Written by: Lindsey on June 15th, 2010
Lillian is a week old today! It seems like this week has gone by so fast and so slow at the same time. She’s taking a nap right now so I have a spare moment to write down a few reflections about this past week.
FYI – this is a LONG post so if you want the short version basically everything is going great although we are sleep-deprived! We are incredibly in love with Lillian and the first week has been a transition but we are all doing good and loving our new life with our sweet baby girl!
Here’s a recap of the days:
Day 1 (Tuesday) – We had lots of visitors and enjoyed seeing everyone!
Day 2 (Wednesday) – More visitors in the hospital and enjoyed seeing everyone!
Day 3 (Thursday) – We were discharged from the hospital! We were ready to go home and see our furbabies and introduce her to our world. The furbabies were very curious – lots of sniffs – but overall they were happy to welcome the new addition and everything has gone relatively smoothly. Daisy has had the biggest transformation – she has become such a “Momma Dog” (and she’s never had puppies) – she’s not aggressive to anyone but she sure does let us know if she thinks something is wrong with Lillian. Daisy follows me everywhere and stays by my side… if Deucey gets too close to the baby she will start fussing at him to get back. Whenever Daisy hears the baby wake up or cry she lets me know immediately. She’s such a good Momma! Back to Day 3, driving home was scary – every car on the road was crazy and a threat, luckily we only had a few miles to go. I think Gary drove 15 miles under the speed limit the entire time – we couldn’t be careful enough with our precious cargo. I sat in the backseat with her and couldn’t believe how tiny she looked in her little car seat. We got home at about Noon – Mom had decorated the house for us and it made us feel really special to drive up and feel so welcomed. We had an uneventful afternoon full of naps and feeding sessions.
At about 1 AM she started fussing so I tried feeding her but the fussing became more intense… it was the first time I had heard her real cry (not her “I’m hungry” cry)… and her real cry is the most pitiful, heart-wrenching, sad sound I have ever heard – it stopped me in my tracks and made my heart hurt. The dogs even tried to immitate it. My mom was staying with us that night and she figured out it was gas. Hearing Lillian’s real cry for the first time made me cry – it just ripped my heart out to hear that sweet baby in pain and I felt guilty because it had to be something that I ate… at one point in the night Lillian, me, and the dogs were all crying – Mom and Gary were trying to calm us all down (I’m sure it was quite a sight!). We called the hospital and they said it was ok to give her a little mylicon and that seemed to settle her down and she finally went to sleep around 4 AM…. and then I cried because we gave her medicine. It was an emotional night to say the least. I was scared to go to sleep and couldn’t sleep even if I wanted to because I was worried about her so Mom stayed in our room in the glider and watched her all night. I woke up at every noise – I slept for maybe an hour. Luckily we had an appointment already scheduled the next morning with the doctor for a weight/jaundice check. So at about 6 AM we started getting ready for our appointment at 9 AM because none of us could sleep.
Day 4 (Friday) - We went to the doctor at 9 AM and she weighed 6 lbs 7 oz – lower than her birthweight (6 lbs 12 oz). Her color looked good but the doctor ordered a billirubin test anyway to be sure we were still in a good range. We told her about the night before and she explained that was all normal and that the mylicon was ok — she is such a great doctor and really patient. She answered all of my questions and put me at ease about everything. After the appointment we did the billirubin test (prick the ankle) which made Lillian cry and that made me cry again. I was a TOTAL mess on Day 3 and 4 – I’ll just blame it on the hormones – I would cry at everything. We got back home around lunch and were all able to take a nap. Lillian was feeling better and so was I. Mom and I gave her the first sponge bath on Friday too — she seemed to enjoy it — can’t wait for real bath time! I forgot to mention that she wasn’t having very many bowel movements and later that night she finally had a bowel movement that shook our roo!. I will never forget laughing with Gary about the sound, smell and look on her face when she filled up her diaper for the first time. The rest of the night went allright — she is still a night owl so she didn’t really go to sleep until around 2 AM but at least she didn’t have gas.
