Ava's First 5 Weeks

I cannot believe my baby girl is already 5 weeks old. It feels like it was yesterday that we were driving home from the hospital. It has been the happiest 5 weeks of my life. Thank you, Ava, for filling our hearts with so much joy and love. I love you more than you'll ever know.

So much to talk about here, so I thought I would break it down into the topics that I was most curious about.

Baby blues? Fortunately, I have not experienced the baby blues yet (hopefully, I won't at all). I will admit that the first few weeks were pretty tough but we were lucky to have tons of support from our friends and family. Many thanks to my mom and sisters for checking in on us daily. I honestly couldn't have done it without their help. Oh, and HUGE tip here; before baby arrives, cook and freeze as many meals as possible. We didn't have to prepare any meals for the first few weeks and it was a LIFE SAVER. I'm pretty sure I would have become depressed if I had to worry about cooking dinner every night. That or we would have died from food poisoning since the sleep deprivation made me delirious and incoherent for those first few weeks.

Sleep? What sleep? Ok seriously, you can forget about getting any sleep for the first 2 weeks after baby arrives. We set up a bassinet in our room for feeding convenience (and to keep my separation anxiety at bay); unfortunately, Ava HATED it. For the first 2 weeks, we had to sleep holding her. I know you're not supposed to do this, but when it's do or die, you'll do anything. Then, one night, we put her in her sleeping bag (best invention ever... I'll talk more about this later!), and she stayed in her bassinet all night. At about 3 weeks old, Ava was sleeping in 3hr chunks from about 10pm to 7am. At 4 weeks, she slept from 10pm to 6am only waking up once in the night to feed! WAS IT A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE? Nope. She hasn't done it since. I'm big on routine (trust me... I've been eating the same thing for breakfast for the past 15 years), so we've tried to stick to the same bedtime routine since the day we brought her home. They say that babies don't catch on to routines until about 6 or 7 weeks old, but I swear as soon as we dip her into the bath, she knows that bedtime is coming! They also say that at around 6 weeks old, babies will start to have longer sleeping chunks. Not that I'm counting down the days or anything, but we are just around the corner! My puffy eyes couldn't be more excited.

Getting out of the house? Looking back, I don't know how we did it (or why?), but when Ava was 3 days old, we went for a walk around Walmart and got Starbucks. I wouldn't recommend doing this. First of all, Walmart is not the most peaceful place to walk around; second of all, if you look like I did after 3 days of no sleep, you'll scare small children. Thankfully, my husband was home from work for 2 weeks after Ava was born so getting out was manageable. When he went back to work, our outings were few and far between until she was about 4 weeks old. At that point, I felt more comfortable breast feeding in public and more confident that I would be able to soothe her if she had a major meltdown.

Exercising? I love to exercise and was eager to get back into it right away. I started going for easy walks when Ava was just a few days old. My Doctor gave me the green light to increase my intensity at 3 weeks post delivery, so off we went. I started with up-hill walks pushing Ava in her stroller (pushing a stroller, plus a car seat, plus a 9 pound baby up a mountain is a serious butt buster). Tried to do a little running too, but apparently my bladder is quite ready for that... we'll try again in a few more weeks.

Happiest moments? There are seriously way too many to list. Seeing her smile at me for the first time made me cry, and walking her to sleep at night singing 'You are my Sunshine' is pretty special too. And like I said before, seeing my husband and Ava cuddling together melts my heart. Every time.

Scariest moments? When Ava was just over 2 weeks old, she projectile vomited. I'm not exaggerating. It hit the wall. I was in a hurry to head out the door so I didn't burp her after feeding her. When I went to lay her on her back to change her, out it came! It was so scary because she hadn't done it before, and because there was SO MUCH OF IT. I panicked. Here are a few tips for when you're unsure about you're baby's well being:

1. Stay away from google
2. Do not try to diagnose your baby yourself
3. When in doubt, call the Nurses Helpline (here in BC the number is 811)

Here are some of the things we could not have lived without during Ava's first 5 weeks:

Skip*Hop Versa Diaper Bag: Lots of room, trendy and easy to clean. I love all of the different compartments to keep things organized.
BOB Revolution SE Stroller: Love this stroller. Smooth ride, lightweight and easy to manoeuvre. Be sure to buy the car seat adaptor for the newborn days!
Fisher Price Luv U Zoo Swing & Seat: Life saver! Enables me to shower and eat. It's so portable that I just bring it where ever I need to use 2 hands. Ava loves to stare at the bright colours and purple rhino hanging from the top!
Boba Wrap: This wrap is great. Ava falls asleep within minutes of being tucked inside. It's so comfortable and easy to wash. Good luck getting your partner to wear it though...
aden + anais Muslin Swaddles: These are great for draping over the car seat when you're out and about. They're light weight and breathable so baby can still breathe while being shielded from the world! The patterns are super cute, too.
aden + anais Sleeping Bag: Before I started using this, I was nervous about using a blanket at night in case it covered Ava's little face. She doesn't like to be swaddled, so I thought this would be a comfortable, safe option. The first time we tried it, she stayed in her bassinet all night! Plus, she looks so darn cute in it!
Cloud B Gentle Giraffe: We just started using this and love it! The white noise works well to put Ava to sleep and the other sounds are fun to listen to during play time!
Madela Tender Care Lanolin: Your nipples with thank you. Especially in the first week or so!

And lastly, some final tips to share based on my experience in the first 5 weeks.

1. Do not try to multi-task while breast feeding. It doesn't work. 
2. Believe it or not, your baby WILL fit into newborn sized clothes. I didn't buy very many because I was convinced that they would be too small for her; however, we ended up having to make an emergency trip to Carters to stock up when she was just a few days old!
3. Don't bother buying or using fancy change pad covers. They will get pooped on and peed on every day. Buy a change pad that has a plastic cover and just lay down hand towels when changing your little poop machine. 
4. Stock up on laundry detergent because you will be doing laundry every day. Maybe even twice a day. 
5. When in doubt, burp your baby. 
6. Don't be offended if your baby gags on your nipple. It just means he or she isn't hungry anymore...
7. Cherish every single moment because it goes by way too fast.