month one of mother hood

I think the first month of parenthood has been the most challenging. Trying to figure out what is normal,getting the nursing thing down, getting used to a little person in our home, trying to sleep, ect. Since I had some tearing during Naomi's birth I had to stay down stairs as much as possible. Sean brought our bed into the living room and there I camped for a whole week and a half. I nursed her every two hours as recommended by my midwife (It helped get rid of her jaundice quick and helped her maintain good weight.)

I think if you are all alive by the end of the first month you are doing pretty good :) Naomi had pretty dark skin for a while, I think because of her jaundice, but it eventually lightened up and it has a nice olive tone. These are pictures of her at 3 days. Isn't she so cute and tiny?
I think what helped us get through the first month was the many people who came over and cleaned my kitchen, did laundry, brought us dinner and kept me company when Sean went back to work. Seriously DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP. You know, those people who say, "call me and I'll come over and bring you dinner or do your laundry." Take them up! That is what they want! Especially if you reward them with baby snuggles! My sister was amazing! When we got home a few hours after Naomi being born my sister lets us all sleep then arrived with an amazing dinner and cute clothes for Naomi! She came back 3 more days in a row with dinner and visits!
And it is ok to say no to visits! One of my best friends asked if she could come over the day after Naomi being born. I was already going to be having family visiting so I asked her if a later day would work. If they are a true friend they won't mind and will understand like my best friend did. It is so easy to get over whelmed with the people who want to come over and hold baby and it is easy for baby to become over stimulated so I would highly suggest keeping visits to a just a few people a day!

 My niece holding her "baby sister cousin" as she calls her :) When Brooklynn found out I had a girl she said "Yay! I am so happy because boys hit." When she found out that we named her Naomi she said, "Nomi is hard to say so I will just call her Ella." Brooklynn had also told us the whole time I was pregnant that we were having a girl and her name was Ella. Brooklynn now calls Naomi "Beebee Meeomi." It's so cute!

 This is Naomi in her newborn take home outfit that never fit :( Since she was almost 2 feet long all her newborn stuff was too short including this outfit! I just put her in it for a few pics!

 These two pics we took on father's day! Naomi always wanted to look at us and was very interested in who we were :)

When Brooklynn met Naomi for the first time she just giggled and giggled :)

Now the matter of sleep. Does it even exist during the first month of parent hood? Naps do but I don't think real sleep does. Naomi was a pretty good baby from the get go but she had a rough time figuring out night from day. She was also getting over stimulated (we figured out) So when night time came she would sleep for a few hours straight then wake up and be crabby for a good 4-5 hours! I would pace the living room, or rock, bounce or dance with her (what ever the magical movement was) until the wee morning hours. It was a total bummer when she was finally asleep(so I thought) and I would slowly lay onto the couch only for her to immediately wake up and cry. We shared many crying moments together. After chatting with my midwife she suggested that Naomi was getting overstimulated and to start a bed time routine. We took her advice and started a routine. Bath(every other night) nurse, swaddle, prayers, bed. It did not work immediately but some time around 5 weeks it clicked for her. I think the warm bath was the trigger. She slept in a moses basket by our bed and would wake up 2 or 3 times to nurse between 7pm and 7am and would go back to sleep really well. What a relief!