On Thursday, 2/14, Cora weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces. Way to chunk up, girl! This makes her mama and papa very happy. She's a good eater! My parents were here for 2 weeks, which was so great to have the help and just to have them around. Now Neil and I have settled into a nice routine and things are going really well.
A typical night and day have been going something like this. Cora eats between 8pm and 10pm, then I sleep for about 2-3 hours. She wakes me up to eat about 4 hours later, midnight to 2am or so. I sleep for another 2-3 hours and she wakes me up to eat again between 5am-7am or so. Neil usually hangs out with us at this feeding or changes Cora's diaper and plays with her before he leaves for work at 7:30am. I sleep for another 2-3 hours and she wakes me up to eat between 9am-11am (today it was noon). Depending on how the night goes I have been getting 6-8 hours of sleep in approximately 2 hour increments. I feel pretty good, maybe a bit like I'm jet lagged, and have a headache most days (both from lack of sleep and constantly looking down while nursing), but I wouldn't say I'm exhausted. For the first 3 weeks Cora slept in the bassinett of the pack 'n play in the same room as me, but has been sleeping in the crib in her own room for the last week. I'm still sleeping in the extra room downstairs next to her, but I feel like we are all sleeping much better using the monitor and having her in her own room. By late morning I typically get up for the day, make some breakfast/lunch and every other day or couple days shower while Cora sleeps in her vibrating chair outside the shower where I can check on her. Somehow the day goes by really fast from noon to 6pm or so, with feeding Cora every 2-3 hours during the day.
Each feeding session lasts about an hour...10-15 minutes on each side, burping, changing her diaper 1-3 times (wet when she wakes up before starting, then she usually poops while or after eating, or she poops or pees while changing her), then snuggling with her while she falls asleep or playing with her if she's awake. Between feedings I attempt to get some thank you notes written, pick up some things around the house, do miscellaneous things like pay bills, call the health insurance company, do some laundry, sometimes make it out for a walk or to pick up the mail, talking to grandparents on the phone or Skype, having a friend visit, etc.
Once Neil gets home he typically makes dinner and just wants to hold Cora. This week I started pumping milk a little bit so Neil has been able to feed her a bottle in the evening, which has been really fun for him. And Cora has taken the bottle no problem! We'll watch some TV (currently we're sucked back into the early seasons of 24, which we originally watched several years ago, and definitely don't help with my procrastination of getting other things done!). We've given Cora a bath about twice a week the last couple weeks since her umbilical cord healed. She seems to like the bath just fine until we wash her armpits and neck creases, which makes her scream briefly. Everything says you can give newborns a bath once a week, but we've noticed that more often than that her hair seems a bit greasy and she doesn't smell quite as sweet. Her hair is still pretty straight and mostly about a quarter inch long, except longer in the back and some tufts on top, which are about an inch and a half long now. Her skin seems to be a bit more olivey than my pale skin...it looks like maybe she got Neil's skin and hair coloring!
I've also had a few days where I've ventured out...to the resort, bank, post office or store here in Big Sky and yesterday I went to Bozeman on my own with Cora for a mom and baby support group at the library, meeting with a lactation consultant at the hospital, getting an oil change in my car, and picking up a few groceries. Cora was so great and slept the whole time between feedings! She really is a mild tempered baby...hardly ever cries unless something is really wrong (like her dad tightened her car seat straps too much, for example). She is really calm and patient and is just so sweet. Of course we'll probably have our hands full when she's 2! :)
For my birthday Neil and I went out to sushi dinner while Cora stayed home with my parents. It was sooo nice to have a little time together and we had such a fun time! Then last Saturday I had taken Cora up to the resort to watch the Dummy Jump and to be somewhat social. I fed her in Neil's office then he took her home while I went out for a beer and food with a couple girlfriends and then I got home in time for her next feeding. It was the first time Neil had her on his own. I really have felt okay leaving her for these short periods of time, as long as I know that I'll be there when she is hungry. However, apparently she was crying when Neil drove her home and he pulled over to change her diaper, but changed her with the door open in the freezing cold so then she was crying because she was cold. After Neil told me this I felt awful for having left her and felt like I should have been there to take care of her! Of course she really was fine and it is great to have Neil gain confidence in taking care of her on his own as well. It's funny to have a little bit of a protective mama feeling though, like only I know how to take care of her the best. :)
We did have a little bit of a medical scare, but found out that everything is fine. At her first pediatrician visit at 4 days old they recommended an ultrasound of her spine. Cora has a little bit of an unusual sacral pit at the bottom of her spine/top of her butt crack and the doctor wanted to ensure that she didn't have a tethered spinal cord, which is extremely rare, but basically means that the spinal cord is attached incorrectly and causes developmental problems. It can be fixed with a small surgery if diagnosed. So on February 7th we went in for the ultrasound and it was confirmed that her spinal cord is completely normal. They put her on her stomach on a warm blanket to do the ultrasound and the tech was really nice, saying that it's so fun for her to see a baby instead of just a black and white picture of a baby. Cora ended up falling asleep on my hand and the warm blanket and was so cute lying there. A doctor came in an confirmed what they were looking at and that all was perfectly normal. Yay!
As for me, I've been feeling pretty good! No baby blues that I can tell. After about 3 and a half weeks I'm feeling just about 100% recovered. I have my 6 week check up in a week and a half. I have effortlessly lost about 23 pounds of pregnancy weight, but still have about 15 that I would love to lose. It's funny to look back at photos of myself from just the last year pre-pregnancy and be like, "I look so skinny!" However, I haven't felt super motivated to start exercising, but am hopeful that in the next couple months I will be more adjusted to Cora's schedule and able to get out to go skiing (both downhill and cross country), go to some work out classes, and on more walks. I'm already really looking forward to summer when Cora is a bit bigger and we can be outside in the warm weather on hikes, at community events, etc.
Also, there are a ton of our friends having babies these days and Cora is going to have so many buddies! It will be so fun to meet these babies and watch them grow along with Cora. What an exciting time. I'm just doing my best to enjoy every day...like this moment right now with Cora sleeping on my chest. There is nothing better than little baby snuggles!
Here are a few of my favorite pictures over the last couple weeks.
Also, there are a ton of our friends having babies these days and Cora is going to have so many buddies! It will be so fun to meet these babies and watch them grow along with Cora. What an exciting time. I'm just doing my best to enjoy every day...like this moment right now with Cora sleeping on my chest. There is nothing better than little baby snuggles!
Here are a few of my favorite pictures over the last couple weeks.
One of her beautiful sleep smiles. Just in the last day or two she has started to smile a little bit while looking at our faces. I can't wait for her to break out in big smiles for real!
Sleeping on Dad. Do they look related, or what?!
Snuggling with Mom. This is my favorite!
Cora with her Sleep Sheep from Coco (Grandma Rita). We play this for her every night and while riding in the car to soothe her to sleep. She loves it! (I did not pose her hand there, she did that on her own!)
Rooney hanging out with Cora and I while nursing in the middle of the night. He's been so great with Cora and either plays the watch cat or doesn't pay her much mind. He's such a good older brother!
Rooney actually laid his head on Cora while we were all snuggling in bed the other morning.
Happy Valentine's Day! Neil surprised me with a bouquet in Cora's room next to where I nurse her. I am so lucky to have these TWO sweethearts!
Neil playing with Cora. She is having much more frequent and longer alert periods where she calmly plays and looks around. She tracks our faces and toys and aimlessly grabs rings and toys, while kicking her legs and moving her arms around.
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