Life with Elise: Week 2

This post was written on Saturday, April 4th.  It's fitting I'm posting it today because today was Elise's due date.

Elise is already 2 weeks old!  Time is going by so fast and we are enjoying life as a family of 4 so much!  Last weekend my mom headed home so this week it was just me and Ty manning the ship and things went great.  I was sad to see my mom go because it was so nice to have her around, but I'm so thankful Ty was able to stay home with us for 2 whole weeks!  It was so nice to have him here and I'm already missing him just thinking about him going back to work on Monday.  I really liked how things worked out this time with my mom and Ty both being here the first week and then just Ty being here the 2nd week.  It has been a good transition to me being with both kids by myself.  I feel very confident that things will go well this next week when I'm taking care of Carter and Elise by myself.  On Saturday after Breakfast with the Bunny and naptime I found myself home alone with a bright eyed and alert Elise.  I had plans to go for a walk, but scrapped them for the chance to get some pictures of my sweet girl in her adorable Easter outfit my friend, Erin, bought her.  Those pictures are the ones I'm using for this post.  The only problem is that I took so many pictures it was really hard to decide which ones I liked the best!

This adorable rabbit quilt was made for me by my grandma when I was a baby.

Sister is doing better sleeping in her Pack N Play.  She typically goes one long stretch at night where she'll sleep in it for 2-3 hours.  The rest of the time she starts crying pretty quickly after I lay her in it so she gets to sleep in the bed next to me.  Ty sleeps extremely hard so I roll all the way to the middle of the bed, leaving plenty of space between Elise and the edge of the bed, tuck the blankets under my body so they aren't anywhere near Elise and let her curl up beside me.  I honestly enjoy it as much as she does although I would prefer she'd sleep in the Pack N Play.  She still eats every 2-3 hours day and night.  I think she may be preparing for a growth spurt or something because starting at 10 pm she will power eat every hour or hour and a half.  Each time she finishes eating on the 2nd side and I go to lay her down, she's ready to eat again within 30 minutes.  Usually she's done with her power feedings by midnight and I get to sleep for a 2-3 hour stretch before she wants to eat again, but one night we were doing the constant feeding until 2 am.  I was so tired by the end of the stretch I wanted to cry!

We had another well check/weight check at the doctor's office on Friday.  Little miss is already up to 7 pounds, 2 ounces which means she's 7 ounces over her birth weight and has gained 11 ounces since we left the hospital!  Her weight puts her in the 16th percentile.  She has also grown in length and is now 21.2 inches!  I can't believe he's grown a whole 1.2 inches in 2 weeks, that's crazy!  Her length puts her in the 84th percentile.  So she's just like her brother, long and lean!  Her head circumference was 13.8 inches which is the 29th percentile.  I'm wondering if her head will continue to climb in percentile as she gets older just like Carter's did.

Elise enjoyed some firsts this week.  She had her first visit to the zoo on Thursday for Carter's Nature's Buddies Program.  She slept the entire time we were there other than one feeding.  Friday morning when I was getting her dressed I pulled up her jammies to find her umbilical cord detached and laying on her belly.  That night she got to take her first real bath in the bath tub with brother.  Carter was sooo excited that she was in the bath with him and wanted to help her get clean.  Thomas had come over a few minutes before bath time so he took pictures for us.  One picture Carter would be smiling at the camera and the next he was staring at Elise.  It was precious!  Ty and I were both shocked by how calm Elise was in the bath.  She hardly cried at all and was pretty darn content!  She also celebrated her first holiday with Easter on Sunday and had her first picture with the Easter Bunny on Saturday during Breakfast with the Bunny at the zoo.  She also played on her activity gym for the first time.

Carter and Elise's first bath together.

Carter checking on Elise after they got dried off.

 

We've been noticing her hair appears to be getting blonder.  She also seems to have sensitive skin just like Carter.  When Carter was little we tried using Luvs diapers on him and his booty broke out.  We received newborn Luvs diapers as a present for Elise and I figured why not try them and hoped her skin wasn't as sensitive as Carter's skin.  After a day of wearing the Luvs diapers I went to change Elise's diaper and her entire bottom and private area were bright red and she was even bleeding on her bottom.  It was terrible!  I immediately rubbed her down with diaper cream and switched back to Huggies and her bottom was cleared up later in the day.  I can still use the Luvs, but I can only use one per day and I make sure her diaper definitely gets changed within 2 hours.

Surprised face!

