Luca letter: One month old already!

Dear Luca,

You’re one month old already – where the hell did that time go?!

I can’t believe it’s already time to write your letters. I plan on writing these each month for the first year of your life, then every year from then on when it’s your birthday. So let’s get under way.

Your sleeping patterns

Right now you’re sleeping an average of 3 hour overnight between feeds, so your father and I feel relatively well rested. We hear horror stories of parents that are up every hour, and we’ve not really had that yet. Touch wood. Please don’t do that to us, I love the way you’re going already.

When you wake for a feed you give me a few warning “eh” noises so that I have time to wake, jump up and get you before you wake your father. Typically the routine is that for your 11pm – 12pm feed (somewhere around there) I manage it all on my own. I jump up and grab you, we head down to the nursery where you feed while I entertain myself. I’m listening to an audiobook right now,  “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie, adapted by my uncle – it’s great. Other nights I watch netflix. I wonder if that will still be a thing when you’re older?

Once you’re asleep I wake you with a nappy change, and you feed a bit more. Eventually you pass out, I put you back in the bassinet in our room then fall asleep again myself.

Your father wakes with me for the the 3 – 4am sesh. I feed you in bed, then he burps you and does the nappy change. If you need more milk we do that, otherwise he takes care of you until you’re back asleep. In the meantime I pass out in bed and get a bit more shut eye. Your dad is very considerate in those cases so that it’s not all on me for the overnight shift. I’m very grateful.

We suspect you got your sleeping traits from me – we can sleep anywhere. The only challenge is if the sheets are cold. Like me, you hate it. You could probably handle flannel sheets year round and not be phased. Right now your main bed is the bassinet in our room, which is nice as it means we’re all having a sleepover every night!

Weight gain

When you were born you weighed 3.125kg – pretty small for your length. You were a very lean baby. I weighed you yesterday and you’re now tipping the scales at 4.07kg. Given you dropped down to 2.9kg after you were born, you’ve regained over a kilo since! Good work buddy!

If I compare your 2 weeks and 1 month photo you can see the subtle changes. Your cheeks are filling out, and your forearms are more meaty. You can’t see your legs in the one month photo, but they’re starting to fill out more. Given how much you love to feed it’s no surprise. You’re a hungry little man! You were quite lean at birth so we think you’re playing catch up.

By the way – the speed at which you go from asleep to “FEED ME GODDAMMIT” is impressive (other than the night feeds when you’re a bit groggy so we have more time). During the day I have seconds to pick you up and feed you, otherwise you exercise your lungs. They’re strong lungs too! I blame that on your Italian heritage. you’re just preparing to speak loudly with the rest of the family!

Milestones

You’ve hit quite a few milestones already in your first month, which is awesome.

• Head strength: you’re holding your head up so well! You absolutely kill it at tummy time, and when we hold you upright you can lean up and look around easily.

  
  

• Kicking: this week you’ve started to find your legs, and will happily kick up a storm when you’re in the swing. I’m telling everyone you’re building up your leg strength in preparation for playing for Liverpool FC in the future. On a side note, I don’t mind if you don’t want to play for Liverpool….just don’t play for Manchester United or Arsenal – I don’t think I could take that.
• Eyes: you’re starting to focus on things with your eyes, and you can track items sometimes too. It was amusing watching you lock in on the telly while your dad was holding you. He would turn your body around, and you would adjust your head so you could still see the tv. You were too far away to be able to see it properly, but I daresay the movement and contrasts on the screen were fascinating. Other days you watch your shadows, or the windows. You’re very curious, which I love.

  

• Voice: You’re starting to find your voice and make some noises, which are really cute. One night you were asleep and let out a belly laugh, it was amazing. Unfortunately your dad was asleep and missed it, so it was a private moment for me. I can’t wait until you start laughing intentionally, it’s the kind of laugh that will get everyone else in the room laughing with you.

