I’m not gonna lie, the first few weeks with our bilingüita had a really rocky start, but they quickly turned around and it ended up being such a sweet time as a new family of three. In this update, I talk about the first couple weeks at home, which spanned both Christmas and New Years (she lived in two decades before she was even a month old!). Read on to hear the about the lowest of low points, the newborn sweetness, the conversation between Fredy and Aniela that had me grinning from ear to ear, and the things that completely saved our lives at this stage.
December, 2019 – Aniela’s first few weeks
Weight: 6 lbs 8 oz (1 week) 7 lbs 8 oz (2 weeks) 9 lbs 2 oz (4 weeks)
Height: 20.5 in (1-2 weeks) 21.5 in (4 weeks)
Clothing size: Newborn (though a lot of it was still big on her at first)
Diaper size: Newborn — the one box of diapers we actually had to buy (when we ran out of gifted ones) were Hello Bello with cutest prints, but she grew out of them before we finished the box :'(
Nicknames: Pelitos, Gamora (don’t ask, Alfredo gives the most random nicknames…but I think it’s from Guardians of the Galaxy)
She’s starting to: Smile! (at the end of the first four weeks) But I think it’s still just reflexive…
She no longer: By the end the first few weeks, she no longer pulls her legs up out of her onesie legs to get into the fetal position (if you watched my stories on Instagram you know what I’m talking about!) and she no longer appreciates her dad’s amazing talent for burrito-like swaddling.
Favorite word/phrase: Obviously this one still doesn’t really apply yet, but she does love hearing voices – my voice especially 😉
Predominant feeling during this stage: “Newborns are sooooo sweet! I want her to stay like this forever.”
A few things that are saving our lives right now:
- Snuggle Me Organic lounger pillow: It has cushioned sides but the middle is like a little nest where she feels all snuggled up. She still keeps her hands up by her face and tuck her legs up when she’s in it. We love this lounger, it’s the secret to long naps and it’s so portable when we go out of town.
- Carseat cover: Any brand will do. We were gifted one at our baby shower, and it’s been awesome. Especially since it’s winter, it keeps the wind and cold out of her face. And it keeps strangers out of her face when we’re out (I mean, sometimes I didn’t like this, cuz I was dying to show her off, but then again it’s cold & flu season). I also used it as a nursing cover a few times when I was first getting the hang of breastfeeding out and about.
- Nipple shield: If I ever share about my breastfeeding experience, I’ll go more into detail about this one, but just know, it saved our life (quite literally saved hers) when she was refusing to eat the first day out of the hospital. Not everyone needs one though, so don’t jump to this if you’re not sure you need it.
- Haakaa: I was able to build up a great little freezer stash with this; hands-free, no electricity needed! Again, I’ll go more into this one day if I write about my experience with breastfeeding.
- Wipe warmer: Some people call it unnecessary, some people call it bougie, but with a winter baby and a cold apartment, this was totally a game changer. We used the HiccaPop one off Amazon and have had absolutely no complaints.
First Weeks General Updates
As we arrived home from the hospital, I remember thinking, “Aniela’s coming home for the first time! She’s going to see where we live!” But then I remembered: She’s actually already been here — for nine months! Sure, she hasn’t seen our home, but it’s still familiar! The sounds, the light patterns, and probably even the layout from me walking around with her in the womb. It was such a crazy realization.
The first night was ROUGH, after already being sleep deprived from the hospital (why they gotta come in so often and check on you?? Okay, I know why, but it sure isn’t conducive to catching up on any sleep). That first night at home followed by the day afterward was probably my lowest low point postpartum. Like I said – sleep deprivation upon sleep deprivation. Upon painful postpartum recovery. My hormones were doing crazy things. She wouldn’t stay asleep. And when she finally was asleep, I couldn’t stop crying because I wanted to hold her before ‘she got any older and grew up any more.’ “Oh yeah, she’s about ready to head off to college,” Fredy said, totally not understanding the havoc my hormones were wreaking on my emotions 😝
That first night is also when she stopped wanting to latch, after days of having a textbook-quality-amazing latch. In fact, she’d scream her head off every time I’d try to nurse her. The next day we had to wait until late afternoon to get an appointment with the pediatrician, where luckily everything was good growth wise, but we were told we had to take her to go get a lab test done to follow up with her jaundice. Since it was late afternoon now, it was already after-hours at all urgent care centers where they could perform the lab test. But we didn’t find that out until we got there. And we tried two different ones. It was awful, hobbling around painfully from parking lot to urgent care center back to parking lot, in the freezing cold December wind. Having to then take my less-than-a-week old baby to the EMERGENCY ROOM at the hospital she was delivered at to get her bilirubin levels tested. At this point, I was so exhausted and aching from even just standing. And my baby was still not eating well. Oh man, yeah. Lowest of low points.
