She has about an inch or less of fine light brown straight hair on her head (which we are wondering if it will fall out or change at all), her eyes are currently a dark blue, and her features are just so adorable. The pointy little part of her upper lip, the indentation between her nose and mouth, her little button nose (which currently is a little bit reddish with little white dots on it), her beautiful eyes (when open), her furrowed brow when she is crying or making faces in her sleep, her little gums that show when she opens her mouth wide in a cry, her chubby cheeks, and her pointy little chin, her smooth and perfect skin...all so cute! Not to mention her little hands with long fingers and her little feet and toes. I think she definitely has a number of Neil's features, but it will be so interesting to see how she changes as she grows and which part looks like either of us. She also has a bruise/bump on the upper right back part of her head that is from being born. It's a little swollen and darker red, but the doctor said it should heal up in the next couple weeks.
We stayed in the hospital just under 2 days and brought her home Friday evening. We've had two nights and two days at home where our schedule has revolved around feeding Cora every 2-3 hours. Before having a baby I thought, how will I ever be able to do this?! But at least the first 4 days of her life really haven't been as bad as I thought. Cora has a little bit of jaundice, which apparently makes her sleepier than usual, and the way to get jaundice out of their system is for them to eat lots and poop lots. So it's really important that she eat often and they told us to wake her up at least every 3 hours to eat.
Basically our schedule has been feeding her, setting the alarm for 3 hours, then either having her wake us before that time or us waking her up, changing her diaper, then feeding her again, and repeating. During the night I sleep for the 2 or so hours between finishing feeding and waking up to feed again and during the day I either nap during this time, eat the meals that Neil has been making me, watch her sleeping, or today I even took a shower. We also skyped with both our parents which was a lot of fun! So you can see it really is pretty uneventful, but at the same time it is the sweetest thing to be spending so much time with my very own baby! And I've gotten about 7-8 hours of sleep a day, even if it is in 1-2 hour stretches. I kind of compare the change in sleep to traveling internationally and feeling a bit jet lagged. Of course I'm only a couple days into this, Cora is sleeping a lot at this stage, and I'm sure it will change and I will be more sleep deprived and exhausted at some point soon. The first two nights in the hospital I think I had so much adrenaline and wanted to make sure she was okay, and now since being home I just want her to eat and get rid of the jaundice, so it really has been fine with me waking up to feed and spend time with her. I'm feeling much better about everything too, since yesterday evening my milk came in and she now is gulping it down and having it spill down her chin into the folds of her neck and arms. Her poop is changing color from the blackish/brown to brownish green and now to a yellowish, which makes her mama very happy as well, since it is supposed to be yellow by day 5ish.
We have a follow up appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow at 2pm, so I'm anxious to hear what her weight is, what they say about her jaundice, the bruise on her head and how her umbilical cord is healing. Of course, now we're going to have to actually plan to leave the house by a certain time and plan the feedings around that, so it should be interesting. I wonder if pediatricians schedule their visits knowing that parents are going to be late.
I have physically been feeling very good as well. In the hospital they gave me 3 ibuprofen every 6 hours and would ask my pain on a scale of 1 to 10. I would say, "I guess a 1", because I really was feeling quite good! I'm actually amazed at how fast your body bounces back to a somewhat normal feeling body after such a traumatizing experience. I mean, I'm not about to go jogging or even on a long walk quite yet, but really I feel quite good!
Neil has been absolutely incredible and he is so in love with this little girl. He loves changing Cora's diaper before feedings, swaddling her to sleep after feedings (which he perfected while in the hospital!), and of course holding her any chance that he can. He has been making fires in the woodstove to keep the house nice and warm and sat with me at feedings to help tickle Cora's toes to keep her awake. He has been making me healthy meals and making sure I'm drinking lots of water. He's done some laundry, the dishes, and is so helpful with everything that Cora and I need. Just the way he talks to Cora and what he says to her are some of the cutest things ever. "I can't believe you are a little human being! And you are MY little human being."
For some reason the Upload Photos feature is still not working for me on here. But I just figured out how to upload photos straight from my phone...yay!
Here is me right now with Cora sleeping on my chest skin to skin after feeding her.
Here we are at the hospital on Day 1 with Cora.
The proud Papa...taking her home from the hospital.
Sweetness!
Anna, she is perfect! We can't wait to meet her next time we are through. So glad to hear that you are feeling well. what a champ!
ReplyDelete