Coralie - 1 Month

This month has gone by so quickly! Cora is still so tiny but her development changes daily! She's grown so much, I can tell a huge difference in her from her newborn pictures to today!

Cora at One Month:
- Mommy finally got her scheduled & in for newborn pictures!
- She generally sleeps 6 or 7 hours at night! Sometimes we revert backwards to the every two or three hours for a feeding.
- She still sleeps in her bassinet or in Mommy & Daddy's bed.

-Her awake periods are much longer and she's very alert.  She will nap about 30 minutes between feedings on average with only an hour long nap in the morning and evening. 

-She still loves her swing and bouncer
- She can hold her head up unassisted for long periods of time and loves belly time, particularly with her Boppy Pillow for support.
- She exceeded her birth weight! At her weight check, she was up to 9.5 pounds!
- Went with Mommy & Daddy to her first movie at the Drive in Theater! Catching Fire!

Cora at 5 Weeks:
- Slept for 8 full hours one night (after a very busy day meeting her Uncle Mike, Aunt Val & cousin Matt!)
- First church Thanksgiving pot luck! (Second time to church!)
- Her first Thanksgiving!
- Joined Mom, Dad & Granda on a Black Friday Shopping trip!

- She outgrew her first Newborn outfit! 

- She is really fighting gas but we're learning techniques to help her rather than giving her gas drops all the time.

 1. One Month Old! 2. Thanksgiving pot luck at church 3. Uncle Jacob came home & brought this nifty shirt from NYC 4. Meeting Uncle Mike & Aunt Val 5. Cuddling with Grandpa during Black Friday shopping 6. Thanksgiving outfits 7. Going for a walk at Grandmas.

{Working} Mommy Tales:

Next week I have to return to work. Words can't describe how much I'm dreading this. For now, until she has shots & is a little older, my Dad will be keeping her. Even with knowing she is well taken care of by Grandpa, I'm still really emotional and uneasy about this. Since we got her out of NICU, I've never spent more than 2 hours apart from her, I have no desire to be away from her. I should be able to return just part time, working 3 days a week, but I need to get the go-ahead from my boss tomorrow morning.

I'm also quite nervous about how it is going to work moving from exclusively breast feeding with maybe one bottle a day, to most of her feedings by bottle and needing to pump at work. I've heard of so many moms that go back to work and the combination of stressors and lack of time to pump end up depleting or eliminating their milk supply. Financially and emotionally we can't afford for that to happen. I really want (and need) to continue breast feeding her until she's 6 months and we introduce solids.