Day 5 (Saturday) – Mom went home on Saturday and I cried after she left because it was the first night we would be on our own. Mom had been such a help - I love my Mom so much and needed her this first week – she’s a ”doer” – everyday she would do stuff to help us out without even asking what needed to be done. It’s definitely been hard to think during this first week so it was nice to have someone here who would just do whatever she thought needed to be done since I’m not very good at asking for help - laundry, food, shopping, watering the f lowers, feeding the cats and dogs and the kitchen stayed clean. She would be right there to watch the baby or teach me how to be a mommy anytime she heard a fuss. Gary’s Mom came over later that day to cook dinner (she had to go back home that night but would be coming back on Monday) and we were surprised by our friends who came over and brought us dinner as well. So we had enough food for everyone to enjoy dinner and spend some time with Lillian. Gary and I did good on our first night alone with her – we were still awake most of the night but she slept alright that night and I was able to take a few naps during the day. I remember putting her in the bassinet at 4 AM and not being able to go to sleep because I kept looking over at her bassinet every 30 seconds to make sure she was ok. She was just fine, I was just paranoid. I’m naturally a “worry”er but never imagined the degree of worry I would have about our sweet angel.
Day 6 (Sunday) – Gary’s Mom came over to stay with us for a few days – she’s been a big help watching the baby while we tried to get in a few quick z’s, she also brought tons of food and cooked so we haven’t gone hungry! She’s been wonderful and helped with keeping the house going while we focus on taking care of Lillian – it’s been nice to have her company and knowledge! Gary Sr was also able to come over on Sunday to spend some time with his granddaughter. Sunday was basically uneventful – we were still struggling with day/night confusion, gas, and adjusting to parenthood.
Day 7 (Monday) – We had our first “official” doctor appointment on Monday — it went great – she was back up to her birthweight and no jaundice. Monday was the first day that we all got dressed up — Lillian looked so cute going to her first doctor appointment and I felt much better than Friday. We all felt refreshed and clean so it was nice. I still sat in the back seat with her (I hope to be able to stop doing that soon and be able to stop worrying but for now it makes me feel better to sit back there with her). We went to the doctor and everyone thought she looked so cute in her little outfit! After the doctor appointment we weren’t ready to go home so we drove around for a little while to enjoy some time outside before going back home. She’s really awake when we drive in the car so it was nice to see her bright eyes.
Day 8 ( Tuesday) – We weren’t awake at 3:15 in the morning on this Tuesday (thank goodness) but we thought about it when we laid down to go to sleep Monday night — what a whirlwind week this has been! Gary’s Mom was still here today and so we used the opportunity to sneak out for an hour and go out to eat to celebrate/reflect on the past week. It was hard to leave her but it was nice to get dressed up and get out of the house for a few minutes and spend some time outside the house with my husband.
This first week has been amazing! We thank God everyday for her and we pray everynight that she will sleep better than she did the night before
I still find myself staring at her constantly, I look at her beautiful little hands and look at mine and know that one day her little hands will be big like mine – it’s just amazing how God works and how babies grow. We love her so much and she melts my heart when she looks at my face and recognizes my voice. The way her little hands wrap around my finger brings a smile to my face. I can’t stop cuddling with her and she loves her daddy’s nose. We love to see her smile (even if it is just gas) because it makes us smile.
I would say her favorite things this week are: Sleep, Milk, Daddy and Mommy, and her grandmothers who have been so wonderful to come stay with us and help us out!
(Grandmothers – We love y’all and couldn’t have made it through this week without you!! We’re glad you were here to help us and thank you with all of our hearts!)
I promise the next post won’t be this long — just had to catch everyone up since I’ve been missing from the blog scene for a few days
Here’s a funny one — Gary though the pacifier matched her hat.
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