Week One and Two of Lillian's Life

I realize I'm behind on week one but hey I just had a baby so cut me some slack. :) I don't plan on doing a long post for a weekly update. It will probably just be a cute picture and any highlights from that week. Our first week was pretty eventful so it may be longer than future posts. Here is Lillian on march 26th at one week old. This bunny was made by a sweet lady from church.

We went home to my parents house from the hospital on Thursday march 21st. Lillian's birth weight was 8lbs 9oz and 21.5 in. long. When we went home she was 8lbs 4oz. We went to the pediatrician on Sunday march 24th and she weighed 8lbs 2oz. and was 20 3/4 in. long. Not too bad, they always say to expect her to lose weight that first week. On Tuesday we decided to head home to Huntsville as a family so Kevin could get back to work. Before we left though we stopped by my old job to let everyone meet Lillian. We also stopped by my mom's office because everyone had heard so much about Lillian. She was one proud Nana showing Lillian off to everyone. After that it was time to hit the road! Luckily Huntsville is only about 3 1/2 hrs from Atlanta and Lillian LOVES the car. She slept the whole entire time and only whimpered once when we stopped for gas but was fine as soon as we were moving again. We did stop for lunch and that was when I fed her a bottle I had pumped in the car (thanks to my Medela pump in style it was a piece of cake to pump in the car). We made it safe and it was so nice for all 3 of us to be home together in one state.

Here is a picture of Lillian at two weeks old, ready for Braves Opening day!

Week two started that same Tuesday we traveled home. My mom actually drove up later that evening and stayed with us until Saturday. She was a huge help to have around. I am so thankful she took her vacation days to come help us out. Not only helping with Lillian, she took the middle of the night feeding so i could get a few solid hours, but also did a lot of cleaning and cooking for me and was just there to talk and give guidance so I didn't stress since Kevin was back at work. I know she hated to leave Lillian but I hated for her to leave too. My dad and PawPaw came to pick her up Saturday since she drove one of our cars here so I was glad we were able to get a 4 generations picture since we don't know when PawPaw would be able to see her again.

We will see how week three goes as I will be on my own until Kevin gets home from work. I am not too worried about it right now as I know my priority is Lillian first, then sleep and food for me, and if I can get at least one "chore" around the house done a day I think we will be okay.

Physical Features: Lillian has had great skin since she was born. none of that baby acne showed up until the middle of week two and that is still just around her nose only. She came out with a full head of darker hair and we started to notice this week its turning red like Mommy's!

Nursing: we are working on getting Lillian to attach (flat nipples apparently), still using the nipple shield for now but at least she is getting full feedings. I have fed her from a bottle a few times for convenience (i.e. the car trip here, middle of night feedings with my mom or Kevin) and it certainly is more convenient to feed from a bottle but I do love that special time only I can have with her when i feed her.

Schedule: She kind of put herself on a 3 1/2 - 4 hr feeding schedule but did have a few times where she would be hungry sooner so of course i fed her. we weren't really too worried about a schedule at this point. We are going to start working on that more during week 3.

Mommy's recovery:
I have been feeling good. Not too sore from the whole birthing process, I haven't hit any postpartum depression, and I'm getting better sleep than when I was pregnant. I do have to say it has been easy because we have had so much help but it also makes it easy/enjoyable every time I get to hold my sweet baby girl. When I left the hospital they had me on 600mg of Motrin every 6hrs, by about Saturday I had gotten down to 400mg and today I take it only twice a day and feel fine. I didn't want to stop taking it all together because I do notice some pressure still but did not want to take so much as it causes constipation (I know TMI but that is valuable info for any of my pregnant friends). I would also advise to listen when the nurse says not to lift anything over 10lbs for awhile, because I pulled Lillian, in her carseat, out of the car and think I pulled a muscle in my shoulder! It is really painful lol. I need to hit the gym! I did weigh myself once we got back to Huntsville and i can proudly say i already lost more than half the pregnancy weight by just giving birth! lol. I still have about 16 lbs to go. They say not to work out until after your 6 week check up so until then I try to be good about what I eat and I know it's helping shed some LBs just by nursing.

We did take Lillian to church for Easter so I will end with some pictures of her in her cute dress and our little family of three!