1 month

How can it be that my baby is 1 month old? I am not looking forward to how fast time is going to fly by. But, I am looking forward to watching Elsie grow and develop:)

Last month at this time, our sweet baby was in the NICU and we were really not sure what was going on. We had just gone into visit her and many many tears were shed and LOTS of prayers were said. My mom, dad, brother, sis in law, and niece kept us company for most of the day. Andrew's parents came later in the evenings and we had a few family/friends come to visit.

Here is our lovely lady today:


I am not sure exactly how much she weighs or how long she is, but I am thinking about running up to the hospital for a weight check.

What Elsie has been up to the past month:
She LOVES her swing!! She would stay in there forever if we would let her. After her first morning feed, she hangs out in there while mommy gets things done around the house and gets ready for the day.

If she is fussy, you can swing her in her car seat or put her in the swing. The baby loves to swing. We are going to by a travel swing for when we camp, go to BG, etc.

After she eats, she is wide awake and alert. This is when we do tummy time and play on her play mat.

She is more and more alert each day and in the past week has started making noises and "talking" to us when we talk to her.

She will smile when she is being talked to, when she is falling asleep or is all the way asleep. I love her see her sweet smile.

Elsie most definitely recognizes mine and Andrew's voice, and it makes us feel so special.

She is eating at 10, 2:30, and 7 most nights. Which means mommy and daddy get around 7 hours of sleep each night (daddy gets more because he sleeps through the feedings and only wakes to change a diaper or burp her)

She is nursing most of the day every 3 hours and gets 3 oz bottle of breastmilk right before bed. That's Elsie and Daddy bonding time.

We try to get out of the house once a day, whether it be a trip to Target, meeting daddy for lunch, going for a walk, running a random errand, small group, etc.

Big Events the past month:
Easter (seems so long ago)
Newborn pics/Family pics
First trip to Bowling Green (stayed with Grandma and Granddaddy)
Mommy's cousin, Kim's, wedding reception
Adam, Em, and Bella came to Evansville a couple time
Met Mommy's teacher and student friends at Tekoppel

I am sure I am forgetting some important things, so I will have to try to come back and fill in as I think of things throughout the day.

GAS...o, how I dislike you!!

So, let me start with the title of this blog post...GAS-

GAS came into our lives about a week ago. Actually it came in 2 1/2 weeks ago, but didn't cause us any issues until about a week ago. Baby E has been the champion of tooting and burping after feeding. There is no doubt when she toots, it is loud and occassionally stinky. However, about a week ago, I could not get my sweet baby girl to calm down. My first moment of HOLY COW WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!! I was getting frustrated and I even cried with her for a few minutes. Then, I got her calmed down and sleeping. When Andrew got home, she did the same thing, then we remembered we had Mylicon drops and decided to try those. They were AMAZING!!! Almost instantly, she started tooting and life was good.

To this point, she is a very content baby. The only reasons she cries are if she is hungry and if she has gas. With gas, MOST of the time the Mylicon will work, but not always.

Now-what most of our days look like-

Elsie usually eats between 5 and 6:30, some days, she stays awake after that, other days she goes back to sleep (like today!!)

She eats again 3 1/2 to 4 hours later and is awake after that feeding. She may lay under her play mat, lay in her boppy lounger, or swing (she LOVES the swing).



After she plays for a bit, she is ready to nap again. Sometimes in her swing, boppy lounger or mommy's chest (my fav!)




We usually repeat this a couple times until daddy gets home.



She eats again between 9-11 and we put her to bed for the night. She will get up once in the middle of the night to eat around 4 1/2 hours after her last feeding. We swaddle her then swaddle her ever moving legs with another blanket. Sometimes she will take a paci to help her calm herself down, but sometimes she just goes right to sleep.

I am LOVING being a mommy and I am so grateful that she is such a good baby. I have been able to clean house, eat meals (maybe not at the right times), and do other things around the house between feedings.