Aiden: One Month!

Monday, September 28, 2015

I can't believe Aiden is one month old! On one hand, it feels like she just got here yesterday. On the other hand, it feels like she's been here forever. (This is probably the most cliche statement for all new moms, but I finally understand it.)


I have my moments where I get sad about her growing up. For example... packing away my maternity clothes, packing away her newborn clothes, driving past the hospital where she was born (we were so ready to get out of there, but sometimes I wish we were back and she was still itty bitty!). For the most part, I'm just excited about every day with her!

Some highlights of month one:
  • Well, everything! We went from nothing to a full blown human over night, so it's all new to us.
  • She found my hair and likes to get a good grip on it.
  • She keeps her fists closed most of the time (like most babies her age), and Adam has started calling them "armpit hands". They are smellllllly.
  • She's starting to understand that her arms are attached to her, and likes to touch our faces. It's all really cute until she accidentally punches you in the face in the middle of the night. (That's one way to wake me up!)
  • She's been giving us "sleepy smiles" for awhile, but in the last couple days we've gotten some smiles with eye contact! Melt my heart.
  • She's becoming more vocal, and not in the crying way (thank goodness). Her little coos are possibly the cutest sounds, ever.
  • People still comment on how long her fingers and toes are. Fun fact, my mom was reading my baby book and she said those were their "first thoughts" when I was born. 
  • She sleeps in our bed, but will take a few (short) naps in her crib every once in awhile. She hates her bassinet, so that's basically turned into next-to-bed storage.
  • She's been wide-eyed and alert since the moment she was born, and continues to be that way! She likes to open her eyes really wide - my mom said I did the same thing as a baby.
  • She's pretty good at holding her head up when you have her on your shoulder. 
  • She burps and farts like an old man. Seriously, they could wake up the neighbors. 
  • She hates to be swaddled and loves to stretch out.
  • She's starting to lose her hair and has the cutest combover, ever.
  • She's officially out of her newborn clothes, except for a few onesies that I still force on her. Adam kept making fun of me for trying to keep her in newborn pants... "Her pants are now capris!"
  • We still can't decide who she looks like! She looked just like her daddy when she was born, but now we get mixed reviews. 
  • She loves music - it's one of the surefire ways to get her to calm down. Specifically the Contemporary Christian channel on Pandora.
  • Breastfeeding has been a great experience. She latched on right after she was born and has continued to do awesome! I just started pumping once a day last week, and am still figuring out that schedule.
  • I think she's going to be a tummy sleeper. She sleeps the best (and longest) when she's on her tummy. I know we're supposed to put her to sleep on her back, but she's been able to roll onto her side since day one and it stressed me out that she would fall on her face and suffocate. Turns out she just really wanted to be on her tummy!
  • She has her good nights and bad nights. We've noticed her worst nights are when she gets baths, so we're going to change bath time to the afternoon and see if that helps. For the most part, she'll sleep one four hour stretch and then a couple two-three hour stretches. Lately, it's been roughly 10:30pm - 2:00am, 2:30 - 5:30am, 6:00 - 9:00am. 
  • It's crazy how much I don't get frustrated when she's fussy and won't go to sleep. I just stare at her thinking I'm the luckiest person in the world! (Ok, so that's 99% of the time. There have been some breakdowns, of course.)
  • When she falls asleep on my chest I could just about die. It's the greatest feeling in the world, and she can do it as long as she wants. It won't be long until she doesn't want to be near me, so I'm soaking it all in.
  • As I imagined, watching her with her daddy just about makes my heart explode. They already love each other so much, and it takes everything in me to not break out in tears about it constantly.
As of her one month check up, she weighs 9lbs (36%) and is 22.25 inches tall (93%). Love our growing girl!

Overall, she's a pretty content baby and we love learning more about her and her personality everyday! It is truly my greatest honor to be her mom, and I can't believe we get to raise this precious little babe.

First Weeks Home

Friday, September 25, 2015

Well, we've survived the first three weeks! The memory space on my phone cannot say the same. It was hard picking out pictures for this blog - I have so many already! And of course I think she looks like the cutest thing in the world in all of them!

Uncle Mitch came in town to meet Aiden on her third day of life!


Kisses from Daddy!


Dominica meeting her little love!


Madi came, too!


Attempting a one week picture. She looks so adorable here I can hardly stand it.


