Odette- One Month Old

I can’t quite believe that Odette is now one month old, however I can believe that I am late in writing this update, second child and all that! Let’s hope that’s not the story of her life- although as you read on, you will see that it doesn’t stop there!!

Over the past 5 weeks Odette has been introduced to lots of family and friends and the general consensus is that everyone thinks she looks like someone else! There are some that see me, some that see Rob, lots that see Ivy…but no one is in agreement. We sometimes see hints of Ivy within her, but in all honesty we just see Odette. My Great Grandma did show me a picture of me as a baby though, and the similarities were there, but most the time it’s hard to see anyone other than her!

I have absolutely no idea how much Odette weighs! At birth, she was 8lb 9oz placing her somewhere around the 75th percentile. At 3 days old she was 8lb 3oz, which was a 4% drop in weight and by 10 days old had regained that and more. At 10 days she weighed in at 8lb 13oz and was nearing the 91st percentile. Since then, she hasn’t been weighed. Regardless of this, I can tell you that she is most certainly gaining weight and growing well, and I know this only based on the fact that she is outgrowing her clothes. Her newborn baby-grows still fit, but only just, and her 0-3 clothes that at first completely swamped her, are starting to get some wear. I will find out officially just how much weight she has put on at her 6 week check which is booked in for a week today.

Almost immediately after birth, Odette’s skin went very dry and flaky and she seemed to shed copious amounts of dandruff from her body every-time we dressed/undressed her. We decided not to mess with it too much, and actually left her first bath until she was 3 weeks old. After her first bath, which she seemed to very much enjoy, we covered her in coconut oil and aquaphor skin balm and her skin started to clear up quickly. She now has beautifully soft skin, just as you’d expect of a baby! Unfortunately, she now has a serious case of baby acne, which is apparently caused by hormones. It started out with just the odd spot here and there, and then this week she broke out badly all over her face and neck. It is easing and starting to clear up, although it flares up badly at different points of the day and is dependent on how settled/unsettled she is at the time. If she is upset and crying it tends to go very red and sore looking, and when calm and sleeping you can hardly notice it at all unless up close. To try and help clear this up, I am bathing her face in breast-milk regularly- fingers crossed it works!

According to my ‘Wonder Weeks’ app, Odette went through her first developmental leap at around 3 weeks old- these leaps are based on their age from due date, not from their birth date. She is, in fact due to enter leap 2 in just a few more days! Other than being a little more fussy than usual, we didn’t really notice this leap and her behaviour was pretty much unchanged. We have seen a difference in her since she came out of the leap though and she is now smiling at us on a regular basis. These are proper smiles, that are triggered by our actions, facial expressions and voices, not just windy smiles. She is attempting to hold her head up to look around and is definitely having much more awake time than she was before.

I know that ‘every child is different’ but I am honestly shocked at how different Odette is to her sister when it comes to sleep. I don’t want to say it too much in case I tempt fate but…

She is sleeping pretty well!

We are currently heading to bed at around 10/10:30pm each night and after a good feed, we will then have roughly 2 wake ups before morning. This is incredible compared to her sister! Although, this ‘sleep success’ isn’t without it’s worries, in order to gain these good nights we are putting her down on her front. I know that this goes against most current advice, but she sleeps in a crib attached to our bed and we keep a close eye on her. I cannot help but feel anxious about it though and would like to try and get her sleeping on her front if we can. Any suggestions welcomed!! Right now though, we are all getting some much needed sleep and I can’t help thinking ‘perhaps Ivy would have slept better if I had been braver and put her down on her front too!?’

Feeding is going very well. Odette has a good latch and luckily for me, doesn’t feed for long periods of time. She is usually finished feeding within 10 – 15 minutes. Night feeds, including a nappy change and feeding from both sides take roughly around 20 minutes- I can’t complain at that! We have had to get used to having A LOT more muslin cloths around the house though because she is often sick after feeds, generally just a small amount, but on occasion we have had (I swear) whole feeds brought back up. I’m not sure yet if this is reflux? Greediness? Or just a baby thing? Her sister was very very rarely ever sick, so this is new territory for us.

In terms of ‘fitting in’ to our family, I’m sure it’s what everyone says, but it’s like she’s always been here. Ivy is very much in love with her and after a tricky week or so of getting used to having a sister, I’m pretty sure she has actually forgotten a time before Odette.

I wonder what I will be telling you in her 2 month update…