When I found out I was pregnant (sitting on couch watching Narcos and wanting to pass out at 8pm with husband telling him, "I think I'm pregnant" and him responding back, "yeah, I think you are pregnant too"), I became flooded with so much information that I kind of just shut down and didn't want to think about all the changes my body would go through or the list of items I would need to get for the baby's arrival. Needless to say, we kept the pregnancy to ourselves for about three to four months because we wanted to bask in the idea of just keeping it to ourselves for a while (similar to our engagement). One thing I was for sure about was documenting how our baby would change from month to month. However, for the first month, I wanted to document her changes per week.

I thought it would be a cool idea to take a polaroid for every week that Juniper has been on this planet leading up to her one month. Since most pictures are digitally stored these days, I want Juniper to have tangible copies of her first weeks of life. I also purchased the pricy board by Letterfolk to announce her growth. However, I found a more inexpensive one here.

Juniper Update:

She loves to eat: We always look for cues of when she is full, like falling asleep or when she slows down on her swallows. Right now, we are feeding her a combo of my breast milk and Holle Stage 1. We love that this formula is German and organic. It has really high ratings and is gentle on her sensitive stomach. I sadly do not produce enough milk to satiate her hearty appetite, so we have to supplement. I am taking a plethora of supplements to aid in my production (will talk about later).
She loves the morning: After her morning feed, Juniper loves to chat, stare, and sometimes smile at Justin and I.
She is not a big fan of being changed or washed: Juniper often cried when she was getting changed. Now, that she is a little over a month, she is crying when she is wet and wants us to change her. However, sometimes she surprises us with projectile presents, which can be a bit messy.
She likes skin-to-skin time: She is at the most ease when Justin and I are carrying her on us during the day. She gets the best nap this way. Eventually, when she is asleep, I'll transfer her to her bassinet, so I can get some stuff done.
She grunts her way out of her swaddle: This is the most funniest thing about Juniper. She grunts. I think of it as a form of communication. She doesn't like to get swaddled, but becomes calm when she is in it. So, she will often grunt her way out of the swaddle like a magician.
She loves falling asleep to music during the day: Juniper particularly likes to fall asleep to Mac Demarco and Real Estate.

Mama Update:

My friend told me that she refers to the first thirty days of a baby's life as "30 days of darkness." I thought this was so funny and ironic. Although bringing home my baby was so exhilarating, it was very much a rollercoaster of emotions. Friends and family want to visit, your body is out of sorts, one minute your happy and the next minute you are crying over a commercial, an so much more. My husband and I googled a ton of stuff during her first month and still continue to do so. Breastfeeding and pumping is a lot of work. It really is no joke. Not only was my body healing in my lower regions, but I would get hot sweats at night because my hormones were regulating too. I do not recall reading about this detail anywhere. I made sure to eat warm foods and to avoid cold foods as much as possible (extremely difficult). The book that helped aid me through my postpardum diet is The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother. My doula recommended this book and it has recipes, anecdotal stories, and lists of foods to get you through the first forty days.

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