1 Month Baby Girl

A month of cuddles, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, siblings, teeny fingers and toes and that newborn smell.  A month of noise, sleepless nights and adapting to our new normal.  A month of our baby girl.  

How on earth has a month passed? It seems like only yesterday I was sat cuddling this perfect, tiny little thing on our sofa waiting for her brothers to get home and meet her.  Surely it was only last week that I was laying in bed awake, too busy watching this brand new life to be able to sleep.  In other ways it feels like Cora has always been a part of our life, that there has always been 6 of us.

This first month has been wonderful and it feels even more perfect after the nervous and stressful first weeks of Finn's life.  I have spent every moment with my baby girl and 95% of those we have spent cuddling.  For the first two weeks she wouldn't be put down, and in all honesty I didn't really try.  I fed her and held her in the day and we fell asleep each night, her on my chest.  After a couple of weeks she started to sleep for small periods in her crib or in a pram and now at a month she can sleep in the day when put down and she does her first long stretch at night in her Snuzpod crib before joining me.

The nights are pretty unpredictable, as life with a newborn usually is.  There are nights (well night) where she only wakes once for a super feed and there are nights that we see every hour and sometimes every half hour.  There is no routine yet with anything and Cora stays downstairs with me until I go to bed.

The boys have taken to having a baby sister so well.  Dylan is a pretty experienced big brother and he has taken it all in his stride.  Archie is that bit older than when Finn was born and he is full of questions whilst being incredibly protective.  Finn is curious and excited, wanting to stroke her and cover her in kisses.  This little girl of mine is so lucky to have these three big brothers and I am hoping they continue to stay close as they grow.

At her last weigh Cora was 8lb 13oz so I can presume she is now over 9lb.  Her 'up to 1 month' (or size 56 in Scandinavian brands) clothing is fitting perfectly and her newborn (up to 7.5lb) vests are  just about fitting still too (what she is wearing in these photos).  I am not ready to start a pile of things that don't fit, I am not ready for my newborn to be growing out of things but I have a feeling in the next week or so these vests will be sent off to a new home.  We are preparing to start on the 0-3 month clothing soon as these babies of mine don't stay small for long.

Cora is happiest on my chest still, she loves to be cuddled, carried in a sling and to sleep curled up against me.  She is happier on her tummy than on her back and she loves to poke her tongue out.  Her little face has changed so much in these past four weeks as the swelling has subsided and her delicate features are more visible.   Every day her eyes seem a little larger and she becomes a little more alert.

This first month has cemented Cora's place in the family.  She is the 'new baby', our baby girl, the final member of our team and one that we wouldn't be without.  Our days are busier, noisier and I am learning to do a lot of things one handed.