Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! We traveled back home to Indiana and of course consumed WAY too much food. It was nice to see family and friends and it was our first time home since Eisley's birth. We stayed at his parent's house and she slept so well! I was worried she would be restless and uncomfortable since it wasn't a familiar place but she didn't seem to mind at all. It was a nice relaxing holiday and we can't wait to go back for Christmas!

She is so lucky to have 3 Great Grandmas. And she got to meet all of them!!

Meeting Great Grandma Lucille!  ↑

 

Meeting Great Grandma Hazel ↑

 

And Great Grandma Thelma ↑

 

5 generations of women in our family

(Eisley was not in the mood for pictures...)

[Our little family]

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Eisley at 6 Weeks

 

Long time, no blog. I can't believe it's been 3 1/2 weeks since I've written a blog! But I guess I've got an excuse... I'm a new mom. I don't have free time anymore! :) But that's okay, I expected it. The one thing that I've realized since my last post, is that every day is a new day. I've learned not to get too used to how things are on any given day because soon things will most likely change. It's really forcing me to live day by day. My baby girl is changing so much! She's slowly losing that "newborn" look and growing into a beautiful little baby! She has been cooing since about 3 weeks old, but lately she's started smiling when she coos. It's literally the cutest thing you could ever witness. She is so much more alert now. She enjoys being entertained my talking, bouncing, swaying, swinging, and singing. When we go in her room to change her diaper, I lay her on the changing pad and just start talking to her. She makes eye contact with me and coos and smiles. It makes my heart melt. All in all things have been pretty good. My husband has been working the night shift for the past month and at first it was hard adjusting to having less help during the day (while he was sleeping). I'll admit, I had a breakdown (or 3) trying to get adjusted and finding a routine. But I'm learning new things everyday.

Eisley had her 1 month check up a few weeks ago and she is doing marvelous! She's gained 1 pound 10 ounces since birth and grown 1 and 1/4 inches! It's such a good feeling to know you're doing something right as a parent.

 

Eisley at her 1 month check up!

We've also realized that we just have one gassy baby! It seems each day we are finding new ways to help her relieve her gas. Longer burping sessions after a feeding seems to help quite a bit, and for those times when nothing else seems to work gripe water does the trick. It's essentially just ginger which is gentle on the stomach and soothing. She also has acid reflux which I'm sure doesn't help  (or intensifies) her gas issue. She's on Zantac syrup twice a day. It seems to be helping and she doesn't cry as much after eating. Slowly but surely we are figuring out our baby girl and how to make her as happy as possible!

I'm trying to cherish every single moment (even the stressful ones) because as I've all ready figured out, time flies. Before I know it, she'll be walking and talking and these days will only be in my memory (now I'm going to go cry...)

3 Weeks Postpartum

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I gave birth to our daughter. Time is flying by! Motherhood is amazing and nothing like I expected. I learn more everyday about myself and my daughter. My husband and I continue to be a pretty awesome team. Eisley has put herself on a little schedule... for now, anyways. On average we get 6-7 hours of sleep a night. Not all at once, of course but it could be worse. (Now that I've written that, I have jinxed myself and she'll decide to sleep less). I'm trying to give myself a break. If I don't get the laundry done one day, it's ok... there's always tomorrow. If I didn't make the bed one morning, it's ok... I'll do it when I get to it. It's taken me 3 weeks, but I've realized that I can't do things exactly as I used to. I have to work around Eisley and her needs.

I really don't have any lingering pain from the delivery. I can stand/walk for extended periods and am no longer sore. I'm looking forward to my 6 week appointment so I can get the green light for actual exercise. That brings me to my next point, my current body image. I have successfully lost all of my pregnancy weight. I lost it rather quickly within my first week postpartum. I attribute it to stress, pumping/nursing in the beginning, and forgetting to eat because I was so consumed with my new baby. I shrunk so quickly that I feel like I should still be shrinking. I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight but I still have that extra chub. I know once I start working out, it will go away. All in all I'm really pleased with how my body looks 3 weeks after giving birth. Thankfully swim suit season is at least 7 months away. I took several pictures in the last few weeks, documenting my shrinking belly:

 

4 Days Postpartum

1 Week Postpartum

1 Week 2 days Postpartum

2 Weeks 5 Days Postpartum

Still have that little extra belly to lose, but it will happen in time. I want to find a good work out DVD I can do at home. By the time I'll be cleared for exercise it will almost be winter so unfortunately, walks may be out of the question. Any suggestions for work out DVD's? Any particular series I should look into? I'll be doing a 6 week postpartum update, most likely so look out for that!

When all else fails...

GO FOR THE MOBY!

 

My baby girl was not letting me get ready today. We woke up at around 7:30am and did not want to go down for a nap. It seemed every time she would fall asleep in my arms, I would try to transfer her either to her swing or our bed and then she would wake up. So, I pulled out the Moby Wrap and placed her inside. Within 5 minutes she was asleep! I was able to finish my make up, eat lunch and pack her diaper bag and we were off to a play date! This wrap will definitely be my new "go-to" item.

♥