One month.

There isn't much to update that differs from our 4 week post.. not a whole lot changed in those 3 days.

But I will note that for the last 24 hours Camy has kept me on my toes.

Gone are the days of (semi) predictability.

She was doing so well about eating fairly regularly, and like a champ!

She was doing so well about napping during the day but still falling back to sleep pretty quickly after nighttime feeds.

The last 24 hours?

Not so much.

It still hasn't been terribly difficult.. so I shouldn't complain, but it hasn't been as easy.

That's for sure.

For starters, Camy decided at 930 last night that sleep is for the weak.

She stayed awake the entire time between that feeding and the next (which I bumped up by an hour in an effort to get her to sleep!).

She wasn't screaming or super fussy (thank goodness), just awake, and wanting to be held.

Snuggling with her in bed did not work.. and that's usually a sure-fire way to knock her out.

Swaddling, Shushing, and Giving the Paci in the Cosleeper (our Plan B when Snuggling fails), failed.

Bringing the swing into our room (she naps great in the swing when the sun is up!) - Fail.

Trying the 5 S's (all put together, not our cheater's version tried in Plan B) - Fail.

Finally I decided that even though she wasn't giving hunger cues, I would try to nurse her to sleep - and she did fall asleep after just 7 minutes... but as soon as I went to lay her down in our bed, she woke right back up again.

It had been nearly 3 hours at this point, and I was exhausted. I was fighting to keep my eyes open and had run out of ideas to try to get her to sleep... so I turned to my FB friends and was told to take her outside. I needed to pump since she only ate for 7 minutes and wasn't showing any interest in eating more... so my plan was to pump for a few minutes then take her outside. I put Andy on baby duty at that point, and went to do my thing... and lo and behold, she fell asleep. As soon as Mommy was out of the room, she gave in and let herself enter dreamland. Really, Camy? What's that all about?

I was grateful for the chance to lay down and close my eyes though, and I was so exhausted by that point that I decided to keep the pumped milk in a bottle in our room for her next feeding rather than freeze it. Bottle feedings are much quicker, and I did not want to spend more time awake nursing than I needed to.

I fully expected her to wake up very soon after that, since she only ate for 7 minutes, but she shocked me by sleeping soundly until 330am! Thank you Camy, for giving Mommy some solid sleep. I knew you loved me!

Then today, her eating has been all over the place. Abbreviated feedings, frequent feedings.. totally unpredictable! I hope she regulates herself again by tomorrow, we have a big day planned.. our first solo outing to a Newborn Get Together with some Mommy/Baby friends! :)

Other than the craziness of the last day, Camy has been doing very well.

Her unofficial 1 month weigh in: 10lbs 12oz.

I say "unofficial" because it wasn't on the doctor's fancy scale (though we do have a baby scale borrowed from a friend), and because she had on a diaper and a onesie.

But still - 10lbs 12oz!!! That is up 2 lbs 9oz from birth. Way to go, Camy Lou!!!!

Here are her One Month Photos:

Loooove the little piggys!

I love her little half-smirk in this one...

Photo Shoots are exhausting...

Enough, Enough. No more pictures!

Heeeey, Macarena?

Love those cheeks!

Aaaand we're done here!

We just adore our sweet girl.

Our big, one month old, sweet girl!!

Four. Weeks. Old.

Yesterday Baby Camryn was four weeks old. What a big girl.

Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe she is just days away from her one month birthday!

Time really does fly by when you have a little one, just as I have always heard.

Camy is doing really well!

She is still eating like a champ, and doing much better about latching right on without a battle.

She is starting to go longer stretches at night between feedings (let the angels sing!).

She is staying awake for longer periods of time after her daytime feedings, and has become much more focused. She doesn't seem to aimlessly stare around the room anymore.. she really studies what she's looking at, is captivated by our faces when we talk or sing to her, is very expressive like she wants to say something back to us, and is starting to track objects, sometimes even turning her head and craning her neck to follow something in her line of sight. :)

Her fourth week was chock full of fun and family and friends!

Over the course of her week she met several new friends...

We spent Friday afternoon with an old high school friend of mine and her 2 kiddos, Hunter and Bailey.

That evening we had her dressed in my favorite skirt,

so we couldn't resist taking a few photos..

which clearly was not Camy's idea of an enjoyable Friday night!

Well, maybe its not so bad....

Until you try to put a bow in her hair! Yikes!

