Charlie is One Month!

  
I can't believe my baby is one month old! It has flown by.While this month has sure had its ups and downs, it has been an incredible month. I still look at Charlie and am amazed that he is a part of both of us and that God made him from nothing. I look back at the pregnancy charts that show you how big your baby is at different stages in awe that he began as small as a poppy seed! It is such a miracle.

Well, since it's been so busy around here I haven't had a chance to journal at all about the past 4 weeks. Here are little summaries of Charlie's first weeks in the outside world:

Week One: Charlie is born 10 days late after 24 hours of labor. His head was larger than average (the nurses actually gasped when they first measured it) and we no longer wonder why it took 2 hours to push him out! Due to complications right after he was born, I didn't get to hold him for about 45 minutes/1 hour, but they showed him to me briefly and then let Dan hold him until I could. First thing I remember was seeing his enormous "man hands" and his beautiful head of dark hair :) Charlie held his head up by himself on day 2 of life and scooted around so much he could propel himself from one side of his bassinet to the other in the hospital! Guess that's what 10 days overdue does to you. The first week was hard as new parents, but we were very thankful that our parents could be here to help out a lot! With breastfeeding challenges, postpartum recovery (and all the emotions that come with that!), and lots of crying (by all), the first week was a roller coaster of emotions. The Lord remained faithful and constant through it all. One easy thing was sleep... Charlie only woke one time in the night to eat the first week! Hallelujah! (This was about to change). Charlie came out of the womb needing to suck on something constantly so he owned our fingers during the first week. Charlie's signature face the first week with a furrowed brow was "grumpy." I seriously wondered if he might not ever smile. I pictured him as a grumpy child, grumpy teenager, grumpy adult, and grumpy old man. Then two weeks rolled around...

Week Two: Charlie started smiling! Melted my heart. At 2 weeks, we took Charlie on his first real outing to meet the Bethlehem staff and participate in the annual FDD Christmas caroling to the other departments. He did great! Since it went so well, the next day we went to the Mall of America to do some Christmas shopping. 2 hours in my baby wrap as content as can be...asleep the whole time! Strangers stopped to stare and even start conversation with us about our little 2 week old. We went to church that weekend for the first time with Charlie and made it through the worship...but missed the sermon. Maybe next time it will work out better :) Although we were told to hold off on the pacifier, our fingers could take it no longer...so at week 2 he was happily sucking on that instead of us. However, he has yet to learn how to keep it in his mouth! 2 week checkup: Charlie has gained back the weight he lost and is back to birth weight of 8 lbs 12 oz! He is in the 75-95% on all of his measurements! Big boy.

Week Three: Charlie's first roadtrip! He loves the car and falls asleep immediately. He slept the entire 8 hour drive to Chicago and we had to wake him up to feed him! He loved meeting all of his aunts and uncles, cousins, and great grandparents on my side! As successful a trip as it was, I think we seriously messed up his sleep schedule and now started having sleeping issues. It took Charlie hours to go to sleep. And having a pacifier is driving me batty- just as I fall asleep he wakes up because his pacifier has fallen out of his mouth (this happens about every 5 minutes for the first 2 hours).More breastfeeding issues and postpartum recovery issues= more trips to the lactation consultant, pediatrician, and midwife. Charlie weighs 8 lbs 14 oz at the beginning of week 3.

Week Four: Charlie meets Dan's side of the family-aunts, uncles, and cousins! Charlie, you are so blessed to have 7 cousins already! I don't have any! Sleep issues start to get worse as gas issues do as well. We spend our first entire night awake with a screaming baby. Sad! Charlie experiences his first New Year's Eve...asleep in his swing (finally!) as Mommy and Daddy watch the ball drop on tv.

We are so blessed to have little Charlie and it's worth all the ups and downs. It is teaching us to rely on the Lord so much more, knowing we are so weak and inadequate without Him!

Here is a sweet video of Daddy playing Charlie guitar :)