21 Days

Supposedly it takes 21 days to make a new habit. I think it also takes that long to get used to have a new person in the house. Things have dramatically improved over the past few weeks, especially in the last 7 days.

Samantha is now going to bed earlier, like 9 p.m. instead of 10 or 11. I had forgotten about my trick I used with Lewis, to wake him up if necessary at 7 p.m. to make sure he'd go to bed at a decent hour. I'm not trying to make bedtime earlier than that yet because she wakes up every 3 hours, which means 12ish and 3ish, then wake up for the day around 6, which works perfectly for me to make breakfast for everyone and I even get enough sleep! Well, 7 hours, which is pretty nice for now.

Her feedings have gotten MUCH faster. It used to take a whole hour for each feeding during the night, but we're down to 20 minutes now! I am so happy about this! I was worried that I was going to be a miserable zombie forever, but all of a sudden. she started eating much better and not just sipping and falling back asleep. I would put her back in bed, only to have her cry 10 minutes later because she was still hungry. She is also more alert during the day and stays awake for more than just eating. Her naps are also a bit more predictable, which I am also grateful for. I have been able to do a little sewing.

My recovery is going well. I had only one really crummy day this week where the baby blues hit hard. Overall, I am feeling pretty good and pretty happy. It will be a while before things are truly "normal" and on a real schedule, but for now I have adjusted to the unpredictable newborn life.

She's growing! We have an appointment today to check her weight since she wasn't growing too fast the first few weeks, but I'm confident she will check out all right. I can see she's starting to fill out a little bit. I moved her up to size 1 diapers and 0-3 months because the newborn jammies started getting small. That's a good sign and very good for my confidence.

We're still hanging out at home since she's 3 weeks old tomorrow, but things are going so much better. I can do this!