Week Two Update

We have now been home for two weeks.

Update on Owen:

   This past week Martin was out of town and so I had the kids to myself.  Overall Owen did great.  At the beginning of the week he was upset because his dad was not home.  We also had a few times where he acted out a bit.  He has really learned to scream this past week. However, he loves to help out and I think it makes him feel important when I ask him to do special favors for me or his sister.  Yesterday Owen was sick and spent the day sleeping, and when he is not sleeping he was vomiting.  It was not very fun.  He seems to be much better today and has been eating, playing and being his usual self, no vomit involved.  He is getting very good at singing his alphabet and loves spinning around the living room singing it.  Owen received some blocks for his birthday and loves to build things with them.  When I am in another room Owen screams for me and says "Momma, come look what Owie did!"  When I come into the room he very proudly shows me what he has made.  He is definitely a smart child and becoming so much more independent as time passes.  

Update on Charlotte:

     Charlotte has been awake more and more every day.  She has started to tolerate her brother smashing hugging her.  I also think she is going through a bit of a growth spurt.  The last two days she has gone 45 minutes in between feedings taking only a few naps during the day.  She has however slept very well at night, sleeping 3-4 hours at a time.   

Milestones: First bath, 

Update on me:

      I still feel pretty amazing.  Well, that was until I measured my stomach I was so sure I was smaller, turns out my mind is just thinking about how big I have been the last few months.  :(  However, I have set a goal to drop 10 pounds over the next nine months.  Really don't care about numbers though, only size as I know muscle weighs more than fat. I start school this week and I am also alone again this week.  So this week is more of a test of time management.  

As far as breastfeeding goes, I am not as engorged.  I also do not leak nearly as much at night, which I am so happy about.  It is not fun to wake up because your shirt is wet.  Charlotte has been feeding frequently the last two days, which has helped me to not feel so engorged.  Unfortunately on Thursday I started feeling very cold and have a really bad headache.  When I woke up Friday morning I felt even more miserable, exhausted, cold, hot, and a pounding headache. I took my temp and it was 101.8.  Hospital discharge papers states to call the midwife with any temp over 101.  So I did, they told me to come in and be seen.  (Yay, another week, another visit to the mw)  I go in she reviews my symptoms said sounds like mastitis.  She checks to confirm then prescribes me an antibiotic.  I finally feel back to regular.  Thank goodness.  

That's all for now.  Check back next week for another update. 

How did I get here?

I was nursing Charlotte while rocking in the chair in the nursery around 1am this morning.  I looked down at her and saw this beautiful little newborn baby.  I suddenly flashed back to three years ago when I was holding Owen as a newborn and nursing him.  I know everyone says it, "where did the time go?"  But seriously, where did it go?  How did I get here?  I am married, have been living away from family for six years, I now have two children.   It is because that time goes so fast that I just want to hold and cherish my toddler and newborn for as long as I can.

Charlotte had a doctor appointment today and has surpassed her birth weight.  YAY!  She now weighs 7lbs 14ounces.  And that was Before I nursed her, so completely empty stomach.  Her umbilical cord fell off last Thursday but her belly button has a little bit of blood from not being completely healed yet.  The pediatrician said it is perfectly normal and will be safe to use cloth diapers that cover her belly button as there are no chemicals in the cloth that would agitate the belly button.  We are also cleared to give her a real bath.  I can finally wash off breast milk crusties with more than a baby wipe.  The pediatrician said she is looking so good and healthy we do not have to come back for the two week check up.  YAY.  She is still nursing very well and my supply of milk is never ending it seems.

Owen has finally reached the jealous point.  He often tries to hit his sister when I am nursing her because he wants to sit in my lap instead of her.  But for the most part he is still an awesome big brother.  He sings to her and tries to give her hugs, and loves cuddling with her.

The other day I had laid Charlotte on the floor in her room and started to put towels into the dryer.  I got about three in there when all of a sudden I heard Charlotte gagging.  Thinking she was gagging on spit up or something I rush in her room to check on her.  (her room is right next to the laundry.)  I walk in her room and Owen looks at me and says "I am playing doctor, mommy."  He had a thermometer in Charlotte's mouth attempting to take her temperature.  Nice thought Owen, glad he wants to be sure she is healthy, and already trying to play with her.  However, it completely freaked me out.  Now if I am upstairs and need to walk away for a moment, she goes in her crib.  Although I am sure one day I will find Owen in there with her.  

