Two Weeks Old

Two weeks ago today I was in active labor, comfortably watching contractions go by on the monitor as I luxuriated in my epidural. We were just hours away from meeting our daughter!

At two weeks old Iyla is a great baby. She still sleeps a lot, and soothes pretty easily when fussy. She nurses well (sometimes it takes a few tries to latch, and she definitely prefers to start on the right side!) She has started a lot of grunting while sleeping the last couple of nights- where we will hear what sounds like the beginnings of a cry followed by grunts, then she is right back to sleep. This happens about 2-3x/hour. Hopefully I will get better at trusting she will actually REALLY let me know when she wants to wake, so I am not stirring with every little grunt!

This week Iyla also let me know she much prefers to NOT have her arms swaddled, thank you very much. Once I listened to that she has been peacefully sleeping with her little hands near her face.

One of the cutest things ever is that right after she feeds, she passes out hard and gets "milk smiles" that light up her face. Here I bring you the anatomy of a milk smile, followed by a brief video:

Another discovery this week was the "WannaNub" pacifier. These are pacifiers literally attached to a small stuffed animal. Admittedly I thought they were a bit silly and wouldn't be very helpful with a newborn. However, several moms on my November Mamas Board were raving about their little ones loving these, so I gave it a shot. And lo and behold, Iyla LOVES them!! She sucks on this pacifier WAY more than the other one we were giving her, and the little stuffed animal gives it more weight so it stays in her mouth longer. *LOVE!*

Iyla's heaven: arms free, passed out next to her beloved WannaNub lamb

Don't you try taking this away!

Today was our first "official" day alone at home without BC. Though technically that was yesterday, since BC took the entire day to golf & have a boys' day. This is something he has always done on Sundays, and I encouraged him to head out yesterday and enjoy. I am noticing, however, that I am teetering on a bit of envy with his days/nights out, and really have to watch that. He let me know he is going out with a guy friend tomorrow night as well, and again, I don't want to be that girl putting restrictions out there, but it is hard b/c I can't really head out in the same way, given I am breastfeeding. If given a preference, I'd obviously rather he was here hanging out with us, or we were all going out together. I have to trust this will even out as Iyla gets older- that I too can have 'me' days & times while genuinely staying happy for BC to have his.

Iyla and I did get out together today on our first maiden voyage. We had another pediatrician visit to test her bili levels. If you recall on Friday she was at a 16, and the doctor strongly encouraged us to do a formula cleanse over the weekend. BC and I followed our hearts and decided to spend the weekend with lots of feeding, sunning, and praying and see what today's test brought. I have to give Iyla huge props for her bravery with all these heel sticks- she will shriek/cry when the stick occurs then within seconds calms to a little whimper. Breaks my heart but she really does get over things quickly. If Iyla had a quote for her first couple weeks of life, it would be "I got this."

Lots more of this over the weekend

The doctor said that if the levels stayed the same, went up, or even came in around 15 she would still want us to do the formula cleanse to make SURE it was a breast milk related jaundice.

And Ms. Iyla's levels today?

13.2!!!!  Hallelujah!! The doctor told me she hasn't ever seen a baby go to such a high as Iyla (at 23 when we were admitted to the hospital) and eventually come down this far on her own. Well world, get used to the miracle that is this little girl- seems her mission here is to prove people wrong!

Iyla weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces today- officially surpassing her birth weight. This means we have now graduated to being allowed to let HER wake ME during the night- no more 3 hour alarms need to be set! I will still feed her every 3 hours during the day, but we can go 4-5 hour stretches at night if that is what Iyla prefers (please, oh PLEASE prefer this little one!)

After the doctor I took a risk and decided to try hitting the grocery store. Our grocery list has been growing exponentially, and I had to get over my fear of taking her out sooner or later. I stashed a small bottle of pumped milk in my purse just.in.case, but happily she stayed sound asleep the entire time! Success.

Happily snoozing in the produce aisle

Tomorrow I think we will try an outing to my chiropractor's office. I've been getting migraines again and can tell my body is a bit tweaked from birth & carrying around/nursing a baby. My chiropractor also specializes in infant adjustments, so maybe just maybe I'll have Iyla get her first adjustment as well.

Oh the adventures we'll have, baby girl!