Amelia's New Blog

Amelia has started blogging... Enjoy!

http://amelialynnfort.blogspot.com/

My First Month of Motherhood...

I have dreamed about writing this post for weeks! I think about what I would write, compose beautifully crafted sentences while sitting in the bathtub, but I never actually find the time to write it. I literally wrote half of this first paragraph with one hand, while calming Amelia with the other.

Amelia is now 5 weeks old and Roger and I both are completely in love with her.

The First Month (an overview)
Our first month was extreemly eventful. After having our hospital stay extended an extra two days due to Amelia's jaundice levels and my high blood pressure, we came home and started settling into our new life as parents. I was thrilled that Roger was able to take a week off of work and then we eased me into staying at home mommyhood with him going back for half days the first two days and my sister came to help for 3 days after that. The stay at home mommy jitters were a little overwhelming, but my sister said the most powerful thing on our way out the door for Amelia's first trip in the car. When I told her I was nervous she said, "Ash, people do it every day"... Ahhh! What a lightbulb moment! Once my stay at home mom jitters subsided, things got much easier.

At Amelia's 2 week appointment we found out that she was down to 6 pounds (she was 6 pounds 10 ounces at birth), we also found out that day that my blood pressure had not gone down and was actually higher than it was pre-delivery. My blood pressure medication was increased and I began supplementing with formula to fatten Amelia up... we had our work cut out for us and of course Christmas was only a few days away!

My parents arrived 2 days later to celebrate Christmas with us and I cooked a full turkey dinner (I know I'm crazy). I of course got sick from sitting in the pediatrician's waiting room and ended up being sick for the next 3 weeks (I'm still not 100%)... Once my parents ooh'd and aww'd over Amelia for a few days, they left and the Fort Grandparents arrived about 24 hours later.

It was wonderful to have all of our family here for the holidays, but I was really ready to see what life would be like with a normal routine. I think all babies need a routine and so do sleep deprived mommies.

Here are some answers to our commonly asked questions...

Are You Getting Any Sleep
I cannot say I have any complaints about Amelia's sleeping patterns. The first two nights after we came home I was paranoid about SIDS so I slept on her floor.... since this is not condusive to a good night of sleep, I ended up buying a co-sleeper that goes in the bed and protects the her from me rolling over, but allows me to keep an eye on her throughout the night. I am going to start transitioning her back into her bed this week, but I know it's going to be hard on both of us.

Amelia eats every 3 hours at this point so we stay up until 1am, she wakes me up at 4am to eat (we're usually up about an hour) and then at 7am I hand her off to Roger. He feeds her and gets ready for work and lays her back in with me. Amelia will usually let me sleep until 9am or 10am after that, so all in all it's a pretty decent night of sleep. We've had one night where she has slept through the night, but I knew it was a fluke. I take all the night shifts (Roger has relieved me a couple of times on the weekend). This is my choice, I've seen Roger when he's sleep deprived, it's not a pretty picture! I need him to have energy to go to work and support me when he's here in the evenings. So far it's working out great. Roger has also been FANTASTIC about getting me to go take naps when he is homes... sometimes they're from 8pm to 10pm (that's what happens when the writers strike!)

Does She Cry Alot?
Amelia is SO mellow. She rarely cries and if she does, she can usually be soothed in less than 30 seconds... the only exception to this is when she needs to poop, but hey don't we all want to cry when we need to poop? She does fuss when she's hungry, but as soon as you get food to her she's happy and quiet. She's a great self soother and is very content in her bouncy chair or swing... I'm praying that we've really gotten this lucky and that colic will not rear it's ugly head!

So Do You Have a Life?
We are starting to... Amelia loves to go shopping, she takes her best nap of the day during "fieldtrip time" (my name for when we go run errands). Roger and I have taken her to Kincaids for hamburgers and Spring Creek Barbeque... we haven't done the full sit down exprience yet, but we're working up our nerve. She will be attending her first social event this weekend and I can't wait to introduce her to our friends. Due to the holidays and flu season, she actually hasn't met many of them.

How is Your Health?
I'm doing MUCH better! My blood pressure is finally under control (with medication) and is back to normal pre-pregnancy levels! I have lost ALL of my pregnancy weight and 15 additional pounds. I had no complications from my surgery, I was sore the first week, but since then the only thing I have is some numbness at the incesion site. I have my 6 week appointment this week and I will hopefully be completely back to normal!

How is Amelia's Health?
As of Thursday, she is now 7 pounds, 5 ounces, so she is finally gaining weight! I had my first mom freakout last week and took her to the doctor. Her pinky finger is SUPER red and it turns out it is a birthmark, but I had no way of knowing that. It will fade as she gets older.

Will you be keeping this blog?
Yes. I plan to change it to just Amelia updates... Hopefully more often than once a month!

Where are the pictures?
The best place to find pictures of Amelia is http://www.amelialynn.shutterfly.com and http://picasaweb.google.com/amelialynnfort

How long did it take you to write this post?
About an hour and a half... it's 1am and I started at about 11:30pm. Amelia decided she was hungry about 11:45 so I fed her a bottle and tried to type with one hand, then she got fussy and I had to stop completely, finally she passed out on my stomach and I was able to put the laptop on my knees... she is SOUND asleep.

Is it everything you thought it would be?
ABSOLUTELY! I never knew I could love someone this much, we are forever bonded together.