I can't believe it's been a whole week since we welcomed our sweet Eloise Jane into the world!
I am full on into the sleep deprived bliss of the newborn period... it is a strange and magical place to be, where days are sloooow going and it's hard to get anything 'done' but hold and tend to baby. I am SO thankful BC was able to take a 2 week Paternity leave (basically he is taking paid vacation days)- as we are now mastering the 1 to 1 defense. He and Iyla are spending some wonderful quality time together, and I truly think it is helping her transition go incredibly smoothly. In fact, there doesn't appear to be ANY transition for her- she is as happy and carefree and loving as always, constantly wanting to kiss and hold and "pet" her baby sister. It makes my heart swell.
This post is going to serve as a 'catch all' of Eloise's first week so I can keep updating from here. Because you know I already have hundreds of photos that need to be posted. ; )
Our 2nd day in the hospital brought with it our first visitors- my parents and Iyla. We were SO excited for Iyla to meet her baby sister! We wanted her to come in first for a little family time, and I had a present ready "from Baby Eloise" for her- a stuffed Mama kitty that has 3 magnetic nursing kittens.
When Iyla first entered the room she didn't want to hug or greet me- she just wanted to see Baby Sister in the bassinet. We took Eloise out and asked Iyla if she wanted to hold her, getting a "No! I don't like her."
Alrighty then.
The Mama kitty was taken out and given (big hit! She declared "I've been dreaming of having this kitty") and Iyla took to playing with her new toy on the floor while my parents came in for their first meeting.
As Iyla observed her Mimi holding Eloise she came over and said that she wanted a turn too. BC and I remarked later how silly it was for us to forget our slow-to-warm little girl.... who always needs to do things in her own time, in her own way.
After a little time and observation she was now ready to officially greet her little sister.
And it was magic.
As Iyla held Eloise, she kissed her head and cooed: "I'm your big sister. I'll take care of you."
*Cue heart melting*
Aaaand.... a moment later Iyla announced "I'm all done!"
She is 3.5, after all.
Here are a few photos of this precious first meeting:
As far as me? At one week postpartum, my body is slowly but surely healing and adjusting. My milk came in the afternoon we got home from the hospital (so about 36 hours after birth)- and Eloise has thankfully been an excellent nurser from day 1! Painful engorgement set in sometime Monday night (3 days postpartum) as my body worked to make sense of the milk arrival. I opted in lieu of pumping right away to let my body and Eloise work it out and get acquainted with one another. Happily the engorgement let up Thursday, around day 5-6 pp.
My lovely hemorrhoids temporarily got better at 4 days pp, but came back with a vengeance day 5 when my constipation FINALLY let up. I now have a cushy donut-esque sitting pillow on order to hopefully expedite this part of the recovery.
I could tell Thursday into today there was a lot of hormonal purging going on, as I got some serious night sweats, a pick up in bleeding (which has been very light since about 3 days pp), a headache, &....*ahem*- the opposite of constipation. I know it's my body's way of readjusting to no longer being pregnant, and its definitely an interesting phenomenon to experience!
Other postpartum notes:
*My feet were OH so swollen post birth (and still are somewhat)- which is a common side effect of all the fluids they use during the epidural.
*My hair! I've had a week straight of great hair days, with it looking and feeling more thick and full. Not sure what is up with that, but I like it.
*I'm feeling cold again. The thermostats are turned back up and cardigans have been pulled out.
*This 1:1 defense is NO JOKE. I am so grateful BC has two weeks off to help- and that help looks like him fully taking over Iyla care. Which leaves me primarily in charge of/mostly alone in Eloise care. Which also means I'm not eating or drinking as much as I should (or sleeping, but that is to be expected)- because it is just sooo hard to do these things one handed with a newborn! Yesterday I didn't eat breakfast until 11:30am. Thankfully today I was on a more normal morning schedule, thanks to BC having set up a 2nd monitor upstairs for Eloise watching.
*At one week postpartum, I have lost 15 1/2 of the 37 pounds gained in pregnancy. My belly is shrinking a little more every day and it feels OH SO GOOD to be able to move freely again!
As far as Lady Eloise goes, she is overall a really sweet, loving, alert spirit- but will definitely let you know if she doesn't like something (like car rides, diaper changes, & being put down when still awake)! She is sleeping the days away in 2-4 hour nap stretches, and nights... well, nights she pretty consistently is up EVERY 2 hours. We've had a couple glorious nights with 3 hour stretches, but it also isn't uncommon for her to wake EVERY hour either. I'm one sleepy Mama, but again- am luxuriating in this gentle, sweet newborn phase. I'm already feeling emotional about it all as I know how quickly it passes and that this is our last go at it.
