Libby is 1 month old!!

One month! Dressed up like a doll

It’s been a whole month, and my sweet baby girl is alive & well. What have we been up to? Here it is by the numbers:

Libby’s weight & length at her two-week appt: 9lbs, 22.25in.
That’s 75th percentile for weight & 97th percentile for height. Shocker! She’s gonna be tall.

Times per day I feed her: 8-12
Breastfeeding is testing mommy’s patience & mild ADD b/c I can literally do nothing but sit & feed her & because she needs head support & breast support since she hasn’t figured out her neck or her arms yet. It takes 15-45 min. each time. Any attempts at multi-tasking do not end well for my nipple. Keeping the radio on helps so I can sing along or listen to NPR & I’m not just thinking “when will she be done eating?” over & over.

Diapers used: 380
And counting. I wish I was exaggerating. She probably needs to be changed again as I type this. Her favorite trick is holding in the next round until the moment you put the new diaper under her butt, killing two diapers a at one change. Which I guess is better than spraying us each time (although she’s done that too…)

Hehehe, take that photo while I fill this diaper

Visitors: 14
I’m not supposed to take Libby out very much in public b/c it’s flu season & she’s a newborn & her little immune system is still getting up & running, so it’s been really awesome of people to come by & meet her & hang out with me for a little bit. Some have even brought us food & gifts which has been amazing.

Number of times I’ve showered & gotten dressed: 7
Here’s the thing, anything I put on will be shortly covered in breast milk/pee/spit-up. Plus I need to be ready to nap at a moments notice, so being perpetually in pjs is just practical… And like I said, not supposed to take her out much anyway. However, I did manage to figure out the Moby wrap, a gift from one of Brian’s co-workers, so that was a win for better mobility.

Most hours I’ve slept in a stretch since giving birth: 3
Who needs sleep? It’s all about the power naps. Libby’s not that bad – only one completely sleepless night so far, but she wore herself out so bad, she slept almost the entirety of the next day. Sleepless nights are harder on Daddy b/c he has to go to work where there are fewer napping opportunities.

Amount of weight that has fallen off me since giving birth: approx 35lbs.
Seriously. I was around 210-215 the week I went into labor & I’m 175-180 now. Just pushing a baby out & breastfeeding – still eating around 2500 calories a day (or as close to that as I can steal the time to shovel in my mouth). It’s crazy. I’m counting the days to my follow-up OB appt though because I’m actually looking forward to getting into a new exercise routine (…there’s a phrase I never thought I’d utter…). Sounds strange, but I think it will make me feel like my body is at least partially my body again, as opposed to just a host & foods source for this tiny new life.

This month has simultaneously felt like a day & a lifetime. A text my friend Jennifer sent me sums it up:

It’s pretty incredible the first weeks where it’s just you guys and the rest of the world kind of falls away.

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