Life is so much more precious now. time, sleep, kisses, back rubs, singles, smiles, conversations, movies, showers, everything. Nobody can ever prepare for an event as precious as the birth of a child. Like I said we think we know but we have no idea. The past 5 weeks have been the most challenging and emotional weeks of my life. So much anxiety and so much joy.
After we brought AdaReece home we had tons of support and visitors, it was great, its just really exhausting caring for this tiny baby around the clock while still trying to host people and answer questions about food and photographs when your body won't let you relax and the only thing in your mind is when did she eat, is she still breathing, is she too hot, is she too cold, why are her lips chapped, when will she poop again, is she supposed to squeak that much? she's so perfect, she's so tiny. her fingernails are so small but so sharp....all in a split second.
There have been so many things that have scared me as a first time parent. I want to do everything perfect and it kills me because i have no clue.
We brought her home on Thursday. She didn't poop on Thursday or Friday. I started to freak because my milk had also not 'dropped' we had some formula but i didn't want to use it. I was waking her every three hours (even though all she wanted to do was sleep) to get her to nurse in hopes eventually something obvious would come out. Her big, beautiful lips were now very chapped and I was in a constant state of anxiety. Saturday morning, Shari, a lactation consultant and baby nurse came over. she weighed AR, showed me how to breast feed, weighed AR again and proved to us that she was intact getting some amount of milk. She also showed me how to use my pump and gave me a ton of reassurance. Monday we took her to her first pediatricians appointment. She had lost some weight but we had begun to see more milk in the pump and we knew she was getting at least an ounce or two from my breast plus the bottle that i would pump and then give her. So now I was pumping after every feeding. Michael had a ton of stuff going on at work and was such a trooper.
Thursday, December 15th was the day we planned for her to be here, it was also Michaels 36th birthday. We had Pleasant Vonnoh come and take newborn photos. I can't wait to post them, they turned out so great. Monday, we went back to the pediatrician and AR was up a few ounces past her birthweight, I felt some relief! The rest of the days are really a blur, then it was Christmas Eve. Debbie came over and we had Egg Drop soup and egg rolls and Beef and Rice. It was delicious. Christmas morning we got up and opened presents and ate a huge breakfast with biscuits and sausage gravy and eggs and fresh squeezed orange juice. AR slept through most of that:) The next day, my mom and brothers and their kids came over to open more presents and mom made lasagna and Kayla made pineapple casserole and we had salad bread and cake. A few more blurry days and then New Years our friends, the Tedfords made hamburgers for lunch and then our friends the Swansons came over for dinner and we had steaks. We bought gas drops because AR had been getting pretty fussy after eating. They didn't seem to be helping so on Tuesday January 3, I called the pediatrician and asked about what the best kind would be, after a few questions, she had me come on in with some poopy diapers to check. When I left, I almost had a breakdown, she told me there were traces of blood in her stool from her being milk soy protein intolerant.(MSPI) From the dairy I consumed, her little body couldn't process it and upset her intestines and was making her scream. So that is the last day I have eaten any dairy or soy. It has not been too bad so far and she is already much better. We tried some Nutrimagin formula and it smells like dog food mixed with potatoes. I know she will take it if necessary but i really want to breast feed her. SO, I thought we had finally gotten past all the drama and then my boob starts KILLING me. After some googling and a discussion with the pediatrician and the OB nurse we think it was a ductal yeast infection. I'm finally over that hump and feel like the newborn fog is clearing. I went and got my hair done yesterday and today I went and had a massage, so I really feel like a new person. Here are some photos and hope to be more regular with posts from now on. She really is growing up too fast, she is looking all around and I swear she smiles at me. she makes tons of faces and has her eyes wide open and gazes at me. We just love her so much.
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| making egg drop soup |
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| First Christmas |
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| First Family Walk, New Years Day 2012 |
XOXO, Dannis
