I CANNOT BELIEVE CHARLIE IS 1 MONTH OLD! (Actually he’s 6 weeks now haha!) It’s actually wild. He has changed so much this month! I wrote monthly updates each month during Hudson’s first year, and it was really fun to connect with other mamas whose babies are the same age through it. I wanted to do the same for Charlie, just to have something to refer back to! If you’re interested, you can read Hudson’s 1 month update here. I know these aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so if you’re more here for the fashion stuff, feel free to ignore!
First and foremost, let’s run through the stats, because I am a numbers gal. Charlie was born at 8lbs 4 oz and he now weights almost 11 lbs! I cannot believe he gained almost 3 lbs in just 1 month. He’s also super tall in the 99% for height! It’s hard to get a feeling for his personality yet, but the biggest thing that stands out to us and cracks us up is how grumpy his resting face is. He has a super strong brow line (something inherited from my side of the family) , and has the best grumpy cat face ever. He recently started to focus more on us, look around a bit when he hears my voice nearby, and make little goo noises once in a blue moon. His longest wake period is in the morning, when we do tummy time, or he plays on his play mat, which only lasts around 30 minutes to an hour. He is basically on-and-off napping and eating for most of the day. We’ve been attempting to have him swaddled and napping in his bassinet, since we’re at home anyway, but he only is willing to sometimes, and others he wants to be worn in the solly wrap, or laying on us.
There’s a few big differences I’ve noticed between Charlie and Hudson. I would say the biggest difference is that Charlie is more consolable by both Matt and I equally. Hudson and I had this crazy bond, where he was SUPER reliant on mostly me, and would not let Matt soothe him for the longest time. Charlie seems to not really favor one or the other, and there’s even moments where I sometimes feel defeated or lost on what to do, which I never ever felt with Hudson. I’ll have to ask Matt to come relieve me or save me. Charlie also does not take a binkie, which Hudson took from day 1. We also found out that Charlie has a tongue and lip tie, which led to a lot of other issues surrounding it that we didn’t realize were because of the tongue tie, but now realize in hindsight. He latched really well from day one in the hospital, but once my milk came in, I noticed that he would pull off a lot while eating, and cry. It got exponentially worse, and then we also noticed when he would bottle feed, he would leak a lot of milk. He also had horrible gas during feedings and after, and we would have to constantly burp him. Breastfeeding was also so painful, but I remembered there being a brief time where I had to “break in” my body to feed Hudson, so I just figured it was normal. The pain did get more numb, but it never fully went away. It also never felt like he fully emptied me when he ate, which I don’t remember happening with Hudson. When I took him to his pediatrician for his 1 month visit, the pediatrician said we should wait on fixing the issue, but my gut feeling with all his feeding issues was to have it taken care of, and a few days later we took him to have it lasered. Ever since, feeding him has been much easier, and he started to take a binkie, but we’re still in recovery mode over here doing lots of tongue exercises throughout the day, and he is still fussy from the pain, so it is hard to give a true update yet on how he is doing after releasing the ties.
The biggest overriding feeling I have about Charlie is that it’s hard to get a read on what he is really like, because so much of what we’ve been focusing on is keeping him happy around all of the issues that having the tongue and lip tie have created. He has been an incredible sleeper, getting up only to feed, and going right back down, and we already sleep in about 4 hour stretches. He only gets up at this point at 2:30AM to eat, and then again at 6:30AM, in which we sometimes go back to sleep, and other times we just relax in bed with him until Hudson gets up. But in his waking hours, he’s been pretty fussy and difficult thus far because of all of the feeding and gas issues he’s had. Hopefully once his ties heal, month two will be a little bit more fun and calm around here. The doctor told me that tongue ties really effect the entire family, and that could not be more true. I feel bad for Hudson when all of our attention is focused on calming down and soothing a fussy baby, but I know that is just part of the big brother role. For those who have been asking, here is a loose version of our current schedule with him at 5 weeks old:
7-8AM: wake up + feed
8AM- 7PM: During the duration of the day, Charlie eats every 3 hours, and usually naps on and off. We don’t have a specific set schedule yet, and we just listen to his cues.
8PM: Bath time – I dim the lights, put on white noise, and fill up a nice warm bath to start off his bedtime routine. I bathe him every other day, so his skin doesn’t dry out.
8-9:30PM: He is usually up during this time – We’ll do some tummy time, or we’ll watch a show while he plays in his bouncer.
10PM: He gets his night time bottle. I pump at night, so we can make sure he has a nice big feed before bed. He is eating around 4oz per feed now. We give him this bottle near his bassinet, with dim lights, and a sound machine on. Before he finishes, we’ll swaddle him, and then give him the last ounce.
10:30PM: He passes out in his bassinet with dim lights, swaddled, and a sound machine on. We’re consistent about all of these sleep cues so he knows it is bed time.
2-3AM: He wakes up every night around this time to eat.
Mama Update: With Hudson’s updates I always updated on my own postpartum feelings month-to-month, so I want to do the same here with Charlie. I’m now officially 6 weeks postpartum, and I am slowly feeling more like “me” except with the breastfeeding hormones and boobs along with it. I find the first 5 weeks postpartum to be really difficult – being in pain, 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. For me, I purposely did not take any sponsored work for the first few weeks postpartum, BUT I did not expect a pandemic to hit, and I did not expect Matt to have no work for the unforeseeable future, so I was sort of placed in a new position where we were SO THANKFUL for my work, and SO LUCKY that work was still coming my way, and because of that I felt compelled to book work, even though it had me working at only about 2 weeks postpartum. Life throws us curve balls, 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. I envisioned myself having some time (at least a month) to be home with Charlie, not working much, with Hudson in preschool. Instead we have both kids home, and I was attempting to work with leaking boobs, a giant pad, and on jobs that required me to be in front of the camera feeling insecure and emotional and basically a wreck. But at the same time I just felt so lucky to be able to work from home, and be with both my kids while still working. Basically I had a lot of feelings. haha. It’s been hard not being able to have visitors come to meet Charlie, not having his own grandparents be able to hold him and love him. 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 Matt around to bond with Charlie more, and to help out. It almost feels like the entire world is on maternity leave with me.
Once I got the clearance to exercise again, I have started to feel a lot better about life. Moving my body really does wonders for my mental state. It has also given me one things to do for myself each day, that allows me to focus on me and not on the kids, or working out, or cleaning or thinking about so many unknowns in our life. That is basically where I stand now – emotionally okay physically okay, and feeling more “normal” every day.
Let me know if you have any questions about postpartum or Charlies first month, and I’ll answer them below!