After two amazing weeks of having Eric all to ourselves, he finally had to return to work last Sunday night and Charlee and I were forced to find the new "normal" in our routine.
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| 2 weeks old and smiley! |
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| Cuddle time with daddy! |
Our first night alone wasn't too bad. Charlee nursed on a regular schedule and she even let me "sleep" in between feedings. I say "sleep" because I was so nervous being alone with her for the first time that I kept waking up every 20 minutes to make sure she was okay! When Eric came home after 8am, he grabbed his baby girl and cuddled with her until we had to leave for her follow up appointment. The doctor was so pleased with her weight gain (9 lbs 6 oz--finally over her birth weight) and growth (21.75 inches), that she said we could cancel our 2 week appointment that was scheduled for Friday. Her next appointment will be her 2 month appointment and her next round of shots. We had to schedule it for early December due to the holidays and Eric's schedule (because I don't think I can handle taking her to that appointment by myself).
I finally weighed myself on Monday afternoon and was elated to find out that, because almost all of my swelling is gone, I only have 9 lbs to lose to be at my pre-pregnancy weight. I will probably have to lose an additional 10 lbs to be the same size as I was before Charlee, but seeing the number on the scale made me happy!
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| Ready for her first walk! |
Tuesday was election day. So, after some epic cluster-feeding from 5-8:30am, Charlee and I made sure to be ready when Eric got home from work. The polls were jam packed, so we ended up waiting a while before leaving for our polling place. When we got there, the number of people was still out of control. Because we had a newborn and didn't want her out of the vehicle and around all of those people, we decided we would just have to leave. We were both sad to miss our chance to vote, but it was what was best for our baby girl! That afternoon I tried to take her for her first walk. I bundled her up because it was a little cool, loaded up the stroller, and out I went. I only made it halfway around the neighborhood and I had to turn back because I could feel pulling in my incision. It's so hard to remember that I only had major surgery a couple of weeks ago!
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| First real bath! |
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| Drying off in the towel from Granny |
Wednesday was a day I was looking forward to for weeks. Since Charlee's umbilical cord stump had fallen off and the doctor took care of the little bit that remained on Monday, we could finally give the peanut her first real bath in preparation for her photo session that evening. It was a two-man job! I filled the tiny tub and used her fireman ducky to test the water temperature. Eric helped get supplies and filmed the event. Charlee did NOT like her first bath. She screamed and cried so much that the cats were circling and crying, thinking that we were hurting her (the cats are very protective). Charlee did seem to enjoy the part where I massaged lotion onto her after the bath though! That evening the photographer came to take our pictures. Eric and I took a few with her outside in our neighborhood. It was too cold to stay outside very long, so we kept it short and sweet and then came back in for some pictures of just Charlee. There were several wardrobe changes and a lot of fussy moments (I even gave in and let her have a pacifier which is something I have been 100% against because I don't want to cause nipple confusion), but she did well considering! It will be another week or so before we get the proofs back and I cannot wait to see them!!!
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| But a really cute monster! |
This week Eric and I also came up with another nickname for the baby. It may not be the nicest nickname, but it's funny to us. We call her Monster. The reason is because when she sleeps, and especially when she is waking up or about to start nursing, she makes the scariest noises. One of which is a very distinct "Rawr" sound. It's scary and cute at the same time!
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| Our Seminole baby is Tebowing |
Thursday night marks the first Florida State football game that baby Charlee watched. Thank goodness the Seminoles beat the Hokies or I would have had to pretend she never watched it...We also found out that my dad and younger brother will be coming to meet Charlee at the end of the month. I am so excited to see them because it's been 3 years since our last visit!
Friday marked another big day in Charlee's world: her "cousin" Mackenzie was finally born! She is simply gorgeous and I am so proud of my best friend for everything she went through to bring her daughter into the world. We went to visit them at the hospital on Saturday, but Charlee wasn't allowed back into Labor & Delivery, so she sat in the waiting room with Eric and uncle Brian while I visited with Malory and Mackenzie. I cannot wait for those little girls to meet for the first time!
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| Daddy loves his baby girl! |
Things are starting to get easier as Charlee continues nursing and getting on a more regular sleep schedule. Eric and I have been playing with her and giving her lots of tummy time and cuddles. She is very alert and curious. She follows the lights on her bouncer chair, responds to faces, and looks for Granny, Papa, Grammie, and Grampie when we Face Time with them. She is holding her head up even more than when she was first born and can even get into a push up position when she's doing tummy time! Today she was wiggling around like she wanted to crawl. Too bad the poor kid has a while before that will be possible!
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| Nap time on mommy |
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| Lazy Sunday outfit! |
Last night and today was by far one of the best times we've had so far. Charlee let me sleep for 8 hours, separated by 1 hour feedings every 2 1/2 hours. She even let me take 2 naps throughout the day! She has been nursing well and in a great mood. It has been a great day after learning that another friend finally had her son today and he is absolutely perfect!
Let's hope this week goes as well as the past couple days!
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