One Week Old

I can't believe today (my due date, with the original one being this Thursday!) I have a 9-day-old baby girl :-) OMG I love newborns!!!!!! Some people say this is their least favorite stage but for me it's like taking a happy-and-in-love pill every minute of every day! Exactly how I was with Logan, I have the opposite of post partum depression -- it's like I am surrounded by hearts and sunshine!!!! My heart is mush every time I look at her or hold this tiny, precious creature! She is a very content and peaceful baby. She cries when she's hungry and that's it. (And it's not a life or death issue like it was with Logan. . .ahem still is! She doesn't mind her diaper changed like Logan did, either.) I had thought Logan was a pretty easy baby, but being a second time mother this seems much easier. Everything is predictable and relaxed. There haven't been any "What's going on? What should I do?" moments.

I was right with my prediction, Krissa looks just like Logan did as a baby, only her features are more feminine. She is also super strong like he's always been. Krissa has the sweetest soul and personality!!!!! She is already smiling!!!! Nobody can tell me "it's just gas" because it happens every time I talk to her! I use a certain voice and she'll open her eyes and look at me and smile! It is an unexpected gift (Logan didn't smile responsively 'til he was almost 6 weeks old, which is the average age).

Even though I was already a mother before Krissa was born, it has been no less surprising how much love I feel for her and that nothing else in this world can come even remotely close to this experience. I had thought maybe it wouldn't be as exciting the second time around, or that I would feel my heart torn between both kids, but neither are the case at all. I feel the exact same toward Logan at the same time that I experience everything with Krissa. God must know how to design us :-)Speaking of Logan, he has been IDEAL with the adjustment!!!!! Some wonderful things he has said this week:

"I love my sister."
"Krissa is the best baby ever!"
"Can we please keep Krissa forever?"
"I'm so glad I have a sister."

He has said these things numerous times and it makes me so happy! There has been ZERO jealousy or trying to get more attention or any negative glances toward her or anything like that. Instead, he wants to touch her and be around her at all times! If she's in the nursery, he asks if he can go in there and look at her. He hugs and kisses her a hundred times a day. It's so obvious when watching him with her that he adores her and already feels the role of "big brother" -- she's going to be so lucky to have an older brother who will "have her back!"

To pick up where I left off with Krissa Anne Rodgers' Birth Story, I spent a couple of hours recovering in the room I gave birth in, then Mary wheeled me to a new room - #2111 (which was funny because that is our actual address). That is where I finally ate for the first time in almost 24 hours! (I also peed for the first time since the birth.)

The hospital had really good food. They brought Joe breakfast Fri morning when I was in labor - pancakes, eggs, sausage, orange juice - pizza for lunch, and chicken strips for supper. Meanwhile, my meal that day was an egg salad sandwich, apple juice, baked lays, and a brownie. Too bad they don't let new mothers stay for a week like they used to -- a hospital is better than a hotel for a vacation because you have people waiting on you hand and foot. :p

Joe's mom and Logan arrived that evening (Fri, July 15), roughly the same time that my mom and stepdad did. Of course the grandparents were all thrilled to meet their granddaughter. :-)

Sandi had taken Logan to the splash pad that afternoon so that was fun for him (and Joe took him a few days later). Logan was soooo excited that the baby finally came out of my tummy and he could hold her. He kept asking to see my tummy now that it was small; he always did this around a room full of people, haha, so I told him I'd show him later as I'm sure it'll be a bit longer before it's back to normal :p

While the grandparents were visiting, Mary left at 7 pm and I met my night nurse, Kelly, and Technician Theresa. After my parents left, I took a bath in the jacuzzi -- something that they hadn't had at my other hospital but really helped with the recovery pain! Then Theresa gave Krissa her first bath! She did well; cried a little but got over it quickly.

Something else that was different from my other hospital was that this time they hardly checked my uterus and "area where I'd given birth." After I gave birth to Logan, they checked me every single hour from Fri to Sun. After having Krissa, they checked me a total of 3 times the entire weekend -- and one of those we were the ones to ask for it! Thankfully, everything healed the way it was supposed to. As I said in my last post, I had no more pain by Sunday the 17th. I stopped bleeding today (after 9 days, with Logan it was 7) and had the moment of truth (looked with a mirror and I look the same -- whew).

On Saturday, July 16, Kelly left at 7 am and Robyn was my nurse for a couple of hours until she got called to labor & delivery, then Diane took over. Diane was an older woman -- a grandmotherly type who was awesome. . .I later asked if I could take her home with me. :-) She just seemed to know everything about everything and gave us the best tips, etc. She was also funny. . .kept talking to Joe and me about sex! She even managed to get him to look during one of the checks!!! (I was glad he said it wasn't bad.)

