Baby and Postpartum Update!

Posted on by beautybeyondbones

Hello friends!

Oh my goodness, wow! Here we are, Penny is SIX WEEKS OLD today and I am absolutely in love!

Here’s a little birth video I made on Instagram:

And wow I am absolutely octopus’d out!

I just coined that term: octopus’d. Meaning: all eight of my arms are completely occupied with something. This is not a negative thing…One can be joyfully octopus’d out, like I am! But none the less: there is not a spare 5 minutes in my day for anything extra! (Just ask my hair that I haven’t washed in 4 days!)

And oh – did I mention WE’RE MOVING ON SUNDAY?!

Yep! Our house is finally ready! So we are doing our final walk through on Sunday and getting the keys!

But I’m not thinking about that right now. All I’m thinking about is what time her next feed and diaper changer are!

Let me start by saying thank you for all the kind words and excitement on my last post announcing Penelope’s arrival! Steven and I had so much fun going through and reading everyone’s sentiments. How blessed am I to have such great friends like you!

Now for a Penny update!

She is such a delight!

I have found breastfeeding to be the ultimate joy. Penny is excellent at latching – to the tune that she was nearly 12 pounds at her one-month check up…putting her in the 92nd percentile for weight! She is one healthy baby, and we couldn’t be more proud of her!

Our pediatrician asked me what the heck was in my breast milk! And I told her about the Specific Carb Diet…and that the majority of MY calories come from protein and fat, so perhaps my milk is extra rich!

But being so well-fed has resulted in her sleeping beautifully! We’re talking 5-and-a-half hour stretches at night…she only wakes up once for a feed/change!

At least that’s for *now*…I hear there’s a 6-8 week sleep regression period during a major growth spurt…so I’ll let you know.

But oh my gosh, I’m just LOVING being a mom! I can’t believe I get the privilege of loving this little girl forever!

The newborn smell, the little coo’s and yelps, the sweet naps she takes on my chest, the way her little hands curl around my finger, the little smiles she’s start to make.

Sure, the diaper changes are tough and sometimes I’m covered in pee when she pees through her diaper, but you just forget about all that because she is our world. She is our precious daughter and it is all a joy.

Physically I am doing great. I was cleared to work out last week, and so I’m able to take longer stroller walks. My c-section incision has completely healed and I am not in any pain, and other than not jogging, I have returned to life as normal!

It’s hard to believe that our life existed without Penny! She is such an important part of our family and our life, I can’t believe that she’s only been on this earth for 6 weeks! (At least out of the womb…)

I didn’t know it was possible to love someone or something as much as we love her. And I also didn’t think it was possible to love my husband more than I did, but wow: seeing him be such an incredible father to her just makes me love him all the more!

She’s been to Mass every week now and only had one little crying spell yesterday…but quickly recovered and slept the rest of the time 🙂

We do need to work on tummy time…it’s hard to put her down to do something that makes her uncomfortable and cry! We want to just hold her all the time!

So that’s all for now!

Just wanted to update you on our precious Sweet P! I will be back to more regularly scheduled programming soon!

Enjoy your Monday!

Xoxo Caralyn and Penny 🙂

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beautybeyondbones

BBB: Because we're all recovering from something. // For speaking/business inquiries: beautybeyondbones@yahoo.com

34 thoughts on “Baby and Postpartum Update!”

  2. Absolutely beautiful! You, the baby, the family, the experience. There is no way to explain being a parent and the love you feel. It is a tiny taste of the love God has for each one of us and it breaks my heart and fills me with joy all at once.

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  3. I am so incredibly happy for your family! Tears while watching that video. Thank you for sharing your life with us all! ❤️

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  4. I do not really have words to describe how happy I am for you. It wasn’t all that long ago that you express some frustration with the dating scene and all that and now here you are married and with a beautiful child. God has brought you from the point of near-death to living a normal life to giving life and radiating Joy along with your husband and your daughter. God is such a good God and you are such an amazing testimonial to that fact. May God’s richest blessing be upon you and your family.

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  6. “We have these moments to hold in our hand,
    “And to touch as they slip through our fingers like sand.
    “Yesterdays gone and tomorrow may never come,
    “But we have these moments to share.”
    (by Bill and Gloria Gaither)
    These times will fly by too quickly for both you and Steven. Pictures, Pictures, PICTURES! Hold to every precious memory. When you’re 73 you can give this hymn and advice to a young couple in love and with their new child… and then you will understand.
    ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️,
    c.a.

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  7. I am so behind on Congratulations on this beautiful bundle of joy. My husband got sick the 1st of June and two months later he’s doing better and we are RVing around the country, so I’ve been a little preoccupied. Last week we drove past Cincinnati, and I thought of your sweet family. Since I’m just a blog follower, and have no clue where you live, I just imagined giving you all a hug and kissing those sweet cheeks of Penny’s. I am so happy for you. God is so good! ❤️❤️

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  10. I am so happy for you all! Your Penny is just adorable. It is so wonderful that you and Steven are enjoying her so much! God bless you all!

