A month - we all survived!! I can't say if it's been the longest or shortest month of my life. It's just.. been a blur. All three of us collectively (Me, Carlo, and Mya!) have progressed and grown so much these last 30 days. I hope it's easier from here! Though I'm sure each timeframe will present itself with its own challenges.. for now, I'm celebrating the fact that we survived one month! Going to tell Carlo to buy cake or something to commemorate :) or maybe pie? I realized her one month is also Pi Day.
ME:
Sleep is everything - my mood has definitely gotten better now that I'm starting to get more sleep. Hopefully no more negative posts about the lack of it. I prioritized napping about a week ago, instead of trying to get some light exercise or trying to educate myself (via articles or Youtube videos) more about baby stuff. After all, childbirth is considered a disability and you get 6 weeks off from work for a reason. I was seriously dying from the lack of sleep.
I was pretty overwhelmed before about feeling like I needed to get ahead of the game and further educate myself on baby topics. It never hurts to know more, but I'm trying to take it slower for now and focus on the present (week by week) instead of trying to figure out what to expect in month 2 and beyond. Each few days are so different anyway in terms of the baby's needs and development.
With my mom helping a SHIT TON, I'm able to get a 15-45 minute nap every few hours in the day time. I just wasn't used to napping, so my mind would go miles per minute or I would start picking at my fingernails and get distracted. I mentioned before that I'm a horrible sleeper :/ I have to make a conscious effort to completely clear my mind before I nap. Fingers crossed, I hear some future months will be terrible but again - just celebrating the present.. haha
In terms of going out.. not feeling as restricted like I'm on house arrest anymore. I feel a bit better now that I do have a few servings of milk in the freezer. It's not much but it will give me some days off when I need it. I have my postpartum checkup appointment in 3 weeks, so I scheduled a haircut for the same day since I have to be out anyway. It'll be nice to have a nice me day for the first time in.. 6 weeks! It's also starting to get slightly warmer here in New York now that it's almost spring, so I/we can go on walks :) Can't wait!
BODY:
I'm still curious to see how much weight I've lost but we don't have a scale, so I'll have to find out at my doctor's appointment. Still kinda pudgy in my lower abdomen - not sure if it's from the pregnancy body still or just me napping in between meals and not being able to exercise. Not concerned about it, but I like to be healthy and fit if I can help it. I will focus more on my body once sleep is at a better level and I can have more me-time.. and again, childbirth is considered a disability so considering this recovery time. I still haven't found the time to find where my clothes are packed to try to wear my old jeans and stuff!
The condition of my lower back has improved too, I don't think I mentioned this in the previous posts, but your lower back tends to jut out more to make up for the extra weight when you're pregnant. Postpartum, I definitely felt loose/sore in the lower back for the first couple of weeks and my posture felt kind of weird, but it feels like it's adjusting back to normal. Oh - another thing I don't think I mentioned! I am usually a back sleeper and you have to sleep on your side when you're pregnant. I reverted back to sleeping on my back RIGHT after the baby and was so excited to do so but it felt really odd and I think I had to take a couple of nights to adjust back to it.. haha.
As for my arms - I'm excited to gain some upper body strength from carrying her. I have to carry her pretty often to lull her to sleep and she's a bit over 8 pounds now and only going to get heavier from here! I get tired after about 20-30 minutes.. but of course, I always have to pull through if she decides she doesn't want to sleep..
ME & CARLO:
Wow! Trying times for the 3 weeks or so. When you have two people who are on severe lack of sleep, it will definitely bring out the worst.. But just another hurdle we got through together and another level-up for our relationship! I'm glad we can communicate and understand each other so well.
Carlo went back to work this past week. It hasn't been too bad BUT ONLY because my mom is here to help. IDK how I would survive if it weren't for her. Carlo got 3 weeks off and those 3 weeks off went by quick! I don't know how people can go back to work so soon. My daily routine hasn't changed since we were pretty much on opposite napping schedules. Nightly though, he goes to sleep around 7 or 8 since he has to get up for work at 5:00 AM. I take care of most everything at night (changing her diaper, nursing her, and lulling her back to sleep) but he does check in on me if baby is being fussy. Before, he would do all the diaper changes and lulling her to sleep. Poor Carlo. He would work for like an hour or two to get her to sleep before, just to have to do it again in a couple of hours before she would next wake up. I think she's finally not nocturnal anymore because she would take REALLY long to go to sleep.. now she only takes about 10-15 minutes (as of week 3 or so).
BREASTPUMPING:
I must have had beginner's luck at this because I got 4 oz the first couple of times I tried pumping (which is a decent amount - baby at the current weight only needs 2-3 oz for each feeding). The two times after, I've only gotten about 1-1.5 oz.. boo. No rush on me to build a supply but I have to spend so much time and effort to breastpump that it sucks when I only get a bit :( but every bit counts! Regardless, all the milk I'm currently pumping is all just for extra / back up so I'm not too concerned.
MYA:
Her one month appointment is actually next week, so we'll find out how she's growing! She seems to be growing at a pretty healthy rate. Overall, I think she's been pretty good as a newborn. She hasn't been sick, and her schedule is faiiiirly predictable now.. overnight, she sleeps 2-3 hours in between feedings and is able to go back to sleep within 10-15 minutes of me lulling her. As mentioned above, she was more nocturnal before.
Carlo's Instasgram account for Mya is a really good documentation of how she's growing. I look at that account way too often and I'm always in shock of how small she was when she first came out and how different and how much bigger she already looks only 30 days after! She's still so small and cute, but I can't believe she was so tiny back then!
