arden - one month

I wrote this whole post, and I thought saved it to my drafts.  Finally came to add the photos and everything but the first snippet is gone.  I could definitely cry right now.  It is hard to come by time to write! So I'm rewriting it, as best as I can.

Damn you time.  Just like that a month has flown by.  I must have known I'd have another baby after Thea.  While I can't wait to see what each new day brings, I'm definitely mourning every day that goes by.  Arden looks more like a 'real baby' than a newborn already!

Because her weight gain was great at our follow up weight check (up to 7lbs 7oz) Arden didn't have a one month appointment. Based on our ever inaccurate guess with our home scale, she was right around nine pounds at one month.  She is definitely filling out more and more, maybe just not quite as fast as Thea did.  HA.  Her limbs are too long for a lot of her newborn sleepers, especially if I try to put the mitts over her hands.  But 0-3 and 3 month clothes are so dang baggy.  We just opened up size one diapers because she has been leaking out of the newborns.  But it seems to be a brand issue more than anything.  All of my kids have used Pampers but they don't seem to be working for Arden!

For the most part nursing is going fantastically.  She nurses roughly every 2.5-3 hours throughout the day.  Sometimes she is fussy between then, but I try to keep from feeding her too much because she spits up so much.  So so so so much.  But she seems to be gaining weight just fine and isn't screaming all the time or anything, so I guess we'll just roll with it. We haven't tried a bottle yet, but I'm not having high hopes of it going well.  Just like all the other girls she isn't amused by the pacifier.  When I try to put it in her mouth she starts gagging and acting like I'm killing her.  Better get on the bottle thing before it is too late...

Sleep has been (knock on wood) not too shabby.  Much like our other children, it is hard for Arden to settle in for a nap during the day.  There isn't any just snuggling to sleep, and holding her or having her on my chest doesn't necessarily keep her asleep.  However when she wakes up to nurse in the middle of the night she goes back to sleep with little to no effort.  And by some miracle the sweet girl has already been giving me a few 5.5-7 hour stretches at night.  I don't know where this magical child came from, but I think I'll keep her.  I had hoped maybe I'd actually start a child on a flat surface so we wouldn't have the dreaded rock 'n play to crib transition, but if I lay her down flat she either just plain wakes up immediately, or spits up, wakes up, and gets the hiccups.  So we're sticking with what works at the moment and she is swaddled in the rock 'n play next to my bed.

I'm going to try not to constantly compare Arden to Thea, but my gosh, Arden is a much easier baby.  Not only was sleep pretty awful with Thea, and she was fussy much more often, she also screamed bloody murder every time she was in the car seat.  Sure Arden can be fussy, but she tolerates being in the car seat really well, and over all is just calmer and more easy going.  Between that and me getting a reasonable amount of sleep, (and a lot of help from my parents) this whole baby thing just seems so much easier.  It is glorious.  Without the help of my parents I no doubt would not be fairing near as well, but they are keeping me sane and us well fed.  :)  So very grateful for them!

In her first couple weeks of life, Chris compared Arden to a sloth, and the description was hilariously accurate.  She was fairly alert from the beginning, but all of her movements were so slow.  When she would turn her head or move her eyes, it was at a snails pace.  Once he called her a sloth I couldn't help but laugh watching her while she was awake.

Arden must have been born in the wrong month.  That baby doesn't like to be cold in the slightest.  When I'm having a hard time getting her to settle in for a nap, I stand in front of a space heater in our bathroom and sway.  It is like her kryptonite.  She often cries when someone with cold hands touches her.  She also seems fairly content when getting a bath, until you take her out and she gets chilly.  Sometimes we snuggle with big fluffy blankets and she really seems to like it.  I mean, whats not to love about big fluffy blankets but still.

Her sisters most definitely adore her.  I think Elsie says "Arden is sooo cute," at minimum ten times a day.  Ryann and Thea tell me she is cute too.  They have all been fairly helpful with her too, if I ask them to grab a diaper or a burp cloth, things of that nature.  They also enjoy holding her, however everyone has become a wee bit nervous about getting spit up on.  Elsie was holding her one afternoon and Arden spit up all over Elsie's hand.  I thought Elsie was going to throw her for a second!  She recovered quickly though.

Arden, sweet sweet baby girl, I am so thankful God sent you to me.  My heart needed you so much.  Me, your dad, your sisters, we are so happy you are a part of our family.  We love you so very much.