Savannah- 1 month old!

Happy 1 Month Old Savannah!

Having a little girl is SO. MUCH. FUN.!!! I love dressing her up and all the tutus and headbands! AH! I never really thought about all the things we would get to do together, but it's so exciting! :D Nails, shopping, dress up, dolls, the list is endless! SO exciting :D

Savannah's 1 month check up went well! She was 11 lbs 13oz and 22.2inches long! Growing so perfect! She even took her shots like a champ. Now, John and I had been dealing with projectile vomiting for the past few weeks. I mentioned my oversupply and fast letdown. That definitely contributed. BUT even with pumping first and then feeding her, it would still happen. There would be a full bottle of projectile vomit, AT LEAST once a day. I had called a the doctor a few times and they said that it was normal- nothing to worry about. If she was happy, she's just what they call a happy spitter. Umm okay. We are talking changes of clothes for both of us, cleaning down the couch and floor. It was A LOT. At this 1 month check up we asked about it again and her doctor said it was normal. To only worry if she didnt have enough diapers or started to throw up more than 2 times a day. That it was really just a laundry problem. I really believe NOBODY believed how much and how projectile her throw up was. At least until they experienced it! While getting her shots, one of them was given orally. We had warned the doctor. She projectiled that medicine across the bench she was sitting on. I wish I could see the doctor's face again. It was total shock. She was like- Ive seen projectile before, but nothing like that. haha. Eventually, the Kinlaws saw it too. You really did have to see it to believe it. 

We finally found a paci she will take! She LOVES her monkey! Mommy ends up losing this in a few days and we have to order one on Prime ASAP. 

 Sweet sleepy girl. Always with that hand in her face!

 John and went on our 2nd date this week! John had his work holiday party, so the Kinlaws kept Savannah for us again. It's so nice to be able to trade babysitting! We got her all dressed up for some pictures with us :D 

 Hanging out with Mason!

 My little burrito in her crib!

John and I tried our hand at newborn photos. They are not for the faint of heart. haha. This was probably the best one we got. The photo shoot included Savannah peeing all over a blanket. Haha. 

Right before her 1 month photo shoot, Savannah got this rash all over her! It looked awful! So I took her to the doctor. All by myself since John had gone back to work. It just kept getting worse and I didnt know if it hurt or what was causing it. Turns out she had baby eczema :( I got some hydro-cortisone creme and a really thick lotion recommended by the doctor. In a few days, it was gone! 

It looks so bad!!

 Target trip! We had to get all the lotions for her, so why not make it a trip to Target?! 

Loving on her daddy!

 I could seriously watch her sleep forever

 

 Being a big brother is exhausting!

Savannah also got to meet Santa!!! John's company has Santa visit for all the families! It's so awesome! No mall lines or germs! haha. John's co-worker, Glennon, that did our maternity shoot also did her 1 month photo shoot! We decided since we were going to be at his office anyways, to do it the same day. I do really wish we had done newborn photos. She is already so much bigger in the 1 month pictures. We know for next time. However, these pictures turned out great! 

Waiting to see Santa! She slept through the whole thing. lol

 Santa photo shoot!

 Savannah and Mason's first Christmas!

 BFFs! :D

 I LOVE this one!

 Shows so much of her personality already!

I'll do her 1 month photos in a separate post :D I LOVED how the Santa ones turned out!!

Week 4!

Week 4 was John's last full week home with us. Sadness! The month FLEW by. I couldnt have done the first 4 weeks without him. I am so thankful he was able to take so much time off! It was a great way to start our little family of 3 and Carter! This week was much better than week 2 and 3. haha. LOTS of snuggles and we started to figure out more of a routine. John did some more projects around the house and we went on our first date since Savannah had been born! The Kinlaws watched her for us and we had so much fun!

I dont think I'll ever get tired of this face:D 

 We tried this paci- it didnt last long. It actually took her awhile before she would like pacis. 

 Getting some good snuggles in!

