Happy 1 Month, Nellie!

It's hard to believe that it's been a month since our little Nell Bell has been here!  Some days it seems like it has flown by and other days it seems like she has always been with us.

Last Friday her umbilical cord stump fell off, revealing an adorable belly button!  Yay for daddy diaper duty too!

She also got her first bath and didn't cry once!  Mila helped out and she just relished in having the water poured over her body. If this isn't the cutest expression then I don't know what is!

Daddy had training for work this week so he worked an unusual five days. This was also the first time that I have had both girls to myself and I am happy to say that we all survived!  On Monday I was feeling pretty confident that I got all of us up, ready and out of the house to have Mila at preschool on time....until, after drop off, I noticed I had Nellie's (orange!) poop on the back of my hand.  Hot mess at its finest.

Things are a little complicated and stressful in the morning between two girls fussing and crying and fed and trying to get everything ready to get out of the house but I am thinking it will get easier.  I probably need to get up earlier, too, but that's not happening any time soon!  

Breastfeeding is still going good, definitely not as painful as it was at first, and Nellie is still having plenty of wet diapers (and a few blow outs too!).  I am the type of person that has to be doing three things at once so breastfeeding is kind of a nice change because it makes me stop what I am doing and take the time to enjoy Nellie (and keep her fed!).  

Mila is still enjoying her little sister.  Except for one day when she had a complete meltdown when Nellie wouldn't get her a high five (!).

One of the major differences between Mila and Nellie is that Mila would sleep on her own, any where.  Nellie, not so much.  It doesn't matter how deep of a sleep she is in, the second you set her down she wakes up and starts crying; when you pick her up the crying stops and she goes back to sleep. It's like there's a button and she knows when you have left her alone!  This is really nice for snuggle time but it does make it hard to get anything done around the house!  I did some research online and saw that a "rice sock" is a big help because it mimics an arm and makes the baby think she is still being held.  Time to get crafty around here.

Nellie has started cooing at us and it just lights up our world. She's even started smiling a little bit more and has been able to lift her head and move it side to side during tummy time.

I thought I had everything I needed in terms of baby supplies but, after an outing to a farm and the park this week, I've decided I need to invest in a diaper bag backpack.  It was hard to wear Nellie, carry the diaper bag AND lift Mila when she wanted to be held too. By the end of the three hour outing my back was killing me. Looks like I will have to go shopping soon!

After our great success with Babywise with Mila, I am going to start working on implementing the schedule with Nellie sometime next week.  That will help to keep her more predictable, as well as help her differentiating between sleeping, eating and activity times.  Nellie is already a pretty good sleeper, waking almost consistently only twice a night, around 1am and 4am, to nurse but it will be nice to get her on an actual schedule.  I'm most concerned about my milk supply since we won't be feeding "on demand" anymore so we will have to see how it goes.  As I've said MANY times before, Babywise was so great for Mila and she is an amazing sleeper, fingers crossed for round two with Nellie.

Introducing Nellie Lyn Rodriguez

We finally have the pictures back from Nellie's photo shoot and we got so many great ones!

Because she was born so close to Christmas (We're already giving her the short end of the stick...dang!) we combined our holiday card and her birth announcement into one:

For Nellie's whole newborn gallery, click here (the password is Megan).

Week 3 - Nellie

Unfortunately I can see the realization as to why there aren't as many pictures of the second baby as there are of the first baby!  I think with Mila I was probably taking 847 pictures a day, with Nellie sometimes I forget to take just one (sorry Nellie!).

People have mentioned that Nellie looks more like me, but I don't see it yet. I don't think she looks like Mila though; although Nellie weighed a 1/2 pound more, Mila seemed like such a chunker; I think Nellie is so petite.  Here's a side by side of the two of them, both around the same age, with Nellie on the right and Mila on the left.

Mila has definitely been showing more interest and love for Nellie.  She loves to touch her, rub her belly and give her kisses.  She always makes sure that "sister" is coming too and tells us we need to "hurry!" when she's crying.  She hasn't shown any jealousy so far, is so helpful and much more gentle than I expected.

Last Saturday we had our first road trip, to Palmdale, and Nellie slept the whole way there.  The ride back was another story, though!  She woke up about a half hour from home and wanted to nurse, but we powered through with a crying baby in the car.  Next time we will have to save a bottle for the trip home!

I'm loving that Nellie still has all of her hair!  By this age Mila had lost all of the hair on the top of her head and looked like Dan Aykroyd!  (Looking back at Mila's pictures I definitely need to step Nellie's wardrobe/bow game up!).

Nellie had her first bottle this morning and took it like a pro. We had no issues with her refusing the bottle and she nursed like normal for the rest of the day as well.  I know Robert was SO excited to share in the feedings and Mila crawled right up to help.

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful."  -Proverbs 15:13

this picture looks like her ears are pierced...they're not (sorry Robert!)

I'm still feeling pretty good and recovering nicely, but I can tell when I've been doing too much because my incision will start hurting.  Another weird thing, that's hard to explain, is that sometimes when I eat, afterwards, my insides feel weird.  Like things aren't working correctly to digest my food.  I can't quite explain it...maybe the c-section mamas know what I'm talking about?!  Maybe I'm just a freak?!

2 Week Dr. Appt - Nellie

We had Nellie's two week doctor's appointment today and she is doing great.  She is still measuring at 20.5in long and her head circumference is right on track.  I was anxious/nervous for her weight to be checked because, while Nellie is having many wet diapers, I am still not confident in our breastfeeding; I was ecstatic to find out she now weights 8lbs, 9oz!  This makes me so happy because I feel like I can stop worrying about whether or not she is getting enough milk.  Dr. Brouwer did say that now that she has gained back her birth weight I can stop waking Nellie in the middle of the night to feed her.  This is great news because Nellie, sometimes, will sleep 4-6 hours at a time.  I might continue waking to pump or feed her just to keep my supply up but it's nice to know that I don't have to.

