She is quite the adorable one, huh?
I am such a grateful Mama these days. I have so very much to be thankful for. I delivered a healthy baby, I am a week into recovering from the c-section and feel like a million bucks (compared to the previous c-section). I am not bluesy or weepy or having depressing thoughts. I am just happy. Happy to have such a beautiful family. Happy to be alive. Happy to know that I am a lucky and blessed Mother and Wife.
All of my fears about postpartum recovery/emotions have been put to rest.
I know it has a lot to do with already being a Mother and knowing a little of what to expect.
Charlee has proven just how different babies can be from one another in just this short sweet week of her life.
Her personality is really coming out a lot earlier than Emme's did.
*I do want to stop right there for a second and mention that I don't want to be "that" Mother who compares her children to one another. I am, after all, writing this journal for them to read and be proud of one day. They will be in competition enough as it is with each other I'm sure ; )*
So with that cleared up, let's talk a little bit about Charlee-
She is a poop machine. On the hour, every hour we change her. She does give us a break during the night as she is a fantastic sleeper then and I only change her when I feed her.
After a VERY painful beginning to nursing my newborn, I am happy to say everything is back to normal. It's been a while since I have nursed and so when Charlee latched on- I trusted she got enough "boob" and since she seemed content and happy suckling away I assumed she got it. I was sadly mistaken. We later determined she was just suckling the very tip of my breasts for the first 24 hours causing an improper latch. By then it was too late.. the damage was done. She gave me cracked and bleeding nipples.
I. was. in. horrible. pain.
I have a new respect for moms who have been through this. I had no problems nursing with my first born due to a lactation nurse being there to show me. I told the nurses that I would remember how to since I nursed Emme for 14 months. I haven't, however nursed a newborn in quite some time so that wake up call was sadly, a very painful one. It took a visit to the lactation consultant, crazy looking nipple breathing plastic contraptions, and a ton of lanolin to help heal my poor baby feeders. All the while you still need to nurse in order to establish your brand new milk supply. Prayers, tears, and determination got me through it. I wouldn't wish bleeding, cracked nipples on anyone!
Even with all that mess, all it took was for ME to learn again how to place her on the breast and she got it perfectly from there. She is a very good eater and my milk supply is a very healthy amount. I pumped the other day and got 6 oz and that was just 30 min after I nursed her! *Can you say cooooow??* She eats during the day every 2-3 hours and at night every 4-5 hours giving me an amazing stretch of time to sleep (let's pray that lasts). Last night she slept for a solid 6 hours in her bassinet, I fed and changed her then she slept another 4 hours in her swing.
Her personality is so chill. I have such a content baby. After I nurse her she will go to sleep for about an hour then do some tummy time or put her in the light to try and wash the jaundice out. While she is awake she just stares and wiggles her limbs and moves her head all around while soaking in her blurry environment. We just recently started to offer the Binki to her and every once in a while she will take it. Mainly, she prefers to just chill out laying on the bumbo pillow or her bouncer and make the cutest grunting sounds (usually leading to a nice poop).
I love holding her right after a nursing even though it cuts into my sleeping time. I honestly just can't get enough of this baby. She is such a sweet little yummy thing.
***************
Let's rewind a bit as I want the Hospital stay remembered. Leading up to delivery, everyone has their advice to give you about what they think of Keesler Hospital. Some bad, some good, some just "eh". I thought my delivery with my first born was a good one. That was until I was treated like an absolute queen at this hospital. My stay was as perfect as they can get (in my opinion). ALL the nurses were the most caring people and you could really tell they loved their jobs. Tiffany and Audrey were angels who worked the day shift. Eric and I especially loved these two young nurses. They would stay in our room most of their shift and just talk. They were fascinated about my surgery learning about my uterus didelphys and how cool it was that I was able to get pregnant with all the crazy circumstances. In my delivery room there were 5 extra medical students just so they could see what one looked like. The nurses told us that we were the "talk of the town" that day. They kept us entertained and well taken care of. The 2 night shift nurses were just as amazing. They offered us each night to take Charlee and watch her (not protocol ) at their desk while Mom and Dad could sleep. If you know anything about military hospitals, you would know how big of a deal that is. They would cart her in to nurse then cart her back to their station as soon as I was done.
It. was. glorious.
