3 Weeks of Harper

I can't believe our little Harpsicle is already three weeks old! We have been loving every minute of being parents. While it is tiring & demanding beyond belief, looking at her sweet face makes it all worth it. Here are a few snapshots from the last few days.

Harper loves being burped, she just chills out slumped over & wide eyed, just waiting for it. Her forehead wrinkles are my absolute favorite! She also loves lounging on daddy & staring at the windows when I open the blinds. Her other signature moves include sleeping with her legs straight up in the air, sneezing in sets of four & making loud, squeek sounds randomly throughout the day. I decided to try on a few different styles of baby carriers at the store & ultimately went with the K'Tan. It was so easy to put on myself & Harper actually loves being all cozied up in it! I plan on getting the ergo once she is a little bigger. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for your advice & opinions on carriers!

Pardon my no makeup, no sleep, saggy baggy eyed face & wet hair. Motherhood sure looks good on me. Ha!

If I can leave you all with a few words of wisdom to the soon-to-be mommy readers out there... here it is:

• If you are planning on breastfeeding, there is a chance that you will need to pump to supplement or exclusively pump if things don't work out. Stock up on some additional breast pump parts or every free minute of your life will be spent doing dishes.
• Baby mittens! If your baby is like mine, they will have their hands in/around their mouth all the time. Their milky mouth will make those mittens disgusting in no time so you will want to switch them out often. I recommend these Satsuma mittens from Amazon... they are the only ones that don't fall off OR look like giant oven mits on tiny baby hands.
• Have some newborn size jammies.. even if you don't take the tags off right away so you can return them if necessary. Everyone says don't buy them because the baby will grow out of them so quick or wont fit in them to begin with. Wrong. Harper was 7lbs 11oz and she is still swimming in a lot of her newborn size clothes. With spit up & diapers, you'll change their clothes often and the little white onesies will just not cut it in terms of keeping them warm. I never thought I'd say it, but the fleece Carter's footie jammies are all she wears... even if they do have ridiculous kittens & butterflies on them. 
• Buy a few different types of pacifiers (if you are going to use them). I initially thought we wouldn't but they are SO soothing for her. She has no nipple confusion so I have no issue with them while she is still young. I know, I'll probably kick myself in the ass later trying to wean her. But in the mean time, it will give you an additional 26 minutes of sleep when you need it most. We have Soothies, Gumdrop & Nuk brands. She likes the Soothie & Gumdrop the best, but they don't stay in her mouth. Nuk stays in but she doesn't like it as well. Still on the hunt for the perfect paci. Any suggestions? Also, hubby cleverly named them "The Silent Treatment". Hillarious.
• Burping. It can be the answer to all your questions. Nobody told us this in the hospital & I really don't think it was stressed enough in the baby books. Burp them in between boobs. Burp them in between ounces. Burp them after they eat. When baby is squirmy, fussy or all around unhappy... burp them again! Who knew? :)
• Get all the sleep you can before the baby comes! Nope. That doesn't work. Sleep doesn't work like a bank... you cannot stock up on it. You will not be able to borrow or dip into your savings. Bummer. But there is something about being a mama that will allow you to fully function on 5 sporadic hours of sleep per 24 hour period.