Babywearing

Babywearing is the practice of carrying your baby or child in a sling or other type of baby carrier.  I've been experimenting with this.  So far, I have 2 ways of wearing Lucy.

One is the Baby Bjorn.



And the other is a homemade version of the Moby wrap. 



The Baby Bjorn has clips on each side of the back panel, allowing for pretty quick and easy baby-wearing.  It was a much-appreciated gift back at Christmas. 



But it's kind of killer on your lower back.



So it's not my favorite--though it gets points for being simple and easy to use.



I love the idea of the Moby wrap, but several reviews I read commented on its being too hot.  It is a essentially a long strip of fabric that can be wrapped several ways, depending on baby's age and how much head control baby has.

I made my own, using a light-weight cotton blend gauze fabric I found online.  To make your own, you need a strip of fabric that is 21 inches wide and 16 feet long.  Fold it in half and measure 70 inches from the midpoint.  From that point, taper the strip down to a width of 4 inches at each end.  And that's it!   

One of the most common ways to wear the wrap is shown below:
Step 1: Make a "belt" strap.



Step 2: Criss-cross over your shoulders.



Step 3: Cross in the front and tuck behind the belt.




Step 4: Bring the ends around to your back.



Step 5: Tie a knot.



Step 6: Fan out each segment.



Step 7: Putting baby in.



Step 8: Getting baby comfortable.



Finished!



I'd like to buy some swimsuit fabric at some point so that I can make another wrap just for swimming with her.  But her skin is so sensitive we're not ready to put her the chlorinated water yet.

Miss Independent

I think this dress is amusing.



Miss Independent?  Seriously?



I realize it's probably intended to be worn on the 4th of July... and is therefore a vague reference to America's Independence day.



And maybe it's intended to be ironic.



But as the person supplying 100% of Lucy's diet, changing a good many diapers, and carrying her around most of the day... I am oddly insulted by the audacity of the dress designer.  Clearly that person  has never been a new mom.



The only thing Lucy does independently is poop.  And even then we assist her as much as we can. 

I can't wait until she smiles at us.  At this point--as Daniel put it--the best you can hope for is to keep her from crying.  There's no positive feedback.  No "thanks!" for changing that 12th diaper of the day.  I'm beginning to think that this is parenthood.



Actually, it makes me think of how many thousands of blessings from God I take for granted.  How wonderful that he continues to give and bless and love, independent of our thankfulness.

Making Footprints

Apparently footprints are done at the hospital for identification purposes, which is obviously not necessary when you have your baby at home.

 

But we still wanted Lucy's footprints, so we made some the other day.

I think some states require that they be sent in to be filed with the birth certificate, but I don't think Texas requires that.  



Anyways, Lucy was a very willing participant.




No screaming or kicking.




Just some scowling, but that's pretty normal for her.



Sarah was our photographer.



Not sure what we'll do with these, but they're nice to have. 

So True

I love this bib.  It is so true.  I have been waiting to have a steady stream of content for this blog since I started it back when we lived in Galveston.

Welcome, baby Lucy! 

PS - this happens to be the only non-scowling photo of the series I shot.  She looks sweet, right?

Delightful visitors

The other day we had a delightful visit from Amy and her 3 children .



And Sarah.



And Daniel's Nana.

 

Amy's kids are great.



They stayed in our house for a little bit while we were in Portland (and they were newly-moved back to Dallas).



I wish we had been home at the time and could have hung out with their family a little more.



Though that would have made their stay in our house decidedly more crowded.

Anyways, the kids were great with Lucy.  And Lucy (being asleep) was great with the kids!  Nice visit.

The Only Similarity Between Lucy and Me

Do you see it?  Finally something of myself I can see in my daughter. 



That photo of me was taken a few months ago when I was working on the curtains for Lucy's room (I'm not great with sewing).



And this is the expression that Lucy makes about 30% of the time.

We were calling it her "Lucy scowl" until Daniel pointed out -- and I agree -- that the "furrowed brow" look seems to have been inherited directly from me.  You might not know it from the blog (I tend to put a good face on things), but I am often pessimistic and a "worrier" when I'm not doing well.  While the last 9 days have been amazing, they've also been pretty rough in some ways.  So I've had the "furrowed brow" look maybe about 30% of the time as well.

Highlights From Lucy's First Week

Sorry about the lack of posts lately.  I am amazed at how little I can get done each day, besides feeding Lucy and resting.  Also, we have had an amazing number of visitors this week. 

 

Both of Daniel's sisters and their families came from out of town to meet Lucy, and it was so nice to see them.  We tried to get pictures of everybody that came to visit, but there are at least 10 people I can think of that we let slip through the cracks. 

 

So if you are one of those ten... sorry!  Next time we can get a picture :). 



I would gladly, gladly have waited 2 weeks to take any car trips with Lucy.  But we needed to take her to a different doctor on her first, second, and third days of life.  It was rough.  Each visit was hard for a different reason.  The first doctor had less-than-ideal bedside manner and, as it turned out, wasn't able to help with Lucy's frenulum problem (Ankyloglossia).  The second doctor was lovely, but they gave her a vaccine and drew blood--and the look of sheer horror and betrayal on Lucy's face as she screamed louder than we'd heard her scream up to that point--caused me to imagine all the times in the future Lucy will be in pain, and I won't be able to fix it.  And that caused a lot of tears on my part.  So we both cried, as I stood there holding her. 

 

The third doctor was also lovely, and he was able to clip her frenulum quickly in the office.  But instead of latching easily right then (as the pediatric ENT wanted), she screamed for at least 10 minutes (probably due to gas or needing to burp) while I desperately attempted to help her latch and while blood smeared from her lips to my skin and on both our clothes.  After what seemed an eternity, she finally latched and began eating normally.  It was a little traumatic... for both of us, I'm sure.  But it's behind us now, and I am so glad the frenulum problem is fixed.  We are still working on a better latch.

On to more pleasant things!



We have so loved watching Lucy's expressions change while she sleeps.  I'm sure years from now we'll look back at these photos and think, "Oh wow - she still makes that expression!"  But right now it is so hard to imagine what she'll look like when she's older. 

 

I'm still adapting to the shock of her dark hair and completely Daniel-ish features.  I can't find anything of myself in her yet, but I sort of like that.  Daniel was a beautiful baby, and so is she. 

 

Look at those eyes!  This is the widest open we've been able to capture them on camera.

 

Bath time was fun.  She didn't hate it, and Daniel and I enjoyed working together to get her all clean and dry again quickly.  I love the smell of fresh, clean baby.  Who doesn't?

 

Lucy has enjoyed her phototherapy - a little time in the sun each day to get rid of any extra bilirubin.  She's so pretty.

 

We spent most of the week recuperating in bed.  



Heidi came over on day 5 to take some family newborn photos.  The mosquitoes swarmed as soon as the sun was down, and we wrapped up our photo session pretty quickly.  She got some great photos, but I'll wait to post them until her birth announcements are out.  

And those are the highlights (and low points) of Lucy's first week!  We are so grateful for her and are having such fun being parents together.  It is already so much cooler than I thought it would be.