One month and all her glory

I keep telling myself that this first month of Piper's life went by really fast because there were only 28 days in the month. Right? Grant and I went to lunch on 3/13/14 and I said to him 'We made it! A whole month' and his response was 'Did you think we wouldn't?'. Of course I thought we would make it, but it does cause me to stop and pause and think about the past month and what we have accomplished, done, and haven't done. (I will clearly have to do these posts more often than 1 month because it is hard to recall everything, but I'll do my best!)

February is now full of special birthdays! February 16th, the day after we got home from the hospital, was my Mama's 80th birthday (my Dad's mom) and we weren't going to miss the celebration! Ashley was staying with us so she helped us get out and help Mama celebrate as well as let Piper meet a lot of family and friends at just 3 days old!

Mama and her youngest granddaughter

Papa loves his GIRLS

Brady turned 4 on February 26th and had his Horse Birthday party on March 1st. Me, Grant and Piper made the day trip to Charlotte to help celebrate the cutest 4 year old I know!

 We've had so many wonderful visitors who have come bringing gifts, food, wine, and arms to hold our sweet girl. We are so thankful for everyone who has extended their love and support to both Grant and me during this amazing time in our lives. We have enjoyed spending some quality time as a family of 3, but I surely love visitors especially on days where the weather isn't great and we can't get out and walk. We have enjoyed visiting Birdie's house and even hung out by her pool on Piper's 1 week birthday.

Although we love our pediatrician, we have seen her more than we really would have wanted to in our first month of life. Piper had an eye infection her first week of life. Her eye was gunked shut for a couple of days, but after using antibiotic drops we were good to go. She also is struggling a little with weight gain. She dropped to 8lb 9oz, but was back to birth weight at 2 weeks weighing in at 9lb 4oz. Grant and I introduced a bottle on March 3rd so I pumped in place of the evening feeding. I didn't pump as much as I should have and I started to worry about Piper not getting enough to eat. I took her in to check her weight on March 10th and she had lost weight and was at 8lb 14oz. We have met with a lactation consultant and think that my 3 bouts of mastitis set us back just a bit. We are giving her 1 oz of either breast milk or formula after 5 of her 8 feedings to make sure she has enough calories. We weigh again on March 18th so prayers for a growing baby!!

Momma and Daddy have absolutely loved this sweet girl who has come in and rocked our world. I love the snuggles that she gives me during the day and I have to remind myself that laundry and thank you notes can wait while I just soak in her smell and sweet sounds. And it is true that bigger babies sleep better. Piper was consistently sleeping a 6 hour stretch by 2 weeks and Grant and I were very appreciative. We even had a 7 hour stretch one night and we panicked. We are having to wake her to feed every 3 hours right now to make sure we get 8 feedings a day, but I'm hoping we can get the weight issue under control and she'll go back to her great sleeping habits. She did nap in her crib for the first time on March 11th.

Grant is usually in charge of bath time every other night. It gives me some time to do some other things and allows them to spend time together. Piper loves the bath! And I think Daddy enjoys spending that time with her just as much (I love sitting in the kitchen an listening to him talk and sing to her).  

Other firsts include going to the Gamecock Baseball game at 3 weeks old and taking her first picture with Cocky. Well kind of. She was in the Moby Wrap and was so well behaved. 

At 2 weeks, we took Piper to Birdie and Bogey's who babysat for us and we enjoyed a date night at Za's. Gigi and Pappy (my in-laws) have come to babysit as well to allow us to have a lunch date.

 So thankful for family close by

It comes as no surprise that we may have the most photographed baby. We are still working on getting an official 1 month old picture, but her newborn session (thankfully taken before her awful, awful baby acne) was a huge success even though she peed and pooped all over me! Kayla did a great job on these. 

Piper Grace- in one short month (literally short...only 28 days), you have made Momma and Daddy absolutely happy and have filled our house and our hearts. I get excited every time that I stop and remember that you are mine for forever. I thank God every night for you. What a miracle you are. We love you more than the whole world and back again.