Dr. Brouwer went on to say that, starting today, she wants us to start giving Nellie one bottle of breastmilk a day.  This will help her get used to taking a bottle and, at 2.5 weeks old, the chance of nipple confusion is low; if we wait too long she will refuse it.  Giving her a bottle a day will allow dad to be more involved, will give mom a break and she wants us to be able to go out and have a date! Doctor's orders!  It was nice to hear this about the bottles (and pacifiers) because I have been putting it off; even better that Robert was there to hear it too so he will make sure it actually happens.

The doctor gave Nellie an A+ and said that everything is great!  Next we go back on February 28th for her 2-month check up.

Mila's 1st Day of Preschool

Mila had her first day of preschool today at Grace Lutheran and it was a success!  Originally we hadn't planned to start her until April but we were forced to start her now to save our spot in April.  As it turns out, though, it's really good that she is starting because she's ready.  Without us really teaching her, she already knows most of her colors, numbers 1-5 and some of her letters.  Plus, it's nice for her to have her own "thing" and start a routine.  Right now we are only sending her Mondays and Wednesdays, from 8:30am-12pm; in February she will go three half days and in March she will go four half days to prepare her for four full time days in April when I go back to work.

Mila spent the weekend talking about preschool and was so sad that she had to wait until Monday to go.  She kept saying "skeeschool" and "frans."  Sunday night at dinner we had this conversation, she is SO excited and happy!

Robert and I both took Mila to school today and she did so great at drop off.  Robert and I both got teary eyed but Mila was totally fine and went right into the yard with all of the other kids.  When we picked her up it was so cute to watch her with her class before she saw us. When she did she was so happy but then didn't want to leave!  I asked her about her day and she said she had fun but kept saying "Missed you" and would look down sadly at her lap.   We assured her we missed her too!  All I managed to get out of her regarding details was something about a story about a fish, they sang a song and, when asked if she made any friends, she said "Jason" (you should've seen Robert's face on that one!).

Every week her teachers put this in her basket so we know what they are working on for the week, I think that's so cool.  We really couldn't have picked a better school.

Our little girl is growing up!

Week 2 - Nellie

Another week down and a day late in the post.  Having two kids really keeps you busy!

Friday our friends Andrea and Mike stopped by (again, forgot a picture!) to meet Nellie and catch up.  It's always so great seeing an old friend.

Nellie had her newborn photos on Saturday and was awake the ENTIRE time.  Normally I would be like, awesome, she will sleep more at night; however, I wanted some sleepy shots of her with her eyes closed. Plus, Nellie has developed a concerned brow furrow so most of the pictures had her looking like she was deep in thought.  I do think we got a couple good shots of Mila and Nellie together (or at least I hope we did) and possibly a good picture or two of the whole family.  Can't wait to see all of them!

Last week I forgot to report on Nellie's two doctor appointments.  The first was on Monday after we left the hospital and she grew a quarter of an inch and was still losing some of her birth weight (which is normal).  Everything checked out great at her appointment and we were told to come back on Wednesday to re-check her weight.  When we came back on Wednesday she had gained another quarter of an inch so is now measuring 20in (vs. her 19.5in at birth); so this means the measuring tools at the doctor's office aren't consistent or Nellie is going to be really tall!  At the appointment on Wednesday she had started gaining her weight back, so that's great news.  Her next appointment, a regular two week checkup, is Wednesday.

I also had my two week follow up appointment on Wednesday and it went great. Dr. Nguyen asked how I was feeling and said that it's great that I am off the pain meds because a lot of women come in at the two week mark and need a prescription refill.  Because I am off the meds, and feeling more mobile, she did clear me to drive, which is great news!  She also removed the sterry (sp?) strips from my incision, which made a huge difference on the overall look of the wound.  Now it doesn't look so bad and it's not as long as I originally thought. I am still feeling better every day, the only side effects I still have are that my incision is tender and sometimes my insides hurt, almost like my muscles are sore (maybe they are?).

We were wild and crazy on New Year's Eve and in bed by 9:30pm (thank goodness for an East Coast countdown!).  Instead of partying it up late night on NYE, we opted to have friends over on New Year's Day instead to watch bowl games and enjoy the sunshine.  We ended the night by the fire pit, complete with a snuggily, sleepy babe.

crazy eyes

Nellie is sleeping in our room, and by sleeping, I mean she IS actually sleeping. I remember with Mila Robert and I were so sleep deprived that we had to start taking shifts in order to make it through the night. Things are much better with Nellie; she sleeps a TON, sometimes 4-5 hours at a time; I actually have to wake her to feed her.   We haven't given her a bath yet, mostly because we've been so busy (doing what, I'm not sure) that I forgot maybe she needs one.  Unlike Mila, Nellie has no problem pooping; her umbilical cord stump hasn't fallen off yet so Robert's not changing diapers yet. So I'm def looking forward to that happening!

Mila has started paying more attention to her and loves to yell, "Mooooooom! Baby! Get her!" every time Nellie starts crying and I'm not in the same room.  At one point she told her, "Stop it crying" so Nellie has made it on to Mila's radar :)  Today I walked into the room and said, "Here's a kiss for Mila, for Roscoe and for Daddy" and then kissed all of them; then Mila said "and one for Nellie too." It was very cute.