Our first 3 weeks with Victoria Rose

I promise I have some non-baby things coming to this blog soon! I have about 5 posts sitting in draft form, due to a) my husband having to leave town unexpectedly for a few days due to a family death, and b) a super clingy baby that counts nursing as her favorite hobby. (Although I am becoming quite good at typing with one hand.)

So allow me to be a gushy new mama and tell the story of this whirlwind first 3 weeks with our baby with lots of photos!

First of all, no one can prepare you for the first two weeks of being a parent. For real. When I expressed how crazy it was to several friends, they all nodded their heads in understanding and said something about "those crazy first two weeks".

I know a lot about babies, and I thought I knew what was coming my way. But what I didn't realize is that this little person is born with a personality, and you never know what it is going to be. My little munchkin is a very cuddly little one who has a bit of a temper. She is also quite impatient....something she did NOT inherit from me, of course (wink, wink). This made simple things like our plan to have her sleep in the pack n play in our room unrealistic those first few days.

She was also born with a tongue tie (not a severe one), which has made breastfeeding a struggle. We have managed to figure it out now (I have another post about that), but I never anticipated the sheer determination I would have to have in order to breastfeed my child. Sometimes the natural thing is not the easy thing.

Since we had our little one at home, we immediately got to settle in as a family. Despite the crazy challenges in the beginning with feeding her, we were so in love with her and were happy to cuddle her lots

She also only got to wear this outfit once, as she has completely outgrown all of her newborn clothes and is already starting to stretch the limits of her 3 month clothes (I am 5'10" and my husband is 6'3" so I can't say I wasn't expecting this).

A good friend of mine had her little girl exactly one month before I had Victoria. We've already determined they will be besties! You can see here that Victoria (on the left) is slight jaundiced (no baby of mine could be that tan naturally!). We had her stripped down to her diaper and sitting in front of the window for hours every day to help get rid of it. It cleared by the time she was about 5 days old.

Being such a cuddly baby, her favorite place to be is with me! I love my k'tan wrap (on the right), and she likes it too! I actually had to youtube new ways to put her into it since she can support her head already and wants to look around when I have her in it.


She really acts much older than she is. She is so aware and always looking around, so I have actually had to make a conscious effort to get her to nap. She would stay awake for hours and hours if I let her.... and then she would start acting like a crazy tired baby. And nobody wants that!

She got to meet her Nana and Grandpa (my mom and stepdad) when she was a week old

 And she got to meet her grandma, my husband's mom, a week later

That's right, she's already smiling at people. I took this video when she was 11 days old, right after she looked at me and smiled for the first time. Since that day she smiles very often directly at whoever is holding her. (oh and please feel free to ignore my super corny baby voice in the video)

 Victoria also has a fierce frown. We always ask her why she is being so serious.

I try not to take the frowns seriously, as right before I took the photo on the right, I took this one

Happy as can be here! Her outfit was a gift from friends. People love buying clothes for baby girls, it seems. Besides lots of adorable clothes, people have been so sweet and generous with their gifts.

This adorable owl is from Kathleen over at Art's Chili Pepper. Her daughter makes them for down syndrome awareness, and made this one to match Victoria's nursery. 
The outfit and goodies on the right are from my host parents from my study abroad year in Finland when I was in high school. The brand is a very famous Finnish brand called Marimekko, and I am so excited for her to fit into it!

A coworker from my old work sent this to us. It is a personalized frame and card. I literally bawled when I saw it, as the Bible verse is one that resonates so much with me. I prayed so much for God to give me a child, and here she is!

Ladies at my church have also set up a meal train for me, and we've been receiving meals over the course of the last few weeks. What an amazing blessing this has been! Here is an entire family-size meal from Bob Evans which we received last night. What a blessing! If you know someone who could benefit from a meal train, take a look at the website Take them a meal, which helps coordinate everyone. This is an amazing gift for a new mom.

So that is pretty much it, I think I have you all caught up. We have more visitors coming to see our little one in the coming weeks, and I have lots more blogging to do!

So until then....