Cloth diapering a newborn

A few days ago I started cloth diapering Charlotte.  I have a bunch of disposables that I was given by the hospital and purchased, however I have absolutely no desire to use them.  Charlotte's umbilical cord stump fell off last week but it is still not fully healed.  I have found the only diapers that fit her without touching her belly button are the lil joey's,  However I only have four of those.



This is the GroVia.  It does not have a snap to prevent it from touching the belly button, it covers it up.  There is also a small gap around the legs, which so far has not been an issue.

This is a Kissaluvs.  I like these diapers because they do have the snap for the umbilical cord.  They also fit around her legs pretty well when I have it snapped properly.  

This is one of the swaddlebees (Charlotte doesn't really like having her diaper changed, please excuse the sad faces and blurry photos.)   I was not sure if i would like these because of the way the insert is attached but pulls out, similar to a pocket.  This diaper has a snap for the cord, but because the pocket is not attached to the top of the diaper, the pocket rubs up against the belly button, despite the diaper being snapped down.  It does fit around her legs very nicely though.  

This is a pocket diaper my sister made.  It has the snap for the cord and comes just below the belly button.  It also fits very snug around her legs, preventing and poop explosions.  However, I do not have an insert that fits inside very well, so it kind of has a bulge in the back.  Not a fault of the diaper however.  

 This diaper is a lil Joey.  By far my favorite for her size.  It has inner leg gussets which help contain messes.  It also has the umbilical cord snap.  It fits snug around the legs, which also help to hold in messes.  I love that it is AIO so I don't have to worry about stuffing it.  

I unfortunately do not have a very large n/b stash, as I did not want to buy too many since she wont fit them very long (hopefully).  I have 4 lil joeys, 1 Grovia, 2 swaddlebees, 1 WAHM, and 2 kissaluvs.  I also have a few others, but they don't really fit right now.  So with just 10 diapers that fit, I am washing cloth diapers every day.  Thankfully my son also uses them so it helps to fill the load.  I have not really used the diaper sprayer to spray poop off yet, I have just been doing it in the sink since there is not much poopy.  

Weekly update

Wow!  It has been a week already since Charlotte has made her arrival.  When we first introduced Owen to Charlotte I was expecting a little confusion.  We showed Owen baby Charlotte and he was very excited but a little nervous.  At first he didn't want to touch her.  I think he was worried about hurting her.  However, as the day went on Owen began to warm up to her and was curious as to what she was doing and would run to her every time she made a noise.

Owen welcomed every nurse that walked into the room with an excited hello.  Him and Martin briefly went home to grab some items I forgot to bring and to grab the car seat.  When we told Owen that he had to go home with Daddy for the night he became very upset and said he did not want to leave Mommy and Charlotte.  We asked the nurse if he could stay and they did not have a problem with it, so they stayed.  It was so wonderful having the whole family there.

 After 36 hours we were discharged and I was so happy to be heading home.  Since being home Martin has been spending much of his time with Owen.  I have felt left out because Owen only wanted to play with Martin, and wanted to eat with Martin, and was co-sleeping with him.  Then Friday night Owen asked if i could sleep with him and hold his hand.  Ah, he didn't forget about me, and he still does love his momma!  :)  Owen is very curious and shows his love for his baby sister.  He constantly gives her kisses and hugs.  He talks to her and likes to tell her stories.  I put her in the swing while I washed dishes and Owen pulled a chair over and watched her.

Charlotte is still doing excellent at nursing, and it did not take long for my milk to come in.  My body is still trying to figure out how to regulate the milk, so fo the mean time I have a bit excess.  I have been using the Milk Saver  to collect the let down while I am nursing Charlotte.  I get an average of half ounce to an ounce every feeding.  So glad I can save that milk rather than just soak it all up in a breast pad.  

At Charlotte's pediatrician appointment on the 31st, she was 7 pounds 3 ounces, which is the same that she weighed at midnight Sunday when she was weighed.  She goes back to the pediatrician for another check up on Wednesday the 7th.  We have newborn photos being taken on Thursday.  

As far as how I am doing, I still feel pretty amazing.  I do not at all feel like I gave birth last week.  I had a bit of a scare on Thursday because the midwife told me any clots larger than a quarter I should call.  Well I had some way bigger than that.  When I went into the doctor everything checked out okay and nothing to worry about.  Also, I weigh 137 pounds!  I was 153 pre-pregnancy, and 153.5 when I gave birth.  I had the same situation with Owen, I lost a bunch of weight in the first trimester and then gained it all back at the end of my pregnancy.   I am pretty happy with my size right now and know that it will only get better after a couple weeks.