One month of Carter...
That went so bloody quickly! My tiny little squidgey new born is now a month already, and what a crazy ride it’s been! They aren’t lying when they say blink and you’ll miss it, those first few weeks fly by. He hasn’t had it easy my poor babe, being a winter baby he’s been ever so poorly already. I didn’t even know this love ever existed, I feel so lucky! From the second they placed him on me, and him looking exactly how I had envisioned during pregnancy, oh it’s just, a dream.
Carter... you; LOVE the bath. You HATE nappy changes. You’re totally NOCTURNAL. You are a complete and UTTER gannet. You are the most HUNGRIEST baby! You’re SO strong and lift your head up all the time. Your FAVOURITE place to be is ya mama’s chest, you always take the best naps there. You’re still wearing “up to 5lb” and newborn sizes. You haven’t even noticed Gibson dog yet! You CANT STAND laying flat on your back. You’ll either fight sleep for days or tease us and nap for 90% of the day. You LOOOOOVE the booby baby! You ALWAYS wee on Daddy and you ALWAYS sick on Mummy. You LOVE the car and fall asleep instantly in it. You didn’t realise you were born until day 3, forever sleeping! White noise does nothing for you, but lullaby playlists send you sleepy! You follow your Daddy’s face all the time! You’ve gained SO MUCH weight already! You’re mainly CHEEKS & CHINS. You are loved by SO MANY people. You create so much laundry! You are utterly perfect.
Ok so... the first week was mental - we had no concept of time whatsoever (still not great actually) everything rolled into one and I couldn’t believe how quickly the days went by. We mainly lost hours staring at him, but it’d often get to 5 o’clock and we wouldn’t have showered or eaten a thing yet! God knows where time went...
Having a December baby, was perfect. As soppy as it sounds, it felt like Christmas every day. It’s my favourite time of the year and with a decorated home, lit by fairy lights and numerous family get togethers, our perfect little Carter to breathe in, oh it was just lush. His first week he spent asleep, content or just out right lazy, he’d need waking for feeds during the day or else he’d have happily slept the entire time!
Feeding - I’m breastfeeding. I’ve also started to give a bottle of formula of an evening to help sleep and for us it’s when Carter does his longest stint of sleep. I’m going to do another post of breastfeeding as there’s so much to say for it and I want to share my tips, tricks and things that I found help. All I’ll say is breastfeeding is tough, it’s constant and it’s bloody hard work but I’ve come to absolutely love it.
Sleeping - what’s that? The first two weeks Todd and I would take it in turns to nap throughout the day because we actually thought we were gonna die. Sleep dep is not a joke and you can’t even understand it unless you have a baby or have been through the SAS process I swear. I’d happily do 12hr night shifts at work on minimal sleep but this is just an entire new ball game of nuts!
Baby blues - are no joke! They had me on my ass. It’s common to feel teary and down, usually from day 3/4 as this is when the hormonal changes are happening in your body with your milk coming in. I’d cry at the most ridiculous things. Todd asked me one evening “what you crying at now babe?” To which I responded “His thumb, look at how cute it is”... so you can appreciate the level of crazy it got over here. It isn’t to be mocked though, those days are tough and it feels like you can’t pull yourself out of it, but you do I promise.
Recovery - ok so wtf are night sweats and why did no one warn me of them!? I woke up wondering if I’d wet the bed, oh no just SEVERE sweating! It’s another level. Getting rid of all the water retained and gained during pregnancy. Bleeding, not so bad for me but it does go on forever! My back felt back to normal after a week but my god it felt like I’d pulled every muscle in my entire body and I hobbled around for a good week. My bits healed by themselves, hooray! Arnica saved my life there.
Appointments - every man and his dog has to see you in the first week. I get it, but I don’t like it because it’s so much pressure to get sorted when you just want to sleep or be with your babe. GP initial exam, hearing test, conjunctivitis apt, midwife and health visitor and we got him registered the following Monday.
Illness - my poor boy has had a crappy start. He had conjunctivitis by day 3, they say it’s common to get when coming down the birth canal and all babies get quite gunky whilst the tear ducts are developing and Carter’s were cloggy! He then had a viral infection which turned into Bronchiolitis, the WORST! This resulted in a 5 night hospital stay, stealing our precious time together away & breaking our hearts. Wouldn’t wish that on anyone it was the worst time for us as a family. May do another post on this because I wish I was more educated in it and I felt like I’d lost all hope at a few points, so would love to help out other parents going through it.
Visitors - wow there’s not enough time in the day. To be totally honest I felt so pressured and overwhelmed with this one and in future with the next baby, we won’t announce the baby is born for a week so that we can actually enjoy our time together and get used to being a family first. We still haven’t managed to get around everyone, being in hospital for a week and getting over that trauma made us out of action for two weeks mind. He is totally loved by everyone though and has had some gorgeous presents and attention. Seeing your loved ones with your babe is a lush feeling and you never get bored of talking / comparing stories.
Routine - I’m a routine led person and so I knew I wanted to start a routine straight away, well, his second week, nothing strict just a simple evening routine, which is as follows:
8pm - bath
8:15pm - massage and jammys
8:30pm - bottle, cuddle, swaddle
9pm - bed
Development - Carter has developed such a little personality, he knows exactly what he wants, mainly booby actually! He isn’t smiling yet, but I feel like he wants too. He’s SO strong and can lift his head up during tummy time and he stands up on us, usually when in a temper and he’s gained lots of weight! 7lb4oz, then dropped to 7lb1oz then back up to 7lb7oz and ended the month at 8lb4oz.
To sum it up, it’s been a total emotional roller coaster, it really is the hardest thing you can do - becoming a parent... But it really is the most magical feeling and I just don't know where I was or what I was doing before him.
Happy one month baby, here is your first month in seconds...
Love, Rey x
