One Month and a Little More

I had big plans to write a one-month update to celebrate a month with Freya.  But, she turned a month old a week ago, and that’s how it goes.  For the first time, I have felt like I’ve lost count and track of how many children we have and where they all are at any given moment.  So, only a week late to write a blog post?  Not too shabby.

Freya has, thankfully, been an easy baby.  Our last baby, sweet Piper, was not an easy baby.  She liked attention and nursing as much as possible.  She still needs attention and constantly asks for food.  She has been our first to have a more demanding attitude upon adding a baby to the family.  She adores her little sister, though, so it’s not personal when she screams at me to “STOP FEEDING FREYA!!!”  And goodness, her giant eyes and huge vocabulary keep us laughing.

Anyway, back to the point, Freya is an easy baby overall.  Our only difficult issue so far has been her eating.  She began nursing her first week and it seemed normal, but then decreased and was painful.  We quickly diagnosed a tongue and lip tie and had that repaired.  The pain was instantly gone, but it affected my supply for her and her own ability and interest in eating a full meal in one sitting.  Her weight was still low at three weeks old, so we upped nursing and stopped using the bottle (which we had been using after pumping) and the pacifier (which she only wanted to go to sleep) just to rule out nipple confusion.  It did help quite a bit, but she still wasn’t getting full after nursing.  Plus, constantly nursing wasn’t exactly a long term solution with four other kids whose needs need met and a house to run.  So, once Freya began to put on weight again at the three week mark (though still not back up to birth weight), we resumed using a bottle and began supplementing with formula to fill her up.  I still pump when I can, and she still nurses for every feed, but she always also has a bottle.  Some days it works well, some days she seems lazy to nurse.  But, she’s growing and gaining weight, and otherwise completely content, so I’m not complaining.  She’s not my first to grow on formula or a mix of both, so I don’t mind one bit.

Mostly I don’t mind because she is a champion sleeper.  I hesitated a long while before saying anything, but at over five weeks old, I think it’s a trait that will stick around.  Freya is literally the best sleeper we’ve had.  She typically sleeps six hours through the night, only waking once in 10-12 hours.  She takes three solid naps during the day.  And, best of all, she doesn’t need anything except a good swaddle to fall asleep.  So, once she’s slightly tired, I just put her in her little cradle, swaddle her up, offer her a pacifier (which now she only takes sometimes), and walk away.  She’s quiet and just drifts off on her own.  After the three middle kids having normal sleeping challenges (aka, not sleeping well for at least a year), this is truly an answered prayer.  She literally just sleeps…in her bed…whenever she’s tired.  It’s awesome.  And so appreciated.  We’ve been awakened by Piper more often than Freya this week, because Piper is having nightmares, so for comparison, having a sleep-loving baby, is realllllly nice.

So, we are resuming much of our normal, which is quite boring at home during the day, still slowly making progress on some of our house projects.  Matthew just tonight uninstalled our entire basement bathroom, which was a first class disaster anyway, and is making ready to install our in-floor, radiant heating system soon.  Woo hoo!  But it’s moved a bit slower because work has been busy.  But, busy in a good way as word has spread and games are now consistently being booked and people are loving the escape games offered.  Homeschooling is going well and we are nearing the end of our school year.  In November we will jump right into the next school year, adding Axel in Kindergarten, so that might add to the challenge, but hopefully by then we’ll be ready for it.

So, that’s it for a general update.  Freya is a sweet addition and we are so happy she is our little family’s caboose.