My parents were here to visit, my dad for one week & then mom stayed for 2 more weeks. Tim also had most of this time off work so we were really able to bond as a family.
This month Grayson totally mastered holding his head up. He was holding it steady almost from the get go and he was even able to push up on his arms a little bit.
Grayson loves to be worn and since we put him straight into a convertible car seat he spends a lot of time in the Moby. When we are out, around the house for me to get things done, really any time my parents or Tim weren't holding him!
To be honest though, we didn't go out of the house much. This month was spent getting to know our little man and snuggling him as much as we could. He doesn't like to be put down - so it wasn't hard to do!
Breastfeeding:
Grayson was exclusively breastfed for his first month. I encouraged him to latch any chance I got because it is so important for establishing supply. Something we all learned - I have no trouble with lack of supply! I actually have quite the oversupply and we spent this month learning to work around it. His poor little tummy could only take so much at a time & I could have fed a nation. Because Grayson's tummy filled up so quickly, he was only getting foremilk and it was causing LOTS of painful gas for little man. After some research and advice from the blessing that is Amy Hoyt, I learned that block feeding is our solution! Grayson nurses from only one side for 3 hours of time so that he can get the fattier hind milk, really cutting down on the tummy pain. Breast feeding is much more challenging than I thought, but SO worth it! I will do a post a little down the road about my breastfeeding journey - probably when Grayson starts solids.
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| I have taken a million breastfeeding photos since the 1st month, but it took both hands to help him eat at first... so this is all I have. |
Diapering:
We are exclusively using cloth diapers for Grayson. We were so excited to put his first one on at the hospital and the nurses and doctors thought it was neat! Because he was only 6lbs at birth, all of his newborn diapers we still too big and we started with the newborn GMD prefolds and prowrap newborn covers. I wish I had taken some good pictures because he was so precious in them! After a couple of weeks he easily fit into his newborn diapers & we haven't had any trouble keeping them washed & clean. Ask me ANY questions about it - I would recommend cloth to everyone!
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| Can you even stand how cute that little behind is??? |
Grayson is the snugglist little bunny at night. We knew our plan was to cosleep and I did lots of research on safe cosleeping before Grayson arrived. Once he was here; however, it took me a couple of nights to get the logistics down. Night 1: no sleep, I was still on that birth hight!! Night 2: I kid you not, I slept somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes. I just couldn't figure out how to nestle him next to me in a way that felt safe, so I just sat in the hospital bed holding him all night. Night 3: Sleeping bliss! I found that Grayson will sleep like a rock on my chest and I sleep like a rock on my back with both of my arms around him.
GLORIOUS! Once we got home he went right to my chest at bed time & when he would wake up to nurse I could feel him squirm instantly. Granted then we might be up for an hour trying to figure out the latch and the milk spraying 10 feet across the room, but once we were ready for sleep, it was so good.
Since I take almost all of the pictures, there aren't any of Grayson sleeping on my chest; however, when I got up to go to the bathroom one night, I transferred him to Tim's chest & got this sweet shot:
I can't imagine Grayson sleeping anywhere but in my arms. For our family, I just couldn't put the tiny human that just spend 9 months inside of me all alone in his crib.
Babywearing:
I mentioned this further up, but Grayson LOVES to be worn. He is the kind of baby that needs to be held and my Moby fit the bill for the first month. I love the benefits of babywearing, especially at first when baby is meant to be right up close to mommy. We chose not to purchase a stroller, so you will hear lots more about babywearing at Grayson gets bigger & we try out different methods
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| nice and close in the Moby wrap |
Grayson was born with a good bit of hair, and it stayed put the whole first month, hurray! It is so fluffy and soft and pretty dark brown.
Grayson's umbilical stump fell off after only 7 days. I was honestly pretty relieved because I felt anxious trying to keep it clean and dry. After that, he received his first bath (we chose to leave him unbathed at the hospital to get the full benefit of his vernix) and let's just say... he is not a fan. We gave him (I think) 2 baths this month. He is not a fan and we don't plan to make them a regular occurrence since we can just wipe him down easily. He was much happier once he was dry, lotioned up and diapered:
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| Cutie patootie little monsters diaper. |
Support:
I have been blown away by the support after Grayson's birth. Tim has had so much time off from work and has been able to attend to everything. My parents were able to come out after 10 days & they have been a huge blessing and an extra 2 sets of arms to hold Grayson. And my friends have brought me to tears with their generosity - we had a delicious meal delivered right to our front door every night through my parents first night here. Our family is so blessed to be surrounded by such love.
Placenta:
I heard so many things about hormonal rollercoasters after giving birth. I am already a very anxious person & I felt in my heart that the post partum period could be scary for me, so I had my placenta encapsulated and tinctured. If you are pregnant this is something I would STRONGLY recommend. I had more energy and felt more even keel after Grayson was born than before!! I took a few capsules each day & my body's shift back to normal has been so smooth! Ask me if you have any questions. It isn't nearly as gross as it sounds & it was a life saver for me!
Here are some additional sweet pictures of Grayson's first month:
Month one was a huge blessing and a huge learning curve. I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for the task of parenting, but I learned more in Grayson's first month than I knew possible. I can't imagine how we did without him before he arrived. I am falling more and more in love every day.
~Katie
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