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  11. I am so happy for all of you and your family. The most important job for parents is to make sure their child knows about Jesus and how He came to save them. I grew up in the Catholic church almost 70 years ago. I did not learn that lesson. I only learned it when I met a friend who was a born again Christian when I was 19 years old at college. The God I knew was a judge who would send me to hell for all of my sins. The Jesus I knew had been born in Bethlehem, walked with disciples, died, rose, and went back to heaven. I didn’t know He died for MY sins. I didn’t know he was the one who would save me. I thought maybe it would be praying to Mary or ending up in purgatory to burn off my sins. I thought these things because I had never read the Bible. My friend gave me a New Testament and told me to start with the book of John. I did, and I found out that Jesus came to die for all of us, even me, and I needed to give my life to Him. This is what you must tell your daughter when she is old enough to understand words and what they mean. Read to her from a children’s Bible. Tell her Jesus came to save her. That is what I did with my own children. I told them about a loving God and a Jesus who came to save them. I took them to a church where the Bible was taught and preached. They went to Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, and Church Camp. All three of my children gave their lives to Jesus and were immersed in Baptism at a young age. Now I am seeing my grandchildren give their lives to Jesus even in this dark world in which we live with Satan lying to children and adults about who they are or could be, different from how God created them. Jesus is the light of the world. He defeats the darkness. He is coming back soon. It is never too soon to tell your little one about Jesus. I did not tell my children that there was a real Santa Claus because my oldest son, at age three, said he loved Santa better than Jesus. So I told him the truth. What if he believed in Santa and then found out I had lied to him all of those years. If he could not trust me not to lie to him about Santa, then he might think that I lied to him about Jesus too. I know this is long, but please remember that you gave your life to Jesus. You are going to heaven. You want her there with you too.
    With love, a 70 yr old mom.

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  15. Wow, this is incredibly beautiful! Thank God you had a safe delivery and all of you are fine.I’m so happy for you Caralyn, from the time you battled anorexia and now you are a mother! Indeed God is faithful.Ebenezer, this far the Lord has brought you.Glory to God almighty.

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  17. She is absolutely beautiful! Congratulations on your beautiful baby!! ENJOY EVERY MINUTE!!! (Even the hard ones!) They go by too fast (our oldest is going to be 18 this year and I can still feel her as a little bitty one being held in my arms). I have done my best to enjoy every stage, but still want those moments back! 🙂 God Bless!!!!

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  19. Congratulations on your precious little bundle of joy! I’m so happy to hear everyone is doing well and adjusting to the new way of life. I’ve been following your blog on-and-off for something like 14 years, and it’s been beautiful to see how you’ve transformed in that time. While I don’t know you personally, I am so proud of you, Caralyn, and the life you’ve built for yourself! God bless! ❤️

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  20. I’m so overjoyed for you! What a journey ! I’ve followed you through your brave single years…your bold stand for faith…your discovery of love ….and now love multiplied over and over! Hooray! God is so good! Remember how much YOU are loved and appreciated! Take care of YOU as you care for Penny (adorable, by the way!). AND well…that handsome hubby! Sending prayers for continued bonding with family AND JESUS – the lover of your souls! Take care! ❤️ Laurie

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  22. How wonderfully beautiful! And…so are you! You positively glow! Oh she is just gorgeous as if she recieved all the beautiful attributes of you both. And, clearly you give her all of your very best.
    I love that you have this space in the world to write all about it. These will be the loving memories, written to last forever. She will cherish these one day, her children will too. All your posts will be how future generations will truly know their mother, grandmother, great and great great grandmother. In the quiet moments, maybe begin a habit of writing her love letters and put them away. You can present her with these on her wedding day and she’ll cherish them forever. Not only a lifetime of your love and devotion as a mother but also written in your own handwriting. A treasure.
    Love you all from afar & pray for you often.
    Laura💕

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  23. God is so good to have blessed you and Steven with such a beautiful and amazing baby. I’m so glad that you’re recovering well and that all is going well with Penelope.

    Much hugs and love to you! ✨💖✨💖✨

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  24. Penny is gorgeous and you are radiant, Caralyn! Soak up these precious moments. I’m so glad sleep and nursing is going well. As for tummy time, my daughter hated it too. We laid her tummy to tummy on our chest while laying flat and that helped. 🙂

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  25. Penny is beautiful, and I am reminded of my late wife who once worked at the birthing center (Richland, WA), and she became the baby photographer in the hospital because she always got the baby’s eyes open. Of course, she did. She’d play with the baby until … Whoever took the pictures did a great job. Penny is very expressive.

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  30. I have strangely mixed emotions reading your posts. I wish I could be bright and breezy like everyone else.i did ask for your forgiveness in advance knowing that I am very touchy on this topic and liable to say the wrong thing.
    I was trying to fix my marriage at your stage. Best advice I waa ever given was,
    “Allow yourself not to cope for a day.”
    Take care

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  31. First time in ages I have checked, in and Oh. My. Gosh. She is a doll! I wish you so much joy.

    I will say I absolutely understand surrendering our pain, fear and plans. My first baby was born by emergency c section 13 weeks early (i didn’t even HAVE a birth plan yet), and I had 10 days in the hospital, completely be myself to ruminate on the events and how they were’t going my way. All I could do is trust in God, that He put the very best doctors in place to have a successful outcome.

    In the days during and following my stay, he put ladies and their wonderful families, a spectacular NICU team, and donors to get me and baby home, in my path.

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  34. I’m so happy to see these pictures. She is gorgeous and your family is gorgeous together. It’s been wonderful to follow your blog from 2020 until now and see the power of God working in your life. Sending love and congratulations.

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