Life on Lofty Lane: November 2015

Thanks to Alecia, we were able to do Finley' newborn photos when she was 6 days old on a beautiful sunny day. I had a ton of props, naturally, that I wanted to use and Alecia came with so many cute accessories herself. Combined I would say we had all the cuteness and newborn sweetness accessories you could think of. :)

I was hoping to get a good picture of the three kids together, and while it took some negotiating with Cameron, we did manage to get ONE picture that I really like. But that's all it takes folks... just one! Emerson, on the other hand, was soooo good with taking pictures and we got some super sweet pictures of her holding Finley. I felt like Emerson and Cameron were growing up so much before Finley came, but now that she is here they seem even older!

I'm thankful that we got so many wonderful pictures of me with Finley, Frank with Finley and the kids in addition to the wonderful shots of just Finley. Alecia is truly the baby whisperer and was able to keep Finley content through the outfit changes, numerous poses and the props. Major kudos to her!!

Without further adieu, here are some of my favorite pictures!

We had such a special and wonderful first month with baby Finley. As I said in my post about her birth, everything has gone so smoothly and we have enjoyed this time so much. Our early days were much less of a blur than I recall feeling they were with Emerson and Cameron. We were lucky that Finley was a good sleeper at night, even if she just slept for 2 hours between feedings, it was great that she wasn't crying between feedings! When we arrived home from the hospital we had to do a little reconfiguring of the pack and play and chair in the living room and got things set up in the bedroom. I was breastfeeding every 3 hours (and then pumping after) and resting or sleeping between feedings if I could. While I was certainly tired, it was not as exhausting as I recall. I loved the time with Finley so much. The days passed so quickly and before I knew it Finley was a week old, then two weeks, then three and then a whole month old. And now that I am catching up, she is almost 8 weeks old! Never before has time passed so quickly as I feel it does now.

When we discharged from the hospital Finley was 6 lbs 5 ounces. We returned to her pediatrician when she was 9 days old and she had regained her birth weight, plus half an ounce. :) I was glad to see that as I was breastfeeding and supplementing with every feeding. The routine was I would breastfeed first, then while I pumped someone would give her a little bottle. It was not a plan that would be feasible for the long term, but it worked well at first.

We took Finley's newborn pictures when she was 6 days old. I will share those in a different post. :)

We had so many visitors over our first month, especially in the first couple of weeks. Our families came, friends and neighbors to meet Finley. We ordered golf balls as we have done in the past for visitors to take. This time they are ladies golf balls and are a pretty pink and include, in addition to the birth information, a hashtag of #babysister. :)

Thanks to Dorthy and my parents we had so much help as we adjusted and I tried to heal from the c-section. I especially enjoyed the lazy mornings I was able to have with Finley. Usually school mornings are rushed with hurrying to feed the kids breakfast and get them to school. Having help with that gave me the time to relax and cuddle with Finley more.

Since Finley was not as big as our other babies have been, it seems like she is still so tiny. We continued using the newborn size diapers all during her first month. She also was able to wear newborn size clothes all month as the 3 month size were too big.

While Finley is not a fussy baby usually, she sometimes was upset. I came up with a little tune that I would sing or hum to her to soothe her that she liked (and still does):

Sweet little Finley Irene,
The prettiest baby I've seen,
You make me smile all the time,
Sweet child of mine.

Big sister and big brother are very loving towards Finley. They are always wanting to know where she is and like to talk to her. We've let Emerson hold her a few times, but I am being careful with germs as I don't want her to get sick. Yes, I know... she's my third and I'm STILL worried about germs. When you have a 2 month old who gets RSV and has to be hospitalized you reconsider how casual you are about germs. ;)

Her cord stump fell off quickly, so it was nice to not have to worry about that for long. I finally gave her a bath and she loved it. She is such a good baby!

Finley napped in the pack and play during the day and slept in the mini crib in our bedroom at night. We swaddle her arms in the Halo sleep sack and put a blanket over her feet. Just a day or two after being home it seemed almost like she was trying to lift her feet to roll over, whig sounds crazy. But if you saw it, you, too, would have been concerned. So I used a blanket to add weight to her feet. She also liked the pacifier many times so we would use that along with the Baby Shusher to get her to sleep.

It seems like we went to the doctor so many times in the first month, because we did... three visits is a lot! :) Here are the stats from those visits:

9 days old:
6 lbs 14.5 ounces
20.5 inches

2 weeks:
7 lbs 12 ounces (25%)
21 inches (75%)
HC: 36 inches (50%)

1 Month:
9 lbs 2.5 oz (50%)
21 1/2 inches (50%)
HC: 37 inches (50%)

And, of course, here are some pictures/video. :)