We will go to our midwife, Julie, next week for our final happy baby and well mommy visit. We'll find out just how much this kid weighs and measures next week, but we're guessing she's about 9 lbs and 23" or so at this point.
She's started feasting and sleeping like a giant the last couple days. We can only assume she is again growing!
She's started to find other interesting things to think about and look at while she's at my breast, so she will start to suckle, pull herself off to look around and then without warning chomps! It's funny... thankfully my nipples are sound and not sore. And she not only chomps but makes a chomping sound that just adds to the overall humor factor.
She's much more alert now. She will sit up right and look around, reach out for things, smile and talk to you in response to your noises, and follow you around the room with her eyes/head.
She often will stand herself upright and if you just let her stand there, after about 2 seconds she'll topple over sideways, with legs still locked.
She likes mirrors, and especially likes the baby that looks back at her. She likes her bouncer - we have a champion boxer in the making. And she very much likes being held, ALL THE TIME. :) Thankfully Savannah and Russ often relieve me so I can accomplish other things, like a shower.. HA!
She likes to squeak and when I squeak back, she squacks. So, I squack and then she grunts, gurgles, snorts, or neighs... like a horse. Russ's dreams of me giving birth to a basset hound turned into me giving birth to a little horse. You should hear her, she does an exceptional rendition of a baby horse.
AND THEN THE BURPS & FARTS!! Man, this kid can compete with the best! She can launch milk (in chunks, mind you) a good three feet from her little mouth, usually right at my face! She burps as loud as I can and the farting is hilarious. She has the super power of not only exploding across the entire changing table, but when in public she has the notable ability of gaining the attention of all within a significantly large earshot!
Curly hair, steel blue eyes, rosey skin tone, & her own little voice. She is quite a joy.
London continues to be a very good Nana, following baby around wherever she may squeak.
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We went up Dakan today to get pics of Russ for his Christmas cd...
It was rather cold.
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Obtaining this swing has been quite an adventure. We waited too long to order the swing in the first place and delivery was scheduled for the 16th, which would have been just in time for her arrival, but the vendor didn't deliver on time and after three weeks of excuses and weird stories, it took filing a claim with Amazon and a few serious words to finally get them to send us the swing.
It arrived while we were away on our very first trip to Grandma & Grandpa's and I was so convinced it would never arrive that I ignored the box on the front porch; Russ had to bring it in and insist that I look at the shipment. To our amazement, the product inside of the demolished box was actually in new condition, and save a few smudges, the swing was perfect as ordered.
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Watch Her Sleep - It's Quite An Accomplishment
It's so hard to get a moment to write everyday, as I'd like to. So much happens of course, every day, and I am trying to chronicle all of it for our memories and for her if she wants to read about it someday, but time seems to pass so quickly I can't keep up. Except, of course, at 3am when she's interested in nothing but being awake. :)
On Friday, Nov 2, I laid her on her back on the couch and went to fill my coffee. When I returned, I discovered a wiggly little baby mostly rolled onto her stomach. She was in the process of eating her hands and her feet had managed to wedge themselves against the support pillow I placed on one side to keep her from rolling off the couch. She pushed herself sideways far enough that she managed to turn herself over. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised.
Then, two days later, on Sunday, I laid her on her stomach on my bed (on a foam pillow) and when I returned from the bathroom I found her on her back. At first I thought maybe a dog had jumped on the bed and rolled her over, but the I realized I'd left them outside.
Mom stayed with us for a few days again this week. This was the week she'd originally taken off (vacation) to stay with us. Her assistance (especially through the night) was most welcome. Cecily had a growth spurt at the end of last week and decided that sleep was way over rated, and eating needed to become constant. While my mom was with us, she decided to all but return to her over night sleeping schedule, but then yesterday she ate all day long and finally, after a huge glass of chamomile tea (which made her smell like chamomile after I fed her) she fell asleep. I got about a 3 hour chunk and then we were awake again... from 4am on (It's now 5pm and I have not had a chance to nap at all).
She is sleeping now, and has been most of the day; tonight should be fun.
