Today Holly is one month old already! She has already had quite a few adventures in the first month, so I wanted to share them.
The Doctor's Office and a Poop Explosion
Right after Memorial Day, when Holly was a week and half old, we took her back to the pediatrician office for a weight check. She had her first check up on the 19th, the day after we got home from the hospital. They like to see them back in about a week to mskr sure they are putting on weight well. So, we took her in. To do the weight checks they like to have the diaper off, so we started by changing her in a check-up room. As soon as her diaper was off - Boom! She had a canon fire explosion of poop. Anthony ducked most of it as he was the one changing her, but, oh boy, she COVERED the floor of the office It went all over the floor. I was very impressed. Way to go Holly!
 |
| At the doctor's office. |
First Outings
Hollly's first places that she visited were her doctor the day after she got home. Then, back to the hosptial for my follow-up check. And also to my doctor! Her first official store was Target. We needed a stroller so that I could start walking. We have a moby wrap and a baby carrier, but she didn't weigh enough to ue those. So, after some very sleep deprived decision making, off to Target we went! We kept her covered up in her car seat for germs and bought a stroller and a bunch of other goodies. Since then, we try to go for a walk almost every evening - even if it is just a short walk.
 |
| First walk with the stroller! |
 |
| Holly likes to hold hands when riding in the car! |
 |
| Love her "clown shorts" that are still a little big. |
Bath Time!
Holly's first bath was a sponge bath. And guess what she did (hint: look back at the first story) She pooped! Luckily, right into her towel, not all over the room, but it took several washes to get her ducky towel clean again. Holly's umbilical cord fell off on May 25, so we started doing real baths. Monday night is now bath night for Holly. Her first bath went really well. She loved the water. Her second bath had crying. But last night's bath went great again! She usually likes water, but she doesn't like being cold.
 |
| Cuddling with Dad to warm up after her bath! |
 |
| Look at that fluffy hair! |
First Cold
The other day Holly started sneezing, while crying, coughing, and farting. She was a mess and didn't know what to do with all these things going on! She kept sneezing though, and sneezed out her first big snot booger and it was stark green. She didn't keep coughing or sneezing or having more snot, so I just called the doctor the next day. They think she has gotten her first cold! So, we have to keep an eye on her snot and watch for things getting worse. Hopefully it is short lived and doesn't get any worse than some occassional snot boogers.
 |
| Eeewww |
First Family Photo!
Visitors
Holly has had her share of visitors. Back in the hospital her Aunt Alyssa was able to meet her briefly before she went under the bili lights. Alyssa has been able to visit, go for walks, and help take care of Holly while I grab a shower! She met Uncle Patrick in the hospital when he, Jon, and Grandma were helping us get the car seat from home to the hosptial. Uncle Jon got to peek at Holly when we did our Target shopping trip since he was working, but the uncles will have to visit more soon! Grandma Menke has been able to visit a lot and has fed Holly bottles and watched her while I showered too. Grandma has been very hepful in picking up supplies like diapers for Holly. Grandpa Menke was sick at first, so he waited to officially visit Holly and was able to finally hold her and see her this last weekend! Grandpa Adams was able to visit one morning as well! Other visitors have been Melissa, Monica, and Shirley! So many people! This coming weekend she will get to meet her great-granparents and great aunt as well! Other visitors to visit soon will be Aunts Melinda and Katey and Grandma Yvonne!
A Day in the Life of One-Month Old Holly
It's taken a bit to figure out a schedule that works for all of us and it is still a work in progress. I found that if I divide my day into two 12 hour segments, that works best even if it makes for a short day. One 12 hour set is for my sleeping and getting up to feed her. The other 12 hours is my "awake" part of the day. So, about 9 to 10 pm she often starts her last feeding of the day. This can take anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on her to go through the entire process. We start by changing her diaper and clothes if needed. If I am feeding her myself, I have to collect all the supplies and items I need and put within an arms reach of me. If Anthony is helping, I can get started faster while he makes bottles and gathers supplies or things I forget....like water or kleenex...or the remote ;-) I start by breast feeding her. Sometimes she eats really good. Other times she pauses a lot, which makes the feeding take longer. Usually she feeds about 30 minutes if she is focused. If feedings take longer the 45 minutes-60 minutes, I switch to the bottle because her jaw still gets tired and will tremble out of tiredness while shes is still hungry, If we have a bottle of milk I have pumped, that is often fed next and if she is still hungry, then formula last. After feeding her, during the night feedings, I will pump while Anthony feeds her, her bottles. I like being able to share the feeding with him, not just for my own sanity, but it lets him bond with her too and they have fun together. I tend to be the "put Holly to sleep" feeder and he is the entertainer. She will stay so awake with him for a long time. After finishing her feeding, we get to bed as fast as we can. Holly now sleeps in 4-5 hour stretches during the night most of the time. So, if we start feeding at 9, she will sleep until about 1pm. Then, we feed her all over again! At the middle of the night feeding, Anthony helps me get up and get her started. Once I breast feeding, he goes back to bed for about 30 minutes. Then I call him on the phone and he gives her a bottle while I pump. He also does her diaper changes at night. It works great and makes the feedings go so much faster than with just me. Her next feeding lands between 4:30 and 6:30 most days, and I will usually do this feeding by myself since it is really close to when Anthony needs to get up for work and he can't go back to bed. After this feeding, I go back to bed for one more stretch of sleep until between 9 and 10 usually. So, while 12 hours given to the sleep side of the day sounds crazy, it actually gives me 7-8 hours of sleep and about 5 hours awake and taking care of Holly. Crazy how that works!