She was born at 6lbs 2.8oz, but dropped down to 5lbs 13oz by her first doctor's appointment on Friday. They told me I needed to start waking her up every two hours to feed her so she could start gaining some weight. Of course, I was over-diligent about this, and we even tried to weigh her with a food scale and strainer over the weekend (see picture below… it was unsuccessful, but funny). Lucky for us, our little piglet was up to 6lbs 10oz by her next appointment on Tuesday (four days later!). The doctor was thrilled - no such thing as too much weight gain for a little babe! (We then went back the next Tuesday and she was up to 7lbs 5oz!)


Jude meeting Aiden for the first time! He wasn't thrilled that Grandma was paying attention to someone else.


Our first outing - to Grandma and Grandpa's.


Baker babies


The picture on the left is Adam as a newborn, and Aiden is on the right. You can't really tell in this picture, but they look exactly alike at this age.



Adam snapped this picture on the way home… Motherhood is tiring.


She gets more beautiful every day.


All dressed up for her second doctor's appointment. (She loves her daddy!)


First bath at home!


Daddy's been waiting for this!


What a difference two weeks makes! 
40 weeks pregnant vs. 1 week old


This onesie is the first thing I bought when I found out I was pregnant. It was pretty surreal seeing her in it. (And could she be any cuter?!?)


Ruthie is getting more and more interested in her baby sister.


First time cutting her little baby nails. One of the more stressful moments in my life, but we all survived.


Little love bug!


They love each other.


Aiden and her neighbor, Finleigh! Fin lives two doors down and was due four days after Aiden, but was actually born July 31. (Aiden was a little hangry for the photo op.)


I love this picture so much. Daddy's making up lullabies.


First college gameday! She was still too little to fit into any of her UGA gear.


Sleepy smiles!!


We had her newborn pictures taken when she was 12 days old… and the photographer kept the room at a cool 90 degrees. The heat made for a very sleepy and cuddly baby. :)


Sneak peek… We can't wait to see them!


My little bug. I am so in love.


We went to see our Bradley Method teacher, Suzanne! We love her.


Christine came in town!


"Mom! What is on my head??"


Her first real bath! (Adios umbilical cord… that bad boy fell off at 15 days.)


First walk in the stroller, and the weather has been beautiful!


This is the onesie I used to tell Adam I was pregnant. It was probably one of the more surreal moments in my life to actually see her in it.


Jude's 1st Birthday

Monday, September 14, 2015

It would be awesome if someone could explain to me how our favorite little man will be ONE on September 20. It seriously feels like yesterday we were all anxiously awaiting his arrival in the Waiting Room at Kennestone. 


And now he's a moving, grooving, hilarious little maniac that we are all so in love with! We loved celebrating his birthday in Rubber Ducky style over the weekend.

Seriously, look at him. He's basically in college.


Adorable cake that Meagan made.


How is this happening?!


The face is deceiving, he actually loved it.


Aiden made her tutu debut at the party.


…Complete with a hat for the occasion.



We love you, Jude Man! It is such a joy watching you grow up. (Now, slow down!)

Ready or Not… We Made it Home!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

We enjoyed our stay at Kennestone, but were ready to get outta there on Thursday! Since I had a fever when Aiden was born, she also had one. As a precaution, they did some bloodwork on her and we weren't able to leave the hospital until it all came back clear. She aced all of her blood and hospital tests (hearing, pulse ox, jaundice), but we still had to wait to hear back about the 48 hour blood cultures they took at birth. Lucky for us, her pediatrician discharged us before the final results came back as long as we promised to take her to the office the next day. DEAL! We're now adjusting to our new normal at home, and it has been so wonderful.

Here are some (ok, a LOT of) pictures from our time at the hospital and these first days home.

Our families in the waiting room shortly after Adam came out with the great news!


First family picture!


The three Bakers!



Our sweet little bug


Bigggggg yawn


Skin-to-skin is hands down the best feeling in the world.


My little love.


Skin-to-skin naps with Daddy. (Melt!)



Adam spent all afternoon YouTubing tutorials on how to swaddle - great success! Too bad she doesn't like to be swaddled...


Aiden, Papa and Papabear


Four generations!


Headed home as a family of three!


It's funny that I thought this outfit would be way too small for her.


Ready or not!


We're HOME!


First night! She actually did pretty well in her bassinet on night one (much better than she's done since then). 


First pediatrician's appointment


5lbs 13oz - such a little squirt!


Meeting her brother and sister! Ruthie and Hank were pretty indifferent, but they've gotten more interested in her and they're doing so well.



Ok, I only have 2729387239 more pictures to sort through for the next blog post… And she's not even three weeks old! We are so in love.
 
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