Eloise had her first doctor appointment this week at 4 days old (BC and Iyla came too!), and was none too pleased to have to endure the car ride there:
Eloise also had her first chiropractic adjustment at 5 days old. She was peaceful on the car ride there but screamed the entire way home. While Dr. Ron was holding and adjusting her she let loose a big poo- it was pretty hilarious and Dr. Ron was more than happy to then hand her back to Mama.
I've also taken to calling Eloise "chicken legs"- and you can see why! She appears to have the same long legs as Iyla, courtesy of their Papa (lucky girls!):
As far as Big Sister goes? She has been having a blast with her Papa staycation. He takes her to school, swim and dance lessons, out on adventures (the park, the museum), out for breakfast and dinner... it's been a really sweet time for those two.
Here are some shots from Iyla's past week:
In closing, a comparison shot of newborn Iyla (on the left) and newborn Eloise. They are definitely sisters! A bit different noses, but other than that... a lot of similarities. I'm curious to see if the resemblance remains as Eloise grows and changes.
Feeling oh so blessed and oh so grateful for my two healthy, beautiful little girls.
Happy one week in the world, sweet baby Eloise! We love you more than you will ever know.
Sleepy smiles at one week old
I am full on into the sleep deprived bliss of the newborn period... it is a strange and magical place to be, where days are sloooow going and it's hard to get anything 'done' but hold and tend to baby. I am SO thankful BC was able to take a 2 week Paternity leave (basically he is taking paid vacation days)- as we are now mastering the 1 to 1 defense. He and Iyla are spending some wonderful quality time together, and I truly think it is helping her transition go incredibly smoothly. In fact, there doesn't appear to be ANY transition for her- she is as happy and carefree and loving as always, constantly wanting to kiss and hold and "pet" her baby sister. It makes my heart swell.
This post is going to serve as a 'catch all' of Eloise's first week so I can keep updating from here. Because you know I already have hundreds of photos that need to be posted. ; )
Like this adorable one!
Iyla and her Mimi at Iyla's school when Mimi and Grampy were here caring for her.
Iyla and her Mimi at Iyla's school when Mimi and Grampy were here caring for her.
The best quote of Mimi & Grampy's visit happened one night when Mimi was putting Iyla to bed. Iyla- not wanting Mimi to go- said:
"Mimi's don't go to sleep"
My mom replied "Oh yes, Mimi's DO go to sleep."
To which Iyla retorted: "No they don't. Mimi's are nocturnal."
Way to whip out the fancy science vocabulary, kid!
Our 2nd day in the hospital brought with it our first visitors- my parents and Iyla. We were SO excited for Iyla to meet her baby sister! We wanted her to come in first for a little family time, and I had a present ready "from Baby Eloise" for her- a stuffed Mama kitty that has 3 magnetic nursing kittens.
When Iyla first entered the room she didn't want to hug or greet me- she just wanted to see Baby Sister in the bassinet. We took Eloise out and asked Iyla if she wanted to hold her, getting a "No! I don't like her."
Alrighty then.
The Mama kitty was taken out and given (big hit! She declared "I've been dreaming of having this kitty") and Iyla took to playing with her new toy on the floor while my parents came in for their first meeting.
As Iyla observed her Mimi holding Eloise she came over and said that she wanted a turn too. BC and I remarked later how silly it was for us to forget our slow-to-warm little girl.... who always needs to do things in her own time, in her own way.
After a little time and observation she was now ready to officially greet her little sister.
And it was magic.
As Iyla held Eloise, she kissed her head and cooed: "I'm your big sister. I'll take care of you."
*Cue heart melting*
Aaaand.... a moment later Iyla announced "I'm all done!"
She is 3.5, after all.
Here are a few photos of this precious first meeting:
Warming up with her little kitty family
Observing Mimi first
This is what we got when my dad asked Iyla to smile for a photo
A family of four! Holy s***
Eloise rocked all of the hospital newborn screening tests, passing her hearing test, heart exams, and bilirubin draw (thank GOD!) with flying colors. So on Sunday, July 24th we got the green light to head on home!
Little squish's first time in the car seat
Iyla was super excited to have us all home again, and thankfully Mimi and Grampy stayed another night to help facilitate our transition home as a family. I can't say enough about how helpful it is to have extra pairs of loving hands helping out!