So, my day starts between 9-10 am. I try to get up in time to eat breakfast before the milk monster awakens, but that doesn't always happen! So sometimes I am stocking food around my nursing station too. It's hard finding foods safe to eat over her though....I can be messy. So, I get up and do the feeding routine again, but now I am at a point where I don't usually pump during the day. So nice, because that's a lot of time gained to do other things! I finish her morning feeding between 11 and 12 usually. This feeding just seems to take longer. She often pauses a lot. I try to get some good baby cuddles in and hold her upright as well to help her digest her food since she often eats a lot in the morning. So, once she is done I am usually hungry for lunch! Starving if I didn't get a good breakfast in. So, once she is calm on her own, I grab lunch. Sometimes she lets me, other days she is fussy and just wants to be held - or eat more! If I am really lucky, I get enough time to shower too! Showering takes awhile because I have to do incision care after the shower, so I need to make sure she is good and asleep before getting wet. If I don't get a shower now, then I have to wait for the next feeding break or until Anthony is home. During the day I try to mostly breastfeed, so she eats every 2-3 hours. Some days the entire day has gone by and I haven't had time to do all the chores or any fun things planned- like keeping up on this blog! That's okay though because she is sure fun to take care of and I know these little baby snuggle times and play times will change or go away in the future! She has already grown so much in this last month and it has gone so fast! I'm looking forward to some of the things she does at older stages, such as sleep more and eat less often!, but sometimes I wish I had a pause or at least slow-mo button around. So, back to my day. I keep going with the feeding routine until Anthony gets home about 5-6. During any breaks from Holly, I do dishes, laundry, keep the diaper station clean and stocked, and any other things I can. Some days I can be quite productive and other days not. Holly is usually finishing her feeding or starting one when Anthony gets home, so we have a dinner at some point then, if possible, we go out for a walk at the river between 7 and 8. Right now the sun doesn't set until 8:40 or so, so it gives us time around Holly since she rules when we can leave the house! Once we get back, it's time to do the 9 pm feeding, or close to it, so then that end my day! I was adding up my hours one day trying to figure out where my days go and I figured out of 12 hours awake, I feed her about 6 hours, spend about 1 hour taking care of me from showering to toilet and brushing teeth hair..., probably 1 1/2 - 2 hours on eating and food prep. Two hours for relaxing in the evening which is mostly taken up by walking time. And one hour to the house and suddenly the day is done!
Holly's Growth
So, since Holly was born at 37 weeks, we have had to watch her growth closely in the first few weeks to make sure she was gaining enough weight because 37 weekers can have issues with feeding. She was born at 6 pounds .03 ounces. When she left the hospital she weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces if I remmeber correctly. At her first doctor's appointment, she was up to 5 pounds 11 ounces. At the weight check a week later (where she pooped all over the office) she was up to 6 pound 4 ounces. The next day we had to take her back to the doctor for a bad diaper rash and she was 6 pounds 9 ounces! We haven't weighed her since, so I am not sure hat she weighs now, but she is getting bigger and really starting to put on her baby chubs. I have batteries ordered for my scale at home and will weigh her with that on Wednesday to get an approximate. AS far as clothes and diapers, she has been staying in the newborn size for 4 weeks now. I even had to get some extra newborn sleeper which Grandma MEnke found two extremely cute ones for her! She is finally starting to get a little snug in those. I think they fit basically perfectly right now, but seem almost tight. I am finishing out the last of the newborn diapers and am switching her to size 1 in about....oh 10 more diapers from now. Those are still big for her, but big is better than too small in the diaper department!
 |
| Is my onesie looking tight? |
Holly's Home
Since someone decided to come early, we didn't quite get the basement done We DID get the baby room done two days before she was born thank goodness though! We had actually tried rush ordering the carpet but it's a good thing that didn't work out. SO, they actually started the installation today. It was supposed to all be done today and I was so looking forward to it being in, but they had to use liquid nails to put the padding down instead. So I am hiding away with Holly behind closed doors and vents in her room with the window open while we air out the chemical smell. Not good for baby. We knew we would have to air out the carpet being moving our sleeping downstairs, but we didn't plan on liquid nails. Anthony made a movie of what the house basically looked like when she came home for her later in life I'll see if I can attach it.
Other fun tidbits
