Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Catching up and getting started

So much has happened and changed since the last post...it already feels like a lifetime ago! I haven't had time to sit and put the birth story together, so that will come soon and in the meantime, here's just a quick catch-up of where we are and how it's going so far.

Got home from the hospital yesterday afternoon, and spent the afternoon letting Adelyn play and be around Ella (who mostly slept) while my mom kept me company and let me sit back and relax. She convinced me to let Adelyn go home for one more night with her and my dad so that I could settle in with just Ella, and they left late afternoon.

My aunt brought dinner for me and stayed a little while, and then I got ready for bed and sat with Ella and turned on an episode of Lost. I found myself dozing just a few minutes later, and so we headed to bed fairly early. Spent a long night dozing, nursing, changing, repositioning...and while I didn't get a ton of sleep, it was so much more relaxing to do in my own bed/house. Ella is nursing very often, but goes straight back to sleep after each time--so she barely fussed other than during diaper changes.

I have been bad about staying on schedule with my pain meds, either because I am asleep when I need to take them, or try to hold off on the heavy-duty stuff, but then the pain gets out of control and I find myself regretting not sticking with it. My incision is a big part of the pain, but also a lot of soreness in my pelvic bones as they are still separated and out of alignment.

Today, Mom brought Adelyn over late-morning, and took Ella and I to her doctor's appointment. The hospital pediatrician's wanted me to get her re-weighed today since she had lost 9% of her birth-weight by discharge, but today she had gained 4oz (currently 6lbs 14oz) and looked perfect. My milk came in day two post-partum, so I wasn't worried since Ella has been eating like a champ.

We spent the rest of the day around the house--Adelyn playing and being hyper and dramatic, and Ella mostly sleeping all day. Had dinner brought by my sweet step-grandma and then Mom stayed until Adelyn went to bed--so now I am alone, and both girls are asleep, and I am about ready to join them.

Overall, I feel pretty good. I am sore and pretty wiped out from lack of sleep, but I am loving getting to know Ella and enjoying these newborn moments that are so sweet and peaceful. I'm able to lift Adelyn--carefully--and doing little things around the house is enough for me to feel a little tired, but not like I'm "doing too much". I definitely am glad for the help/meals/etc...but I'm not at all overwhelmed or overdoing things at this point...just settling in and gradually taking steps towards doing this independently.

I had lots of visitors during my hospital stay, and a few since...and it has been nice, but also can be tiring. Right now there are a lot of illnesses going around this area--flu and stomach bugs in particular scare me. I am not excited about passing baby around to many pairs of hands, but I'd love short visits and will happily show off my pretty girls to my visitors.

For now, it is all going really well and I am so thankful for the normalcy of this and how much easier it is than our start to Adelyn's life. It's going to be so fun to watch Ella grow, and to watch my girls become friends, and to grow even more as I learn to mother two sweet little girls. I am so in love with these two :)

Adelyn showing off her new pearl earrings

Ella being awake and alert after her first check-up

1 comment:

  1. I love your updates, and I love that you were able to bypass the NICU this time! Your girls are so beautiful and lucky to have such a strong, inspiring mother as you. Your Army family is behind you-- Even from El Paso :) --Paige B.

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