MBA 1 Month

Hello All!

I apologize I am a week late on Molly's one month check-in :) But, I have been a bit busy! When Molly goes down for a nap I have three choices - 1) get work done around the house 2) take a nap 3) or get on the computer and write a blog post. Number two usually wins, but sometimes I will get some housework done!
Molly is doing great and we are so smitten with her. We are pretty sure she is the cutest baby there is, but we are her parents!

She is officially eating up to 3-4 oz and we recently made this change. Sometimes she will take down 4 oz easy! We are still formula and breastfeeding which, for me, is working best. I had my first over protective Mother moment and took her to the doctor on Saturday morning because I was sure she was having retractions while she was sleeping, had a cough, and wheezing. Turns out, she's just fine! I was also able to get her current weight and this girl weighs 8.3 lbs! Yay! She is gaining weight back well! She is sleeping 3-4 hours at a time with her longest stretch being at the beginning of the night when I first put her down. After that she will go 2.5-3 hours or so until we decide to finally get up anywhere between 7am-9am. Sometimes, she will go back to sleep with me after her 7 am feeding. I will put her in the bed with me and we get a little bit more shut eye. But, sometimes she is up and ready to go! She is still wearing newborn sizes and 0-3 months. Hopefully she grows a little more because I have a TON of smocked outfits ready and waiting in her closest, but they are all just a tad too big!

She has a very strong grip and loves watching anyone and everyone on the computer. She will stare at the computer screen forever! We give her a little bit of tummy time on her play mat and she seems to like it for the first few minutes. She is working on lifting her head and she is getting practice while laying on our chest. She will take a paci {sometimes}, but she isn't attached to it which, I think may be a good thing until she is then we have to worry about weaning her off eventually.

Well, here is a photo dump of some pictures from her first month.... WARNING overload!!

This is the best I could do...she was hesitant about growing older... I'm convinced. 

we are going to check the mail. 

holding the mail for me on the way to the mailbox! she's a good helper!

She is growing attached to this lovey and will hold onto while sleeping {sometimes}

first bath after her cord fell off! 

she is taking a nap in her Daddy's spot while he is at work! shhhh...

meeting her Grandpa for the first time!! 

she LOVES her swing her cousin Tiffany got her! 

go Gamecocks! 

she is quickly becoming a Daddy's girl {which is perfectly okay with me!}

i told her this how cranky her Daddy gets when he really hungry too. 

i LOVE this denim dress her Mimi made for her.

Mister Mom. 

2 weeks! {or 16 days}

Hello!

Molly is officially 2 weeks old {well, she is 16 days old today, but I am late on the blog writing}.

This is definitely one of my most favorite pictures, so far.... This dress is just something I picked up from Carter's {we live 2 minutes from the outlet} But, it's SO CUTE. 

Well, we left the hospital on Thursday August 22nd and that was the day both of our Mom's happen to be flying into town {thank goodness}! We left the hospital and I was so tired I didn't really have time to think about the fact that the hospital just sent me home with a new life to keep alive take care of all by ourselves. We got home and Molly and I immediately took a nap together while Tyler and his Mom did some grocery shopping. I got up feeling refreshed and ready for motherhood-- HAHA. That first night was crazy! She wouldn't sleep {little did I know what things I needed to try in order for her to sleep}. She finally fell asleep around 2am until about 5am. Then back to sleep until 7am. I called my Mom in tears telling her to come over, help, and I needed a nap. haha! That Friday I slept for four hours and got up once in between to nurse. That day was pretty much a blur. We've made HUGE strides since then and I must say I am pretty proud of myself! I am not sure what new mothers would do without the help of their Mothers {the Grandmothers}. 

Molly then had her first visit to the doctors office. The doctors visit was my first scare as a Mother. We took her in thinking everything was fine. When they weighed her she weighed 6.3 lbs! She was 7.5 lbs at birth. We all know babies lose some weight in the first few days of life, but over a pound was too much. She was also jaundice. The doctor suggested I start supplementing with formula because my milk wasn't coming in fast enough and I wasn't really producing enough. We started supplementing right away and it's seemed to have worked. Our doctor also called us on Sunday to come in {her first appointment was on a Saturday} to check her again- talk about my heart stopping! Why is the pediatrician calling me on a Sunday! But, it was for the best. She always gets the breast first then the formula unless I have pumped for some reason. I still don't produce a whole lot of milk and for now, I am happy with the breast and formula combination. We had to see the doctor five times. Today was the fifth time and she is up to 7 lbs! yay! The doctor said we are doing everything right and her color looks great. We didn't even have to get blood drawn today to check her bilirubin score! 

Other than the weight/jaundice issue she is doing great. My milk supply isn't great, but I feel good about giving her what I have because any breast milk is better than no breast milk at all. She is definitely growing because we are breastfeeding and she is then downing about 2 ounces of formula! Molly is eating about every 2-3 hours and sleeping around 3-4 hours a night. As much as I complain about sleeping, she really is a good sleeper. We are slowly getting into a routine and her last feeding before bed is around 11pm, we burp, and then she gets rocked to sleep. She is usually asleep between 11 and 12, gets up around 2-3am, and back to bed until about 7am. I am getting used to it and starting to enjoying our 3am feedings together. I know these moments won't last forever. Soon, she will never want to cuddle in the middle of the night! 

Molly is looking all around. She sometimes looks like she is focusing hard on certain objects. The ceiling fan in the living room is a big focus for her. She also keeps an eye on the pictures that are on our wall in the living room. She has so much personality already. She is such a good baby! When we take her out in the car seat she is silent! The only time she cried was once on the way home because she needed to be changed. We are so lucky {hope I just didn't jinx us}. Sometimes she cries and just prefers to be held, but not all the time. She likes the paci, but isn't addicted... she can go without. She LOVES to sleep in her boppy lounger. I have no idea what we will do when she outgrows it!! 

Everyone is getting used to the changes including Molly. We are very excited to watch her grow. She has even changed so much since she came home from the hospital!

I hope I am not forgetting anything...she is up and ready to be fed as we speak! Tyler goes back to work on Monday and Mimi and Grammie have left. It's just me and her..... keep your fingers crossed for us ;) 

picture dump...

Not a big fan of diaper changing

Mom thought I was a boy at first... so I have a few blue onesies. Thank goodness Mimi was able to add some embroidery to make them more girly!