She is wearing her "Daddy's Girl" outfit today, and she met her great grandmother today. She is grandma's 12th great grand child. Grandma Kathy is in a care facility in Boulder and we actually made the trip from CR to Boulder without stopping!
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Entry coming soon....
This pic was taken at 14 days
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So adorable in purple.
We've found Cecily's color! AND MUCH TO OUR SURPRISE, it's Purple! That would have nothing to do with mom's affinity for the color, I promise.
Her skin tone is beautiful in light lavender! Yellows and oranges are nice, but she really looks good in lavenders and plums!
We found a pacifier yesterday, in our abundant stash of styles, shapes, and colors, that she actually REALLY likes. It's been very nice having it available for when she's tired enough to be sleeping but just doesn't realize it. Previously, she's been remaining attached to me for that security and soothing, but now she can lie next to me, or on me, and and instead of making my nipple raw, she can suck on the fake nipple without nerves. It's wonderful.
She continues to sleep through the night without much fuss. I have to wake her to feed her, or I think she'd sleep straight on through. We're going to bed about 9pm, and around 2am she gets a little fussy for milk, and then again about 6:30 (that one is currently timed with the sunrise, I think). She eats both sides and suckles for about 40 minutes combined, and then sleeps. She will sleep on my chest, in my arm or Russ's, in her foam sleeper (in bed with us), on a pillow.. just about whatever. In fact, she sleeps so well in just about any position that I'm having to meticulously set up the bed and me so that I don't fall asleep and smother her. If she continues this longer sleep pattern she will have to start using the in-bed sleeper for her own safety.
Yesterday she had her first car ride; we went to Russ's office for a Halloween party. I dressed her all in white with pumpkin socks.. She was my little ghost with orange feet. :)
Everyone at his office appreciated us coming in. They have been following her progress both in-utero and after her birth through our website and pictures. He really has a great group of people to work with.
And last night we tried to go to dinner, but through a series of forgetful events (we're still getting used to leaving the house with a little one in tow), we ended up eating here and then driving up to HR to pick up a webcam so Daddy can see Lily during the day. The car ride was great for her, but painful still for me. Between my tail bone and tear, there are so far only two positions that I can comfortably sit in for any period of time; one is on my bed and the other on the couch (and only one end of one couch).
We have determined one outfit that is best for sleeping. It's a onesie with sleeves and mittens. We will be thrift store hunting for more like this as soon as I can get out. Her nails grow so fast that I can't keep up with them and so we have to keep her hands covered. Speaking of, she's asleep at the moment and I am going to try to chop some claws, now that I've finally remembered to do so while I have an unconscious opportunity.
WANT TO SEE VIDEO? This is a short video of her waking up.
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... and baby is covered in dog hair!
We had another good night last night. Cecily and I managed to NOT wake daddy up so he would be rested for work.
She ate non-stop yesterday and most of the night. And I can tell you that typing while feeding her is quite the trick!
I had her in an herbal bath with me yesterday, feeding, and we discovered something that she seems to like. I was humming to her and dripping warm water over her (while feeding, don't forget that part) and I started to say her name over a couple times. Each time I would say her name I would also mimic her "uh-huh" self-soothing sound and each time she would stop feeding and smile with both sides of her mouth. I tested it 5 times. It was very cute.
She continues to follow things with her eyes and she reaches for her mobile above her changing table, holds our fingers, taps my breast while feeding, and gets hiccups almost every time we change her.
Today she looks like me but give her a couple hours and she will look like Russ again. After she eats she usually just falls sleep but today she has decided to lie here and just watch my face while sucking her thumb.
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For more pics, please click the Photos & Videos link on the right
Last night Russ was holding her and blowing on her face to get her attention, and boy did he succeed! We don't think she liked it because she smacked his lips with her hand to get him to stop a second or two after he started. It really surprised both of us that she would let us physically know her preferences so early. :)
We are both getting full nights of sleep. She wakes us every couple hours to be fed and changed, but then goes right back to sleep. She spends between 2 and 4 hours of wake time during the day, but is wonderful at night.
