Sammy is 1 month old!!

Sammy is one month old today!  Here is her official one-month chair-puppy picture.

It's not the best picture, but she is one little sleepy bear and there aren't that many moments where she is awake and not nursing.  And no, her feet are not that big!  She continues to be an amazingly easy baby.  She cries when she's hungry or has a dirty diaper.  But otherwise, she is asleep or awake and very calm.  She only seems to get super fussy between 8 and 9 pm.

I know it's a bad habit to get into, but we sometimes bring her into our bed with us to sleep when she's not content to be alone in her bassinet.  She calms down immediately when I wrap my arm around her back and snuggle with her.  I love that I can calm her so easily.  And I adore watching her sleep in the morning after nursing in bed.  This is what I got to see this morning.

And of course, we can't forget big brother!

It doesn't get any better than this.  I adore my beautiful children and feel so incredibly lucky to have them in my life.

3 weeks old!

My official due date was yesterday, but Samantha is 3 weeks old today.  Time is flying!  She continues to be a fantastic baby, feeding every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours or so at night.  And she is rarely fussy and sleeps well between feeds at night.  Of course, we're more relaxed parents and so when she isn't in the mood to sleep in the pack n' play or in the bouncy seat, we bring her into our bed, where she seems very comforted being next to us.  She rarely uses the pacifier, which is SO different than her brother (who was an extreme pacifier addict).  And she makes lots of different noises - grunting, squealing and whinnying like a horse.  And now she seems to be making eye contact, which is really nice.  In 3 more weeks, I hope to see a real social smile.  Sammy's eyes are dark blue and bluer than Ian's eyes ever were and so it will be interesting to see if they stay blue.

Physically, I am healing nicely although I am still suffering from very bad nighttime sweats.  I'm soaking through multiple T-shirts and nightgowns per night.  Today, I decided it was probably a good idea to wash our mattress cover.  I don't remember this problem lasting as long after Ian was born, but my memory on this point is fuzzy.  I just hope it goes away soon.  It's so uncomfortable waking up drenched!  As far as weight loss goes, I was 152.5 pounds this morning, which means 10 more pounds to lose to return to pre-pregnancy weight.  The weight is definitely coming off more slowly this time around.  It will be good when I can exercise again.

Our basement project is finally done!  We passed final inspection this past Friday and began moving all our junk back into our newly refinished storage area.  And my parents are using the new guest room that we created downstairs and are loving the new basement bathroom shower.  Hooray!  Now that we have extra guest space, I can start organizing Sammy's room as a real nursery.  It's time to wash more clothing and put them into her new dresser.  She will probably fit in newborn clothes for 1 more week and then we'll need to move onto the 0-3 month clothing.  As of this past Friday the 13th, she weighed 7 pounds, 15.4 ounces (go go gadget boobies!) and was 20.75 inches long.

2 weeks old and Mother's Day thoughts

My little girl is 2 weeks old today.  And I was supposed to be having a scheduled C-section today.  I'm so so glad that we chose to have her at 37 weeks.  She is nursing well and thriving.

I weighed 154 pounds this morning, which leaves me with 11.5 pounds left to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 142.5.  I've been losing 0.5 to 1 pound every two days and so hopefully that trend will continue.  The weight has been coming off more slowly this time around.  I looked back at my blog and I only had 3 pounds left to lose 3 weeks after Ian's birth.  There's no way I'll be losing 8.5 pounds over the next week.  Of course, that being said, I'm not dieting at all and I'm eating tons of dessert, so I shouldn't complain at all.  Once my parents leave, there won't be so many goodies lying around to munch on.

Samantha continues to be a rockstar baby.  Not once over the past 2 weeks has she had any periods of inconsolable crying.  She cries when she's hungry and she cries during diaper changes.  And sometimes she seems uncomfortable (probably because of gas), but she stops crying the minute someone picks her up. She definitely likes to be held.  She's doing pretty well at night, needing to feed every 2.5 to 3 hours.  We prop her on her side in the pack n' play (like her brother, she's definitely not happy lying flat on her back), and we also put her in the bouncy seat (like we did with Ian).  I'm more laid back about having her in bed (we NEVER took Ian into our bed as an infant) and will sometimes snuggle with her after 4 or 5 am.  She really does like being in our bed - it's obvious that she's comforted by being close to us.

Ian continues to be an amazing toddler.  Daddy took him to get his second hair cut yesterday and he RAN to the chair, climbed up on his own and sat still so that the woman at Supercuts could snip his longish locks.  And he is using the pedals on his tricycle and I watched him zoom down the street the other day.  My mom had to chase after him because he was really motoring!  He has fast become addicted to Thomas the Train and when he's in the house, will not let go of his Thomas and Stanley trains. He wants to read the "book" that came with the trains over and over, but that "book" is just the catalogue of all the trains we could buy.  He continues to like his baby sister and says goodnight to her and gives her soft kisses on her head.  So far, he is not jealous but we'll see what happens when my parents finally leave.  Right now, they are giving him tons of attention.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday as a mother of TWO!  My husband bought me flowers and signed the card "Love, Major Disaster, Captain Cuteness and Daddy."  I love it!  And Ian brought home a little present from daycare on Friday, which made me cry.  It is a flower and on each of the 4 petals, is a handprint.  And on the back, it says the following:

Sometimes you get discouraged

Because I am so small

And always leave my fingerprints 

On furniture and walls.

But every day I'm growing - 

I'll be grown some day

And all those tiny handprints

Will surely fade away.

So here's a little handprint

Just so you can recall

Exactly how my fingers looked

When I was very small.

Gah.  I just cried again while typing it.  I'm definitely still in post-partum mode!  But it reminds me of just how fast my son and daughter are growing.

And we all went out to eat dinner last night at a local burger joint called Wild Willy's.  The burgers and fries were delicious.  And I was SO proud of myself because I sat at the table, nursed Sammy when she became hungry AND ate my own dinner all at the same time.  I would have NEVER done that when Ian was 2 weeks old.  It really makes a difference being a mom for the second time.  Everything is so much more natural and it's easier to be laid-back about more things.

My Son and Daughter

It's starting to sink in that I'm the mother of two.  I love it.  I was worried that my 2 year old son would be very jealous of his baby sister, especially the attention I give to her while breastfeeding.  But he's been fantastic.  He was excited to see her home and sat by her bouncy seat exclaiming, "That my baby sister!" and "Hi Sammy Hi!"  And he's constantly offering to share his train with her (although he will only give up Stanley and not Thomas).  And I'm sure it helps a lot that my parents are here and are giving him tons of attention and play time.

And my baby girl is so so so so sweet and adorable.  She makes this high-pitched squeak sound and when I look at her, she has this big smile on her face.  So I think she's laughing in her sleep!  And she's a really good sleeper.  We've been getting 3 hour chunks of sleep at night because she sleeps soundly in between diaper changes and feedings.  This is way better than we did with Ian, who I think suffered with more gas. She's starting to spend more time awake, although still sleeps way more than Ian did as a newborn.  Perhaps its because she was born 3 weeks early?  Perhaps its because she's just a calmer and more laid-back child?  Her eyes are dark blue at this point, but still more blue than Ian's eyes ever were.  So I'm wondering if she'll end up with blue or green eyes instead of brown eyes?  Time will tell.

I want to keep her this small forever.  I want to lie on the couch with her on my chest forever.  But despite my desires, she is growing and thriving.  She is a master nurser and 1 week after her birth, she weighed 6 pounds, 7.7 ounces, which is 2.7 ounces more than her birth weight.  I wasn't sure I could love another child as much as I already love Ian, but as it turns out, my heart expanded and there is more than enough room for both.