After that, we were on the upswing. We settled into our little routine. While at the pediatrician, we’d seen the lactation consultant too, and she majorly helped us get back on track with feeding. So the days and nights that followed were exponentially better than those first ones. Aniela proved to be a very calm, happy, cooperative baby. Family and friends came and visited at just the right level that never felt overwhelming. Alfredo was off work and able to spend lots of amazing bonding time with our little girl. It was December, so we were surrounded by happy holiday hustle & bustle everywhere we went, when we did go out.
Christmas came and it was such a sweet time with my family and our newest little addition – the best Christmas present of all! Alfredo and I even decided to take a leap of faith and bring Aniela down to Williamsburg for an overnight trip to go see the Christmas lights at Busch Gardens – our first of many little family road trips. And she did amazing. In ‘Italy’ at Busch Gardens is when I nursed her in public for the first time, too! (In the dark and with a cover, but hey it still counts!)
New Years rolled around and we had an awesome evening with our good friends, and Aniela took a bottle for the first time without even batting an eye.
So while we may have had a rocky start, the first few weeks with our little girl ended up being quite successful and oh-so-sweet.
“En esta casa somos bilingües. Bilingüitos. De hecho, trilingüitos – porque hablamos inglés, español, y bebé.”
Language Updates
One of my favorite moments of those first few weeks was actually from day two or three of being back home. I was still in bed and Alfredo was out in the kitchen with Aniela, walking around holding her and talking to her. I listened in and what I heard put such a smile on my face. He was narrating to her everything they were doing and teaching her the names of everything they were seeing. Their ‘conversation’ went like this:
Alfredo: “Esto es un refrigerador. Re-fri-ge-ra-dor. En inglés, ‘refrigerator.’ Puedes decir eso?”
Aniela: “…“
Alfredo: “Ahora, esto es un ‘carseat.’ En español, se dice ‘portabebés.’ Dilo, ‘por-ta-be-bés.’”
Aniela: “…”
Alfredo: “Mira, es muy importante que sepas que aquí en esta casa somos bilingües. Bilingüitos. Hablamos dos idiomas. De hecho, trilingüitos, porque hablamos inglés, español, y bebé.
Aniela: “…”
I was smiling so much… I was even able to catch the end of that one-sided convo on video. It was so sweet 😀 That’s right Anielita, ¡somos bilingüitos! Pero aquí en la casa, hablamos español. 😉
Later in those first few weeks, I posted a video on Instagram of me talking to Anielita and in the video I was asking her something about her crazy hair-do (her hair really has a mind of its own lol). Someone responded to the video asking, “I notice you speak to her in both English and Spanish, is that what you recommend for ensuring bilingualism?” And I had to realize that I wasn’t doing that for her — when I would post videos talking to her in English, it wasn’t for her at all, it was for the sake of everyone watching the videos! So that they’d understand our little ‘conversations.’
But no, that’s not what I speak to her in, and it’s not how I plan to further her bilingualism. So I had to take a step back and ask myself, why did I need to worry about people watching the videos??? I am striving to speak to her only in Spanish, and like I mentioned in the previous milestone post, it has felt so natural so far. So why would I break out of that for an Instagram video? So that was a good reminder to *not* do that.
I’ve mentioned on the podcast that our plan is to implement the bilingual parenting strategy of MLAH, or ‘minority language at home.’ This means that within our family (inside and outside of the home) we will use Spanish. Granted, sometimes it may look a little more like Spanglish here and there because that’s just how Fredy and I operate, but at the core we want to use Spanish at home. We want to build Aniela’s base in Spanish to be as strong as can be, because we will be her primary sources of input in that language. English is all around her, so that won’t be a problem. But since Fredy and I both speak Spanish (and it’s what we’ve always spoken to each other in too), and in our mind, we would be forsaking the rich wealth of language input that we are able to provide if we were to do it any other way.
Fredy and I both speak Spanish, and in our mind, we would be forsaking the rich wealth of minority language input that we are able to provide if we were to [not use it at home].
Well, I hope this little language update has been helpful to you guys! And I appreciate you following along with my general life update for this stage as well. It forces me to write things down, which I know I will be grateful for one day! Stay tuned for the next post, her one month update, which will cover all of January, including a trip up to visit great-grandparents, and talk about language choice in conversations with strangers! Remember, my hope with these posts is that aspiring bilingual families, new parents, and expecting mamás-to-be alike will benefit from month-by-month updates of bilingual parenting in action.
Want to connect with us online? Follow along with my personal Instagram, and with our Bilingüitos Instagram or our Facebook. Also, join in on the bilingual parenting conversation in our Facebook Group, the Bilingual Parenting Network!