At one month, she's supposed to stop being such a noob / alien and starting to stay awake and interact with us and absorb the world. Can't wait! She's already starting to actually LOOK at me and I feel like she sees me, instead of just kinda gazing at really nothing in particular. Sometimes it's super creepy when I have the lights really dim and I'm trying to lull her to sleep in the middle of the night and it's just these huge two eyes STARING at me for 10 minutes.. lol
ME:
Sleep is everything - my mood has definitely gotten better now that I'm starting to get more sleep. Hopefully no more negative posts about the lack of it. I prioritized napping about a week ago, instead of trying to get some light exercise or trying to educate myself (via articles or Youtube videos) more about baby stuff. After all, childbirth is considered a disability and you get 6 weeks off from work for a reason. I was seriously dying from the lack of sleep.
I was pretty overwhelmed before about feeling like I needed to get ahead of the game and further educate myself on baby topics. It never hurts to know more, but I'm trying to take it slower for now and focus on the present (week by week) instead of trying to figure out what to expect in month 2 and beyond. Each few days are so different anyway in terms of the baby's needs and development.
With my mom helping a SHIT TON, I'm able to get a 15-45 minute nap every few hours in the day time. I just wasn't used to napping, so my mind would go miles per minute or I would start picking at my fingernails and get distracted. I mentioned before that I'm a horrible sleeper :/ I have to make a conscious effort to completely clear my mind before I nap. Fingers crossed, I hear some future months will be terrible but again - just celebrating the present.. haha
In terms of going out.. not feeling as restricted like I'm on house arrest anymore. I feel a bit better now that I do have a few servings of milk in the freezer. It's not much but it will give me some days off when I need it. I have my postpartum checkup appointment in 3 weeks, so I scheduled a haircut for the same day since I have to be out anyway. It'll be nice to have a nice me day for the first time in.. 6 weeks! It's also starting to get slightly warmer here in New York now that it's almost spring, so I/we can go on walks :) Can't wait!
BODY:
I'm still curious to see how much weight I've lost but we don't have a scale, so I'll have to find out at my doctor's appointment. Still kinda pudgy in my lower abdomen - not sure if it's from the pregnancy body still or just me napping in between meals and not being able to exercise. Not concerned about it, but I like to be healthy and fit if I can help it. I will focus more on my body once sleep is at a better level and I can have more me-time.. and again, childbirth is considered a disability so considering this recovery time. I still haven't found the time to find where my clothes are packed to try to wear my old jeans and stuff!
The condition of my lower back has improved too, I don't think I mentioned this in the previous posts, but your lower back tends to jut out more to make up for the extra weight when you're pregnant. Postpartum, I definitely felt loose/sore in the lower back for the first couple of weeks and my posture felt kind of weird, but it feels like it's adjusting back to normal. Oh - another thing I don't think I mentioned! I am usually a back sleeper and you have to sleep on your side when you're pregnant. I reverted back to sleeping on my back RIGHT after the baby and was so excited to do so but it felt really odd and I think I had to take a couple of nights to adjust back to it.. haha.
As for my arms - I'm excited to gain some upper body strength from carrying her. I have to carry her pretty often to lull her to sleep and she's a bit over 8 pounds now and only going to get heavier from here! I get tired after about 20-30 minutes.. but of course, I always have to pull through if she decides she doesn't want to sleep..
ME & CARLO:
Wow! Trying times for the 3 weeks or so. When you have two people who are on severe lack of sleep, it will definitely bring out the worst.. But just another hurdle we got through together and another level-up for our relationship! I'm glad we can communicate and understand each other so well.
Carlo went back to work this past week. It hasn't been too bad BUT ONLY because my mom is here to help. IDK how I would survive if it weren't for her. Carlo got 3 weeks off and those 3 weeks off went by quick! I don't know how people can go back to work so soon. My daily routine hasn't changed since we were pretty much on opposite napping schedules. Nightly though, he goes to sleep around 7 or 8 since he has to get up for work at 5:00 AM. I take care of most everything at night (changing her diaper, nursing her, and lulling her back to sleep) but he does check in on me if baby is being fussy. Before, he would do all the diaper changes and lulling her to sleep. Poor Carlo. He would work for like an hour or two to get her to sleep before, just to have to do it again in a couple of hours before she would next wake up. I think she's finally not nocturnal anymore because she would take REALLY long to go to sleep.. now she only takes about 10-15 minutes (as of week 3 or so).
BREASTPUMPING:
I must have had beginner's luck at this because I got 4 oz the first couple of times I tried pumping (which is a decent amount - baby at the current weight only needs 2-3 oz for each feeding). The two times after, I've only gotten about 1-1.5 oz.. boo. No rush on me to build a supply but I have to spend so much time and effort to breastpump that it sucks when I only get a bit :( but every bit counts! Regardless, all the milk I'm currently pumping is all just for extra / back up so I'm not too concerned.
MYA:
Her one month appointment is actually next week, so we'll find out how she's growing! She seems to be growing at a pretty healthy rate. Overall, I think she's been pretty good as a newborn. She hasn't been sick, and her schedule is faiiiirly predictable now.. overnight, she sleeps 2-3 hours in between feedings and is able to go back to sleep within 10-15 minutes of me lulling her. As mentioned above, she was more nocturnal before.
Carlo's Instasgram account for Mya is a really good documentation of how she's growing. I look at that account way too often and I'm always in shock of how small she was when she first came out and how different and how much bigger she already looks only 30 days after! She's still so small and cute, but I can't believe she was so tiny back then!
At one month, she's supposed to stop being such a noob / alien and starting to stay awake and interact with us and absorb the world. Can't wait! She's already starting to actually LOOK at me and I feel like she sees me, instead of just kinda gazing at really nothing in particular. Sometimes it's super creepy when I have the lights really dim and I'm trying to lull her to sleep in the middle of the night and it's just these huge two eyes STARING at me for 10 minutes.. lol
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