First Week of Life

I can hardly believe that my sweet baby girl is TWO weeks old already.  Seriously, where does the time go?  Since I had a c-section, we were in the Hospital an extra day/night.  Friday, December 16th we went home.  

To be honest, I wasn't nervous - probably because I was SO tired.  We didn't leave the Hospital until 4pm {it's a long story as to why we were discharged so late}.  By the time we got home, it was time to feed Dafney.  My parents were sweet enough to bring our dog home for us so she was there when we got home.  And, of course, they stayed so they could see their grandbaby - thankfully, they didn't stay all that long.  

It was nice to have a night at home with just the 4 of us {yes, I count our dog, Hannah}.  Kyle & I just went through the 4 days of mail we had piled up, sat on the couch and watched a little TV and just stared at our daughter.  

Unfortunately, Dafney didn't adjust well to her new crib the first night.  She was up every 30-60 minutes...hello, exhaustion!  I tried feeding her, changing her and just snuggling her.  Needless to say, neither of us got much sleep that night.  

The next morning, we had to bring Dafney in to see the Pediatrician as she had lost 10% of her body weight while in the Hospital and was down to 5lbs 8oz.  So, we packed up the diaper bag, the babe and ourselves and headed to the Dr.'s office.  We had been supplementing some formula all day Friday and through the night per the Dr.'s orders.  When we brought her in on Saturday, she was up to 5lbs 12oz....YEAH!!  He was confident that when my milk was in, she would eat like a champ and continue to gain weight.  

However, to be sure he had me see a lactation specialist (she was great) and had us make another appointment for the following week.  After the Dr. appointment we decided to stop at Target to get some groceries.  We were true "first time parents" because we were trying to figure out how to put the car seat on the cart.  We weren't sure how to do so, so we just put it in the big part of the cart and decided we didn't need that many groceries.  Dafney slept the entire time!  

That night my parents brought us dinner {really it was their excuse to come see Dafney...I know  how they operate} and we had another low-key night at home.  

That evening my c-section incision started to "leak", so I called the Dr. and she said it was better for the liquid to come out than stay inside and that I should come in on Monday just to have it looked at.  It made me feel a little bit better that it was semi-normal to "leak"...the last thing I wanted was to have an infection or worse. 

The second night we remembered something our instructor taught us in our parenting class...she said to use a heating pad in the crib so when you put the baby down to sleep, you're putting them onto something warm and it can help them stay asleep.  Well, it worked!  She slept so much better.  I even had to wake her up to feed her once.  Ever since, she's been a really good sleeper (KNOCK ON WOOD).  She'll sleep anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time.  Our pediatrician said not to let her go more than 5 hours since we're trying to get her to gain weight....I'm thankful for the sleep that I do get during the night. 

Tuesday, December 20th was my first day alone with the babe.  My Husband had to go back to work =(  I was feeling all sorts of emotions.  I was sad, nervous, and a little excited to be able to spend some QT with my baby.  We made it through the day no problems!  She slept most of the time and when she was awake we snuggled together on the couch.  It's truly amazing! 

The thing that I still struggle with is not being able to do things I've been used to doing, such as walking the dog.  For the past 4 1/2 years, we've walked our dog almost everyday.  I even cry because it is so hard to not be able to go with my Husband to walk Hannah.  Unfortunately, with a c-section, I can't do anything other than leisurely walking for 6 whole weeks.  I can't even carry the laundry basket up the stairs.  It's tough.  But, I know that I need to limit my activities so I properly heal. 

Wow, I have so many more posts: Christmas, a guest post, and Dafney's 2nd week of life.  I will try to get these posts done soon....but I sort of go by Dafney's schedule now =) 

Happy first week of life, Dafney!!