In the grand scheme of things you’re progressing really well, I’m very proud of you.

Day-to-day

You love your cuddles, which your dad and I really appreciate. Your snuggles are so awesome. As I type this you’re cuddled in on your dads chest having a much needed sleep. I took you to the shops with me this morning so I could meet a friend up for coffee. I think it was a bit of a sensory overload for you – you just kept wanting to feed. Going out was a bit much and you didn’t want to sleep, so when we got home you were overtired. It’s ok – you’ll get used to going out in good time.

There’s not really much routine to the day at the moment. We’re going off your cues, so what you say goes! You’re yet to have your vaccinations so haven’t been able to meet too many people yet. I can’t wait until you’ve had your shots and you get to meet everyone around you; there’s a lot of people looking forward to it. You’re booked in for a couple of weeks – hopefully that goes OK and you’re not too grizzly after.

Hopefully we’ll start to get some sort of routine happening.  I’d love for us to be able to start going for more walks in the pram or going for a drive to explore new places. I’m still not great at figuring out when you’re going to want another feed or not. As a result our attempts to go for drives/walks aren’t smooth just yet – we’re either pulling over for a feed or you’ll have a cry to let me know you’re unhappy (sorry mate). We’ll keep working on it. Hopefully you will grow up appreciating the outdoors like us – it’s something we’re super keen to teach you.

How your mum is doing (me)

Surprisingly well. Breastfeeding was extremely hard, but once we saw a lactation consultant and we got a bit better at feeding the pressure was off. I’ve just gotten clearance to drive and I’m able to take you for walks so I don’t have cabin fever anymore.

I can’t wait for the 6 weeks to be up (for selfish reasons though; I want to be able to exercise). I need to book in to see a physio for my stomach separation rehab, but once I see her I’ll know more. I accept that I’m not going to be running again any time soon (it’s a long time for a c section recovery), but it would be good to start doing some sort of strength/toning work again. We’re both booked in for our general checkups at 6 weeks, so hopefully it’s all good news from the paediatrician and ob/gyn.

I did get a bit of infection with my scar unfortunately. Just this week we noticed a bit of weeping, and then a lump formed under the skin. I saw the doc and turned out there was an abscess, which he cut opened and drained. I’m on antibiotics, and hopefully it should clear up soon. So much for thinking the days of being cut open were over, but it’s just a little hiccup. I’m not in any pain from it (anymore) so it’s no big deal.

I didn’t know how I was going to go with this parenting gig, but you’re making it easy for me. I’m so lucky that you’re a pretty good baby. As long as you’re fed, warm and have a clean nappy you’re calm. You’re getting wind sometimes, but some cuddles and pats on the bum and you start to calm down. I’m still finding the odd time to blog and do something that keeps my brain active, which is great. I’ve been binge watching netflix, so courtesy of the time in front of the TV I’ve discovered some pretty amazing shows. Pre-pregnancy I don’t think I’d ever watched TV this much.

Thanks…

To round it all up, I just wanted to say thanks.

• For making the first 4 weeks interesting and exciting
• For being healthy, loving to snuggle, and sleeping so well
• For working with me on the breastfeeding thing and persevering with it, but happily taking the bottle when needed
• For your epic farts – they’re hilarious and keep your father and I laughing
• For working bowels – I’m so glad you’re not constipated as I can’t imagine that would be fun for you, and I would feel so helpless. We’ve gotten good at changing nappies!

I can’t wait to see what happens in the next 4 weeks! You’ll be meeting both extended families soon, with our aunts and uncles and cousins on both sides. Lots of cuddles are coming your way! You’ve already met your grandparents, biz nonna and a couple of your aunts. Your aunt and uncle on your father’s side are hanging out to meet you and to introduce you to your cousin. Right now they’re admiring you from afar.

You’re very loved little man, but I think you know that. And you love us back with your cuddles.

Happy four weeks little guy!

Love,

Mum and Dad