Baby Marissa's first month

Our baby girl Marissa is one month old already! We have kept busy, but I have also enjoyed precious time on the couch simply holding her when she falls asleep.

Stats from doctor appt at 4weeks, 1day (1/2/13)
Weight: 8lbs 8 oz (34%-ile)
Length: 21" (48%-ile)
Head circumference: 14.02" (27%-ile)

Marissa is sleeping at night with just one break for feeding...usually about a 3 hr stretch and one longer 4-6 hr stretch.  For 2-3 weeks she was sleeping a LOT all day long, with only an hour here or there of wakefulness at a time, but is now awake for several hours at a time, and spent the majority of her mornings awake this week.

She nurses every 2-4 hours during the day and wets or soils diapers regularly.  Her BMs sound like powerful squirts and tend to scare/startle whoever is holding her at the time.  She poops a LOT, frequently right after getting a fresh diaper on (or during a diaper change..."she "s#!% on me!").

First bath at home -- 4 days old
Umbilical cord fell off quickly -- 12 days on 12/16/12
First camping trip was to the desert at Gordon's Well for 4 nights -- 3 weeks old

Her lungs are getting stronger, as we notice the volume of her cries increase.

She began smiling after the first week or two, but it is clear now that her social smile is a very intentional response to me smiling at her.  This week she also started baby talking, and tonight was reciprocating conversationally with me with the cutest little baby cooing and "ah" sound, made by opening her mouth and pushing her jaw forward.

Addisyn and Piper are being such good big sisters.  They are good at not getting frustrated by baby cries. They love holding her, giving her a pacifier, or getting things for me when I've got my hands full.  They gush over her endlessly, giving her kisses and hugs, even while Marissa is nursing.  We have heard them say "she's sooo cuuute"or "Marissa, you're a cutie" hundreds of times.

Today Marissa was Addisyn's captive audience for a "show"; Marissa watched, moving her head to follow Addisyn as she danced around and played the music on her Disney princess "ipod". 

I'll take this opportunity to share her birth story--
I started having contractions at 4 or 5am on Tuesday and was fine but couldn't sleep, so I mentioned it to Chris and then we were both laying in bed without actually sleeping, so we got up. I showered, washed my hair, and did my makeup. As we tracked the frequency of contractions, Chris took Addisyn to school, then we took Piper to school at 9am and continued to my weekly dr appt.  We knew we were starting labor, but it was nice to confirm the progress of things before having to decide when to go to the hospital. The PA started to give me the paperwork with a scheduled induction for Thursday, but we didn't need it, so they called the hospital for us and said we could go straight there. Chris didn't want to have a baby come in the car so he kept hurrying me along and I kept stalling because I didn't want to get there too early. I made him let me walk around the parking structure before walking over to the women's center. Walking was really helpful for contractions, making the pain feel less, then we moseyed over to the admission desk, and got checked in. I then had the "pleasure" of walking the hall back and forth and back and forth in that lovely XL one size fits all hospital gown naked down under and pushing an IV cart.  Then contractions got stronger and they made me stay in bed--which sucked--and when contractions brought me to tears, the anesthesiologist came with epidural which ended up being stronger than I wanted, but there was no time to deliberate over it, so I was stuck with what he had. I couldn't feel my contractions at all, which was hard to know how to push, but with help I got the hang of it, and after several contractions, out came baby, meconium and all.

Each of our girls was born a bit bigger than the one before, so this one is our largest birth weight yet...and still a nice compact size.


Addisyn and Piper were picked up from school by Grammy Susan, and were able to come visit at the hospital that evening. We had lots of family visitors which we loved, helping to pass the time while I recovered and waiting for Marissa's 24 hr blood tests before being discharged from the hospital.  Marissa wore the same sleeper home from the hospital as her sisters mommy and aunties.

Marissa was a good nurser right away, but takes a while to burp.  She is alert when awake, lifts her head, and responds to light and sound.

Addisyn and Piper had many questions and comments about baby--especially about how she came out of my tummy and about nursing:  
"How did the baby come out? Did the doctor cut a hole in your tummy?  Did it hurt? Why is your tummy still big?  There's another baby in there. What tools did the doctor use to get her out?"  "Only mommy can feed her...from her boo-boos.  Where does the milk come from? Is there a cow in her?" When baby was crying-- "I think she wants your boo boos now."  After a spit-up--"Marissa is sick because she throws up."  And potty humor--"I know she loves me because she farted on me."

The big sisters quickly learned baby Rainbow's new name (although it took Piper a few days to get in the habit of saying "Marissa" instead of "Rainbow"). They spent four nights at grammy and grampy's house and came home to visit and gush over Marissa for a bit each day. I was amazed at how well they welcomed the new family member and seemed to understand her role in our family.

Addisyn drew this picture of our family when I was 9 months pregnant. She explained our family of 5 and that the baby is small and in mommy's arms, then taped it to the wall in my bedroom. This one is a keepsake.