She's already determined her schedule and is so content. No crying fits, no episodes of mom and dad having no clue what to do, and perfect health!
She's amazing and what's more amazing is how much we're both already attached to her, since neither of us are baby people.
Russ is excellent with her; my tail bone was severely injured during birth (it seems my pelvis is too small and just not made for birthing babies so she moved my tail bone out of the way when she couldn't get my hips to move) and getting up out of bed or off the couch is painful and really dreaded. So, Russ offered me a deal!! Over night (and honestly most of the day) if I'll feed her, he will change her. :) -It's so wonderful to not have to get out of bed in the middle of the night.
She is very alert and our midwife says in perfect health. She regained her birth weight on day three (after only losing 3 oz) and is feeding well. We're so lucky, she's so peaceful.
She was born in our bedroom, partially in the water and partially on land. I didn't even know I was in labor until I was about 9cm. My midwife had to be in Florida on Weds/Thurs (and she came on Thurs OF COURSE) so I had her backup and was complete before the midwife arrived. Russ did it all with me, from the time I awoke him at 5:30am (2 hours after my water broke) until she came at 2pm, 8 hours later. The only thing I wish had been different is an opportunity to just feel the pains and work of labor, but with all the back pain I didn't ever feel a contraction (besides those I had felt for weeks leading up to the birth).
It will be a few weeks, but I'll be back in order soon (as soon as I can sit on a chair) and baby and daddy are doing excellently.
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Russ's dad got to meet his new grand daughter last night. She was kind enough to stay awake during the entire visit and didn't even fart!
Russ's sister and her kids came down to meet Cecily too; Ed had taken Sarah and Aaron to Kansas City with him to Barbara's Annual Celebration and they needed to be transferred back to mom, so everyone decided to meet at our house and come see Lily in the process.
Yesterday was a fair day, as far as my recovery and our sanity. Cecily continues to be a content baby, feeding almost regularly now (she's determined her own schedule), and she's transitioned properly as far as diaper deposits go.
I managed to get a good deal of laundry 1/2 done, eat almost three actual meals (and warm ones too, thanks to my mom), and our midwife came to see us and check on Cecily.
Our Lily has successfully regained her birth weight plus a few ounces, her jaundice is quickly fading, she routinely drowns herself with milk (we're working on how to balance all the feeding stuff out), and managed to get her feet printed last night and it looks like she only has 4 toes on her left because she tucks her 2nd toe behind her big toe all the time and it didn't get printed.
She's sleeping about 2-4 hours at a time through the night and about 2 hours at a time during the daylight hours. She's wonderful and mom's been here to help (especially at night) so Russ and I are not losing our minds due to lack of sleep. We're tired, sure, but not so out of it that we can't function.
Cecily seems to really like sleeping on her tummy or side, while lying on my chest (or Russ's). She does a fairly good job in her in-bed sleeper too, but she's most content lying either on top of one of us or in the crook of an arm. Grandma has been kind enough to keep Lily with her for a few hours each night too and I understand they like sleeping next to each other as well.
She sleeps calmly, squeaks every once in a while, has miniature explosions quite regularly (and sleeps through most of them), wakes to feed (and latches on very well in spite of my pain), and spends a good amount of time just looking around, making faces or mimicking ours, and simply being adorable.
Mom's going home tonight so it will up to be just Russ and I to keep our Lilybug happy, along with our Lala (London) and bullfrog (Rue). The jury is still out as far as how they feel about the addition and changes around here. London is behaving much like the Nana dog in Peter Pan (and that's exactly what we expected) and Rue just pouts a lot and does his best to get our direct attention. We haven't been able to lavish attention on just them like they're accustomed but we are able to actively bring them into our activities. They both camp out on our bed (and that makes 5), they crash on the couch next to whomever is sitting still long enough to lay a chin on, they're getting fed properly (though Rue will perpetually disagree), and they routinely sniff and curiously watch Lily and her many random movements and squeaks.
It's pretty cute around here this week.
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