The first six weeks with a newborn – and a family of five

Having a baby is a bit like being on one of those fairground waltzers. One minute your head is spinning, the next you’re euphoric and eventually you feel worn out – but in general, still happy!

Well that’s how it’s been for me, anyway.

I had a vague recollection from having had Bubby D 2.5 years earlier of what it would be like. Juggling two children was hard at times, with a baby constantly demanding attention and a toddler who suddenly realised that that baby was here to stay. I was a little bit terrified the first time I had to take two out on my own, and look after both of them all day.

Going from two to three has been easier but it’s still had tricky moments. I’m lucky that Little B so far has been what people would call an ‘easy’ baby – she’s pretty laid back most of the time, as long as her needs are met. When she first arrived in the world it was early evening, and so we had a whole night to get to know each other without much interruption. She hasn’t really left my side much since – she loves going in her Close Caboo baby carrier and will happily snuggle against me for hours, with breaks for feeding and nappy changing.

I can’t believe how quickly she has grown and changed already. She was 8lbs 8oz when she was born, and she’s stuck to her line, despite being regularly sick all over me. That came as a bit of a surprise as I’ve never had a sicky baby before and we’ve had to get used to always having a couple of muslins within easy reach!

She’s desperate to be on the move – she’s already rolling onto her side and if she’s lying on her back, her legs are always going frantically as she tries to push herself along (she can actually move herself impressively far doing that). She loves lying on her tummy on top of the sofa cushions too, staring out of the window into the back garden to watch what’s going on.

At five weeks she started smiling and her big brother and sister get the biggest smiles – even though they have a fairly heavy-handed version of ‘gentle’ she loves watching them and seeing what they are up to.

And I think just like them, she’s going to be a real waterbaby – her favourite time of the day is bathtime, where she happily wriggles around in the water.

We’ve already had lots of firsts:

First trip to the pub – 2 days old (well, it was a breastfeeding counsellors meetup and so I figured it was a good place to be with a newborn baby if my milk was due to arrive!)

First Mother’s Day – 4 days old

First trip to the park – 1 week old

First photoshoot – 3 weeks old

First bath – 4 weeks old (obviously she did get washed before that, but only topped and tailed!)

First time at a baby group – 5 weeks old (the ‘Newbie Tuesday’ group)

I’m sure there will be lots more coming up too. There are times where dealing with a newborn again has been tricky – I’d forgotten how difficult it is in the early days to figure out what babies want, once you’ve checked off feeding and nappy changes – and of course I haven’t been getting as much sleep as I’d like. But in general it’s a rollercoaster we are enjoying riding and we are having a lot of fun as a family of five 🙂

 

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