Tiffany and Audrey. My day time Angel Nurses
Cheri the night time Angel Nurse
The snack food in the hospital was great but the main dishes were pretty bad. Luckily, we didn't have to be stuck with just that. Our good friends who just moved here from Texas, the Nabingers, came baring food, magazines and candy during our stay. Jannette was an angel who drove in the tropical storm to bring us some yummy home cooked comfort food. She also was able to watch Emme for a bit while my sister, Holly was able to take a break from babysitting mooshk and spend some bonding time with Charlee and some moral boosting for Mama. I am so thankful for good friends like them. It's so reassuring to know there are still really good people out there.
We stayed just over 2 days and it was bittersweet to say goodbye to our wonderful nurses.
******************
We left the hospital Sunday afternoon but ended up having the worst timing. As they were wheelchairing me to the exit the Heavens decided right then and there to open up and Tropical Storm Lee was at it again. It DUMPED rain. I waddled that 20 feet to the car as fast as I could but still ended up totally soaked. Charlee was covered in her car seat and blankets so she was good. It took us a while to drive home going less than 10 MPH. It was a crazy amount of rain and something we definitely will never forget.
Leaving the Hospital
Aunt Holly and Big Sister, Emme greeted us as we arrived home.
It really has been non stop since then.
I like to push my limits and do too much then pay for it later it turns out. Thank goodness for good meds because by the end of the day I was pretty darn sore.
*Monday was a nice relaxing day filled with lots of picture taking.
*Tuesday was her 2 day baby appointment at the hospital along with me meeting with the lactation consultant and having the last of my staples removed.
*Wednesday I went and got my hair done. The ladies in the Salon thought I was nuts but they understood when I told them that after you have a baby you just want to feel a little bit "normal" again. It felt amazing to get my hair colored and cut. It was a nice little 2 hour break too! Later that night we gave Charlee her first bath at home and her first bottle!!
She ate the whole bottle on the first try! : )
*Thursday we had a photo shoot set up with a new photographer we found local on Facebook. She said it was best to get the cute little newborn shots done withing their first week. So off we went on our first family outing as a brand new family of four. We were late. We are NEVER late to anything. One thing my Husband and I share in common is our dislike for tardiness. It stressed us out already being late so by the time we got to her house we were a little agitated. I hope Brooke doesn't take offense to me saying this but that hour and a half we spent at her house was THE most stressed both Eric and I have felt. Ever. To sum up and explain the crazy goes like this: We left the house around dinner time and didn't feed our 2 year old. She was hungry and VERY cranky the whole shoot. I felt like I was dealing with one of those "Toddlers and Tiaras" kids. For those of you not familiar with that TLC TV show, basically they make episodes about demon children getting dressed up in glitter and curly wigs to disguise their ugly personalities. Back to Emme. We let her cry, scream, say naughty things, just so she would sit still and listen to the photographer. We even had to reward her with Marshmallows after she got done taking a swing at me! JUST SO SHE COULD SIT STILL AND KISS HER FREAKING SISTER! She ran the show that night while Eric and I had to suck it up and just take it! We were paying a lot of money so all parenting sadly went out the window that night. We couldn't wait to get her booty to the car and take off our forced smiles. If I drank- that would have been the night to get tanked. Emme got a nice looong timeout when we got home followed by bedtime after eating a couple bites of dinner. Today, however, we were able to see some sneak peek pictures and oh my goodness!! Eric and I both agree it was worth it...and that's saying a lot! The pictures are going to be breathtaking.
*Friday- Holly and Eric cleaned the entire house in the morning. Then Holly, Emme, Charlee and I had some fun girl time and went to Kangarooz followed by a nice lunch at Red Lobster. My wonderful Charlee slept the entire outing : )
*Saturday (today)- We had, like always, a very emotional goodbye to Holly. Took a nice long family nap this afternoon and got the chance to figure out how to function as a new family of four. Wednesday my amazing Mother in law flys in to spend a few days and I cannot wait for her visit.
I'm sure Emme is confused with all these people coming in and out but she is handling everything very well (with the occasional acting out and of course the random demon child episode). She still loves to help with anything Sissy related and wants to hold her all the time. She is fascinated by breastfeeding and gives me snuggles when I feed Charlee. I love snuggling with my two girls during this precious bonding time. She is also very respectful when I ask her to go play her fishy game on the iPad when Mama just wants to nurse alone with Charlee.
