> > >
MATERNITY LEAVE
Is over! Sad face. My first day back was Monday, the 16th and I won't even pretend that I wasn't an emotional mess leading up to it. That being said, my first day back wasn't nearly as awful as I was anticipating. In fact, it actually felt good to get back into the swing of things. I kind of forgot how much I legitimately love my job and the truth is, I'm good at it. It's really rewarding to be able to say that. And though I'm truly going to miss those long days at home with my little man, it feels really good to have something of my own to devote my life to.
BREASTFEEDING
Still going well! I'm pumping now that I'm back to work which has been going well. I'm super paranoid that my supply is going to decrease, though.
POSTPARTUM RECOVERY (TMI Alert!)
Sex still hurts. Sorry, but it's true.
BABY FAT
As soon as we had our first warm day, I hauled out the stroller and have been walking Charlie as much as possible. We are so fortunate to live right down the road from a park, two playgrounds, a bike trail, and a lovely college campus. Not to mention, just about a mile from downtown so yeah, walking is pretty awesome around these parts. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app on my phone because I wanted to get an idea of how many calories I've been consuming (my appetite while breastfeeding has been out of control!) and I've been using Runkeeper to track my walking. I'm hoping to start running again soon, but we don't have a jogging stroller and I can never seem to find the time to go out solo.
As for Charlie...
MILESTONES
He is still as smiley as ever, though he's added smiling at himself in the mirror to his repertoire. It's quite possibly the cutest thing ever. This month also saw Charlie's longest stretch of sleep- a full 8.5 hours! Since then he has been sleeping from about 7pm-7am with one nursing session around 3am. Am I the luckiest Mom, or what?! Our darling boy has also started chatting more and more. Although it comes out more like squeals and grunts, it definitely seems like he's trying to converse with us. Maybe I'm a totally clueless first-time parent, but I swear he is! Because he's so long and lanky, dressing my sweet baby was a little annoying this month. We essentially re-used the same pair of stretchy, newborn jeans on him because all of his 0-3 month pants are still way too baggy on him. However, he's now in 3-month onesies and jammies! Thankfully, with the nicer weather, pants are becoming less and less necessary. We're still in Size 1 diapers and likely will be for a little while longer.
FAMILY
Charlie got to celebrate his Grandma's 60th birthday and meet his Grandpa (my step-dad) for the very first time when they came for a weekend to visit and celebrate the occasion. I think it's safe to say he's got them wrapped around his finger. Because I went back to work, we've also had our family members helping us out to watch him during the afternoons when both Chuck and I are working. There are times when Chuck's ginormous family drives me nuts, and then there are times like these when I am so thankful that our little boy is going to grow up surrounded by family!
STATS
Because Charlie was underweight at his 2-month check-up, his pediatrician had us come in a couple days ago for a follow-up weigh-in just to make sure he's gaining the weight that he should be. He weighed 10 lbs 6 oz and though they didn't measure his length, I'm guessing he's about 23 inches. I was happy to see he's gained weight, but unhappy to see it wasn't near as much as he should have by now. Because he's still gaining so slowly, we have to go back in another 3 weeks to do another weight check. I'm not going to lie, it feels really frustrating- like I'm doing something wrong and stunting my baby's growth. Cross your fingers for a fat baby next month!
He's so cute! And don't worry too much about the weight... I think babies grow at their own paces and that the averages are valued too much. Our two year old is so thin you can see his ribs but he eats all the time...and adult amounts!! But he used to be chunky, so I think it's due to a growth spurt. From how you describe Charlie's height, maybe he had one recently too ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement. I'm trying not to stress too much about it- he's growing, just on his own time! The only thing we can do right now is just keep feeding him and we'll see how he does at his next check-in!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! Clearly, I think so too! :)
ReplyDelete