Emilya - 1 Week

And to think I thought time went fast the first time with a newborn, now it literally just zooms on by!!! But our first week has been nothing short of amazing!! 

Emilya was not a happy camper on her first day. She wasnt making any plans on being born anytime soon, so her exit was rather dramatic! I could hear her crying inside of me before they were able to get her out. She was wedged right up in my ribs and she came out crying and hungry!! She was born feisty and wanted to be heard. Once I made it into recovery I was able to hold her and it didn't take her long to latch on and breastfeed! She was born to eat haha. 

Weight: Coming home from the hospital, she was down to 7lbs 11oz

At one day shy of a week old, she was up to 8lbs.

Eating: Emilya had no problems latching and feeding right away. We were working on feeding every 2-3 hours in the hospital, but just before leaving we were already getting longer stretches. She is pretty much a binge eater. She will nurse both sides twice, sometimes 3x before snuggling in for a sleep. But it works, because then she started sleeping longer too. So far we haven't had to deal with spit up or reflux and she is pretty good about burping and will actually let me do this, not just Daddy like Noah would prefer. 

Sleeping: I will say what a difference there is having a full-term baby compared to a preemie. Emilya is a rockstar at sleeping. Her first few nights in the hospital were rough, she ended up sleeping with either M or I. She is a mamas girl and prefers to fall asleep on my chest and has been a stinker for falling asleep for M at all! She also prefers to nurse herself to sleep. Our first night home was our best night compared to the hospital, but in all honesty she has only gotten better! She is giving us 4-6 hours of sleep in a row. She sleeps in bed with us, but in the Bummzie pillow - seriously best pillow ever!!! We swaddle her up for sleeping. I have been nursing in bed at night just put her in the pillow when she falls asleep. She is awake for about 2 hours over night, but most of that is spent nursing. We were waking her after 4-5 hours before our doctors appointment, where we found out she was gaining weight like a champ and we could let her sleep. Now the only thing waking her up from her long stretches is a diaper blow out! 

Clothing: Is a tricky subject! Newborn is too short for the most part, we have a few sleepers that work in that size. For the first few days we were trying to use sleepers that had the fold over hands because her nails were soo long and they reccomended waiting to trim them. So we also had to pull out the little mitts! Newborn onesies and pants are good. 3 month sleepers are big, but we are making them work!! Little miss is just long and lanky! It's also crazy not having any hats that fit her because her head is soo much smaller than her brothers! Haha. I had a Vance hat made for her in newborn and it is also big! 

I will say having a girl to shop for, especially after having a boy is soo much fun!! I need to get ordering some headbands!! 

Diaper Changes: We are going through less diapers than we did with Noah, but I think maybe because of the way she eats and she isn't too bothered with dirty diapers, like Noah was! But we have had 3 diaper blow outs in the middle of the night, something else we never had with Noah! 

First Bath: Emilya had her first bath at the hospital and she was not a fan! She was also not a fan of her first bath at home!! Her second bath went a bit better, but it was also just a quick bath before her newborn photoshoot! 

Skin and Hair: Her hair is dark and quite long in the back - almost ponytail worthy. I guess you could say she is sporting a bit of a mullet! Her skin is pretty fair, especially when you compare her to her brother, Noah came out with a dark complexion and Emilya did not! 

What The Doctor Had To Say: Emilya was born weighing 8 lbs 3 oz and dropped to 7 lbs 11 oz before leaving the hospital. Almost a week later she was back up to 8 lbs! Emilya was born with a sacral dimple, which is closed from what we have been told. She did have an ultrasound to confirm this and we are awaiting the results. We will be doing her hearing test again in a few weeks, because she was too mucousy when they tried to do it. She passed the one ear and showed signals she could hear in the other, but not for the full length of the test to consider passing her. Other than that, Emilya has a clean bill of health! 

Nicknames: Emma, Em, Emy, Baby, Little Miss, Littlest Squish

Big Brother Update: Noah is doing great! He loves his little sister and watching him with her just melts my heart! He doesn't show any signs of jealousy yet and is not upset with her presence at all! Our biggest issue has been the tantrums coming back, but we have gone back to diverting the crisis before it starts and he is doing much better! The bigger transition will be when M goes back to work, but I'm not too concerned, as he is pretty independent. My biggest issue will be the not lifting him. 

Fur Baby Update: Gracie doesn't seemed phased by the new baby at all. She will growl when someone other than M and I go to pick her up, but wags her tail at the same time, so we aren't concerned. I recall her doing the same with Noah! She is just a bit protective. The cats are loving the baby. Binx just wants to sit by her at all times, which is really odd because she is our least social cat. Lux comes running when she is crying. 

Personality: We were sure with her entrance, that she was going to be super fiesty. She was not a happy camper in day 1, she liked where she was and was not impressed to be out of the womb. But she quickly settled after I fed her. Eating is her thing. She is super laid back like her brother was for the most part. She started off hating her bathes, but they aren't soo much of a scream show by the end of the first week! 

My Recovery: Is going great!! Waay better than last time! I actually feel like a human thanks to my blood pressure co-operating! The first few days I was really tender (obviously) but coming home was probably the best medicine - sleeping in my own bed as well made a huge difference. I've managed to find a way to sleep on my side, giving my back a bit of a break! I made it out of the house on a few brief trips to the grocery store and Costco to pick flooring and I was able to complete both tasks without feeling like crap after. 

I came home on just Tylenol and Advil, but after the first few days I am only taking Advil 3x a day to help with swelling more than pain. If I've done too much I will take a Tylenol, but it's often a good reminder to slow down, because I do not feel like I just had surgery! Especially with this Reno going on, I just want to clean!! I really look forward to driving again and not having to rely on M to get me places, but getting Noah in and out of the car will be a trick. Luckily the weather is supposed to get nice and we can get outside for walks at least! 

Coming home to another renovation has not been any fun at all. Luckily we aren't the ones doing most of the work, but M has ended up doing some of it, like knocking out the brick fireplace hearth and we decided to take out the old office and make one big space for a play area, craft space and office. But we will definitely enjoy having our basement back to use. I know a lot of people live with out finished basements, but when you have one and then you don't, you miss that seperate living space! 

Life as a mom of two, so far has been pretty great. Yes, my patience level needs some work at times when Noah is being a typical toddler, but that will come with time. It still feels crazy to say "kids". Having a little girl is a dream come true. We never expected to have a boy, so we were blessed and couldn't believe it when Noah came along and having a boy first was something I always thought would be soo cool to have the "older big brother". I would have been happy either way if it was a boy, but shopping for a little girl is just soo much fun!! 

Seeing our family grow has been the most beautiful, hard journey, but one that I couldn't be prouder of.  Knowing all we have gone through has brought us to this point in our lives makes it all worth it!! I couldn't be happier with the way life has shaped up and I promise myself and my kids to not take one moment foregranted!