This past week our Genevieve turned one month old!
It’s still so surreal that she’s already one month old when we haven’t reached her due date yet. As she is a preemie, most likely she’ll be a little behind on her milestones for a while. But I’m always going to write these updates with her actual month birthdays based on when she was born.
Genevieve’s timeline is also so surreal because she spent the first two and a half weeks in the NICU. AS such, she’s spent about as much time in the NICU as out this first month. And then we spent the first five days out away from home. I’m praying that we’ll all feel a lot more settled after her second month.
When Genevieve left the NICU, she was right around five pounds and a little over 17 inches long. I’ll have updated stats for her in my next Genevieve post.
Genevieve has been a champion eater. The NICU staff recommended feeding her every three hours, even overnight, so we’ve been doing our best to stick to that schedule. Genevieve eats two ounces every three hours very consistently. Toward the end of the month, we started pushing to three or four ounces, as she always completely drains two ounces. Most of the time, she takes down two ounces in under 15 minutes, which is crazy to me. At this age, we go through a ton of bibs, burp cloths, and towels with all of the feedings each day.
Genevieve sleeps most of the time, I feel like even more than normal at this age, given the preemie factor. During the day, she can sleep through just about anything and isn’t phased by the kids playing, people talking nearby, etc. Genevieve is also a champion sleeper in the car. Right now it’s something of an event when she is awake. Jake, Tommy, and I will all take a little time to say hi to her.
Not surprisingly, Tommy is super sweet with Genevieve. He’s always loved babies and is so sweet with Olivia. Tommy had a tough time waiting the two and a half weeks of NICU time to meet Genevieve and was so excited when he did. He takes time out all day long to give her hugs and kisses, talk to her, and bring her toys.
For the most part, Olivia is largely unphased by the addition of Genevieve. Sometimes she does get jealous when one of us is holding Genevieve, especially when we’re feeding her. But being the second child, she’s already so used to waiting while I do things with Tommy. She’s also used to tagging along for things like Tommy’s swimming lessons that aren’t all about her. As long as Olivia’s needs are met and she stays entertained, she isn’t bothered having another baby around.
As you can see in the pictures, Genevieve was born with lots of very dark hair. At this point, we’re calling it black. It’s so funny to us because at almost a year old, Olivia has about as much hair, and it’s so much lighter. The jury is still out on Genevieve’s eye color. Right now, it’s an almost hazel not quite brown, which makes it seem likely that it will change.
Clothing has been tough, as Genevieve is so tiny. I bought a couple of preemie outfits at Target while we were still traveling, and they’re big on her. All of the tiniest long-sleeve onesies and footie pajamas that I had for Olivia are big. I found a set of Simple Joys by Carter’s pajamas that fit just right at a month old. Genevieve still sleeps like she’s in the womb. So even when clothes fit decently, she pulls her arms and legs right into them.
After such a rough first year with Olivia’s sleep, I know that everyone is so done with this topic. (Me too.) Unfortunately, the first couple of weeks out of the NICU were pretty rough for Genevieve at night. The first week was actually rougher than it was with Olivia. I know that it was a huge transition getting out of the NICU and then sleeping in three different places before we got home. But it was still so tough.
It’s started to get a little better since then. Genevieve still eats multiple times per night. She’s doing a better job settling down afterward and staying asleep between at least one or two of her feedings. Putting her to sleep in a swaddle with a baby pillow has helped. But she’s still pretty restless for good portions of the night. Unfortunately, even when Genevieve does sleep, I don’t always go back to sleep quickly, as Olivia has trained me to be a terrible sleeper. But that’s a whole separate issue.
Due to Genevieve being a preemie and the rising numbers here in the midst of the height of cold and flu season, since we got home, things have been very low-key. We haven’t even seen other family members yet. Aside from taking walks in the neighborhood and going to church (where she stays completely covered in her baby carrier), the only outing we’ve had with her was for newborn pictures. Lottie Lillian did the newborn pictures for all three of my kids. I can’t say enough good things about her and her work.
You can find all of my baby/toddler updates for all three kids as well as general family updates and other family-related posts in the family section of the blog.
