Baby: One Month

And just like that, he's already looking less and less like a tiny wrinkly red newborn!

Likes: Hanging out on his belly, being carried in the Ergo, dancing with Angel, baths given by Grandma.

Dislikes: diaper changes, being hungry, baths given by Angel

In real life, he's almost constantly in motion, so this is what he looks like in real life, seen in a variety of videos from his first month:



Daily routines with Cyrus so far:

- We've intentionally started a bedtime routine--every evening, after he's fed and changed, Angel dances with him, usually first to some upbeat Spanish songs (La Chona and Ya Llego) followed by a couple of hymns sung by Fernando Ortega or some Rich Mullins music (i.e. Grace and Peace and Let Mercy Lead), afterwards getting swaddled and then rocked in my arms until he's asleep enough to go into his playpen. Some nights this process is faster than others. Sometimes he falls asleep pretty quickly, other nights it might be 45 minutes or so of rocking him and wandering around the house while he opens his eyes every other second to see if I'm still there. Once he falls asleep, he usually sleeps for about 4-5 hours the first time, wakes up to eat, and then wakes up sometime around 4-5 a.m.

- Angel went back to work after our first two weeks, and the jump to taking care of him on my own for long chunks of time took some courage! Now that he's at work, I make sure to fill my early mornings as efficiently as possible--usually after I feed Cyrus sometime between 4-5, I put him back down, or give him to sleepy Angel, and quickly eat breakfast, shower, start laundry and cut up veggies for dinner--whatever I can get done while Angel's still home is great, because when it's just me and Cyrus, I can't count on having two hands free at once for long periods of time. Once Angel and Cyrus wake up, sometime between 5 and 7, Angel gives him a bath and plays with him a bit, or reads to him from the Bible--lately, the book of Romans, because you might as well start with hardcore theology, am I right? Then I take baby while Angel gets ready for work, and we say goodbye before starting the day's adventures. I started putting him in the Ergo while I hang up laundry or do other chores a few days ago, and that's worked great, but I still can't do anything dangerous like cooking. Babies teach you to be energetic and efficient! He's pretty much awake most of the day, but given that he sleeps so well at night, I think it's totally great for him to be awake all day.

- He wants to eat all the time. In fact, our new slogan about Cyrus is: "He's always hungriest right after he eats." He's determined to be a chunky baby. Feeding hasn't come so easily for me, but it's pretty much his favorite thing to do. There is nothing exclusive about the way Cyrus eats. Formula, breastmilk, whatever, he eats it all--really trying hard to keep it to primarily breastfeeding with an extra bottle or two in the afternoon/evening when he has his "hunger rampages," as I call them. We only have two bottles, one for formula and one for the pump. I've noticed that only owning two bottles really helps keep you on top of washing and sterilizing bottles frequently. #minimalist

- We often go visit my parents in the evenings so that Grandma, Grandpa, and aunties can get their daily dose of Cyrus. I often strategically do this while Angel is out for his evening run so that there are a few extra pairs of arms to cuddle him with during that hour or so. Grandma often gives Cyrus his evening bath, this two-bath-a-day baby (necessity of living in a tropical climate!).

- We've just begun to take him out a bit more often for errands, etc., though I've tried to keep him home as much as possible during the first month to minimize germ exposure. We also asked for no visitors, which, simply given how rough I've felt this month, was a very, very good idea. Easter will be his official debut at church. He appears to be a baby who likes adventures--he likes his carseat as long as the car is moving (his feelings about heavy traffic are the same as ours) and generally he's quiet and stares at everything when we're out somewhere.

...............................................

My thoughts on being one month postpartum: People sure talk a lot about losing the baby weight and stretchmarks. They talk less about being so ridiculously weak. I was never worried about weight or stretchmarks, and I don't seem to have acquired either one thus far. But getting up and down off the floor with baby is still hard and I still have to use my arms to pull myself up from lying down and walking for any distance can get me out of breath and/or shaky/dizzy. I was too sick to eat for about 10 days after he was born, so my under-nutrition probably didn't help matters. Looking forward to being able to slowly add exercise back in once I've healed a little more so that I can rebuild my strength. I'm open to listening to any advice on getting strong again after baby! I've been sipping bone broth and eating more normally and reminding myself to be patient--patience is not entirely my greatest strength, but then again, neither is actual strength at the moment...