5 Weeks

Weight: 9 pounds
Height: 22 inches
Favorite activity: Riding in the car
Favorite food: breast milk
Favorite spot: Snuggled in her swing or in her Moby wrap.
Naughtiest moment: Keeping mom up all night!
Important milestones: Successfully transitioned to cloth diapers (it's a beautiful thing!), first feeding with a bottle (and first pumping for Mom!), introduction to the pacifier, which we are calling the "Paci" (she likes the Nuks best), staying awake longer and more often, first night sleeping on her own (not in the bed with mom and dad).
How Mom's Feeling: This morning, I'm pretty tired. Last night was our first attempt at getting her to sleep on her own. It was successful...sort of. I borrowed at Rock and Play sleeper from one of the ladies in my mom's group. It's pretty nice and you can see how it would work better than a crib/bassinet/co-sleeper. It's raked down, so she is at an angle, it's kind of like a basket (like her swing) so she's cradled, plus it's on rockers so it'll rock if she moves, or I can rock it with my hand. So she napped in it pretty well, then would sleep in it at night, if she was already asleep. But she doesn't sleep as long as she does with us. I don't think it was because she was cold--she was in fuzzy pajamas, and a light swaddle. The hardest part was that she slept for 30 minutes, woke up and was awake for an hour and a half, then went back to sleep for three and a half hours, was awake for an hour, then slept for another hour and a half. So I'm definitely not running on all cylinders today!


In other news, we've been going out on quite a few different "adventures" this week! We've been to the bookstore, Costco, Trader Joe's, an indoor famer's market, and on mom's group playdates--a walk at Shoreline park (where I met two other moms who also had home births!) and a Stitch and Bitch crafting playdate. As usual, she's the smallest/youngest there and usually sleeps through the whole thing, but I'm having fun meeting new people and getting out of the house! This next week, we will be going on our furthest away/longest trip: a visit to Gilroy! Brian has a job in Gilroy, plus he needs to fix his mom's computer, so Lorelei and I are joining him to visit with his parents and a trip to the Janie and Jack outlet (we have a gift card).


Here are some of this week's adorableness:

Cuddling up on Sunday morning

Check out that squishy baby face!

Look at that "old man" hair! It will not lay down,  no matter what I do!

Cuddled in her own Rock and Play bed

Modeling her Papa's "Coming Home" gown

In Papa's gown and quilt!

Modeling her new leggings that BeeBee's friend made

Week 5 Picture outtakes

Week 5 Picture outtakes

Week 5 Picture outtakes

4 Weeks

I can't believe she's a month old!


Weight: 8 pounds, one ounce
Height: 20 1/2 inches
Favorite activity: spitting up on mom and dad!
Favorite food: breast milk
Favorite spot: Cuddled in the moby wrap or riding in the car.
Naughtiest moment: Spitting up ALL her milk on her, mom, dad and the bed!
Important milestones: First shower--she actually seems to like it more than a bath. First trip to the mall (she was all the rage at Stanford Shopping Center). First visit with Great Grandma Phyllis and Great Aunt Ellie. First time sleeping in her crib (for about 3 minutes!) Plus, we're transitioning to cloth diapers (I'm tired of spending ridiculous amounts of money on disposables!) Today, she's going legal--getting our official birth certificate today (and riding in Papa's new car!)
How Mom's Feeling: Tired. This week has had some really great nights and some not so great nights. On her best night, Lorelei slept for 6 hours straight. Last night and the night before...not so much. She slept for only a few hours, fed, and then spit up ALL her food :( then continued to cry/feed/be awake for another hour and a half.


We're also transitioning to cloth diapers. So far, so good. We've had a few leaks--just learning how to best to fit them to her. They're a bit bulky, a bit of work, but super cute and so much better than disposables!


Some of this week's pics:

Modeling her new bonnet at Stanford Shopping Center

At Bare Essentials--learning about makeup early!

With Great Aunt Ellie

With Great Grandma Phyllis

Hanging out in the office in her bouncie chair

Sleepy outtake from her 4 Week picture

She's so tiny in her crib!

Sleeping in her crib for the first time

Check out those blue eyes!

In one of her favorite places--mom's Moby wrap!

3 Weeks!

Happy Valentines Day and Happy 3 Weeks Old, Lorelei!


