Feeding is going really well this time, I’ve been able to establish a good latch with her although she’s very sicky and will throw up after almost every single feed. The midwife thinks she’s being a bit greedy and is over feeding and making herself sick. I’m hoping she will learn to regulate how much milk to take to not make herself sick over time but it doesn’t help that like all breastfed babies she seeks out the boob for comfort when she’s actually already full.
We’re doing really well with our sleep at the moment, although I don’t want to jinx it, she’s currently feeding until between 11pm-midnight and will then wake around 2am or 3am for a feed and then again at 7am. She’s managing to go between 3-4hours between feeds at night but I’m under no illusion that this might not last and growth spurt and cluster feeding could quickly put an end to it all. I’m just enjoying a few hours of unbroken sleep whilst I can.
Her current favourite things are; her Percy Penguin white noise machine and matching comforter which I use every night to help settle her for sleep and the comforter goes everywhere with us as she likes to grip hold of the little knots. She’s also very fond of a pink fluffy hooded blanket that belonged to Amelia. We wrap her up in it or use it in the pram and she sleeps for hours snuggled in it.
Her most favourite thing of all is to be held, just like any newborn, she wants constant cuddling and will sleep best on our chests. I’ve been getting to grips with our baby carrier to help with this so that I can still get things done, eat my food and play with Amelia whilst she sleeps on me. So far it seems to be working well which is great.
We’ve started to introduce Taya to her play mat when she’s awake. She manages to look at it and hit things randomly when her arms and legs flap about and I think she enjoys it. She loves to look around and watch Amelia play as well so she’s just starting to take it all in I think.
It’s been really surprising just how different Taya is to Amelia; all the things that Amelia hated and would scream about Taya seems quite happy with. She’s happy to sleep in her moses basket (we had already given up on it with Amelia by this point), she sleeps quite happily in the carrycot of her pram, wrapping her in a swaddle brings instant calm and she doesn’t scream the house down when you bath her. How two babies can be so different is amazing…
Me
I’m now four weeks post section and I CAN NOT believe the difference from last time. Everyone told me it would be easier when planned but I didn’t really believe them.
I’ve got full movement, and almost no pain at all after a month. I’m still careful not to carry anything too heavy as I don’t want hurt myself but other than that I’m able to do everything as normal.
The skin on my tummy is very sore, even Taya’s tiny feet hurt when she’s kicking about during nappy changes but I expected this and it should improve like it did last time. I’ve developed a slight skin infection around the scar which I’m treating with a cream recommended by the midwife but again the same thing happened last time and it should clear up soon. It’s not causing any pain or discomfort so it’s just a case of waiting for it to clear up or going to see the GP if it doesn’t go away.
Over the last few days, feeding has been very painful. At first, my midwife thought I might be developing mastitis but on reflection, I think it might have just been pain from a bad latch. Sometimes in the middle of the night, it’s dark and I’m so sleepy that I properly don’t make sure Taya is latched properly and now I’m paying the price for it.
It’s not been as bad as when I attempted to feed Amelia in those first few days (before giving up) but oh it’s been painful. I’m hoping it’s starting to improve now as today hasn’t been as bad but I will need to pay more attention to the latch at night so that I don’t do it again.
Other than those little niggles I’m feeling really great, I don’t know if it’s because Taya is a more easy going baby, because I know what I’m doing this time around or maybe it’s because I’m healing so much better but the second time around has been a dream so far.
I’m enjoying all the cuddles and babywearing, I’m actually taking time to just sit with her sleeping on my chest and feel her little breaths and smell her hair. I feel like a completely different person this time around and it most likely all comes down to having had a calmer and more enjoyable birth experience.
Today I had a little mum win, I was able to wear my jeans again. They’re my maternity jeans which mean the over bump band is currently tucked into my bra with no bump to fill it out but it feels so good to put jeans on and to stop living in leggings. A month straight of leggings is enough to make anyone feel fat, wobbly and frumpy which isn’t how I want to feel about my postpartum figure so I’m delighted to be able to get my jeans out and feel better about myself.
One thing I get asked by almost everyone, even strangers in the street who can’t resist a newborn, is whether Taya looks like Amelia when she was a baby so just to clear it up;
Amelia on the left. Taya on the right.
Rachel xx
No Comments