The First Month - A Recap

Since this blog is starting in Tali's second month of life, I guess I need to do a Month 1 recap. (Apologies for the length!)

Shopping Spree:

Since H and I are very superstitious when it comes to the whole baby thing, the only thing we purchased ahead of time was baby furniture. (We had picked out girl and boy furniture and the store called the doctor to get the sex of the baby and order the right pieces.) Once the baby was born, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law got to go on a huge shopping spree. Tali needed everything from clothing and diapers to a bassinet and playpen. Our furniture was delivered three days after we came home from the hospital. For the first few days, Tali's room only had a folding table. Now she's fully equipped in her "princess" room and we've now got all of the necessities.

Baby Nurse:

We were very lucky that even though Tali was 3 1/2 weeks early, both the doula and the baby nurse were available. After we got home from the hospital, we had a baby nurse come stay with us for 10 days. This was a huge help for me. I was able to get some sleep and learn from a "pro" how to care for a newborn. (I learn much better by being shown than by reading.) She also went with me to the drugstore and Buy, Buy Baby to point out all of the things that I needed to purchase. When she left, it was bittersweet. It's a little uncomfortable to have a stranger living in your home, but it's nice to have 24-hour help.

Baby Naming:

After the baby nurse left, my family came in town for Tali's baby naming (a Jewish ritual for baby girls, but unlike the ritual for boys, nothing gets chopped off). Since we were having it in our apartment, only immediate family was invited. The rabbi who married us was available at that time and said he would do the naming. Unfortunately, the day before the naming there was a big snow storm and the rabbi had to cancel. It was a big disappointment since my family came all the way from New Orleans and Houston to be here. But they got to see and play with Tali so it wasn't a total waste. Now we have to reschedule, how annoying. The good part was that my mom stayed for another week and helped me out when H went back to work. We cooked a lot to build up a supply of frozen meals and I was able to get in some much-needed naps.

First Medical Issues:

If you know me well, you wouldn't be surprised that my daughter would have at least one medical issue in the first month. Well, she's had two.

After birth, we saw that Tali had a small hole/dent at the top of her left ear. We learned that it is a sinus cavity. While it's nothing for us to worry about at this point, it does need to be watched. It could become infected at some point in her life and possibly need to be removed. Luckily, the doctor said that this is pretty common and she's never seen anyone need the surgery.

At her first month check-up, the doctor heard a heart murmur. While she told me it was nothing to worry about, she scheduled an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist for the next day. He listened to her heart then looked at it with an ultrasound machine. I got to see all four chambers and the doctor did not find anything abnormal. He believes that she is a bit anemic (common in newborns as they cannot yet absorb iron) and that her thin blood made it sound like a murmur.

Luckily, all is okay.

Tali's Tricks:

She doesn't have many tricks yet (Jackson, our dog, had so many after we'd had him for a month!). Right now, she cries, eats, sleeps, poops, smiles and makes cooing noises. The most impressive trick is her ability to begin crying right as I am about to eat. Somehow she just knows. On the bright side, it's a great diet!

Well, that's the first month in a nutshell. The only other thing worth mentioning is that I am now used to functioning on 4 hours of sleep. It's incredible what the body can do.