And the week isn't over yet! We have Church in the Morning!! ; )
I am such a grateful Mama these days. I have so very much to be thankful for. I delivered a healthy baby, I am a week into recovering from the c-section and feel like a million bucks (compared to the previous c-section). I am not bluesy or weepy or having depressing thoughts. I am just happy. Happy to have such a beautiful family. Happy to be alive. Happy to know that I am a lucky and blessed Mother and Wife.
All of my fears about postpartum recovery/emotions have been put to rest.
I know it has a lot to do with already being a Mother and knowing a little of what to expect.
Charlee has proven just how different babies can be from one another in just this short sweet week of her life.
Her personality is really coming out a lot earlier than Emme's did.
*I do want to stop right there for a second and mention that I don't want to be "that" Mother who compares her children to one another. I am, after all, writing this journal for them to read and be proud of one day. They will be in competition enough as it is with each other I'm sure ; )*
So with that cleared up, let's talk a little bit about Charlee-
She is a poop machine. On the hour, every hour we change her. She does give us a break during the night as she is a fantastic sleeper then and I only change her when I feed her.
After a VERY painful beginning to nursing my newborn, I am happy to say everything is back to normal. It's been a while since I have nursed and so when Charlee latched on- I trusted she got enough "boob" and since she seemed content and happy suckling away I assumed she got it. I was sadly mistaken. We later determined she was just suckling the very tip of my breasts for the first 24 hours causing an improper latch. By then it was too late.. the damage was done. She gave me cracked and bleeding nipples.
I. was. in. horrible. pain.
I have a new respect for moms who have been through this. I had no problems nursing with my first born due to a lactation nurse being there to show me. I told the nurses that I would remember how to since I nursed Emme for 14 months. I haven't, however nursed a newborn in quite some time so that wake up call was sadly, a very painful one. It took a visit to the lactation consultant, crazy looking nipple breathing plastic contraptions, and a ton of lanolin to help heal my poor baby feeders. All the while you still need to nurse in order to establish your brand new milk supply. Prayers, tears, and determination got me through it. I wouldn't wish bleeding, cracked nipples on anyone!
Even with all that mess, all it took was for ME to learn again how to place her on the breast and she got it perfectly from there. She is a very good eater and my milk supply is a very healthy amount. I pumped the other day and got 6 oz and that was just 30 min after I nursed her! *Can you say cooooow??* She eats during the day every 2-3 hours and at night every 4-5 hours giving me an amazing stretch of time to sleep (let's pray that lasts). Last night she slept for a solid 6 hours in her bassinet, I fed and changed her then she slept another 4 hours in her swing.
Her personality is so chill. I have such a content baby. After I nurse her she will go to sleep for about an hour then do some tummy time or put her in the light to try and wash the jaundice out. While she is awake she just stares and wiggles her limbs and moves her head all around while soaking in her blurry environment. We just recently started to offer the Binki to her and every once in a while she will take it. Mainly, she prefers to just chill out laying on the bumbo pillow or her bouncer and make the cutest grunting sounds (usually leading to a nice poop).
I love holding her right after a nursing even though it cuts into my sleeping time. I honestly just can't get enough of this baby. She is such a sweet little yummy thing.
***************
Let's rewind a bit as I want the Hospital stay remembered. Leading up to delivery, everyone has their advice to give you about what they think of Keesler Hospital. Some bad, some good, some just "eh". I thought my delivery with my first born was a good one. That was until I was treated like an absolute queen at this hospital. My stay was as perfect as they can get (in my opinion). ALL the nurses were the most caring people and you could really tell they loved their jobs. Tiffany and Audrey were angels who worked the day shift. Eric and I especially loved these two young nurses. They would stay in our room most of their shift and just talk. They were fascinated about my surgery learning about my uterus didelphys and how cool it was that I was able to get pregnant with all the crazy circumstances. In my delivery room there were 5 extra medical students just so they could see what one looked like. The nurses told us that we were the "talk of the town" that day. They kept us entertained and well taken care of. The 2 night shift nurses were just as amazing. They offered us each night to take Charlee and watch her (not protocol ) at their desk while Mom and Dad could sleep. If you know anything about military hospitals, you would know how big of a deal that is. They would cart her in to nurse then cart her back to their station as soon as I was done.
It. was. glorious.
