ISLA IS ONE!!! I can hardly believe I am writing this!! In fact she’s almost 13 months…. This year has been nuts – in the best and craziest ways. Since this will be the last post in my Baby’s First Year series, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share more in depth some of the details about Isla’s first year.
When Isla was born, Dave and I were 4.5 years removed from the newborn stage. For us it was like we were first time parents all over again. Mix in the fact that all babies are different, we felt like we were starting at square one. But we were smitten and totally in love (newsflash : we still are 🙂 ).
Born at over 9lbs, she left the hospital three days later having lost over 10% of her body weight, just around 8lbs. Add in the fact that she was jaundice, we spent the first weeks and months of her life going back and for to the doctor office trying to play catch up to her weight. It was stressful, concerning and added a lot to our overwhelming plate.
On the postpartum front, I didn’t fair so well either. Recovery from my second c-section was much harder than I anticipated. It felt like I was able to bounce back after Jonathan was born (an unplanned c-section) but with Isla’s birth (a planned c-section), I just couldn’t seem to recover as quickly as I had hoped. I lost a lot of blood and then subsequently bled for two months following. I was exhausted and uncomfortable and it took probably until the third month where I started to feel like myself again. I also suffered from mild depression/anxiety all throughout the first year which just compounded the recovery issues. When December 2018 rolled around, I did a near happy dance every day, just thankful to be on the other side of surgery and recovery.
In the first 3-4 months Isla was a tough cookie to crack. She was very different from Jonathan and so we had to work hard to learn her preferences and what kind of baby she was. She suffered from some strange apnea episodes as well as reflux which meant she was super fussy, hated being placed on her tummy or back and made being home alone with her scary at times. Once we got her on reflux meds and started her on solids things began to even out and everyone in the house was MUCH happier!! It was also around this time that Isla moved into her crib in her own room — we never looked back, it was probably one of the best decisions we made all year. We moved her a lot sooner than we did her brother and I think we were all happier for it!!
The summer began and so did my wedding season. Isla managed to give me two naps a day (something her brother NEVER did) which made my editing season manageable and it was a total blessing. With the summer weather we enjoyed being outside, wearing adorable girly outfits and our new schedule. Truly she made the 5-9 month marks a joy and I couldn’t stop saying how much I enjoyed that stage, something I struggled to say when Jonathan was that age. She started sleeping through the night, feeding three-four times a day and it was during this time we really found our groove together.
At 7.5 months, Isla had her first night away and spent the weekend at her grandparents. At 8.5 months she took her first flight — to Honolulu!! We vacationed in Hawaii for 12 days, flew across the country, took one red eye flight and we all lived to tell the tale. She was an absolute CHAMP.
After we returned from Hawaii, the months seemed to blur together. All throughout Isla’s first year she has had this strange phenomenon, where her feet are ALWAYS blue. It’s something I haven’t talked about publicly but it has been an issue we’ve been dealing with for over a year now. An EKG, heart echo, and vein doppler later and we still don’t have answers. We spent the fall attending doctor appointments and trying not to worry. Meanwhile she continues to hit her milestones so we move forward, while also trying to figure out what might be going on. We currently have an appointment scheduled with a vascular specialist at Children’s, so we hope that will provide some insight.
And with all of that, suddenly December was here and Isla was one. This year has been hard and yet so wonderful. You may or may not know our story of how Isla came to be. She is our miracle baby, the baby we were told we might never have. She brings us joy beyond measure and we are so thankful to have this first year to store away into our memories!! I’m excited to move forward, to watch as she continues to grow and begin this next stage of life together!!
See more of Isla’s First Year : Month One, Month Two, Month Three, Month Four, Month Five, Month Six, Month Seven, Month Eight, Month Nine & Ten
