Can you believe my baby is one week old? I certainly can't! Here's a little bit about our little munchkin Riley and what she's been up to in her first week of life.
When I was pregnant, I was dying to know what a typical day would be like, or what the first week was REALLY like. Would she sleep all the time? Would I be exhausted and suffer from baby blues? Would I really need tons of help? Would Mark and I start to fight all the time? Well, I have been very pleasantly surprised by it all. The first week went a little like this:
Day 1: Riley was born at 9:29 pm. Spent the next few hours holding her, getting her checked out, having a shower, and transferring to the post-partum room.
Day 2: Spent the entire day in the hospital. The night was rough, as Riley wanted to be held most of the time, and feeding was challenging as my milk hadn't come in, and we both didn't know exactly what we were doing. I got zero hours of sleep, and counted down the minutes until Mark came back to the hospital that morning. It also didn't help that it was quite painful to move around, walk, roll over, etc. But I had no problem holding and staring at our baby girl all night!
Day 3: We got to leave the hospital mid-day! Riley slept the whole car ride home, and once we got home we just hung out on the couch and watched TV, basically. I took a nap for about an hour, which felt amazing. Feeding was still challenging, but mostly because it was taking a long time for each feed and for Riley to latch on correctly, not because I was in pain, so that was a nice surprise. This evening is also when my milk came in... YIKES. Let's just say, I bought all new bras when becoming pregnant, and now, I needed all new bras again. This night's sleep we weren't sure what to expect, as it was our first night home... Riley woke up every 2-3 hours to feed, and then each feed took almost an hour, and she would only sleep in my arms, or laying in bed next to me. I swore I would not do that, but she's just so cute and all I wanted was to hold her, and to sleep, so she slept in bed with me, in my arms.
Day 4: I got a few naps in while Mark held Riley during the day, which made me feel AMAZING! I mean, I didn't get that much sleep, but I was feeling quite good during the day, barely even tired. Although, now that my milk had come in, this meant new challenges to breast feeding... leaking, milk coming out too fast for baby, baby choking on my milk. At this point breastfeeding itself was still not painful, but my chest is constantly feeling uncomfortable and swollen, especially if I go too long without feeding Riley. It's not that bad, just annoying. And I was so looking forward to sleeping on my stomach again, but there is no way I'm sleeping on my chest any time soon. Nope nope. My body is still recovering from the trauma that is childbirth, and I cant wait to be able to get up and down and move freely without pain. Especially when I have to get in and out of bed constantly in the middle of the night.
Day 5: Pretty much the same as the day before, although breast feeding is slowly becoming easier/faster. BUT, Riley is wanting to eat more often, so I pretty much spend the same amount of time breast feeding per day... maybe 6-8 hours just breast feeding! She is also spending a few more minutes awake each day, taking in the world with her big blue eyes and we love it!
Day 6: Riley slept in her moses basket last night!! Yay! She was only wanting to sleep in my arms, but last night she slept for hours at a time in her moses basket! Phew! I was worried that I might be creating bad habits by allowing her to sleep in my arms all the time, although even if it was, I would still do it because I just love holding her all the time!
Day 7: Much the same as yesterday, although last night she preferred to sleep in my arms again. Some feedings are down to only taking 30 minutes, some still take an hour. This includes time for burping, changing her diaper, and the actual feeding itself.
Mark has been wonderful so far, and I know that plays a huge role in why I'm feeling so well. Mark and I have a good system going... At night, I take care of baby 100%... feed her, change her, hold her, etc. while Mark sleeps through it all. Then between 6 and 7am, Mark gets up, takes Riley, and I shower and go back to bed until she needs to be fed next. Then during the day, Mark and I alternate holding her, changing diapers, and doing work/chores around the house. Mark has done all the errands that require leaving the house, and has cooked for the past week. He is also a total natural when it comes to babies... We have not gotten into a single fight yet! All is good in the Bartlett household.
- She sleeps most of the day, but is starting to be a little more alert with each passing day. After she is done eating, she falls asleep for anywhere between 1 and 4 hours, and could possibly sleep longer if I let her.
- She LOVES to be held when she sleeps, and is not really a huge fan of being put in her moses basket (until yesterday!) She also likes her swing, but still, not even close to as much as she loves being in our arms.
- Breast feeding is going well, getting better each time. She eats like a champ, and each feeding session can take anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. But, for some reason, she only likes to eat from one side... I'm hoping this will changes as she gets a little better with nursing. We have not yet given her a bottle, and don't plan to until she is a master breast feeder. :)
- Loves her pacifier. We try not to give it to her that often, but when we do, she sucks on it like crazy!
