Rowan’s First Month

How did a month pass by already?! We’ve been in this little bubble at home, besides being in a loose quarantine due to Covid-19, it’s been non-stop feeding, diaper changing, sleeping and it all starts up again. I guess that’s how days pass by like a flash!

It’s only been a month, and Rowan is still such a newborn, but she’s growing so fast! Already surpassed her birth weight of 6lbs and 15oz within a week at home and I’m pretty sure by now she is around 10lbs. She’s also extremely long haha so I will definitely be the short one in this family. And right now, she has piercing grey-blue eyes, I hope they stay.

Her little personality is starting to come out, she makes these cute and hilarious little sounds, she’s bossy, and eats really fast like her mom. And she sleeps through any noise, thank goodness! We can vacuum, make loud sounds, and probably do anything while she sleeps. We also love the little squeaks she makes and the sounds that come out when she is waking up from a nap. Melts my heart.

The first week we were home, she slept all day and night, ate like a champ and we were able to sleep and get so much done. Fast forward to now, she sleeps pretty well, four-hour stretches, but has gone through a few cluster feed sessions, demands the boob right when she wakes up, and has started to cry in the early evenings a bit. Not every day, it’s like she’s finding out she can cry, and then we will give her our attention. It works.

When she looks at me and smiles, I forget how tired I am. That my breasts are about to explode, I haven’t been able to shower and eat a proper meal and that my back aches, I forget all of it because she’s just so cute and makes my heart full. She’s starting to be interested in what’s around her, and much more active during the daytime. Curtis reads to her and shows her high contrast cards every day. She’s starting to get interested in tummy time and her neck is getting so strong! Somehow she managed to roll over the first week at home during tummy time, hasn’t done it again since, but that was an accomplishment haha.

During the last week, I’ve started to use a baby wrap with her and she likes it, I think she enjoys being on me, but also able to watch me all day haha. She’s a stage 5 clinger for sure. When the weather is nice, we go for a walk around the area in her stroller and without fail, she falls asleep in five minutes. Rowan loves cuddling with both of us, but Curtis for whatever reason does a better job of getting her to calm down and fall asleep on him.

Breastfeeding has had some up and downs, my breasts are large so she struggles to latch onto my nipples, I’ve taken to using a nipple shield and now pump a bottle or two for Curtis to give her feedings at night. It gives me a break and I get more sleep. She consumes so much in a day, definitely more than the 8-12 feedings per day, some days I’d say we are at 14. I’m starting to try to wean her off the shield and back onto my breasts, will make my life easier, and once we are back to being able to go out into the world, convenient. One positive note is that Rowan always wakes herself up from sleep, and immediately wants to feed, I never have to wake her and try to get her to feed. That’s never an issue.

I’m also pretty confident that Rowan is a little water baby, she enjoys her baths. Once she hits that warm water, she smiles and just relaxes. I can’t wait to put her into swimming lessons! Her long legs just kick around in the water. Speaking of her legs, since she came into the world, she kicks her feet around all day long. You’ve got to be careful when you change her diaper haha.

Curtis is still working periodically, he works by himself on job sites and residential projects, and we are lucky that he still has work considering what is going on out there in the world. I am very glad that Curtis has had more time to spend at home with the two of us, he doesn’t go to work every week and is very happy he has been able to spend more time with Rowan and I’m happy he’s around more to help me out!

Our current schedule with Rowan right now is:
7 AM: Wake up and feed
7-9 AM: Hang out in bed, tummy time
9 AM-7 PM: No set schedule, we just go with the flow right now and listen to her cues
7 PM: Bath time every 2 days
8 PM: Feed
9 PM: Go down for a sleep, lights are dimmed, white noise goes on
11:30 PM: Feed and then I pump for a short while
3 AM: Wake up for a feed, we keep the lights off and a diaper change

Mommy Update

I had a C-Section (you can read her birth story here) and still recovering 5 weeks post-partum. I left the hospital in pretty good spirits, I was walking and had very minimal bleeding. Since then my incision has been healing really nice, and no other issues. Mentally, I’m exhausted and have had a couple of meltdowns, but with Curtis helping me out and being so supportive, I feel not so stressed out on a daily basis. I do feel hormonal and all boobs most days, my skin is still suffering from jawline acne and I’ve noticed I’m starting to shed a bit of hair.

I’ve found the first 5 weeks postpartum to be really difficult – adjusting to a new baby, adjusting to feeding around the clock, being pretty alone in the experience of it all even with a super supportive partner, and for me in this job, not really getting a true leave. I think I mentioned this before, but bloggers do not truly get time off. I am still checking my emails and will take campaigns if they came in. But with Covid-19, that’s not really the case, but I’m not completely shut off. Essentially I am a small business, and never not working. But I am taking this time to focus on Rowan and myself and not worry too much about the blog for the first two months. I think it’s important for myself mentally to just focus on my newborn and myself instead of work.

Life throws us curveballs, and we have no choice but to roll with them and try to be positive, but I am not going to lie there were days where I felt really overwhelmed, and really upset at the universe. I think we all have during this difficult and anxiety-inducing time. It’s been hard not to be able to have visitors come to meet Rowan, not having her own grandparents be able to hold her. The uncertainty of how long we’ll be at home has been hard with a newborn especially, but it has also had its upsides, which is having Curtis around more during the day to bond with Rowan and to help out. It almost feels like the entire world is on maternity leave with me.

Let me know if you have any questions about postpartum or Rowan’s first month, and I’ll answer them below!