Tessa - One Month

Wait... what?!?!?

How has a month gone by already?

People keep telling me that time will go by so quickly now that I have a baby.

And you know what...

IT'S TRUE!

I swear this has been the quickest month of my life...

But it's been a wonderful month.

Weight:

Last weight check was on the 8th and she weighed 6lbs 10oz.

Woohoo for gaining weight!

Height:

19.5 inches

Clothing Size:

She finally fits well into newborn size clothing!

When she was born she was just slightly too big for the premie size,

yet slightly too small for newborn.

Eye Color:

Dark Blue.

It will be fun to see if they stay the same color or change.

Hair:

Both Micah and I were shocked when she was born with a TON of DARK hair.

We were both born with light hair, so we were kinda expecting that she would be the same.

Nope... dark brown!

But over the past month her hair has lightened up significantly.

Now it is much more of a medium auburn color... 

and, I'm happy to say, it has hints of red in there as well! 

Movement:

She's working on lifting her head.

If she's resting on our chest, then she'll definitely lift her head too see us.

But if she's spending some "tummy time" on the play mat,

then shes a bit more hesitant...

she's trying though.

And she is doing a great job at making eye contact and watching us...

which just melts my heart.

Talking:

I've heard some of the cutest squeals and coos when she is awake and playing around.

I have also heard some of the loudest screams when she is not so happy.

Playtime:

She has somewhat of a pattern now with when she is awake and when she is the most sleepy.

From around 11am to 12:30pm she is awake and ready to play!

And she seems to be content most of the time by entertaining herself.

During her awake times, if you hold her too much,

she will actually cry until to put her down right next to you,

so she can just watch you and her surrounding and kick her legs.

(she might look like her daddy, but I have a feeling she just might be an introvert like her mommy)

She also has a very alert time around 9pm - 11pm...

just about the time Micah and I are wanting to go to sleep.

Sleeptime:

She has been a good sleeper so far.

She usually has a pattern of sleeping for two or two and a half hours

before she wakes up to eat and have her diaper changed.

Then she will go right back to sleep.

There have only been a few nights (like last night)

where it seemed that she was wanting to eat ever hour!

Tessa's Favorites:

She's loving her activity gym!

Even though shes a bit to young still to reach out and grab the toys,

she will stare at them for a good 30 minutes when were playing.

Mommy's favorites:

Our little unofficial bedtime routine.

Since one of her most alert times is at night,

I love getting her all ready for bed (especially if its bath day),

bringing her into our bed for some playtime

(playtime being that she stares at us and makes cooing  noises),

turning on her sound soother,

then feeding her until she's in a cute little "milk coma"

and putting her to bed.

My 2 Weeks in Instagram

I am afraid to say this but...

I have turned into one of "those" Mom's.

You know, the ones that overload their Instagram feed with pictures of their baby.

I admit it... and I am unashamed about it too.

I now completely understand why other mom's do it.

So if you follow me on Instagram, I apologize ahead of time.

My days seem to be filled with Tessa's sweet little face

and it's hard not to take pictures of her every minute of the day.

Meet Tessa Anne

Tessa Anne Hanson

Born June 20th 2013 at 9:54am

6lbs 4oz

 

She surprised Micah and I by arriving 3 weeks early.

And when I say surprised, I mean SURPRISED!

I woke up at 4:30 am to my water breaking

(without having any prior contractions or signs that I was going to go into labor).

And at 9:54am she was born.

Even though I have nothing to compare this birth to,

I feel extremely blessed to have had a quick and easy labor.

EXTREMELY BLESSED.

Everyone (midwife, family, and friends) kept telling me to expect to go past my due date

and that first time moms usually had longer labors.

But with me, it was a different story.

By the time we arrived at the hospital (at 5am)

I was already dilated 4cm (without having painful contractions)...

and by 6:30am I was dilated to 6cm (which was when I began to feel the contractions).

And from then until Tessa was born it felt like it happened so quickly

that I didn't have time to really think of anything

(I didn't even have time to think about the option of an epidural!)...

she had a one track mind and it was to come out!

At around 9:15am I hit the "transition" phase of labor

and with maybe 4 contractions I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.

(Crazy how your body tells you that your ready to push.

I didn't need anyone to tell me, my body just kinda took over

and started pushing automatically).

And with maybe 20 minutes of pushing, Tessa was born.

Micah was amazing during the whole process.

He stood right next to the midwife during the whole birth

and watched out little girl enter the world.

Him and my midwife kept telling me (while I was pushing)

that they could get a mirror for me to watch what was happening.

Of course my response was:

"Are you crazy! I'm trying to stay in "the zone" right now.

The last thing I want to see is what is happening 'down there'". 

That is when Micah says to the midwife:

"This is how she is stubborn".

Micah is lucky, because if I wasn't trying to concentrate on getting a baby out of me,

he would have been kicked in the face.

And now she is here.

Our little miracle baby girl is finally home and in our arms.

I don't think Micah and I ever really thought this day would happen.

We tried to keep hope up for years, all while trying to keep our hope in an open hand.

But God truly knew the desires of our heart.

He had a plan, a perfect plan, in mind for us...

and now his perfect blue eyed plan is sleeping on my lap.