Jillian’s First Month: Joys, Challenges, Favorite Things, Etc.

On Sunday we reached the one month mark with our Jillian girl, and I have so many things (SO MANY THINGS!) that I want to spit out all at one time about the last month of our lives.

I want to tell you about her and us and our big girls and our extended family and our friends and holy guacamole – just so many things rolling around in my brain just dying for me to spit out in written words, because writers’ brains are wired that weird kind of way.

So where does one even begin?!

Because the easiest thing to start with is to tell you about the joy Jillian has brought to our lives, I’ll start there.

Joys

The name “Joy” was one I really liked for either her first name or middle name, but it wasn’t a favorite of Jamie’s. It would have been so fitting to give her that name though because she is my sunshine on a cloudy day. I am in love with this child and gush over her 100 times a day.

I am so proud to be her mom and kind of can’t get over the fact that she gets one mom to raise her and I’m it. That’s such a big role in someone’s life and I get to play it. (Moms, have you ever thought about what a privilege that is to play that role in your kids’ lives??? So awesome.)

When I nurse her and we lock eyes, when she sleeps on my chest, when we walk around the house together, when we “play” together, when I pull her towards my chest and wrap her in my arms to comfort her after she’s been crying – these are all moments that have brought incredible joy. It’s wild what a unique, insanely powerful love mothers (and fathers) have for their children.

Challenges

…but you know what goes hand-in-hand with that unique, insanely powerful mother’s love? All of the various challenges of the newborn stage, specifically the first month of a ridiculous amount of adjustment.

I’ve decided that the newborn stage feels kind of like going on a big vacation to somewhere beautiful. When you travel, there will be parts that are difficult, annoying, frustrating, etc. – flight delays, long rental car lines, lost luggage, language barriers, or illness that you think will completely derail your vacation, but then you have these incredible moments, like waking up and seeing the deepest blue ocean from your condo balcony or watching a sunset over the best dinner.

You return home from your trip with the fondest memories of the good times and share a few laughs about the things that made the trip difficult, and then you start planning your next trip because the good memories/moments far outweigh the bad. It’s almost like you somewhat forget how, in the moment, those difficult/annoying moments really were doozies.

The newborn phase feels similar. You don’t necessarily ever forget the parts that make this stage difficult, but the good moments are really good and are the moments you’ll look back on and cherish for a lifetime. And then you decide you want to have another kid – not because you’ve forgotten those difficult moments, but because you know they pale in comparison to how incredible those magical moments are.

The challenges this month have included things related to my physical recovery, adjusting to having zero semblance of a schedule or routine, functioning on a fraction of the sleep I used to get, almost everything related to breastfeeding, trying to give intentional time to the big girls and taking care of their needs, finishing a freaking cup of coffee while it’s hot (lol), etc.

But almost all of these things have worked themselves out. Physically I’m good to go, we’re starting to find a new routine, I’ve adjusted to getting less sleep, breastfeeding is no problem, the big girls are tended to just fine (and starting school is helping a ton), and I’ve learned to turn my cold coffee into iced coffee that I LOVE.

So, all I well. 😉

Products we’re using

She is sleeping in . It’s nothing fancy but works just fine in our room.

We absolutely love .

This is her favorite.

We’ve been wearing her and it’s fantastic (so affordable too).

I’ve been living in .

I switched from a Medela pump to and really like it.

This Strolyy (universal car seat carrier) is my absolute favorite new baby product. I got it as a PR gift months ago and am totally obsessed! It’s so much more simple than a stroller and has been really handy for quick outings.

Finally, get an A+ for being affordable and comfortable. I have one from Bravado that is actually 5x the price of one of these from Amazon, and I honestly can’t remember which one is the expensive one. They are all exactly the same.

Jillian’s favorites

She absolutely loves bath time, being unswaddled and stretching in the morning, walking around the house looking around, being outside, and being worn in her baby carrier.

Jillian’s not-so-favorites

She’s hardly a fan of her car seat, she can’t stand when Mom can’t drop everything she’s doing right the very second she wants to eat, and we all know we better change her diaper the second after she does her business or she will holler at us to do so. 😉

We can’t wait to see what month two brings! Crossing our fingers we start getting some intentional social smiles soon. Ahh, my favorite.

Let’s chat!

What do you generally like/dislike about the first month of the newborn stage?

PS: Jillian’s birth story and Sadie’s first two weeks