Dear Ethan,
How is it that you are 3 months old already? I considered writing you monthly letters but instead I've opted for quarterly ones as they mark some bigger milestones.
We have now officially left the "Fourth Trimester" and the newborn days behind. Daddy and I were keen to follow your lead in these first few months slowly finding our feet and adjusting to life as parents while you got used to life outside the womb.
I suppose I should really go back to the start when we first brought you home from hospital. You were born on Monday 7th March at 2:51am (after a long labour) and we took you home on the Tuesday evening. I was in no rush to get home as I was keen to get breastfeeding established and thankfully you took to it really well.
When we got home Granny and Granda were there which made things a lot easier. They looked after Daddy and I while we focused on you and even had a few lovely cuddles with you while Daddy and I caught up on some sleep.
Most of that first week passed by in a blur of visits from Daddy's family, the midwives and some friends. Uncle Michael, Uncle Christopher and Uncle Stephen all came to separately over the following weeks with Granny and Granda coming back for almost a week after they had all gone home.
By the time we got to 6 weeks old you had been on a plane back to Ireland to visit the rest of the family, we had had a few trips on the train in to Leeds and you seemed to take any amount of travelling in your stride.
As I mentioned earlier I was really keen to get breastfeeding established. Even though I knew it would be hard at the start I really had no idea how difficult it would actually be. Once my milk came in you found it hard to latch so we had to hand express a little before each feed to encourage you. Then you started to dislike the right side and kept slipping back once you latched which resulted in a cracked nipple. I had to express for a few days to allow myself time to heal and thankfully you took a bottle with no objections. Since then we have found our groove with breastfeeding and dare I say it, but actually now it's really easy. My initial aim was 1 week, then 6 weeks and now I'm hoping to get to 6 months before we start weaning.
You aren't too bad with sleep although I'm still waiting for you to sleep through the night. In the early days nights were horrific and I used to dread bedtime but now you tend to have a 30 minute nap between 6 and 7 then go down for the night around 9. Sometimes you will sleep for 6 hours and other times only 3-4 hours but generally there are only 2-3 wake-ups a night and you feed for around 10minutes before going straight back to sleep. You tend to spend most of the night in your Snuzpod but by 5am I usually end up bringing you in to bed with us just so we get a guaranteed sleep until 7am. Day time naps are totally hit and miss. Sometimes you sleep lots while other days I'm lucky if you nap for more more than an hour - total pot luck!
You have now had 2 rounds of vaccinations and you weren't too bad with them although I wasn't keen on the nurse who did the most recent ones. Let's just say I don't like being told what to do in a patronising tone. Daddy reckons I'm being too sensitive - I disagree! Seeing that look on your face when you have not one but three needles stuck in your legs was awful but sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind.
We meet up with the NCT babies every Tuesday and the Twitter babies every other Wednesday. I also take you to baby group on a Monday and Thursday but you seem to be making a habit of falling asleep at them - perfect timing eh?
You have now truly mastered the art of smiling and will smile at anyone, you just love attention and to be cuddled. We often joke too that you will be walking next week as you are so strong and love to be stood up all the time (although Granny tells me off that it will give you bendy legs). Right from the start you have had great head control which makes carrying you so much easier. Your new favourite thing is for Daddy to gently pull your legs from side to side. You give the biggest smiles when he does that. Hopefully soon you will be rolling over but if I'm honest I'm in no rush. I'm cherishing you being my little baby boy for as long as possible.
We have also been to look around nurseries and have put a deposit down on one near Daddy's work. I'm aiming to go back to work 3 days a week and we hope you love the place we have picked for you. It was hard to have to make this decision when you are still so tiny but we want the best for you and were worried that if we left it until the last minute we would be left with somewhere awful. Honestly, some of the nurseries we looked around were horrendous but this place seems really special.
Ethan, my darling, I could talk about you all day and how amazing the past 3 months have been but for now I think it's time to draw this letter to a close. Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know. You really have changed our lives for the better.
Your first 3 months in photos
All our love, forever and always xxx
As I mentioned earlier I was really keen to get breastfeeding established. Even though I knew it would be hard at the start I really had no idea how difficult it would actually be. Once my milk came in you found it hard to latch so we had to hand express a little before each feed to encourage you. Then you started to dislike the right side and kept slipping back once you latched which resulted in a cracked nipple. I had to express for a few days to allow myself time to heal and thankfully you took a bottle with no objections. Since then we have found our groove with breastfeeding and dare I say it, but actually now it's really easy. My initial aim was 1 week, then 6 weeks and now I'm hoping to get to 6 months before we start weaning.
You aren't too bad with sleep although I'm still waiting for you to sleep through the night. In the early days nights were horrific and I used to dread bedtime but now you tend to have a 30 minute nap between 6 and 7 then go down for the night around 9. Sometimes you will sleep for 6 hours and other times only 3-4 hours but generally there are only 2-3 wake-ups a night and you feed for around 10minutes before going straight back to sleep. You tend to spend most of the night in your Snuzpod but by 5am I usually end up bringing you in to bed with us just so we get a guaranteed sleep until 7am. Day time naps are totally hit and miss. Sometimes you sleep lots while other days I'm lucky if you nap for more more than an hour - total pot luck!
You have now had 2 rounds of vaccinations and you weren't too bad with them although I wasn't keen on the nurse who did the most recent ones. Let's just say I don't like being told what to do in a patronising tone. Daddy reckons I'm being too sensitive - I disagree! Seeing that look on your face when you have not one but three needles stuck in your legs was awful but sometimes we have to be cruel to be kind.
We meet up with the NCT babies every Tuesday and the Twitter babies every other Wednesday. I also take you to baby group on a Monday and Thursday but you seem to be making a habit of falling asleep at them - perfect timing eh?
You have now truly mastered the art of smiling and will smile at anyone, you just love attention and to be cuddled. We often joke too that you will be walking next week as you are so strong and love to be stood up all the time (although Granny tells me off that it will give you bendy legs). Right from the start you have had great head control which makes carrying you so much easier. Your new favourite thing is for Daddy to gently pull your legs from side to side. You give the biggest smiles when he does that. Hopefully soon you will be rolling over but if I'm honest I'm in no rush. I'm cherishing you being my little baby boy for as long as possible.
We have also been to look around nurseries and have put a deposit down on one near Daddy's work. I'm aiming to go back to work 3 days a week and we hope you love the place we have picked for you. It was hard to have to make this decision when you are still so tiny but we want the best for you and were worried that if we left it until the last minute we would be left with somewhere awful. Honestly, some of the nurseries we looked around were horrendous but this place seems really special.
Ethan, my darling, I could talk about you all day and how amazing the past 3 months have been but for now I think it's time to draw this letter to a close. Daddy and I love you more than you will ever know. You really have changed our lives for the better.
Your first 3 months in photos
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| Our first family photo |
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| With Daddy |
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| One month! |
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| Making the night feeds more bearable looking at your cute face |
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| Meeting Tom Kerridge at the BBC Good Food Show at only 5 weeks old |
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| Meeting your Great Great Uncle Jackie |
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| With Granny and Granda |
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| Your crazy Uncles |
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| I love this one |
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| With your cousins, Finn and Ollie |
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| Cake club for the first time |
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| 2 months! |
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| Tummy time! |
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| I adore this vest Uncle Michael bought for you |
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| 12 weeks in - 12 weeks out |
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| Family walk up the Chevin |
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| Picnic with the NCT babies |
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| 3 months! |
1 comments
Aww! How lovely! I can't believe he's 3 months already. It has flown over!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are so happy. I am so pleased everything has gone so well x