 Date night! We went out for drinks and then sushi for dinner! The first place we went for sushi wasnt that good. John seriously got the check and took me to a nicer sushi place. Haha. I thought he was crazy! But he said that my first night out since being pregnant and having a baby wouldnt be to some mediocre sushi place. I love that man! 

 Carter had to get some snuggles in too!

 That face tho!

 My world

 Trying to get some things done around the house, while baby wearing :D She also had a few days in here where she didnt want to be put down. This Moby carrier became a life saver! We also learned that she really enjoyed us bouncing on the yoga ball. It would calm her down fast. 

 We babysat for Krystal and Josh one night so they could go to Josh's company Christmas party! We went over to take their Christmas pictures and then brought Mason back with us. Such cuties! 

 Fast asleep in the swing!

We were not ready for Daddy's time off to end, but we sure did enjoy every  minute of it while we had it!

Week 3!

Oh week 3. You are so far from my memory at this point, but I'll do my best. This week included lots of snuggles, a doctor's appointment, Thanksgiving, a first bath at home, and lots of gas and lots of screaming. 

This was probably the second toughest week for us. The screaming and inconsolable crying started. Not so bad that we thought she was colicky, but bad enough that we wanted to pull our hair out. She could go from super content and sleeping A TON to screaming and we didnt know how to fix it. It was maddening. I used to would have felt bad even writing all of this, but you know what- it's real life. and it's okay to have these feelings. John and I would take turns trying to console and when the next one reached their breaking point, the other would take back over. Savannah had a TON of gas. This could have contributed to the screaming and crying or it could have been a growth spurt, or just still trying to figure out the world. Luckily, it only lasted about 3 days and then she was a happy baby again. I consider ourselves lucky because some families deal with it A LOT longer. We are a good team. If we learned anything this week- it's that we are even more awesome together than we thought :D Once she was a happy baby again, all the snuggles and happy times. She's such a sweet girl and we just cant get enough of her!!

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything was going well! (minus the gas) Since she had been back up to birth weight for a good bit now, we were told we could stop waking her up in the middle of the night every two hours! YAY! We also decided to move her to her room this week! So she started sleeping in her crib at 2 1/2 weeks! It worked out better for all of us. Any little shift or noise she made would wake us up in our room. So we tried her in her crib and she did great! I might have checked the monitor a million times, but I eventually got better. haha :D

At the doctors! Always with that hand in her mouth.

OMG. Look at those cheeks!

Snuggles with daddy! :D 

So I mentioned Savannah was gassy- poor baby girl had the worst gas. We did so many bicycle legs and belly rubs. At our doctor's appointment, they told us it was just her age and some babies have a harder time with their digestive systems figuring themselves out. It was heartbreaking though. When people would hold her, they would feel her little toots and it just didnt seem right. But again, everyone kept saying it was normal. I dont remember exactly when, but at some point the vitamin D drops we were giving her were about to run out, so we went online to buy some more. The ones we got originally we picked up from CVS after a doctor's appointment- the nurse just told us to grab some drops. So we did. We got enfamal because that name sounded familiar to me. lol Well, when went online to buy more we learned that lots of babies had really bad gas with this brand!! We stopped it immediately. And guess what? Her gas stopped. I felt horrible. I know I didnt know better, but I should have done more research. At least we know now. 

I also dont remember at what point her umbilical cord fell off? It was either week 2 or 3. Before it fell off, it got snagged on some of her clothing and was just dangling. That was the first time I called the hospital help line (because of course it happened in the middle of the night). I didnt know what to do!! Looking back now, calling was a bit silly. We just stuck a band-aid over it (per the nurses instructions) and went about our night lol. 

After her umbilical cord came off, we were able to give her a first bath!! We did it in the sink and it totally took both of us. haha. She was so good! We learned quickly that she loves bath time :D 

Tuesday we went up to John's work. They were interviewing for a position that would be working closely with John and he wanted to make sure he would be a part of it. So we made a trip out of it and got a yummy lunch! Savannah and I hung out in Daddy's office during the interview. Savannah napped and then I fed her. This actually turned out to be a bit of a disaster. TMI, but I started to get an oversupply of milk and when she would nurse, it would be too much too fast. And she would throw up. She thew up 3 times while we were there. THREE! She ended up having to leave in pjs, as that was all I had left! haha. We didnt realize why she was throwing up until later, so at the time we didnt know what was going on. Good times. At least lunch was delicious!

