Rowan’s Second Month

Wow, I cannot believe I’m writing up Rowan’s second-month update. They weren’t kidding when they say it goes by so quickly. There’s been a lot of growth over here, she just finished her second leap a couple of days ago, which was a big one for her neurological development.

Rowan now coos at us, she smiles all the time and is quite chatty! She also has grown a lot more, she now weighs almost 12 lbs, got longer and can now grab at things. She still loves to eat, we are now pumping and breastfeeding, so Curtis can give her a bottle during the night and we just have an extra supply for outings or just in case she is cluster feeding. She eats about 5 oz a feeding, so around 32-37 oz a day I’d say on average.

I had to sadly pack away all her newborn clothes, which was heartbreaking that she isn’t that tiny anymore. We will be keeping them all for the next kid (crazy to write that haha) since they were all gender-neutral and pretty much brand new. Rowan now fills out 0-3 months, and we change outfits each day which I then proceed to document with about 10 photos of course.

I set up her playmat and gym in her room but also bring it into our living space so she can have more opportunities to practice her motoring skills and swatting at the toys dangling from the play gym. Tummy time is going great, she can now lift her head and rotate it side to side, less jerky too!

Sleep is going much more smoothly, around 6.5 weeks she started to sleep in 7-hour stretches during the night. We put her down around 9:30 PM and she’ll sleep till around 4:30-5 AM. Without waking up! It’s been amazing and I hope that continues till her dreaded sleep regression at 4 months. We started a routine in a way, on nights she gets bathed we dim all the lights, get her jammies on, give her a little bit of boob, sing lullabies or rock her while walking around the house and then she passes out. At first, we weren’t sure if she’d wake up in two hours so we would stay up anticipating that, and then she’d continue to sleep for hours. I now find myself pumping right after, and then crawling into bed around 11 PM.

I bought a few high-contrast picture books and we have a few card sets which we read to her each day. Along with playing with her dollies, and teaching her to grab her rattle. I tend to do this in the morning when she’s alert and has a few hours to let her little mind calm down before the evening. I find if she’s over-stimulated we can never get her down to sleep at her normal time and she skips her daytime naps.

Rowan’s much more interactive – smiling at us, brushing things with her hands, getting stronger at tummy time, following things with her eyes. It’s amazing how quickly they go from a baby blob to somewhat aware of what is going on. She coos in response to us talking to her and definitely knows when she is about to be fed. If you don’t let her look around in your arms or in her little bouncy chair, she will get fussy. Another new thing is that she has been self-soothing herself lately, we can hear her in her bassinet sometimes in the middle of the night and her grunts or coos and then falls back asleep without us assisting her.

I think the next month will bring many more milestones for her and I can’t wait to see how she grows! Just can’t get enough of her.

Our current schedule with Rowan right now is:
7 AM: Wake up and feed
7-9 AM: Hang out, tummy time, developmental activities
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
5 AM: Wake up for a feed, we keep the lights off and a diaper change, she then goes back down for another short sleep

Mommy Update

Being able to sleep longer stretches has been amazing for my physical and mental health. Sure I still have a meltdown every once in a while, hormones are a bitch! But with Curtis helping out with feedings and also household chores has been great.

Breastfeeding is still a challenge, I haven’t quite got her off of the nipple shield onto my breast, but we have stepped up pumping and I picked up a silicone pump from Haaka that I use to grab any milk from the other breast while pumping or feeding her. Not wasting any milk in this household haha.

I wish breastfeeding was easier than they tell you at your prenatal classes, they make it look so natural with the videos they show and hearing other moms just naturally get a grasp on it. I wish Rowan would have latched right off the bat, but with bigger breasts, it’s been hard and a little inconvenient to use the shield every feeding. I’m not sure if I’ll go beyond that 6-month recommendation for breastfeeding, but I am aiming to get to the 6-month mark. Then probably introduce solids and also formula for a supplement. Or maybe just breastfeeding for snacks and middle of the night feeds. I really enjoy the bonding we have while feeding when she looks at me and I hold her. It’s a struggle but I’m happy she’s getting fed and growing so we must be doing something right.

At my last midwife appointment, I got the all-clear to start working out. To be honest, I haven’t had a chance yet, besides going for long walks in our neighbourhood I haven’t been able to put on a Youtube video and workout at home. Hoping to do that this weekend! Little steps, even if it’s 20 minutes. Stretching is another thing I need to incorporate into my daily life, I find my back is sore, cannot wait for an RMT massage! I do want to say that I’m not too worried about bouncing back into shape, I feel with breastfeeding, walking and just eating healthy at home I’ve been able to slowly lose weight. I just want to gain my core strength back and overall endurance. As long as I can fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans, I’m happy! Which brings me to share that I unpacked my summer clothes and I managed to get my denim shorts and some summer pants on and button them up! Big win for me, I don’t have to buy any new clothes and can wear my old wardrobe.

I’m just happy to be home during this pandemic, spending more time with her and having Curtis home more often. It’s nice that we don’t have any social commitments to worry about, no set schedules, and if we want, we can just wear our PJs all day and enjoy hanging out with Rowan.

Any questions or want to share your postpartum story? Share below! Let’s start a conversation 🙂