My favorite moments this week were when I got up with Carter and we enjoyed reading time, just Carter, Elise, and me before Ty woke up.  It was so sweet to have both my babies in my lap at the same time!  Carter does so well sharing my lap with sissy.  If I'm holding Elise he'll run over and say, "My mommy!" wanting in my lap with her.  He never tries to push her out or squish her.  He loves her and thinks everything she does is hilarious.  We were driving in the car and he kept telling me, "Issy Eese funny!  She nappeet!"  On Easter we took a family picture and Elise reached over, putting her hand on Carter's face during the picture.  He loved it and giggled the whole time.  I pulled out Elise's activity gym for her to play on and Carter got on it with her.  He was so cute, shaking the toys so they'd make noise for her and laughing while he watched her look around.  Over the summer he got on Garrett's activity gym with him and tried to steam roll him, so I was surprised that he was so gentle with Elise!  Carter loves it when Elise's eyes are open.  He also asks to hold and hug his sister.  One day he asked to hug her so I held her up and he squeezed her.  I asked Ty to take a picture and in his haste to get the camera, he stepped on and smashed 3 Easter eggs that Carter and I had been playing with.  He missed the moment anyway, but I laughed so hard I cried!  I was getting dinner ready one night while Carter was coloring at his craft table.  Elise was in her bouncer by his table.  I looked over just in time to see Carter color on the top of Elise's head with a yellow marker.  We talked about why he can't do that, but it was pretty funny!  Luckily she was getting a bath that night anyway!  Carter is also quick to tell Elise bless you when she sneezes which is adorable!

Carter and Elise playing on the activity gym together.

Elise grabbing Carter during our family photo on Easter.

My recovery is still going really well.  I've been bumping up my walks and walked 6 days this week.  I built my walk up to 3 miles and my hips felt a little achy toward the end of the walk, but were back to normal the next morning.  I walked a total of 10.5 miles throughout the week.  I'm toying with trying out short running segments during my walks next week.  I figure I'll start with minute running segments and see how it goes.  I've lost 15 pounds so far which means I have 15 left to go.  Maybe it's having been prepared for what my belly would look like after Elise arrived, but my belly pooch is not bothering me at all.  After Carter was born I was so grossed out by the left over jiggle.  This time I'm all whatever and am in no hurry to burn it off.  I just want to exercise for fun and enjoy the frozen yogurt soft serve I couldn't eat while pregnant!  One day Ty left to run an errand during Carter's naptime.  Elise was having trouble breathing while eating so she'd pull off and scream.  Her crying eventually woke Carter up from his nap about 30 minutes early.  I was frustrated with trying to feed Elise and then with Carter crying on top of it I got very upset and called Ty to come back home.  By the time Ty got back home I had Elise latched and happily eating while Carter sat next to me, snuggled in and playing with my hair.  I was able to take care of the situation on my own, but it was nice to know Ty was available when I was upset.  Now I know I'll be okay handling something like that on my own while Ty's at work.

My 2 week postpartum belly pooch. 

I had a meltdown moment this week.  We were eating dinner and I was just feeling a little blue.  I think it was mostly due to sleep deprivation and not having had any one-on-one time with Carter that day.  Ty asked me how I was doing and I just started crying trying to convey how I felt.  I told him all I wanted to do was play with Carter all day long like usual, but I couldn't because Elise needs to eat all the time.  Then at the same time all I want to do is hold and snuggle Elise, but I can't because Carter needs attention.  At the time I felt like I wasn't getting to spend enough time with either of them.  Sweet Carter immediately jumped to attention when I started crying.  He walked over to me, said, "Mommy okay?" and then climbed into my lap.  He then began rocking back and forth saying "Mommy okay, mommy okay," over and over.  Once I stopped crying he grabbed my hand and walked me through the house.  When it was time for his bath he went and got a towel for me and asked me to take a bath with him.  Ty pointed out obviously Carter felt like he was getting enough time with me and wasn't upset about our situation at all.  That made me feel better.  I've found that as long as I spend at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted one-on-one time with Carter during the morning and again in the afternoon and then snuggle Elise during Carter's naptime I don't feel the way I did that day.  With Ty going back to work and me being home with the kids by myself I don't think this will be a problem next week!

Overall this week has been a blast.  I've loved having my Ty Ty home with us and Carter has too.  I know Elise would if she knew what was going on!  We had nice weather for most of the week and spent a lot of time outside at parks, having picnics, going for walks, and being together.  On Saturday night while my parents were here Ty and I headed out for a 3 mile walk after Carter went to bed and Elise had eaten.  It was so nice holding hands and talking with Ty as we walked under the light of a full moon.  Moments like that make me so happy to be a stay at home mom.  With Carter going back to work loomed in the back of my mind so I never left him.  I never would have gone for a walk with Ty whether he was asleep or not.  It's interesting that being a stay at home mom has made me a better wife and that is just one more thing that makes me thankful for the opportunity to be at home with my babies!  I'm looking forward to this next week just me, Elise, and Carter as we get into a groove and figure out our new normal.  Wish us luck!