Essie's first month really flew by, so much faster than it did with her two older brothers. My hands are so much fuller this time round and my time is even more limited. I'd had lots of plans for spending time cuddling, avoiding visitors and taking lots of photos, but all of that soon went out of the window and I've taken way fewer photos than I had hoped to! I'm also really late in posting her updates and her second one is already overdue as well! But I'd much rather post them late and actually enjoy my time with her, so I hope you'll excuse my tardiness.
If you read my birth story you'll know that Essie was born at home and she weighed an impressive 9lb 4.5oz. Her weight has been steady and she has follower her centile line on the growth charts, with a loss of just over 2% on day 5 taking her to 9lb exactly, and getting back up to 9lb 9.5oz by day 11. At a month old she weighed 11lb 4oz so she is doing really well. She outgrew her newborn clothes really quick so moved into size 0-3 months, but I don't think it will be long before she moves up a size again!
She was born with a head of dark brown hair, but she has now shed a lot of it. The hair that is now regrowing seems to be dark too, so I'm hoping she will be a brunette like me! Her eyes were dark blue at birth and have been gradually going lighter. They are still blue though. I love her dainty fingers and am obsessed with taking photos of them!
Essie has such a strong neck and was able to lift her head when she was only a few days old. We had first smiles at just 3 weeks old. I wasn't sure at first if they were real, as people always say that it's wind at that age. But she has been smiling in response to things and the smiles reach her eyes. She is very much a mummy's girl at the moment and if I'm not holding her she will stare me down until I do!
Breastfeeding has been going well although I did discover that Essie has a posterior tongue tie. It was borderline as to whether it needed to be divided or not, and would have been done quickly on the NHS if I had wanted to. However, with some breastfeeding support I have been able to adjust Essie's attachment to the breast well enough that now most of her feeds are trouble-free.
Sleep has been exactly as to be expected with a newborn! She has fed round the clock, as a newborn should, with lots of cluster feeding in the evenings. The health visitor and I joked that she must have gone straight into her first growth spurt as she was born 11 days overdue, but I actually think there is some truth in it.
Essie currently enjoys sleeping in her Sleepyhead Deluxe, both during the night and her daytime naps. She has a SnuzPod but I think she feels a bit too small in it so far, so she sleeps in her Sleepyhead inside the SnuzPod. The Sleepyhead is great as I can move it wherever we are in the house so she is always sleeping near me.
I have had a few nights where Essie just wouldn't settle at all. We discovered that she seemed to like rave music (don't ask!) and from that I worked out that she might like white noise. My boys were never fans of white noise but it really soothes and calms Essie. It's amazing how different babies can all be.
Aww isn't she just adorable! Those little fingers xx
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