Sweet Katherine,
You are already one month old. The newborn stage is always fascinating to me in that the time flies by and lasts forever all at the same time. You are the joy of our family and our little celebrity. Someone always wants to hug you, hold you, and play with you. We just can not get enough of you and are so very grateful that you are in our family.
All in all, I'd describe you as a good baby with difficult moments. There are times where you are just a dream baby- you'll happily be awake and looking around for a long time, you'll put yourself to sleep, you'll snooze through busy times, etc. At the same time though you'll have difficult moments- evenings when you won't let us put you down at all without screaming, middle of the night feedings when you don't want to go to sleep, pooping right in the middle of church. I will say that most of the time, you're a great baby which makes our adjustment to four kids a little easier.
You are such a great nurser, and I'm so thankful that we haven't had any of that added stress this time around. We are having to supplement with some formula, but I'm so used to that now that it hasn't been a big deal. Since pretty much the moment you were born, you just knew how to nurse, and we've have zero issues or times when you've refused or struggled to latch. You're always happy to eat and you love to suck on anything- bottle, pacifier, fingers, you're not picky at all and go back and forth with nursing and bottle feeding with no issues at all. Good job, Baby Girl!
You nurse 8-9 times per day and we're supplementing with about five oz of formula a day (an ounce after most of your feedings) to make sure you're getting your belly full. You nurse every 2.5-3 hours during the day. You're an efficient eater and nurse for about 20 minutes per feeding
At night you'll usually have a four hour stretch between feedings and then want to eat every 2.5-3 hours after that first long stretch. I usually feed you between 9-10 at night and then you wake up wanting to eat again around 1-1:30 and then again at about 4:30. Then you're ready to eat again around 7ish. Most of the time you'll fall asleep easily after your middle of the night feedings. You have nights where you want to stay awake and party in the middle of the night too. We're working on it.
At your one month check up you weighed 7lbs, 2.5 oz and were 20 inches long (Daddy jokes that you shrunk since you were born). You are still wearing newborn clothes and diapers, but they no longer swallow you up like they did when you were first born. Now they're fitting normally, ha! You're a tiny little peanut and your head is still too small for a lot of your hats and headbands.
You don't spit up very much, but you poop ALL the time- like 6-10 times a day usually. I know that's not uncommon in newborns, but you definitely poop way more often than any of your siblings did as newborns. There have also been multiple times when you've pooped while I'm changing your dirty diaper and plenty more when you've just been waiting for a clean diaper to do your business again.
I swaddle you at night. I don't really know if it helps you sleep better or not, but you don't seem to mind, so I'll keep it up. I don't usually swaddle you during the day for any of your naps, maybe because you're not on any sort of consistent nap schedule right now- Fourth child problems. You are pretty good at taking a long nap in the afternoons when your sister naps.
You tend to have long wake periods and long sleep periods. You can stay awake for a couple of hours at a time, but you can also sleep for hours during the day too (only waking up long enough to eat and then you're right back asleep).
You are usually happy and awake in the mornings after your 7:00 feeding. I love that you are happy then because it's usually a mad house around here from about 7:30-9:00 trying to get everyone (including you), fed, dressed, lunches and backpacks packed and ready for school. You're just chill though to hang out on your play mat or in your swing. You do usually have someone in your face wanting to play with you, so I think that helps, but I'm always impressed with how content you are to be alone in the mornings.
The evenings are a complete opposite story though. You are much more needy in the evenings especially after your big siblings are in bed. You're hungrier and usually won't tolerate not being held. Maybe you just know that your daddy is home so you can get away with being so clingy. You eat around 9:00 and then a lot of nights you want to stay awake and play for another hour or so before you fall asleep. A lot of times I end up nursing you again to help you fall asleep. I think you just know that you have us both to yourself during that time and want to take advantage of it, ha!
I feel like you live in your car seat a lot of days between school drop off, pick up, ballet, gymnastics, appointments, errands, etc. Thankfully you sleep great in your car seat, although there are times that you show off your strong lungs while we're driving.
The perk of being the fourth child is that you are SO very loved by your big siblings. I've seen the sweetest moments when your big siblings just genuinely want to show you how much they love you. You're the first person anyone wants to see in the mornings. They are such great helpers too- bringing you toys, singing you songs, putting your pacifier back in your mouth, holding you, throwing your diapers in the trash, helping bathe you, someone is always wanting to help take care of you.
We catch you smiling a lot in your sleep and you're starting to focus more on our faces when we're talking to you.
I'm soaking up all the sweet moments with you, all the while dreaming of the night when I'll get more than two or three hour stretches of sleep. You are a joy. I'm so glad God gave us you. You are loved more than any baby I know, and we can't imagine life without you.
We had a special first week at home with our newest Little Love. We got home from the hospital Thursday early afternoon and had a chance to settle in, unpack, eat lunch and rest for a bit.
Then when the kids got out of school, they came to visit and spend some time with their sister. That time with them has been one of my favorite memories with Katherine. They were SO excited to spend time with her. They all wanted to hold her, help her with her pacifier and take care of her.
The second she made any sort of noise, they jumped at trying to soothe her. They showed her all of her toys, sang songs to her, read her books and fought over who got to hold her.
It was adorable to watch how much they love her and how excited they were that their baby was FINALLY here!
We spent a couple of hours together as a family and then thankfully my parents took them back to their house for the night so we could rest and focus on Katherine. I also noticed how weak I was from the loss of blood Thursday evening since it was the first time I really had done anything but stay in bed since her birth. I was especially grateful that night to have a little break from our big kids and to not have to do baths and bedtime routines with them when I was feeling so tired.