Tiffany and Audrey. My day time Angel Nurses
Cheri the night time Angel NurseThe snack food in the hospital was great but the main dishes were pretty bad. Luckily, we didn't have to be stuck with just that. Our good friends who just moved here from Texas, the Nabingers, came baring food, magazines and candy during our stay. Jannette was an angel who drove in the tropical storm to bring us some yummy home cooked comfort food. She also was able to watch Emme for a bit while my sister, Holly was able to take a break from babysitting mooshk and spend some bonding time with Charlee and some moral boosting for Mama. I am so thankful for good friends like them. It's so reassuring to know there are still really good people out there.
We stayed just over 2 days and it was bittersweet to say goodbye to our wonderful nurses.
******************
We left the hospital Sunday afternoon but ended up having the worst timing. As they were wheelchairing me to the exit the Heavens decided right then and there to open up and Tropical Storm Lee was at it again. It DUMPED rain. I waddled that 20 feet to the car as fast as I could but still ended up totally soaked. Charlee was covered in her car seat and blankets so she was good. It took us a while to drive home going less than 10 MPH. It was a crazy amount of rain and something we definitely will never forget.
Leaving the Hospital
Aunt Holly and Big Sister, Emme greeted us as we arrived home.
It really has been non stop since then.
I like to push my limits and do too much then pay for it later it turns out. Thank goodness for good meds because by the end of the day I was pretty darn sore.
*Monday was a nice relaxing day filled with lots of picture taking.
*Tuesday was her 2 day baby appointment at the hospital along with me meeting with the lactation consultant and having the last of my staples removed.
*Wednesday I went and got my hair done. The ladies in the Salon thought I was nuts but they understood when I told them that after you have a baby you just want to feel a little bit "normal" again. It felt amazing to get my hair colored and cut. It was a nice little 2 hour break too! Later that night we gave Charlee her first bath at home and her first bottle!!
She ate the whole bottle on the first try! : )*Thursday we had a photo shoot set up with a new photographer we found local on Facebook. She said it was best to get the cute little newborn shots done withing their first week. So off we went on our first family outing as a brand new family of four. We were late. We are NEVER late to anything. One thing my Husband and I share in common is our dislike for tardiness. It stressed us out already being late so by the time we got to her house we were a little agitated. I hope Brooke doesn't take offense to me saying this but that hour and a half we spent at her house was THE most stressed both Eric and I have felt. Ever. To sum up and explain the crazy goes like this: We left the house around dinner time and didn't feed our 2 year old. She was hungry and VERY cranky the whole shoot. I felt like I was dealing with one of those "Toddlers and Tiaras" kids. For those of you not familiar with that TLC TV show, basically they make episodes about demon children getting dressed up in glitter and curly wigs to disguise their ugly personalities. Back to Emme. We let her cry, scream, say naughty things, just so she would sit still and listen to the photographer. We even had to reward her with Marshmallows after she got done taking a swing at me! JUST SO SHE COULD SIT STILL AND KISS HER FREAKING SISTER! She ran the show that night while Eric and I had to suck it up and just take it! We were paying a lot of money so all parenting sadly went out the window that night. We couldn't wait to get her booty to the car and take off our forced smiles. If I drank- that would have been the night to get tanked. Emme got a nice looong timeout when we got home followed by bedtime after eating a couple bites of dinner. Today, however, we were able to see some sneak peek pictures and oh my goodness!! Eric and I both agree it was worth it...and that's saying a lot! The pictures are going to be breathtaking.
*Friday- Holly and Eric cleaned the entire house in the morning. Then Holly, Emme, Charlee and I had some fun girl time and went to Kangarooz followed by a nice lunch at Red Lobster. My wonderful Charlee slept the entire outing : )
*Saturday (today)- We had, like always, a very emotional goodbye to Holly. Took a nice long family nap this afternoon and got the chance to figure out how to function as a new family of four. Wednesday my amazing Mother in law flys in to spend a few days and I cannot wait for her visit.
I'm sure Emme is confused with all these people coming in and out but she is handling everything very well (with the occasional acting out and of course the random demon child episode). She still loves to help with anything Sissy related and wants to hold her all the time. She is fascinated by breastfeeding and gives me snuggles when I feed Charlee. I love snuggling with my two girls during this precious bonding time. She is also very respectful when I ask her to go play her fishy game on the iPad when Mama just wants to nurse alone with Charlee.
And the week isn't over yet! We have Church in the Morning!! ; )
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