- Went for her first walk in the stroller when she was 4 days old. The walk was very short, and very slow, but she slept the whole time, and seemed to enjoy it. :) I, on the other hand, don't think my body was quite ready for it yet... oops.
- Is a tiny bit jaundiced, mostly in her face, so we're trying to expose her to sunlight and see if it resolves itself over the next couple of days.
- Loves listening to her daddy talk. He had to practice a chemistry presentation, and he would tell it to her over and over again, and she loved to listen to him.
- Cries when she's hungry, wants to be held, is getting her diaper or clothes changed, or when I burp her instead of letting her eat more.
When I was pregnant, I was dying to know what a typical day would be like, or what the first week was REALLY like. Would she sleep all the time? Would I be exhausted and suffer from baby blues? Would I really need tons of help? Would Mark and I start to fight all the time? Well, I have been very pleasantly surprised by it all. The first week went a little like this:
Day 1: Riley was born at 9:29 pm. Spent the next few hours holding her, getting her checked out, having a shower, and transferring to the post-partum room.
Day 2: Spent the entire day in the hospital. The night was rough, as Riley wanted to be held most of the time, and feeding was challenging as my milk hadn't come in, and we both didn't know exactly what we were doing. I got zero hours of sleep, and counted down the minutes until Mark came back to the hospital that morning. It also didn't help that it was quite painful to move around, walk, roll over, etc. But I had no problem holding and staring at our baby girl all night!
Day 3: We got to leave the hospital mid-day! Riley slept the whole car ride home, and once we got home we just hung out on the couch and watched TV, basically. I took a nap for about an hour, which felt amazing. Feeding was still challenging, but mostly because it was taking a long time for each feed and for Riley to latch on correctly, not because I was in pain, so that was a nice surprise. This evening is also when my milk came in... YIKES. Let's just say, I bought all new bras when becoming pregnant, and now, I needed all new bras again. This night's sleep we weren't sure what to expect, as it was our first night home... Riley woke up every 2-3 hours to feed, and then each feed took almost an hour, and she would only sleep in my arms, or laying in bed next to me. I swore I would not do that, but she's just so cute and all I wanted was to hold her, and to sleep, so she slept in bed with me, in my arms.
Day 4: I got a few naps in while Mark held Riley during the day, which made me feel AMAZING! I mean, I didn't get that much sleep, but I was feeling quite good during the day, barely even tired. Although, now that my milk had come in, this meant new challenges to breast feeding... leaking, milk coming out too fast for baby, baby choking on my milk. At this point breastfeeding itself was still not painful, but my chest is constantly feeling uncomfortable and swollen, especially if I go too long without feeding Riley. It's not that bad, just annoying. And I was so looking forward to sleeping on my stomach again, but there is no way I'm sleeping on my chest any time soon. Nope nope. My body is still recovering from the trauma that is childbirth, and I cant wait to be able to get up and down and move freely without pain. Especially when I have to get in and out of bed constantly in the middle of the night.
Day 5: Pretty much the same as the day before, although breast feeding is slowly becoming easier/faster. BUT, Riley is wanting to eat more often, so I pretty much spend the same amount of time breast feeding per day... maybe 6-8 hours just breast feeding! She is also spending a few more minutes awake each day, taking in the world with her big blue eyes and we love it!
Day 6: Riley slept in her moses basket last night!! Yay! She was only wanting to sleep in my arms, but last night she slept for hours at a time in her moses basket! Phew! I was worried that I might be creating bad habits by allowing her to sleep in my arms all the time, although even if it was, I would still do it because I just love holding her all the time!
Day 7: Much the same as yesterday, although last night she preferred to sleep in my arms again. Some feedings are down to only taking 30 minutes, some still take an hour. This includes time for burping, changing her diaper, and the actual feeding itself.
Mark has been wonderful so far, and I know that plays a huge role in why I'm feeling so well. Mark and I have a good system going... At night, I take care of baby 100%... feed her, change her, hold her, etc. while Mark sleeps through it all. Then between 6 and 7am, Mark gets up, takes Riley, and I shower and go back to bed until she needs to be fed next. Then during the day, Mark and I alternate holding her, changing diapers, and doing work/chores around the house. Mark has done all the errands that require leaving the house, and has cooked for the past week. He is also a total natural when it comes to babies... We have not gotten into a single fight yet! All is good in the Bartlett household.
RSS Feed