Chloë is a month and a day old today. She spent her one-month birthday at her grandpa's, wearing a nice dress and being very well-behaved, and celebrated by giving us a five-hour stretch of sleep. One month. All day yesterday Eric and I said to each other, "Exactly one month ago, we were ____." We were heading to the hospital, we were walking the halls, we were meeting our daughter, we were trying to sleep. It's been a month and two days since we got a full night's sleep.
It's been an eventful month. During Chloë's first week, she came home and was fussy during feedings and slept most of the time. As the week went on, she got quieter and slept more, and we congratulated ourselves. She also turned bright orange. We called the pediatrician about the fussiness and they asked us to come in before our two-week appointment. When we did, they ordered us to St. Luke's for a bilirubin level. And when that came back, they ordered us to Toledo Hospital for phototherapy. Chloë spent four days there, and came home much pinker.
After that, our main focus was on flushing out the bilirubin and getting her weight up, and consequently we began the still-ongoing quest to get her nursing full-time without starving her.
Around day five she started being more alert, even under the effects of the jaundice, and now she spends quite a bit of her time looking around. She's actually looking at things, now, and will track a face if it moves slowly enough. She doesn't go to sleep on her own much, preferring to sleep on her mommy or daddy's chest, but is starting to be independent enough to sit in the swing or lie looking at things for a few minutes. She's also kind enough to mostly go right back to sleep after nighttime feedings. She smiles, and occasionally grins, and sometimes she gets a thoughtful expression in her eyes that makes me think I know what the kid she will become will look like.
She's still got the newborn reflexes, though I haven't gotten her to "walk" in a few days now, and is starting to uncurl herself. Her hair is still all there,but it hasn't gotten any longer. Her nails definitely have--in fact, she has two tiny cuts on her face from her nails because I'm a forgetful manicurist. She has a father who adores her and a mother who likes to hold her and watch those big blue eyes take in the world as if it's her own--which it is, or will be.
Happy one-month birthday, Chloë. Thank you for making us a family.
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