Week 7 - Nellie

Auntie Whit has been in town this week and has been a HUGE help!  We've mostly been just hanging out...and shopping!

We figured out that Nellie looooves sleeping on her side so we have attempted to put her down in the swing on her side a couple times and it lasts about 6 minutes (which is 5 minutes more than normal) until she starts crying again.

Then I remembered that my mom had told me about this 4Moms Mamaroo that her friend Rita told her about that mimics the movement of people, since people don't move like swings.  We went out and bought that thing yesterday and it's been a lifesaver. On a few rare occasions we have been able to put her down in it asleep but mostly it's nice to have once she falls asleep I can set her down without her waking up and actually get somethings done around the house!

I think that Nellie has been having a growth spurt this week because all she has wanted to do is eat and sleep, however that's not that much different than normal.  Since we gave Mila formula (and breastmilk) fairly early it was easy to predict and get her on a schedule.  After this week I am going to try my hardest to work with her on the schedule so life will be easier when I start back to work next Friday.

crazy hair!

Week 6 - Nellie

Nellie smiled this week!  I tried to get a picture of it but she's just too quick so I just got these happy faces above.  She has also started cooing at us and making all kids of cute little baby noises.

We spent last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Palm Springs with my parents.  It was nice to get out for a little date night, although it was cut short because Nellie was having a "moment" and wouldn't stop crying.  I think I am just such a seasoned parent (!) now that maybe I am leaving her too early; I can't remember how old Mila was when I first left her for a date night with Robert but I am willing to bet it wasn't at five weeks.  It IS crazy how much more relaxed and nonchalant you are the second time around.  Every time I start to get frustrated that Nellie is crying too much or won't stay on schedule (etc.) I need to stop and remind myself that, even though it's been an exhausting six weeks, it HAS only been six weeks and we are all still adjusting.  

Robert returned to work on Monday and we all managed to survive for the three days that he was gone so that's good news. Plus, on Wednesday morning, I made it out of the house for preschool for the first time in three weeks without feeling stressed.  Now let's hope that's how it's going to be moving forward and not just some random one off occurrence.

Nellie still has a full head of hair, which is awesome since I looked back at Mila's 6 week blog post and she is in full Dan Aykroyd mode! At this point I can't imagine much of her hair will fall out since it hasn't yet.  Her eyes are a gray blue color that I know won't stay, although I am hoping they do.  Nellie is pretty thin compare to Mila but getting longer and now doesn't fit into most of her newborn one piece zip ups anymore because her legs are too long.  She has been sleeping from about 9pm-2am and then nursing for about an hour and then up again at 5am and nursing as well.  I think at that time it's just comfort so we're really working with her on the pacifier.

I had my 6 week postpartum check up yesterday and everything was great. I took the postpartum depression quiz and passed so that's great. She also said that my cervix and uterus look great and my incision is healing perfectly.  Randomly this week, on Monday, all of the sudden the incision stopped hurting; she said this was normal as the nerve endings have probably capped so I don't feel it as much as I used to.  She said to will continue to stay numb for a while and then I may feel it pull on either side (not exactly sure what that means?) if I walk or drive for too long.  I have to go back to see Dr. Nguyen in three months but other than that all is well!

Week 5 - Nellie

two peas

One thing is apparent little Nell Bell, you HAAAATE having a dirty diaper! You fuss and scream and won't settle down until that thing is changed.

wearing mommy's sleeper from when she was a baby!

The past couple nights you have only woken up at midnight and 6am, which has been glorious. Except that you nurse for close to an hour each time! But I'll take those 6 hour stretches between feedings.

Your neck is getting stronger and you are starting to push up on your legs. You're not really a fan of tummy time, though!

I've been having some pain at my incision so that's a little concerning; I have my 6wk checkup next Wednesday so we will have to see what's going on.

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).