April

While Chris' mom was here she was wonderful at understanding a new mother's concerns. I still was working on being comfortable with breastfeeding and it seemed to take some effort to get Emersyn to complete a feed without falling asleep or being fidgety. I wasn't comfortable feeding in front of anyone but Chris and definitely avoid the chance of a public feeding at all costs. However, one day we ventured to visit Chris at one of the biking events he was covering. It had taken us longer than expected to get there and not long after hanging around Emersyn woke up and wanted to feed. Being in a huge crowd of people, with our car parked far down the street I started to panic as to where I could go. There were many suggestions as finding a place for me to feed became a group effort: I could go to a booth in a restaurant, I could use the medical tent, I could use the bathroom at a local pizza place, etc. I quickly became frustrated and embarrassed. This was exactly the type of incident and was trying to avoid. However, I opted for the bathroom at the pizza place. It ended up working great, except for the people outside who had to wait the 15 minutes while Emi and I did our business.

Chris' mom was also very understanding as I wasn't too keen on going out and shopping or being at stores. Emersyn's feeding schedule was still pretty erratic and so I was too stressed thinking that we would be out shopping and she would wake up and I would have to feed right then. I really didn't want to have to feed in the car with Chris' mom sitting right there so we spent most of our time at the apartment and going on walks around the complex.

The one month old mark came so fast. Emersyn started growing faster than ever. I didn't realize just how quickly babies actually sprout up. My mom told me that Emersyn wouldn't be wearing her newborn clothes very long. I didn't believe her since Emersyn stayed so small for the first two weeks I thought she was going to be tiny forever. By the time Chris' mom had left Emersyn had almost surpassed the outfits she had bought for her.

For the first month I was more than happy to simply sit and hold Emersyn all day, even while she slept. But as I was feeling better I wanted to get some things done during the day and I found that Emersyn was a little needy. I couldn't just set her down while she was awake and have her be okay by herself. She wanted to be held while she was awake or she would start crying and fussing. I tried to solve this problem by getting a sling. The first time I used it she seemed very cozy and I felt like my problems were solved. However, any attempt to get Emi in the sling after the first time she wasn't a fan and would start crying and kicking to get out.

We continued with the picture taking, finding every new movement or face exciting. We were sure to send them to my mom and family very frequently.

The outfit Papa brought back from Argentina. It fit the day we got it and she quickly grew out of it. You can see that Emersyn was starting to smile quite a bit and was readily responding to our voices. It was so much fun seeing her become interactive.

Since Emi mostly slept during the day, we loved to watch her. She still wasn't too keen on straightening out her legs completely. She liked to have them tucked up close to her.

Daddy loved to get pictures any time, especially trying to catch new and fun faces.

One of our favorite items of clothing, and Emersyn's typical pajama outfits were the layettes, or 'bags' as we so elegantly termed them. They provided easy access for diaper changes and had little mitts that kept the hands warm. In watching Emersyn squirm around and kick while wearing them I found that her movements were what I must have been feeling while she was still in my tummy.

Emersyn quickly grew out of the tub in the sink. We found a much more comfortable and easier to use baby tub that would accommodate her as she got bigger. Bath time now moved from the bathroom sink to the kitchen sink. Emersyn was very good and seemed to enjoy the tub as long as we could keep her warm.

At the end of the month Chris and I packed up everything for ourselves as well as Emersyn and headed to Utah for a sports medicine conference based out of Salt Lake City. We took it as an opportunity to visit family, introduce Emersyn, take our first family road-trip vacation, and have some neat experiences. Driving from California to Utah takes about 11 hours non-stop. We decided to break up the drive by stopping in Mesquite on the way out. We knew that Emersyn was a princess, but we didn't realize just how much until we saw how necessary her luxurious Minky Couture blankets were. While we were stopped in Mesquite I had Emi wrapped in a Minky blanket, but her head was on the sheets. She kept tossing her head from side to side as she tried to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. I nonchalantly pulled the Minky blanket up under head to get it off the sheets and immediately she turn her head to one side, snuggled in and fell asleep.

Emersyn was fabulous during the drive: sleeping quietly in her carseat only waking up when it was time to eat. Which, we had to do while I was sitting in the car parked at the back of some parking lot. I started to get pretty good at breastfeeding in tight quarters and changing diapers on my lap. The next day we woke up and drove to St. George, with Chris narrowly avoiding a massive speeding ticket, and parked the car at the bottom of Snow Canyon, one of our favorite bike rides. Our biking experiences had changed drastically since Emersyn was born. We would take turns, one person biking while the other sat in the car and watched Emersyn. It's a change, but at least we could get out and ride. We got to Utah just in time to meet the family for dinner to celebrate Jan's graduation from dental hygiene school. Grandma D was more than happy to hold and enjoy her granddaughter that she had missed so much over the last two months.

Our time in Utah was pretty short so we maximized it by seeing almost everyone we felt necessary. Emersyn was a wonderful baby and played happily with everyone who held her and talked in a high-pitched voice trying to get a smile. There was so much stimulation she didn't get very many naps during the day and was pretty irritable at night. But when she slept, she slept and I was able to get a few longer stretches than usual. Grandma D had set up a pack-n-play for her crib and she seemed to sleep pretty well at night.