My doctor also stopped by to see how I was doing, as well as Krissa -- by the way, I forgot to mention during her labor story that her heartbeat was awesome during the entire experience. It stayed in the 140-150 range the entire time (Logan's stayed consistent and at a good range during his birth, too); the pediatrician-on-call looked Krissa over, also.That afternoon Sandi & Logan came back around the same time again as my mom and stepdad, who had stayed in a hotel. (For breakfast I'd had an English muffin with egg, ham & cheese and juice, for lunch I had pizza, and for supper I had a tuna fish sandwich.)

Joe drove over to our house for a little while but didn't have a chance to do the touch-up paint that I'd mentioned in a previous post that he might do while I was in the hospital. He plans to do it this week, and rather than drive to Iowa next Sunday to return to work on Monday as originally planned, he doesn't have to go over until Tuesday night, August 2nd! He had 60 hrs of vacation which he used this first week of Krissa's life, and will use the rest this Mon, Tues, and half of Wed. Then, they are allowing him to work from home the other half of Wed, Thurs, Fri, and the following Mon & Tues! (Have I mentioned that I love his new job?!?! Joe just found out that several of his old coworkers/friends are fed up with the mandatory overtime and are also now looking for new jobs. The guy whose wife is due today hasn't had their baby yet so she is unhappy that she will be induced on Thursday if she hasn't gone into labor. I told Joe to tell her to get her membranes stripped!)

Anyway, Joe will take Logan to Iowa with him on the eve of August 2nd and Logan will stay at my mom and stepdad's house until Joe comes back Friday, August 5th; then we will ALL move with our POD (which we still plan to get next weekend) to take to my dad's house on Sunday, August 7th for the next 7 weeks or until our new house is move-in ready. Our current house will go on the market Monday, August 8th.

Okay, back to my stay in the hospital. . .Kelly took over for Diane again at 7 pm (We had Krissa go to the nursery for 4 hrs during both nights in the hospital so that we could get some consecutive hours of sleep), and then Diane was back at 7 am on Sunday, July 17. Dr. Sullivan stopped by again (I made my 6 week check up with her for Friday, August 26 at 3:25 pm so we'll plan to come back to Omaha that weekend), and the pediatrician looked Krissa over again. I was discharged at almost 11 am (after having a ham, cheese, mushroom, and green pepper omelet for breakfast).

It felt weird not to be able to ride in the backseat with Krissa like I did when we brought Logan home from the hospital. Since we had both carseats in the backseat this time, there wasn't room. :( But she slept peacefully the entire ride.Joe's mom had gotten a "It's A Girl!" pink sign for our yard, and a big balloon for the inside, as well as balloons for Logan. :-) (The couple across the street saw the sign and brought over a gift for us -- how nice is that?! We've only talked to them a few times.) My mom and stepdad came over and then they & Sandi all headed back to Iowa.

So far, having two kids hasn't been overwhelming or stressful but I'm sure that's because Joe has been here!!! We aren't outnumbered (how in the world do people with 3 or more do it?!!!) I'm a little worried about once it's just ME with the two kids (Joe went on a quick run to the store the other day and I was nursing Krissa, and Logan was jumping on the couch and accidentally kicked her in the head! Thankfully she didn't cry so it must not have hurt too much, although she was startled. . .I know that was the first of many. . .), but at least we will soon be in Iowa with family nearby to help out.

Our first night was pretty much like what we were expecting: no sleep! I remember the first night with Logan was the worst and so I kept telling myself the same thing this time: "The first night's the worst, the first night's the worst."

I was right when I'd said (pregnant) that I was betting that Krissa would want to be swaddled. I was also right that she loves curling up into a tight little ball! She does this automatically whenever I hold her to my chest, it is the cutest thing ever. So, I'm sure that being alone in a big crib was not immediately comforting, however, it didn't take her long to adjust. I just could not get the swaddling thing down (because Logan never wanted to be) so without even meaning to, we weaned her off. Each time she'd be in a looser and looser blanket until we just decided to go without the blanket, and she was fine, so that was that. The same thing with the pacifier. Logan liked his for 2-3 months and then that was it. Well she LOVED the one they gave her at the hospital, but she'd wake up every time it fell out of her mouth! So, after getting up a hundred times simply to put it back in, I decided to see how she did without that, too -- and what do you know, she was fine. So, Monday night she seemed much more secure as she let us sleep for 1.5 hr intervals (was only awake to nurse, then went immediately back to sleep) and Tuesday night was 3 hr intervals, and as of Friday it's been 4 hr intervals!!! So, I don't feel as tired or exhausted as I had been with Logan at this point, since his first two months he woke up every two hours!

