First Week

We're loving every moment. I want to bottle up every snuggle, every funny face, and every whiff of her sweet-smelling head so that I can revisit these moments for years to come. Since I don't have that ability, I'll do my best to describe some favorite moments on this here blog. No order. No rhyme or reason. Just a download of things I hope never to forget.

[And feel free to pass this post by if basic baby-related info is boring to you. I understand.]


Josh as a new dad.
Coming into parenthood, I have had the lion's share of baby-related experience. I've been relatively comfortable and confident around infants for years. Josh? Not so much. But he's jumped right into dad-hood and is eager to learn how to take care of his precious girl. I love watching the two of them together. Especially when she starts to root around and attempts to eat his arm.

Feeding her.
I'm incredibly blessed to be able to say that nursing this baby has gone really well. I didn't know what to expect going in, and have heard that this can be really difficult for some moms and babies. But with us, by the time she was a day old she was eating every 2-4 hours, and she hasn't slowed down since. It's such a special time for the two of us to snuggle up, skin to skin, every couple of hours. It gives me another excuse to just drink her in.

Sleep.
She's a pretty good little sleeper, praise the Lord! Hopefully she continues this way. While she does wake up every 3 hours or so in the middle of the night, she's usually happy to nurse and then go back to sleep. Every night she gets wrapped up in a velcro swaddle blanket (bless the person who designed those!) and it seems to keep her nice and content for a few hours in her crib.

Outings.
I'm not one for staying inside the house, and Caroline has been quite a few places in her first few days. Her first outing was to North Market, a old warehouse-turned foodie paradise downtown Columbus. It's her Daddy's favorite spot to grab a Belgian waffle. She's also been to Easton mall, Buy Buy Baby, Whole Foods, the doctor's office, and Old Navy. Those first couple of days the weather was unseasonably warm (some days at 65!) so we could take her outside without worrying she'll be too cold.

First Checkup.
We were pleased to find that she'd gained 2 oz since leaving the hospital. Way to go Caroline! Pack it on. As of Monday, she was at 7lb, 14oz. Nice and pink and bright eyed, too. Our very nice doctor answered all of our new parent questions and assured us that we have an extremely healthy girl on our hands. The only small bummer is that Caroline has a decent sized cephalohematoma on the back left part of her head. They're pretty common in infants; they sometimes develop as a consequence of birth. We're thankful that it's not at all dangerous or problematic for her, and will fade away on its own over the next couple of months. If that's the worst problem we have, we're doing well.

Diapers.
Rolling through them like a champ. Josh has been grossed out to find how baby poo can seep up her back AND all the way up her front to her belly button. At the same time. We're holding off on cloth diapers until after Christmas, since A) we're new at this, B) they'd be a little big on her, and C) we were given lots of disposables as gifts.


Visitors.
Oma and Opa were first to visit in the hospital, just a half hour after she was born. They stayed for a couple of days, went home, and then returned for a day to celebrate Thanksgiving. The second visit they brought Uncle Ben, Montoya, Aiyannah, and Aiydan as well. We all had much to be thankful for this year! Caroline has also enjoyed visits from friends and neighbors here in Columbus. We hope to introduce her to her other grandparents (who are unfortunately dealing with illness right now, and can't travel to see us) around Christmas.

Snuggles.
Our favorite moments with her are simple. They involve a sleeping baby and an adoring parent who gets to hold her. We love it when she sleeps all curled up in the crook of an arm, or else stretched out on one of our chests. We've watched a lot of football together this way in the last week - and it even makes us feel better about Michigan's awful season.

I get all sappy/teary-eyed just thinking about this past week with our treasure. I'll try and hold it together for future blog posts. But for now just chalk it up to post-pregnancy hormones coupled with a incredible sense of awe and thankfulness.