Loved You Then, Love You Still, Always Have & Always Will : Presley's First Week

I can't believe our baby girl is already one week old. Time sure does fly by and I hope it does not go too quickly. I'm cherishing every day with her. The first week has gone a lot more smoothly than I thought. It sure has been helpful with my supporting husband and wonderful mother here.

She has been sleeping pretty good throughout the night. The first night at the hospital I only got two hours of on and off sleep. Not because she was crying, but because every noise she made I would wake up to and got a little nervous because she kept spitting up. Luckily, the spitting up only lasted that one night.

We have figured out that if we feed her a bottle of breast milk before bed she will sleep around 4 hours straight before needing to be fed again. I decided that I will give her a bottle of the breast milk before bed and when she wakes up in the middle of the night. This reinsures me that she ate enough food and it helps her stay asleep longer. After I feed her in the middle of the night I will pump to keep my milk supply high.

Breastfeeding hasn't been too easy. I thought it was going to be easier than it has been. I know it has only been a week, so I am hoping as she grows she will latch on quicker and better. It has been getting better, but just not where I need to be yet. Practice makes perfect I guess.

Keeping a list of our feedings and dirty diapers has been very helpful. The only hard part is to remember to keep track when I feed her at night. When you are half asleep the last thing you remember to do is write something down. The lack of sleep hasn't been too bad. I try to sleep when she sleeps during the day. I just feel that she has her nights and days confused still. She sleeps a lot during the day and wakes up more at night. Hopefully as she grows she will be more awake during the day.

I have seen a lot of changes already in one week. Her eyes are more open and she is more alert. She enjoys tummy time and I am looking forward to creating some timmy time stations that we can work on each day. Her hair has gotten a little lighter and her personality is starting to appear. She likes to make noise when she sleeps and we say that she is singing to us :) She has already gotten taller too. She enjoys taking a bath. I am still a little nervous bathing her by myself, so I will wait to bath her when John is home. Right now, he is off for 14 days so it is very helpful. I'm hoping once her umbilical cord stump comes off I will feel a little more at ease.

Overall, the first week has been great! The feeling of being a mother is amazing and I feel so lucky to have the chance to raise a wonderful and beautiful girl.