My handsome man

Nap time after our adventure!

We also celebrated Thanksgiving at our house! We LOVE to host Thanksgiving. It's become a tradition for us over the past few years. Even with a newborn, we still decided we wanted to host. Easier to have everything I need in one place than trying to travel. John made the turkey as usual and I made a few dishes too! Everyone brought something. We had a lot of folks come over!- Jim, Jane, Julie, Mom, Chris, Britt, Britt's parents, Luke, Sammi, Grandma, Debbie, Rose! Of course Savannah got so much love :D It was so nice to share her with everyone! 

This is how our Thanksgiving started! I couldnt think of a better way :D

Getting ready with an infant that doesnt want to be put down was challenging! haha. But we made do! (Daddy was frying the turkey:D)

My little turkey! She actually looks more like an Indian Princess here. lol

One of my favorite pictures of us!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

This is how our Thanksgiving ended:D Such a sweet girl.

Our first two weeks home!

Our first week home seems like SO long ago. Part of me hates I didnt blog before because I know I'm forgetting a ton, but most of me is just glad that I enjoyed it in the moment as best as I could :D The first month FLEW by. I'm going to break it down by weeks :D

Week 1: Our first week home was pretty good! I was not as scared as I thought I would be with a newborn on our own. Neither was John! Our first full day home started with taking Savannah for her first trip to the doctor. I showered and looked pretty good for having just gotten out of the hospital (if I do say so myself!). Savannah was slightly jaundiced and so they wanted to see us the day after we got out of the hospital. Our appointment was at 9am- I remember it being kinda difficult to walk much that day. Her appointment went well, we LOVED her pediatrician- Dr. Sarah Atkins. Sarah checked her out- she weighed in at 7lbs 4oz- so almost the max amount she should lose after coming home. She also answered our million questions! We were instructed to supplement with formula since my milk had not yet come in and she had a combo of weight loss and the jaundice.Their bilirubin machine was down :( So we ended up having to take her to Wake Med to get tested. We stopped at Chick-fil-a on the way and got some food. Once we got to the Wake Med in Garner, it took all of 10 minutes. Then the doctor called us with the results about an hour later. She was fine, but they still wanted to see us the next day since her levels were still a little high. Still not high enough for us to have to do anything, they just wanted to keep an eye on her. Little Savannah slept the entire time we were out, so since it was election day- we decided to see how long the line was at our poll. There was no line! so we made a quick stop and did our civic duty :D Then we headed home to feed her and nap ourselves.

My whole heart.

 HOW ADORABLE IS SHE?!

 Getting weighed

 Daddy got to help feed her when we did supplements!

Starting her young :D 

The next day we went back to the doctor and she had gained 6oz!! So we were told to keep doing the supplement for 2 more days and then stop over the weekend. YAY!  Otherwise, she looked good! To celebrate we decided to even go out to lunch! I hated the thought of chicken wings when I was pregnant, but I wanted them really bad now! So we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. They were okay. We were both disappointed, but it was nice to be out doing something! I also remember the hormones coming on and I started to cry for no reason. This would end up happening every now and then. But it's okay :D It's to be expected.  

Snuggles with daddy!

 Carterbutt getting some love in! He's still not so sure about her.

 Day 2 at the doctor

 Be. still. my. heart.

Lunch with my favorite two people in the whole world.

At some point this week, we had a handful of different visitors. The Kinlaws came by- and bless Krystal's heart, she made us a few different meals. My aunt Rhonda and  Uncle Marcus came by and spent part of a day with us and some family came by. The first week was a lot of healing for me and John changing a TON of dirty diapers. I didnt change ANY for a long time. :D Honestly, those first few days were a blur. There were lots of naps, tons of feeding, and just lounging. 

