One Month

Ava is...

• Growing! She's starting to get chubby cheeks and a few rolls already! She was weighed on Tuesday and is now 10 pounds 5 ounces. It appears she is officially on the "Jayden track" of gaining about a pound a week! She is wearing size 1 diapers at night (and when I forget to do the laundry promptly) but is still wearing newborn diaper covers when we put her in cloth diapers during the day. She'll probably be outgrowing those really soon though. She is also wearing 0-3 month clothes now.
• More alert! She still sleeps a ton during the day but it seems like there are more periods of awake time now. She is usually always awake for a good 2 hour stretch between 6:00 and 10:00 every night and she usually wants to nurse every 45-60 minutes during that time as well. That is also her fussiest time of day.
• Happy! There have been about three occasions where I swear she has actually smiled back at me when I've smiled at her. It reminds me that soon we'll have another interactive member of the family instead of a passive newborn. I look forward to those days just about as much as I am enjoying these laid-back newborn days!
• A good sleeper! With the exception of about 2 or 3 nights, Ava has been the best sleeper a parent could ask for when it comes to nighttime sleeping. I really didn't know that babies like Ava existed especially breastfed ones, but she has gone as long as 7 hours at night between feedings which has made life so much easier for this momma!
• A great eater! Although not the best nurser... but she is getting better! Thankfully we haven't had too many troublesome issues in the breastfeeding department, but Ava has never had the best latch. She often takes in a lot of air when she eats and she has to be burped quite often and sometimes will spit up what seems like everything she just ate. I never had to burp Jayden much but Ava often gets gas/air bubbles and will cry a very specific cry/scream when she gets gassy so I have to be careful to remember to burp her often. Also Jayden was able to accommodate for, what I have determined to be, a very forceful letdown of milk whereas Ava often chokes and gags when my milk lets down. This also creates an issue with gas so I'm hoping that will go away as she gets older and she learns to deal with it a bit better. But she does like to eat and enjoys a good meal every two hours or so.
• A very enjoyable little person overall! The first month with our sweet girl has been easier than I could have ever dreamed. I feel so extremely blessed to have this sweet baby in our family!