(almost) 4 days in…

My last post had an epically long update at the end… and a link to more photos and lots of information and it just, poof, was gone. So here is a summary of what is up with us four days in.

Nolie: I have been most worried about her and she is doing surprisingly well. She is, after all, two years old and just had her whole world totally turned upside down. I think so far we are doing pretty well with keeping our days as normal as we can (not many visitors, actually only one so far and she brought us a heavenly meal  and only stayed till it was warmed through) and not give in *too* much to her every request (such as- more TV nonstop, chocolate for dinner and to nurse, nurse, nurse all.day.long.). We are watching a whole lot more TV than usual and eating whatever we are delivered and then snacking the day through without much care or knowledge of normal person eating times (oh? its five PM and we are having lunch? hm…). She is LOVING her baby sister and adores holding her, kissing her and, her all time favorite, nursing at the same time. She requests that more often than not and we have done it a few times, a little uncomfortable but darling for everyone. Basically she is having a little bit of a rough go but handling everything way better than I anticipated. However, I am terrified for how it will all go when Charlie goes back to work. I really have no idea…

Papa: This is hitting Charlie hardest of all I think. He is having to take on ALL of the toddler responsibilities. Errand running with her (DSHS at 8am with a two year old? my hat is off to you sir!), grocery shopping, bedtime/bathtime/mealtime/allthetime. He is getting a piece of what Stay at Home parenting is and realizing quickly is is no cake walk. The first couple of days were especially hard but as he is finding his stride and he and Nolie are bonding further they both seem to be falling into these new roles really well.

Mama: I am physically feeling pretty awesome. Very little bleeding, no tears that needed stitching and I feel close to how I felt at about 6 weeks PP last time. It is really incredible. I am a little thrown off, though I shouldn’t be, at how much longer it is taking my body to bounce back. Last time my belly was looking pretty much flat and back to normal just a few days PP, this time? Not so much. I still look easily 20 weeks along and am a little worried that I will stay that way thanks to all the extra weight I gained. I know a lot of those thoughts are fueled by the postpartum hormone craziness that my body is going through and I am trying hard to stick with really positive self talk and reminding myself that this is REALLY early PP and I need to be exceedingly gentle with myself. Other exciting news? My milk came in! And regulated like… asap. No engorgement, no spraying out just LOTS of milk and two very eager ladies ready to alleviate any excess. My milk coming in has given Ever quite the incentive to be on me all the time. She is nursing about 25min of every hour with a few long sleeps here and there (like, two hours). Night time is kind of a joke the days are all running together at this point. I have started taking my placenta pills and feel a difference from them, maybe it is all in my head but I highly doubt it. And I don’t think it was any coincidence that my milk came pouring in mere hours after taking my first pills.

Ever: She is bliss. Sleeps, nurses and cuddles. Night time is still pretty much the same as daytime but we have had a few stretches of sleep here and there. She loves to nurse and is doing really well with her latch and getting the milk out. She was born weighing 7lbs 8oz and yesterday was at 7 lbs 3oz  and my guess is she is back up to birth weight by now thanks to my milk and her voracious appetite. This girl LOVS to nurse.

Our Family: Last time we made the mistake of having lots of visitors right off the bat. This time around we are taking it far more slowly. Other than the day of the birth we have only had one friend visit (for about half an hour) and otherwise we have been just figuring out how to be a little family. I am really thankful to have friends and family who are so respectful and caring of our precious baby moon time. My friends have been incredible in reminding me that no matter how excited everyone is to meet our baby that this time is really short and really special for our family and saying No is not a big deal. I am also remembering just how big of a stretch this growing is and our little family is needing time to figure out how to be loving and respectful to one another even on very little sleep and so much upheaval. Overall we are doing awesome but for sure in the throws of those first days.

We are in LOVE with the photos Merrilee took for us. The birth went so quickly that she didn’t make it in time for the actual birth (texted her at 5cm and 40min later Ever was here! Crazy!) but caught some of the most important first moments for our family. I can’t even begin to say how much I love and treasure these images. To see more of them you can visit HERE!