John did get his haircut one day and Savannah and I went with him! We had to introduce Savannah to Kala :D She wore her messy hair shirt for the occasion :D

 Carter was a trooper. He lounged with us in the livingroom a lot. 

He got creative sleeping on the pillows. I dont think he understood why 

we were up at all hours of the day/night.

 All the snuggles

  She was SO tiny!

Week 2: Kicked off with watching our first football game at home with Savannah! We had the Kinlaws and Mortons over and watched our game :D Savannah also had not pooped for a few days! This scared us. We called the doctor and they said it was normal. I remember now praying for poop. There were so many things that went through our head- was she eating enough? Was she constipated? ugh. It was stressful! Luckily, it was normal. When she did finally poop after 3 days- it was massive. SO massive. It happened during the State game and resulted in a wardrobe change. Her first blowout. haha. Of course it would be during a State game :D

That yawn! Big yawn for a little girl!

 Not so sure about the Wolfpack sign

 Silently working on that massive poop.

Outfit change! and she's milk drunk. haha

This first weekend was probably one of the toughest for us. Savannah started having a difficult time latching and we would spend hours trying to get her fed. We would both end up in tears. John did everything he could to help us. But it was hard. Very hard. Nobody tells you how hard breastfeeding really is. We got to the point that something had to give. We had to get help. I called the hospital and they were no help at all, I posted on some message boards, and ultimately a friend from high school reached out to me because she saw one of my posts in a breastfeeding group. She invited me to a breastfeeding support group the next day. We were at out wits end. We HAD to get help, and if that didnt help- we were looking at me pumping in bottles or moving to formula. I did NOT want to go to either of those. But we had to make sure Savannah was eating enough. Breastfeeding had always been so very important to me. Yes, it's great that it's SO healthy for them and it's free. But I really wanted that bond with my baby. This just made me even more upset. Looking back now, I am beyond thankful for that high school friend and her invitation. That visit to the support group fixed her latch and everything just started to click. From there on out we have not had any issues with her feeding! I wish I could explain in words just how hard it was. I want other people to understand how difficult it is, but that it can still work! Through my cracked, scabbed, bleeding nipples and all. It can still work. and it's one of my favorite things in the whole entire world. Knowing that I am the reason she's gaining weight and growing- it's such a cool feeling. Every time she's weighed- I'm like- I did that. How awesome is our God that he made our bodies so that we could create, grow, and sustain an entire baby?! I am still in awe :D 

Anyways, that weekend my in-laws also came over and spent some time. Jane was wonderful and cleaned and did some laundry and Jim went grocery shopping with John. John and I binged on Shameless the rest of his time off and otherwise enjoyed each other. John started to do some projects around the house- that man cannot sit still! and we got to know our sweet daughter. We started to take shifts in the night- he would stay up with her at night (unless she needed to eat and then he would get me) and I would get up early with her. It worked out really well for us. Some mornings, I would get her and just go into the livingroom and let her sleep on me. She was in a Rock N Play next to our bed but didnt always love being in it. She needed that skin on skin love :D I didnt mind. I dont even know how I survived on such little sleep those first weeks, but it didnt even seem to bother me. I did try to make coffee one morning and forgot to put a cup down on the keurig. So it brewed onto the counter and floor. I just started laughing. During this week we learned that she loved to be swaddled, sleep on us, and ate like a champ. The Klings came and brought us dinner one night and got to snuggle on Savannah. They ended up staying to watch the Walking Dead and it was awesome time spent with them :D Nana also came to visit!

All swaddled up! We nicknamed her goat ninja this week. LOL. She's fast like a ninja on getting her arms up (as you can see in the picture) and she makes a little noise that sounds like a goat. I will miss that noise!!

All the sleeps

 Even more sleeps! I love when she sleeps on me :D

 and again! Newborns sure do sleep a lot :D Basically- eat, poop, and sleep:D 

These first two weeks were some of the best of my entire life. Extremely hard!! but some of the best of my life. :D