Emma: 3 Weeks Old

Nursing: Emma is still doing well with nursing, but continues to only take one side per feeding.  It has been a lot of work to get her to nurse for even 10 minutes on the first side and she almost always refuses the second side altogether.  I have stopped trying to force the second side on her because when I do she almost always ends up projectile vomiting from simply being too full.  The only downside of nursing on one side per feeding is how lopsided I am throughout the day.  I know I could correct this problem by pumping on the side that she doesn't eat on, but I really don't need a massive freezer supply and don't want to continue producing such an excess.  My hope is that as she grows she will start to take more and that my body will also adjust to not needing to produce as much milk.  I know it's a good "problem" to have (overabundant milk supply) but it's still frustrating. 

Schedule: This week we started working on getting Emma on a more consistent schedule.  She is eating every 2.5-3 hours (usually 3 hours) around the clock and taking a 1-2 hour nap between each feeding.  While she is sleeping well during her naps, she refuses to fall asleep in her crib.  She took the majority of her naps in the swing this week.  I am trying not to worry about that since she is so little, but of course the rule follower in me worries that she will never be able to fall asleep in her crib, but I know better.  Right now our top priority is to get her to sleep during the appropriate times, next we will work on getting her to sleep in her bed and fall asleep on her own.  She is still so little!  Despite being such a great daytime sleeper, Emma struggled to sleep well during the nighttime.  Her most wide awake time seems to be after her 1-2am feeding.  This proved to be very exhausting this week.  On Wednesday night she was wide awake from 1:30-5am!  It was rough!  But then on Thursday night (last night) she did much better, sleeping for one 3 hours stretch, which was amazing!  We also have Brian's parents staying here for the weekend, so last night Grandma was able to do some middle of the night rocking, which allowed us to sleep a few solid hours.  As much as I love this tiny baby stage, I do look forward to the day where she sleeps soundly through the night.

Firsts: This week Emma went to her first playgroup.  This was also my first outing alone with the girls.  We managed to get to playgroup on time and home in one piece.  I fed Emma a bottle while we were there and she was wide awake the entire time.  It was so nice to get out and feel "normal" and Hannah really loved spending time with her friends!  This week was also Emma's first week sleeping in her own room at night.  She did pretty well, except for those middle of the night wide awake times.  But it has been nice to have our room back and not waking to every single tiny noise.

Mommy: This week was my first week on my own with both girls.  I was very nervous about doing it all on my own, but the first day went great!  Unfortunately, the rest of the week slowly went downhill, with Thursday being the toughest day of the week!  I was exhausted from so little sleep and both girls were fussy.  Hannah refused to play on her own, so I was unable to rest at all after being awake for the majority of the night (1:30-5am).  It was rough!  Thankfully Brian's parents came that afternoon, giving me a much needed break!  Despite some rough moments and sheer exhaustion, my emotions have been very stable this week and I feel like I have bounced back very quickly.  Physically I am nearly 100% and honestly think that I feel so good because I have been dealing with hyperemesis for the past 10 months and simply not having to deal with that makes everything else feel so much easier!  Being able to eat normally and not feel nauseous 24/7 is quite a luxury!  This week I packed away nearly all of my maternity clothes (ready to give away since I am DONE with pregnancy).  I didn't weigh myself this week, so not sure where I am as far as weight loss goes, but being able to fit into some of my pre-pregnancy pants is a good sign.


Brian's parents are here for the weekend, which is a nice break for us.  Grandma is helping with the middle of the night wakings, giving us a little extra sleep. It's hard to believe that Emma will be one month old so soon.  I really need to be better about taking pictures and videos because these moments are so fleeting!


Clothing Size: Newborn
Diaper Size: Newborn