Lets train: CCs first week

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

CCs first week

I know I won't always do weekly updates, but might as well try for this first week at least! And I'm still not sure we will call her 'CeCe' or 'CC' but it's a whole lot easier to type 2 letters instead of 4 at this point:)

My mom and dad drove up from Missouri when I called to say I was being admitted to the hospital in labor early Monday morning. They got here that afternoon and promptly starting helping a TON with Truman, as they stayed at our house with him when Nate was in the hospital with his girls. Nate's parents were helping a ton, too, of course, but they had to go to work so my parents took over from there. My dad drove back on Friday but my mom has decided to stay until next weekend---so she will be here for the first two weeks of Cecelia's life! Talk about an AMAZING gift. I cannot imagine how much harder this would be without her getting up each morning with Truman, entertaining him, making us food, and doing laundry. I want to cry just thinking about her leaving:(

We were discharged home on Wednesday 5/30 and pretty much each evening since then we had Nate's parents over for dinner to 'celebrate'. It's been a lot of fun watching Truman with his four grandparents and I swear he is getting SO spoiled, it's almost funny. Little Miss CC is getting plenty of grandparent snuggle time, too. Not to mention that Nate was off the entire week, too, so there have been so many helping hands that it's almost unfair to the future Julia when it's just me and her and Truman. I think I can handle it though and feel very blessed to have an easy transition home from the hospital because of an amazing support system.

Cecelia likes to nurse, but she started off as a snacker who wanted to eat for only 5 minutes at a time every hour. And since my milk came in SUPER early compared to the first time, appearing just 24 hours after birth, I've been pretty uncomfortable and engorged while miss thang snacks around on these giant knockers. In fact, I called the LC at my hospital to ask if it was okay to pump a little bit without totally messing with my supply, because I was so engorged by day # 4 on Thursday. She said absolutely and when I pumped I immediately felt so much better, and I got 5 ounces in 5 minutes. A far cry from the tiny drops I'd get with Truman the first few times I pumped! So far, I've been pumping once a day just for 5 minutes and keep getting 5 ounces in that short time. I never thought I'd have an abundant supply this time around, since I always felt like my supply was right on with Truman's needs or maybe even a little less as time went on. I sure hope my body keeps it up but I know it's still regulating right now. And really, in the past few days CC has been nursing a lot longer and taking each side about every 2.5 hours or so, and the engorgement is much better now. I feel like she has a hard time when she needs to poop or burp but maybe that is just 'normal' for all newborns and I forget how Truman was at one week.

Sleeping is going pretty well, about how I expected. The first two nights were rough since she was up every hour or so and not eating very long. But after I started pumping and then she starting taking in more with each session, she has been sleeping for about 2-3 hour stretches even at night (just like her daytime routine). I find that she really enjoys being held and will sleep like a log if we hold her. So at night, she sort of hated sleeping flat on her back in the co-sleeper. I resorted to letting her sleep in the swing one night and then propped a pillow under her co-sleeper mattress to elevate the head a bit after that and she seems much more content.

As for me, I find that if I force myself to nap a bit during the day then I'm in a better mental state by the evening. If I skip the nap in the name of the almighty to-do list, I can feel really worn out and 'down' at night which scares me. I realize my hormones are totally wonky right now so I'm trying to be kind to myself and rest more. Easier said than done!

She is still in that REALLY sleepy stage during the day, only waking up for a few minutes at a time here and there. But each day she does spend more time with her eyes open. It's usually around 11 and 6pm when we really get to see her awake, which is funny because those were the times she was super active in the womb, too.

At her one week doctor's appointment, she made me very happy by surpassing her birth weight already! She was born at 7lbs 5oz, then was 7lbs 1oz at discharge (only losing 3.5%, so that was great!), and then 5 days later at her appointment she was back up to 7lbs 8oz. Still a peanut of course, but gaining weight perfectly so I can be assured she is getting enough to eat. I have no idea if she will be a little porker like her brother was, because he definitely hit that 80-90th percentile mark for a few months when he was little. But even if she is more dainty and petite than Truman, we will take it and love the fact she is healthy. Isn't it funny that the growth ultrasounds I had when pregnant predicted her to be in the 70th percentile and really she is more like the 37th percentile?

Truman is still rocking it as a big brother. For real. He will kiss her and ask to hold her when we aren't even paying attention. The other day he said the baby needed his monkey, and gave it to her---which is basically Truman's most prized possession in the entire universe. He loves my pump and asks if the baby needs milk all the time so he can just turn on the pump. He gets that she drinks from mommy, too, but of course the pump is even more fascinating than breastfeeding to a toddler:) He is still going to Lori's for the three days per week while I'm on my maternity leave, because I really think it's important for him and for me. I know he is a kid of routine and seeing his buddies there, interacting with a different authority figure besides me, is a great thing for him. Plus, I really need time with only Cecelia to care for---time just goes too quickly, and newborn cuddle sessions are the best. I'm already realizing that it was a LOT easier having one child than two but really, it's been amazing with so much help right now.

Handing two kids is quite the trip overall. It takes us about five times as long to get out the door now and man, our cars just got a lot more cramped with two car seats and giant diaper bags. It was really hard the first night when Truman was crying for mommy to come back up to his room after bedtime while Cecelia was crying to be fed. But I can definitely say that I'm loving it and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Photo dump time!

Homecoming: