Charlotte: One week in this Big World

As of Monday, October 11, 2010, our sweet Charlotte is one week old! We celebrated the day by breaking out Charlotte’s first non-onesie outfit….and took a trip to the hospital. Don’t worry, it wasn’t for Charlotte! I had to go and get my staples taken out from my c-section. So it was planned! Ben celebrated by returning to work…at least he was able to take a delicious cake with him- thanks to Gma Darcie’s baking skills!

It’s been a whirlwind of a week, for sure. When we were at the hospital, I felt like we would never get to go home. And then all of a sudden we were home. All diaper changes would now fall to us. Any questions we had for Doctors and Nurses would have to be asked via phone or email. Bath time….on us.

Bath time. I am not a fan of bath time. Charlotte really pulls out the tears during bath time and those tears just tug at my heart! So…I let Ben handle the bathing while I stand by and hand him the soap, the towel, the diaper…and then I rapidly dress her and hold her close at the end. I’m just glad Ben feels confident about bathing…because we would have one dirty baby if he weren’t! (Okay, I would just have to break down my fear of bathing and do it myself, because I want to keep our sweet Charlotte clean and healthy!)

We are adjusting to this new sleep schedule. And arrangement. We have a pack’n’play for Charlotte as well as a sleep positioned and a snuggle nest. The first night, we used the sleep positioned in the pack’n’play. Ben was not a fan of getting up and bending over to get Charlotte out of the pack’n’play every time she cried. So for the next two nights, we tried the snuggle nest in our bed. Ok, NOT a fan! For one thing- I don’t think babies should sleep in their parents bed- this is just my opinion and there’s nothing wrong if your baby sleeps in your bed. It’s just not for me. For another thing, that snuggle nest is like having a third grown adult in bed with us. And that leaves little space for Ben and me. So, after those two nights, we returned to the pack’n’play. Only this time, we moved the pack’n’play flush against the foot of our bed. So far, I like this much better. My only worries now are, “is she ok? Is she still breathing? Etc.”

As for the sleep schedule, I think Charlotte is like most babies. She sleeps for 1.5 hour to 3 hour stretches and is sometimes up for 20 minutes, sometimes an hour, depending on her hunger, dirty diaper(s) and gassy tummy. I take care of her hunger, Ben takes care of the rest.

However, now that Ben has returned to work, I have a feeling he is going to want me to take care of more than just Charlotte’s hunger at night. Especially after last night. Charlotte had her first continued poopy while Daddy changed her… let’s just say poopy was everywhere and Daddy was not too pleased. But he understands and we knew the poopy incident was bound to happen sooner or later!

Ben and I love watching Charlotte sleep. She makes the sweetest little faces. She smiles when she sleeps, and while I’m sure it’s just gas, those little smiles are so very sweet! I just know those smiles will be even more precious when she does them intentionally.

When she cries, I have learned that if she isn’t hungry, isn’t dirty and isn’t cold…the only thing that works is the “ballroom dance.” I hold her up to my shoulder, her booty sticking out, and I bounce, turn and pat her back. It’s an added bonus if I bounce in rhythm to “Jesus loves me.”

I love holding her. Snuggling her close, her head nestled softly against my neck, my chest. Her arm wrapped around me (as far as she can get it. She has the most content sigh as she sleeps. I love her.

Here are some photos from our week!