Taking those photos wore her out, so she snuggled up with Daddy to fall asleep. I just couldn't get enough of her chubby little arms and legs all curled up with her Daddy. Melts my heart

Saturday morning our friends Kristen and Tim stopped by for a quick visit, and Camy got some cuddle time in with Tim. The last time they were here Tim was too afraid to hold her because she was so new and tiny, but this time he scooped her right up and rocked her to sleep! He's going to be a great daddy - they are expecting their first son in January and we can't wait for Camy to have a new friend just down the street!

Later that afternoon we loaded Miss Camy Lou up and headed out to visit our friends Alex & Kelly and their precious new baby girl, Alina. On our way home Saturday, Camy had her first Target experience, and she seemed to love shopping there as much as her Mommy! That's my girl!

Sunday was Camy's first trip to Nana & Papa's house (Andy's parents), and I don't think she woke up long enough to even realize we were in a new place. She ate twice while we were there, but passed out immediately after both feeds! She spent a good part of her time there snoozing on Uncle Dee's chest.. so cute.

Monday was a great day - the super amazing Lisa Woods came by our home to take Camy's newborn photos at long last. We had to postpone the shoot a few times while we were dealing with jaundice and surgeries and new work schedules.. but the photos were most certainly worth the wait!!!! We cannot wait to see the rest of them!

Following the photos at home, we all drove over to a nearby park with Lisa to meet up with Katie, Keith and Little Miss Annabelle for some outdoor photos. We attempted to take a few shots with the girls together, but I don't know how those turned out - its not easy to get to newborns positioned in a shot together without them squirming away, or kicking each other, or rooting around on each other's faces for food. But it was fun to try!

Tuesday we had a visit from Tabatha and Miss Audrey,

Camy's Hair Idol. :)

I wish we would have taken some pictures of the 2 of them,

but poor Audrey was not having a great day, so maybe next time.

Wednesday (Camy's Four Week Birthday!!!),

we had a visit from Barbara and Miss Campbell.

Camy's fashion sense has been inspired by Miss Campbell's good taste in bumble-bee attire,

and they were sweet enough to bring her a little gift:

more bumble bee clothes in the next size up.

::love!::

Here they are completely oblivious to each other on the play mat...

Wednesday evening we did our weekly chair photos..

and she's definitely becoming noticeably bigger in the seat!

The obligatory "tiny baby in a big chair" shot:

And one more photo....

Looks like she learned how to hold her own binkie at 4 wks.

Ha.

I wish!

Saturday our little angel will be one month old.

It's hard for me to understand just how that much time has already gone by.

We have a special outfit ready and waiting for her to celebrate,

so stay tuned for some (hopefully) super sweet pictures to come!

3 wks, 1 day

I love this series of photos!

It really shows just how expressive our Little Love is becoming!

Check out that wacky hair! :)

"Not cool, Mom. I was yawning!"

Snoozing on Mommy, her favorite place to sleep.

And with Daddy, her second-favorite place to sleep (but don't tell him that!).

{late} WEEK THREE! (three?!)

Our third week as a family of three was a hectic one. Never a dull moment.

We got word on Wednesday (her 2 week birthday) that I needed to have surgery Friday the 11th to remove some retained placenta, so Thursday was spent with me super-pumping in preparation of being away from Camy Lou for a while. All day long, literally, I was either nursing or pumping.

Nurse. Burp. Swaddle. Pump. Quick Rest.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Good times.

Andy and I left for the hospital bright and early (515) for surgery.

This trip to CPRMC in the wee hours of the morning was in stark contrast to the other predawn hospital drive in terms of emotions and anxiety. The first trip was exciting, this one was nerve-wracking. The first one would result in us bringing our baby home for the first time, this one involved leaving her home for the first time.

Not fun for me.

My biggest concern was not over the procedure itself, but the general anesthesia. I had never been under general before, and after the debacle with my epidurals, I was terrified something would go wrong. But all was well.. my handled the drugs just as it was supposed to, and with very little side effects (no nausea/vomiting! YAY!). PreOp was an emotional roller coaster for me, surgery was quick and painless, and the same-day recovery was easier than I anticipated.

We got home from the hospital just before lunch, and I was happy to be back with my baby girl!

My recovery since then has been slow and sometimes difficult.. but all in all, things are much better now.

I have to stay off my feet as much as possible because the amount of blood loss I endured that week and in surgery has left me lightheaded and often very dizzy and weak. I can't be on my feet for more than a few minutes at a time, so there are definitely difficulties that arise in caring for a newborn that way. But we're making it, and everyday gets a little easier.

