Baby Fish: 1 Month Update

It's hard to believe, but today Baby Fish is 1 month old!

People talk about your kids growing up so fast, and I can attest that this past month sure has flown by!  Between getting used to having a newborn to moving to a new place and getting settled in to a new house, we've been quite busy!

Packed and ready to move to Georgia!

I decided I'd do a monthly baby update filling y'all in on how she's doing, and I may even talk about how I'm doing.  I hope you're ok with that, because really, it just gives me an excuse to share cute little pictures.

(Side note: I do plan on sharing her birth story.  I just need to get it all written out!  Look for that sooner rather than later!)

Measurements (as of last week):
Height: 22 inches (90-95%)
Weight: 10 lbs, 3 oz (90-95%)-although she did have a dirty diaper when they were weighing her, so I'd guess she is right around 10 lbs.
Head Circumference: 15.25 inches (90-95%)

Eating
Baby Fish is definitely a good eater!  We are breast feeding exclusively, which is a good thing considering she does not want to take a bottle.  She eats about 8-12 times a day, usually 2-3 hours apart.

Post-eating cuddling

She has done what's called cluster feeding, where she will eat every hour.  That hour means between the start times for feedings, so sometimes she'll start eating at 9am, finish around 9:35, then want to eat around 10am!  The first time this happened was the 2nd night of her life, and let me tell you, it made me VERY overwhelmed for the future!  Luckily, the lactation consultant at the hospital mentioned cluster feeding earlier in the day, so when it was happening, I looked it out and found it was totally normal. The pediatrician said this should slow down in the second month.

She has been spitting up more lately, which I think means we aren't burping her very well.  Any tips from mamas on burping would be much appreciated!

Otherwise, things are great on the eating front.  She is getting what she needs and is definitely growing.  I'm really happy that breast feeding is working out for both of us.

Sleeping
The question I get most often from people is, "how does she do at night?"  I'm happy to say that Baby Fish is also a really good sleeper!

She goes to sleep around 11 pm (I'd like that to be earlier, but we'll work on that!) and she sleeps anywhere from 3-5 hours before stirring.  She'll eat, then go to sleep for another 3 hours, and want to eat again around 7 am.  She normally sleeps for another 3 hours and is up by 11 am.  Not bad!!

During the day, she usually takes a 3 hour nap starting around 2-3 pm with another hour nap thrown in there somewhere.  Other than her late bedtime (which I've read is normal for newborns), I really can't complain about her sleeping!

She is also very expressive in her sleep, making strange faces and moving her arms and legs around a lot.  It really cracks me up!

As far as where she sleeps, she has been in our room for hte first month.  That's going to change tonight, though, as I've finally gotten her room (mostly) together and the video monitor set up and charged.  We have her in a Fisher-Price Rock 'n Play Sleeper, which I LOVE!

We take it out in the living room during the day, then put it back in our room at night.  So portable, and the rocking and music definitely helps her fall asleep when she's having trouble.  We will transition her into a crib as soon as we pick it up (a friend of ours is giving us one, which is so nice!).

Playing
Over her first month, Baby Fish has become quite alert!

She has started to look at us more, and we've also gotten her to play a little on the activity mat.

We've done some tummy time, too, and she's getting good about trying to lift her head!

It's pretty neat to see her looking around and discovering things.  She's also starting to turn to our voices, which is really special!  She seems to enjoy being read to, which we will definitely start doing more of since she's awake more often now.

Joe gets to play with her after work, and let me tell you, it just melts my heart to see them together!  I think seeing him with her makes me fall in love with him more and more each day.

Baby Fish Likes:
-Eating (and right then, too!)
-Looking at lights
-Playing with her activity map
-Sleeping on our chests
-Her Rock 'n Play
-Our voices and my singing
-Being in her car seat and riding in the car (unless she's hungry)
-Strolling around on walks with us (and Tequila!)

Baby Fish Doesn't Like:
-Waiting to eat (AT ALL)
-Being cold
-Bath time (probably a cold thing)
-Getting her diaper changed (again, probably a cold thing)
-Being put in her sleeper after falling asleep on our chests
-Transitions from person to person--she's gotten better with this, though

Some websites I've found helpful when needing parenting advice:
12 Great Newborn Mom Tips
TheBump.com's baby-by-week emails (sign up on the website and enter the birth date to receive them)
Everyday Family (another site where you can sign up and receive e-mails based on your baby's age)