Three weeks old

Little Woman is three weeks old today. This week flew by. My little squishy newborn is slowly unfurling, stretching out her arms and legs.

She’s visibly growing day by day. When she was weighed on Tuesday by the lactation consultant she was coming up on 7.5lbs. I’m fairly certain she’s past that now because the newborn babygros, which do up to 7.5lbs, are definitely getting small on her.

As the days go by, Little Woman is growing even more alert. We get several lengthy periods each day when she is wide awake and looking around her taking it all in. We’re slowly learning what she likes. Right now, bath time and nappy free time where she can stretch out and kick her legs are her favourite things to do. She likes to cuddle as well, but not as much as her brother used to. She prefers to wait until she’s ready for a sleep to snuggle up. Until then, she seems to like her space so she can look around. It took me some time to realise this because initially, I was treating her in the same way as I used to treat Little Man, assuming the same things would work to soothe her and entertain her. I guess it takes some time for it to really sink in that different babies have different needs – no matter how many times I may have said that in the past to other people!

We’re starting to see a few patterns emerge this week as well, the most obvious of which is the evening time cluster feeding. Some time between 8 and 9pm each evening, Little Woman wakes up and then she stays that way for 3-4 hours. During that time she feeds every 45-60 minutes, and just when I’m beginning to think that she’s going to be awake forever…she nods off. I guess it’s her way of tanking up for the night and I’m not complaining because she seems to follow it up with a good 3 hour sleep, a short feed, and then another 3 hour sleep. That means we’re getting a healthy amount of sleep at night as well.

We managed to get out and about a few times this week. I paid a visit to a friend’s house. And on Friday, we made it to the Registration Office to register her birth. I did my first feed out and about in a local shopping centre as well. Though if I’m honest, it wasn’t quite out and about. I sat on a chair in the Family Room in the shopping centre. I wasn’t brave enough to feed in a coffee shop because it had been four hours since the previous feed and I knew latching would take a few minutes. It always does when she’s hungry. Plus I was worried about milk spraying everywhere – until my milk supply settles that seems to be inevitable when it’s been more than 2-3 hours since the last feed. Still though, it gave me a great sense of freedom, that we could get out and about and I could still get her fed. Even if it was hiding away in the Family Room! A few more weeks and I’ll be ready to progress to the coffee shop instead!

So three weeks down… This newborn stage is going to be over before we know it. And when it is, I know I’ll look back and miss those tiny fingers gripping mine. And the little drunken milky smiles at the end of a big feed. Or the look of intense concentration when there’s a nappy about to be filled! 🙂