Needless to say, not many photos were taken Thursday and Friday of Week 3.. sad sad.

Saturday was our first (and so far, only) Tummy Time adventure, as documented below.

Sunday was exciting (read: exhausting) -- we got to go introduce Camryn to her new BFF, Annabelle!

Annabelle was born Friday the 11th, and we were very eager to go visit her and her Mommy and Daddy. So we loaded up our little Princess and headed up to the hospital. Annabelle is quite the beauty, with a full head of *long* dark hair!

It was an odd feeling being back in a Post Partum wing.. it felt like ages since we had been in that position, though it had only been 2 1/2 weeks. I felt like we had come so far since those first few days of joy and sleep-deprivation, like we had already learned and achieved so much since then.

Andy and I both had the answers this time, rather than being the ones asking the questions.

We both had much more confidence in diapering and dressing, swaddling and feeding.

We weren't the fumbling new parents anymore, in that room we were the seasoned vets!

It was kind of nice! :)

K&K were at the top of their game though.. they were doing great! It was so wonderful to see them experiencing the joy only a new parent can truly understand. I am so glad we have been able to share this journey with them, pregnancy to parenthood. And I cannot wait to watch our little girls grow up together!

After visiting with them, we headed over to my mom's house so Camryn could meet her Aunts from Baltimore. That visit is also documented below.

Monday was a day of recuperation for me, I really overdid it on Sunday and felt the effects all Sunday night and into the day Monday. Again, we missed a day of pictures. I really need to get better about that!

Tuesday my mom spent the day with us to help me out, and offered to give Camy her bath for me.

If you recall from last week, our little Camy Lou loved just chilling in her tub but did not love being washed. But when Nona bathes her, she's perfectly content! What's up with that?

Maybe it was the fact that Nona was singing "Rubber Ducky" to her the whole time? Camy just stared at her wide-eyed through the whole thing.. it was so funny.

In this one, she even looks like she's laughing a little! Silly Nona.

The big news for Tuesday was that Camryn wore her first "3 months" size outfit! With the particular brand she wore (Carter's), "3 months" is the equivalent to most brands' "0-3"... so that's what I'm going to call it. "0-3". Sounds much better to me than "3 months". I'm not ready for to be in "3 months"... the little babe is only 3 *weeks*! (And by "only 3 weeks" I mean, "THREE weeks, already?!") ::tear::

Wednesday was the big Three Week Birthday!

We celebrated by trying out her swing (thanks Murrays!).

That evening Daddy got behind the camera for the Three Week Chair photos...

She's still our tiny little baby in a big ol' chair!

The Murray's let us borrow their baby scale when we were dealing with Camy's jaundice, so we decided to see where she topped the scales at 3 weeks, and although this is not an official weigh-in (therefore will not be documented in the sidebar), she hit a whopping 9 1/2 pounds!! You go, Camy! :) That is up 1 pound and 5 ounces from her birthweight. Hooray!!

A few things to note from week three:

~Camy started sleeping in her cosleeper between nighttime feeds. Such a big girl! She tends to spend the first 2 stretches of sleep in her cosleeper just fine, but by the early morning feed she's ready for some sleepy-cuddles (and so is Mommy), so she stays in bed with us for the final stretch of sleep.

~Camy spent most of her days in cloth diapers this week! :)

~Camy projectile-pooped on the carpet in her room. I was having to change her diaper on the floor because of my lightheadedness on my feet.. and just as I was getting ready to put a new diaper on her (on her 3 wk bday), she decided she wasn't quite done yet. Lovely. It got on Mommy, the changing pad, and the carpet. Ick.

~Camy's other BFF was born on Tues the 15th, Miss Alina, but we haven't had a chance to visit with them yet. That is on our agenda for today and I cannot wait to go meet her! :)

~Camy spends more time alert between meals now, and I love watching her expressions change as she listens to me talk or sing, or as she studies her surroundings.

Center of Attention!

My aunts flew in from Baltimore today to visit,

and spent a lot of time getting to know the newest addition to the family..

our sweet little Camy Lou.

Everyone passed her around,

marveled over her tiny toes and precious dimple,

and anxiously waited for Little Bit to wake up and show of her baby blues..

which she finally did, when she woke up starving!

Sydnee just adores her baby cousin,

though she still calls Camy "Ry Ry".

She was waving to Camy and saying "Hey!" in this one...

She went to grab her own baby and pat her just like we pat Camy...

Kisses.

And just being a ham for the camera!