Weight: 7 pounds, 7 ounces (yay! Back to birth weight!)
Height: 20 1/2 inches
Favorite activity: sleeping and eating
Favorite food: breast milk
Favorite spot: Held while being bounced on the birth/exercise ball.
Naughtiest moment: Peeing all over herself and mom while doing some skin to skin sans diaper!
Important milestones: Back to birth weight (plus a great visit with our pediatrician)! Really getting the hang of breastfeeding--we can do a night feeding in just about an hour (including diaper change!) Plus, she's sleeping about four to four and a half hours at a time at night, which means we can get a pretty good night's sleep. And she's able to lift her head a few inches for a good 15 to 20 seconds at a time--and she's awake more, which means we get to see her pretty blue eyes a lot more. 
How Mom's Feeling: Overall, pretty good. For the last couple of nights, we've only been doing one hour-long night feeding at around 4:30 am. Which means that we've been getting a lot more sleep! This is our first week on our own--no grandmas to burp or hold her when she gets fussy or just when we need a break. So far, so good. We went to a mom's group play date on Saturday, the dog park on Sunday, then to the pediatrician and the grocery store today. Tomorrow, we are going to a Celebrating Mother's meetup at our midwife's office and then to the audiologist (just to check her hearing, since she didn't have that test at birth). The trick, I've learned, is to do at least one thing a day to get out of the house--a walk, a trip to the store...something. Otherwise, I just start to feel cooped up!


Today marks not just Lorelei's third week, but is also Valentine's Day. Normally, we don't celebrate Valentine's Day. We didn't today either, really, but there were some great moments today! It started with getting 8 cumulative hours of sleep and even getting to sleep in until 9 am! Then we had a nice visit with our pediatrician and my dad (who even got to hold her for a while). Brian picked up dinner for us (Chipotle, while not terribly romantic, was delicious!) and we watched an episode of Gray's Anatomy. Best of all, Brian came home with a new cherry red hybrid car! We started talking about it the other day and today, he came home with one! We will, of course, be selling one of our other cars on Craigslist, but it's pretty exciting!


As always, here are some pictures of our week:

With two of her three grandmommies (only missing Grandma Janet!)

Looking adorable in her swing

Cuddling with Mama

Visiting with her Great Aunt Pat!

Three generations!

Ready for a walk in the park, wearing one of my bonnets (that's a little too big for her!)

Visiting with Auntie May who calls her "Our Angel". She'll be spending two days a week with Auntie May when I go back to work!

Cuddling with Grandpa Dan (not squawking this time!)

Second Week!

 Wow, two weeks already--We've had a busy week!

Weight: 7 pounds, 4 ounces
Height: 20 1/2 inches
Favorite activity: sleeping and eating
Favorite food: breast milk--obviously
Favorite spot: In her bouncer (with vibration on) and her swing (as well as just being held)
Naughtiest moment: Spitting up all over her pretty jacket the minute we set her in the car seat!
Important milestones: First food related gassy-ness (no more Italian sausage for me!), first trip outdoors (to the midwife and lunch at Alotta's Deli), first trip to the pediatrician (cried all the way there AND throughout her visit), first trip to the grocery store, oh and first bout of diaper rash :( Plus, she's learning to suck for comfort.
How Mom's Feeling: Definitely better this week. I'm not so worried about how much she's eating. After getting checked out by the midwife and the pediatrician, neither are worried about her weight gain. It's common for babies to lose up to 10% of their birth weight after they're born. So, while last week she was weighing in around 7 pounds, 1 ounce, this week she's weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces! And clearly milk production is NOT a problem for me! Although, I think we need to buy stock in nursing pads--we go through them so fast!


I'm not as crazy emotional as I was last week. Mostly though, I've just been tired. 90% of the time I'm fine. It's that 10% when I'm just exhausted and Lorelei is crying and I can't calm her down and it's 2:30 in the morning that I just want to cry. And sometimes I do. Fortunately, this is when Brian is really able to step in and help. He has this amazing ability to calm her when I just can't. It's funny, because during the day when she's with me, she's fine. I'm able to feed her and soothe her when others can't. But at 3 am, when she's been fed and changed and is still wailing, I can pass her over to Brian and, it seems to me, within moments she's calm and sleeping on his chest. While this miffs a part of me--the overachieving part where I want to be able to do everything myself (perfectly. The first time.)--mostly it's a relief. Brian is able to bond with her and I get more sleep.