Grampy and his baby Eloise
My lovely hemorrhoids temporarily got better at 4 days pp, but came back with a vengeance day 5 when my constipation FINALLY let up. I now have a cushy donut-esque sitting pillow on order to hopefully expedite this part of the recovery.
I could tell Thursday into today there was a lot of hormonal purging going on, as I got some serious night sweats, a pick up in bleeding (which has been very light since about 3 days pp), a headache, &....*ahem*- the opposite of constipation. I know it's my body's way of readjusting to no longer being pregnant, and its definitely an interesting phenomenon to experience!
Other postpartum notes:
*My feet were OH so swollen post birth (and still are somewhat)- which is a common side effect of all the fluids they use during the epidural.
*My hair! I've had a week straight of great hair days, with it looking and feeling more thick and full. Not sure what is up with that, but I like it.
*I'm feeling cold again. The thermostats are turned back up and cardigans have been pulled out.
*This 1:1 defense is NO JOKE. I am so grateful BC has two weeks off to help- and that help looks like him fully taking over Iyla care. Which leaves me primarily in charge of/mostly alone in Eloise care. Which also means I'm not eating or drinking as much as I should (or sleeping, but that is to be expected)- because it is just sooo hard to do these things one handed with a newborn! Yesterday I didn't eat breakfast until 11:30am. Thankfully today I was on a more normal morning schedule, thanks to BC having set up a 2nd monitor upstairs for Eloise watching.
*At one week postpartum, I have lost 15 1/2 of the 37 pounds gained in pregnancy. My belly is shrinking a little more every day and it feels OH SO GOOD to be able to move freely again!
Selfie with Eloise in her nursery
One week postpartum belly
As far as Lady Eloise goes, she is overall a really sweet, loving, alert spirit- but will definitely let you know if she doesn't like something (like car rides, diaper changes, & being put down when still awake)! She is sleeping the days away in 2-4 hour nap stretches, and nights... well, nights she pretty consistently is up EVERY 2 hours. We've had a couple glorious nights with 3 hour stretches, but it also isn't uncommon for her to wake EVERY hour either. I'm one sleepy Mama, but again- am luxuriating in this gentle, sweet newborn phase. I'm already feeling emotional about it all as I know how quickly it passes and that this is our last go at it.
Eloise had her first doctor appointment this week at 4 days old (BC and Iyla came too!), and was none too pleased to have to endure the car ride there:
Grumpy girl after a LOT of crying in the backseat. It's heartbreaking to hear her back there and not be able to help!
She weighed in at 7lbs 1 oz- which is AWESOME since she is almost back up to birth weight (she went down to 6#15oz at the hospital). All that night nursing is doing its job! She measured 20 3/4 inches long, head 14 inches, putting her at 95% for height, 30% for weight, and 90% for head size. Another long and lean girl like her big sister Iyla!
The doctor mentioned she looked slightly jaundiced (NO! I had immediate flashbacks to our hospital stay with Iyla due to this)... but said if she was eating well (yes) and pooping regularly (super YES- this girl goes almost every hour!) we should be just fine. I thanked our lucky stars for that!
The one shot I got AT the doctor's office itself... sweet girl was none too happy about all the poking and prodding, so I had to wait for a peaceful moment to officially document her visit.
Ready for our first solo outing to the chiropractor
Here are a few more photos of sweet Lady Eloise's first week of life:
Baby sleep poses are just too much. I can't stop taking photos!
This is one of her favorite sleep positions. I've been having her sleep in bed next to me and she always curls her little body and/or head to face me.
I've also taken to calling Eloise "chicken legs"- and you can see why! She appears to have the same long legs as Iyla, courtesy of their Papa (lucky girls!):
As far as Big Sister goes? She has been having a blast with her Papa staycation. He takes her to school, swim and dance lessons, out on adventures (the park, the museum), out for breakfast and dinner... it's been a really sweet time for those two.
Here are some shots from Iyla's past week:
They go out to breakfast at the local Quickie Pickie several mornings a week
Iyla also had her first ever trip to the dentist this week! Papa reported that she did awesome, bringing her beloved "Dinies" (dinosaurs) with her for support:
Iyla ALWAYS wants to see what Baby Sister is up to- she is sooo sweet with her
All my girls
Boat safety at swim class!
In closing, a comparison shot of newborn Iyla (on the left) and newborn Eloise. They are definitely sisters! A bit different noses, but other than that... a lot of similarities. I'm curious to see if the resemblance remains as Eloise grows and changes.
Feeling oh so blessed and oh so grateful for my two healthy, beautiful little girls.
Happy one week in the world, sweet baby Eloise! We love you more than you will ever know.
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