Aspen: One Month...Sleep Deprivation, Smiles, and Colic!

Well, we celebrated our first month with Aspen this week. It is hard to believe that it has been a month since the birth...we have learned so much in such a short period of time.

10 things (raw and unfiltered) we have learned the first month:

1.) We quickly learned that neither of us function very well on a limited amount of sleep, but the hormones running through my body gave me an upper-hand in the sleep deprivation department.

2.) Breastfeeding is not always as easy or beautiful or joyful as everyone talks about it. Up until just a few days ago I would say it sucked (both literally and figuratively). Thank goodness we had a breastfeeding doula to help us through the challenging moments, because now we are exclusively breastfeeding her (no more formula--yeah!)

3.) We seem to believe that our daughter is "developmentally awesome" she began holding her head up at 2.5 weeks old and she began smiling around that time too. But, the best was when she giggled while sleeping at 3 weeks (so adorable!)

4.) While we both hoped for an angel baby...as karma will have it...we actually got somewhat of a colicky baby. Ugh! Aspen's little digestive system is still immature which means that most of our nights have been filled with bloody murder screaming and crying up to 3 hours in duration. Luckily, Charlie is able to cope with the crying, because my hormones simply send me into a crying mess too. You just feel helpless.

5.) Paternity leave is amazing! Charlie has been home the entire first month of Aspen's life which is such a blessing. During this time, we both experienced the ups and downs of bringing a newborn home and we grew even closer as a couple. This time together, as a new family, was a gift and we will cherish it forever! Now it's time for Aspen and I to experience the days together sans super-daddy/husband (Charlie goes back to work July 26).

6.) We have realized that friends (and family) are so very important during the first month (and probably months to come...) We are blessed to have a cadre of amazing international friends here who have helped us feel human in an otherwise chaotic existence. Of course, this first month has also made us miss our family like crazy!

7.) We never knew how much poop would become a topic of everyday conversation...really?! (My little kid bro is probably jumping up and down as he reads this, because until this moment of my life I refused to have these conversations!)

8.) Warm delicious meals...ha, what's that?! One love that Charlie and I have always shared is the love of cooking (together). Even though we attempt to cook almost every night (usually not together), cooking and eating has never been so unpleasant. The motto these days, "hurry up and cook/eat, before Aspen starts to cry."

9.)The best way to get over any germ-a-phobic tendencies: have a baby!

10.) Having a newborn is a major life transition filled with highs and lows, some days are better than other days...but in the end life is better with Aspen!

Our First Adventure Without Aspen

Aspen (on left) meets her new friend, Tove.

Our dear friends, Terhi & Oscar, have also experienced a new baby adventure.They gave birth to their daughter a two and a half weeks prior to Aspen's arrival. They kindly offered to take Aspen for a few hours today and babysit her. Oh my, what should we do?! We reluctantly took them up on their offer (reluctantly only because Aspen has been showing symptoms of colic lately and we were hesitant to give that problem to Terhi & Oscar). But, it all worked out...Charlie and I escaped to the Figaro Wine Bar for my first glass of wine (postpartum) and a lovely late lunch. Of course, my emotions were running high and so when Charlie very genuinely asked how was I doing...the next thing I knew I was crying in my glass of wine. After a quiet lunch we walked back, hand in hand, to pick up our lovely little daughter. The first thing Terhi said was, "Aspen has a set of lungs..." Oh no!

Colic & the Football Hold!

Super-hubby has now become super-daddy! Our nights have been filled with colic screaming and crying...so, the football hold (that Charlie is displaying here) has become a favorite. Super-dad is amazing when it comes to calming Aspen during these intense crying episodes (I just feel helpless and I cry). Since it has been consistently happening almost every night (since bringing her home from the hospital) between the "witching hours" of 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. we have decided to schedule an appointment with a zone therapist (foot reflexology) next week. This zone therapist was actually suggested by our midwife and a few of our friends--she is known to work wonders with colicky babies. More on this later...

Working with a Newborn

And this is what you see when Aspen actually sleeps...mom attempting to get some work done and eating all at the same time (oh, and pumping too...although we will spare you the graphic image of that).

Aspen's Nationality and Passport Adventure!

When a child is born in Finland, they are not automatically granted Finnish nationality unless one of their biological parents are Finnish. This means that our little Aspen did not qualify for Finnish nationality and thus we had to apply for U.S. nationality. The application and paperwork was quite extensive and we decided to apply for a passport and social security number all at the same time which meant tripling the paperwork. The most challenging aspect of all of this: the passport photo! Imagine how difficult it is to get a photo of a newborn with both eyes open, mouth closed, both ears visible, and no arms/hands in the photo. Oh my! It took us three visits to the photo shop before we realized we would have better luck taking the photo on our own. After a few photo shoots, we managed to capture ONE good photo (that the guy at the photo shop had to photoshop!)

After sending in the paperwork, we received an email from the U.S. consulate with the date and time of an appointment in the Helsinki consulate, July 17 at 10:30 a.m. We decided to make a trip out of it and spent the night in Helsinki. Aspen's first train ride was a success as she slept most of the way there and back.

Our visit to the U.S. consulate went well. In less than one hour we met with a foreign service worker, they went through all of our paperwork, we paid 164 euro, and we signed off on all of the papers. Now to wait one month for the passport and nationality documents!

Aspen: Two Weeks Old

During tummy time, we discovered that Aspen is "developmentally awesome" (as we call it)...she can already lift her head.

Aspen: One Week Old

As we learn to live with a newborn, these quiet cuddle  moments are the best!