As for feeding and sleeping, we seem to have fallen into a routine that works pretty well. I'll feed her at night right before bed, change her diaper and put her in jammies and swaddle then pass her over to Brian. Brian will sleep with her until she wakes between 1:30 to 2:30 am when I change her and feed her (usually while reading my book. I've already finished book one of the Hunger Games and am halfway through book 2!). Then back to bed we'll go--usually between 3 and 4 am. If she's fussing, I'll pass her to Brian, otherwise, I'll cuddle her and we'll go back to sleep until sometime between 6 and 7 am when we'll change her diaper and feed again. Depending on the time and how tired I am, I'll either stay awake with her while checking the news on my phone in bed or I'll pass her to Brian and get another hour of sleep. Then she'll sleep awhile and usually feed every two hours or so until 11 when she starts her Big Nap (which usually lasts until 3 pm) Then we're back to feeding every two hours until bedtime.


So things are going pretty well over here, overall. We've had my mom and Brian's mom staying with us (not at the same time, of course) which has been amazingly helpful. Never has my floors, kitchen and bathroom been so clean! Plus, they both have been able to get in some substantial baby time! 


As always, we are completely in love with her--even with the screaming! The best aspect of her personality at this point is how easygoing she is. Lorelei is very easily soothed. Once we take care of what is bothering her, she settles down pretty quickly and, depending on how bright the room is, she'll even stay awake awhile for some cuddles and smiles! 


Here are a few pictures from this week:

What bedtime generally looks like now!

Napping with Poppy Jeff

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Chillaxing in the swing!

First time outside--eating lunch at Alotta's Deli!

First Trip to the Grocery Store!

First Week!

Wow. Today, technically, we are 40 weeks! Of course, Lorelei decided to make an early appearance, so instead of a 39 weeks post, you get a 1 Week Old post!

Weight: 7 pounds, 1 ounce
Height: 19 1/2 inches
Favorite activity: sleeping
Favorite food:breast milk
Favorite spot: In Brian's lap or curled against me in the Moby
Naughtiest moment: Pooping the minute she sits in Brian's lap or today after her first bath, when she promptly spit up AND pooped on her bath towel!
Important milestones: Well, she was born! She is also able to breastfeed pretty well, and we had our first bath today!
How Mom's Feeling: As anyone can imagine, this week has been a roller coaster of emotions and experiences! One week later, my body feels pretty good. Still sore in some places, but good. Between the birth, breastfeeding, and surviving this week, I have lost an amazing amount of weight. According to my scale, I'm weighing in at 149.9 pounds!

My emotions though, are a mess. Most of the time, I am happy. Really crazy happy. And completely in love with this new human being. But I'm tired, too. Feeding and sleeping with Lorelei is either feast or famine. One day, she sleeps for hours at a time, and will only wake to eat--and then will only eat for about 15 minutes before falling asleep again! The next day, all she wants to do is eat! Lorelei also only wants to sleep when she is touching one of us--me, Brian, my mom...We got her a co-sleeper that sits on the bed, which she refuses to sleep in. Even if she is totally sound asleep, the minute she touches that co-sleeper, it's shriek city! So for now, Brian and I alternate with having her sleep swaddled on our chests, with the blankets pushed down to our waists. Is it ideal? No. Do I stress about it? Absolutely. So on any given day, I worry about whether she is eating enough--is she getting the hind milk? Is she eating enough? Is she gaining weight?--or I am worrying about her sleeping--are we doing the right thing? Should we try to get her to sleep in her co-sleeper? Should we put her in the swing to sleep? Is there something we haven't tried yet?

Mostly though, I marvel at her. We marvel at her. She is so perfect, from her teeny tiny fingers and toes, to the perfect curl of her lips to the incredible softness of her hair. Even when she is screaming because she is hungry, or needs to have her diaper changed, or cold or has gas or just needs to be held, she seems perfect to me. She also seems like such a GOOD baby. She's not terribly fussy and while she does scream when she is upset, as soon as we solve her problem, she immediately stops crying and will look at us with her big blue eyes and sometimes even smile. How did we make such an amazing and beautiful being?

First day, cuddling with her papa.

 

Sleeping with her Grandmama Chris

Day two with her mama

First visitors: BeeBee and Poppy

 

Visiting with her cool Auntie Bonnie

Day 3--First time wearing clothes!

First visit with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Janet

Hanging out with Papa at the computer

Sleepy girl!

Family photo

First bath!

 

All wrapped up after her bath!

I die. This is why nothing gets done around here!