The weekend after she was born we had more visitors. It's always fun to show off our Little Princess.
Outside of our visitors we spent the rest of the weekend resting, cuddling, napping and watching TV shows together in bed while nursing a baby.
My parents kept the kids for most of the weekend. We had the boys on
Saturday when Granny and Grandaddy were here. They were adorable showing
off their sister. Elisabeth ended up getting sick that weekend, so she
had to stay away. It was super hard on my mommy heart to not be able to
take care of her while she was sick, but we didn't want her to expose
her sister to any of her germs. Thankfully by Sunday night she was much
better.
While I was holding and feeding a baby, Matt lovingly cleaned the grout in our kitchen. He was so sweet to work on his to do list even in his sleep deprived state. My kitchen floor looks awesome by the way.
That weekend Matt and I also took Katherine on her first walk. We didn't go far before I puttered out, but we all enjoyed being outside.
Sunday evening the big kids moved back in with us and reality really set in that we had four kids that we were supposed to take care of. I enjoyed the time alone with Matt and Katherine, but I was definitely ready to have my whole family together again.
Monday morning meant packing lunches and backpacks, feeding four kids breakfast, getting everyone dressed and out the door before 9:00am for school drop off, ballet, and a newborn doctor visit. Whew, I was worn out, but so proud we made it out the door on time that morning!
Samuel was cute and asked to take Katherine to school to show her off to her teachers. Of course we agreed. He's the sweetest big brother. (and we emailed a picture to Nathan's teacher too, at his request).
Matt worked part time that week (and the following week), and was able to do all drop off and pick ups for me and ran any other errand I needed. That meant, I got some one on one time with my girls while the boys were at school.
Monday night we had our first family walk. Walks to the playground or pond are a pretty consistent part of our evening routine, so it was special to take our first walk as a family of six.
We had plenty of help pushing the stroller :)
We also gave Katherine her first bath that night. She wasn't a fan, but the big kids enjoyed washing her.
Later that week, Samuel and Elisabeth were complaining that they couldn't ever feed Katherine a bottle, so I gave them a chance to feed her. They were in heaven. They are such good helpers.
I really enjoyed the slow pace of life we had those first days at home and the quality time we all had as a family of six adjusting to our new normal. Matt was such a help those first couple of weeks. I was so grateful for his flexible work schedule that allowed me to ease in to a new routine with four kids. Katherine has been the sweetest addition to our family. She forces us to slow down and stay at home more. She has brought out a tenderness in all of our children and taught us all how to love and work together in a new way. We've certainly had plenty of moments of chaos, stress, and frustration, but the joy of a new family member outweighs all the crazy moments.
We had a special two days in the hospital loving on our girl and introducing her to family and friends- sweet, sweet memories.
We moved from Labor and Deliver to a Postpartum room around 10:00 pm Tuesday night. As with our other babies Katherine was held almost constantly that night. I think she might have slept in her bed for an hour or so, but for the most part Matt and I traded off holding her while the other one slept.
Wednesday we welcomed visitors and in between we rested, watched movies on the TV and cuddled our girl.
I stayed in bed most of the time during our hospital stay, so Daddy had diaper duty. He changed almost all of her diapers in the hospital (and there were a lot, ha!)
They didn't bathe Katherine until early morning on Wednesday, and I was so ready to dress her in her cute clothes! Her tiny head was too small for her little hat.
There was a time in my life when I thought I might not have a daughter and I'd be an all boy mom. I'm so thankful for these two girls and the opportunity to be a girl mom too :).
The boys had school on Wednesday, but Elisabeth came to visit her little sister.
I enjoyed our visitors on Wednesday! It's always fun to visit with friends and share our new baby
Samuel wanted to come visit his sister again, so he came up on Wednesday evening to hang out with us a little bit. He is the sweetest with Katherine, always wanting to hold her, sing to her and love on her. His smile shows it all. He is SO proud of her.
Wednesday night was similar to Tuesday night. I do think Katherine slept a couple of times in her bassinet, but for the most part she was held by one of us. Those nights in the hospital are so memorable to me. The exhaustion, the uncomfortable bed, the interruptions from nurses, the light switches we can never figure out, the quiet tv in the background for light and white noise (We watched American Ninja Warrior for most of the night, ha!), and the sweet smells, sounds, and cuddles from our newest Love. I dreaded and craved those dark hours- some of the absolute sweetest and exhausting times in my life.
Katherine was always a super eater. From the first time I fed her just after she was born until today, she has never refused to nurse or struggled with latching and eating. That's been a blessing and removed some of the stressful times in the hospital.
Thursday morning we started packing up and waited for Katherine and my doctors to discharge us. Thankfully, they both came early in the day and we were able to be home around noon. It was a busy morning with doctors visits, test results, discharge paperwork, packing, and getting our Angel ready to head home. We got her all dolled up for her first car ride!
Matt and I are so very thankful for our newest blessing. God has been SO very good to our family.
Our Tiny Peanut was ready to go!
My whole hospital stay was bittersweet. I had been looking forward to her birth and those sweet days in the hospital with a brand new baby for months, but at the same time I knew that once those moments happened, the season of life of having babies and postpartum hospital stays would be over. I tried to treasure each moment even more so than with my other babies. I was sad as we drove away from the hospital knowing that we (hopefully) won't be back there again (for a happy reason at least). Those hospital rooms contain some of the very best moments of my entire life.
