newborn

Photo by starburst1680

Meet starburst1680, brand new first-time mom to Kathryn Grace. She will be sharing with us the roller coaster ride of her first year of motherhood. Check back every week for all of the emotion and exhaustion — right up until Kathryn's first birthday.

To kick off the new journal, let's meet mom and baby:

Thank you so much for sharing! Tell us about yourself and the birth of Kathryn Grace:

Hello moms! I am a first-time mom to a beautiful little girl named Kathryn Grace. We picked those names because they are both nice, classic, feminine names.

I was very lucky to have an easy pregnancy. The birth, however, was a little more exciting. To make a long story short I went to the hospital thinking I was in labor. Once I got hooked up to the monitors they found that her heart rate was high and I was running a fever which meant I likely had an infection somewhere. After some tests, it was determined I had a bacterial infection and would have a c-section under general anesthesia.  Two and a half hours after getting to the hospital she was born on her due date weighing in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and 19 ¾ inches. She was sent to the special care nursery (aka NICU) to be monitored and given antibiotics to make sure she didn't have any infection but she has been perfectly healthy.

How has it been since you've been home?

Since we've been home things haven't been easy but the first day at home with a newborn rarely is. We have learned a lot and gotten to know her a lot better so things are already a lot easier than when we first got here. She is a fantastic baby and doesn't cry very much at all. She is sleeping in a pack ‘n' play in our room for now and that made the night easier, not having to walk into the nursery every time. At one point my husband and I got a solid 3 hour block of sleep and tonight should be considerably better now that we have figured some things out like that she needs to be swaddled or she will wake herself up.

We have decided to breastfeed and that is (finally) going very well. Since she had to go to the special care nursery she was given a bottle before I could nurse her. She also could not be in my room so it was hard to nurse her at every feeding. The hospital was great and gave me a pump to use while I was there. They showed me how to use it and really encouraged me to pump every 3 hours. After each pumping my husband or I would take the milk/colostrum down to the nursery and she would get it at her next feeding. We continued to supplement with formula because we hadn't quite gotten the hang of breastfeeding and she needed to be eating a lot to flush the antibiotics out of her kidneys. Last night we finally figured out nursing and have been doing that exclusively ever since. I am so happy that I can nurse her successfully!

We're celebrating starburst1680's first year with baby, not criticizing her parenting choices, so thank you for keeping your judgments to yourself. Any bashing will be deleted.

Question of the Week from Answers:

After you had your baby, did you leave the baby in the nursery at night or keep it in your room with you? — anonymous

mama_moonsong: My daughter is three months old, and she has slept in a bassinet next to my bed, since we came home from the hospital. She's nearly outgrowing it, so I'll soon be putting her in the crib, in her room. I like having her close, but I'm sure it'll be okay when she's in the next room, too.