Week

Just over a week after getting home, and how are we doing?

Me: So, so, so relieved not to be pregnant anymore. I didn’t realize how much my body hurt, nor how swollen it had become, during pregnancy. I can move again! I feel so great that I’d love to go run! (But I won’t until cleared, because some of my parts still hurt.) my rings consistently fit again and most of the skin tags seem to be getting smaller. My bruises from the unseccessful heplock placement are nearly gone.

The pooch has gone down much faster than I expected it to, though the stretch marks look much worse now that they’re not stretched. Also looks like there are more of them, since the tiny ones were pretty unnoticeable until now. I’ve been wearing leggings as pants, with an outfit one day consisting of black leggings, black a-line shirt, green shoes and red moby wrap.

I love: my running socks, the kind with padded heels and toes and some arch support (glad I have a bunch!); the removable shower head in the downstairs bathroom; showers in general; lanolin (the runny kind over the thick kind); nursing tops/bras that can accommodate washcloths; my fuzzy robe; the nursing timer for the iPad (I don’t have to think about times, Ican just look); blankets; and the rocker/recliner. Oh, that chair is so comfortable! Great for the hours I sleep in it.

I’ve re-discovered my ability to force a bottle of Gatorade down, from my practice during 2-a-day soccer practice in college. Much easier with warm Gatorade.

I am getting some sleep, having realizing that “sleep when the baby sleeps” really is key. After what seems like the final feeding for the day, TCB takes Lena while I shower and go to bed. He gets her wrapped up for bed, gets her to sleep, and then goes to bed himself. We all sleep for a little while, until the first feeding of the new day. Then she and I snuggle in the recliner for a nap, she eats again, and then we can all get a couple hours in the morning. I’m so glad that TCB doesn’t have a strict daily schedule, which allows me a few breaks and gives us some flexibility with the morning. (He’s trying to finish up the semester and is keeping the house running/me fed.)

She: is adorable when not screaming. Her piggy noises aren’t as frequent, but we still call her “piggles”. (Piggles have wiggles, you know.) Her back and ears are still hairy, but cute. I still can’t believe we made something so perfectly adorable. Feedings are going well, and she makes adorable faces when awake, lots of faces. I especially love the “turtle face”, which quadruples in cuteness when accompanied by a stretch that shows off her turtle-like neck. She’s not bothered too much by dog barking or any of our usual noises.

She loves: swaddle blankets. Ok, we love them because she stays swaddled in them, but she calms down and sleeps in them. And she’s taken to the pacifier, which is awesome because she had been using me as one. Ow, the scabbing.

Sleeping: she sleeps. She tends to eat, get pretty fussy between meals, want to eat again fairly quickly, and then pass out for an extra hour. I’m fine with that, especially when the extra hour coincides with our normal sleeping time.

Checkups: we had a weigh-in the Monday after leaving the hospital, where we saw that she’d lost 12% of her body weight since birth. The nurse said that bigger babies tend to lose more, and maybe we should supplement with an ounce or two of formula. I knew that my milk was coming over the course of that day, so this might have been the worst time to weigh her. Rhiannon also suggested that her birth weight might have been a little artificially high because of the iv fluids I received, too. I decided not to supplement , but to make sure she nursed often, partly because of ow, my boobs. We had a re-weigh on Wednesday, and she had gained 3oz in a day and a half, putting her well within normal weight-drop expectations. Also, a 9am appointment with a newborn- maybe not the best idea ever. We go back this Wednesday for her first well-baby check.

We: are tired. And we went on our first non-mandatory outing yesterday- we picked out a Christmas wreath, went to Target, Kroger and Chick-Fil-A. She only participated in the wreath, and then stayed in the car with one parent while the other ran the errand.