Cosleeping...

When I was pregnant, I was totally against the idea of cosleeping. It was mostly because I was afraid I'd roll over the baby in the middle of the night. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper and just imagined all sorts of catastrophe.

A few weeks in, and I began to understand the advantages of cosleeping. One night, I fell asleep while nursing Daphne. I had dozed off and was sitting upright with her tucked in my arms. When I awoke a few hours later, I was so upset with myself. I thought of all the bad things that could have happened. At the same time, my little one had fallen asleep and continued to sleep longer than if I had put her back in the Pack-N-Play. A few more nights of this continued, until I decided to try letting Daphne sleep with us.   

My husband was very supportive of the decision. He was working early mornings at the time, and Daphne would wake up every few hours throughout the night, in turn waking Kris up. When I started letting Daphne sleep in our bed, everyone slept through the night. (Another plus was that it allowed me to feed Daphne much easier in the middle of the night.) 

We continued to cosleep until Daphne was about three months old. While it was a great solution to the problem we were having at the time, my husband and I needed our bed back. Too many mornings I'd wake up and Daphne's diaper had leaked. There would be a big wet spot underneath her and I'd have to wash our bedding. At night, I couldn't cuddle with Kris because I'd have to hold onto the baby. She started kicking in her sleep, and I'd wake up with a foot in my gut. Then the fear of her rolling off the bed kicked in. I considered buying a rail to put on the side of our mattress, but ultimately decided to get her back into the Pack-N-Play.

Currently, Daphne still sleeps in our room. The Pack-N-Play is on my side of the bed. Most nights she sleeps on her own. There have been a few nights that I've cuddled her to sleep. She's been theething and it makes her super cranky. Sleeping next to Mama soothes her, so on really bad nights I'll let her sleep with me.

Cosleeping is something I never would have planned to do as a mother, but I'm actually glad we ended up trying it for a while. I feel comfortable, now, if I ever need to have Daphne sleep with me. I had a few sweet months of bonding with my baby girl, too. 

{outfit of the day} monday, may 27th, 2013

My mom calls this Daphne's "Parisian" outfit.

When I was pregnant, my mom had a lot of fun shopping for the baby. One day, she went to JC Penney, and they were having a huge clearance event. She bought this outfit, and was excited to show me. I was a little underwhelmed. Poor mom. She thought it was so cute, and all I saw was turquoise tulle and sequins!

My silly baby, making silly faces.

Well, Daphne is now four months old, and the outfit fits. I put it on her yesterday, after deciding I was going to my mom's for a visit on my day off. It's pretty cute, I must admit. You can't tell from these pictures, but it's three pieces: a top, tutu-like skirt, and a pair of capri leggings. I put Daphne's bow headband on to complete the look, and headed for Grandma's.

We had to snap a few pictures. Just too cute.

miss daphne enters the world

Of course, I cried the first time I saw my little one.

I was going to write this post more as my daughter's birth story, but I decided that might be a little too personal and possibly scary to some. Instead, I'm just going to make this a brief, happy post.

Miss Daphne was a sweet baby from the beginning.

I went into the hospital for a scheduled induction on a Wednesday night. I had some health factors that my doctor was working with cautiously. She didn't want me to go too far past my due date because the health risks increased the longer the baby was still inside. 

  

The surgery was really fast, and my baby was here before I knew it.

The induction failed, and on Thursday morning I was given the option of either trying again, or having a cesarean. My family and I discussed it and I decided to go with the c-section.

Right after she was born, in the operating room.

Miss Daphne was born at 3 o'clock on Thursday afternoon. She was (and still is) a healthy baby. She was 6 pounds 10 ounces at birth, and 19 inches long. 

Shortly after her birth.

Daphne was born with dark hair and blue eyes. She looks a lot like me, and has her father's eyes. 

Taken on Saturday, 2 days old.

We were blessed with a happy baby. She lost a little too much weight in the first couple of days after her birth, but once my milk came in she started gaining weight again. She loves to eat.  

Taken on Saturday, 2 days old.

She was such a tiny baby when she was born. I'd look at her in amazement. As big as I felt, I expected her to be much bigger. She's perfect, though, and we love her dearly.

Picture taken by our friend, Michelle, when she visited in the hospital.

We only had a few visitors in the hospital. My mom stayed with me Friday night, because my husband had to go to work Saturday morning. Our friend, Nancy, and her granddaughter, Keeona, came on Saturday, as well as our friend, Michelle. Sunday was the last day I was in the hospital, and our friend, Barb, visited. My in-laws live 250 miles away, so they couldn't visit until Monday, when I was home.

Daphne with Dr. Stewart at my 2-week checkup.

My doctor was on vacation when the induction was scheduled, so her colleague, Dr. Stewart, actually delivered Daphne. He was very kind and took care of us so well. We were all very happy in the end.

Daphne is now three months old. She's still a petite little thing, but she's growing. Her eyes are getting darker and she's growing more hair. I love dressing her up in cute outfits. We take walks now that it's getting warmer. Even when she's fussy and cries I absolutely adore her. She's learning how to use her voice, and giggles and coos a lot. It's the cutest thing.

I love being a mom.