Monday, July 18 was Krissa's first real pediatrician appt (with Logan's doctor, Dr. Arispe). That was when we learned the news that she DID have jaundice after all! (I had written in her birth story that her level was great at discharge and she didn't have any of the same symptoms that Logan had had. She was alert and happy, and not born before 37 wks or from a traumatic birth -- which are usually the reasons for jaundice.) She had gone from a 7 to a 12 (Logan had gone from a 13 to 21 in that same period. Anything from 20 on is hospitalization because 25 on can be brain damage, hearing loss, among other things.) Thankfully, having been through a worse case with Logan, we took it in stride. I was more worried about how this would affect breastfeeding since that was the main reason why it was hard with Logan! (See my post on my old blog, History Of Breastfeeding In America.) Her weight had gone down to 7 lbs, 0 oz so my doctor explained that if it didn't go up then we were going to have to supplement with formula because losing weight would make her jaundice worse.

Well, as I had said in her birth story, she was a phenomenal nurser. It had been going as easy as easy could be (except that my nipples were sore by Monday, something that had never occurred with Logan -- probably because he wasn't as vigorous. So, I started using nipple cream and after a few days they stopped hurting. I also became engorged on Sunday/Day 3 and she refused my left breast just as Logan did for the entire 9 months! This time I was not going to walk around lop-sided (even pumping for Logan had never produced any milk from that side), so I bought a nipple shield which got her to nurse over there, and after 48 hrs my engorgement phase was over and she has since taken the left side without the shield. So, both sides appear to be producing the same amount of milk this time, yeay).

Needless to say, I was not taking a second of successful breastfeeding for granted and was not about to have that go down the drain!!!! Having 9 months of memories with Logan, I was super motivated, so she and I became a team ready for battle! :-)

We won!

When we went back to the pediatrician on Tuesday (the 19th) she was 7 lbs, 4 oz, on Wednesday (the 20th) was 7 lbs, 7 oz, Thursday (the 21st) was 7 lbs, 8 oz, and Friday (the 22nd) was 7 lbs, 10 oz -- she made it back to her birth weight with a week to spare! (Typically it takes babies two weeks to get back to their birth weight.) That was all my boobs, no bottles. :-)

On the downside, her jaundice level on Tuesday was 14, and on Wednesday was 15. . .once they get to 16 then babies have to be under lights/on the phototherapy blanket, so Dr. Arispe sent over a home healthcare nurse to bring the machine to us. On Thursday her level had dropped to a 13 which signaled that it had worked and she was probably recovered, but to be on the safe side her doctor kept her on the blanket for another 24 hrs. After we received word that her level was a 10, we took her off the machine Friday afternoon!So, just like with Logan, we really didn't do much our first week other than focus on the jaundice. Other things that happened: Her umbilical cord fell off on Thursday (day 6). . .Wednesday (day 5) I had to take my only pain pill due to GAS! I remember now that it took like 2 months for my digestive system to return to normal after I had Logan. On Day 5 this time I had horrible pinching in my intestine-area that was causing me to gasp every few minutes so I was glad I'd filled my prescription (unlike with Logan I hadn't bothered to get anything once I left the hospital). Thankfully, my stomach has been normal since.

On Friday (exactly a week after Krissa was born), I stepped on the scale and was relieved to see that I'd lost 21 lbs of the 35 lbs that I'd gained. Fourteen to go. . .

On Saturday (the 23rd, when she was 8 days old), we had our newborn photos taken :-) The photographer who I'd originally planned to use was Kirkelie Photography (http://www.kirkeliephotography.com). But, as I mentioned last week, she wasn't able to, due to being affected by Omaha's recent flooding. So I was happy when I came across Amy Price (http://amypricephotography.com). She came over to our house and was super nice. She said that Krissa was the easiest newborn she'd ever taken photos of. Krissa never fussed no matter what position she was put in, and slept through the entire photo shoot (although she peed twice and pooped twice on the props, lol). She sent me the link to her blog where there is a preview of some of the photos she took of Krissa and I LOVE THEM! (http://www.amypricephotographyblog.com/?p=89) I'm so glad it worked out; I can't wait to see the rest!

I decided to send the dogs to the groomers another "final time" just so they wouldn't be around during the photo shoot. Although, so far they could care less about Krissa! I could tell they knew what was happening this time with my pregnancy, and that even after my water broke they seemed to act like they knew what was coming. When we'd brought Logan home from the hospital they had been all over him -- sniffing and wanting to watch him constantly. At the littlest sound they'd run to him (and they still do when he wakes up from his nap). With Krissa, they completely ignore her! They act like she's not even here. They have not only stayed away from her, but they don't even glance at her when she cries. It's kind of weird. . .but I'd prefer them being like that opposed to aggressive or annoying!

In closing, I'd like to say that I don't have de quervain's this time (posts about last time are here)! :-)Here is the post I wrote when Logan was one week old: My Newborn's First Week (as well as Back To The Present)

P.S. Just as I posted this she started laughing for the first time!!!